Wed 1:30 - Watch How the Race Card is Played in Preschool

by: Angela Engel

Tue Feb 28, 2012 at 10:24:16 AM MST

When: Wednesday February 29th at 1:30
Where: Colorado State Capitol, Rm 0112

Representative Joe Miklosi: Best Match for CD-6

by: peacemonger

Sun Jan 29, 2012 at 00:32:44 AM MST

I respect and admire Brandon Shaffer; he is literally one of my political heroes. Not just that - I am indebted to him. I've even made calls for his race in CD4 very recently.

Loyal readers on Colorado Pols may remember Senator Shaffer's unwavering support of Michael Bennet in the 2010 Senate Race. Not only was Senator Shaffer one of just a few legislators who believed in Michael Bennet from the beginning (add State Representatives Karen Middleton and Daniel Kagan, as well as Congressman Jared Polis to that list), but he also took a lot of grief for Bennet at the Boulder Convention and Assembly. I stood by Senator Shaffer then, and always will.  

Senator Shaffer courageously sponsored a controversial anti-human trafficking bill written by my friend Beth Klein, as well. Always a diplomat and a statesman, Senator Shaffer had to answer to opponents on both sides of the aisle to defend the bill. I am grateful to him for his courage and strong sense of justice; he acted to protect young street girls and boys who would otherwise have no political voice, and who certainly were in no position to benefit his office financially or politically.  

Hancock uses Police to intimidate Democrats from supporting Occupy

by: johnhkennedy

Thu Dec 08, 2011 at 09:52:07 AM MST

Actions against Occupy Denver by Democratic Mayor Hancock have caused the turnout by supporters to drop precipitously from nearly 3000 as reported by the Denver Post, to just a few hundred.  If that isn't evidence of a planned effort to shut down the protest, what would be?  Machine Gunning them, like at Ludlow, CO?

On Doing Better Than 50%, Or, Could More "Made In USA" Mean More Jobs?

by: fake consultant

Mon Aug 15, 2011 at 18:53:41 PM MST

They are also going to have to come up with ideas that are pretty much "bulletproof", meaning that they are so hard to object to that even Allen West and Louie Gohmert will not want to be on record saying "no no no!"; alternatively, solutions that work around the legislative process entirely could represent the other form of "bulletproof-ery".

Well, I have one of those "maybe bulletproof" ideas for you today, and it has to do with how "Made in USA" the things are that our Government buys.

On Organizing Anger, Or, Could Olbermann Primary Obama?

by: fake consultant

Sat Aug 06, 2011 at 01:44:05 AM MST

He pointed out that the only way those on the left were going to be able to fight against those who are looking to get all "Tea Party" is to be as angry and as organized and as aggressive as the Tea Party community, and if we're smart, we'll take him up on that challenge.

But if you really want to push "professional" Democrats to the left, most especially this President, and you want to do it in time to impact the '12 cycle, the only way to do it is to run a candidate in primary contests that either moves the conversation your way...or leaves you with a surprising new Candidate.

And right here, right now, we actually have a chance to do exactly that - and that's why, in today's discussion, I'm going to challenge Olbermann right back.

Mark Udall besots the Udall Legacy

by: Zappatero

Sat Jul 30, 2011 at 19:27:29 PM MST

During his tenure in Congress, Udall was best-noted for his championing of environmental causes. He was also known for his devotion to campaign finance reform and the welfare of Native Americans. He authored the Alaska Lands Act of 1980, which doubled the size of the national parks system, as well as legislation concerned with protecting archeological finds, enacting civil service reform, legalizing Indian casinos, and providing for the safe disposal of radioactive waste.

8:51: Mark Udall: Nobody here wants the US to default. But in three days, the US is set to default on its debt.

Quoth Jane: Be honest Mark and tell everyone that if Social Security checks don't go out, it's because the Treasury is hoarding cash to cover $29 billion to bondholders on August 15.

9:00: Mark Udall: We should all support the wise and pragmatic Bowles-Simpson recommendations.

Quoth Jane: Which cut Social Security and Medicare benefits and reduces the deficit on the backs of senior citizens.

Quoth Zappatero: Can't you see that Bowles-Simpson is B.S., not "wise and pragmatic"?

Senator Mark Udall will get laurels and hearty handshakes for these statements from his Senate peers - creeps like Orrin Hatch and Tom Coburn - but he is doing no service to those who put him in office. Jane thought Udall was a Republican until she saw his name on the chyron. And here I thought Michael Bennet was the most pitiful senator from Colorado.

Mark Udall is preparing to undo funding methods that his father supported that have helped preserve Social Security as we know it. He seems to be doing the same to the Udall legacy with his recent remarks and lies. Mark Udall couldn't manage to spit the word "liberal" from his mouth, let alone act like one when it really counts. That's a legacy Mo Udall should not be associated with.

On Running Your Own Government, Or, Why Pay The Military?

by: fake consultant

Sat Jul 30, 2011 at 04:15:31 AM MST

You will hear a lot of conversation about the consequences from others; today, however, you are going to get the chance to be both the President and the Secretary of the Treasury, and you will get to decide for yourself exactly what bills the Federal Government should and should not pay as the cash runs out if a deal is not made by the time borrowing authority runs out.

At that point you'll be able to see what's coming for yourself - and once you do, you won't need me to tell you what ugly is going to look like.

Hitler Holds News Conference, Blames Balanced Budget Amendment For U.S. Defeat

by: fake consultant

Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 09:03:01 AM MST

"All those ideas Mr. Roosevelt spoke of", said Hitler, "Lend-Lease, modular shipbuilding, War Bonds, secret weapons...in the end, all of them were just words, since the Americans' Congress was never willing to allow the country to fully fund its war effort."  

On My Last Weekend, Or, Wanna Save A Few Trillion On Health Care?

by: fake consultant

Sun Jul 24, 2011 at 06:56:33 AM MST

Instead, I'm going to jump into my own personal life for today's story, and I'm going to do it so that we can stimulate some thinking about where we really need to go to if we ever hope to make some sense out of the crazy way we deliver health care in this country.

Since this appears to be the weekend that a lot of decisions are either going to be made about the future of our "social safety net"...or they wont; we're entirely unsure...let's talk about how it actually works for a lot of us - and how it could work a lot better.

If Senator Bennet wants to cut $530 BILLION from Medicare he should tell us

by: Zappatero

Thu May 19, 2011 at 16:20:54 PM MST

A bipartisan group of Senators has been working to craft a comprehensive deficit reduction package based upon the recommendations of the Fiscal Commission.  While we may not agree with every aspect of the Commission's recommendations, we believe that its work represents an important foundation to achieve meaningful progress on our debt.

That bipartisan group, the "Gang of Six", was in discussions to cut up to $530 BILLION from future Medicare expenditures.

When Gang of Six talks broke down due to Senator Tom Coburn's congenital defects (hypocrisy and lying) Senator Bennet protested that the Gang was still viable and that the talks should continue:

"I don't think it's dead. And I think, in fact, I would say that has some of the most promise we have because we've got three Democrats, three Republicans, working together to try to come up with a plan."

And with all that one can only ask why Bennet wanted the job in the first place.  

Because if he is too cowardly to tell the people of our state that he, too, thinks we need to cut that money from our elderly and sick then he is not properly representing us. And he has no business taking the $174,000 salary we pay him to analyze our nation's problems and make the tough policy decisions that the job, and our citizens, rightly demand.

Only 1 In 5 12th Graders Proficient In Civics, And We Wonder Why The Nation Is In Trouble?

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Thu May 05, 2011 at 06:33:47 AM MST

Our system of government seems to be broken, and there is a reason, basically the people who put in the base inputs, the voters who elect governing officials, don't understand how their government works.

We live in a nation that has an increasingly dysfunctional government. We have seen it in the way that the Senate in the 111th Congress was completely broken by the unprecedented use of the filibuster and holds on legislation. More than 400 bills which passed the House never saw a vote in the Senate for this very reason.

It is even worse than that when you have a House of Representatives that votes on a bill that insists that if the Senate does not act on a bill it has already voted down, then the House bill will become and I quote "the law of the land". The fact that this bill completely flew in the face of the tripartite system of government we have did not prevent it from being brought to a vote and garnering a majority of the House, all those voting for it being Republicans.

It is the kind of thing that activists and political junkies know but don't really think about, that most Americans don't have a working grasp of how things actually work in government but a new report out today show just how bad things really are.

There is a set of tests that are given in the 4th, 8th and 12th grades. As part of these tests there are questions about civics, the basic functions of the Federal government. Only one in 5 12th graders answered well enough to be considered to have a proficient or advanced understanding of the subject.  

On Happy-ing Their Gilmores, Or, Will Body Bags Be The New Gold Watch?

by: fake consultant

Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 04:20:09 AM MST

I have been encouraging folks to take advantage of the recent Congressional recess to have a few words with your CongressCritter about the proposed Death Of Medicare and all the proposed cuts to Social Security...and you have, as we'll discuss...and now we have an opportunity to do something on a national scale, just as we did a few weeks ago in support of Social Security.

This time, we're going to concentrate on fighting the idea that retirement ages should go up before we become eligible for Social Security and Medicare (and elements of Medicaid, as well), and that Americans should just keep right on working until the age of 67 or so-which isn't going to be any big problem...really...trust us.

Now that just makes no sense, and to help make the point we have a really cool video that you can pass around to all your friends-and your enemies, for that matter, since they'll also have to worry about what happens to them if they should ever make it to old age.  

On Fighting To Win, Or, A Tale Of Two Kinds Of Democrats

by: fake consultant

Sun Apr 17, 2011 at 14:35:42 PM MST

Over and over and over people like me have written stories wondering why Democrats, starting with this President, don't get out in a very public way and slam Republican policies, over and over and over-especially when most Americans hate the things Republicans seem to love to support.

Turning over Government to the highest bidder?
Not so popular.

Going back to a heathcare system run by, for, and of the insurance industry?
Again, not so much.

Jacking up taxes and healthcare costs for you and me in order to provide another trillion in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires?
So unpopular pollsters hardly believe it.

But there is another way, and today's story is in two parts: we're going to talk about how hard it is to get Democrats, as a group, to get loud and get aggressive-and then we're going to talk about Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who is out there showing any reluctant Democrat just exactly how you can "grow the brand".

DADT Update: The Service Chiefs Report, The Republicans Fret

by: fake consultant

Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 10:48:45 AM MST

There was a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday that had all four Services represented; with one exception these were the same Service Chiefs that were testifying last December when the bill to set the repeal process in motion was still a piece of prospective legislation.

At that time there was concern that the "combat arms" of the Marines and the Army were going to be impacted in a negative way by the transition to "open service"; the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Army's Chief of Staff were the most outspoken in confirming that such concerns exist within the Pentagon as well.

We now have more information to report-including the increasing desperation of some of our Republican friends-and if you ask me, I think things might be better than we thought.

Negotiating With Mad Men - Republicans And The Debt Ceiling

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Mon Apr 11, 2011 at 07:14:28 AM MST

We owe a lot of money in the form or Treasury bonds. Right now we pay a very, very low rate of interest on that debt. Part of the reason that we do so is that everyone in the world is confident that the U.S. is not going to default on that debt.

The reason that we must raise the debt ceiling is that we just passed a budget that will spend more than we take in this year. That combined with the maturing of previously sold bonds means that we must borrow more money in the form of bonds to meet these obligations. The problem is that the amount we can borrow is limited by law and would have to be raised by Congress.

If they do not raise that limit then someone, somewhere is not going to be paid the money they are owed by the United States. That brings up the question of how safe any of those bonds are. When that happens the amount of interest that bond buyers require to loan us money will go up and everything the government does becomes more expensive. That is before we get into the follow on problems for the global economy where the United States represents 40% of the total.  

Time For A Bold And Ideological Democratic Budget!

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Wed Apr 06, 2011 at 06:28:02 AM MST

So, now that House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan has unveiled his steaming tightly coiled pile of a budget the argument in the media is starting. It is to be strongly hoped that the Traditional Media outlets will look at the facts of this budget.

You know the little problems like the draconian cuts are not going to actual deficit reduction because they are being used to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Just to raise your blood pressure a little this morning, let me give you and example. Under this budget a single person making $75,000 a year (a nice chunk of change) would pay the same tax rates as people who make multiple millions a year.

Another issue that has to be brought up again and again is that this budget would gut the newly minted financial regulations, would gut the EPA, would gut the Social Security Administration (setting up the argument that it is poorly run and needs to be ended all together) as well as ending Medicare and Medicaid as we know them within ten years.

As if all that shite were not enough, there is the fact that like all of the proposals that Rep. Ryan puts forward, the numbers don't work. He assumes that if we pass his budget in 4 years, just 48 months, the unemployment rate will fall to 4%.

I'd love that to happen, but I have this mental defect, I can't get behind something that has no basis in reality, or as in this case is actually counter factual. Over the last two years the only thing that has kept the economy afloat was major federal spending. Business is sitting on 1.4 trillion in cash and has shown no sign of wanting to use it to stimulate demand. Rep. Ryan wants to slash hundreds of billions from the budget every year for the next decade. Is there really anyone out there who thinks that the resultant loss of jobs is going to improve the growth rate or the unemployment numbers?

If there was anything to this, then we would have had the boom that Rep. Ryan and the Heritage Foundation both predicted from the original Bush tax cuts. Instead of job growth we lost 600,000 private sector jobs in that time period. I think we have been "trickled down" upon enough to show that it is insane and does not work.

There is one piece of the Republican push that I do agree with; there is no plan from the Democrats, yet. For all its flaws (and lets face it they are legion) the Republicans have put forward an ideological marker for budgets. Everyone can see they want to slash government at the expense of the young, the poor and the elderly. I think it is more than a little bit of political suicide, but this is what you get when the inmates run the asylum as has happened with the modern Republican Party.  

Social Security: Are You Ready For A Congressional "Video Staycation"?

by: fake consultant

Sun Apr 03, 2011 at 22:00:18 PM MST

Now what I have for you today starts out as a bit of insider information that came to me on background-but it turns into a chance for those of us who support Social Security to very much get in the faces of our members of Congress, for two whole weeks.

And to make it even better, I'm going to throw out a few direct action ideas "for your consideration" (as they say in Hollywood during Awards Season) that would absolutely make good street actions and YouTube videos, both at the same time...and even more importantly, we'll absolutely make some great Spring Break fun.  

On Monday Morning Philosophy, Or, Founders Tell America: "You Figure It Out"

by: fake consultant

Tue Mar 22, 2011 at 12:05:04 PM MST

Some among us have managed to turn their certainty into something that approaches a reverential calling, and you need look no further than the Supreme Court to find such notables as Cardinals Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia providing "liturgical foundation" to the adherents of the point of view that the Constitution is like The Bible: that it's somehow immutable, set in stone, and, if we would only listen to the right experts, easily interpreted.

But what if that absolutist point of view is absolutely wrong?

What if the Original Intent Of The Founders, that summer in Philadelphia...was simply to get something passed out of the Constitutional Convention, and the only way that could happen was to leave a lot of the really tough decisions to the future?

What if The Real Original Intent...was that we work it out for ourselves as we go along?

Don't let these 'Democrats' get away with it either

by: wade norris

Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 12:55:14 PM MST

On Taking It Back, Or, Wisconsin Recalls, Explained

by: fake consultant

Mon Mar 14, 2011 at 00:22:10 AM MST

Unfortunately, other important news has forced itself to the front of the line, and it's going to demand that we break schedule, whether we like it or not.

That's why today we're going to be talking about Wisconsin, and how workers there are fighting back against the State's Republican legislators and Governor, who seem to have gone out of their way this past three weeks to govern without the consent of the governed.

It's kind of chilly today in Wisconsin...but I can assure you, things are heating up fast-and it ain't because of spring.