Weekend Open Thread

103
  by: Colorado Pols Sat February 20, 2010 at 4:01 PM MDT

“Anger may in time change to gladness, vexation may be succeeded by content.”

–Sun Tzu


Full story: Weekend Open Thread

103 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  3. Libertad says:
    Sat February 20, 2010 at 6:39 PM MDT

    This article lays out a nice summary of the Bennet-Reid Democratic Mercy Tour.

    Turning their face toward corporate contributions with bug eyes and gaping mouths they inhaled one time photo ops at $15,000 a piece.

    *$14,570 is a 2 person household at 100% FPL

    By: Julie Mason – Washington Examiner

    DENVER — Complaining that America has grown “numb” from “slash and burn politics,” President Obama urged Democrats here to keep faith with the party and ignore the noise from Washington.

    Back in full-throated campaign mode, Obama is on a two-day swing through the West trying to shore up a pair of his party’s embattled Senate incumbents.

    snip

    Both candidates — Michael Bennet in Colorado and Harry Reid in Nevada — will test the president’s ability to re-elect Democrats as a ruthless anti-incumbent sentiment takes hold with voters.

    snip

    It’s unusual for an incumbent president to get involved in primary contests, but Bennet is considered a high-risk candidate among a handful of Democratic incumbents in the Senate, where Obama is in danger of losing his majority.

    He has joined 16 other mostly Senate Democrats calling on Reid, the Senate majority leader, to try to pass a health plan including a government-run insurance program using a procedural maneuver that requires 51 votes rather than the 60 normally required. Bennet also voted for a union lawyer Obama had nominated to the National Labor Relations Board whose appointment was blocked by a bipartisan coalition.

    Obama won Colorado in 2008, and his popularity among state Democrats could help Bennet. At the same time, the 39 percent disapproval rating among Coloradans for Obama’s job performance in a Gallup poll last week was the worst in any state he won two years ago.

    Obama may prove a political boon to Norton, who began a tough new television ad to coincide with his visit, calling on the president to “pledge to balance the budget or decline to see re-election.”

    After two fundraisers for Bennet in Denver, Obama was heading to Las Vegas to campaign for Reid.

    Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer….

    • Froward69 says:
      Sat February 20, 2010 at 7:49 PM MDT
      By John Tomasic 2/17/10 4:16 PM

      U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton railed against Sen. Michael Bennet this week for a letter he wrote in favor of passing health reform legislation that includes a public insurance option. She believes Coloradans don’t want a public option because she thinks they don’t want lawmakers to pass any health reform legislation at all. She says Bennet was treating the wishes of Coloradans with contempt. But a Research 2000 Colorado poll suggests it’s just the opposite, that the majority of Coloradans want reform and are in favor of a public health insurance option.

      read more.

      http://coloradoindependent.com…

      • MADCO says:
        Sat February 20, 2010 at 10:54 PM MDT

        getting all facty and information based.

        Don’t you get it yet?  Anything is only true if the R’s say it- and it fits their talking points.

        I was for a bi-partisan debt commission, hell I co-sponsored the legislation. Until the President signed on – then I voted against my own bill

        I was robocalling to tell seniors that health care reform would cut their medicare, until I had to take a time out to go vote with 99 other Senators on a bill that guarenatees health care reform cannot cut Medicare.

        Tax cuts?! Hell yes, tax cuts is how we deal with a recession…. until the president’s plan gives 95% of American taxpayers a tax cut, then I hate the idea.

        Stimulus – pfft what a waste of money. … untilt he ARRA money is coming to my district, then I’m the one handing over the big check for the photo op

        and on and on and on

        • RedGreenRedGreen says:
          Sat February 20, 2010 at 11:01 PM MDT

          And part of the problem for Democrats in Colorado is there aren’t enough Republican elected officials making those arguments (because there aren’t very many elected Republicans), so there’s less for Democrats to push back against on the ground. When some GOP congressman rolls these out in Ohio, it makes the Rachel Maddow Show, but it doesn’t make the Denver Post or 9News.

        • dwyer says:
          Mon February 22, 2010 at 2:49 AM MDT

          For those of you unfortunate enough to have a real life and were unable to devote six hours of time to talk radio this weekend. Let me tell you what was going on.  (NO problem no thanks, necessary MOTR)  It was our old friend Bob Beauprez holding forth on the republican talking points, he talked for one whole hour non-stop, w/o taking a breathe or a call.  Here is the mantra

          The elections in VA,NJ and MA have overturned the 2008 national election. The people have spoken and so it is the constitutional responsibility of the Republican Party to represent the people of the US and vote no on everything that the dems in Congress are trying to do.

          Six hours. Free Time. On the Radio. On the public airwaves which belong to the people. NO DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE.

    • Half Glass FullHalf Glass Full says:
      Mon February 22, 2010 at 2:23 PM MDT

      I guess $750 to listen to a quitter paid $100,000 to give her whiney little speech is much more proletarian.

  4. DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
    Sat February 20, 2010 at 6:39 PM MDT

    from the Denver Post

    Mitchell and Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, are among the sponsors of House Bill 1049, which would give terminated dealers the right of first refusal should the company try to open another facility in the same market or they would be compensated for their investments.

    I can’t speak to how GM/Chrysler are treating the dealers (two groups that deserve each other). But for a legislator who usually speaks about how the government should not get involved in the market – Mitchell is sure fast to change his tune when it’s government protection for major GOP contributors.

    Senator Mitchell, how about a little intellectual consistency?

  5. DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
    Sat February 20, 2010 at 6:57 PM MDT

    The state and lots of local government bodies (like BVSD) are looking at layoffs because of the upcoming budget cuts. Instead of throwing a bunch more people out of work, further extending the recession, what about…

    That they do what many of us did in the private sphere – 10% pay cuts across the board. Generally implemented on a sliding scale so it’s more than 10% for people at the top and less at the bottom – but overall a 10% reduction in total salaries.

    We did this at my company and it was very well received. (We are back up to full salaries except for a couple of the top people – including me.) And it let us continue to work on new products which is now helping us increase sales.

    • colorado76 says:
      Sat February 20, 2010 at 9:30 PM MDT

      There is no magic budget cut that somehow everyone has missed that can remove hundreds of millions in expenses without affecting education (or any other government service).  School districts are definitely looking at salary reductions but generally schoolteachers aren’t living on a budget with ten percent discretionary income that they’re currently spending on wine and movie tickets.  Their salaries just aren’t designed that way.  Trust me if you did a little research into what is going on right now you’d see that all options are on the table. But the idea that the system is currently coasting along with unnecessary salary expenses that are greater than or equal to the amount of each budget deficit is just a fantasy.  

  6. ClubTwittyClubTwitty says:
    Sat February 20, 2010 at 7:18 PM MDT

    at CPAC.  Since he’ll quite likely be in the 2012 pool, let’s look at these:


    Updated at 10:50 a.m. EST. It took awhile, but after a long windup, Pawlenty got down to brass tacks and offered “four ideas that should carry us forward.”

      1. “The first one is this: God is in charge,” he said. He spoke of the Declaration of Independence and the Founding Fathers, who wrote: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  ”If it good enough for the Founding Fathers,” he said, “it should be good enough for each and everyone of us.”

      2. “We can’t spent what we don’t have,” the governor said. He recalled growing up in a family that “didn’t have a lot of money” and his mom saying that they had to “live within our means.” He then took a shot at the president. If government spending were an Olympic sport, he said, Obama “would be a repeat gold medalist.”

      3. “People spend money differently when it is their money.” He warned about government wasting money — our money — on ways that we wouldn’t if we were in control of spending it.

      4. “Lastly . . . bullies prey on weakness not strength.” He spoke directly to Obama. “I have a message for President Obama . . . Mr. President, no more apology tours and no more giving Miranda rights to terrorists.”

    And consider:

    1. Pawlenty’s God’s? Romney’s? Rep. Cantor’s? Rep. Ellison’s?  And in the name of the Founding Fathers too–shameful.  

    2.  Obama may be an Olympic contender on spending, but the GOP still holds the Gold.  The irony hurts.  

    3.  Vacuous blah blah, shouldn’t count as a separate ‘idea.’  I bet he wrote his school papers in (the then-equivalent-of) 14 point type.  

    4. Yeah, and the world needs to fight terrorism together if we are going to keep it contained.  Re-read the alleged inspiration for the first ‘idea.’

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…

    Final Grade: Pandering Dumbass.

    http://content.usatoday.com/co…

    • gertie97 says:
      Sat February 20, 2010 at 9:17 PM MDT

      Your whining is getting tiresome. Just pick up the horn, call DOR and keep asking for supervisors until you get an answer.

      Bureaucracies are bureaucracies and a smart guy like you should know how to negotiate one. You don’t do it through cutsie “gotcha” e-mails. Not if you want an answer.

      • DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
        Sat February 20, 2010 at 9:25 PM MDT

        The big issue is how inefficiently the state is run. And it’s not just that it means we get less done for our tax dollar, it means people who are unemployed do not get benefit checks and families go hungry, and in one case a child died.

        You can call that whining. I call that wanting to do right by those who need our help.

      • DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
        Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:42 PM MDT

        from the Denver Post

        When retired librarian Jeanne Hamer needed help, the Denver probate court appointed a guardian who sold many of her belongings to himself and billed her hundreds of times for walking with her and reading poetry to her. And, as a protected person, she nearly starved to death.

        A 50-year-old Denver man with early dementia and the AIDS virus engaged in unprotected sex while under a guardian’s supervision. And after that, the Denver probate court heard nothing about him from his guardian for five years.

        William Gostele and a female friend racked up $83,517 in expenses on behalf of his brother before the Denver probate court asked why a single, elderly man was paying for frequent plane flights and spending up to $1,300 a month for groceries.

        One hero in the story is:

        The cases of Hamer, Gostele and the HIV-positive ward were brought to the court’s attention by Caroline Cammack, an employee responsible for tasks ranging from customer service and scheduling to helping the judge manage cases.

        So of course, she had to go:

        Stewart declined to discuss the court’s decision to fire Cammack, who contends she is a whistle-blower terminated one month after she started complaining about the court’s failure to monitor a ward with the AIDS virus.

        The court did provide Cammack’s personnel file. It contains a positive evaluation signed in November 2008 that praised her integrity and commitment, “a quality employee by any standard.”

        By no measure does this count as a competent operation:

        But the state office still cannot say how many guardians and conservators are filing required reports on time – or even how many cases the courts have statewide.

        We owe the people of this state a competently run government. This is not Republican vs Democrat. This is not what services should the state provide and at what level. This is the simple implementation & execution of those services the state is presently supposed to deliver.

        And the state of Colorado is failing it’s people.

        • harrydobyharrydoby says:
          Sun February 21, 2010 at 11:08 PM MDT

          Found this gem after 15 seconds of Googling:

          http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Vot…

          Colorado’s costly computers

          [Clearly the managers of computer projects in Colorado are grossly incompetent. Of course the vendors take full advantage of this incompetence to steal millions.]

          CBMS – The $223 million welfare-benefits system, developed by EDS and used by the counties and the state, has been hampered by many problems since it was unveiled in 2004. In April, the federal government ordered the state to repay $11.2 million in overpaid benefits.

          CSTARS – The Department of Revenue’s new program stalled in April, after the state spent about $10 million. The program by Avanade was providing incorrect information to some law enforcement officers.

          ERP – The department of transportation’s computerized paycheck system delivered loads of problems late last year and early this year. The $38 million system was developed by SAP.

          Genesis – The state paid $24.2 million to Accenture to update its unemployment insurance program. The total contract was $40.8 million, but officials terminated the program in December 2005. Key parts of the program – monitoring taxes paid by employers and benefits paid to workers – don’t work.

          SCORE – Accenture was hired to provide the program for computerized voting records, but the contract was canceled in November 2005. The state had spent $1.5 million on the $10.5 million contract, but the contractor “missed every deadline.” In late December, the company agreed to refund $2 million.

          Granted, these were all started under Gov. Owens, but it seems the entrenched bureaucratic mindset persists.

          Not to oversimplify, but since the money clearly isn’t there to hire more auditors to monitor the court-appointed guardians and the annual reports they are supposed to file, an efficient reporting system, probably such as the one you developed, would likely save the state millions, and possibly lives.

          If I recall, the unemployment system was really hokey — the extent of the automation was to capture the 45 page paper-based system in its entirety, rather than take the opportunity to re-examine just what information was actually necessary to provide service to the taxpayers and users.

          • fatboy says:
            Mon February 22, 2010 at 4:08 AM MDT

            DoR is 2+ years into a 5 yr $56M program buy call CITA.  The contractor is Fast Enterprises.

            • DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
              Mon February 22, 2010 at 7:15 AM MDT

              Shouldn’t they be called Slow Enterprises? And how on earth does any software project take 5 years?

              • harrydobyharrydoby says:
                Mon February 22, 2010 at 7:41 AM MDT

                $56 million — it’s hard to write the billable hours invoices any faster than that.

                I shouldn’t be so flip.  They are a Greenwood Village-based Tax Accounting software and consulting firm.  Careful David, they could be the ones collecting your s/w sales tax revenue one day.  

                In fact, maybe you need to send them your questions on how it’s supposed to work, since it’ll be their software.

                What’s odd is that their website indicates their strength is from the software being configurable, not dependent upon custom modifications.  So, yes, the 5 year implementation would indicate that the OIT has managed to ask for customizations to specialized government agency software that isn’t supposed to need it.

                • harrydobyharrydoby says:
                  Mon February 22, 2010 at 7:55 AM MDT

                  Turns out it was a last minute deal in the waning days of the Owens administration.  

                  But Locatis is proud of the deal:

                  Taxation: Locatis gives the Owens administration an A+ on its last-minute contract to buy an off-theshelf

                  tax system to replace a jury-rigged mess with parts that date to the 1960s. Fast Enterprises of

                  Greenwood Village has installed its program in numerous other jurisdictions, and will adjust it to fit

                  Colorado’s tax laws. The $56 million project is the first installation to be supervised by Locatis’ team

                  and “the one we’re most proud of.”

    • fatboy says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 1:57 AM MDT

      The executive director of the Department of Revenue is a republican.

  8. butterfly says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 2:03 AM MDT

    Can anyone point me to a place where there is concise information on every bill that passed the State House and who voted Yes or No on it for this year and last year.

    I need an accurate summary of each bill to, hopefully, reduce the amount of reading time required.

    Also whether it passed the Senate.

    I am specifically looking for information about votes by a specific House District Representative.

    Thanks!

    • Ralphie says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 2:10 AM MDT

      The Legislature’s web site.

      http://www.leg.state.co.us

      Learn to use it.

      Bills and journals for last year are listed under “Prior sessions” link.

      Good luck.

          • butterfly says:
            Sun February 21, 2010 at 7:35 PM MDT

            If it takes ‘a few days’ to figure out what is where, it surely is more complicated and inefficient than it should be.  

            One of the things that might help is a page where the jargon is defined/explained to those of us who don’t use it every day.

            How about a search function?  Search for an individual, or multiple, legislators… then a bill, or multiple bills (with the ability to select multiple bills individually and also by topic or committee that they progressed through)… then votes on those bills.  The result would list the bills (with links to the original bill), the legislators, and how the legislators voted.  Why wouldn’t this be a possibility?

            Other scenarios could also be available via search functions.  No?

            • Ralphie says:
              Sun February 21, 2010 at 7:59 PM MDT

              The fact that it takes a while to learn what’s there is not because the site is inefficient, it’s because there is so much there.  It’s actually quite well organized.  But you have to be somewhat familiar with the legislative process, and that’s not a bad thing.  I think it’s a great resource.  The only problem with it is that you can’t snap your fingers.

              You can search bills by sponsor, just not votes.  But the votes only occur on certain days, and the status sheets tell you which days so you can find the votes in the journal.

              The journal is THE ONLY official record of legislative business.

              To answer your question, though, of course it’s possible.  The thing is, who’s going to pay for it?  Me?  I already know how to use the site.

              Besides, when somebody wants me to do that stuff, I get paid by the hour.

              • VoyageurVoyageur says:
                Sun February 21, 2010 at 8:16 PM MDT

                I also learned to master this stuff by taking the Legal Research class at Community College of Denver.  It’s a great program.

              • butterfly says:
                Sun February 21, 2010 at 10:21 PM MDT

                Ahhh. More good information and an ulterior motive to NOT make things easier.  :)

                I appreciate your help, really!  But this sounds a little bit like “We can’t simplify the tax code because it would put so many CPAs out of work.”  That is a poor excuse to not simply the tax code.  Besides, no offense to some CPAs, but many have such conniving minds that they would soon find another use for their conniving minds.  Or maybe it would really be bad because it would push more conniving minds into big banks where they could figure out how to lose more money.

                I’ll be trying to spend some time learning about the legislative process and where to find information… using your good comments.  Thanks Ralphie!

        • MADCO says:
          Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:40 AM MDT

          I’m sure we’ll be interested too

          • Ralphie says:
            Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:12 PM MDT

            Has been tasked with doing some opposition research.  

            It’s all there on the Leg. web site, but having done it before, it’s going to be a long slog.  He or she is going to have to look up every bill in the status sheet then go through all the journals for the days when the bill was scheduled for action.

            If he or she wants to do a thorough job, committee votes will have to be tallied too.  And procedural votes and amendments.

            Since it’s the House and not the Senate, it’s an even longer slog.

    • redstateblues says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 3:26 AM MDT

      In addition, every bill has to have a common sense, plain language summary before the actual language of the bill. You can find everything you said you needed in that post at the legislature’s website.

      • Awen says:
        Sun February 21, 2010 at 4:46 PM MDT

        Only reflect the bill at its introduction; any substantive changes are NOT reflected in the summary. Sorry.

        • butterfly says:
          Sun February 21, 2010 at 7:16 PM MDT

          Here I was hoping for something easier but it sounds like there is no easy way to tally votes for numerous bills for individual legislators.

          As a Senator, President Obama had on his website a list of all bills that had come to a vote, with the bill # (linked to the actual bill), the Title (sometimes not terribly explanatory), and his actual vote.  Wouldn’t it be nice if that type record was kept, not by individual legislators, but by maybe the office that updates the state webpages?  Or at least in some manner where we could be assured that that record did not evaporate, even after the legislator left office.

          I am getting the feeling that legislators want to tell you that they are being transparant and are giving you all the information but at the same time they are putting the information in a format that is difficult to pull together in different ways.  Maybe the State needs to hire David?

          It could even be put in a table on a web page.  A table that would be much easier to read if you could freeze the column labels and the left column, similar to the way you can do that in Excel.  Is there a way to do that on a webpage?

          Thanks, all of you, for your help!

          • Ralphie says:
            Sun February 21, 2010 at 7:21 PM MDT

            Is to hire 20 sophomore poli-sci majors and delegate.

            • butterfly says:
              Sun February 21, 2010 at 8:02 PM MDT

              Ok, Ralphie.  Get to It!  Let the Hiring Begin!

              Ok, so that takes money.  Do you think that they would volunteer… for the experience and as a ‘giving back’ to their state voters?

              But I want a search function that is versatile and multi-faceted!  So they would also need to be programmers.  Don’t forget date ranges, bill # ranges, issues, party affiliation etc. Readability of reports is also important.  For example, ‘No’ votes should, at the very least, be italicized to distinguish them.  Some of the reports could possibly be modeled after some of the Federal reports where you can request the report with different parameters.

              Ok, so maybe I am not being very realistic.  I am looking for a long term fix, not a one-time report.  An easy way to determine how every member of either the House or the Senate voted on a range of bills, issues etc.

          • WesternSlopeThought says:
            Sun February 21, 2010 at 11:46 PM MDT

            Dave Mason’s “Is Alive” album to be issued on CD or mp3.  So far, it ain’t to be.  So I make do with the vinyl and cassette.  I mean, I’ve been researching the McInnis congressional activities.  Try the congressional record if you want to gain an appreciation of Colorado’s site.  

            Time constraints?  I remember a time when if you wanted to read a proposed bill, you had to write to or stop by your congressman’s office for a copy.  And libraries were slow to keep up with legislation.  But today’s world is one where everyone demands immediacy.  Not a bad thing in itself but I believe that there is so much information now available, someone will always complain that the particular information they are searching for doesn’t spring up like a video game character.

        • redstateblues says:
          Sun February 21, 2010 at 10:32 PM MDT

          I guess people still have to read the actual bills too, heaven forbid. It should really just be psychically transmitted into our brains so nobody ever has to look anything up.

  9. peacemonger says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 4:57 AM MDT

    Also, RedStateBlues, thanks for your instructions for adding links. I am having a blast with them.

    Look, I can make a link, now. Watch out, Wade.

    • Ralphie says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 5:00 AM MDT

      earlier this week.

      The problem is, I don’t remember which thread it was.

      Check the open threads for the last week.  There should be a step-by-step in there.

    • redstateblues says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 5:38 AM MDT

      The easiest way to do a link in a Soap Blox blog like Colorado Pols or Square State is to put in brackets like this:

      [url(space)link text]

      If you don’t feel like doing it (I get lazy all the time and don’t) you can still paste a long url into the comment or diary body and Soap Blox will truncate it into a link.

      Basically, there’s no excuse not to post links on this blog.

    • MADCO says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:57 AM MDT

      http://www.w3schools.com/html/…

      and follow the instructions.

      Google has  instructions too and they aren’t bad- especially for Youtube vids with embed code*.

      Meanwhile- realize this:

      - partly when you are typing here (mostly) you are typing alphanumerics.

      - But sometimes you are typing HTML code- some character to start an italic, < followed by an i

      and some string to end it the closed bracket and a slash and the i

      HTML is just code to tell the “comment” box what to do

      - make this italics

      - make this underlined

      make this a different color

      And it appears the Comment box will accept standard HTML

      So- for video, you can cut and past the url. And the box will turn it into a link.

      Like so  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

      Or you can use the “embed” code- and the actual video will show up here. Or photo – though the embed for photos is typically harder.

      *The cool thing about youtube is it often gives you the embed code down to the right (not the same as the url_ and you can just cut and paste it- and voilГ !  you have the Senator doing his thing right here (for example)


  10. Sir RobinSir Robin says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 5:11 AM MDT

    When on any given morning you see consecutive headlines that read:

    “US bank lending falls at the fastest rate in history”,

    “Lending to British businesses falls at record pace”,

    “UK mortgage lending falls to 10-year low “,

    “Shock as British deficit equals that of Greece” and

    “Britain posts first deficit for January since records began”

    is your first thought that the economic recovery is nicely on pace? If so, perhaps a Tiger Woods press-op is more your thing.

    How about we add this one:

    “Fed raises interest rate on emergency loans to banks”

    Think perhaps that would switch on the light?

    See, what those headlines tell us is that the spigots on the private sector are not just closed, they’re still tightening ever more. While at the same time, government debt keeps rising. There can be only one conclusion. The only thing that lets our economies continue to exude a semblance of normality is the dwindling rests of our own remaining wealth, and we are not only not adding any, we are spending what is left, and fast. Our governments, eager to stay in power and remain wealthy, keep us thinking we’re doing just fine, borrow enormous amounts of money in world markets that is not used for any sort of recovery, but instead to pay for the debts of a small group of people who gained access to our full faith and credit by buying the representatives we elect.

    And once the Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates, while simultaneously drawing down its purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, we will come to understand that we have been living in a soapbubble of our own making, built at the expense of many trillions of dollars and that this bubble is about to pop. That is true in the US as it is in the UK, and all the attention presently squandered on Greece and Ireland is but a trick to make us look the other way for a little bit longer, until everything of value has been stripped from around us and we can wake up one day to find all support and stimulus measures vanished into thin air, a bad moon rising, and a cold wind blowing through the cracks of our unheated MacMansions, with no gas stations able to supply us with the fuel to get out and get away.

    That’s what these headlines say. With all the money thrown at the issues, everything keeps reaching record lows. And all our governments can think of is to spend more. Until they don’t.

    One year ago, stock markets had almost reached their then low. The amount of public funds spend since to lift those markets are truly mind-boggling, and their effect now, predictably, turns out to be short-lived. The rich have gotten richer, and the poor have gotten an awful lot poorer in that year. They just don’t know it yet, or at least not the full and true extent, but once the numbers are crunched on government and central bank purchases of lenders’ defunct mortgage loans and their own sovereign debt (how’s that for a Ponzi scheme?), you will know just how destitute you’ve become. And it’ll be too late to do anything about it. You’ll have let yourself be fooled for too long. And, to use an ancient metaphor, find yourself one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind. Or is that a thousand debt payments?

    ………………

    How much denial is there regarding the existing situation? Is it politically correct, or cowardly, to deny reality?

    IMHO politics is getting in the way of necessity.

    • MADCO says:
      Sun February 21, 2010 at 7:06 AM MDT

      Seriously- there are national economies that are doing pretty well (BRIC) relative to us and the Euro zone. Are you suggesting we should be more like them?

      I have an idea- let’s elect leadership that actually talks about  it. Intelligently and with a multi-generational perspective. Leaders who talk about making decisions that will set us on the better path (or not) for the next 50 years.

      Politics has almost always gotten in the way of necessity. What do you recommend?

      • Sir RobinSir Robin says:
        Mon February 22, 2010 at 3:55 AM MDT

        What can be done? Dwyer above references the Beauprez radio time with no Democrat responding. I appreciate Dywer’s indignance. Is my memory correct in that Reagan suspended or changed laws that prevented the type of media control we’re seeing now. I’d start there.

        Journalism needs to be diverse, local, and vibrant.

        “Mass Media” ….terrible idea.

        MADCO, thanks for honoring me with a tremendous question. I’m starting Sunday night dinner right now, but would love to give my two cents worth in upcoming posts.

        I actually like Ron Paul when he says, “We should not be a welfare state, or a warfare state.” If we turned the resources of war to resource communities, we wouldn’t need welfare.  

  11. DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 7:03 AM MDT

    Thank goodness there are schools like Texas Christian University where god-fearing students can get an education. From Fox News

    BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. – Authorities in Breckenridge won’t file any charges in the case of a Texas Christian University student who suffered burns when his peers branded his buttocks during a ski trip to Colorado.

    That decision was announced Thursday after prosecutors reviewed the statements from Amon Carter IV and a dozen TCU students.

  12. DavidThi808DavidThi808 says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:48 PM MDT

    Granted, we’ve had worse ones proposed this session. But today’s, from the Denver Post is:

    Sponsored by Democratic Sens. Rollie Heath of Boulder and Chris Romer of Denver, Senate Bill 133 would give employers a tax credit for rehiring workers they’d laid off in 2009 and who had worked for the businesses at least a year.

    First off guys, a tax credit is a tax credit – they skew the system and are based on a fundamental belief that getting businesses to make specific choices are in the interest of the state. Why on earth is re-hiring person A more useful then new hire person B?

    But there is a more fundamental issue here. The first round of layoffs at companies tend to be clearing out the deadwood. Some are people where the job they do is not really needed. Others are where the person was doing a marginal job. But in both cases, these are the last people a company should bring back on.

    The impact of this bill, if any company makes a different decision because of it, is to bring on someone of less value to the company than if they make a new hire. So the end result is no additional people working and companies a bit less efficient.

    Let’s hope that the people with management experience in the legislature kill this turkey.

  13. Libertad says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:54 PM MDT

    http://www.thedenverchannel.co…

    DENVER — Authorities need your help finding four former Colorado inmates. They were let out early as part of the Gov. Bill Ritter’s cost saving early prisoner release program. 36 in all have violated their early parole, and as 7News has uncovered, four of them can’t be found.

    Johnie Tarkington, 53, was released from prison 43 days early on Oct. 7, 2009. He failed to check in on Nov. 18, 2009. His prior arrests include, being a felon in possession of a weapon and escape from jail [Denver 2002], as well as arrests for vandalism, burglary, theft and drugs.

    James Johnson, 40, was released 83 days early on Oct. 13, 2009 and failed to check in the same day. He was serving time for fraud and escape. He was convicted of providing false information while selling property to a pawnbroker.

    Steven Lehman, 48, had three days left on his sentence, when he was released early on Dec. 22, 2009. He failed to check in two days later. Lehman has four previous arrests for theft, being a felon in possession of a gun while intoxicated, DUI, criminal impersonation, jumping bail and being a habitual criminal offender. Lehman is under intensive supervision parole, meaning he’s considered an increased risk to the community. Because of his ISP status, Lehman will be required to go back to prison when he’s caught.

    Mark Harris, 41, was released from prison 28 days early on Oct. 5, 2009. He failed to check in Dec. 11, 2009. He was serving time for financial fraud [unauthorized use of a financial device more than $500, but less than $15,000] and drug abuse. Harris also has arrests for possession of a gun while intoxicated, escape from a felony conviction, forgery and theft. He is also a habitual traffic violator with two arrests for DUI and six arrests for driving with a suspended license.

  14. Libertad says:
    Sun February 21, 2010 at 6:59 PM MDT

    http://www.thedenverchannel.co…

    Stapleton Dentist Receives Death Threat After Blocking Medical Pot Dispensary

    DENVER — A Stapleton dentist received a death threat the day she obtained a court injunction blocking a medical marijuana dispensary from opening in her building, TheDenverChannel.com has learned.

    “You f***in’ stupid bitch,” someone who called Dr. Kristin Robbins’ cell phone said. “I will kill you. I will kill you,” according a Denver police request for a search warrant affidavit. The caller then hung up.

    The caller used a “garbled computer-muffled voice” and police want the warrant to obtain phone provider records in an attempt to identify the “blocked number” of the caller.

    Robbins, who is president of the building owners association, declined to comment on the threat Friday.

    There was public outrage in December when people learned that 5280 Wellness LLC planned to open the pot dispensary in a storefront that had been home to a family-oriented coffee shop called Perk & Play.



    snip

    The injunction approved by a Denver judge took effect Jan. 26. Robbins received the threatening call that night, the warrant affidavit said.

  15. SSG_Dan says:
    Mon February 22, 2010 at 1:10 AM MDT

    LONDON – Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” has won six prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards.

    Kathryn Bigelow took the best director prize for the film, beating nominees that included her former husband, “Avatar” director James Cameron.

    “The Hurt Locker” also won prizes for original screenplay, cinematography, editing and sound. “Avatar” picked up awards for production design and visual effects.

    “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” both went into Sunday’s awards with nominations in eight categories, including best picture.

    The awards, known as BAFTAs, are considered an important indicator of likely Oscar success.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201…

    If everyone who wants more understanding about the transition back to The World, please put it your Netflix cue or go to Blockbuster.

    And if you want a double feature, get “The Best Years of Our Lives.”

  16. Half Glass FullHalf Glass Full says:
    Mon February 22, 2010 at 5:20 AM MDT

    This Russian gem… the lyrics are timeless – on a par with Glenn Beck’s speech at CPAC.

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