DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Jena Griswold
60%↑
40%↑
(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%↑
30%
20%↓
(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Somebody
90%
10%
(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Manny Rutinel
(D) Yadira Caraveo
45%↓
40%↑
30%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Jena Griswold
60%↑
40%↑
(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%↑
30%
20%↓
(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Somebody
90%
10%
(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Manny Rutinel
(D) Yadira Caraveo
45%↓
40%↑
30%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
June 06, 2011 10:05 PM UTC
66 Comments
Republican Rep. Scott Tipton 
Tipton has
the printing and franking costs for the 4-page glossy brochure he sent to constituents.
But that $9K for wi-fi on the Aspen bus was a real budget killer.
8 out of 10 are Repugnicants.
Do as I say, not as I do!
But, part of the reason it is 8 of 10 repub on the list is that there aren’t a whole bunch of Freshman Dems.
Still, can’t wait to get redistricted to CD-3 so I can help vote this bum out.
to killing medicare altogehter to save it from Obama’s alleged benefit cuts just write themselves.
Rather, I think I’ll increase that by 60% or so…
I’d love to see someone here post this on his Facebook page. I would post the link to this story but I’m blocked on his page.
posted by a ‘Bob McConnell’ but it disappeared quicker than an ice cream cone in a Cortez August afternoon…
Apparently all those federal dollars and taxpayer largess gets attentive staff when it comes to monitoring the Facebook…
No snark, I just don’t know. Let’s say Tipton made good by cutting his own share of the federal budget in half–is the rest just back in the general fund?
but whether they go to other parts of the House budget or to the general fund, I don’t know.
Former Sen. Wayne Allard always made a big point of spending less and returning money, but I don’t remember to where specifically the money was returned.
Perhaps a former Allard staffer could enlighten us.
but I know a bunch of members circulated a letter in Congress last year encouraging everyone who had extra money in their MRA to return it for purposes relating to paying down (or at least not contributing more to) the deficit.
That may have been more of a publicity stunt, but my understanding was that members returning money from their MRA would be paying it back directly to the general fund.
For more on how the MRA works you’d have to check out the House Ethics Committee page: http://ethics.house.gov/Subjec…
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Except that the old boss at least wanted to get revenues flowing in again…
Tipton is the gift that keeps on giving for Pace or whoever the Democratic candidate turns out to be.
the ads about medicare and medicaid. That whole “no cuts, no privatization” commercial won’t be forgotten.
I read somewhere (NYTimes?) that the Ryan Plan that every Republican voted for KEPT all the Medicare provisions in the Obama plan – that is, cuts to Medicare advantage and spending cuts due to cost savings. Ryan HAD to keep those cuts for Vouchercare to appear even remotely reasonable. But if that’s true then every House Republican, and an overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans have voted FOR Obamacare and AGAINST Medicare.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
from what I’ve read from KFF.org and Kaiser Health News.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.or…
I hadn’t heard anything like that, but I hate reading those type of political articles bc they are so Orwellian. The KHO article is so much more empirical. But thats my source for thinking otherwise. And that scenario you have at the end of your comment, with R freshman voting for ACA provisions. Sounds unlikely.
At issue is whether the Ryan plan repeals Medicare cuts in the Afordable Care Act. It doesn’t. It assumes all of Obama’s cost savings are included.
From the AP:
Tipton was never the “tea party” candidate; he’s 100% purebred GOP establishment. The tea party reluctantly supported him when his Gang from Mesa got him the primary. The guy is no more tea party than John Boehner.
Although Tipton has been working to claim that mantle. They seem to still distrust him though, Bob McConnell quit the GOP and is still on the circuit talking smack.
Stories like this cut into Tipton’s already luke warm TP support…if he is primaried by that wing he might be in real trouble, at least have to spend down some of that hard-earned oil and gas money…
The hypocritical nature of stories like this erode his support in the middle. And his other positions ruin his chances in places like Pitkin and La Plata, while seriously diminishing them in Garfield, Gunnison and the other swing counties in his district.
but I’d bet many of those freshmen ‘pubs are. And they’re spending at a pretty good clip, too.
Tipton FB comment:
1. Promises NO PORK then supports Pitkin $24 million fed $ for busses then;
2. Oops. Doesn’t support busses with wifi
3. Tells Rob Douglas on air that he doesn’t trust Boehner
4. Gets taken to the woodshed by Boehner and recants
5. Supports pork for Pueblo, where he lost to both Mcconnell and Salazar
6. Daughter uses his name to get business for the family business; ethics issue
7. At budget crisis, decides his entire staff is “essential” including his scheduler
8. Found to be the biggest spender of all freshmen
Dear God it’s only June. The folks in Grand Junction have gotten exactly what they deserve. And redistricting won’t do a thing if GJ is still in the picture. They are crazy in Mesa and will do anything to get their boys elected. Really sad.
It will be interesting to see how the GJ daily rag handles this.
article by Mr. Harmon.
Or maybe
But I am not holding my breath. The Sentinel does have some good reporters, the one they hand most of their political stories off to is not one of them…
with the story written by the political reporter, not the fanboy. There was even a comment from Pace, while Tipton’s office offered none.
Worth sharing far and wide. At least Mr. Tipton seems to have made up with weepy-orange-man
http://www.facebook.com/Congre…
Exclusive? Why? Because you can add? You note yourselves that this data comes from another website. Giddy interns running the site over the summer?
Any commercial on this will sound more like a pharma ad after you add all the disclaimers and fine print. You know, with things like “this data doesn’t refer to the budgets of the other 80% of congress.”
PS. Love the giant box where you re-post info found on the other website but put your name at the bottom.
It’s a tough district. ’12 will likely be at least a slightly Dem year. We don’t know where the lines will be. Scott’s likely to have a tough race (if Dems find a real candidate to run) but not because of this bizzare tabloid journalism.
Drip-Drip-Drip…
Completely disproves the notion that Tipton is a profligate spender after he ran as somebody who would stop profligate spending!
Oh wait…
My point that this is an amateur political attack. Maybe he’s a profliage spender, but not because of anything included in the FP post. (In scary voice) “Scott Tipton spent more money on staff salaries than 90 other randomly chosen people out of 425 in congress. Call Scott and tell him you don’t like his random spending….or his randomness… or his face.”
Has he voted for crazy budget items? Has he gone on crazy taxpayer funded junkets? Does he spend some of his office budget on crazy shit?
Have any of you asked yourselves any of these questions before you post or support this genius line of attack?
Lemmings are insufferable, regardless of party.
It’s numbers.
He pledged to cut the government in half. Yet he led all freshmen in spending in his own office. Do as I say, not as I do.
Those aren’t attacks, they’re facts. Sorry you don’t like them.
But compared to all the other freshmen. It’s a specific, rather than ‘random,’ comparison. But I suspect even you are bright enough to know that already. Carry on.
Why is that a politically viable subgroup in this case? It’s just like blondes or guys who drive trucks. Who cares about freshmen exclusively? Why not compare it to everyone?
Why shouldn’t his budget be compared to Lamborn’s or Perlmutter’s? Or the congressmen in MT & AK with huge geographies to cover?
Tipton ran on cutting spending big-time. He needs to walk the walk, and he ain’t doing it.
who didn’t include addressing the budget deficit in his or her campaign.
Oh, but Tipton did so more strenuously? Well there you go! How much more? 22% more strenuously than his 424 peers? Maybe 78% more? So should his staff salary budget reflect his strenuousness accurately?
Instead, does he pay a higher average per employee than his 424 peers?
Coffman has one district office. Should Tipton?
For what’s supposed to be a Dem cycle, you guys are grasping for straws in the dark.
By all means, carry on.
in trying to find reasons why the same district now costs substantially more to serve than it did when Salazar was representing it. Do you know that he has more people? Certainly sounds like his COS is being paid substantially more.
I guess it might cost more due to increased fuel prices. Now you can blame Obama.
and lots of news about new blood, a new freshman class, etc.? It is a perfectly logical comparison.
The ad writes itself.
if that other site did the work. Just having the raw data doesn’t make the work theirs.
I get an EXCLUSIVE! on the census numbers if I’m the first to add them up? Everyone would have to cite me when talking about population growth for groups that I had already added up?
In fact people publish studies all the time that rely on adding up census numbers.
It’s called analysis.
There’s nothing unique about doing simple math on publicly published numbers.
9:30am- DOL releases unemployment numbers.
9:31am- Pols does the math and announces that manufacturing jobs down 18k from last quarter.
9:35am- NYT announces jobs down, cites Pols when mentioning that manufacturing jobs are down 18k.
Next Tuesday- Paul Krugman cites Pols in his column about the recent DOL report because he mentions the drop in manufacturing jobs.
Next quarter – Stanford PhD demographers & economists cite Pols in their newly released 120 pg. report on their national economic forecasts because they included the drop in manufacturing employment numbers.
Absurd.
They provide analysis.
Try a more valid comparison?
explains a lot. Makes you look as small as Pols does when they claim an EXCLUSIVE on simple math done on publicly published numbers to an arbitrary group of congressmen.
You can keep it. Good luck with that.
don’t gain credibility when you move the goalposts in response to criticisms of your flawed observations. You said it wasn’t an “exclusive” because the raw data came from elsewhere, then you compared it to when the DOL releases not-raw-at-all data.
Criticize the quality of the analysis to your heart’s content, but admit your complaint about the work not being really original was invalid. (And admit that I never commented on that analysis or otherwise defended it while you’re at it.)
It’s just a diversion away from Tipton’s rank hypocrisy. Far easier to gin up a criticism of Pols’ style than to defend Tipton.
n/t
http://blog.timesunion.com/cap…
That’s in addition to the “bizarre tabloid journalism” in the Grand Junction Sentinel (below), both news and editorial.
Would you like to keep digging? I’ll bet there are other papers.
Then the answer is Yes.
I don’t see why you don’t get that.
Comparing expenses from a freshman Congressman to somebody with 10 years experience wouldn’t make any sense. The more senior you get, the better committee assignments and higher staff budgets you receive.
Median household in 2005, was $37,674.
Mike Hesse=4.25 average households in Montezuma county. Thanks for the job
scongressman!Behind a pay wall, but here’s a few of the most pertinent parts::
http://www.gjsentinel.com/S=7e…
Apparently it is not only Democrats ‘grasping at straws’ and the notion that it is a ‘random’ group of legislators (rather than a specific group) is fantasy (at least in the minds of many).
that is an excellent, well articulated and to the point op ed.
I think it would be more fair to compare Scott Tipton’s numbers with all 435 House members. Just within the Colorado delegation, he ranks fifth of the seven members. I wonder where he fits in on the list of all 435?
Comparing Tipton to John Salazar was the height of hypocrisy considering the latter doled out $100K of the taxpayers’ money as bonuses to his staff.
The comparison in CO would be with Gardner, whom Tipton also surpasses. CD3 has lost constituents since 2000, yet Tipton is spending more. Even the GJ Sentinel–the Sentinel–is calling for an explanation. The Sentinel.
It would make no sense to compare all 435 House members because they have all served for different lengths of time. The more senior members have larger staffs because of better committee assignments, etc.
The only fair and relevant apples-to-apples comparison is to look at all freshmen members of Congress.
We compared Tipton’s first three months with Salazar’s first three months — again, for the same reason. Salazar was later on the Appropriations Committee, which meant he had more resources for staff. Why would we compare the last three months of Salazar’s tenure with the first three months of Tipton’s office? That would be stupid.
Three months is probably too short a time frame to be dealing with anyhow.
So everything cost the same in 2011 as it did in 2005? Technology… and its cost… is the same as it was six years ago? This is truly comparing apples to oranges and will be quite irrelevant (and forgotten) when 3rd CD voters go to the polls in 2012. What is more likely is that 3rd CD residents will remember Salazar doling out $100,000 of the public’s money in bonuses to his staff, as he left office.
Unfortunately for John, a lot of his constituents remembered he was riding around on his tractor, when his Colorado colleagues were holding contentious town hall meetings on Obamacare during the summer of 2009. I guess he wasn’t interested in hearing what they had to say. I think a lot of them remembered that in November of 2010.
Every representative has the same office budget. The only difference between Tipton and other representatives is that he spent a larger share of his budget on people instead of good and outsourced services. Hardly a scandal and hardly an indication that he is “spendy.”
If you campaign on a stand that government is bloated and needs to be slashed, your office expenditures should reflect that. Instead he’s spending on staff and glossy brochures. Why shouldn’t he have to explain himself?
It’s like people running on a “family values” platform. Once you run as an idealist, your own life MUST be in line with those ideals.