May 31, 2012 08:34 PM UTC

Colorado Pols Mailbag #2

• 11 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

You Asked Alva, and we’ve answered. Last Friday we put out the call for a new mailbag, and Pols users submitted several questions in the comments section and via email.

Got a question for Pols? Email askalva@coloradopols.com. In the meantime, the answers to your latest questions (some serious, others…not so much) are after the jump.

Voyageur starts us off with a serious question…

In general, how is Pols doing? I notice a distinct falloff in the number of comments and number of users logged in. Are twitter and other social media cutting into us?  With the folding of the Rocky and continue diminishing of the Post, the need for a viable media like Colorado Pols is critical. What’s the outlook?

We’re actually doing quite well, with traffic continuing to increase relative to other years. There has been some reduction in comments because 2012 is the first time in a decade that we haven’t had a statewide race on the ballot — at this point in 2010, we had multiple Senate candidates for both Democrats and Republicans – but that just means we have more people lurking and reading but not commenting. You’ll see some positive changes at Pols very soon that will only make Pols more awesomer.

‘A lurker on ColoradoPols’ asks via email…

I don’t live in that district, so don’t have a say, but it seems to me M Miklosi has been handed two gifts-one through redistricting and another through M Coffman’s loose lips, as they called them during the WWII-and that he’d do SOMETHING to sink M Coffman’s ship. His statements on 9News made him look like M Milquetoast.

We assume you are referring to “Joe” Miklosi, unless the CD-6 candidate has a twin brother named Matt. Miklosi would no doubt love to put some ads up on TV using Coffman’s quotes against him, but his campaign doesn’t have the money to run ads this early in the cycle. He needs to save his money for September and October.

MADCO asks…

Not everyone gets the same check. Some people get those huge checks that you get for winning a golf tournament or something. Others get regular checks. Some people get checks with rainbows and unicorns on them.

RedGreen asks…

We’ll celebrate our 8th birthday in December. We’ll still be here in four years – only bigger and better. And with mayonnaise.

ProgressiveCowgirl asks…

Green Lantern, because he can fly.

VanDammer asks…

Why are Penalty Box sentences so weak, and why aren’t Front Page Editors allowed to dispense justice on content offenders?

The idea of the Penalty Box is really to just sit an offender in the corner until they can cool down and play nice (or play by the rules). We don’t ever like to ban users unless it’s really necessary, but anything that would justify an excessively-long stay in the Penalty Box would likely be enough to get you banned outright.

DavidThi808 asks…

If you could have one bill passed & signed (state level), what would it be? Assume it will be passed in next year’s session but you have to pick now, before you know who will control the House.

There are a lot of potential answers to that question, but we’ll go with fixing an issue that we believe is at the core of political inaction in Colorado: Compensation for elected officials.

Colorado legislators should be paid more than $32,000 per year. Yes, we know that this is “technically” a part-time job, but in order to serve in the legislature most people must have some other source of income. It’s hard to find an employer who would let you just take six months off every year, which excludes the vast majority of the population from being able to serve. By raising the salary to, say, $50,000 per year, Colorado would attract a more diverse and qualified batch of candidates every two years, which in turn would lead to a more diverse and qualified bunch under the Gold Dome.

The salaries for Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer and Secretary of State should also be raised. Colorado’s Attorney General, a statewide office, makes about half as much as a District Attorney in this state. That doesn’t make any sense.  

Raymond1 asks…

What if any measures could Governor Hickenlooper take to grant gay and lesbian couples some of the rights that civil unions would grant? I’m thinking of a few:

Others?

We can’t help you much here. Polsters, unite and answer this question!

Fidel’s dirt nap asks…

If ArapaGOPs brain were made entirely of veal…How much would it be worth, and would he construct better arguments on this blog?

Is there a going rate for veal? Can you mail excess veal to someplace that will send you cash in return (like those Gold-for-Cash infomercials)? You should be able to put your 401k plan into veal.