October 13, 2015 11:45 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (Oct. 13)

• 9 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Here’s hoping that CNN debate moderators ask a question about Playboy magazine’s decision to stop publishing pictures of fully nude women; the level of awkwardness would be off the charts. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► It’s mail ballot time in Colorado. Ballots for the 2015 election should be arriving in your mailbox this week. Go to GoVoteColorado.com to check your voter registration status or to print out a sample ballot. [*NOTE: We’re going to keep this item at the top of the page on Get More Smarter for the next week or two]

► CNN is holding a podium spot for Vice President Joe Biden should he decide to suddenly show up in Las Vegas, NV for the first Democratic Presidential debate. Tonight’s debate is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm, and we’ll be live-blogging the event right here at Colorado Pols.

► How many Congressional investigations into Planned Parenthood are enough? The more the merrier, says Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora).

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► The New York Times takes a look at the American donors who have given the most money toward the 2016 Presidential election. Pat Stryker of Ft. Collins makes the list.

► The University of Colorado will foot much of the bill for the Oct. 28 Republican Presidential debate in Boulder. As USA Today reports:

The state university will waive its normal rental fee of $15,000 for use of the 11,000-seat Coors Events Center basketball arena. Only about 1,000 seats will be available for spectators, of which, only 100 will be distributed to university students and officials. The university also will print the tickets and provide parking, free shuttles and a designated protest area.

“We as an institution will get great branding and PR capacity, so we feel that it is a good investment,” said Ryan Huff, a spokesman for Colorado University.

The tiny ticket allotment also drew complaints from student groups, who rallied to obtain more access. They wrote letters, signed petitions and appealed to the presidential candidates, the TV network and the university. In addition to the donated space, the university plans to pay for the debate expenses from a pool of private fundraising dollars and insurance rebates.

Now that the news is public that CU is taking on most of the cost for this debate, it’s becoming more and more difficult to justify the decision to drastically limit the seating capacity at Coors Events Center.

► Some Colorado legislators are considering a proposal to outsource Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) services in order to reduce wait times.

► Republican lawmakers from Southern Colorado are putting pressure on Governor John Hickenlooper to widen I-25 between Castle Rock and Monument. These same lawmakers, of course, have no suggestions for where the money might come from in order to get the widening started. From the Pueblo Chieftain:

Hickenlooper used his response as a chance to tell the lawmakers that he proposed a bill last session that would have put $200 million into transportation. That bill died without Republican support.

House Bill 1389 would have done more than just put money toward transportation. It would have removed millions of dollars in state revenue — collected from hospitals as the Hospital Provider Fee — from the general fund. That transfer would have kept the state from triggering taxpayer refunds required under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and allow millions of dollars to be invested in things like education and roads.

Many opposed the bill as a “work-around” of TABOR and felt the government should ask voters to keep the refunds or live within the budget.

Let’s repeat something important here: Republican lawmakers are pressuring the Governor to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to expand I-25, but they have no interest in doing anything that might help pay for the project. That’s not governing; that’s writing letters to Santa Claus.

► Denver voters will have the chance to decide on a proposed sales tax increase that would be used to help local students pay for college. Jon Murray of the Denver Post takes a look at the arguments surrounding the unique proposal.

► Columbus Day is well on the road to being renamed “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” Many U.S. cities are making the change, and on Monday, the entire State of Alaska approved the move. No matter what we end up calling this “holiday” on Oct. 12, it’s probably not going to get you a day off from work.

► Ballots are heading out to voters this week, and the campaign in Colorado Springs to increase taxes in order to fix potholes is growing more and more heated by the day. Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers is getting pretty irritated at all of the misinformation, and we don’t blame him. As the Colorado Springs Independent reports:

Several local news outlets are reporting that City Councilor Helen Collins is running a self-funded radio ad that asks voters to reject a proposed tax increase for roads.

The 0.62 percent sales tax would raised $50 million annually for five years, and is specifically “for road repairs/improvements.” Collins, however, is claiming that if passed, money from Issue 2C would go toward a downtown city arena rather than roads. Her friend, the anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce, also sent out a press release supporting Collins’ claims. He noted that Mayor John Suthers has said that only half of the tax would be used for roads, though Suthers has since clarified, saying that part of the money would need to be used for curb and gutter work.

We can’t speak to the accuracy of this rumor, but we hear that Helen Collins is actually an animatronic puppet controlled by Doug Bruce via telepathy. Somebody, please, put a cork in the crazy.

► Congressional Republicans are still looking for someone to become the next House Speaker, and Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) is doing a fine job of taking every side imaginable in the debate. Meanwhile, David Brooks of the New York Times takes a shot at trying to understand why the House Republican caucus has essentially become ungovernable; it’s hard not to see the connection with Buck’s schizophrenic comments.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Retired brain surgeon Ben Carson has been sounding an awful lot like someone who needs his own brain surgeon lately. Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post thinks that Carson — not Donald Trump — represents the craziest part of the Republican Presidential field. Carson seems to be doing a fine job of convincing the mainstream media that he is completely insane. Even conservative commentators are coming around to the idea that Carson is totally unfit to become President.

► The search for the next Speaker of the House has come to a standstill until Rep. Paul Ryan makes a firm decision on whether or not to accept the gavel.

ICYMI

► (Not) well played, Jeb!. 

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