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December 03, 2015 11:46 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (Dec. 3)

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  • by: Colorado Pols

MoreSmarterLogo-300x218We were hoping to make it through today without another gun violence incident in Colorado. No such luck. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missedsomething important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

Colorado Republicans continue their penchant for making ridiculous comments in the wake of the Planned Parenthood terrorist attack last Friday in Colorado Springs. Senator Laura Waters Woods, whose SD-19 seat is already considered to be the top target of Democrats in 2016, deleted a weird Facebook post that cryptically supported the Planned Parenthood attack after the Colorado Independent began asking questions about the content.

The now-deleted social media post by Sen. Woods comes on the heels of an indefensibly disgusting Facebook diatribe from  State Rep. JoAnn “Violence is Never the Answer, But…” Windholz (R-Commerce City) that made national headlines on Tuesday. The Aurora Sentinel has since called on Windholz to immediately resign from the legislature:

That Windholz would use such repulsive and sophomoric argument in a community like Aurora — where another madman slaughtered innocent people going about their daily lives, and who were in no way “culprits” in the crime — makes Windholz’ blunder all the more painful.

Windholz should immediately resign…

…If Windholz won’t resign, fellow members of the House and her own Republican Party should censure her. She’s already ended her own political career with her heinous remarks. Now Windholz just needs to make it official.

Republicans would be wise to publicly condemn Windholz for her comments, but they may be reluctant to add to Windholz’s woes because they risk losing an incumbent in a district that the GOP narrowly won in 2014. We’d be surprised if Windholz was able to win re-election in 2016 anyway — and she is already facing a potential recall attempt — so Republicans probably need to start looking for a replacement candidate.

 

► After two more mass shootings in the U.S. on Wednesday (in San Bernardino, California, and Savannah, Georgia), pressure is mounting for lawmakers to take action to reduce gun violence. As Nicholas Kristof writes for the New York Times, America hasn’t really been trying to make a change:

So far this year, the United States has averaged more than one mass shooting a day, according to the ShootingTracker website, counting cases of four or more people shot. And now we have the attack on Wednesday in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed at least 14 people.

It’s too soon to know exactly what happened in San Bernardino, but just in the last four years, more people have died in the United States from guns (including suicides and accidents) than Americans have died in the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. When one person dies in America every 16 minutes from a gun, we urgently need to talk about remedies.

Democrats, including President Obama, emphasize the need to address America’s problems with guns. Republicans talk about the need to address mental health. Both are right.

While Republican leadership in Congress remains relatively silent on addressing the issue of gun violence, Democrats and physician advocates are pushing to end a federal funding ban on gun violence research (yes, Congress actually banned funding for research on gun violence). As CNN reports, the former Republican Congressman who once led the way on preventing funding for gun violence research is himself calling for changes:

The former Republican congressman who pushed legislation nearly 20 years ago that effectively banned the federal government from funding research on gun violence is calling on Congress to reverse that law.

In a letter to the chair of House Democrats’ task force on gun violence prevention, former Rep. Jay Dickey of Arkansas called for the government to fund research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine the causes of gun violence in the U.S. and expressed “regrets” for his part in stopping that research.

“It is my position that somehow or someway we should slowly but methodically fund such research until a solution is reached. Doing nothing is no longer an acceptable solution,” Dickey wrote in a letter dated Tuesday. [Pols emphasis]

In other words, “doing nothing” to address gun violence has been an acceptable response for Congressional Republicans. That needs to change. Now.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Law enforcement officials are still trying to piece together a motive for Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernardino, California. As the Los Angeles Times reports, terrorism has not been ruled out as a motive in the attack that left 17 dead and more than 20 wounded, but it also appears as though one of the deceased suspects might have been upset with co-workers at the San Bernardino County Health Department (the shooting occurred during a holiday party for the organization):

As authorities continued to comb through the home of the husband and wife responsible for a mass shooting at a San Bernardino holiday party, investigators and legislators from California to Washington, D.C., tried to understand what motivated the shooters.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday morning, President Obama said the FBI was now leading the probe into the attack at the Inland Regional Center, which left 14 people dead and 17 wounded.

Investigators have yet to rule out terrorism as a motive, but police have also said one of the shooters, 28-year-old Syed Farook, was involved in a dispute at the party shortly before gunfire broke out. Farook and his wife, 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik, were killed in a gun battle with police hours after the shooting.

In comments made to reporters today, President Obama also called on state legislatures to become more active in addressing gun violence.

 

► Conservation Colorado announced a new ad campaign — featuring both TV and digital ads — thanking Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver) for supporting the Clean Power Act and other climate change initiatives. Bennet is also sponsoring bipartisan legislation that seeks to increase the “capture and storage” of carbon dioxide.

 

► It may seem as though Congressional Republicans are all opposed to combating climate change, but a New York Republican is trying to change that image. From Grist.org:

Gibson has been among the tiny handful of House Republicans to vote in support of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s signature effort to fight climate change by cleaning up the electricity sector. And in September, with the support of 10 Republican representatives, he introduced a resolution in the House acknowledging that human activities are contributing to climate change, and calling on fellow conservatives to “address the causes and effects” of this problem.

To many progressives, Gibson’s resolution may have seemed painfully obvious and vague. He says he cannot support a carbon tax or other legislative climate solutions with teeth. But given the Republican deadlock on this issue, Gibson is a certain kind of radical.

 

► Former President Vice President Dick Cheney will be honored today with the unveiling of a new marble bust in the Capitol Visitor Center. Here’s an odd fact for you: The only former Vice President without a marble bust on display is Al Gore, who was President Bill Clinton’s #2 from 1993-2001.

 

► A suspect was subdued and taken into custody at the VA Hospital in Denver today after using a gun to briefly take a nurse hostage.

 

► Memorial services have been set for the three people killed in last Friday’s terrorist attack at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs.

 

► Famous rich person Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination, is relenting on calls to release medial records. As Politico reports:

Trump once said that all presidential candidates should release their medical records. But so far in the 2016 race, he had declined to release his, and a campaign spokeswoman had not responded to multiple requests for comment about the candidate’s health records stretching back to October.

On Thursday, three hours after this article was published, the billionaire businessman relented, tweeting that he’ll release his records within the next two weeks. “As a presidential candidate, I have instructed my long-time doctor to issue, within two weeks, a full medical report-it will show perfection,” Trump said in the tweet.

While the health of a presidential candidate is always important, and nominees release their medical records as a matter of course, Trump’s age, diet and self-professed lack of workout regimen makes the issue more pressing in his case.

If elected President, Trump would be 70 years old when he took office. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is 16 months younger than Trump.

 

► CNN is refusing to give in to demands from Trump that the network donate $5 million to charity in order for Trump to appear at the next Republican Presidential debate on Dec. 15. Trump has not indicated what he will do now that CNN has called his bluff, but we’d guess that there is little chance The Donald would skip the last GOP debate of 2015 when his campaign relies so heavily on earned media coverage.

 

► The Pentagon announced today that it is opening up all jobs in combat units for women — including those who can meet the rigorous requirements for positions with Special Forces units.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Keep your cards close to your chest this week; some of the best bridge players in the world are in Denver for the last of three major bridge tournaments held every year by the American Contract Bridge League.

 

ICYMI

► Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier is accusing fellow Commissioner Casey Tighe of violating the state’s Open Meetings Law by talking to a reporter, though County Attorney Ellen Wakeman disagrees. The irony will not be lost on those of you familiar with years of ethical problems in the Jefferson County Government.

 

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