The Brockweiler hits a snag, but the Denver Broncos are still the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs. 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).
► Colorado business leaders are pushing again for an overhaul of the so-called Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, or TABOR, that has handcuffed Colorado’s budget for decades. As John Frank reports for the Denver Post:
An organization backed by prominent Colorado leaders is moving toward ballot initiatives in 2016 to roll back the state’s TABOR spending caps and make it harder to amend the constitution.
A possible third ballot question from Building a Better Colorado may allow the state’s 1.3 million unaffiliated voters to play a larger role in selecting candidates at the political primary level…
…The move to eliminate the inflation-plus-population revenue limit in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rightslikely would include a provision to direct surplus money that would have gone to taxpayer refunds to certain priority areas, rather than give state lawmakers free rein to spend it.
Reeves Brown, the director of the Building a Better Colorado group, says polling conducted in December showed strong support from voters for removing the troublesome “revenue caps” created by TABOR.
► A group of heavily-armed terrorists (let’s call it like it is, shall we?) continue to occupy a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon. If you missed the Saturday takeover, Rolling Stone has a Q&A to help you catch up with the news. Militia members are upset because two Oregon ranchers were convicted of federal arson charges for allegedly setting fire to a huge swath of land in order to cover up illegal poaching activities. The Oregonian has a good deeper dive of the issues behind this terrorist occupation.
Ammon Bundy, the son of Nevada rancher and armed lunatic Cliven Bundy, is among a group of about 150 armed white dudes holed up in the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon. Twitter users quickly responded to the terrorist takeover over the weekend, labeling the group #YallQaeda.
Republican Presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are both speaking out against the militants. “Every one of us has a constitutional right to protest, to speak our minds. But we don’t have a constitutional right to use force and violence and to threaten force and violence on others,” said Cruz.
Get even more smarter after the jump…
► Colorado Latino voters are part of a long study intended to gauge their mood entering the 2016 election cycle. From Mark Matthews of the Denver Post:
The research firm Latino Decisions and the immigration activist group America’s Voice plan to focus their efforts on 10 states that have large Latino populations and are expected to feature competitive Senate races next year.
At the core of the project are three waves of polling in each state.
“Each wave will have state-specific samples of 400 likely Latino voters with releases planned for late winter, August and October,” according to a release announcing the project.
Among these 10 states, Colorado is considered a “Tier 1” contest, along with Florida, Illinois and Nevada.
► Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will be in Denver this week for a finance town hall meeting. Lew is promoting efforts to highlight the importance of saving for retirement and creating better access to banking services for low-income Americans.
► Republican activists continue to shake the trees over perceived problems with the State Republican Party. You can ignore some of the complaints.
► As tradition goes here at Colorado Pols, we’re finishing up our annual look at the Top 10 political stories of the year.
► Fracking should be back on your ballot in 2016.
► Mitt Romney, the Republican Party’s nominee for President in 2012, is taking a dump on the Presidential hopes of fellow Republican Jeb! Bush. As the Washington Post reports, Romney says he told Jeb! in a meeting last January that he didn’t think the former Florida Governor could defeat Democratic Presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
► Megan Schrader of the Colorado Springs Gazette profiles Senate President Bill Cadman as the longtime Republican legislator prepares for his final session at the State Capitol.
► Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz is back in Iowa today to campaign in advance of the Feb. 1 caucuses, and the “Big Corn” lobby is waiting to attack.
► Longtime Denver newspaper columnist Penny Parker, who filled the “society” pages for the Rocky Mountain News and later the Denver Post, died at her home in Denver over the weekend.
► Today is the deadline to affiliate with a political party in Colorado in order to participate in the March caucuses. The Colorado Independent takes on the Herculean task of trying to explain this caucus stuff.
Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!
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Since these armed welfare bums are so eager to take public property for their own use, I suggest we let them have a couple of taxpayer-owned hellfire missiles. Drone strike on terrorists anyone?
Count me in.
Reader comments are suggesting some good solutions too:
And, we all knows what happens to Republicans in prison …
Cut off their WiFi and jam their access to Fox News. It's like severing the link between the hive and Borg Queen on Star Trek: Next Generation. And it'll have the same happy outcome.
Crackpot Lives Matter! (apparently a whole lot more than just about anyone else)
Sorry to hear about Penny Parker.
Two words for Jacob Lew: Postal. Banking.
Jeeez, Raphael Cruz is deploring the threatened use of force and violence by Yall-Queda. What is the world coming to? Isn't he afraid he's going to be perceived as a hand wringing, panty-waste liberal? Might he be expelled from Texas for saying such stuff?
Nah. He's craven, and he's a dickish fuckhead, but he's not stupid …
https://newrepublic.com/article/126952/ted-cruz-wont-burned-twice-bundys
A couple of questions about those armed terrorists in Oregon.
First, there have been references to 150 at the "compound" (the government buildings). But other reports said 150 at the "peaceful" demonstration in Burns with only some of those going to the wildlife center. Is there an accurate count?
Second, a report today referred to supplies being delivered to the wildlife center.. Why the hell is not all access cut off? Can't the authorities at least do that? If the strategy for a peaceful resolution is to wait them out, you have to cut off the supplies.
gaf, there was a fairly large demonstration in town (pic below)- the reporter Amelia Templeton from OPB news said 200 in the demonstration,
but the same reporter has been to the wildlife refuge, taken pictures, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports only about a dozen people at the Wildlife refuge itself.
They do have fuel, food, and generators brought in on trailers, but hardly enough for "years". The roads are blockaded – anyone backpacking in is probably a lot tougher than these armchair warriors.
I know if I were a parent of student(s) in the schools that have been closed for a week because of armed crazies roaming around, I would be mightily pissed off. In fact, most of the locals are not supporting these guys. And the two Ammons have turned themselves in today. That should take some juice out of the situation.
If the occupation does last until spring, I don't know what happens if the mighty hunters start shooting the endangered birds, once it warms up and they start migrating back to their favorite stop.
AP reporters say there are around 20 people on site. The local Sheriff (you know, the ultimate authority according to Constitutional Sheriffs) is telling the occupiers, "Go home".
Meanwhile, Andy Borowitz has an interesting proposal:
January 4, 2016
Oregon Considers Wall to Keep Out Angry White Men
This isn't just an occupation, it's a crusade. It should be noted that the LDS church has condemned the action — of course that hasn't helped Muslims much…
My intuition tells me these doofi (doofuses?) will be all cleared out and back on their stools at their local taverns before this Friday night's $2.00 Budweisers …
… "Mission Accomplished!", or something.
They have to be home by 2/1 or the old lady will start spending their govt check
That's just wrong on a couple of levels -probably more than a grain of truth, though.
I wonder how many types of Federal income these guys get – subsidized loans, unemployment, social security, medicare, farm subsidy payments – and if there is any provision to stop them because of involvement in terrorist activity?
So glad you asked…
Mamma, thanks for the details above.
info on government benefits:
http://usuncut.com/news/5-government-handouts-bundys-receive/
http://usuncut.com/news/5-government-handouts-bundys-receive/
And it looks like they are finally going to cut off power and block roads:http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/authorities-plan-to-cut-off-power-to-militia-at-occupied-oregon-refuge/
I also saw an article (can't find the link right now) that quoted Bundy saying they would leave if the local people asked them to. Of course, that was after the local sheriff (as you said above, their supposed ultimate authority) had already asked them to leave.