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September 11, 2016 12:48 PM UTC

Laura Woods "Protects Public Lands"--Wait, What?!

  • 13 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

We were forwarded this ad running in Arvada and Westminster’s Senate District 19 in support of Sen. Laura “Waters” Woods, hard-right Republican up for early re-election this year after narrowly winning a special election in 2014. It would be difficult to come up with a campaign advertisement that was more blatantly false than this one:

woodspubliclands

Notice how the ad has a little button that says “Learn More.” Clicking that button, or anywhere else on this Facebook ad takes you directly to the homepage of Sen. Woods’ campaign website.

The trouble is, there’s no mention of “public lands.” Not on the homepage. Not on her “issues” page. And according to Google:

woodspubliclandshaha

Not anywhere on Sen. Woods’ website.

cliven-bundy-cnneditedNow, the (presumably) targeted recipient of this ad was in fact a liberal Democrat in the district, which is itself noteworthy, although in this case a Democrat who knew that Sen. Woods can only be in the most cynical terms described as a “protector of public lands.” In fact, Conservation Colorado hit Woods earlier this year on her support for the decidedly fringy bill from Senate Republicans to take partial control of federal lands in Colorado, a la Cliven Bundy:

SB 160 Public Lands
State Police Power Jurisdiction on Federal Lands

No is the pro-environment vote.

Status: Failed in House
Description: A cynical effort to seize control of public lands under the guise of responding to wildfire, this bill was cut and pasted from the Koch-funded think tank, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and was based on a Utah resolution. This is the third failed iteration of the “concurrent jurisdiction” bill in the Colorado legislature.

9percentConservation Colorado docked Woods in 2016 voted wrong on a whole slew of bills that would have at least an indirect effect on protecting public lands, including voting against the state’s work on the federal Clean Power Plan and weakening the state’s power to impose fines on polluters. In 2015, Woods voted the wrong way on every single Conservation Colorado-tracked bill, including a similar bill to assert state control Bundy-style over federal lands (Senate Bill 15-039). Woods’ aggregate “lifetime” score on the environment for the two terms she has served in the Colorado Senate is 9%.

Folks, this is much more than the usual campaign-trail fabrication. Woods says she has a solid voting record on public lands. But the reality is that she has consistently voted against legislation that would actually benefit public lands–while supporting bills that would functionally do the opposite. There’s really no overstating the magnitude of this falsehood. It’s like Gov. John Hickenlooper claiming to be anti-fracking, or Tom Tancredo coming out in favor of immigration reform–or for that matter, Woods claiming her last name was Waters. In a downballot state senate rate, an ad like this is clearly intended to disinform low-information voters. Apparent targeting at Democrats adds yet another layer to the deception.

Once again–like “Con Man” Cory Gardner, Mike Coffman, and so many other contemporary Republicans running from a far-right record–the chosen path to electoral survival is to pretend to be something they fundamentally are not.

Laura Woods, in her way, is the most egregious case yet.

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13 thoughts on “Laura Woods “Protects Public Lands”–Wait, What?!”

  1. Seems to be a theme from the top down for the GOP this year. MSU. If Coloradans find your position odious you might change them or… just make shit up (also called "lie through your teeth"). See: Scott Tipton, Donald Trump.

  2. There is no greater threat to our public lands than the toxic combination of federal management and untapped natural resources.  Laura Waters Woods has, and will continue to be, tireless in her efforts to remedy these terrible injustices.

    Please send all contributions to:

    Laura Waters Woods
    c/o Ammon Bundy
    Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
    Princeton, OR 97721. Real Amerikkka

  4. For amusement value, did you consider asking for clarification what was meant by "protecting our public lands!" from Sen. Laura “Waters” Woods' campaign? Or perhaps inquire of Rachel Zenzinge's campaign what she thought of the concept? 

      1. Laura Waters Woods is merely following in the footsteps of her idol, Donald Trump, who is styling himself as the new incarnation of Theodore Roosevelt. In reality, Trump and Woods (Tipton, too), merely want  corporations to be able to drill for oil, gas, and other resources anywhere on public lands. This is what they mean by "protection".

        Pic below from the website of  Julesburg's Jim Sutter. That domain, cofortrump.com, remains available for anyone to purchase...cheeky

        1. She is part of this…..

          The wise use movement in the United States is a loose-knit coalition of groups promoting the expansion of private property rights and reduction of government regulation of publicly held property.

          ….from Wikipedia

          What they really want is to be able to acquire wealth at the public expense…

        2. Exactly – Trump has proved that you can lie 24/7 and the media won't care. 

          They have got nothing to lose – lies, lies and more lies because nobody seems to care. Trump has brought us to a post-reality reality. 

  5. I guess I need to keep reminding Pols that Cory Gardner HAS done some good things for public lands since being elected to the Senate: the only Western Republican senator to vote against the non-binding Murkowski amendment last year that called for turning federal public lands over to the states. Then there is the strong support for re-authorization of the Land & Water Conservation Fund.

    I fully understand that Trump is a liar and a crook; which is why I'm a strong RAT (Republican Against Trump). However, Pols loses credibility when it engages in similar behavior. Stick to bashing Woods; after all, she so deserves it (and don't forget Windhorst either).

    1. Once again–like “Con Man” Cory Gardner, Mike Coffman, and so many other contemporary Republicans running from a far-right record–the chosen path to electoral survival is to pretend to be something they fundamentally are not. 

      Did Cory-boy do what Pols describes?  Most definitely.  Was it on this issue? No.

      You're both correct, but only one of you is accurate.

       

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