Author Archives: JeffcoBlue

Denver Post attempt to politicize Clements murder backfires

7
  by: JeffcoBlue Sun March 31, 2013 at 3:36 PM MDT

(This merits an explanation – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

My friends know I am quite critical of the Denver Post. Some of the things that have upset me most about the Post's journalism have come from this blog, things that I don't think anyone would know about if Colorado Pols didn't publicize them: the Senate GOP rally that compared contraceptive coverage to the Nazis, or the interview with the NRA president where the guy lied about the NRA's support for post-Columbine gun control bills.

On Friday, the Denver Post's front page screamed this headline:
 

2011 law got Ebel out early


The front page story from the Denver Post Friday claims that a 2011 law, sponsored by Sen. Morgan Carroll and Rep. Claire Levy and signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper, allowed the suspected killer of Colorado Department of Corrections director Tom Clements to be released early:

Evan Ebel, the man suspected of killing Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, probably would still be behind bars were it not for a law approved by legislators and Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2011.

This law, which allowed inmates to earn time off their sentences for time spent in solitary confinement. The hundred some-odd days that Evan Ebel earned are supposedly what allowed him out of jail to commit two alleged murders, including Clements.

Senate Bill 176, which changed administrative segregation, was introduced in the 2011 session by two Democrats, Sen. Morgan Carroll of Aurora and Rep. Claire Levy of Boulder.

This comes across like a damning attack on Colorado legislators and Gov. Hickenlooper. According to the next day's Denver Post, though, it's complete bullshit. 

(more…)


Full story: Denver Post attempt to politicize Clements murder backfires

At least he’s not your Congressman

7
  by: JeffcoBlue Fri March 29, 2013 at 11:01 AM MDT

(He…didn't know this was an insult? - Promoted by Colorado Pols)

POLS UPDATE: Full retreat, reports ABC News this afternoon:

“I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska,” Young, R-Alaska, wrote in his second statement of the past 24 hours. “There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words.”

An earlier statement from Young excused his use of the smear as “a term that was commonly used” during his days growing up on his father’s ranch in central California, but the 21-term congressman’s second statement leaves no ambiguity about his remorse.

—–

NBC News:

"My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," [GOP Rep. Don] Young [of Alaska] said in an interview with radio station KRBD. He was discussing the number of jobs that have been made irrelevant due to advances in automation.

[...]

While the veteran congressman wasn't referring directly to immigration reform, his remarks certainly cut against the broader Republican effort to repair the party's dismal image with Latino voters.

Rep. Young says he he didn't know "wetback" was an insult. Seriously.

Republicans have a problem with Latinos, all right. Every time they open their mouths.


Full story: At least he’s not your Congressman

Chutzpah: GOP Senator blames GOP budget cuts for fewer cops

2
  by: JeffcoBlue Wed January 30, 2013 at 4:12 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Think Progress reports on Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in today's gun control hearing in Washington. Speaking to the police chief of the city of Baltimore, Maryland:

GRAHAM: The point is, we have different perspectives on this. The reason I will oppose the legislation, Chief Johnston, is because i respect what your do as a lot — what you do as a law-enforcement officer. Has your budget been cut?

JOHNSON: Yes.

GRAHAM: Do you think it be cut in the future?

JOHNSON: I am optimistic that it is not.

GRAHAM: Well I hope your right, but I can tell people throughout this land, because of the fiscal state of affairs we have, there will be less [SIC] police officers, not more, over the next decade…I honest to god believe that if we arbitrarily “say nobody in this country can own a 10-round magazine in the future, the people who own them are the kind of people we’re trying to combat to begin with.” There can be a situation where a mother runs out of bullets because of something we do here.

(more…)


Full story: Chutzpah: GOP Senator blames GOP budget cuts for fewer cops

Republicans: we’re not the problem

9
  by: JeffcoBlue Sun January 27, 2013 at 1:07 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

If you were hoping Republicans might get the message after 2012's defeats and change course, I'm about to dash those hopes.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/gop-leaders-insist-no-overhaul-needed-86757.html?hp=r4

The party’s main problem, dozens of Republican National Committee members argued in interviews over three days this week, is who delivers its message and how, not the message itself. Overwhelmingly they insisted that substantive policy changes aren’t the answer to last year’s losses.

Moderation, at least at this stage, is no virtue at the RNC.

“It’s not the platform of the party that’s the issue,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday after being easily reelected to a second, two-year term. “In many cases, it’s how we communicate about it. It is a couple dumb things that people have said.” (JeffcoBlue emphasis)

A slide presented during a closed-press strategy session said that Mitt Romney might be president if he had won fewer than 400,000 more votes in key swing states.

“We don’t need a new pair of shoes; we just need to shine our shoes,” said West Virginia national committeewoman Melody Potter.

Fellow Democrats should be ecstatic if Republicans are already rationalizing away all of the problems 2012 revealed for them. The Republican Party's problem is much more than a "couple dumb things people have said," it is that they have become the party of people who say dumb things. Their shoes don't need a shine, their entire platform must adapt to the modern age, or die like other political movements that ended as anachonisms. For too many years, the GOP has won ideological battles whether or not they were in the majority. Now, they're running out of excuses as the consequences of their ideology show up everywhere.

But forget that. It's time for more denial…


Full story: Republicans: we’re not the problem

Colorado ASSET: What progressives need to know

0
  by: JeffcoBlue Thu January 24, 2013 at 1:45 PM MDT

I just got this email from ProgressNow Colorado. Excellent information:

coassetfacts.jpgToday, the “Colorado ASSET” bill, which will allowВ allВ qualified Colorado resident high school graduates to attend college at in-state tuition rates, is expected to pass its first test in the Colorado Senate Education Committee.

There is a great deal of misinformation being put out about this important legislation by opponents, and we as progressives have an obligation to help set the record straight. Here are some basic facts aboutВ Senate Bill 13-033: learn the truth, thenВ contact your Colorado Senator and urge them to SUPPORT this important bill.

The Facts About ASSET

The fact is, we have already invested thousands educating all of the children who will benefit from Senate Bill 13-033. We have invested in their K-12 education, and these students have responded by succeeding academically in Colorado schools. By providing a path to these bright students to continue their studies, all we’re doing is following through on an investmentВ we’ve already made.

Colorado has a constitutional obligation, backed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, to provide a K-12 education to every child in our state regardless of their documentation or immigration status. It therefore makes no sense to create barriers for children who have demonstrated academic success in Colorado schools to completing their education. By making college an attainable goal for all Colorado students, ASSET will increase revenue for our cash-strapped institutions of higher education.

Remember, Colorado ASSET will only allow the children affected by the bill to pay in-state tuition at Colorado colleges and universities provided they can meet the following criteria:

  • The student must have already attended a Colorado public or private high school for a minimum of 3 years.
  • The student must have graduated from a public or private high school in Colorado, or received their general equivalency diploma (GED)–here in Colorado.

And of course, the student must meet all of the academic requirements and be admitted to a Colorado institution of higher education.

Many of the currently undocumented students who would benefit from Colorado ASSET are already working their way through the U.S. immigration system and are able to be legally employed. All other students who might benefit are required to seek lawful presence as soon as possible.

Please help us spread the truth about this important legislation.В Click here to send a message to your Colorado Senator right now, urging them to support the Colorado ASSET bill. And forward this message to all of your friends and neighbors so they can get the facts as well.

Thank you. This is legislation that we expect to pass with at leastВ someВ bipartisan support, but it’s critical that we as progressives do everything we can to educate our friends and neighbors, and dispel misinformation. We support Colorado ASSET because it’s the right thing to do, and the right thing for Colorado’s competitiveness in a global economy.

And working together, our great state is going to take this positive step.

Read the full text of the Colorado ASSET bill as introducedВ here.


Full story: Colorado ASSET: What progressives need to know

ICYMI: President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address

20
  by: JeffcoBlue Mon January 21, 2013 at 12:16 PM MDT

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

The Washington Post reports on the President's inspiring second inaugural speech:

After his oath, Obama gave a 19-minute address that, at times, had the itemized, politicized feel of a State of the Union speech. He mentioned tax reform, Medicare, Social Security, and Newtown, Conn., where December’s shooting rampage spurred Obama’s new push for stronger gun laws.

Obama also invoked a theme from his re-election campaign: that of patience exhausted. The president said that the gridlocked capital–and, implicitly, the Republicans who have fought his ideas–was moving too slow in an urgent moment.

“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,” Obama said. “We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect.”

President Obama has won the last election he will face. Now, he will be judged by history, as will his opponents. Although there are many progressives who are dissatisfied with Obama, I have tried the last four years to see the challenge he has faced, and the ruthless determination of Republicans to antagonize and obstruct Obama. Obama has negotiated to no avail, and if anything, he has tried too hard to work with men who were not interested in working with him.

For me, this means my dissatisfaction is not with, and will never be with Obama. And instead of giving up on the President because all of my aspirations haven't been met in four years, it's time to fight all the harder on his side the next four.


Full story: ICYMI: President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address

Great idea! School security guard leaves gun in bathroom

0
  by: JeffcoBlue Fri January 18, 2013 at 6:04 PM MDT

Raw Story has a story that’s so funny it was almost a tragedy. It’s not the whole reply, but here’s one to mention when you debate your gun nut relative next time:

A prosecutor in Lapeer, Michigan says, “No harm, no foul,” after a charter school took the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) advice and hired a armed security guard who promptly left his handgun unattended in a student bathroom.

Chatfield School co-directors Matt Young and Bill Kraly announced last week that they had hired retired Lapeer County Sheriff’s Dept. firearms instructor Clark Arnold as a security guard in response to the December mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

[...]

Wednesday, the school had admitted to The Flint Journal that the retired firearms instructor had made a “made a breach in security protocol” and left his unloaded handgun unattended in the school restroom “for a few moments.”

“The school has put additional security procedures in place that follow local law enforcement practices and guidelines,” a statement from Young said. “At no time was any student involved in this breach of protocol. We will continue to work on improving school security.”


Full story: Great idea! School security guard leaves gun in bathroom

Amway wins Michigan’s race to the bottom

3
  by: JeffcoBlue Wed December 12, 2012 at 6:32 PM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)



You’ve all seen the news:

Michigan enacted far-reaching legislation Tuesday that threatens to cripple the power of organized labor in a state that was a hub of union might during the heyday of the nation’s industrial dominance.

[...]

The new law comes nearly two years after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) began a push to curb collective bargaining rights for public employees. That effort ignited huge protests from union and liberal activists and triggered a failed effort to recall Walker.

At the same time, a well-funded campaign to curtail union power swept through several other Republican-controlled states in the industrial Midwest.

The passage of “right to work,” or as Democrats call it, “right to work for less,” in Michigan is a terrible blow, especially after Michigan’s GOP governor said for years it was not on his agenda. The campaign to pass “right to work” in Michigan was spearheaded by two groups, Americans for Prosperity, and the Michigan Freedom Center funded by Dick DeVos.

DeVos, who unsuccessfully ran against Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm a few years ago, is the son of the founder of “multi-level marketing” giant Amway. Amway has a long relationship with the Republican Party, especially in Michigan. Amway is sold as a business opportunity to individuals with little capital, means or financial sense. Recruits are told of fabulous riches that await them as an Amway distributor, then hard-sold their own “independent business.”

http://www.motherjones.com/pol…

In reality, the average Amway “business owner” makes about $100 a month, but have switched their own personal consumption of products that Amway sells to them. This is how Amway makes its money. If Amway’s promises of exponential growth since its founded had proven true, Amway would now be larger than the entire U.S. economy. What Amway really does is create a willingly captive market for their overpriced products. It’s a pyramid scheme.

http://amwayscam.wordpress.com (or just Google “Amway scam”)

And now, Amway profits have been spent successfully busting Michigan’s unions!

Greg McNeilly, who heads the Michigan Freedom Fund, a group backed by multimillionaire conservative activist Dick DeVos that spent millions pressing for passage of the legislation, called their success a potentially decisive hit against organized labor.

“I think today is their Waterloo,” McNeilly said.

Like my grandmother used to say, “the rats are in the corn.” It’s even worse than it looks.


Full story: Amway wins Michigan’s race to the bottom

Welcome Back, Todd Akin!

6
  by: JeffcoBlue Wed September 26, 2012 at 11:28 PM MDT

(You wondered what would happen? You can stop wondering – promoted by Colorado Pols)



Hey, ladies! Remember when the Republican Party came close to showing an ounce of humanity by shunning Todd Akin after he told a reporter that cases of “legitimate rape” rarely result in pregnancy? Remember when you thought there was still a line of decency that Republicans couldn’t cross without consequences?

So much for that! The line has officially disappeared.

“There is no question that for Missourians who believe we need to stop the reckless Washington spending, rein-in the role of government in people’s lives, and finally focus on growing jobs in this country, that Todd Akin is a far more preferable candidate than liberal Sen. Claire McCaskill,” NRSC executive director Rob Jesmer said. “As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November, and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead.” (JeffcoBlue emphasis)

The NRSC said after Akin’s controversial comments about “legitimate rape” last month that it would not spend money on his behalf this fall. The hope at the time was that the threat would force Akin out of the race and Republicans could replace him with a more electable nominee.

It didn’t work, though, and the deadline for Akin to exit the race passed Tuesday. That means he will now officially appear on the ballot and Republicans have to deal with the situation as it stands.

[...]

Other Republicans have clarified that they support Akin, including Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who had been charged with trying to get him out of the race.

Republican Party, your moral bankruptcy is now complete.


Full story: Welcome Back, Todd Akin!

“Breakin’ The Law” with Garfield County commissioners!

11
  by: JeffcoBlue Fri September 14, 2012 at 6:15 PM MDT

(Edited for Front paging – promoted by ClubTwitty)



The party may be over for the Garfield County, Colorado commissioners, as local residents have filed a lawsuit against the county for violating open meeting laws and passing an illegal resolution. 

On March 27th of this year, the Garfield County Commissioners took part in a secret meeting in Vernal, Utah with oil shale lobbyists and other elected officials from Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.  At the meeting, a plan was developed to back a radical proposal for oil shale speculation that could negatively impact the quantity and quality of our water resources.

Now, Commissioner Tom Jankovsky has admitted that they failed to properly give notice of the meeting to the public, which led to the commission rescinding their illegal resolution. However they have yet to admit that their participation in the secret Vernal meeting was illegal.

The public was blocked from participating in the meeting – despite the fact that public business was discussed in a public building, and on the taxpayer dime. Colorado’s Open Meeting Laws clearly state that elected officials need to conduct public business in public.

The commissioners are performing their new song, Breakin’ the Law, on demand!



The Garfield County residents acted after months of public outcry and calls for the commissioners to pledge to never again meet in secret, closed-door meetings on public business went unheeded. In fact, Commissioner Tom Jankovsky’s response to a constituent’s request that he pledge to stop meeting illegally with oil shale lobbyists was to call a constituent arrogant.  

This from a commissioner caught lying in the news about his level of involvement in the illegal, secret meeting with oil shale lobbyists.  Initially, Jankovsky claimed that he was just a listener at an informational meeting and that they weren’t there to make any decisions.  But, documents obtained through an open records request from Colorado Common Cause showed that not only was Jankovsky a co-organizer of the meeting – responsible for personally inviting several oil shale lobbyists – but he also sent an email on March 18th to an oil shale lobbyist stating that “Our goal is to come up with a statement that all the counties…can sign off on and send to the BLM.”


Full story: “Breakin’ The Law” with Garfield County commissioners!

Friday Jams Fest

9
  by: JeffcoBlue Fri July 27, 2012 at 3:37 PM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)





If you didn’t care what happened to me,

and I didn’t care for you,

we would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain,

occasionally glancing up through the rain

wondering which of the buggers to blame

and watching for pigs on the wing


Full story: Friday Jams Fest

Shawn Mitchell: Your Consoler-In-Chief Is “Unamerican”

40
  by: JeffcoBlue Tue July 24, 2012 at 2:29 AM MDT

(I never thought Shawn Mitchell would do something more disgusting than that time he showed his loosey-whities… – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl)



Yesterday, President Barack Obama flew to Colorado to comfort the victims of Friday morning’s tragic mass murder in Aurora and their families.

At the same time President Obama was getting ready to head out to meet with victims of the Aurora theater shooting and their families, Colorado Sen. Shawn Mitchell wrote this on Facebook.

It’s bad enough that Mitchell uses very similar language to what Rep. Mike Coffman repeatedly apologized for, calling Obama “Unamerican.” Mitchell is doing so deliberately, with the obvious intent of rendering Coffman’s statements less controversial through repetition.

The problem is, Obama wasn’t here this weekend to campaign. Obama has shut down his ads in Colorado for at least several more days in the aftermath of the theater shootings, as has his opponent Mitt Romney. Obama came here yesterday on a nonpolitical mission to console and reassure our neighbors, victims of a terrible act of pointless gun violence.

Senator Mitchell, if you can’t put your hatred of the President aside long enough to let him comfort your fellow Coloradans in their darkest hour, you are beneath contempt.


Full story: Shawn Mitchell: Your Consoler-In-Chief Is “Unamerican”

Joe Coors: not a beer! The theories continue

16
  by: JeffcoBlue Tue July 3, 2012 at 8:23 PM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)





Is he a Desert Eagle .44?

http://www.nrapvf.org/news-ale…

Fairfax, Va. – The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is announcing its endorsement of Joe Coors for U.S. House of Representatives in Colorado’s 7th District in the November 6 general election.

“Joe Coors is committed to protecting our Second Amendment freedoms and hunting heritage,” said Chris W. Cox, chairman of NRA-PVF.  ”Because of his strong support of our rights, Joe Coors has received an “AQ” rating and endorsement from the NRA-PVF.  We urge all NRA members and gun owners in Colorado’s Seventh District to vote Joe Coors for U.S. House of Representatives in the November 6 election.”

Joe Coors is a member of the (wait for it!) Coors family, whose family philanthropic foundations (Coors Foundation et al.) have given huge sums of money to right-wing groups and causes like the National Rifle Association for decades. So if it’s a news story any time one of the many conservative groups funded by the Coors family endorses Joe Coors, there are gonna be a lot of news stories. It would be easier to write one story saying “here are all the groups funded by Coors,” and then people will just know when they get the press releases what’s up with that.

COMING UP: Joe Coors: not a beer…is he Mr. Drummond from Diff’rent Strokes?

Or a lawnmower?

…and much more!


Full story: Joe Coors: not a beer! The theories continue

Media ignores Colorado connections to overturned Arizona immigration law

9
  by: JeffcoBlue Tue June 26, 2012 at 7:43 PM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)



I was dismayed this morning to see that the Denver Post, and for that matter all Colorado major media that I have found so far, have failed to interview any Republicans regarding the “SB-1070 copycat” bills introduced in the Colorado legislature after Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation was passed in 2010. In August of 2010, Republican legislators traveled to Arizona for meetings with the backers of SB-1070, and in both 2011 and 2012 the GOP introduced numerous pieces of legislation described as duplicates in whole and in part of SB-1070.

Now that the major pieces of SB-1070 have been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Republicans who tried to bring SB-1070 to Colorado should be made to answer for their campaign to do so, even if that complicates the GOP’s push to win Hispanic voters.

As one example, Rep. Randy Baumgardner introduced a bill in 2011 that according to the Durango Herald would “direct local police to try to determine whether a person entered the country illegally, require immigrants to carry their alien-registration documents and make it a crime for illegal immigrants to work or apply for a job in Colorado.” In the same Herald story, it’s reported that Sen. Kent Lambert introduced a bill “that allows police to stop people they suspect are illegal immigrants. Federal courts blocked that part of the law as well.” These were both provisions of Arizona’s SB-1070 that were overturned by the Supreme Court yesterday.

Why the hell isn’t that a story?

The closest I’ve found to any coverage of Colorado’s connections to Arizona’s immigration bill is a CBS 4 story that briefly touches on legislation passed in 2006:

http://denver.cbslocal.com/201…

Colorado’s law mirrors the Arizona provision often referred to as “Show Me Your Papers.” It requires police during stops or arrests to check a person’s immigration status if they suspect the person is in the country illegally. With Tuesday’s ruling it is a law other states will likely adopt.

It was the most controversial provision in Arizona’s law. The provision triggered protests across the country and calls to boycott the state. It’s a provision Colorado has had in place for six years.

This is Senate Bill 06-090. This bill did pass and was signed into law in 2006 by GOP Gov. Bill Owens. It had both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors. But the similarity with Arizona’s law ends there. Colorado’s law only requires arrestees to be reported to federal immigration authorities if they are arrested for a separate criminal offense. Immigration status is not in itself an arrestable offense in Colorado. SB 06-090 appears to conform to the Supreme Court’s guidance on this issue, which substantially restricts Arizona’s law.

Look, I’m not happy with the way Democrats handled anti-immigrant hysteria from the Tom Tancredo crowd in 2006. I thought this bill, and others from the 2006 regular and special sessions were stupid election year mistakes. If you must know, I blame Andrew Romanoff. But for this to be the only historical news coverage of immigration policy in Colorado after the SB-1070 ruling is extremely misleading. This is such an important issue in this election that for the press to ignore it, or try to go back to 2006 while ignoring 2011, reeks of partisan considerations.

Every Hispanic voter needs to know that after SB-1070 was passed in Arizona, Colorado Republicans tried to bring everything the Supreme Court threw out yesterday to our state. Period.

If the Colorado press doesn’t tell this story, they’re not doing their jobs.


Full story: Media ignores Colorado connections to overturned Arizona immigration law