Category Archives: Economy

Senators Bennet and Udall: Make Farm Bill History

9
  by: MichaelBowman Sat May 18, 2013 at 7:11 PM MDT

"Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?"

~Henry Ford

 

The United States Senate will have the opportunity to make history this week while debating the 2013 Farm Bill: a full debate on the re-legalization of industrial hemp via an expected floor amendment.  The crop of our forefathers.  A crop deemed so critical to our nation's future that farmers in Colonial America were under a mandate to grow the crop.  The crop that made possible Ben Franklin's Colonial Free Press.  The crop that clothed our early military; protected our pioneering ancestors as they crossed our vast prairies -  and counted 16 million acres of production in the 1862 Census. The crop USDA deemed so critical to national defense the federal prohibition was lifted during WWII.

It was a tragic confluence of events that lead to the demise of hemp.  Prohibition was in its waning days, and the federal bureaucracy built around alcohol seizure no longer had a mission – a focus on narcotics would be the lifeline for the bureaucracy.  Our nation was on the cusp of launching an economy mobilized by Rockefeller's new-found 'black gold'; the synthetic clothing market and the advent of the agricultural chemical industry was in its infancy at DuPont.   And media titan Randolph Hearst,  the owner of significant forestry assets, had launched an all-out media war on Hispanic immigrants and marijuana.

Thus was borne the "Marihuana Tax  Act of 1937";  legislation devised by Henry Anslinger and his uncle, Andrew Mellon of Mellon Banks to tax the production of industrial hemp.  And with the new tax, the production of hemp became an uneconomical alternative to the newly developed energy, synthetic clothing and chemical industry derived from fossil resources controlled by titans DuPont and Rockefeller.  Mellon was the banker of both DuPont and Rockefeller.  It's not terribly hard to do the math.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

And with the enacting of the Marihuana Act came the demise of Henry Ford's "Iron Mountain" project where he had developed a sedan made of industrial hemp composites that was powered by ethanol fermented from hemp.  He had also developed an entire line of hemp-based  lubricants and industrial products.  

Forward to 1970 and the birth of our nations failed 'War on Drugs'.  Marijuana is defined as a Schedule 1 narcotic, on par with cocaine and heroine by the DEA, despite the fact the Congressional intent stated emphatically: 

 

    "nothing in this Act is meant to prohibit the production of hemp for industrial purposes"

 

In 2012 Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment, Amendment 64, which in addition to legalizing adult use of marijuana also legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp by Colorado farmers.  Touting wide bi-partisan support, the amendment garnered more votes than our President.  The Colorado legislature acted swiftly and by Sine Die 2013 had put in place a regulatory framework for hemp.  The legislation passed third reading in both chambers with a unanimous vote.

Thus, an industry was borne.  Now the conflict between Federal and State law must be resolved.  And from this growing conflict between state and federal law (18 states took various legislative action on industrial hemp this year) was borne the "2013 Industrial Hemp Farming Act", known in Congress as S. 359 and H.R. 525.  Both Chambers tout broad, bi-partisan support.  But this legislative journey remains unclear.  The Judiciary Committees were given jurisdiction in their respective chambers.  In both cases, no hearings have been scheduled.  It's even more unclear whether the bills will be heard at all this year, given they are in the queue behind Immigration Reform.

Is there a better, more efficient way to move this legislation on an issue that broad support from across the political spectrum?  Yes – a floor amendment during the full Farm Bill debate in the Senate this week.  And we need the pro-active leadership of our two Senators.

Industrial Hemp has the potential to add a new, vibrant  addition to our agricultural 'horn of plenty' in Colorado.  The crop requires few chemical inputs; its water requirements are minimal when compared to many traditional crops across the eastern plains and western slope.  Its ability to remediate soils has at the potential to heal salt-laden agricultural soils and mitigate heavy metal contamination from old mines and superfund sites.  The United States is the largest consumer market of hemp products in the world – a $400 million annual market demand met exclusively from imports.  American farmers remain the only agriculturalists in the industrialized world to be prohibited from its cultivation.  

And while giving Colorado farmers a crop alternative to help them meet their ever-growing water resource challenges, the crop also gives us significant environmental benefits:  its ability to extract enormous amounts of atmospheric carbon from the atmosphere.  Hemp extracts four times the CO2 annually per acre than does a standing forest.  Annual dry biomass yields per acre range from 2-3x the amount of biomass produced by either a corn or switchgrass crop;  ethanol-from-hemp reduces the greenhouse-gas-emissions by 86% when compared to transportation fuels from petroleum.

It is expected that Senator Mitch McConnell will introduce a floor amendment to the 2013 Farm Bill on Tuesday that would remove hemp as a Schedule I narcotic, legalizing its cultivation under federal law, and moving jurisdiction of the crop from DEA to USDA.

Despite recent demands on House members from the Heritage Foundation to not move on any legislation, (which also includes the Farm Bill) the action will be in the Senate on Tuesday.  A unique opportunity for our Senators to lead the fight for the passage of this amendment – and stand with the 55% of their fellow Coloradans who so wisely legalized the crop six months ago.  

Senators Bennet and Udall, please take a proactive role on this potentially historic event.  Farmers, conservationists, the environment, our natural resources and the state economy will be the benefactors of your leadership.  

 

 


Full story: Senators Bennet and Udall: Make Farm Bill History

Will Hickenlooper Sign Senate Bill 252?

14
  by: Colorado Pols Thu May 16, 2013 at 7:58 AM MDT

It's one of the last remaining questions from this year's legislative session, reports FOX 31's Eli Stokols:

On Tuesday, Hickenlooper met with both Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer that has several facilities in Colorado and supports the measure, and with Tri-States Generation and Transmission, which provides electricity to 18 state energy co-ops and has been the bill’s most outspoken opponent.

After those meetings, Hickenlooper’s Chief Strategist Alan Salazar told FOX31 Denver that the governor is “still gathering information.”

…S.B. 252 would require rural co-ops with more than 100,000 meters, and utilities that generate and supply electricity on behalf of member co-ops, to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.

The Longmont Times-Call reports from last night's anti-252 rally in Johnson's Corner:

A rally at a windy parking lot behind the landmark Johnson's Corner Café and Truck Stop in Johnstown late Wednesday drew about 40 local residents and a half dozen lawmakers who fought against the bill.

Members of the General Assembly from Larimer and Weld counties, all of them on the short ends of votes that sent the measure to the governor's desk, took turns at a microphone on a flatbed trailer to fire up the small crowd, telling them their messages needed to reach the governor.

The Durango Herald's Joe Hanel:

The company that supplies coal-powered electricity to rural Colorado is waging a media campaign to try to convince Gov. John Hickenlooper to veto a renewable-energy bill.

It’s the biggest political advertising blitz since last fall’s election, and it included a full-page ad and half-page ad Sunday in The Durango Herald…

In one of the most controversial claims in the ads in the Herald, Tri-State says complying with the bill will cost billions of dollars.

“Senate Bill 252 would impose billions [Pols emphasis] in increased electricity costs on rural Colorado consumers and individuals,” the ad says.

What does this even mean?

What does this even mean?

Like so many other issues this legislative session, the rhetoric over Senate Bill 252 has escalated to an over-the-top fever pitch, to the point where opponents seem to be relying on arguments that aren't intended to persuade Gov. John Hickenlooper, or for that matter any rational person–it seems more to fire up the conservative base with even more hyperbolic nonsense stories of impending doom wrought by Democrats this year.

Some might interpret a shift to the irrational from opponents as evidence that Hickenlooper isn't buying it.

Gov. Hickenlooper has been widely criticized, even in the context of a session where liberal Democrats were made very happy, for his deliberate work to undo numerous oil and gas reform bills this year. Signing Senate Bill 252, what is in fact a moderate increase in the renewable mix for large rural co-op utilities, won't invalidate the criticism that Hickenlooper has richly earned on this issue–but it would give him something affirmative to point to in response to it. From a purely political perspective, it would seem rather pointless for Hickenlooper to bow to a minority of hysterical voices and veto SB-252. Critics of SB-252 aren't going to support Hickenlooper no matter what he decides, so there's no political gain from again poking environmental groups in the eye.

Many sources have told us that Hickenlooper has been personally stung by the criticism he has received from his positions on fracking. We think this is a chance he should, and probably will take to walk some of that back.


Full story: Will Hickenlooper Sign Senate Bill 252?

That’s The Point, Scott Tipton

37
  by: Colorado Pols Mon May 13, 2013 at 3:48 PM MDT
Always the last to catch on.

Always the last to catch on.

As the Durango Herald's Stephanie Dazio reports:

The U.S. Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act by a 69-27 vote last week. The bill generally would subject online shopping to state sales taxes. The taxes would be sent to the state where the purchaser lives.

Current law says states can force retailers to collect sales taxes only if the company has a physical presence in the state.

That can give online companies a leg up over brick-and-mortar stores that must collect taxes on all transactions.

A few years ago, Colorado tried to "encourage" online retailers to collect and remit Colorado's state use tax, which has always technically been owed on online purchases under Colorado law but uncollectible in practice due to federal restrictions on state sales tax remittance dating from the Sears Catalog era. Local retailers led by the Colorado Retail Council supported this legislation, citing the years-long drop in sales for local "brick and mortar" retailers at the hands of online merchants–who enjoyed a competitive advantage for local consumers, and use the same taxpayer-funded infrastructure for product delivery that local retailers do. What's more, local retailers are often used by consumers as "showrooms" for products they then buy online tax-free, adding insult to injury.

Colorado Republicans energetically fought against the so-called "Amazon tax" bill, claiming the measure would "hurt Colorado business," when it in fact was intended to level the playing field on behalf of local business. Ultimately, though, Colorado's attempt to push online merchants to collect and remit Colorado sales tax wound up mired in court. Meanwhile, the push for a federal solution began as other states pressed the issue–which led to passage in the Senate of the Marketplace Fairness Act last week. A key change was on the part of Amazon, the same internet retail giant who fought the Colorado tax legislation at all costs. With Amazon on board, taxation of online purchases in every state seems closer than ever.

But don't tell that to Colorado's Rep. Scott Tipton, folks.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, will oppose it, said his spokesman Josh Green.

“Do we really need to be raising taxes?” Green said. “It’s going to impact local businesses.” [Pols emphasis]

Now folks, as we've just explained, and as local businesses throughout Rep. Tipton's district would tell him if he listened to them, a measure of fairness for local brick and mortar retail is the point of the legislation. That's why local retailers have pushed for this for years at the local and federal level. In addition to boosting revenue for the state of Colorado, brick-and-mortar retail can finally begin to recover from a competitive disadvantage they have suffered from against large internet retailers for over a decade.

So yes, dunderhead! It's going to "impact local businesses." As in positively.


Full story: That’s The Point, Scott Tipton

“Overreach” is Overwrought. Give it a Rest.

23
  by: Colorado Pols Wed May 8, 2013 at 3:06 PM MDT

There are 65 members of the Colorado House of Representatives, and 35 members of the Colorado State Senate. The Colorado legislature as a whole is a representative body, with each Senator representing about 143,691 constituents, and each House member standing for 77,372 Coloradans.

The Colorado Constitution outlines the makeup and duties of the state legislature, but it is a guarantee in the United States Constitution that every state shall have a republican form of government (with representatives elected by the people), rather than a direct democracy governed by the citizens.

Even Dawson doesn't cry this much.

Even Dawson didn’t cry as much as Colorado Republicans in 2013

Why the brief history lesson? As the legislature closes out its 2013 session, Republicans and some political pundits are busy accusing Colorado Democrats of "overreaching" for passing a lot of progressive pieces of legislation, yet they seem to forget that this "republican form of government" is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Members of the Colorado legislature are elected by popular vote, the purpose of which is to see that the majority of Colorado citizens are not overruled by the minority. It is a logical extension of the process that the minority may not be happy with the results of an elected body chosen by the majority.

To put it bluntly, that's kind of the point. The system is working as designed.

But don't tell that to Colorado Republicans. Take this recent press release from the Colorado House Republicans titled: "ICYMI: Democrats continue to run up the score."

The posting from the House GOP quotes liberally from an April 28th story in the Denver Post, though they notably failed to quote the sillier parts of the story about a "marathon legislative session":

Rep. Frank McNulty of Highlands Ranch raced to the microphone and, in a thundering voice, accused Democrats of "doing a touchdown dance at the expense of the minority." [Pols emphasis]…

…Republicans have accused Democrats of "overreaching," waging war on rural Colorado and introducing bills to reward unions and trial lawyers while harming businesses.

Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, disagrees.

"Overreaching? No," he said. "I think we've been listening to the people of Colorado and they've told us, 'We put you in charge and we want you to get something done.' "

Hey McNulty, ask Carly Simon if this is about you.

Hey McNulty, ask Carly Simon if this is about you.

Pabon is absolutely right here, and we've made the same argument before in this space. But before we get to that, let's examine how Republicans are so upset at the Democrats for continually beating them in elections that they think the 2013 legislative session is actually about them. To quote Carly Simon (no, seriously):

You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you

You're so vain, I'll bet you think this song is about you

Don't you? Don't You? Don't You?

There are many, many reasons why Republicans have never come close to regaining control of the state legislature since their surprise ouster in 2004, and their reaction to being steamrolled in 2013 is just another number on the list. Democrats are pushing ahead with progressive issues because Republicans don't do anything but get in the way. They don't offer reasonable amendments or attempt to debate in good faith — they just try to gum up the works and play procedural games. Anyone who has heard Republican Rep. Bob Gardner's version of a filibuster can understand what we mean here; Gardner just talks comically slow for as long as he can, his only goal to try to bore people into submission. Yet Republicans are annoyed when Democrats try to move things along and actually, you know, do their job?

Republicans call this "overreaching," and take it as a personal affront. But it's not about them, and it never was. It's about Democrats understanding that Colorado voters want them to lead; voters gave McNulty and the GOP a narrow majority in the House in 2010, and they promptly yanked it back from them two years later when it became clear that Republicans still have no intention of actually legislating.

Voters are tired of Republicans who can't figure out if they should still hate gay people. They're sick of Republicans who compare abortion to the Holocaust while everyone else is worried about schools and the economy. They're fed up with Republicans who persist with their ridiculous "Personhood" policy ideas that keep…getting…rejected…again…and again. "Personhood" isn't even about the issue anymore — it's a symbol of Republicans refusing to listen to even the most loudly shouted opinions of voters.

The simple truth of the 2013 session is this: Democrats were given a significant mandate from voters in 2012, and they are putting it to use. Some would say it is long overdue, and perhaps they learned their lesson from Congressional Democrats who did next to nothing with their 2008 mandate and then lost the House of Representatives in 2010. In fact, a closer look at the election results from the past decade tells a story that makes you wonder why Democrats waited so long to push harder on their agenda in the first place…

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Full story: “Overreach” is Overwrought. Give it a Rest.

Today In BS: Fictionalizing The “Sue Your Boss” Bill

8
  by: Colorado Pols Wed May 8, 2013 at 10:00 AM MDT

nobs

On Monday, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the Job Protection and Civil Rights Enforcement Act, House Bill 1136. This bill's purpose is well-explained in its summary:

While federal employment antidiscrimination laws allow such damages in cases where intentional discrimination is found, and allows an award of reasonable attorney fees and costs, only employers who employ 15 or more employees are subject to federal law. [Pols emphasis]

As we've reported, this bill gives employees at small businesses the same relief from proven discrimination that businesses with more than 15 employees already have under federal law. The fierce pushback against this bill from Republicans has never made much sense to us, since the simple facts of what the bill does make it awfully to tough defensibly oppose. Opposition to the idea that employees of a small business should have the same rights as a business with more than 15 employees tends to reveal an underlying view that all discrimination lawsuits are "frivolous"–and that's where the public deserts opponents. 

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Full story: Today In BS: Fictionalizing The “Sue Your Boss” Bill

Sunday Morning Must-Read Econo-Blogging

2
  by: ParkHill Sun April 14, 2013 at 11:50 AM MDT

Brad DeLong has a great, user-friendly article discussing the causes of the 2008 crash of the economy. It is rare to get such a clear explanation. Highly recommend that you make a cup of coffee, and pull up an easy chair.

DeLong points out that the four main drivers of the economy are: Housing, Exports, Equipment and Government. Between 2005 & 2008, the Housing bubble was unwinding, but Exports and Equipment were absorbing the problem. In 2008-2009 there was a sudden collapse in Housing, Exports & Equipment caused by the meltdown in the finance sector. Since 2009 Exports & Equipment have been improving, but Government and Housing are stuck in the mud.

Government Spending and Housing:

Government should borrow at 0% to invest in infrastructure and services (education/health care), pulling spending from the future to the present, while postponing taxes to the future. Housing will recover as 4 million people living in their sisters’ basements have the income and the security to move into their own homes.

Practically everything that goes wrong in micro goes wrong because somewhere in the system some people have what we regard as the “wrong” incentives, and have responded to them. In such a situation you frantically scramble to fix it and correct it. And you do so by finding ways to change public policies so that people in fact have the right incentives.

Micro is somewhere between half and three-quarters of economics.

The other quarter or so of economics is macroeconomics.

Macro is different. Macro deals with the fact that sometimes the economy seems to have some sort of a grand mal epileptic seizure. It freezes up. Something goes mysteriously wrong–and wrong not with an individual firm, or an individual industry, or an individual sector of the labor market, but wrong with pretty much the whole thing. This happened to the US economy in 2008 and 2009.


Full story: Sunday Morning Must-Read Econo-Blogging

Attention CACI: New Mexico Is Not a Role Model

2
  by: Colorado Pols Fri April 12, 2013 at 8:39 AM MDT

A brief side note from our neighbors to the south, as reported by the AP yesterday:

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is in Colorado to raise money for her re-election campaign and speak to a business group…

Martinez will attend a reception by the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry at Coors Field. The owner of the Colorado Rockies baseball team will speak at the event and Martinez will talk briefly about an economic development package of tax cuts that was approved by the Legislature and signed into law.

We haven't seen any post-event coverage of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez's fundraiser yesterday hosted by the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry (CACI), where she presumably touted her policies as governor of New Mexico on economic development. To be honest, we don't know exactly what she said. What we do know is that the state of New Mexico is no role model for "economic development." 

(more…)


Full story: Attention CACI: New Mexico Is Not a Role Model

Big Boost for Wind Energy in Colorado

8
  by: Colorado Pols Mon April 8, 2013 at 12:07 PM MDT
Made in Colorado.

Made in Colorado.

As Eli Stokols at Fox 31 reports, Vestas Wind has received a huge new turbine order:

Vestas Wind Systems has received its largest wind turbine order ever from Canada, the company announced Monday.

Colorado’s Vestas plants, which have seen major layoffs over the past year, will manufacture components for the 166 V100-1.8 wind turbines that have been ordered as part of the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project.

This is an important story because of the growing role that wind energy is playing in Colorado's economy. Senator Mark Udall issued a statement soon after the news was announced this morning:

Mark Udall, who championed the successful, bipartisan reauthorization of the Production Tax Credit for wind energy last year, welcomed news today that Colorado factories will manufacture wind turbines and components for the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project near Alberta, Canada.  This large order underscores the job-creating benefits of a strong wind-energy industry in Colorado and for our country.

"This large turbine order, evidence of the long-term benefits of Made-in-America manufacturing, underlines what I have been saying for years: Wind energy powers our economy," Udall said.  "It is clear evidence that investments in energy security are good for our economy and Colorado workers."

Coincidentally, new legislation sponsored by Senate President John Morse and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino is being heard today in committee. Senate Bill 252 aims to expand renewable energy in Colorado by directing rural cooperatives to increase their renewable energy standard from 10% to 25% by 2020.


Full story: Big Boost for Wind Energy in Colorado

Bennet Takes Heat For Keystone XL Pipeline Votes

17
  by: Colorado Pols Fri March 29, 2013 at 10:40 AM MDT

Stefanie Dazio of the Durango Herald reports:

Colorado environmentalists protested Sen. Michael Bennet’s votes on two nonbinding budget amendments about the Keystone XL Pipeline on Tuesday in Denver, calling the Colorado Democrat’s actions a crime against the climate…

Although neither amendment specifically calls for complete approval of the pipeline, The Hill reported that sponsors and backers say it was seen as a referendum on whether Obama should approve it.

Bennet voted in favor of both amendments.

Bennet believes the pipeline should be evaluated through the proper process, spokesman Adam Bozzi said Thursday in a telephone interview.

If it is judged to be a worthwhile project, Bozzi said, the senator would support it as part of a comprehensive plan that would include reduced carbon emissions and move toward renewable energy.

Although Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado's senior Sen. Mark Udall downplayed their split votes on these nonbinding resolutions–Udall opposed them both–it's not the first time that Sen. Bennet has tracked to the right of his counterpart on energy issues. It's worth noting that the Keystone XL pipeline proposal would not positively impact the supply of Canadian crude oil into Colorado, since we already have a major line connecting the Athabasca oil sands with the refinery complex at Commerce City. There's a pretty good chance, Front Range consumer, that the gas in your tank right now originated in Canada. If anything, much like connecting Rocky Mountain natural gas supplies to major markets via new pipelines, Keystone XL could make our gas more expensive, since much of its expected capacity will be transporting crude oil for export.

The 350.org protesters outside Sen. Bennet's office yesterday were making a different argument, of course, and we don't want to take away from its validity. We just thought the most useful addition to the Herald's very good reporting on the issue is how the Keystone XL pipeline really isn't in Colorado's economic self-interest, either.


Full story: Bennet Takes Heat For Keystone XL Pipeline Votes

Cory Gardner: Rising Star or Right-Wing Button Smasher?

2
  by: Colorado Pols Thu March 21, 2013 at 12:22 PM MDT
Cory Gardner IS the GOP bench, whatever it is.

Cory Gardner IS the GOP bench, whatever it is.

Colorado Republican Rep. Cory Gardner is often mentioned as one of the GOP's "rising stars," though he doesn't have much company. Gardner is automatically named as a potential candidate for U.S. Senate or Governor in any story looking at the 2014 election; it's not because he is really looking at higher office in 2014, but because he is the list. You'd have an easier time naming 19th century Vice Presidential candidates than coming up with a handful of potential GOP challengers for Colorado's top-ticket races.

Gardner isn't going to run in 2014 for anything but re-election in CD-4, and we certainly don't blame him. But if Republicans are really looking at him as a "rising star" for future office, someone had better convince Cory that he can't just hammer the YES button on every conservative proposal while also trying to sound like he really cares about the future of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc.

Back in January we had a little fun with Gardner issuing a statement demanding that President Obama offer up…well, here it is:

The State of the Union is President Obama’s chance to come clean and lay out an honest plan for protecting Medicare and Social Security, which is something he failed to do during his first term.

The absurdity of that statement is easy to grasp when you recall that Gardner was a big supporter of the Ryan Budget Plan of 2012 that would have gutted Medicare and Medicaid. When the knives came out for Medicare and the like, Gardner wasn't standing up in front of them — he was holding a knife himself.

As you might have heard, House Republicans narrowly voted today to approve the 2013 version of the "Ryan Plan," which of course would decimate Medicare and Medicaid…

(more…)


Full story: Cory Gardner: Rising Star or Right-Wing Button Smasher?

Campaign to Regulate Alcohol Like Marijuana

8
  by: Canines Thu March 21, 2013 at 9:42 AM MDT

 

Here's a Westword profile on Bill Althouse, the fellow who wrote the letter to our Governor reprinted below. I don't know the man at all, but I'm signing onto Althouse's satirical Campaign to Regulate Alcohol Like Marijuana. Count me in as a card-carrying member. Since Westword had no problems reprinting this entire letter, I don't see why it would be a problem here. Our campaign needs as much publicity, and ability to connect with legislators, as possible. We haven't hired fancy-schmancy, high-priced lobbyists yet. But just you wait.

 

Dear Governor Hickenlooper,

Your Amendment 64 task force has shown great courage in protecting our youth from harmful substances and bad parental role modeling. This willingness to protect citizens from themselves is a great opportunity to add safeguards from the most dangerous drug of all, alcohol. Alcohol is the leading cause of all violent crimes in Colorado. Alcohol is the major factor in 75% of domestic violence, in 50% of all traffic fatalities, 60% of rapes, 57% of murders, and 60% of assaults. 70% of all teens have had alcohol, and alcohol is the major factor in over 50% of all teen fatalities from suicide, murder, traffic and drowning. When public safety is the issue, controlling alcohol is the answer. Constitutionally, marijuana must be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol. Instead of giving marijuana producers and users the equal rights of current alcohol users, we should regulate alcohol like we intend to regulate marijuana and save our children from the most dangerous drug of all, alcohol.

The Campaign to Regulate Alcohol like Marijuana recommends that rules and regulations be implemented into the Colorado liquor laws so that alcohol users and producers are treated the same as marijuana users and producers. These new rules and regulations would create the following conditions.

1. A glass of wine with dinner or a Beer after work on hot day is proof of alcoholism

2. Consuming one drink of alcohol on the weekend is grounds to be fired by any employer

3. If a child sees a parent consume alcohol, Protective Services may remove the child from the home

4. If a parent has one drink, it will cause loss of custody of children in a divorce case

5. No alcohol may be served by the drink anywhere in Colorado

6. All publicly viewable consumption at sporting events, backyards , political rallies, fraternal organizations, breweries, vineyards, farmers markets, and picnics, even if the alcohol is free, is a crime

7. Alcohol consumption outside a private home is a crime

8. No alcohol consumption may be viewed by a child, including private homes if a passing child could see through a window or door

9. No alcohol advertising is allowed except for adult only publications

10. All alcohol production and sales must be a monopoly selected by the State

11. All craft beer is illegal, only large brewers may be licensed as retailers

12. All alcohol sales are package sales only, must be in child proof containers and placed in plain dark paper exit packaging stapled shut before leaving the store

13. Non Colorado citizens will be limited to one bottle of beer per purchase

14. Colorado citizens will be limited to a six pack per purchase

15. Home brewers must grow their hops under artificial lights in a separate locked space and brewing must also occur in that locked space. Using sunshine is a crime

16. All hops for brewers must be grown under artificial lighting on commercially zoned property

17. Crops intended to produce alcohol must not be grown on agriculturally zoned land

18. All brewers must grow all their own hops, and brew all their own beer

19. Each brewer is limited to a single retail package outlet

20. Alcohol retailers must only sell alcohol and nothing else

21. There are strict limits on the number of licenses that can be owned by one individual or group, the size of licensed premises, and the size of the brewery

22. Outside investment in beer production or hops growing is illegal

23. The State must discourage the consumption of Colorado alcohol products

24. Everyone one must work for the alcohol monopoly. Free enterprise is a crime

25. All transactions must be in cash and no retailer can use credit or banking services

26. All brewer waste, grains, spillage must be not be placed in the trash or given to anyone one including animal feeding. All waste must be safely disposed of according to DOR regulations

27. All alcohol is for intoxication only, any other medical or laboratory use by hospital, university, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, biofuel, or industrial entities is a crime

The Campaign to Regulate Alcohol Like Marijuana is dedicated to educating decision makers and parents about the dangers of alcohol. If you need any additional information please contact us.

Thanks again for your concern for the public safety,

Bill Althouse
Executive Director
The Campaign to Regulate Alcohol Like Marijuana


Full story: Campaign to Regulate Alcohol Like Marijuana

Why is Corrections Corporation of America still sucking down Colorado taxpayer money?

19
  by: For People Over For-Profits Thu March 14, 2013 at 9:05 AM MDT

(Corporate welfare of the worst kind? – promoted by Colorado Pols)

prisonmoneyRight now, the prison population in Colorado, as it is nationally, is declining. The inmate population growth in the 1990s that resulted in for-profit prisons popping up like mushrooms to absorb the overflow is receding.
 
Which begs the question: why are we still sending taxpayer money to Corrections Corporation of America and subsidizing their economic race to the bottom for jobs? If you work at a state facility in Colorado, you make a decent living, staring in the $40,000 range, with health insurance and PERA.
 
CCA pays entry-level guards $12.66 an hour, about $25,000 a year – low enough wages to qualify for public assistance. And that doesn’t include even lower-paying administrative jobs. It’s the Walmartization of the public safety sector and it comes will all the short-cuts we’ve come to expect from that trend. 

(more…)


Full story: Why is Corrections Corporation of America still sucking down Colorado taxpayer money?

2012 record-breaking year for Colorado oil production; in last nine years, 2,000 new oil and gas wells added per year

2
  by: checks-and-balances Fri February 15, 2013 at 1:56 PM MDT

Yet again, the oil and gas industry is crying wolf about stunted energy production. But, as Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director, Matthew Lepore testified before a House subcommittee, the industry is achieving record growth in Colorado. In testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy today, Lepore said:

“We have been adding at least 2,000 new wells per year for the past nine years, and expect 2013 to be similar. 2012 was a record-breaking year for oil production in Colorado; we expect production to top 47 million barrels when final numbers are tallied. We rank fifth in the nation in natural gas production and tenth in oil production.”

These facts haven’t stopped industry from claiming that energy production is stunted. Just last week, in response to the Colorado BLM’s decision to defer controversial drilling plans in North Fork Valley, West Slope COGA Executive Director David Ludlum argued that:

“the decision ‘threatens social justice and economic prosperity,’ by inhibiting energy production…”

But the facts just don’t support COGA’s claim.

Production isn’t just up in Colorado – earlier this week we blogged about how oil and gas production has skyrocketed on public lands. In fact, the oil and gas industry has so much public land that they don’t seem to know what to do with it – one could even compare them to the subjects of A&E’s TV show, “The Hoarders”. Oil and gas companies are sitting on more than 20 million acres of leased public land that they’re not using for production or exploration, and thousands of idle drilling permits.


Full story: 2012 record-breaking year for Colorado oil production; in last nine years, 2,000 new oil and gas wells added per year

Colorado Joins S&P Fraud Lawsuit Bandwagon

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  by: Phoenix Rising Tue February 5, 2013 at 3:01 PM MDT

(promoted by PCG)

The Associated Press (via the Houston Chronicle) is reporting that Colorado Attorney General Suthers has filed suit on behalf of the state against Standard & Poors for fraudulently inflating the ratings of risky derivatives investments in the years leading up to the Great Recession.

Colorado joins the Federal government and at least twelve other states in filing lawsuits against the ratings agency today. Colorado's suit was filed in the Denver District court.

The article claims that the Federal government seeks at least $5 billion in damages from S&P, but reports yesterday are that the government was negotiating for at least $8 billion when talks broke down. No details are provided on additional state damage amounts.


Full story: Colorado Joins S&P Fraud Lawsuit Bandwagon