The Colorado Rockies made the playoffs this year, but you missed it if you didn’t catch Wednesday’s game in Arizona. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.
► Tens of thousands of Colorado children are in serious trouble if Congress does not renew funding for CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program that expired at the end of September. The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday took the first step toward renewing CHIP funding with a bill sponsored by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma).
► Today is the last day for DACA recipients to renew permits before the process is closed under a policy shift announced last month by the Trump administration.
► Colorado Senate Republican leaders pledged not to do their jobs when the legislature convened for a brief session to fix an unintentional legislative error this week, and they succeeded in doing nothing once again. But the decisions of Republican leaders such as Senate President Kevin Grantham are looking even worse with the news that legislation to fix SB-267 would have passed in the Senate had a floor vote been permitted.
State Sen. Chris Holbert is among those Republican leaders whose reputations took a hit this week. Holbert was quoted by the Denver Post saying that he “did not swear an oath to uphold the opinion of a court” and preferred to follow his constituents’ interpretation of the State Constitution rather than, you know, facts.
► Former Judge Roy Moore, who easily defeated Sen. Luther Strange in a Republican Primary in Alabama last month, showed up unexpectedly in Washington D.C. on Wednesday and caused quite a stir. As the Washington Post reports, Moore apparently met with NRSC head Cory Gardner, despite the best efforts of both men to pretend othewise:
Rather than meeting with McConnell, Moore was on the House side of the Capitol on Wednesday. In a brief interview as he left the office of Rep. Robert B. Aderholt in the afternoon, Moore said he had no meetings set up with McConnell or members of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate majority’s campaign arm, which spent millions trying to defeat Moore in the primary.
“Nothing confirmed,” he said casually, as an aide tried to head off questions. Asked why he decided to come to Washington, Moore simply replied: “Beautiful place.”
In the evening, Moore met with the NRSC chairman, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), according to a Republican close to Gardner and a second Republican familiar with the talk who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door session. Moore’s campaign declined to comment.
The meeting appeared to be hastily arranged, given Moore’s afternoon remark and Gardner’s uncertainty earlier in the day, as he and other Republicans struggled to save face.
“I haven’t looked at the schedule — I don’t know that yet,” Gardner said around midday, when asked whether he planned to meet with Moore.
The entire story is worth a read; Republicans who feared Moore and his right-wing supporters seem to have plenty of reason to be nervous. Moore’s Senate campaign was also a referendum on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom the Alabama nominee has openly criticized.
Get even more smarter after the jump…
► Weapons manufacturer Magpul Industries played a significant role in Colorado politics in 2013-14, helping to spark recall efforts that allowed several Republicans rise to elected office as a result. It is relevant news for Colorado politicos, then, that Magpul’s “PMAG” extended magazines were used by the man behind the shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday — the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Meanwhile, House Republicans signaled that they are open to discussing legislation that would ban so-called “bump stocks,” which effectively allow for semi-automatic firearms to be converted to fully automatic weapons (which are supposed to be illegal in the United States).
► Two members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation made a Top 10 list of biggest recipients of campaign cash from the National Rifle Association (NRA). As documented by the New York Times, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) ranks #5 on the list of Senators, while Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) has received more money than all but one other House member.
► Secretary of State Rex Tillerson denied on Wednesday that he was close to resigning from his job last summer, but did not refute reports that he called President Trump a “moron” in a meeting at the Pentagon in July.
► For all intents and purposes, the Koch-funded group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) controls the Republican majority in the State Senate.
► Republican donors continue to suggest that they might curtail funding for Republican candidates on account of the fact that Congressional Republicans can’t seem to get anything done. From Politico:
Republicans are confronting a growing revolt from their top donors, who are cutting off the party in protest over its inability to get anything done.
Tensions reached a boiling point at a recent dinner at the home of Los Angeles billionaire Robert Day. In full view of around two dozen guests, Thomas Wachtell, a retired oil and gas investor and party contributor, delivered an urgent message to the night’s headliner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Just do something.
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, whose job in 2018 is to direct Republican efforts to maintain and grow their majority, has indicated before that GOP donors are angry.
► Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tim Murphy has decided to retire rather than seek re-election in 2018. Murphy is a longtime opponent of abortion rights who was recently revealed to have advised his alleged mistress to get an abortion in order to hide their relationship.
► President Trump is escalating his ongoing feud with the media. As Chris Cillizza explains for CNN:
Let’s be clear about what Trump is suggesting here. He wants the Senate intelligence committee to open an investigation into the “Fake News Networks” to get to the bottom of why so much of the news is “just made up.” He offers no evidence of this claim. And yet, the President of the United States feels entirely comfortable urging the legislative branch to open an investigation into the Fourth Estate.
The reason? Because Trump doesn’t like what the media writes about him. That’s what he means when he uses the word “fake” — and he uses it a lot. “Fake” for Trump is rightly translated as “not fawning.” (The committee, by the way, is already investigating real fake news targeted by Russians on the US as part of their larger examination of Russian meddling in the run-up to the 2016 US election.)
The truth — as hundreds of fact checks have shown — is that the biggest purveyor of fake news in the country right now is Trump.
► Congressional Republicans are trying to make cuts to Medicaid and Medicare as part of their “tax reform” strategy.
► Vice President Mike Pence will visit Denver on Oct. 26 for a fundraiser reception sponsored by the Colorado Republican Party.
► Senator Cory Gardner is holding a town hall meeting in Pueblo on Friday morning. Nevermind — it was cancelled on Thursday afternoon.
► Colorado’s Congressional delegation is united in efforts to convince Amazon.com to build a massive new distribution facility in Aurora.
► The editorial board of the New York Times ponders the ridiculous circus that is the foreign policy of the Trump administration.
► Democrat Dan Baer finally realized what everyone else not named Dan Baer already knew: There is no chance that he will defeat incumbent Rep. Ed Perlmutter in 2018.
► Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman is still — STILL — deciding on whether to run for Governor in 2018 instead of seeking re-election.
► If you missed President Trump’s incredibly-awkward visit to Puerto Rico on Tuesday, take a look at the transcript of his press conference.
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Hey, I've seen this one before…
Hey Pols, it's a massive new (second) headquarters, not a distribution facility, which Aurora already has and Thornton soon will. Also, although the article mentions Aurora as a potential site, Colorado's proposal will actually list eight potential locations.
Court orders Trump administration reinstate Obama emissions rule
Republicans: "Fuck the Children."
Democrats: "We have to work together with Republicans on a bipartisan way to fuck the children."