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January 31, 2011 04:49 PM UTC

Monday Open Thread

  • 132 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“‘Tis a human trait to hate one you have wronged.”

–Seneca

Comments

132 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread

  1. Are there well written sources about the history of public (K12) education in Denver and Colorado?

    – when has  DPS done “well” or better than it is now?

    – what was the impact of busing?

    – what are the demographics of DPS?

    – when did  northeast Denver  become home to gangs?

    – what is the presence and impact of gangs in DPS?

  2. ..but if you show up heavily armed and carrying a sign with a passive-aggressive message about political assassination, you get to stay with firing range and finish protesting:

    25 arrested at California conservative meeting

    RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Twenty-five people were arrested for trespassing Sunday as hundreds protested outside a strategy session of conservative political donors at a resort near Palm Springs, authorities said.

    The mostly peaceful demonstration had been arranged with authorities, but some protesters crossed the street to the entrance of the Rancho Las Palmas Resort where they were met by deputies in riot gear, Riverside County Deputy Melissa Nieburger said. They were arrested without a struggle, booked at Indio Jail and released.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/

    I guess this little Conservative Wannsee conference got found out, and now all the Billionaire owners of the Teapublicans have to play their rounds of golf with some protestors in the distance.  

    1. If you stay on public property (right of way) and do not block traffic or impede pedestrians, you are constitutionally protected under the First Amendment. These people were arrested for trespassing so they obviously invited their arrests by leaving public property and protesting on private property.

      A number of years ago I protested a real estate development in Erie Colorado. I stayed on public property (road right of way). The developers tried to have me arrested anyway, but before that happened I sent a letter to the mayor, the city manager, and the city attorney that if I was arrested I would consider that an illegal arrest and bring suit against the city for violating my civil rights under color of law in federal court.

      They got the message. When the cops showed up after being called by the developer’s representative, they filled out a contact form which specifically stated that I was on public property and no violation of any law had occurred.

      Obviously the word went down to the police department to make sure they not arrest me as long as I was on public property and if they did arrest me in violation of my civil rights I was fully prepared to shove a lawsuit right up their ass.  

    2. If you stay on public property (right of way) and do not block traffic or impede pedestrians, you are constitutionally protected under the First Amendment. These people were arrested for trespassing so they obviously invited their arrests by leaving public property and protesting on private property.

      A number of years ago I protested a real estate development in Erie Colorado. I stayed on public property (road right of way). The developers tried to have me arrested anyway, but before that happened I sent a letter to the mayor, the city manager, and the city attorney that if I was arrested I would consider that an illegal arrest and bring suit against the city for violating my civil rights under color of law in federal court.

      They got the message. When the cops showed up after being called by the developer’s representative, they filled out a contact form which specifically stated that I was on public property and no violation of any law had occurred.

      Obviously the word went down to the police department to make sure they not arrest me as long as I was on public property and if they did arrest me in violation of my civil rights I was fully prepared to shove a lawsuit right up their ass.  

  3. Because if they’re a progressive group (and I hope they are) I expect to shortly see:

    DENVER: Responding to the week-long controversy over Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s Executive Director of Economic Development Dwayne Romero’s decision to continue working part time for his law real estate firm while he serves, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, today delivered a petition signed by nearly 5,000 citizens to Gessler’s Romero’s office–demanding that Gessler Romero abandon this irresponsible plan.

    Same question for CREW, Colorado Ethics Watch, and all the other “non-partisan” progressive groups. Ok guys, here’s where we find out which of you are progressive vs which are just tools of the party. (And tool of the party is useful – but I’d prefer to find you’re willing to call out our party too when it goes down the road of corruption.)

      1. Are you saying he’s only doing 80 percent of it?

        You don’t get to barter.  You either want the appointment or you don’t.  If you don’t want the job, to quote Nancy Reagan, just say no.

            1. Since the whole point of his moonlighting was because he wouldn’t be able to sustain his lifestyle. Besides, the conflict of interest isn’t even comparable.

              If you want to take the opinion that Romero isn’t fulfilling his commitment to serve the people of Colorado, that’s one thing, but to use Romero to attack PNow and CEW is a false equivalence, and yet again you come off sounding like People’s Press Collective.

                1. Nobody voted for Romero.  From what I’ve read, and assuming I remember correctly, he is going to work one day a week for 6 months for the outfit he was employed by before Hick hired him.  If the job offer was contingent on him wrapping up his previous job by this once-a-week-for-6-months arrangement, then I might question Hick’s decision to hire him under those circumstances, but I don’t question the ethics of the situation.

                  People did vote for Gessler to be the full-time Secretary of State, and voted for Stapleton to be the full-time Treasurer.  

                  1. Romero’s decision to work on the side is quite a bit different than Gessler’s in the sense that he is not an elected official. I still think it’s bad form to be moonlighting, particularly when it appears is duties from both jobs would set up a real probability of conflict of interest.  

                    1. And if the job creates a conflict of interest, then Hick had no business agreeing to it in the first place, and Romero had no business proposing it.

                    2. Same: both could set up a conflict of interest. Any time your official acts could directly affect your outside employment (or employer), you have no business holding office.

                      Different: Hick can fire Romero, presumably at any time for any reason.

                      Regardless, moonlighting by full-time govt employees just seems like a very bad idea. It appears to me that it only benefits the govt employee, not the residents of CO. At the very least, rules that apply to civil-service employees ought to apply to those that are elected or appointed.

      2. 1. It still does not address the gigantic conflict of interest. What’s going to get more attention from him – something that is a boom for the ski areas raising land values there, or the same thing for Pueblo? Gee, tough decision.

        2. Let’s say his full time work will add 10,000 jobs in the state (that is fundamentally why we fund this position). So instead we get 8,000 jobs. Do we tell the 2,000 remaining unemployed – hey no big deal because we saved $20,000.00 in salary?

        What I’d like to know is how it suddenly became acceptable to say running agencies and offices in the state is a part-time job. There have to be competent qualified people out there that are willing to work full-time in these positions.

        1. He creates 10,000 more jobs in his other job? We can sit her and make up all kinds of hypothetical facts. David, it’s great that you think PNow and CEW are teh devil, but this isn’t even close to the Gessler fiasco.

            1. instead of Hickenlooper, who approves of Romero’s decision? Does the buck stop with liberal activist groups not doing what you want, or with our Democratically elected Governor.

              I just think it’s very strange that you’re allowing yourself to get drawn into the GOP ghost stories about PNow and CEW being bogey men.

              1. still don’t see any disclosure of ProgressNow’s behind-the-curtain relationship with ColoradoPols. Nor do I see on this site where it’s disclosed.

                Does ProgressNow report all its in-kind contributions from ColoradoPols?

                Surely you’re concerned about these questions, right? Cuz you’re such a stickler for that stuff.

                    1. How does this Defense Denver stuff have anything to do with Colorado Pols? We haven’t written one word about it, good or bad. Not one.

                      As for the vast Colorado Pols conspiracy — round and round it goes! Colorado Pols is run by George Soros. Or Marc Holtzman. Or Progress Now. Or Bill Clinton. Or is it Hillary Clinton? Perhaps George Clinton?

                      We don’t confirm or deny any of these accusations, because there’s no point in trying. If we say “No” to any theory, it just opens up more accusations (A-ha! So you’re saying it’s NOT George Soros? But you didn’t say it wasn’t SOMEBODY from the Soros family!) and it becomes an endless jerking of circles.

                      The one thing we have always said, from Day 1, is that Colorado Pols has never received a nickel of funding from any individual or organization. That doesn’t mean we’d turn it down, in case any really rich people are reading, but it hasn’t happened yet. This is just a blog. It doesn’t cost much to run the blog, and we make a little bit of money from advertising.

                         

                1. I’m amazed that this conversation has gone on as long as it has without somebody asking Mr. Wwwhatssshisssname if he has any proof to back up his accusations.

                  Can you prove you sent an email to Pols that was forwarded to alan@progressnow.org?

                  Do you have any proof that there is a relationship at all? I have not seen anything here but allegations.

                  If this cannot be proven, then I think Pols’ rules are being violated and Wwwhatssshisssname should go to the Penalty Box, shouldn’t he?

                  1. Pols goes to great lengths to make sure that there is absolutely ZERO active electioneering going on with anything on the front page promoted/written by COPols or the guest front page editors.

                    Funding sources aside, and whether or not you think the recall of Nate Easley is legitimate,  DeFENSE is absolutely electioneering for this recall campaign. It’s their right, of course, but there are legal consequences for such speech.

                    That is the difference.

                2. You wanted an email address.

                  Are you making a different point, or are you lying?  Please let us know.

                  In the meantime, here is where my emails come from:

                  info@education.progressnowcolorado.org

                  If you want to have dialog with progressnow, I suggest that you email that address.

                  If you just want to shoot off your mouth, go ahead.  You look more stupid every time you do it.

                  By the way, I AM a stickler for that kind of stuff.  So when are you going to tell me who is pulling your puppet strings?  

              1. if ProgressNow were a simple, small, grassroots community group of concerned neighbors focused on a local issue, as DefenseDenver is. If you go to their meeting, you can see who’s putting the dollar bills into the hat. But ProgressNow is a huge 501(c)(4) political organization that rakes in massive contributions from donors that they are not even required to disclose. So you’re being intentionally disingenuous and intellectually dishonest, but of course you’ve already proven you have no compunction about that.

                1. It’s hard.  Boo fucking hoo.

                  Why don’t you disclose DeFENSE’s finances?  If they’re such a small grassroots organization, it ought to be easy.

                  That’s been the point all along.  The only point.

                  Quit deflecting.  It’s your organization that’s running a stealth petition campaign.  Prove you’re not Douglas Bruce.

                  Oh.  And if you don’t like it here, get lost.  Easy enough.

                  1. First of all, for the umpteenth time, I have no affiliation with DefenseDenver. (See, Pols, that’s the kind of simple declarative statement people can make when they have nothing to hide.)

                    Secondly, how is it a “stealth petition campaign”?  This is concerned neighbors working on a completely unpaid volunteer basis gathering for well-announced public meetings in the broad light of day in a parking lot and then going door to door in their neighborhoods gathering signatures.  How do you see that as a “stealth” anything?

                    1. For getting sucked into a pointless assinine argument with The Beej.  I thought you had more restraint than that.

                      Where is V, by the way??  I’ve missed him.

            1. At least PN will tell you who’s involved with their organization and you can find their records through the State.

              Maybe you should stop posting on this topic.

              1. so where is the list of ProgressNow’s donors?

                Where is the disclosure of who it is that operates behind the name “ColoradoPols” as an influential, ostensibly independent, quasi-journalistic blog, anonymously steering public opinion on issues that affect the interests of ProgressNow’s deep-pocketed donors?

                1. Pols isn’t soliciting donations for a political group.  It’s a blog, and they even let R’s like me in here.

                  Yours is a specifically aimed movement focusing primarily on a recall move, and you solicit political donations on your page.

                  Your attacks on Pols are yet another total dodge.  People like you disgust me.

                  1. This moron is upset about a diary written by MotR and promoted by MADCO (read his prior comments), meaning Pols had precisely NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

                    But look at this idiot go off!

                    Gotta admit, LB, if I were a Republican I’d be loving this. It all goes back to Romanoff, you know. For you, this is the primary that keeps on giving!

                    1. I hate to see everyone beating up on one person, but with a name like that there’s nothing to be done. It’s kind of like if Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined ever decides to run for Parliament. On the one hand, you kind of want to know his positions on the health system, school privatization, and foreign policy, but on the other hand you just can’t ever support him no matter how intelligent he turns out to be.

                    2. And to be fair, a large portion of the House of Commons isn’t supported because of their mysterious and unlikely intelligence.

                      Top-up fees?

                    3. … then there’s no reason to feel bad for ass. He’s like beej in so many ways. (It could very well be beej, too – his adventure as David Chestnut showed he’s capable of sock puppetry, and Voyageur tore him up worse than anyone…)

                    4. Saying Voyageur Sucks Donkey Ass wouldn’t be Christian!  And the Beej is, like, totally Christian!

                      On the other hand, saying ssayeknodskcusruegayov is just un-naitsirhC, and since Beej never claimed to be naitsirhC, maybe it’s OK.  Or do I mean jeeB?  I’m so confused.

                    5. as quickly as David Chestnut did.  We should be on the lookout for yrcemedamyvrahevets and make a promise to each other not to respond to him/her.

                    6. This debate has been going on for longer than that primary. So if by going back to Romanoff you mean goes back to before Bennet was even superintendent and right through when Romanoff was the guy running against him, then you’d be right.

                      Less catchy, but right. It’s not coincidence that Merida and Pena were involved with the opposing campaigns.

                      Now an honest question; why do people strive to find reasons to bring that primary back to the front?

                    7. They appear more intimately connected than they actually are. Many of the same players, both here and IRL. I’ve even been guilty of drawing the same conclusion, but you’re right droll.

                      And +1 trillion on your comment.

                    8. I think most people’s experience with any of these inside baseball DPS battles was that primary, unless you were involved with DPS (I am not).

                      And I assume that this is related to the primary because of the vitriol against Pols, who didn’t actually have a thing to do with MotR’s post or even its promotion. What is this dude’s gripe with Pols if not for the primary?

                      As for Progress Now, that one makes the least sense of all. Is Progress Now involved with any of these school board battles? I haven’t heard about it. Were they even involved with the primary? Again, I have never heard or seen anything ever to suggest they are.

                      Anyway, I appreciate snark so thanks, but I also wanted to explain myself.

                    9. but basically it’s unions v charter schools. So theoretically any Denver fight could impact their little causes. And I don’t mean little like people, you know, kids.

                      The gripe with Pols and MotR is Bennet related, or at least Bennet once upon a time filled the position and leaned toward the majority of the Board as it stands today. It’s easiest to never think of Bennet or Romanoff again in this context. Bennet just didn’t agree with the people who would ultimately form DeFENSE. So he’s bad, or good. Romanoff was against him so he was good, or bad.

                      This will fit in a nutshell. I’m also fairly certain I offended at least one reasonable person. But unless you have an interest in DPS the details don’t really matter.

                      PN is another raging jackwipe who either supported Bennet, or pointed out that extremes suck. Either/or. I’m honestly not sure.

                      Finally, no worries. I didn’t mean the “precious” to be quite as condescending as it reads. A little, just less. 🙂

                    10. that reading Bruce Randolph’s story (the school) is interesting not just because it’s a good story full of graduations, but also because it chronicles a good share of verbal fist fighting. It also covers things like a fight against unions and a fight against charter. Poor Bennet actually came after these decisions were made and left the school generally alone. Because he’s evil, or a saint. He’s not doing a bad job in the other place, so I’d vote a bit of both. DPS so rarely asks anyone else.

        2. both by phone and by email. They have a Tip line that you can use to contact them regarding Romero. I haven’t had much interaction with CREW but I have with Ethics Watch and find Luis to be on top of most situations and usually ahead of the curve.

          Give him a call and see what’s on his radar with this.  

        3. 2. Let’s say his full time work will add 10,000 jobs in the state (that is fundamentally why we fund this position). So instead we get 8,000 jobs. Do we tell the 2,000 remaining unemployed – hey no big deal because we saved $20,000.00 in salary?

          What an idiotic statement.  You’re better than this … don’t throw out some crap baseless supposed corollary and expect to still be respected.      

            1. so is job creation laid solely at the feet of the Executive Director of Economic Development (and International Trade) in Colorado?  

              You want to  continue trying to tie this position and the salary funding completely to immediate results?  

              You will not allow for any other unrelated factors that possibly impact job growth?

              Now I don’t know why Romero decided now it’s prudent to take on Hick’s assignment at a time when he’s also trying to fill in Snowmass Dev’s $3B financing hole, but I do think you can find a better example of how his moonlighting softens his focus on the tasks at hand.  

              If anything I’m with the crowd that calls Hick’s mindset into question.  If job growth is so important why did he appoint Romero and agree to half-azzing it?      

        4. The SoS is a party in lawsuits by and against individuals with election enforcement issues.

          this is a fundamentally different kind of conflict for lawyers.

      1. The appearance of one sided bias reduces credibility whether coming from the right or the left. Bias in matters of substance as well as mere appearance destroy credibility altogether except within one’s own echo chamber. ProgressNow and CREW need to be scrupulous in order to be perceived as anything more than a voice in an echo chamber.

        1. PNow and CREW are already perceived as such by conservatives and they never miss an opportunity to point it out. Do you think people like LB and PPC are going to throw them a parade if they file a complaint with Romero?

          1. You’re right that virtually everyone on the far right will still call them partisan. But I want them to work for a better state, not for a more Democratic state. Generally those tow things go hand in hand, but in those few cases where they diverge, I want them to pick Colorado.

            1. it’s another example of Democrats being too smart for their own good.

              Question for you David: where were all the right wing groups calling out Gessler?

              1. I think it’s a fair question to ask if CREW or Ethics Watch or Progress Now are also taking any action on Romero’s decision to moonlight. I’m not the question needs to be spammed a hundred times but I personally enjoy accountability and transparency from my Democratic representatives and employees as much as I enjoy it from the Republicans.

                So again, since David has raised the issue several times and seems genuinely interested in where these groups are at on this, I’ll again suggest he call all three organizations and ask them. And in the case of these three organizations, he won’t even have to join their newsletter list or attend a meeting to get some answers. 🙂

          2. there are many here in Colorado who don’t identify strongly with either the right or the left. It does no good to sacrifice credibility with all but the most staunch progressives.

            Not only that but, even as a staunch progressive Democrat, I don’t blindly toe the line for all progressives and progressive organizations myself. I demand  a very high level of credibility as we all should. That’s why I don’t have time for all the knee jerk blathering of the Sirotas and the Rhodes. Credibility is important unless we’re just going to confine our arguments to our own little echo chamber.

  4. I’ve been glued to http://english.aljazeera.net/ and watching how they have demonstrated, peacefully and yet not backing down – it’s amazing. I’m very hopeful they will bounce Mubarak & his cronies.

    And I think, while we won’t love the new regime, it will be one generally representative of the people of Egypt. And that’s the important thing. I also think democracy, no matter how imperfect, leads to more yelling and less shooting – and that’s a good thing.

      1. and just keeps order without stopping the protests, then Mubarak is done.

        One thing people in the US forget is that DoD has been training the officers and enlisted of the Egyptian military for over 30 years now. They’ve converted it from a banana-republic military made up of goons and misfits that vaguely follows Soviet doctrine to a Western-style professional military.

        More here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41

        For example, did you know that DoD has 625 advisors in Egypt right now?

        If Mubarak calls on the military to attack the protestors, I’m pretty sure they will refuse. Since the Police have demonstrated they’ll turn and run when the protestors show up in force, I don’t know how much longer the current regime can last.

        Pres Obama needs to come out in favor of regime change, and endorse  Mohammad ElBaradei to lead a new gov’t. If not, we just might be facing another Iranian revolution scenario where the popular opinion is that the US supported Mubarak to the end….

        1. President Obama needs to come out in favor of the Egyptian people.  Freedom, self determination, etc and so on.

          He can and should distance the USA from Mubarak, but any overt endorsement of anyone could work against us.

          1. The President has spoken in a very public forum in Egypt. He is a rock star to a number of the moderate, secular students and citizens alike.

            This may seem somewhat Bush-like, but I think it’s important for the US Gov’t to get behind a secular pro-democracy leader like El Baradei now, and thwart the Islamic Extremist’s movements toward starting a rival or shadow gov’t. Unlike Dubya, 44 has some cred with the same people he’s appealing to.

            The only people who would condemn such a move are the Islamic Extremists, and it’s not like the US is gonna make friends with them anytime soon.

          2. Emphasis on self determination and a respect for freedom of thought/expression (with a firm reminder that violence, property destruction and intimidation, whether by the government or protesters erodes the legitimacy of whichever side that engages in it)is the key

            Baradei is already seen as a bit of a internationalist, which could threaten his legitimacy if the US is too aggressive in directly supporting him.

            However, the US should be absolutely clear that a crack down on the media, the internet and peaceful gatherings is completely unacceptable and de-legitimizes a government that engages in it.

    1. that while we should not be seen as stepping in and trying to direct this for them, we must not do anything that looks like suppressing this genuine people’s uprising out of fear of changing the devil we know for something worse.

      Over and over we hear ordinary Egyptians saying this is not about religion, it’s about political and economic enfranchisement. This is not an uprising dominated by religious extremists shouting religious slogans or demanding strict Sharia law.  

      Time to end our history of crushing all democratic reform movements, as we always have in places like Iran and Iraq, in support of brutal dictatorships that promise to be the enemy of our enemy and fatten our corporations. When they fall, as they all eventually do, the people we helped these governments suppress and brutalize quite naturally become the most dangerous and implacable of our enemies. Not to mention it makes a mockery of our supposed wish to spread freedom and human rights via encouraging the development of responsive governments with strong democratic institutions. Our actions have shown over and over that’s just empty talk.

      We can take this chance to stop going down that dead end road and improve our negative image as Mubarak’s backer in the eyes of the Egyptian people or we can end up being hated more decisively, absolutely and for good by being seen as trying to prop him up.  We need to make it clear that the message has been received and we won’t lift a finger to help Mubarak stay in power, even temporarily, against the wishes of the Egyptian people. What’s more, we should also send a clear message that we are here to offer, but not to force upon them, appropriate support in attaining their aspirations.

      We can start by making it clear to the military, who perhaps haven’t completely decided which way to jump yet, that it is in their interests to choose the people while moderate voices still predominate if they wish to continue to enjoy our largesse.

          1. it is a very fine line we have to walk. We don’t want Egyptians involved in this uprising to think we don’t give a damn about their desire to be more free and rid themselves of corruption, but we also can’t be perceived as meddling in Egypts own affairs.

            1. are talking about how bad this is for Obama to have to be side-tracked with this when he wants to focus on economy and reelection but I think its an historic opportunity to show the Arab world the days of the US giving lip service to democracy while helping corrupt, brutal strongmen crush the people are over.

              Here we are carrying on about how we can’t let the poor Afghan people slip back under the control of the Taliban, for instance, when we  make no effort to “liberate” people in countries with equally repressive regimes imposing equally repressive laws   such asSaudi Arabia. Naturally anyone with as much sense as a piece of toast knows the that doesn’t compute and therefore concern for people and their rights have had nothing whatever to do with our policies.  

              Here’s a chance to say this isn’t GWs meaningless freedom agenda. This isn’t Kissinger’s screw the masses realpolitik, the long term results of which and like previous policy have created the mess we’re in today with our own crumbling economy entirely incapable of holding up every crumbling, brutal allied regime we’ve been supporting all these years and being faced in more and more places with hostile replacement regimes and populations that hate our guts.

              How about saying that this is a new era, an era in which we will let go of out-dated policies left over from the cold war.  Pro-democracy reformers who want human rights, freedom of expression, the right to  create  responsive elected  government, democratic institutions, fair courts and economic opportunity for the masses need no longer fear us but can depend on us for support?  I would say to Obama… You have a chance to be a hero for the 21st century. Few ever have such a chance.  Go for it.

  5. from TechStars

    We are incredibly honored to be launching the TechStars Network today as a featured partner of the White House Startup America campaign. We’ve had tremendous results with TechStars, and now we’re formally helping other programs to have the same impact.

    This is what Colorado should be doing to increase jobs here. TechStars was started in Boulder. The state should be working to get this copied in cities across the state – Denver, Ft Collins & Colo. Spgs. to start (all have universities).

  6. The scandal in Adams County, in which county public works officials and Quality Paving officials colluded to have Quality Paving paid for work not performed while county officials got work done for free at their homes , has  expanded to Commissioner Alice Nichol, who failed to disclose to investigators that Quality Paving did paving work at her home.

    Quality Paving was a campaign contributor to Nichol and received millions of dollars of no-bid contracts from Adams County.

    Six arrests have been made so far charging multiple felonies. Among those arrested are former Quality Paving owner Jerry Rhea, and former Adams County Construction Manager Sam Gomez.

    Prosecutors have charged not only Gomez but other county employees acted in collusion with Quality Paving to bill the county for more work than was done, and in some cases for work that was never even started.

     

  7. Or…How in the world did Green Bay get to the Super Bowl?

    What Makes NFL Football So Great: Socialism

    …they literally share the wealth, through salary caps and revenue sharing – TV is their biggest source of revenue, and they put all of it in a big commie pot and split it 32 ways. Because they don’t want anyone to fall too far behind. That’s why the team that wins the Super Bowl picks last in the next draft. Or what the Republicans would call “punishing success.”

  8. This is getting better all the time.

    Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void. This has been a difficult decision to reach, and I am aware that it will have indeterminable implications. At a time when there is virtually unanimous agreement that health care reform is needed in this country, it is hard to invalidate and strike down a statute titled “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

    snip

    It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place.

    1. We head to the shootout at the Supreme Court.

      Between the proof that the Founding Fathers were ok with this kind of plan via “An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen” (Found here: http://coloradopols.com/diary/

      and the Commerce Clause, how many shots do you think the NeoCon goalies can stop on this?

      I’ll take Kagan in the crease on this over Scalia….

        1. the choose not to adopt the CMS best practices for billing and so admin is difficult.

          BUT, when Medicare is fully funded with market based actuarially set premiums, CMS could pay the same as Anthem or Kaiser or whatever system providers love.

          Or if Medicare really is the problem- just change the eligibility requirement for the Congressional health insurance coverage from “elected representative” to “US citizen”

          1. But it isn’t fully funded as part of Obamacare so that it wouldn’t look as expensive as it is, and it’s the thing that’s going to break the bank in the future.

            1. Medicare hasn’t been fully funded for years, since Democrats and Republicans apparently can’t get enough votes together to fix the problem long-term.

              You keep coming back to that as a major flaw in the health care reform law despite knowing that the issue was addressed (once more temporarily – sigh) in a separate bill.  What – you don’t have anything of actual value to dispute about the health care law?

              1. It was part of the lie that they fed the CBO so it didn’t look so expensive.  It’s absolutely a major piece of the issue as to how the bill was basically fraudulently presented, and that’s the main reason I’m so pissed off about it.

                It was an end run – a farce perpetrated on the will of the country.

        2. You’ve been stuck in that office too long. I’ve posted MANY a time on the high ratings from both patients and providers about TriCare.

          And it’s a Repub invention – that means it’s without flaw, and glimmers in the darkness. You’re not allowed to talk bad about it!

  9. …all those cranky old crippled guys who know how to use guns:

    Veterans Groups Criticize Bachmann Plan to Cut Benefits

    For years, federal spending on the military and veterans affairs seemed nearly as sacrosanct as Social Security. But with some House Republicans now talking about cutting the Pentagon budget, veterans groups have grown nervous that the Department of Veterans Affairs will be next. And so today, a number of groups took preemptive action, vigorously blasting a proposal for V.A. budget cuts that came from a Tea Party leader, Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota.

    The veterans groups were responding to a plan recently posted on Representative Bachmann’s congressional Web site to cut federal spending by $400 billion. The plan calls for deep cuts to just about every federal agency, and veterans affairs is not spared: She proposed lopping $4.5 billion from its annual $125 billion budget, including by capping increases to health care spending for veterans and reducing some disability compensation.

    The first group to respond was Veterans for Common Sense. In a message to its membership this week, the group called the proposal “outrageous” because 10,000 new veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are flowing into the veterans health system each month.

    “You can’t cut when demand is rising,” said Paul Sullivan, the group’s executive director.

    The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the oldest and largest of the groups, followed soon after, releasing a statement from its national commander, Richard L. Eubank, saying: “No way, no how, will we let this proposal get any traction in Congress.”

    Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, posted an Army Times article about the brouhaha on his Facebook page under the words, “Oh hell no!”

    Before the day was over, groups like the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and AMVETS also chimed in.

    http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes

    Just wondering aloud here, but what would happen if a bunch of pissed-off Iraq and Afghanistan vets were to show up armed with signs quoting inflammatory rhetoric at one of her Teabagging rallies? Would she be so open about her support for open carry?

    1. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/new

      * The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is already overwhelmed by the sheer volume of returning veterans seeking health care treatment, and will not be able to provide a high quality of care in a timely fashion to the large wave of returning war veterans without greater funding and increased capacity in areas such as psychiatric care;

      * The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is in need of structural reforms in order to deal with the high volume of pending claims; the current claims process is unable to handle even the current volume of claims, and is inadequate to cope with the high demand of returning war veterans; and

      * The budgetary costs of providing disability compensation benefits and medical care to the veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan over the course of their lives will be from $350-700 billion, depending on the length of deployment of U.S. soldiers, the speed with which they claim disability benefits, and the growth rate of benefits and health care inflation.

      Think it’s gotten any better since 2007? I doubt it.

      1. …fast forward to a new Pres that keeps his campaign promises to vets, and while they’re still swamped, there’s signs that things are getting better. 180 plus days for a initial claim stinks, but that’s better than over a year.

        I have seen projections from Economists that don’t work for NeoCon think tanks that spending on vets will top a $1 TRILLION over the lives of 2 Million+ OIF/OEF/OND vets.

        One way to speed everything up AND stimulate the economy is to just PAY all claims, and audit them as you go along (kinda like the IRS.) You could then reduce the number of VBA clones and let them focus on fraud, while sending the manpower and money to VHA to take care of veterans.

        Info on that here:

        http://www.hks.harvard.edu/new

        And her presentation:

        http://action.psr.org/site/Doc

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