October 20, 2021 11:34 AM UTC
Get More Smarter on Wednesday (Oct. 20)
4 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
Fill out that ballot and get it returned, people! Visit GoVoteColorado.com to check on the status of your mail ballot for 2021. Let’s 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 an audio learner, check out The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.
CORONAVIRUS INFO…
*Colorado Coronavirus info:
CDPHE Coronavirus website
*Daily Coronavirus numbers in Colorado:
http://covid19.colorado.gov
*How you can help in Colorado:
COVRN.com
*Locate a COVID-19 testing site in Colorado:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
► The Washington Post has the latest on efforts by Congressional Democrats to get some sort of big infrastructure deal passed:
President Biden is set to head to Scranton, Pa., on Wednesday to pitch his retooled vision for overhauling federal health care, education, climate and tax laws, even as the future of his signature economic package remains unsettled among Democrats on Capitol Hill.
For Biden and his allies in Congress, the next few days could be critical: Democratic leaders hope they can finally broker a truce to end the public feuding between the party’s ambitious liberals and spending-weary moderates. Some now hope they can reach a deal this week, putting them on track to adopt the full tranche of spending perhaps before the end of the month.
“I think it’s very possible,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said after meeting with House Democratic lawmakers.
A day before the speech, Biden huddled again with the two warring factions and presented the rough outlines for a compromise package that could total between $1.75 and $1.9 trillion over 10 years. The still-fluid price tag is far less than the $3.5 trillion that some Democrats initially envisioned, as the White House seeks to strike a balance between preserving its priorities and cutting costs to satisfy two centrist holdouts, Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).
In other words, the path forward is still as clear as mud…as is a proposal to advance some sort of carbon tax.
► As CNN reports, Senate Republicans are expected to once again vote against new voting rights legislation:
Senate Republicans are expected to block another voting rights bill Wednesday, as some on the left call to change the chamber’s rules to allow the Democratic Party to unilaterally change federal election law.
The Democratic bill, known as the Freedom to Vote Act, would make it easier to register to vote, make Election Day a public holiday, ensure states have early voting for federal elections and allow all voters to request mail-in ballots. The measure would also bolster security on voting systems, overhaul how congressional districts are redrawn and impose new disclosures on donations to outside groups active in political campaigns.
But Republicans have blocked a number of voting rights legislation since Democrats took the House and Senate the past two election cycles.
► What in the holy hell is going on in Western Colorado?
► Axios Denver looks at the field of candidates seeking the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in 2022. The story includes a quote from a well-known Republican that is, shall we say, less than inspiring:
“There is no Cory Gardner sitting out there waiting to get in,” said Greg Brophy, a former Republican state senator and lobbyist. “So you have a whole bunch of people, and we are going to see what kind of campaign they can put together.”
Good luck figuring out how to use THAT statement on a campaign mailer.
Click below to keep learning stuff…
And Now, More Words…
► Democratic Congressional candidate Sol Sandoval gets a nice headline to use in fundraising pitches from Colorado Newsline…though the text of the story doesn’t really match the headline:
Following Boebert’s nearly $2.8 million raised to date and Donovan’s $1.9 million, there is a sharp drop-off in the amounts current candidates have raised. Fundraising figures indicated Donovan as a clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, but it seems now that effort is kaput.
Sol Sandoval is in a distant third place for fundraising, and her campaign operatives believe she has enough time — and a convincing enough message — to win the nomination and compete with Boebert in 2022.
“A convincing enough message.”
On that note, we wrote on Tuesday about how the Democratic candidates for CO-03 are burning through their contributions at a rate that is not sustainable for a winning campaign.
► Kyle Clark of 9News is still amazed, and rightfully so, by Republican gubernatorial candidate Hiedi Heidi Ganahl’s COVID19 superspreader event with right-wing nutcase Dennis Prager:
In related news, Madeleine Schmidt of The Colorado Times Recorder has more questions about what Prager and Ganahl might have in common.
► The White House is unveiling a COVID-19 vaccination plan for children between the ages of 5-11. It is expected that the FDA will approve a vaccine for kids sometime next month.
► As Chris Cillizza reports for CNN, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is not at all happy about the fact that Republicans continue to embrace former President Donald Trump:
…on Tuesday, McConnell made clear that he believes former President Donald Trump’s ongoing focus on the 2020 election is decidedly detrimental to the GOP’s chances in the upcoming midterm elections.
Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju whether he was comfortable with candidates embracing Trump, McConnell said this:
“I do think we need to be thinking about the future and not the past. I think the American people are focusing on this administration, what it’s doing to the country, and it’s my hope the ’22 election will be a referendum on the performance of the current administration, not a rehash of suggestions about what may have happened in 2020.”
That’s about as close as McConnell will get to outright refutation of Trump and the strategy, such as it is, that the former president is peddling — a hard focus on trying to prove (nonexistent) voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Trump will be issuing a statement that is demeaning to McConnell in 3…2…1…
► Congressperson Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert has been conspicuously silent about the antics of Western Slope pals such as Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, former campaign manager Sherronna Bishop, and chief election denier Joe Oltmann.
► As POLITICO reports, Arizona Republicans have descended into a whole ‘nother level of madness:
Just when it seemed Arizona Republicans couldn’t make more of a spectacle, they found another way.
As the party hardens around its fealty to former President Donald Trump, the GOP is filling up its midterm ballot with a roster of conspiracy theorists and extremists that could threaten the party’s prospects in a state that’s drifted leftward in recent elections.The latest of those candidates is Ron Watkins, a celebrity in the QAnon conspiracy world suspected of being Q, who announced his plans to run for Congress last week.
It isn’t just that Watkins embraces the baseless claim that the November election was stolen. It’s that an entire ticket is running on that falsehood now. The state’s congressional delegation features Rep. Paul Gosar, who spoke earlier this year at a conference organized by a white nationalist, and Rep. Andy Biggs, who falsely maintains “we don’t know” who won the presidential election in Arizona.
In fairness, Arizona’s extreme heat probably does melt your brain a little bit.
► Colorado Newsline reports on President Biden’s nominee to oversee the U.S. National Parks system.
► Westword has the latest on Colorado political efforts to keep the headquarters of U.S. Space Command from being relocated from Colorado Springs to Alabama.
► Roughly two-thirds of Coloradans would lose access to new federal benefits under a proposal to end the child tax credit program championed by Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet.
► The New York Times investigates how big chemical companies manage to avoid paying the cost for polluting the environment.
► Charles Ashby of The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel updates on efforts by Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters to lawyer her way out of trouble.
Say What, Now?
This Tweet would be so much more effective if it just had MORE WORDS.
Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► STOP IT! There is a new effort to stop the sale of Casa Bonita, the iconic Lakewood restaurant, from being turned over to the creators of South Park. If somebody is willing to spend real money to update Casa Bonita, we should absolutely get out of the way.
► Facebook is reportedly planning on changing its name, which is something that may cause Rep. Ken Buck’s head to explode. No word on whether Facebook is considering “Internet Cancer” as a new name.
► It turns out that some politicians really DO know a wealthy Nigerian prince. They should not, however, be accepting campaign contributions from such a person. As POLITICO explains:
A federal grand jury indicted Rep. Jeff Fortenberry on Tuesday, alleging that the Nebraska GOP congressman concealed information and made false statements to authorities.
The Justice Department said that Fortenberry repeatedly lied to and misled authorities during an investigation into illegal contributions to his reelection campaign that were made by a Nigerian-born billionaire, Gilbert Chagoury. He is charged with one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.
Just hours before, Fortenberry made a move rarely seen in Washington, preemptively warning his supporters he would be facing charges in the FBI campaign finance probe — and trying to raise money off of it. In a fundraising email sent Tuesday on behalf of the GOP lawmaker, co-signed by both Fortenberry and his wife, they told constituents and donors that an unnamed California prosecutor was expected to move to indict him on charges that he lied to federal agents.
Fortenberry says that this is a political attack on him, yada, yada. We’re still curious to know why Fortenberry would go to so much trouble to solicit illegal contributions when he represents a safe Republican district in Nebraska.
ICYMI
► Remember to get tested for COVID-19 if you have been anywhere near Dennis Prager or Heidi Ganahl in the last week.
► This week on The Get More Smarter Podcast, hosts Jason Bane and Ian Silverii interview State Representative/Doctor/Congressional Candidate Yadira Caraveo and ask her if she plans to pick up a fourth job anytime soon.
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Steve Bannon has officially been found in contempt of Congress, after the Committee on January 6 so voted.
https://youtu.be/7ww9wI7IAFw
Goddess, let me see that man doing a perp walk in handcuffs.
An orange jumpsuit will complement the rest of his appearance, don't you agree?
Hopefully, prison uniforms will be the new look for most of Trump’s inner circle.
Considering the expanse of his gut, Bannon will need an XXL size.