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October 30, 2009 03:30 PM UTC

Open Line Friday!

  • 52 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“The only people that seem to want this are women who have more than four cell phones in their house.”

–Rush Limbaugh, on health care reform

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52 thoughts on “Open Line Friday!”

  1. GDP rises at 3.5% pace, but growth largely due to government actions

    http://www.denverpost.com/busi…


    “We’re going to lose those 4 percentage points over the next year, and so the private economy and the underlying organic growth path needs to pick up that much to offset it,” she said.

    As if underscoring the continued hard times for workers, the Labor Department said in a separate report Thursday morning that 530,000 people filed new applications last week for unemployment-insurance benefits.

    “There’s no champagne in our office until we start adding jobs, and not just adding jobs but adding enough that unemployment is going down,” said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, speaking to reporters at an event organized by the Christian Science Monitor.

    Thank God Ms. Romer gets it.

    1. only because 1,000 people left or were dropped from the job seeking list.  

      Stocks are up because earnings are up.  That is the result of layoffs and depleting inventories.  Not sustainable.  

      It is going to be a long march back.  

      1. Maybe you can head down to the library and check out a taxpayers copy of: The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements

        Cash for Clunkers = $24,000/unit cost to Taxpayers

        Cash for Clunkers a shameful waste

        By Chuck Plunkett

        Auto industry experts at Edmonds have proven the lie underlying Cash for Clunkers.

        An analysis shows that the program cost taxpayers $24,000 per car for those cars bought under the program that wouldn’t have sold without the stimulus perk.

        The article is splashed across the top of Drudge presently, so I almost skipped sounding off, but because we editorialized against the program when the president first started promoting it, I just wanted to keep score.

        We argued: “President Obama’s so-called ‘cash for clunkers’ initiative is a feel-good idea that won’t really accomplish its goals, and would only add to the soaring deficits taxpayers are growing far too weary of carrying.”

        True Believers can still make a difference though, just hike up your jock and get ready to help CNN spin the data

        Do you have a job because of the $787 billion stimulus package? We want to hear from people whose jobs have been created or saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Please e-mail your stories to CNNMoney.com and you could be part of an upcoming article.

        And you gotta love the soon to be re-elected Guv of NJ on job creation, spin and being a True Believer:

        In a memo to NJ state department head Corzine asked them to “come up with an event or two or three that show job creation or economic development in the private sector.” The events, planned for this week, would “get our message out” that “the economic policies of Governor Corzine are working,” in part by generating “stories in weekly as well as daily newspapers,”

        Highlighting positive things such as job creation is customary for incumbent governors seeking re-election, but the memo goes further.

        “I know that it might be a stretch for some of you, but please be creative,”. “While many programs might not created (sic) jobs directly, they do have some connection to job creation either through training, giving money to sustain employment or create demand for workers.”

        http://media.nj.com/ledgerupda…

        So come on drones, hike up your jocks and show you’re a True Believer!

    3. The point of the Stimulus Act was to do exactly that – slow job loss and use public works to move the economy out of recession. And your link seems to prove it worked, contrary to the stunning reporting done my the right-Wing media (today’s quoter included.)

      Since you’ll all about History now ‘tad, please explain your opening title. How exactly did the German gov’t of the 30’s come to power? Hitler was backed by the Munitions and other Heavy Industries…so who was the beneficiary of those Gov’t spending programs? Sounds like the PREVIOUS administration, not the current one.

      BONUS POINTS: Without the Google (which you barely use anyway) please cite an example of American Economic recovery purely driven by the private sector. Heck, I’ll even handicap it for you – has the private sector even slowed or prevented a recession or depression by it’s wonderful self?

      1. On the world markets, borrowing from the likes of Prescott Bush’s Union Bank.  He was funding Hitler to the extent that Congress passed a law and FDR signed it to stop trading with the enemy, as it were.  

  2. Rush is a peddler of hysteria and hate (bigotry).  He knows that rating points + paid advertising = his obscene income.  I suppose it’s too much to hope the media and blogs will cease to give him free advertising.

        1. even if just for emergencies. So maybe it’s a slam against mothers with more than one kid?

          At least he’s not complaining about black people today, so that’s progress.

  4. COFFMAN: DECISION DISREGARDED WELFARE OF MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM

    Penry, HB 1317 shortchange America’s troops

    10/23/2009

    column_kicker:

    COFFMAN: DECISION DISREGARDED WELFARE OF MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM

    In a recent article in The Colorado Statesman headlined, “On the range at PiГ±on Canon,” state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, complained that he is being unfairly labeled as anti-military because he supported legislation that permanently bars the United States Army from receiving the additional training areas it has requested in PiГ±on Canyon.

    The Army is now being asked to do much more with less. In response, it has task-organized into brigade combat teams, or BCTs, which are required to cover a much larger battle space than an equivalent number of troops ever were expected to cover. The first full application of this new doctrine is in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, where our ground troops are already stretched thin over a very large and difficult land mass.

    The Colorado State Land Board holds sections of land throughout the 100,000 acres where the Army wants to expand in order to conduct the type of combat training it deems necessary for soldiers to meet their predeployment readiness goals. The legislation that Penry co-sponsored, House Bill 1317, is designed to throw a wrench into the United States Army’s ability to expand its training area by placing the tracts of land owned by our State Land Board – which are dispersed throughout the proposed training site – permanently off limits to the Army.

    In the article, Penry stated that he supported the measure only because he was concerned about private property rights, should the Army use condemnation to acquire the property. While I respect his sensitivity to the impact that this expansion will have on the ranching communities around the proposed training area, he completely ignores the sacrifices of the many soldiers, who also have families, and who need an area that meets their training requirements in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan.

    The Army does two things: It trains to go to war, and it goes to war. The Army must train to meet current and anticipated threats to the nation, and it must train as if it expects to fight. Unit proficiency and individual readiness save the lives of American soldiers in combat. We cannot send units and individual soldiers into battle who will be performing their tasks for the first time.

    What is surprising to me about Penry’s position is that the Army had repeatedly stated – before Penry signed on to the legislation as a co-sponsor – that it had abandoned the use of condemnation and was willing to acquire the land through willing sellers or even through a long-term lease agreement. If Penry truly felt that the issue was one of private property rights, he could have simply insisted that the legislation be amended to take effect only if the Army moved forward with acquiring the property through condemnation. Unfortunately, he made no such demands.

    My first obligation, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is to make sure that we have a military that is adequately equipped and trained to defend the security interests of the United States. I fully understand this obligation, having served in both the Army and in the Marine Corps.

    Unfortunately, it is obvious by the actions of Penry, who co-sponsored HB 1317, and Gov. Bill Ritter, who signed it into law, that both made their decision on the basis of a political calculation without any regard for the men and women in uniform who serve this nation in defense of our freedom.

    Republican Mike Coffman is serving his freshman term as Colorado’s 6th Congressional District representative.

    Okay, so I read this and found it very interesting and I have to say I agree with Coffman. Isn’t Penry being anti-military? He signed a bill against the military hence…anti-military. There was a chance for more jobs, help the Springs out a little bit with the economy etc. etc. and Josh went hardcore against all those good things. I guess I don’t get why such a “conservative” would sign something like this.

    Another note, Coffman’s a pretty good writer.  

    1. B-X insists that expanding PCMS would be the US Army’s equivalent of training Disneyland.

      I say it’s still not enough real estate to do Brigade or (larger) unit maneuvers, and still wouldn’t have all the cool lazer tag, live fire ranges and a standing OPFOR units that Fort Irwin or Fort Polk have.

      The truth (honestly is somewhere in between.)

      If we want to pretend we’re going to fight all of our future wars in AFPAK, then why are going to expand a training area that’s prairie and sand? Shouldn’t the DoD take back Camp Hale, and make poor grunts hump the hills?

        1. It’s freaking gorgeous at Hale (more so than most Army training areas), but the main training value there is the altitude.

          Humping a full kit, ruck and M249 SAW is one thing – doing it while running up a mountain while crawling between rocks is another.

          There’s a reason why the High-Altitude Army Aviation Training Site is here in Colorado….flying a helicopter at this altitude is scary enough in nice weather, without bad guys shooting at you.

          Besides, it was snark…..if the Military continues to train for the last war it fought, we end up with the inept US Army of the 70s’….

    2. The bill passed and was signed into law, so that makes everyone who voted for it or supported it anti-military? That’s a lot of stones to be throwing.

      And how do you know that Coffman actually wrote the letter, and not some staffer?

      1. As someone who is supposed to represent their people he is anti-military. I bet a majority of his constituents wouldn’t have wanted him to sign it but he did anyway, so he was acting for them, so I say he was acting anti-military.

        And you can act anti-military at one point and not at another. This bill he was. I didn’t throw stones, I merely asked a question.

        And you’re right a staffer could have written it, in that case, good job staffer.  

        1. I bet a majority of his constituents wouldn’t have wanted him to sign it but he did anyway

          I’m not.

          And remember that a lot of people have come out against this, including most of CO’s congressional delegation, both houses of the legislature, and the Guv.  

          1. The same could be said for the other side. I think it’s a 50/50 thing…and the majority of the people you mentioned are dems, hence my point that Penry is acting more Democratic then Republican.  

              2. Look, I don’t know why he won’t debate, my assumtion is that he is ahead. So, why give in to Penry and risk losing traction. That would be my first and only guess.

  5. This seems to have been overlooked here due to the weather (I assume):

    Another campaign-related e-mail sent out to state workers’ accounts  http://www.denverpost.com/poli…

    “The tables have turned, with Republican state employees complaining they’ve received invitations to a fundraiser for Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter on their work e-mail accounts…”

    1. The nature of the complaint was not sending emails to government accounts, it was using an email list compiled for government purposes.

      The article does not explicitly state or imply that the Governor’s campaign was using a government email list.  Quite the contrary it explicitly states that the campaign has a process for removing government email addresses.

      Penry’s ethical lapse was not sending emails to government employees, but rather using the Senate News email list.

  6.         No, I didn’t write this. I wish I did. Because it’s the painful truth. And you know how much I love to stir the puddin’. This list was actually forwarded to me from a friend of mine … Ain’t this the truth?

           If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one.

           If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

           If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn’t` eat meat.

           If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

           If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy.

           If a liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

           If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.

           If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

           If a person of color is conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need

           of government protection.

           If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

           If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

           If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it’s a foreign religion, of course!)

           If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

           If a conservative slips and falls in a store, he gets up, laughs and is embarrassed. If a liberal slips and falls, he grabs his neck, moans like he’s in labor and then sues.

           If a conservative reads this, he’ll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.

           A liberal will delete it because he’s “offended”.

      1. Just when I was beginning to have some respect for your opinions. I guess you never met a liberal that you liked or respected.

        You must live in a very small world.

    2. This isn’t the painful truth – it’s another bogus chain email that somehow inflates your political self-worth by slighting those who oppose your world viewpoint.

      If for once in your life, you;d like to try and weigh the real differences, I invite your attention to this graphic:

      http://www.informationisbeauti…

      1. Couldn’t find it on the web to post the red-blue diagram, thanks for the link.

        ps why are you always so bitter to other people, is this blog your life?

        1. …spent part of the day working to link homeless veterans with the 3 nonprofit’s that got part of $17 million in Grants from the VA.

          (http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1795)

          And I’m trying to arrange a meeting with a OIF Vet with PTSD who was just in jail in NM, but thanks to a great counselor at that Socialist health care system (the VA) he’s out on bail. I hope to get him into a DAV service office and get his amended claim filed next week.

          Oh, and I was also trying to link up with the Veterans Court grant administrator to see if we could give a PTSD/TBI awareness class to the Auraria Police Dept – did you know that over 1200 Post 9/11 vets are using this Big Gov’t Stimulus to go to school on that campus THIS semester?

          So, what do you do today – get a little further on the Burning Crusade in World of Warcraft? Get an epic axe yet?

    5. Show me any evidence that ‘liberals’ file liability suits more often than ‘conservatives.’

      Point me to where all liberal vegetarians demand that all meat products be banned.

      etc. etc. etc.

      Why aren’t you in school today?  Pig flu?

    6. If a conservative doesn’t like murder, he doesn’t kill. If a liberal doesn’t like murder, he wants all murder outlawed.

      If a conservative doesn’t like domestic abuse, he doesn’t beat his spouse. If a liberal doesn’t like domestic abuse, he prosecutes spouse-beaters.

      If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church. Whether a liberal is a non-believer or not, he respects the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

      Jeez, mahn, get a clue.

    7. If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he gets drummed out of the party.

      If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one.

      If a conservative imagines a foreign threat, he launches a preemptive war costing trillions and doing untold damage to our reputation.  

      A liberal believes that force should be used strategically and sparingly, when the threat is clear and established, with a clear plan for victory.  

      If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life in the closet.  

      Liberals considering homosexuality understand that the equal protection guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution applies to everyone.

      If a person of color is conservative, he will be placed prominently in any camera shot to pretend that there is diversity in  the party.  

      Their liberal counterparts become POTUS.

      If a conservative is down-and-out, or even if he is wealthy, he is first in line for any government handout available, with conservative state’s receiving a higher percentage per capita of government funds than their liberal counterparts.

      If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he tosses labels around like anti-American, unpatriotic, Marxist, Stalinist, Leninist, Maoist, Hitler. Liberals demand that accountability extend to everyone.  

      If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church and never, ever, ever talks about evolution, because none of his party’s leaders ‘believe’ in that nonsense.  

      A liberal understands that the separation of Church and State means just that–that individuals of any faith are free to practice, preach and otherwise appreciate and proselytize, just not on the government’s dime.    

      If a conservative decides he needs health care, he gets a fat government job from which he can complain about government spending. A liberal understands that it is an obligation of community to care for one another and that government has an important role to play.  

      If a conservative reads this, he’ll forward it to the Free Republic where a long chain of comments will ensue praising Glenn Beck and highlighting the Marxist threat in our midst.

      A liberal will think its kind of silly.

  8. Water contamination is on the rise as people are poisoned and sickened, fish are killed, and aquifers are threatened.  Now we learn from Arkansas of another possible threat from drilling in that area’s shale plays:

    Relatively minor earthquakes around Quitman in Cleburne County and Greenbrier in Faulkner County have hit over 15 times within the past two weeks and seismologists are taking notice. The quakes have ranged from 2.5 to 3.0 in magnitude and no damage has been reported. Why are they happening?

    …Paul Caruso, a geophysicst with the US Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado told the Sun-Times the quakes are highly unusual. “Quakes this size happen all the time in California and it’s not noticed, but when they happen in Arkansas, it’s a big deal.”

    ..Is the gas drilling that’s taking place with the Fayetteville Shale causing the quakes? “I can’t say if that’s the case there.”

    For a more detailed answer in regards to drilling being associated with the quakes, Caruso turned us to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

    Induced seismicity, or earthquakes caused by man, is being investigated. “It is possible oil and gas drilling could be causing the earthquakes, but we are not 100 percent confident of that,” said Dr. Haydar Al-Shukri, director of the Arkansas Earthquake Center at UALR. “We have not seen this much activity in the past, but we cannot say, at this time, that it is drilling related. This is an abnormal increase.”

    He further explained the definition of induced seismicity. “Induced seismicity are earthquake cluster(s) that are activated or triggered by human activities, such as impoundment of large reservoirs behind high dams, geothermal power generation, secondary oil recovery, deep underground mining, removal of large volumes of rock during surface quarrying; fluid extraction as in petroleum production, and fluid injection. [i.e. ‘fracking’-CT]

    “To my knowledge, I have not seen a scientific paper or article that reported an earthquake of magnitude larger then 5.5. Usually induced activity intends to occur in large number and small magnitude. Also this type of activity does not seem to be related to a single fault in the region.”

    Al-Shukri said seven seismic stations were installed within a three to four mile radius of Enola earlier this year. “Those stations are being used to study induced seismicity, which is due to fluid being put into the ground for the drilling of wells.”

    But like the chemicals being pumped into the ground, the public may never know if this activity is causing the earth to rumble:

    Once a conclusion has been reached, the public may not necessarily be privy to the information. “The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, Arkansas Geological Survey, and the drilling companies will determine what information will be released.”

    All in the public private interest.

    1. Loading the weapon is performed by pulling the charging handle which locks the bolt to the rear. The weapon is placed on safe and the charging handle is pushed forward (this is spring loaded on the tank mounted version). The feed tray cover is then lifted and rounds are laid inside the feed tray. The feed tray cover is then closed and the weapon is ready for operation.

      Clearing the weapon is performed by ensuring the bolt is locked to the rear and the weapon is on safe. The feed tray cover is then lifted, the remaining belt (if any) is swept out of the feed tray, the feed tray is lifted to visually inspect the rear of the barrel and the face of the bolt. Any links or brass casings are removed.

      The weapon is now clear.

  10. Williams paints rosy Piceance drilling picture-Funny they fail to report to shareholders that the ‘burdensome’ oil and gas regulations in Colorado have driven them from the state-so are they lying to shareholders or are you lying to us?

    “We’re opportunity-rich, which leads to sustained growth ahead,” Malcolm said, singling out projects in Colorado’s Piceance Basin and in the Marcellus Shale area of Pennsylvania.

    …Williams is confident about commodity price assumptions two years out showing oil at about $80 per barrel and natural gas up to $6.50 per million British thermal units from the current price of about $4.50. Those estimates are still well below 2008’s historic highs but strong enough to generate healthy profits, company officials said.

    Williams plans $4 billion worth of projects through 2011, officials said. The

    Piceance Basin offers thousands of low-risk locations still to develop beyond what’s already drilled    , the CEO added.

    “This is world-class resource,” Malcolm said, comparing it to Williams’ stakes in the Marcellus, Barnett and Woodford shales. “In our view, none of them has exceeded the quality of our core Piceance position.”

    ..”We’re adding fuel to our earnings engine,” he said.

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