September 13, 2019 10:43 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday the 13th

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• by: Colorado Pols

For the first time in nearly two decades, there will be a full moon on Friday the 13th; this won’t happen again for another 30 years. 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/visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show or The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us Facebook and Twitter.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Ten Democratic candidates for President took to the debate stage in Houston on Thursday night. The Washington Post does a quick breakdown of everything you might have missed.

There are plenty of “Winners and Losers” lists from Thursday’s debate. Check out the Washington Post; CNN; the New York Times; Vox.com; and Politico.

► The Trump administration is rolling back clean water standards to 1986 levels, and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) is thrilled about the move. From the Associated Press via Fox 31 Denver:

The Trump administration on Thursday revoked an Obama-era regulation that shielded many U.S. wetlands and streams from pollution but was opposed by developers and farmers who said it hurt economic development and infringed on property rights, a move that Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner cheered as “a victory for Colorado’s farmers.”…

…Environmentalists say the move would leave millions of Americans with less safe drinking water and allow damage of wetlands that prevent flooding, filter pollutants and provide habitat for a multitude of fish, waterfowl and other wildlife…

…Betsy Southerland, who was director of science and technology in EPA’s Office of Water during the Obama administration, said repealing its regulation would create further regulatory confusion.

“This repeal is a victory for land developers, oil and gas drillers and miners who will exploit that ambiguity to dredge and fill small streams and wetlands that were protected from destruction by the 2015 rule because of their critical impact on national water quality,” Southerland said.

► Taking money from military projects to fund a wall along the Mexico border is a serious security risk, according to a report from the U.S. Air Force. As NBC News reports:

The report, obtained by NBC News, details the importance of each of the 51 military projects chosen by the Trump administration to lose their funding, including construction of a new gate to address a growing security concern at an overseas U.S. base, projects to build facilities to safely store more than $1 billion in munitions overseas, and even replacing a boiler whose failure is “imminent” and could cause the evacuation of an entire base in Alaska…

…There is no guarantee the funds will automatically be backfilled, according to a congressional official and a U.S. defense official. The congressional official said the projects may be set back a year or more.

The funding diversions include an $8 million project for Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado; Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) promised to prevent this exact scenario last spring.

► The mystery of two anonymous donors who covered security costs for Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Aspen this summer has been solved…but it creates a whole new batch of questions. Thanks in part to an idiotic comment from the Chair of the Pitkin County Republican Party, this story is getting an extended shelf-life.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► A Republican State Representative from Texas made the wrong kind of headlines during Thursday’s debate when he threatened Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. From the Associated Press:

The tweet by Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain came after O’Rourke pledged Thursday during the Democratic debate that “hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15, your AK-47” when asked about a mandatory assault weapons buyback proposal he’s endorsed.

Cain tweeted: “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis,” O’Rourke’s full name.

O’Rourke called the tweet “a death threat” underscoring the danger of such weapons. A Twitter spokesman says Cain’s tweet was removed for violating the company’s terms of service.

What in the hell is wrong with people?

► Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Dan Baer is dropping out of the 2020 race and endorsing former Gov. John Hickenlooper.

► As Westword reports, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) is having a good week in the spotlight, though Michael Roberts still tries to stoke the flames of a Primary challenge from former State House Speaker Crisanta Duran:

Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette is having a moment — and President Donald Trump, whose impeachment she supports, is largely responsible. DeGette’s bill to prohibit the sale of vape juices, combined with her campaign to reduce teen use of electronic cigarettes, made her a go-to source this week when the Trump administration announced a flavored e-cig ban. The boost in her national profile is exemplified by her appearance yesterday, September 12, on CNN…

But while such face time is good news for DeGette, she can’t rest easy. Despite representing the 1st Congressional District, regarded as one of the most reliable in the state for a Democrat owing to its inclusion of liberal Denver, she’s facing a primary challenge in 2020 from former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Crisanta Duran, whose announcement earlier this year shocked the political establishment. Now, all Duran’s got to do is pull off an AOC…

…There doesn’t seem to be a lot of space between Duran and DeGette when it comes to the issues. When Westword asked Duran to name major policy differences, she came up with just one: She favors the Green New Deal, which DeGette hasn’t embraced thus far. But Duran, who ran for state rep in 2010, a position she held for eight years after serving as associate counsel for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 — a union for which her father, Ernie Duran Jr., served as president — is much more stylistically brash than DeGette, albeit not quite as verbally incendiary as AOC.

It was thought that Duran might pose a serious challenge to DeGette when she announced her candidacy in February. But six months into the race, Duran has been an anemic fundraiser and has been outmaneuvered by DeGette; earlier this summer DeGette received the endorsement of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a significant blow to Duran’s strategic hopes.

► Colorado Public Radio tries to make sense of the never-ending trail of failed recall attempts in Colorado by talking with a Republican political consultant.

► The Colorado-based Outdoor Industry Association is pushing Congress to take action on President Trump’s disastrous trade wars.

► Here’s another reason to support Proposition CC when your mail ballot arrives next month: Stifling Colorado schools badly need air-conditioning.

► As the Denver Post reports, sexual harassment allegations from the 2018 legislative session are already playing a big role in the 2020 battle for control of the State Senate.

► It’s virtually impossible to understand the logic of State Sen. Vicki Marble (R-Ft. Collins).

► Colorado lawmakers might consider legislation to allow college athletes to get paid for their likeness after a groundbreaking legislative decision in California.

► Hot and dry: That’s how Colorado is wrapping up the summer, which ranks among the driest summers in state history.

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

► President Trump acknowledges that he has a definite orange tint, but guess where he casts blame? As CNN reports:

President Donald Trump on Thursday evening claimed that energy efficient light bulbs make him look orange, one in a series of bizarre claims about green energy and climate conservation in remarks to Republican House members in Baltimore.

“What’s with the lightbulb?” Trump asked introducing one of several environmentally related rants in his more than hour long remarks. He described energy efficient light bulbs as “many times more expensive than that old, incandescent bulb that worked very well” and “the lights no good.”

“The bulb that we’re being forced to use, number one, to me, most importantly, I always look orange,” he said, to laughs from the audience.

Light bulbs have been a common target for the President whose has used them as a symbol to criticize energy and environmental restrictions.

You know what they say…you’re not being paranoid if the light bulbs really are out to get you.

► Ivanka Trump says that she inherited her “moral compass” from her father. That’s not good.

ICYMI

► Congress moves another step closer to holding impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

For more political learnings, check out The Get More Smarter Show or The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter.