President (To Win Colorado) See Full Big Line

(D) Kamala Harris

(R) Donald Trump

80%↑

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) V. Archuleta

98%

2%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Marshall Dawson

95%

5%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd

(D) Adam Frisch

50%

50%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert

(D) Trisha Calvarese

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank

(D) River Gassen

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) John Fabbricatore

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen

(R) Sergei Matveyuk

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(R) Gabe Evans

52%↑

48%↓

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
June 28, 2012 11:52 PM UTC

Please Stop Talking, Doug Lamborn (Disaster Relief Edition)

  • 21 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

We talked yesterday about attempts by Republican officials and conservative opinionmakers in recent days to turn the response to the tragic wildfires in Colorado and elsewhere into a political hit on President Barack Obama in an election year–despite the fact that the reduction of the nation’s aerial tanker fleet mostly occurred during the prior administration, that Obama has signed legislation to address the problem, and most tellingly, despite the fact that the Republican officials leveling the accusations had themselves voted repeatedly to cut federal funding for wildfire fighting and disaster relief by hundreds of millions of dollars.

No better example of this hypocrisy can be found than Rep. Doug Lamborn. As two press releases on his congressional website make embarrassingly clear. The latest came today:

The Colorado Congressional delegation today urged President Barack Obama to support Governor John Hickenlooper’s request for a Federal disaster declaration in response to the wildfires raging across the state.  Governor Hickenlooper requested the declaration today…

“Already this year, these and other fires have burned over 200,000 acres across the state, and over 3,000 firefighters and other officials continue to work around the clock to contain the flames,” the delegation wrote in a letter to the President. “Governor Hickenlooper has determined that these incidents are of such severity and magnitude that additional supplementary federal assistance is necessary to help address impacts and needs that are not being covered by existing resources.”

This letter was signed by every member of the Colorado delegation, including Doug Lamborn and fellow Republicans Rep. Cory Gardner, Rep. Mike Coffman, and Rep. Scott Tipton–all of whom have voted to cut wildfire and other disaster relief funding since 2010.

A particularly odd request for Rep. Lamborn to sign onto after this press release from April:

“We are not doing the American people any favors by not being transparent and upfront with our budget.  My bill would ensure that disaster relief funding is reflected in the budget and falls under the same caps as other discretionary spending.” [Pols empahsis]

…Last year, President Obama issued over 240 FEMA disaster declarations, breaking the previous record by over 80. Most disasters – tornadoes, snowstorms, fires, floods – are state and local issues. However, President Obama increased the national debt with his very generous use of “disaster declarations.” [Pols emphasis]

Today, with Rep. Lamborn’s district in flames, it seems he’s not so critical.

Folks, is there any way to defend this? Is there any reason this should not be looked upon as a totally indefensible, hypocritical insult to responsible leadership? If so, we’d like to hear it.

Tweet
Share

Comments

21 thoughts on “Please Stop Talking, Doug Lamborn (Disaster Relief Edition)”

  2. I’d like to see a commercial that clearly documents the aforementioned votes “to cut wildfire and other disaster relief funding since 2010.”  Independents might, just might, learn what it means to vote for the GOP.

  3. Somalia Springs will continue to get the Representation they deserve.

    Perhaps Doug can huddle up with the rest of the El Paso Flat Earth Society and come up with a “Free market Solution” to wildfires!

      1. ..Is now in flames too. The Pine Ridge fire has cut off I-70, with the town of Debeque being evacuated to Palisade High School. Evidently progress is being slowed by heavy traffic and a stuck coal train. It will be interesting to see how Tipton responds to this disaster in his district.

        1. Well- he works for the gov’t …so according to him, the best thing he can do is …nothing.  Anything he does as a gov’t agent will just make things worse.

          And Voy bobewwgen is right: Burn more coal! To arms!  and blame the gays!

    1. Congressman Lamborn has discovered that right-wing ideology isn’t very good at putting out forest fires, nor does slashing the federal fire fighting budget pour water or fire retardant on the flames.

      2. is that we should spend more money on the things we need, and just reduce that “waste and fraud” budget. And somehow, by the miracle of “the numbers shall be what I wish they were,” that will solve all our problems at once, plus a tax cut.

  5. I will never understand how this man is an elected official.  My only thought is the people of CD5 get what vote for.  They obviously aren’t that bright…

        1. please trust my reasoning. But, I’m the guy who gave the nominating speech for Imrie. But, Jay was a hell of a candidate and his loss just proves that those CoSpgs voters are unable/unwilling to learn. I’m now in CD3 (redistricted out of CD5) and working independently for Pace. Tipton sees like he could be another Lamebrain.

          1. .

            GIM,

            please send John Schroyer at the Somalia Springs Gazelle an email “splainin’ that whole redistricting thing.  

            He is still reporting that Lake is in CD-05.  

            .

        2. please trust my reasoning. But, I’m the guy who gave the nominating speech for Imrie. But, Jay was a hell of a candidate and his loss just proves that those CoSpgs voters are unable/unwilling to learn. I’m now in CD3 (redistricted out of CD5) and working independently for Pace. Tipton sees like he could be another Lamebrain.

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

242 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!