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July 31, 2007 04:13 PM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 45 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“If I had gotten one less vote none of the above would have won.”

–Dick Wadhams

Comments

45 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread

  1. For those who don’t know, the Wadhams quote refers to his election as county chair eons ago.  It was immediately after the Nixon resignation and no one wanted to be associated with Republicans, much less run for county chair.

    It is an irony of history that Wadhams started his political career in Colorado at a low point in Republican party and now heads the party after a string of defeats.

      1. He was 19 when elected county chair (I believe in Las Animas county) He was the youngest county chair elected in Colorado.

        Unlike much of the Republican leadership that focuses on the Denver metroplex, Douglas and El Paso counties, at least Wadhams understands what rural Colorado is about.

        He’s built a career as a campaign manager.  The associations I recollect are John Thune’s sucessful campaign to unseat Tom Daschle in SD, campaigns for Bill Owens (1998), Wayne Allard (1996 & 2002), George Allen (2006), Bill Armstrong (??) and Conrad Burns (?? Montana).

        In the Strickland-Allard race, he was instrumental in labeling Strickland as an untrustworthy lawyer-lobbyist.  Strickland’s baggage was that he made bundle with an IPO involving Global Crossing (one of the telecos in the 1990s, like Qwest, that was peddling vapor-ware).  At the time Global Crossing and Qwest were trading fibers in capacity swaps and counting the swaps as “revenues”.

        He’s not cut from the same cloth as high powered political operatives who have a lot of personal baggage to conceal.  His wife of 20 years (?) died in 2000 or 2001 and he has a couple kids and grandkids. He went to school at University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo.  He’s lived in the same house in Colorado for a couple decades.

        1. that phrase was actually first coined by Gene Nichols.  The Wad Man simply picked it up after Strickland won the primary, and shouted it louder.  (Much like Holtzy came up with the term “Both Ways,” but the Dems continued to get mileage out of it in the general election campaign.)

  2. It looks like Senator Stevens got a through home valuation survey yesterday, courtesy the FBI and IRS.  According to witnesses, who had to watch while a team of investigators carried on in part behind closed curtains, the “raid” was essentially a top-to-bottom survey of Sen. Stevens’s house – from electrical outlet installations to gutter construction to the crane-installed 2nd floor steel BBQ grill.

    Apparently this raid is an attempt to compare actual work performed vs. work billed.  If they don’t match to within a reasonable tolerance, Sen. Stevens is done.

      1. “The Gravina Island Bridge is a proposed $315 million bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects Ketchikan, Alaska (population 8,000) to developable land on Gravina Island and improve access to Ketchikan International Airport.”

        It may not be essential, but I sure would hat to have to time my trip to the airport to catch a ferry that only runs every 30 minutes. If you have used ferries, you know that it takes a while to load and unload.

          1. As long as they are used to it, why try to make it better. I guess we could take that approach to any number of issues. Let’s start with health care. Whaddaya say?

              1. Let’s stop RTD funding for the least used lines. I propose we cut off Route N, it serves a town with a population of 1300, followed by Route Y. That serves a population of 1700. We can work on the rest of the lines later. We could see what the number of users are and make a determination based on that. Perhaps we could just stop RTD subsidies and let the routes that pay for themselves remain. Somehow I don’t see you going for that. We can look at other projects if you’d like.

                1. It is about drawing the line somewhere and making sure the dollars you have are spent most effectively, because there isn’t an unlimited amount of funds available.  The bridge to nowhere is not an effective use of that money.

            1. First, if you live in a remote area, you don’t want a four-lane ocean-spanning highway to “help” you out – you want to live in peace, it’s why you live where you live.

              Second, I’m with Sam Kinnison on this one: move to where the [resources are].  If you need convenient access to an airport, move nearer to an airport.  It’s a waste of $300m of taxpayer money to build a bridge across that long a stretch of ocean for so few people – for that, I could relocate every single resident who needed convenient airport access into

              The same doesn’t apply to healthcare, e.g. – you don’t usually choose to be without healthcare (unless you’re young and “invincible”).

              1. Is that Ketchikan is not merely a year round community. People use it as a gateway to Alaska for fishing jobs.

                How about RTD? Should we stop RTD funding to “remote” Colorado locations? Perhaps road maintenance too. We could stop plowing Boulder Canyon road since the people who normally use it chose to live in a remote area.

                1. The people of Ketchikan, from what I read, don’t evey want the bridge.  It’s a pork for the construction industry (and maybe the airport.)  As Phoenix points out, if you live back of beyond, you expect to be inconvenienced.

                  I usually ride to DIA via the Skyride from the Stapleton Transfer station.  Same deal, a bus every thirty minutes except at peak AM.  Just like those islanders, I have to plan accordingly.  It’s rough, I tell ya……

                  1. That you have a choice. Not only do you have a choice but you don’t have to wait the loading and unloading time for a ferry. Have you ever been on one? It is not the same as a bus. And since you brought up the bus, what do you say we do away with the DIA Fasttraks line and use the money for that line elsewhere. After all, that’s already served by a bus.

                    From what Phoenix was saying, it IS about having a choice. We get our news from different sources. I read that people have been wanting this since 1981. It’s all a matter of perspective.

                    As for RTD earmarks, the latest official earmark numbers from the OMB are for 2005. In 2005 Colorado Springs received $675 million in earmarks for buses and bus facilities. Montrose received $125 million and Fort Collins another $125 million.

                    So what IS the issue? What YOU consider waste? Earmarks? or Earmarks for something you don’t like?

                    I’m just tired of hearing about the bridge to nowhere without people even having an idea of what it is about. Libs accuse conservatives of regurgitating talking points without knowing the background. I think that both wings are guilty of that and this is a prime example.

                    I’ll get off my soapbox now.

                    1. Just puzzled at your passion for something six thousand miles away and conflation of RTD with earmarks. Not even close, buddy.

                      The point was that $315 million (and it never is on budget, is it?) to serve less than ten thousand people who have an alternative is absurd.  That’s $31,500 federal tax dollars subsidy for each resident, whether they use the airport or not.

                      As the other PR said, if it is such an inconvenience, don’t live there.  If dealing with that ferry is so troublesome – you know, unloading and all that – take the one before.

                    2. I agree with parsing and Phoenix.  Great points guys!

                      Celebrating rare moments of solidarity with my Dem friends:)

                    3. Because I have been trying to underline, from my first post about this, how un-democrat their replies have been. They are taking a very republican view; Personal choices and personal responsibilities. Maybe you have been a positive influence for them, Lauren.

                      BTW, I only used RTD as an example since that’s a liberal sacred cow. I personally use it and I am grateful that it is there. Now, if we could get fewer union drivers… but that’s a whole different ball of wax.

                    4. I believe in democratic ideals just not those of most democrats. 😉 a little tongue-in-cheek

                    5. Sorry guys, my comments invited this little smack down, but you both made great points.

                      Finding common ground will move us past the current gridlock we have in Washington, hopefully.

                    6. …you are a pretty much ration Republican, Lauren.  Not too much lock step ideology comes from your posts.

    1. ‘Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, whose home back in Alaska was raided by federal investigators Monday in a wide-ranging corruption investigation, has threatened to place a hold on the Democratic-drafted ethics legislation just passed by the House and expected on the Senate floor by week’s end.

      The senator told a closed session of fellow Republicans today, including Vice President Dick Cheney, that he was upset that the measure would interfere with his travel to and from Alaska – and vowed to block it’

      http://www.politico….

  3. While wing-nuts from the Brookings Institute return from Iraq to herald the surge as going just perfectly, evidence shows that corruption is taking new leaps within almost every corner of the Iraqi government, including the Prime Minister taking a slice from the top. http://www.msnbc.msn

    We are witnessing one of the greatest heists in history, and our very own VP DICK Cheney is getting his cut.

  4. Do Republicans realize the cliff they are walking off by opposing the SCHIP program?  Health care for children, is that really a big problem?

    1. And if Rudy gets elected, those for-profits who are making hand over fist on our sickness are going to get even more tx-credits to screw more people out of insurance! http://online.wsj.co

      We are literally giving our democracy away to the highest bidder

  5. Since I’m frequently accused of having it in for corrupt R’s – and I do – I have just become aware of a possible corrupt D. 

    “_Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, 13th term. Mollohan stepped down from the House ethics committee after federal agents began a probe of federal funds he helped steer to nonprofit groups he founded.”

    http://www.breitbart

    Please notice that the ratio is 3:1, very statistically significant.  I would guess that most if not all of these investigations were started during Republican controlled executive and congress.  That would give a bias in who they investigate or look the other way.  And it’s still 3:1!

    1. In an earlier post, folks were complaining about Harry Ried’s vote on reform of US mining laws.  Harry is the Democratic Majority Leader.  In the last election here’s what he received from mining companies …

      Harry Reid received a campaign contribution of $36,799 from Newmont Mining and a total of $322,000 from energy/mining companies; $105,000 from energy/mining PACs and these amounts from mining companies:

      Anglogold Ltd $2,000
      Arch Coal $1,000
      Cleveland-Cliffs  $1,000
      Foundation Coal $2,500
      Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold $3,000
      Joy Global Inc $1,000
      Kennecott Holdings $5,000
      National Mining Assn $7,500
      National Mining Assn $2,000
      Peabody Energy $3,000
      Phelps Dodge Corp $6,000

      Campaign contributions are tracked on a couple web sites, including followthemoney.org (state campaigns) and opensecrets.org (federal races).  It’s usually pretty easy to link votes to who has given the candidate money irrespective of whether the individual is a D or an R.

      Is this corruption? I think it is.  While one can argue that “Oh, the campaign supporters given $$ to the candidate who shares their views”, I think that’s naive.  They give money to a candidate because they expect the candidate to do what they want and they expect their money to open doors for them and give them access the public does not have.

      1. …but not corruption.  I differentiate.

        One is open and a matter of record, the other, not.

        There are two things that amaze me about our corporate influence peddling.  First, is that all this “protected” status as a person comes from a mis-writing of the famous court case of Santa Clara County v. Union (?) Pacific RR in 1877.  And that was based on a very “liberal” interpretation of the 14th amendment.

        Second, one of the most red states in America, Texas, has long had a “no corporate donations” law in place for years.  No righties raise hell about this and no lefties say that there is a model for what we need in every state and at the federal level.

        Or, we could insert “natural” before the word “persons” in the 14th Amendment.

        The law of unintended consequences and what became obviously bad wording.

        1. Your argument is that if it’s secret its corrupt, if it’s a matter of public record then it’s not corrupt, but merely “influence”.

          Thus, under your distinction, if the folks who remodled Stevens house made the expenses a matter of public record that would merely be “influence” and not corruption.  Or, if the folks who gave money to Democratic Lousiana Congressman William Jefferson (recall that he hid that money in his freezer) made it a matter of public record, then it would not be corrupt, but merely “influence.”

          Secrecy does not create corruption.  I believe that any payment for votes, quid pro quo or preferential access is corrupt and not OK whether it’s secret or not.

          1. ..I was looking at it from a legal-ish position, definitions. 

            BTW, as I understand the Steven’s remodeling investigation, it is just that…where all the improvements reported? Above board but stinking, or below board and out of sight.

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