March 12, 2015 11:10 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (March 12)

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

On this day in 1912, the Girl Scouts were founded; that’s what it says on our free wall calendar, anyway. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Republicans are surprised that there has been so much backlash over the “Dear Iran” letter. That anyone would be surprised at the reaction tells you a lot about Senate Republicans. Via Politico:

Though none of the 47 Republican signers has expressed regret for co-signing it, the missive, authored by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, is creating unexpected fallout in Congress. And it threatens to linger politically and legislatively.

► Utah legislators want to bring back the firing squad for executing prisoners. That is a real sentence.

 Get even more smarter after the jump…

SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► It’s political hooey! The Aurora Sentinel takes Colorado Republicans to task for opposing legislation to continue funding a successful teen pregnancy prevention program:

There are plenty of lawmakers who believe that providing information and access to birth control only increases sexual activity, despite the fact that there isn’t one credible study that backs that up. In fact, the data clearly shows that teens armed with information, an opportunity to get guidance and birth control if they want it don’t have nearly as many babies, and they are much less likely to contract disease.

And there are many state lawmakers like state Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, who wrongly believe that IUDs are some kind of controlled abortion, dubbing them “abortifacients.” He and some Republican lawmakers believe that even though no medical, government or scientific source backs the claim. Science clearly disputes it, but they insist. It’s political hooey. Basing a legislative decision on such claptrap is dangerous and mean-spirited.

► Daniel Drezner, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wonders what the hell the GOP-led Congress thinks it’s doing on foreign policy issues.

► Colorado Senate Republicans just can’t help themselves when it comes to doing the anti-vaxxer shuffle.

► The Boulder Daily Camera points out a rapidly-evolving narrative about Sen. Cory Gardner: He is not who he said he would be.

► Colorado Senators Michael Bennett and Cory Gardner are working on legislation that would attempt to subvert future government shutdown threats.

► Colorado legislators want the state to study all of the tax breaks it offers to see whether each one still makes sense.

► Legislative aide Nicole Hanlen is a constituent service genius.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper hints that vetoes are coming.

► Cory Gardner and the #47Traitors.

► Dog bites Clerk and Recorder.

► We’re selling a lot of weed in Colorado, which means a lot of money for Colorado schools.

► The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket will be announced on Sunday. An estimated 40 million Americans will fill out a bracket.

ICYMI

► Vestas Wind Systems is adding 400 jobs in Northern Colorado.

► Are you interested in running for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Florida’s Marco Rubio in 2016 (Rubio is expected to announce a bid for President next month)? Get in line.

► Free-spending Republican Rep. Aaron Schock might want to start dusting off his resume.

Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!