Monday Open Thread

10 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. Looks like the Jeffco School Board is hiring a new communications person. Hoo boy. 

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   1. Oh hell no. Revealing Politics is Ms.Crean's "non-partisan" communications cred? The outfit that wants all charter schools all the time? That hates the ACA? The Independence Institute's attempt to fund a high-visual short attention span communications outlet for social media is her area of expertise?

      Jeffco Public Schools, if this is a done deal, the fireworks ain't over yet.

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2. And we thought the show would end when school let out for the summer

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3. Mark Udall's post mortem of his electoral loss last December: “Wasn't Me!“

   Udall explained in a recent interview why he voted against the war and his efforts on national security and said he was surprised to receive fewer votes in the red and rural counties than Democratic Senate candidate Michael Bennet did in 2010 “because I’m Colorado through and through.”

   And it wasn't Bennet's fault either, cuz Chairman of the DSCC is a powerless and meaningless job that no one ever wants. Oh, and Bennet made sure to play softball before taking the job up front and evaded most responsibility after the horrible results.

   It was probably voters’ fault for not seeing thru the horrible campaign strategy to the mediocre politician inside.

   In related news about possible Democratic campaign strategies, Bernie Sanders showed how to make the case for Social Security increases, not cuts, and made the point that any tax increases to stabilize SS would be minimal:

   The argument being used to cut Social Security is that because we have a significant deficit problem and a $14 trillion national debt, we just can’t afford to maintain Social Security benefits. This argument is false. Social Security, because it is funded by the payroll tax, not the U.S. Treasury, has not contributed on nickel to our deficit. In fact, according to a very recent study by the Congressional Budget Office ( CBO) Social Security has a $2.5 trillion dollar surplus and can pay out every penny owed to every eligible American for the next 27 years until 2038. At that point it has enough money to pay over 80% of promised benefits.

   Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress and too many Democrats, have been discussing harmful cuts to Social Security as part of an overall scheme to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children, and working families. That is wrong, it is unconscionable, and it must not happen! 

   An exclamation point! That proves he's just a radical, fringe candidate.

   Surely this must be impossible:

    Instead of cutting Social Security COLAs or raising the retirement age, there is a much fairer way to make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years.

   Right now, an American who makes $106,800 a year pays the same amount of money into the Social Security system as a millionaire or a billionaire. That is because today, all income above $106,800 is exempt from the Social Security payroll tax.

   As a result, 94% of Americans pay Social Security tax on all of their income, but the wealthiest 6% do not. That is wrong and that has got to change.

   That's why I will be introducing the Keeping Social Security Promises Act as soon as the Senate gets back into session. This legislation will strengthen Social Security for the next 75 years by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share into Social Security. Specifically, my legislation would apply all income over $250,000 a year to the Social Security payroll tax. The Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration has projected that doing this will ensure that Social Security can pay out all benefits for at least the next 75 years. In fairness, I can't take credit for this legislation. It is exactly what Barack Obama proposed to do when he campaigned for President back in 2008.

   Here's an idea for our remaining US Senator who's a Dem: co-sponsor Bernie's legislation that was introduced on March 12 of this year.

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4. Bipartisan support for the ColoWyo coal mine that loses money, creates health hazards for the surrounding community, and creates gases that increase global warming.

   Hick, Bennet, Tipton advocating for the ColoWyo coal mine, but so far, Judge Brooke Jackson

   In an order handed down late last Friday, the court agreed with WildEarth Guardians.  The judge chided the government for “silently” approving the mine expansions, for “ignor[ing]” the impacts of coal combustion, and for relying on “outdated” environmental analyses, ruling the Secretary of the Interior violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

   *no informing the public and community of environmental impacts

   * no analysis of global warming impacts

   *fiscal irresponsibility – Rio Tinto, a UK company, divested its coal plants like ColoWyo, but Western Fuels-Colorado bought it anyway.

   But hey, I got your bipartisanship right here:

   U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Cory Gardner, and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, have similarly urged Jewell to do what’s necessary to keep the mine open.

   Support Judge Jackson's courageous ruling. Write to your reps and tell them to back off. There are other ways to support jobs in rural Colorado.

   Colorado is No. 1 state in the nation for wind-energy manufacturing, with over 3,000 Vestas manufacturing jobs alone. Colorado is No. 3 nationally for overall wind-energy employment, with nearly 7,000 jobs. Colorado is a national leader in renewable energy installed capacity, ranking seventh in installed solar and 10th in installed wind. Colorado is a national leader in renewable energy installed capacity, ranking seventh in installed solar and 10th in installed wind.

   To quote Michael Bowman (usually a good idea):

   The Fossilonians are in going to soon be as irrelevant as the whale blubber industry of the 19th century and the buggy whip makers of the Henry Ford-era.  Next generation biofuels are here – and the Third Industrial Revolution has already well underway. The question remains an open one:  will the US be a leader in this industrial revolution – or will the petro-politics that control state and federal politico's ultimately doom the United States to irrelevancy?  

    

    

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   1. Public comment on the environmental assessment of the Colowyo mine can be made via the following venues:

      The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement plans to hold an open house on its environmental assessment on June 10 from 4-8 p.m. at the Center of Craig, in Craig.

      Comments on the EA may be sent through June 15 to OSM-Colowyo-Mine-EA@OSMRE.gov, or OSMRE Colowyo Mine EA, c/o Nicole Caveny, Western Region Office, OSMRE, 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320, Denver, CO 80202-3050. More information will be posted at http://www.wrcc.osmre.gov/initiatives/colowyoMineSouthTaylor.shtm.

       

      – from Dennis Webb's article in the Daily Sentinel

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      1. Make sure they have the money set aside to clean it up before saving it.

         Coal giant Peabody faces federal scrutiny over clean-up insurance

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         1. "Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
            And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
            Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
            Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man

            "And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
            Down by the green river where paradise lay?"
            "Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
            Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away"

            John Prine

            This is the song we (the Troy Douglas Band) perform to open every show. The little town of Muhlenberg, Ky., as I understand it, was actually flooded by the Tennessee Valley Authoity by the construction of one of many dams. Mr. Peabodys' Coal company had nothing to do with it. But since Mr. Peabody and Co. WERE responsible for the destruction of other little towns, Mr. Prine felt it OK to use artistic license to put the two together lyrically.

            "When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
            Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
            I'll be halfway to Heaven with paradise waitin'
            Just five miles away from wherever I am"

             

             

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   2. Corporations may be people (not) but they certainly aren't patriotic American people. Whether or not America takes a leadership role is nothing to them. They're stateless. The Black helicopter crowd that believes the UN is a plot to impose one world government and take away our freedom should take note and perhaps transfer their paranoia to where it makes sense.

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   3. There's more to Moffat County energy issues than meets the eye. Like building a new power line through sage grouse habitat, rather than using existing corridors, so production from a Wyoming wind farm can get to market in the southwest. I'm a strong supporter of wind energy and pay extra every month to get my electricity from Xcel's Windsource program. But, bottom line is that every solution has a downside.

      And just because Colorado is #1 in one wind energy category and #3 in another doesn't automatically make things happen in Moffat County, even if the County does have good wind potential.

      As for reclamation, another mine in MoCo, the Trapper Mine, has received awards for its reclamation efforts.    C.H.B.

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