February 23, 2016 11:45 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (Feb. 23)

• 2 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Thank goodness the rest of America doesn’t just refuse to do its job like the U.S. Senate. 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…

► Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said today that the Senate will refuse to hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee — even though that directly violates the Constitution — but can McConnell really keep his caucus together long enough to hold out for 8 more months?

► Republican Presidential candidates face off in the Nevada caucuses tonight, and experts expect Donald Trump to rack up another victory when the votes are counted (and the algebra is complete). Looking beyond Nevada, as the Washington Post reports today, the math looks good for Trump to win the 1,237 delegates necessary to claim the GOP Presidential nomination.

► President Obama is pushing for Congress to help him close the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The New York Times takes a look at what needs to happen, and how it might work, for Guantanamo Bay to close its cells.

► State Sen. Tim Neville unwittingly walked his caucus into a wall on Monday. Neville is the sponsor of the latest attempt at crippling labor unions in Colorado, but things backfired when Democrats crafted an amendment that essentially has Republicans on the record voting for a bill that would prohibit bathroom breaks at work. D’Oh!

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► We have finished up Part 2 of our Republican Senate candidate debate diary. The second half of the first Senate candidate forum of 2016 features a potential death threat and a mention of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of Colorado. 

► Senate Democrats have a new candidate in SD-27 (Arapahoe County) who could very well tip the balance of power under the Gold Dome. Tom Sullivan, a retired postal worker and the father of a victim in the Aurora Theater Shooting, is running for the seat currently held by recently-appointed Republican Sen. Jack Tate. Tate was selected by a Republican vacancy committee in late December to replace David Balmer, who resigned from the legislature in order to take a job with the Humane Society. Republicans hold a narrow one-seat majority in the State Senate heading into the 2016 election.

► State Sen. Laura Waters Woods is a big fan of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Elsewhere, Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) sorta kinda says he will support the Republican nominee for President even if it turns out to be someone other than his preferred candidate, Marco Rubio. Coffman has been dodging questions about Trump for months.

► The Chairman of the 2011 redistricting/reapportionment effort, Mario Carrera, is blasting attempts by a largely-Republican group to put a hastily-designed “reform” plan on the ballot in 2016. Carrera issued a statement on Monday pointing out a number of specific concerns with “Initiative 107”:

– The mathematics on the voting do not work and, because of the supermajority needed for passage, encourages a logjam;

– As devised, too much burden and responsibility are placed on the non-partisan staff without the due accountability and benefit of a public or elected official appointment;

– The legislative branch has too great a role in appointing members to the commission, at the exclusion of appointments from our judicial system, which is particularly concerning given the goal of reducing partisanship. The inherent checks and balances of our three branches of government do not exist.

► State Sen. Randy Baumgardner (R-Huge Mustache) is facing an unexpectedly difficult re-election challenge in 2016 from his 2012 opponent, Emily Tracy.

► Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson spent hundreds of millions of dollars assisting Republican candidates in 2012 and 2014, so why is he hiding his checkbook in 2016?

► The mining industry appears to have stalled efforts at updating the General Mining Law of 1872.

► Officials in Silverton and Jan Juan County have finally made a decision on supporting Superfund status to clean up abandoned mines throughout Colorado.

► Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman is a complete embarrassment to the office. 

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Legislation to permit rain barrels in Colorado takes another step forward on Monday.

► Two more Republican Senators are supportive of holding hearings to debate the next nominee to the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been pushing his colleagues to refuse to act on confirming a Supreme Court nominee until after the November election. Some Republicans are pointing to an old speech by then-Sen. Joe Biden encouraging President George W. Bush to wait to nominate a Supreme Court justice until after the 1992 election, but that wasn’t Biden’s conclusion:

Interesting find by @igorvolsky – Biden went on to say he would support a consensus nominee like Kennedy https://t.co/pyz9qdDOhu

— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) February 22, 2016

ICYMI

► Don’t blame voters for the rise of Donald Trump. It might be the fault of America’s political scientists!

Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!