February 24, 2017 12:08 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (February 24)

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• by: Colorado Pols

It’s cold outside — colder than the reception you might receive if you tried to talk to Sen. Cory Gardner. Now, let’s see if we can’t Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) has almost made it through the workweek recess without actually having to answer questions from real constituents about, well, anything. But Gardner’s consistent refusal to engage with the people he is supposed to represent is escalating into a full-out disaster for the first-term Senator, and the problem is only getting worse. On Thursday, multiple videos of Gardner evading a woman and her baby in a Broomfield hotel lobby became national news, with Gardner consistently brushing off questions by telling her — and other constituents — to just “go to my website” instead.

Gardner’s constituent indifference has become a national story.

► Once upon a time (also known as January), Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) promised to hold a big town hall meeting before Congress votes on a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Coffman didn’t make any effort to hold a town hall meeting during the current President’s Day recess, but as Ernest Luning reports for the Colorado Statesman, Team Coffman says there will be an event in April:

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman plans to hold a traditional town hall in April, when the Aurora Republican will be at home in his district during a scheduled congressional recess, his aides said Friday.

Coffman spokesman Daniel Bucheli told The Colorado Statesman that Coffman is looking for the right venue and nailing down the date for a town hall, likely sometime during the second full week of April. He was confirming an announcement made by campaign aide J.D. Key Friday morning at a GOP breakfast meeting in Highlands Ranch.

The immediate question, of course, is whether or not this means that Congress will not be voting on a potential repeal of Obamacare in the next 6-8 weeks; Coffman promised to hold a big town hall meeting before a potential vote on repealing the healthcare law. Coffman could have just been blowing smoke up everyone’s you-know-what, which the Congressman has been known to do, but this promise would be harder to walk back given the steady crowds trying to contact their elected officials across the country.

► It would not be a complete surprise if Congress is unable to take action on repealing Obamacare, as Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) seemed to indicate earlier this week. Former House Speaker John Boehner was widely quoted on Thursday laughing at the idea that Republicans could coalesce around a single idea on health care reform. Meanwhile, Politico reports on a new draft document outlining another potential GOP healthcare plan:

A draft House Republican repeal bill would dismantle Obamacare subsidies and scrap its Medicaid expansion, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by POLITICO.

The legislation would take down the foundation of Obamacare, including the unpopular individual mandate, subsidies based on people’s income, and all of the law’s taxes. It would significantly roll back Medicaid spending and give states money to create high-risk pools for some people with pre-existing conditions. Some elements would be effective right away; others not until 2020.

The replacement would be paid for by limiting tax breaks on generous health plans people get at work — an idea that is similar to the Obamacare “Cadillac tax” that Republicans have fought to repeal.

Speaker Paul Ryan said last week that Republicans would introduce repeal legislation after recess. [Pols emphasis] But the GOP has been deeply divided about how much of the law to scrap, and how much to “repair,” and the heated town halls back home during the weeklong recess aren’t making it any easier for them.

The basis of the leaked plan is, essentially, to tax healthcare plans for “cost containment” while doing nothing to address coverage. This won’t end well.

► The Trump administration on Thursday made it clear that the President plans to crack down on the recreational marijuana industry.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► How bad are things for Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) in Colorado? Check out this roundup yesterday from the Denver Post, which was published in an email news roundup before Gardner’s Broomfield troubles on Thursday:

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner is having a bit of a rough recess.

First, a “missing” poster with his face on it was projected on the side of the Denver Art Museum as constituents repeatedly demand an audience with him.

Second, Fort Collins residents threw a town hall meeting in his honor (he did not attend) where his policies and past statements were skewered by residents and it garnered national coverage.

Lastly, there’s the issue of the junior Senator’s recent series of Facebook videos that have a common theme: Cory — standing alone on what may as well be a deserted movie set — next to a prop (railroad tracks, folksy sign) talking to the camera about how much he loves meeting with Coloradans. And then immediately below each video, literally hundreds of comments made by his constituents offering to come to talk to him.

It’s hard to blame him for avoiding a town hall, especially considering what his GOP colleagues have faced around the country this month (here’s a growing collection of videos of town halls), but it’s a little strange to post videos bragging about your connection to the community while hiding from them, right?

Gardner has claimed that callers and protesters looking to reach him are “paid” by some shadowy conspiracy, but at least one attempt to find a paid protester couldn’t find any.

► You can count Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) among Colorado lawmakers who are absolutely refusing to hold any sort of town hall meeting.

► Some of Colorado’s most prominent attorneys took part in an event on Thursday urging for the confirmation of Colorado Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

► Transgender students in Colorado can rest a little easier thanks to efforts by the Colorado legislature nearly a decade ago. As the Denver Post reports:

Colorado students shouldn’t have to worry about new guidance from the Trump administration that rescinds federal protections for transgender students because of existing state law here.

Colorado lawmakers in 2008 passed a law that forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in public places — including schools.

► President Trump is mad at pretty much everybody, but he’s currently directing much of his ire toward the FBI (well, and the media — always the media). As Politico explains, this is a problem:

President Donald Trump chastised the FBI Friday morning for being “totally unable” to locate the source of media leaks, even as the White House scrambled to contain fallout from new reports of the White House asking the FBI to knock down damaging stories…

…The president’s remark comes on the same day that at least two cable news channels, CNN and MSNBC, devoted significant airtime to reports that the FBI had refused to publicly dispute news that individuals associated with Trump had been in touch with senior Russian intelligence officials during last year’s presidential campaign. CNN first reported Thursday evening that chief of staff Reince Priebus had asked the FBI to throw cold water on a New York Times story about campaign contacts with Russia, but that the FBI declined. The Associated Press reported a similar story Friday morning.

The White House pushed back intensely on the story, laying out a timeline of how it said the communication with the FBI went down, but its own account has shifted over the past 24 hours.

As the Washington Post notes, this is a whopper of a self-inflicted wound from the White House.

► Why would you give anyone an award for being blatantly racist and factually wrong?