Word on the street is that the majority Democrats at the State Capitol are preparing to ram through a package of bills repealing tax breaks -- not only without a vote of the people as the state constitution's TABOR would require, but also pushed through the process quickly to minimize public scrutiny and apparent outrage. Taken together, House Bills 1189 through 1200 (look them up here) would end up increasing the tax burden on Colorado businesses and families. Currently, the "dirty dozen" business tax hike bills are slated on the House calendar for a hearing on appropriations at 8:30 AM tomorrow (Wednesday). The first question then is whether the Democrats will then quickly rush the bills into the Finance Committee -- where public … [Read more...]
Search Results for: democrats
Colorado 2010 State Senate Showdown: First Quarter Look at Hot Races
Sometime late in the last decade, the good old Aughts, I set up the state of play as Colorado Republicans (currently 21-14 in the minority) seek to take back the state senate. Following the release of fourth quarter reports on the Secretary of State's campaign finance site, I have ranked in order an updated list of the eight seats -- out of 19 up for grabs -- most likely to change party hands: … [Read more...]
Brilliant! Poli Sci Profs Find One Creative Way to Make Obama Care Math Add Up
Yesterday two political science professors -- one from Yale and one from Georgetown -- had a column published in the Washington Post titled "After Massachusetts, why the Democrats should still pass health-care reform." Here is the argument they make (apparently) with a straight face:The bills in Congress hardly enjoy runaway popularity. But the problem isn't that health-care reform itself is unpopular. It is that people are turned off by the current debate about it. And those repelled by what is happening in Washington include a lot of liberals as well as conservatives. In a recent nationwide CNN poll, for example, 10 percent of respondents opposed reform from the left because they felt it was not liberal enough. Another 40 percent … [Read more...]
Please Consider Supporting My Friend Libby Szabo for House District 27
I'm excited to be able to share the news that conservative Republican Libby Szabo -- one of my favorite people -- has announced she is running to be my next state representative. She will be a formidable challenger to incumbent Democrat and Ritter disciple Sara Gagliardi in a very winnable race. Below the fold is a copy of Libby's press release announcing her campaign: … [Read more...]
Time to Get Up to Speed on Proposed Colorado FASTER Late Fee Repeals
(H/T Complete Colorado) The new Colorado News Agency gets the scoop and breaks down the details on a series of bills and debates that will make one of the hottest stories out of the legislative session this year: the proposed repeals of late fees in Governor Bill Ritter and the Democrats' 2009 FASTER legislation. Pardon the pun, but the state's fiscally conservative bloggers definitely need to get up to speed on this issue... and fast. … [Read more...]
No Shocker: Daily Kos Poll Skewed, Michael Bennet is Actually Behind
So the Democrats' Research 2000/Daily Kos crew has released a poll today showing incumbent appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet one point ahead of leading Republican challenger Jane Norton. But, you say, wasn't it just Friday -- three days ago -- that Rasmussen had Norton up 12 points on Bennet? Rasmussen's margin of error (MOE) is 4.5 points, which means at the bottom end Norton is ahead of Bennet by 7.5. Research 2000's MOE is 4 points, which means at the top end Norton is ahead of Bennet by 3. Since the two polls were conducted at virtually the same time, the obvious conclusion is that one (or both) of them simply is wrong. So whom do we trust? I don't have access to any of Rasmussen's internals, but Research 2000/Daily Kos shows … [Read more...]
House Minority Leader Mike May Blends Seriousness, Humor in Opening Speech
Update: I've also uploaded a copy of the opening speech from Mike May's counterpart in the Senate -- minority leader Josh Penry, who sounds a strong note on the need for government reform. He's not running for governor, but when it comes to this issue, go Josh go! Today kicks off the legislative session down at Colorado's State Capitol. Because of a federal grant deadline, action is already swiftly underway on some education bills. Meanwhile, Republican House minority leader Mike May helped to kick things off with a speech that shows not only his party's serious face to bring some fiscally conservative backbone to tackle some of the state's looming problems, but also his own good humor. Full text of the speech below the fold: … [Read more...]
No-No: Democrat Senate Leader Endorses Hickenlooper on State Email
Complete Colorado has broken a story on Democrat state senate president Brandon Shaffer using state email resources to endorse John Hickenlooper for governor. As noted:State resources cannot be used to conduct or further political campaigns for office. Last fall Colorado Pols spent a lot of energy making hay out of the fact that then-gubernatorial candidate Josh Penry sent a campaign email to some unwanted state government addresses, noting:And it's not against the law to send electioneering emails to a government address, sending electioneering emails from one would be the problem. I'm sure Pols will be equally zealous about criticizing Brandon Shaffer for this obvious wrongdoing. Right? More importantly, what will Shaffer do? And … [Read more...]
Colorado GOP Leaders Show Serious Face Entering Legislative Session
Yesterday evening the Colorado Republican legislative staff hosted a blogger round (or square as the case may be) table discussion on some of the looming issues on the eve of the legislative session. Topics of discussion ranged from public employee pensions to medical marijuana to government transparency. Rather than provide a recap, I'll point you to the thoughts of liberal blogger David Thielen -- whom I finally met in person and sat next to during the discussion. Though he was outnumbered about 15 to 1, Thielen held his own and was treated well. His Colorado Pols essay reviewing the event was honest, fair-minded and lighthearted -- which: … [Read more...]
Pick Your Dem Guv Nominee: Hickenlooper? Romanoff? Kennedy?
Who can keep up with the rumors flying around Colorado as far as which Democrats will step up to the plate to run for governor? If this National Journal posting by Erin McPike is to be believed, we're down to the possibilities of: Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, everyone's odds-on favorite at this point to actually get into the race Former state house speaker Andrew Romanoff, who is being lured from his U.S. Senate primary challenge of the appointed Michael Bennet and may take on Hick head-to-head State treasurer Cary Kennedy, who apparently "may be interested" Of course, if you want to sound off on who may or may not make a more formidable opponent for the GOP, please feel free to sound off on our new survey before Friday, January … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- …
- 50
- Next Page »