Saturday, October 16, 2004

Rocky Mountain Blogger Blash Jed is pointing to the next Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash organized by the Colorado Conservative. It'll be taking place at the Falling Rock Tap House on November 6th. 12:31:45 PM

2004 Presidential Election The Rocky Mountain News editorial staff is urging the nation to hire George W. Bush for another four years [October 16, 2004, "George W. Bush for president"]. From the editorial, "Like many Americans, we have serious misgivings about some aspects of the president's performance. It is strange that no one in his administration was forced to walk the plank soon after 9/11, especially CIA director George Tenet. It is outrageous that several U.S.-born terror suspects have had their constitutional rights consistently abridged. It is mystifying that the president failed to veto a single spending bill, and that he sometimes acts as if Congress inhabits a parallel universe where he is not allowed to intervene. It is disturbing that planning for Iraq after the invasion so badly missed the mark." "Nor are we hopeful the president will successfully push some elements of his domestic agenda far in a second term given the likely makeup of Congress. Yet at least his agenda remains attractive as a goal. The president's ideal of an 'ownership society' is no mere slogan. It is reflected in his embrace of health-savings accounts and self-directed pension investments for younger workers, as well as in his support of tax, regulatory and (usually) trade policies that promote growth and an entrepreneurial culture." Electoral-vote.com: "The race is starting to tighten as the effects of the third debate are now kicking in. Kerry has regained his lead in New Jersey albeit by only 2% according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll. More important, we now have Florida as an exact tie. A strategic Vision (R) poll taken Oct. 12-14, puts Bush ahead by 4%, 49% to 45%. But an Insider Advantage poll, also taken Oct 12-14 puts Kerry ahead by 4%, 48% to 44%. I guess we could use the Oct. 4-10 Washington Post poll of Florida to break the tie, but unfortunately it says Florida is 47% to 47%. It will probably be a real squeaker again in Florida. The results could depend on the turnout and in which counties the most voting machines fail." "Theresa 'Butterfly Ballot' LePore, the outgoing Palm Beach County, FL Supervisor of Elections, is in the news again. Her test of the new electronic voting machines to be used on Nov. 2 had to be postponed because the server crashed. She blamed it on the the hurricanes that have lashed Florida this season. Still, it is troubling to know that just over two weeks from election day, some of the Florida voting equipment has not even been tested yet. Far more worrisome is that these machines have no way to do recounts in close elections, as required by Florida law. What happens when the law requires something that is impossible? When in doubt, ask SCOTUS. Somebody probably will." Former FCC chairman, Reed Hundt, quoted by Josh Marshall, "No broadcast group in the history of America has ever committed an hour to smearing a presidential candidate, and no FCC chairman before this one would have reacted with equanimity to this radical step down in broadcasting ethics." The article is in reaction to this documentary from the Swift Boat kids being aired on the Sinclair network. Lawrence Lessig: "Technology will soon give us more power to erase the future, or so technologists such as Bill Joy worry. And one body in particular - government - has become efficient at using technology to burden the future." "Think about our behavior over the past four years. We have cut taxes but increased spending, benefiting us but burdening our kids. We have relaxed the control of greenhouse emissions, creating cheaper energy for us but astronomically higher costs for our kids, if they are to avoid catastrophic climatic change. We have waged an effectively unilateral war against Iraq, giving some a feeling of resolve but engendering three generations of angry souls focused upon a single act of revenge: killing Americans. And we have suffocated stem cell research through absurdly restrictive policies, giving the sanctimonious ground upon which to rally, while guaranteeing that kids with curable diseases will suffer unnecessary deaths. In each case, we have burdened children - that one group that can't complain - so as to supposedly benefit those of us who do." "This is the shameful application of a simple political truth: The future doesn't vote. And when tomorrow's generations get their turn at the polls, they won't be able to punish those who failed to consider their interests. The cost of shifting burdens to the future is thus quite small to us, even if it is quite large to them. And we, or the politicians representing us, happily follow this calculus." Wired: "Undecided voter? Try this quiz." Update: Taegan Goddard: "According to a new Time magazine poll, President Bush has a slight lead over Sen. John Kerry, 48% to 46%, among likely voters. The most important finding: 'Almost 1 in 3 voters (30%) said the debates made them more likely to vote for Kerry, compared to only 17% more likely to vote for Bush.' However, there's better news for Bush in the new Newsweek poll, which shows the president's lead growing from last week to 50% to 45%, among likely voters. However, among swing voters Kerry still leads 39% to 33%, with 28% still undecided. Here are some notable recent state polls: Florida - Kerry 48, Bush 44 (Insider Advantage); Florida - Kerry 47, Bush 47 (Washington Post); Florida - Bush 49, Kerry 46 (Rasmussen); New Jersey - Kerry 44, Bush 42 (Fairleigh Dickinson)." 8:29:14 AM

Denver November 2004 Election Early voting starts Monday in Colorado. Here's the list of early polling locations from the Denver Election Commission and DenverGov. Coyote Gulch plans to use this election. I'm conflicted because I love election day at the polls. Donetta Davidson would prefer that voters who believe they registered to vote, but do not show up on the rolls on election, use an emergency voter registration form instead of a provisional ballot, according to the Rocky Mountain News [October 16, 2004, "Davidson rules on unregistered voters"]. Sounds like a good idea to me. The question will be whether or not election judges will get the proper training. From the article, "As it stands, voters who believe they registered but can't be found on voter registration logs can fill out an emergency voter registration at their county clerk's office through Election Day. Such emergency voter registration has been permitted for years. What's new is that voters who choose not to fill out the emergency form can still show up at the polls on Election Day and cast a provisional ballot, secretary of state spokeswoman Lisa Doran said. Still, election officials said they would prefer voters use the emergency voter registration option. If voters obtain emergency voter registration, they will be able to cast a regular ballot, and their vote will count. Provisional votes will count only if the voters' registrations can be confirmed." Here's a story from the Rocky Mountain News about the Secretary of State and the accusations from both sides of the aisle [October 16, 2004, "GOP denied by Davidson"]. From the article, "Davidson faced members of her own party Friday morning and turned down a request for a special prosecutor to investigate the hundreds of questionable registrations garnered during the drives. Mike Norton, a former U.S. attorney who now represents Republican causes, asked Davidson to pull Attorney General Ken Salazar, a Democrat, off the probe since there is "the appearance of impropriety." Salazar is a candidate for U.S. Senate. 'If I were the prosecutor in the case, I would have recused myself,' he said. Davidson responded that she doesn't believe there's a conflict, and if one should arise with the Attorney General's Office, she will hire an outside lawyer. Salazar's spokesman reacted angrily to Norton's charge, saying the Attorney General's Office represents state agencies and their officials. 'Whatever the client agency wants, we do,' said Ken Lane, a Salazar spokesman. 'Otherwise, it's just political bull----. And you can use that quote.' Meanwhile, leaders of the state Democratic Party were angry because they weren't invited to the Friday meeting attended by Norton, state Republican Party Chairman Ted Halaby and another GOP lawyer, Sean Gallagher, who volunteers for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Davidson is 'basically sitting down with Republican Party attorneys to map Election Day strategy,' said Chris Gates, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party." Buffalo Springfield, "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong." If you're wondering how the Denver Metro area congressional delegation feels about FasTracks the Rocky has the lowdown [October 16, 2004, "Not all aboard for FasTracks"]. From the article, "Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, came out against FasTracks on Friday. Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, and Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, and Mark Udall, D-Boulder, support the Regional Transportation District's proposal for a 0.4-cent sales tax increase. Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Arvada, said he is neutral. Sen. Wayne Allard hasn't weighed in. The three other members of Congress from Colorado don't represent the metro area." Here's a background piece about Peter Coors from the Rocky Mountain News [October 16, 2004, "'I've been solving problems my entire career'"]. Here's a background piece about Ken Salazar from the Rocky Mountain News [October 16, 2004, "'I make decisions I think are best for the people'"]. Here's an opinion piece in support of Amendment 37 from the Rocky Mountain News [October 16, 2004, "Speakout: 37 would scarcely affect utility bills"]. From the article, "I recently completed an objective analysis of the impact of Amendment 37 on Colorado utility rates. I concluded that the rate impact will likely be negligible - it is most likely to lower rates by a penny a month for the average Colorado residential customer over the next 20 years. After my report was published, Congress reinstated tax credits for wind-energy producers, making those savings slightly larger. My analysis studied 15 Colorado utilities and employed a range of assumptions about the future costs of fossil fuels. For example, if natural gas prices increase faster than now projected by the Department of Energy, Amendment 37 could reduce Xcel Energy residential electric bills by 11 cents per month. Under less likely assumptions about natural gas prices, monthly bills could climb by 16 cents over the next 20 years. Clearly, neither of these results justifies the News' warning that 'Amendment 37 puts energy bills at risk.'" The Rocky sits down with City Attorney Cole Finegan and Happy Haynes, the City Council liaison for the mayor's office, Adrienne Benavidez and Roxane Baca, both former chairwomen of the Denver Public Safety Review Commission, to Referred Question 1A [October 14, 2004, "Does Denver really need a police monitor?"] Here's an article about Referndum 4A (FasTracks) from the Denver Post [October 16, 2004, "Coalition upgrades FasTracks forecast"]. From the article, "FasTracks, the massive transit expansion proposed by RTD, will lead to the clustering of metro Denver residents in dozens of "village centers" throughout the area and produce a larger-than-expected reduction in auto miles traveled, backers said Thursday. Citing statistics from the Denver Regional Council of Governments, members of a pro-FasTracks coalition said the growth of at least 31 small urban centers - each within one-half mile of a FasTracks rail station - is expected to lead to 2.5 million fewer vehicle-miles traveled in the Denver area by 2025. That is five times the auto travel savings predicted in a separate DRCOG review of the FasTracks plan earlier this year, said Elena Nuñez, transportation advocate for Environment Colorado's research and policy center." Here's an editorial from the Denver Post detailing their endorsments for RTD Board [October 16, 2004, "The Denver Post's picks for RTD board"]. The Denver Post is endorsing Michael Carrigan and Jennfer Mello for C.U. Regent [October 15, 2004, "Carrigan, Mello could bring sense to regents"]. 8:04:15 AM

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