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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
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2008 Presidential Election
The economic policies of President Bush and the Republican Congress will receive extreme scrutiny during the next presidential election cycle.
The Bull Moose thinks that current economic policy is highly tilted toward corporations at the expense on the middle class and conservatives.
He writes, "The past few weeks have been very good for the captains of industry. With the passage of the class action bill and the movement on the bankruptcy legislation, the corporate masters of the GOP must be very pleased."
"Not so, the conservatives."
Meanwhile, Ed Quillen cites the Republican Party for their long history of social engineering in his column in yesterday's Denver Post [March 15, 2005, Successful social engineers]. He writes, "Let's start with the United States 150 years ago. Our nation had just conquered a big chunk of Mexico in what one young Army lieutenant, later to become a Republican president, called 'a conspiracy to acquire territory out of which slave states might be formed for the American union.'"
"How to respond to the conspiracy that Ulysses S. Grant saw? There was a bitter dispute about how to organize that territory."
8:26:34 PM 
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DeLay Rule
Bull Moose: "Richard Milhous DeLay."
6:33:01 PM
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2004 Presidential Transition
Political Wire: "President Bush 'will recommend that Defense Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz take over as head of the World Bank,' the Wall Street Journal reports. 'Wolfowitz had pulled out of the running for the job earlier this month.'"
Infoworld: "U.S. President George Bush on Wednesday announced that he will appoint former advisor Kevin Martin to be the new chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates the telecommunications and broadcast industries."
6:30:45 PM
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ANWR
Michael Schreiber "It feels like Washington partisanship is the sole driving force in opening up ANWR. However, this issue is too important to simply cast a party line vote yea. This should not simply be an addendum attached to the budget proposal but its own piece of legislation. It really is that important."
Thanks to Left in the West.com for the link.
Senator Salazar voted no.
Howling At A Waning Moon: "Below is a list of U.S. Senators and their votes on the Cantwell amendment to keep Arctic Refuge drilling from the Senate Budget Resolution. A 'y' indicates the person voted for the Cantwell amendment and for Arctic Refuge protection. A 'n' indicates the person voted against the Cantwell amendement and against Arctic Refuge protection. Please call your senators on Thursday, March 17, 2005, to tell them thank you or to express your outrage: 202-224-3121."
6:10:53 PM
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Weblogs
You can get to the Denver Post's Bloghouse at this new URL.
Dan Gillmor: "An informed citizenry is crucial to the functioning of the republic and of society as a whole. I don't see much hope that commercial journalism organizations will invest more. They are conservative to a fault when it comes to adapting to change. (I hope I am wrong on this, and suspect I'm not.) But there is a great movement beginning to form. We're calling it things like "citizen journalism" or "grassroots media" and other names. It is the mass movement of telling each other our stories, via blogs and other media, and exposing our neighbors to news they can't get other ways."
Calling all Bloggers! Lend Lawrence Lessig a hand. Here's the Wiki Home Page.
During an interview with The Raw Story Senator Harry Reid remarks, "What has happened in recent years, the Fairness Doctrine has been taken away, that is, equal time for pros and cons on an issue. And they also allowed the concentration of media power, so one station, one owner can own 1,200 radio stations. What this means is that wealth and power control most everything in this country. But one thing they do not control-wealth and power does not control the Internet. Through the Internet, regular ordinary people have a voice. That[base ']s why I go out of my way to communicate any way that I can on the Internet and I think the blogs are a tremendously important way for the American public to find out what's really going on."
Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
5:49:17 PM
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Colorado Water
Recreation is a legitimate beneficial use of water according to the Colorado Supreme Court via the Rocky Mountain News [March 16, 2005, "Towns applaud kayaking ruling"]. From the article, "Steamboat, Gunnison, Pueblo, Buena Vista, Salida, Silverthorne and other towns are seeking instream water rights for kayak routes to boost tourism. On Monday the Colorado Supreme Court said the Colorado Water Conservation Board can't limit the volume of water sought by Gunnison for a kayak course. The case returns to the Colorado Water Court, which still has to decide how much water must stay in the river for the kayak course. Vail, Breckenridge, Fort Collins, Golden, Littleton and Longmont already have kayak courses that generate millions in tourism dollars during the summer without taking water out of the rivers. The water fight reflects the conflict between the values of the Old West - agriculture and growth - and those of the New West - tourism and recreation. The high court's ruling also affirmed that recreation is a legitimate, beneficial use of water, said Cindy Covell, attorney for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District."
The Rocky Mountain News editorial staff sounds off on the court decision [March 16, 2005, "Bring on the kayakers"]. They write, "Unfortunately, the court's sensible ruling is under threat. Senate Bill 62, sponsored by Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, seeks to curtail future recreational diversions by imposing a 350-cubic-feet-per-second cap on the amount of water that can be claimed for a whitewater park. For whitewater enthusiasts, that's not much better than filling a large bath tub. Lawmakers surely have better things to do than choke off one of the most promising developments in this state's tourism industry."
Colorado is hoping that the Interior Department will cut releases from Lake Powell in an effort to fill the reservoir again, according to the Rocky Mountain News [March 16, 2005, "Colorado wants to cut releases from reservoir so it can refill"]. From the article, "Reducing the amount of water flowing out of the lake would provide Colorado and its neighbors with a larger buffer against future drought-related demands on their shares of the Colorado River. Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, the so-called Upper Basin states, must deliver 8.23 million acre-feet of water each year from Lake Powell to the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada. Colorado would like that amount reduced, perhaps to 7.48 million acre-feet. The lake holds 24.3 million acre-feet...Norton is expected to make a decision on reducing Lake Powell releases by May 1. The request comes as Colorado and the other states struggle to craft a federally mandated drought management plan by April that is meant to stretch Western water in dry years."
6:44:26 AM
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Denver November 2006 Election
Bob Beauprez formed an explatory committee on Tuesday with an eye toward Bill Owens' job, according to the Denver Post [March 16, 2005, "Beauprez eyes governor's seat"]. From the article, "Beauprez, 56, is a former dairy farmer and banker who raised millions between 1999 and 2002 as Colorado's Republican chairman, appealing both to the party's right wing and moderate factions. Having never served in elected office, he ran in 2002 for Colorado's new 7th Congressional District, which spans from urban parts of Jefferson County to rural, eastern Adams County and is considered one of the most competitive in the country. After a five-week recount, Beauprez edged out Feeley by 121 votes in the closest race in the nation that year."
Here's the coverage from the Rocky Mountain News [March 16, 2005, "Beauprez weighs running"].
6:24:26 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 7:23:21 PM.
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