Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Food Pentagon
Opinions You Should Have: "The U.S. government today announced that the once vaunted food pyramid -- used as a model for American nutrition since 1992 -- will immediately be replaced by the food Pentagon. Donald Rumsfeld will be chief."
9:15:55 PM

Wi-Fi
Ed Quillen makes a great point about SB152 in his column in today's Denver Post [April 19, 2005, "Wi-Fi? Let cities decide"]. The bill lets the legislature limit the variety of services that a municipality can offer and ignores the reality that the locals know what's best.
Quillen writes, "As of yesterday, Senate Bill 152, which would limit the ability of municipal governments to offer telecommunications services, was on the verge of being approved by both houses of our legislature and going to the governor's desk. I hope he vetoes it."
Coyote Gulch was Governor Owens' technology day last year. Dick Notebaert delivered the keynote.
I can't see a veto pen in 152's future.
Be sure to read the whole thing.
6:34:20 PM

Mike Littwin doesn't think Mayor Hickenlooper will run for governor [April 19, 2005, "Littwin: Don't count on top-5 mayor seeking higher office"]. From the column, "When I asked Hickenlooper about the governor's race, he said, 'I'm not considering it.' Which is not - you may want to note - the same as saying he wouldn't consider it. 'I've been trying to be pretty emphatic about it,' he said. Which is not the same as emphatically saying he will not run. He's tempted. People who know him tell me he's tempted. There's a scenario here if you think of Hank Brown and the CU job. Begging is a strategy that can work - in politics as well as dating - and many Democrats are going to beg Hickenlooper to reconsider considering. But my guess is he won't do it. And it's for the same reason that makes him such a tempting candidate. He hasn't been mayor for even two years yet. When he ran for mayor, he did it for a reason - which was not to be the governor. He's a non-career-politician who could be a non-career-politician- mayor-for-life. OK, 12 years, but close enough in political terms. If he turns away from his day job and runs for governor, he risks becoming just another attractive, but vulnerable, politician - and in his case, with very liberal stands on social issues. What he risks is losing the magic of what we'll call the Hickenlooper Experience. How many other mayors drive a hybrid car?"
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:22:11 AM

Denver May 2005 Election
Vincent Carroll weighs in on John Hickenlooper and the Justice Center in his column in today's Rocky Mountain News [April 19, 2005, "No time to bask in Time glow"]. He writes, "Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper deserves a lot of the nice things Time magazine said about him in an article naming him one of America's top five big-city mayors. But the magazine didn't happen to mention what will be one of the most significant legacies of the Hickenlooper administration, if the mayor can pull it off: gaining voters' approval for a new justice center downtown."
7:17:10 AM

Denver November 2005 Election
The Colorado House voted 46-19 to refer the budget compromise to voters for the November ballot, according to the Rocky Mountain News [April 19, 2005, "Budget proposal headed to voters"]. The measure will be Referendum C on the ballot. From the article, "Referendum C is designed to help the state dig out of the recent recession, when revenues dropped and lawmakers curbed spending increases and eliminated programs. Colorado's economy is rebounding. But TABOR keeps government spending from bouncing back as quickly, a provision lawmakers call the 'ratchet effect.' Because of that, state economists project a budget shortfall of nearly $800 million through 2010, at a time when the state is scheduled to refund an estimated $3.1 billion to taxpayers. Keeping the refunds for five years would essentially let government spending catch up with the state economy, proponents say. The referendum would earmark the additional spending for health care, education, some pension funds and transportation, including a $1.7 billion bonding package that Democrats will announce today."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post [April 19, 2005, "Budget reform heads to ballot"].
Category: Denver November 2005 Election
7:10:49 AM

2004 Presidential Transition
The U.S. Senate Foreign Committee votes today on John Bolton's nomination to be U.N. Ambassador, according to the Rocky Mountain News [April 19, 2005, "U.N. nominee Bolton faces showdown vote"]. How will Lincoln Chaffee and Chuck Hagel vote? Democrats hope to stall the nomination in committee.
Coyote Gulch predicts that the Bolton nomination will make it out of committee today. He's the President's man and that carries a lot of weight.
Meanwhile James Dobson's attacks on Ken Salazar and 20 other U.S. Senators have started, according to the Rocky Mountain News [April 19, 2005, "Focus faction attacks Salazar"]. From the article, "Salazar was among 21 senators in 17 states targeted in a newspaper ad blitz launched by Focus on the Family Action, an offshoot of James Dobson's ministry. The ad assailed senators who either oppose the Bush nominees or are threatening to use the filibuster to block judges they consider unfit for the nation's higher courts. Focus and other groups are demanding an end to judicial filibusters and an up or down vote in the Senate on the nominees...Sunday, Dobson will join other evangelical Christians and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in what they have dubbed 'Justice Sunday.' It will include simultaneous broadcasts to churches around the country to generate support to end the filibuster rule and move the judicial nominees to a Senate vote."
Category: 2004 Presidential Transition
6:59:27 AM

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