Monday, February 13, 2006

Tancredo on the expansion of the federal government Tom Tancredo: "American conservatives have watched dumbfounded as their Congress -- their Republican Congress -- and the Republican White House engineered the largest expansion of the federal government in modern history." Thanks to Political Wire for the link. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:49:49 PM

Brady on Cheney James Brady: "Now I understand why Dick Cheney keeps asking me to go hunting with him." Thanks to Political Wire for the link. 6:27:20 PM

Peak oil? Kenneth F. Deffeyes: "In the January 2004 Current Events on this web site, I predicted that world oil production would peak on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2005. In hindsight, that prediction was in error by three weeks. An update using the 2005 data shows that we passed the peak on December 16, 2005." Thanks to Mathew Gross for the link. 2008 Presidential Election 6:00:45 PM

Huckabee for President? Political Wire: "Washington Whispers has 'the latest indication that Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is running for president. A fatty turned jogger, he's planning a repeat in this year's Little Rock Marathon. Because he's the governor, he can request a number, and last year he chose No.1. Not too subtle there. This year, we're told, a staffer requested 2008.'" Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:51:19 AM

McCain for president? Political Wire: "'With a 2008 campaign in the offing, McCain has begun an intensive courtship of Bush's financial and political networks,' reports the Washington Post. 'Mark McKinnon, Bush's chief media consultant...is the only senior member of Bush's team to commit publicly to McCain, but others are interested.' "While many conservatives remain nervous about McCain's maverick tendencies, recent polls show him as the best shot Republicans have to hold the presidency." 6:49:30 AM

NSA wiretaps Daily Kos: "The American Bar Association, via Harris Interactive, conducted a poll this week, surveying 1,000 respondents by asking a perfectly framed question: Can the president suspend constitutional freedoms 'anytime the President thinks it is necessary to protect the country'? A staggering 77% answered with a resounding NO." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:46:59 AM

Allen for President? Political Wire: "Sen. George Allen (R-VA) won this year[base ']s Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, according to Human Events. Allen received 22% of the vote, topping Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who had 20% -- a big showing for a candidate often viewed with skepticism among conservatives. All others finished in the single digits." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:27:18 AM

Durango whitewater park? Here's an article from the Durango Herald with details about the proposed whitewater park. From the article, "Durango officials are set to enter the controversial statewide recreational-water debate Monday when they host the first of three meetings concerning the construction of a boating park on the Animas River. "Two locations for controlled flow are being considered for a white-water course: Smelter Rapid near Santa Rita Park, where kayakers have competed for years; and at Schneider Park, near the Ninth Street Bridge... "The boating park, designed to handle all water craft, requires a man-made structure in order to petition a water court for a Recreational In-Stream Diversion, an authorized flow of water. As the popularity of white-water recreation has surged, requests for court-granted flows have caused run-ins statewide between boating interests and traditional water users. The issue has reached the state Supreme Court... "City officials have been discussing a water park for a year, Metz said. Wherever the course is installed, a permit from the federal Army Corps of Engineers is required. The city also has discussed the boat park with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District and the Southwestern Water Conservation District."Category: Colorado Water 6:24:02 AM

Overallocation of the Colorado River Here's the second part of New West's series on overallocation of western water. From the article, "The world of water has changed of late and it is about time. For almost 20 years, a gradual shift has been ongoing: water that was historically used for agriculture and ranching is increasingly going to western cities. Called reallocation, this process has become common throughout the West. It is so pervasive that the real question is no longer whether water will be transferred from rural to urban use. The debate concerns the terms of the transfer, how rural communities that cede water will derive fair and valuable benefits from it... "In February 2006, the river states agreed to reshape the way the river is managed, with all seven states signing on. This step, which is based around drought management, has created administrative rules that put all the river states on the same side of the table. This is unprecedented, an extremely valuable step forward. But it alone is not enough. "Let's scrap the existing Colorado River Compact and write a new one for the 21st Century. A new law of the river could take into account environmental legislation, the shift of population and income to cities, fluctuation in water quantity, water quality, and countless other contingencies that didn't exist 80 years ago. It could create a Colorado River for the needs of today and tomorrow, not one beholden to a flawed and long gone past." Category: Colorado Water 6:15:54 AM

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