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Sunday, April 16, 2006
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Romney for President?
Oval Office 2008: "Central to Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney's claim to be the presidential candidate who can get things done is going to be his track record in the Bay State. He was helped a couple of weeks ago by the passage by the state legislature of a healthcare plan, seeming to resolve for Massachusetts an issue that appears so intractable on a federal level. As well as giving Romney a major policy accompishment to boast about on the campaign trail, the healthcare plan also allows him to demonstrate his ability to work across party lines and gain bipartisan support - which could boost his claims of electability and help build a broad coalition of voters if he is nominated.
"The basic purpose of the plan, which Romney signed into law on Wednesday, is to reduce to as close to zero as possible the number of people who have no health insurance by making some form of cover mandatory, with a financial penalty for those that hold out. There are three elements to the plan ( you can read Romney's own article about it in the Wall Street Journal here, or in the Boston Globe here; one of the neatest summaries of it, in my view, is in USA Today here). First, those eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled in it would be enouraged to sign up through various state initiatives including internet marketing and in-hospital registration. Second, insurers have been provided with the regulatory flexibility to make health policies more affordable, lowering one of the key barriers to take up of health insurance. Third, for those on low incomes but ineligible for Medicaid, the state will provide a subsidy to help pay for health cover.
"The Boston Globe describes the plan as 'the first-of-its-kind,' which is exactly the kind of language you want to hear of you're hoping to persaude the country that you can come up with innovative solutions to its problems. But, while Romney has won praise from many quarters, not least from Hillary Clinton, not everyone is so impressed.
"A key concern, naturally enough, is how the plan will be paid for. Romney's claim is that it can be afforded without raising taxes, and he has vetoed a provision to include a $295 fee for businesses in the state, under pressure from conservative lobby groups. Nonetheless, the Globe reports, 'the plan has already come under attack from the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., the op-ed columns of the Wall Street Journal, antitax activists such as Grover Norquist, and MSNBC pundit Tucker Carlson.' Now there's a crowd you wouldn't want to bump into in a darkened alleyway."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
11:22:53 AM 
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Rumsfeld - support from the field
Real Clear Politics: "A Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army sent the following email in response to David Ignatius' assertion in the Washington Post yesterday that 75%+ of senior military officers want to see Rumsfeld gone."
Thanks to Blogs for Bush: for the link.
The Moderate Voice: "Arizona Senator John McCain has said he's in agreement with the retired generals who are suggesting that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should consider moving onto new challenges or suddenly decide to spend more time with his family. But he has a qualifier: the President, he says, has the right to have whomever he wants as Secretary of Defense."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
11:12:00 AM
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Immigration
Spot-on: "But the people pulled a fast one on Congress, rejecting the false dichotomy of the partisan choices. Forced to choose between one solution or both, those polled said by a 2-to-1 margin that they'd take both stronger enforcement and a guest worker program. Heh."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
11:07:31 AM
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Richardson for president?
Here's a look at Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico and potential presidential candidate, from today's Denver Post. They write, "New Mexico's relatively small stage has never quite fit a man who has led an oversize political life: former U.S. secretary of energy, ambassador to the United Nations, a seven-term congressman, and now the state's most powerful governor in living memory. Richardson has spent a lifetime positioning himself for this moment: He's a Latino at a time when the ethnic group's influence is growing. He's a Westerner as the region is becoming critical to the national strategies of both parties. And he's a powerful governor with impeccable foreign-policy credentials. It may be the best résumé of any potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, and Richardson knows it. With the exception of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Richardson, 58, may be the West's biggest political star. He is bright, accomplished, hot-tempered and charming - as famous for his political skill as for his love of lavish dinner parties and inch-thick Cuban cigars.
"But for a man with a storied political past (as a global troubleshooter for President Clinton, Richardson brought home prisoners from Iraq and a pilot from North Korea), it's the future that's on his mind. He's increasingly being talked about as a White House contender. A sports book has ranked his odds at 13-1, behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (5-1) and former Sen. John Edwards (9-1) among Democrats...
"He's a proponent of both an expansive guest-worker program and amnesty for millions in the country illegally. He calls a controversial House bill that makes illegal presence a felony 'horrendous.' But that's only part of the picture. Analysts say that as the immigration issue increasingly divides the country, it creates tricky terrain for a Latino politician with national ambitions. Last year, Richardson declared a state of emergency in reaction to the growing flow of illegal immigrants through New Mexico, releasing more resources to law enforcement and distancing himself from pro-immigrant forces...
"As the Democratic Party struggles for direction, the governor and his supporters have been eager to offer one: the West. Party strategists say that as the country's political landscape shifts, four of the biggest swing states are now in the West - Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada...
"But listen carefully to Richardson's Spanish and you won't hear the musical accent of the border but the fluid tones of upper-class Mexico. The governor's father was a wealthy American banker, his mother Mexican. Born in Pasadena, Calif., Richardson grew up in a privileged household in Mexico City before attending prep school in Massachusetts. He studied diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston, then veered toward politics. Moving to New Mexico in 1978, he landed in a place where his background and fluent Spanish were assets. By 1980, Richardson came within a hair of unseating Manuel Lujan, a popular Republican congressman, before being elected to Congress in a newly created district two years later. His ability to move between worlds has given him a chameleon quality, observers say - one that has mostly played out as an asset in his political life."
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
10:32:51 AM
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Breckenridge Sanitation wins EPA award
Congratulations to the Breckenridge Sanitation district. They were recently awarded the EPA's Environmental Achievement Award. From the article, "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Deputy Assistant Regional Administrator for Enforcement, Compliance and Environmental Justice Eddie Sierra today presented EPA's Environmental Achievement Award to Breckenridge Sanitation District officials for the significant and lasting influence they have made on the protection of water quality in the Upper Blue River Basin.
"'The people who have led the Breckenridge Sanitation District over the past several decades have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the protection of this vital river basin,' said Sierra, in making the presentation at sanitation district offices in Breckenridge today.
"During the District's 40-year lifespan numerous initiatives have enhanced the protection of the basin's water quality. The District owns and operates five advanced wastewater treatment facilities in the Upper Blue River basin and has been the recipient of numerous environmental awards including five national and five regional Clean Water Act awards in operation and maintenance.
"One example of the District's initiatives is the construction of the Iowa Hill Water Reclamation Facility, which created for the first time a winter stream flow in a segment of the Blue River that had been extensively dredged during the late 1800s. The winter stream flow allowed for the dilution of heavy metals being discharged from the Wellington-Oro mine.
"In another example, the District entered into an agreement with the Climax mine for the disposal of biosolids on the mine's contaminated tailings, which led to the reclamation of those tailings.
"The District's dedication to protecting water quality resulted in numerous additional initiatives. One standout is the design and construction of treatment facilities to meet peak three-day loading instead of the required 30-day loading, an advance that resulted in constant compliance with all of the District's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits."
Category: Colorado Water
10:11:28 AM
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Water exchanges
Here's an in-depth look at water exchanges under Colorado water law from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Two new exchange decrees are being sought by Colorado Springs; one by Aurora with its lease partner, the Highline Canal; and two by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Pueblo is still deciding whether it will jump into this round with its own filing as well. Quantifying exchanges is a difficult task, especially when water gets moved through contracts and trades as well as by physical exchanges on the river. The state tracks the daily movement of water along the river, but cannot account for every trade within reservoirs without the help of the cities, said Water Division 2 Engineer Steve Witte...
"Water can be moved from its historic point of diversion or storage in several ways:
"River or reservoir exchange - A river exchange stores water out of priority, and replaces it with some other source of water, including sewer flows, lawn or irrigation flows or reservoir releases. No one else's water rights can be injured, so exchanges can be made only when there are sufficient flows in the river. Such exchanges must take transit loss (water soaked up by stream banks) and evaporation into consideration.
"Alternate point of diversion - Water is stored in priority, but its function is the same as an exchange. Only the consumptive use is stored, with return flows left in the river.
"Contract or paper exchange - Two parties agree to move water from one reservoir to another. When the water moves, it retains its 'label of water' or decrees on how it will be used.
"Trades - Trades must be used according to the account they are stored in. In both paper exchanges and trades, no water actually flows in the river, so there is no transit loss. However, there may be monetary fees and fees for storage are taken into account."
Read the whole article before it scrolls behind the Chieftain paywall - lots of good detail.
Here's a short article about predicting water quality from increased water exchanges, from the Pueblo Chieftain. They write, "Future exchanges in the Arkansas River could increase salinity in the river by as much as 11 percent if they are fully used, according to a 1999 study. Prior to 1998, the average rate of exchange on the river was about 30 cubic feet per second, but under decreed exchanges by Colorado Springs and Aurora, along with 24,000 additional acre-feet of storage at Lake Pueblo, it could increase to 180 cfs, according to a 1999 study by Michael Lewis of the U.S. Geological Survey. The study does not take into account future exchanges from Aurora's 1999 purchase of Rocky Ford Ditch Rights, Pueblo's full use of its decreed rights or current exchange cases, including Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District exchanges for the Arkansas Valley Conduit. The exchanges would cover development of Colorado Springs' Southern Delivery System, a plan to build a 78 million gallon per day pipeline from Pueblo Dam. It also does not measure limitations to exchanges made under post-1999 agreements in water court or through intergovernmental agreements."
Category: Colorado Water
9:32:43 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:09:03 PM.
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