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Saturday, July 1, 2006
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Sales of public lands
New West: "A US Senate committee put the last nails in the coffins of two Bush administration plans to sell huge chunks of public lands. President Bush's 2007 budget called for large sales of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management acreage to fund a rural schools and counties program and to help service the ballooning national debt. But the Senate committee penned legislation that left out the two provisions, following a similar move by the House, which all but seals the plans' fates.
"Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), an opponent of the plan, and author of an alternative proposal to fun the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act without land sales, was quoted in Lee Newspapers as saying, 'We can declare victory on the BLM land sale proposal. It's clear to me the administration realized that was a very bad idea and they've backed off. This is a major victory for public land access in Montana and across the West.'"
"2008 pres"
10:10:30 AM 
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Fines are not solutions
The Cherry Creek News: "U.S. Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced he was successful in helping get a provision included in the Interior Appropriations bill that will provide $5 million for the Environmental Protection Agency to award competitive grants to small water treatment facilities that are working to address concerns such as arsenic levels."
"colorado water"
10:07:20 AM
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Internet neutrality
Robert Cringely: "Bob Frankston is one of the smartest people I speak to. If you don't recognize his name, Bob is best known as the programmer who wrote VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, realizing the design of his partner, Dan Bricklin. Bob and Dan changed the world forever with VisiCalc, the first killer app. After a career at Lotus and eventually Microsoft, Bob would now like to change the world for the better again, this time by fixing the mess that we call the Internet.
"The problem, to Bob's way of thinking, isn't the Internet per se, but the direction powerful political and business forces are attempting to take it. Part of this can be seen in last week's column on Net Neutrality, but Bob takes it further - a LOT further - to a point where it becomes logically clear that making almost any regulation specifically to hinder OR HELP the Internet can only make things worse. And by making it worse I mean inhibit in a severe way the growth of human knowledge, culture, and economic development. It's just a choice between freedom and totalitarianism, simple as that."
Lawrence Lessig: "Lots happening with Net Neutrality, most significantly that the Democrats seem to have decided that this is their issue. The extraordinary tie created in the Senate Commerce Committee (11-11) on party lines (plus the amazing Senator Snowe) seems to signal a decision by leaders of the party that this is a fight they want to lead. The slogan does have a nice right to it - 'Republicans: They sold the environment to Exxon, and sold the war to Halliburton. Now they want to sell the Internet to at&t.' (yea, the new logo is no-caps. a kinder, gentler ...) In my view, this is good news and bad. Good for the Dems that they got it. Bad that the issue is now within the grips of party politics. I guess it was just a matter of time, given how much money the cable and telcos have put on the table."
"2008 pres"
10:02:35 AM
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Republican?
Gay Orbit: "I often tell people that I am not a Republican. And, given the current iteration of what's ruling Washington, that's a little bit true. But it's not the whole truth. The fact is, I am a Republican, and I nearly completely support what sensible Republicans believe the party should stand for - smaller government, personal liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and fiscal + personal responsibility. Unfortunately, that's not what you are getting with today's Republican Party.
"But just because the Republicans in Washington don't support any of this these days, that does not mean that this is what groups like Log Cabin Republicans support. In 2004, LCR received extensive criticism for not coming out in support of President Bush. I am quite comfortable with that. President Bush does not support smaller government. He does not support personal liberty and keeping the government out of you private affairs. President Bush and most of the Republicans in Washington definitely do not support fiscal restraint. So Log Cabin, although they adamantly support the GWOT, did not endorse him for president in 2004. That wasn't a tacit endorsement of John Kerry - far from it. It was nothing more than a non-endorsement of a president who is, for all intents and purposes, not a Republican. He just isn't - not in any historical sense."
Thanks to The Moderate Voice for the link.
"2008 pres"
9:53:11 AM
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Amendment 38
Here's a story about Bob Beauprez and his new opposition to Amendment 38, from the Rocky Mountain News. They write, "Congressman Bob Beauprez withdrew his support Friday for a controversial ballot measure that is opposed by much of the business community, prompting a leading supporter to accuse him of betrayal. Beauprez, the presumed Republican candidate for governor, announced Friday that he will not support Amendment 38, a so-called "petition rights" constitutional amendment that would make it easier for citizens to challenge local government decisions through initiative campaigns. Beauprez endorsed Amendment 38 in April. His change of heart outraged Douglas Bruce, the anti-tax crusader who endorsed. Beauprez earlier this year. Bruce said Beauprez was earning the 'Both Ways Bob' label given him by former primary opponent Marc Holtzman...
"Amendment 38: Allows circulators 12 months, not the current six, to collect signatures for the ballot; Establishes the state standard for signatures (5 percent of the last vote for secretary of state) as the maximum for initiatives on local governments' ballots - Cities currently are allowed to set their own standards; Extends the initiative process to county governments and special districts. Cities already do it; Allows any sort of initiative to be considered even on odd-year ballots, which the state Supreme Court has ruled can now only feature TABOR-related issues; Makes it much tougher to disqualify signatures by giving the benefit of the doubt to the sponsors in every case."
More details from Dan Haley (via the Denver Post). He writes, "Pressure had been mounting for Beauprez to abandon 38 for weeks. Its backers say it would clean up some of the abuses in the petition process, but opponents claim it undercuts representative government and could open a Pandora's box of problems. Ambiguity in the proposal, Beauprez notes, 'could invite activist courts to reinvent the law.' Colorado Counties Inc. and Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, and many of the groups that supported Referendum C, have come out against 38. Gov. Bill Owens, Beauprez's most visible supporter, also opposes it. Beauprez had worked himself into a corner, and his move Friday still may not be enough for some since he's opposing it on a technicality of sorts. And that brings us to Beauprez's other predicament with the business community, Initiative 88, which would limit the amount of money the state could retain under Referendum C. The business leaders who rallied to pass Ref C also oppose it, as does Gov. Owens. Beauprez was the first signature on the petition, and still backs the idea."
"denver 2006"
9:30:03 AM
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Ritter for governor?
CBS4Denver.com: "An independent political group that backs Republican candidates began airing a radio ad statewide Friday attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter, saying the former Denver district attorney cannot back up his statements that he is tough on crime. The Trailhead Group's ad says Ritter accepted plea bargains in most cases during his three-term tenure as Denver's top prosecutor and that he failed to enforce the death penalty for capital crimes. It also said such decisions led to a rise in Denver's homicide rate near the end of Ritter's last term, rising high enough that it nearly doubled that of New York in 2004. The ad notes that as a former district attorney, Ritter does not have a voting record on issues such as education, immigration, transportation or water."
"denver 2006"
9:21:06 AM
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Colorado Politics 2006
Mike Littwin is touring Colorado and talking politics with the locals. Here's his report from Gardner. He writes, "We went looking first for answers in southeastern Colorado, which doesn't have much water at all, and where most conversations begin with golf courses in Aurora and why Aurora/Denver/Colorado Springs are sucking the water/lifeblood from the ranchers and farmers in this area...'In 10 years,' says Berrie Archuleta, 'there might be only one or two ranchers left in the Valley. There will be Joe and ...' And Joe Vargas, in a cowboy hat and boots, a beer in hand, says, 'Me. And a banker with a sense of humor.'"
"denver 2006"
9:17:32 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 8:20:28 PM.
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