Coyote Gulch

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Obama for president?
Political Wire: "Not that he's running or anything, but Obama is in New Hampshire, and sat down with the Union Leader for a chat (and a little kissing up)."
"2008 pres"
7:51:11 AM

Private Land Conservation in U.S. Soars

Land Trust Alliance: " A new report released today by the Land Trust Alliance finds that the pace of private land conservation by local and state land trusts more than tripled between successive five-year periods from 2000 to 2005. State and local land trusts have doubled their conservation acres from 6 million to 11.9 million acres in the past five years - an area twice the size of the state of New Hampshire. Including national conservation groups a total of 37 million acres have been conserved by private means-an area 16 1/2 times the size of Yellowstone National Park. The National Land Trust Census is the nation's only tabulation of private land conservation data."

Thanks to New West for the link.
"2008 pres"
7:46:46 AM

Presidential Candidate Selector

Coloradolib points to the Presidential Candidate Selector. Coyote Gulch, of course, couldn't refuse. Click on the thumbnail to see where we stand.

We're surprised that no Republicans show up in the top 10. But since we're enamored of Bill Richardson we're sure that it's our western roots showing through, independence and a healthy distrust of government, along with a willingness to trust our neighbors.
"2008 pres"
7:39:51 AM

Romney for president?
Captains Quarters: "Mitt Romney has worked to position himself as a conservative alternative to John McCain and an ideological opponent of the more liberal Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 Presidential sweepstakes with Republican voters. He has successfully challenged both enough to get himself into the top tier for the nomination in these early days. However, the emergence of correspondence between Romney and the Log Cabin Republicans of Massachussetts in 1994 threatens to make Romney look like a (gasp!) libertarian."
"2008 pres"
7:25:22 AM

Iraq
Iraq the Model: "According to a recent paper published last November by Dow Jones (don't have a link, read a summary on paper) after the world economic forum in the dead sea, Iraq's income from oil exports for this year was at 35 billion dollars with a 14.3% increase from last year's total. And that if oil export levels retain the current level and under stable prices, the coming year will witness a record income that was never reached in the history of modern Iraq and revenues will jump up to 40 billion dollars; a huge figure given the humble plans of the government and a figure that will put the government in a position where it must come up with new and ambitious plans to match the new revenue figures. In fact and from what can be read in papers and heard from official statements it seems most government departments failed to spend the funds allocated by the government for those departments to execute their projects. That's not because of security challenges only since there are several regions in the country that are relatively stable and where work can be done but more because of bureaucracy and corruption that make it extremely difficult to implement plans and make sure the money is spent in the right direction."
"2008 pres"
7:24:03 AM

War on terror
Talking Points Memo: "As long as we're engaging in useless exercises, is it time for an Afghanistan Study Group?...Under our watch, the Taliban has burned down more than 300 schools in the past two years. Did anyone ask Robert Gates during his confirmation hearing whether we're winning the war in Afghanistan?"
"2008 pres"
7:05:06 AM

Water budgets in Boulder

Boulder is using aerial photographs to assign water budgets to it's property owners, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "The Boulder water department knows every patio, walkway, gazebo and square foot of grass in its customers' front and backyards thanks to satellite photos. Starting next month, it will use that information to give each customer a water budget - rewarding them for using no more water than should sustain a Kentucky blue grass lawn, charging them extra for every gallon of excess water use. Customers can go online, to boulderwater.net, to make sure the photos really are of their own yards, and that the utility, say, is up to date on that flagstone sidewalk the family removed last summer. When all the calculations are done - the concrete area subtracted from the grass area - each resident gets a water budget based on the total square footage of his or her irrigable land...

"A family living in a single-family ranch-style home may have 5,000 square feet of irrigable land. The water department figures that every square foot of grass, shrubs or flower beds needs no more than 15 gallons of water per year. None is needed in December, January or February. About 1 percent of that water budget should be used in March, another 1 percent in November. By the time June and July roll around though, each of those months probably need about 20 percent of the water budget for the entire year. So, in June, they can put three gallons on every square foot of grass - a total of 15,000 gallons. If the family stays within that limit, it pays only $1.88 per 1,000 gallons for the first 9,000 gallons in June, and $2.50 per gallon for the next 6,000 gallons. But what if there's a heat wave in July and the family uses 20,000 gallons? The family pays the same as it did in June for those first 15,000 gallons, but $5 for each extra 1,000 gallons - or a $25 surcharge for July."
"colorado water"
6:57:07 AM

Willhite: We've had to show a little more leg

Howard Dean is expected to choose between Denver and New York for the 2008 Democratic National Convention soon, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "The two cities bidding to host the Democratic National Convention have done so with styles that could not be more different. Denver officials, conscious of the fact that their city is an unknown entity for the Democrats, have made a highly public effort to push Denver's strength as a burgeoning Democratic base and counter concerns about fundraising and lodging issues. New York, which has hosted five party conventions since Denver hosted its only one in 1908, has remained quietly suave and debonair as Denver scrambles to woo the Democratic suitor. 'Denver's got a larger sales job to do,' New York Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said. 'New York, from an accommodations standpoint, has an easier job to do.' With a decision from Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean due in just a day or two, Denver officials readily agree with Sheinkopf, comparing their effort to a David-and-Goliath kind of struggle. 'We've had to show a little more leg,' said Debbie Willhite, the executive director of Denver's host committee. 'We're a little bit of an unknown quantity for the Democrats.' The difference is tangible. When Dean called Bill Ritter last month to congratulate the Democrat on being elected governor of Colorado, Ritter took the opportunity to lobby for the 2008 party convention."
"2008 pres"
6:47:27 AM

The shift of money from candidates to independent committees has coarsened political debate
Here's a short recap of campaign expenditures for the November election from the Denver Post. They write, "Independent political committees, known as 527 groups, raised more than $20 million to bombard voters with television advertisements, phone calls, pollsters and mail. Meanwhile, the gubernatorial candidates - Democratic Gov.-elect Bill Ritter and Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez - raised less than half that amount to promote themselves. 'At least we've succeeded in taking the big money out of politics,' quipped Denver-based political consultant Eric Sondermann.

"On Saturday, Ritter reported raising $418,338 throughout November, lifting his total fundraising to about $4.4 million for the whole campaign. Beauprez's report was not posted at the secretary of state's website, and his congressional spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment. Through the end of October, Beauprez raised about $3.85 million, including $305,000 in loans to himself...

"Most 527 groups filed their post-election reports with the Internal Revenue Service last week, showing a continuing shift by wealthy interests to those independent committees. Fort Collins heiress Pat Stryker gave $2.67 million to 527 groups backing Democratic candidates and liberal causes. Computer entrepreneur Tim Gill provided another $2.44 million to those causes. Trailhead Group - a Republican group formed last year by Gov. Bill Owens, beer magnate Pete Coors and oilman Bruce Benson - reported raising more than $5.2 million, according to filings with the IRS. Coors provided $200,000 of that money and Benson added $75,000. Main Street Colorado - a group that backed Democratic statehouse candidates - raised nearly $2.9 million. Union-affiliated groups were major contributors to Main Street and other Democratic groups."
"denver 2006"
6:39:56 AM

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