Coyote Gulch

Monday, April 9, 2007

YouTube and the May election
Colorado Confidential: "TV commercials might be out of reach for city council candidates in Denver, but now there's a cheap alternative to expensive production and advertising time. In the age of YouTube, it's all DIY, and local candidates are joining in."
"denver 2007"
6:49:32 PM

Super -Duper Tuesday
Political Wire: "New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) signed a bill moving New York's presidential primary to Feb. 5 -- 'a change that could benefit the Democratic and Republican front-runners, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, both New Yorkers,' according to the New York Times. 'Nearly a dozen other states, including California and New Jersey, have already moved their primaries or caucuses to Feb. 5 or are about to do so. About a dozen more are considering such moves, setting the stage for what is quickly becoming known as 'Super-Duper Tuesday' just 22 days after the leadoff Iowa caucuses.'"

Western Democrat: "It seems like every other state in the union is pulling all of the oxygen out of the room with an all-go-at-it February 5 primary. The old idea of a Western Primary is as dead as dead gets, but we still have Nevada, right? Well, the Las Vegas Sun is pointing out that still very little attention is being paid to Nevada."
"2008 pres"
6:22:45 PM

Iraq
Helena Independent Record: "The cost of the Iraq war is filtering down to state and local budgets, forcing cuts in transportation funding, Medicaid, education and other federally subsidized programs, according to analysts and lawmakers. Just how big that impact has been is unclear. What state lawmakers do say is that the $456 billion already spent or appropriated for the war could have gone a long way toward helping them balance their own budgets. In Colorado, lawmakers expect to lose about $200 million in federal funding for the next fiscal year, forcing the state to cut back on programs that receive federal money. 'These are funds that we aren't going to receive. Low Energy Assistance Program, $9.8 million, gone. Head Start, $3.7 million, gone. Child Care and Development Block Grant, $1.1 million. Community Development Block Grant, $13.5 million. Special Ed, $8.8 million,' House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said during a debate Thursday over a state resolution opposing the escalation of the war in Iraq."

ABC News: "In a rueful reflection on what might have been, an Iraqi government insider details in 500 pages the U.S. occupation's "shocking" mismanagement of his country a performance so bad, he writes, that by 2007 Iraqis had 'turned their backs on their would-be liberators. The corroded and corrupt state of Saddam was replaced by the corroded, inefficient, incompetent and corrupt state of the new order,' Ali A. Allawi concludes in 'The Occupation of Iraq,' newly published by Yale University Press. Allawi writes with authority as a member of that 'new order,' having served as Iraq's trade, defense and finance minister at various times since 2003. As a former academic, at Oxford University before the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq, he also writes with unusual detachment."

TPM Muckraker: "The New York Times delivers the first major report on the surge's progress this morning, a painstaking effort involving statistics and on the ground reports. The verdict? American casualties are down in Iraq's provinces, but way up in Baghdad. Sectarian killings are down, but increased use of car bombs has kept the civilian death toll high -- and anyway the beheadings seem to be surging again. And as the U.S. moves to confront insurgents, the groups seem to be fracturing, making the fight increasingly confusing."
"2008 pres"
6:20:37 PM

? for president?
Political Wire: "Sen. Barack Obama 'has chosen not to attend September's presidential debate co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and Fox News, effectively dooming the debate,' reports The Politico's Ben Smith. 'Obama is the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus running for President, and his decision allows other candidates to skip the debate without facing criticism that they are turning their backs on a leading black institution.' Last Friday, John Edwards was the first candidate to announce he'd skip the debate."

Pollster.com: "A new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics statewide survey (story, results) of 600 likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina (conducted 4/1 through 4/3) finds: In a statewide Republican primary, Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani runs at 26%, Sen. John McCain at 25%, and former Gov. Mitt Romney at 14%."
"2008 pres"
6:15:30 PM

Corruption
Talking Points Memo: "Sadly, I think the politicization of the Department of Justice is going to turn out to be even worse than we may have thought initially. The Boston Globe has a long piece today on Regent University, alma mater of Monica Goodling and scores of other Bush Administration appointees."
"2008 pres"
6:28:01 AM

? for president?
Political Wire: "The New York Times: 'For all the tinkering with the 2008 primary schedule, for all the attempts by nearly 20 states to have a greater say in picking the nominee, an unusually early swarm of campaign visits here underscores which state -- for now, at least -- is one of the top priorities. A new route may exist on the road to the White House, but no candidates are daring to discount the familiar path of Iowa. In fact, the state has almost certainly become more influential.'"

Political Wire: "'Egged on by a campaign to draft him and buoyed by polls that suggest he would be a serious contender even though he hasn't declared, the conservative and blunt-spoken Fred Thompson has said he is considering jumping in and may make a decision as early as next month,' the Wall Street Journal reports. 'But in a presidential campaign that is likely to be the most expensive yet -- three candidates have already banked over $20 million in donations -- dithering would seem to be a liability.'"

Ed Cone: "Kenneth Woodward says Romney's upcoming speech at Regent University is an important chance to explain what Mormons actually believe."
"2008 pres"
6:23:48 AM

Stem cell research
Washington Times: "The White House yesterday signaled support for legislation that provides federal funding for stem-cell research using embryonic cells that have no chance of surviving. The legislation, authored by Sen. Johnny Isakson, Georgia Republican, seeks a middle ground in the highly charged debate over stem-cell research. His bill skirts moral concerns over using embryonic stem cells while ensuring federal funding for the breakthrough science. Mr. Isakson's bill would allow scientists to conduct research on embryos they determine are incapable of surviving in the womb but whose stem cells are still viable for research. The bill would also allow funding for research on stem cells from embryos that have died during fertility treatments. 'This legislation threads the ethical needle,' Mr. Isakson said yesterday. 'I'm very optimistic it will be looked on favorably, especially with the White House's endorsement.' White House officials have met with Mr. Isakson to discuss his bill several times since January. 'We are very supportive' of the legislation, said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman. 'By intensifying support for non-destructive alternatives, we can advance medical research in valuable ways while respecting ethical boundaries.'"
"2008 pres"
6:08:44 AM

Immigration
Captain's Quarters: "George Bush will start working on the one issue where he finds sympathy from the Democratic majority Congress -- immigration. The new campaign starts in Yuma, Arizona, where Bush will speak near the Mexican border about the need to both secure the frontier between Mexico and the US, as well as resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants.

Gallup Guru: "My colleague Joe Carroll recently analyzed the public's priorities for their elected representatives. Immigration issues are one of the three top domestic priorities for all Americans - along with healthcare and the economy. Immigration is actually the single top domestic issue among Republicans. More than one in five Republicans spontaneously mention immigration as the government's top priority at this time, second only to Iraq in the overall list."
"2008 pres"
5:58:45 AM

Fry-Ark space for Aurora?

Here's an article about some of the objections to the Aurora Long Term Storage contract with Reclamation, from the Pueblo Chieftain. They write, "Colorado courts, rather than a federal contract, would be a better way to deal with water transfers from the Lower Arkansas Valley to Aurora, a key water official maintains. Joe Kelley, La Junta water supervisor, said the concerns of downstream communities are not adequately addressed in a finding of no significant impact issued last month by the Bureau of Reclamation in its environmental assessment of a contract with Aurora...

"'When I did the letter for La Junta, I made no political statements at all. It was all based on technical aspects of the Aurora contract,' Kelley explained. 'You can't really stop Aurora from using its water or the contracts, but I would hope there'd be a way to mitigate the impacts.' Reclamation's finding doesn't provide that protection, Kelley said. 'They make a lot of assumptions about what Aurora is going to do if they don't get a contract in their no-action alternative. What would really happen if they took no action would depend a lot on what happened in water court. If would allow others to comment and set conditions,' Kelley said. Kelley criticized the finding of no significant impact because it makes loose assumptions that could affect water quality, and thus La Junta's treatment costs, down the road. The remedy, according to Reclamation's document, is to bring the affected parties together if there appears to be a problem caused by the contract."
"colorado water"
5:41:30 AM

Animas-La Plata

This article from ACP Pubs brings us up to date on the Animas-La Plata project. They write, "The current design, funding and project contracted or yet to bid includes the construction of a 280-cubic-feet-per-second pumping plant on the Animas River just south of downtown Durango, Colo.; an underground pipeline to carry project water from the pumping plant to the reservoir location, and an off-stream reservoir at Ridges Basin, southwest of Durango. This reservoir will store about 120,000 acre-feet of water to be pumped from the Animas River on the south end of Durango. In addition, the project includes a future buried pipeline from the Farmington, N.M., area to the Shiprock, N.M., area, supplying water for Navajo Nation usage.

"It is interesting that the diverted water is removed from the Animas River for controlled discharge back into the Animas River. At this time, there is no plan or provision for the water entering any other watershed or direct discharge from the dam into any water system. Any such use facilities would have to be paid for by others."

Be sure to read the whole article. More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
5:30:22 AM

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