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Wednesday, September 6, 2006
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Brian Davidson, candidate for Regent At-Large, answers Stephen Ludwig's assertion that Mr. Davidson would support concealed weapons, with a permit, for faculty and staff.
From Colorado Confidential: "I'm shocked by that assertion," he said. "You have to understand the context in which that (Pikes Peak Firearm Coalition) survey was administered. The question had to do with law abiding citizens with concealed weapons."
"My initial thought was my father who was an arson investigator. He and a lot of his colleagues typically get those permits. I had no intention of supporting students and faculty members to bring firearms onto the campus. I fully support the university's policy to prohibit these weapons on campus."
"I'm a physician I work in a trauma center. I work with people who've been shot, people who have died, because of what someone has done to them with a firearm."
Sounds like a non-issue to us.
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
9:27:42 PM 
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Coyote Gulch asks that the Ritter campaign post video in other formats besides Windows media. Some of us out here do not run software from MS. It shows an inclusive attitude to reach out to Linux, UNIX and Macintosh users.
We refer you to the video page at Hickenlooper for Mayor.
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
8:40:50 PM
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Coyote Gulch has always encouraged candidates to start weblogs. We maintain that short entries with links can help explain positions on issues or, as Bill Ritter is doing, answer allegations from the opposition. Here's a short post from Bill Ritter's weblog on the issue of his record on crime.
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:17:03 AM
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Colorado Confidential: "Following up on its piece on how the 'security moms'-moms concerned about terrorism-who helped push the GOP victories in 2002 and 2004 may be leaning Democratic now, the Washington Post today reports on the political label of the moment: 'mortgage mom.' What's a mortgage mom? That would be 'voters whose sense of well-being is freighted with anxiety about their families' financial squeeze.' Even as the GOP makes plans to make security issues its major focus in the remaining weeks that Congress is in session, Democrats are betting that economic fears will trump those relating to terrorism. Among the statistics brandished: that the inflation-adjusted median hourly wage of most workers fell by two percent since 2003 according to the Department of Labor, that the annual inflation rate has exceeded four percent for three consecutive months, and that household debt is rising. In particular, the ratio of financial obligations, mostly mortgage and consumer debt, to disposable personal income rose to 18.7 percent earlier this year, the highest level in modern times, notes the Post."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:12:57 AM
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Can't See the Center ..." "The Rocky Mountain News devotes some ink to a subject discussed here at length: the contributions of liberal Colorado millionaires to 527 committees. I'm glad this issue is getting some attention. But the article once again demonstrates how difficult this money is to track. The reporter, Stuart Steers, says that in 2004, Pat Stryker, Tim Gill, Jared Polis and Rutt Bridges "poured in a combined $1.6 million" for state legislative races. 'Most of that money went into '527' independent committees.' I believe that vastly understates the amount of money the Stryker brigade contributed to the Democrats' takeover of the Legislature. If you look up these four contributors at the IRS's website, their contributions to three major 527s -- the Coalition for a Better Colorado, the Alliance for Colorado Families, and the Alliance for a Better Colorado -- totaled $1.93 million. Beyond that, they dropped another $750,000 in state-regulated contributions. A lot of that went for Initiative & Referendum campaigns, but they maxed out on direct contributions to a lot of legislative candidates, too. So as opposed to the Rocky's $1.6 million, I think it's closer to $2.5 million -- and the four spent another $2.5 million on national causes."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:11:09 AM
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Colorado Confidential: "Today Stephen Ludwig, the Democratic candidate for an at-large seat at the University of Colorado (CU) Board of Regents, brandished his Republican opponent's position that concealed weapons ought to be allowed on campus as a sign that he is 'completely misdirected.' The CU regents established a ban of concealed weapons in 1994. After the state legislature approved a bill in 2003 that expanded the state's conceal-carry laws, then-attorney general Ken Salazar affirmed that the regents had the authority to enforce the ban. As I first reported here, Brian Davidson, the Republican candidate for an at-large seat on the CU board of regents, earned the endorsement of the Pikes Peak Firearm Coalition (PPFC). In answer to a questionnaire from the group, he had stated that 'A person with a permit should be allowed to carry their [sic] weapon essentially without regard to place or situation.'"
Here's Stephen Ludwig's weblog post on the subject.
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:08:07 AM
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The Rocky Mountain News editorial staff is urging voters to reject the .12% increase in the city's sales tax to fund early childhood education. They write, "In at least one key respect, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's proposal to raise the sales tax to subsidize preschool is the best plan of its type we've seen - not just in Denver but anywhere. We were sorely tempted to support it. In the end, however, we couldn't - for reasons we'll outline in a moment. Voters should reject it when they go to the polls this fall...
"Still, the measure's weaknesses are significant, too. Among them:
"People are not all of one mind about what constitutes good early education. Yet according to language approved by City Council, "The preschool provider shall agree to participate in a three-part quality improvement system that includes an introduction to quality, establishment of an objective quality rating for the preschool, and development and implementation of a quality improvement plan ...
"That may sound good, but what happens to providers who don't agree with what the city wants them to do? Or suppose they just find the paperwork too burdensome? We worry that the system would, perhaps inevitably, push toward more institutional settings - by emphasizing credentials, for example, or other indicators favoring certain types of providers. And we fear it could undermine the ability of smaller, private care settings that many parents prefer.
"Six of seven members of the board of directors of the nonprofit corporation that would run the program would be appointed by the mayor. The remaining member would come from the City Council and be chosen by that body. This means a group of mostly anonymous individuals only indirectly accountable to the public would enjoy tremendous discretion to set standards governing the quality rating system.
"The city estimates that the average tuition credit would be $5,265 per child up to family incomes of $50,000. But the ordinance doesn't say that; the actual numbers will be determined by a community advisory board. How many children would participate, and what percentage of eligible children would that comprise? To be decided. How many would have been in preschool anyway? Unknown.
"The city charter does not mention preschool education. The city should be cautious about diving into activities outside its core responsibilities. When it wants to raise taxes for a new task, officials ought to be able to look voters in the eye and report that the city's basic needs are being fully met."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
7:02:26 AM
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: "As the weekend's Club 20 debates approach, visitors and politicos arriving in Grand Junction will notice two prominently located billboards and a radio advertisement released Tuesday deriding Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez's support of Referendum A. Carrie Doyle, executive director of the Colorado Conservation Voters Campaign Fund, a group aimed at educating voters on statewide candidates' views on conservation issues, said she hoped the advertisements would make voters more aware of U.S. Rep. Beauprez's stance on the vital issue of water...
"Doyle said the ads place a special focus on Beauprez's support of Referendum A, which would have allowed the state to go $2 billion into debt to finance unspecified water projects. 'When he comes to the West Slope he talks about protecting our water, but he supported Referendum A,' the radio ad says. Western Slope lawmakers, including former Rep. Matt Smith, R-Grand Junction, attacked the referendum as a license for the Front Range to steal water from the other half of the state. The referendum, which Ritter opposed, died by a two-to-one margin statewide...
"Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, who has endorsed Beauprez's opponent, Democrat Bill Ritter, told The Daily Sentinel that despite Beauprez's assertions that he is, in fact, conservation-minded, his votes in Congress show that Beauprez supports causes alien to the Western Slope. 'We believe in being tough stewards, but we also believe that water is a precious resource,' Larson said. 'We want a balance with oil and gas, and we have not seen that in the congressman's record.' Larson emphasized Beauprez's support for a bill that would have given manufacturers of MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), a gasoline additive, protection from liability if the chemical leaked into groundwater supplies. (The language dealing with MTBE never made it into the final version of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.)[...]
"Marshall said he questioned Larson's comments based on the fact the representative endorsed Beauprez earlier this year. Larson, however, told The Daily Sentinel on Tuesday that he never endorsed Beauprez. He said Marshall was distorting a discussion earlier this year they had during the spat between Beauprez and then-Republican-gubernatorial-candidate Marc Holtzman. He said he told Marshall that Holtzman's aggressive politicking, including Holtzman's coining of the phrase 'Both Ways Bob,' disgusted him."
Category: Denver November 2006 Election
6:26:31 AM
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© Copyright 2006 John Orr.
Last update: 10/1/06; 8:44:24 AM.
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