Laura Bradford

Yesterday the ethics committee decided that Laura Bradford was not guilty of ethics violation. The committee, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats, voted unanimously. What the committee did not do is heal the rift between Laura Bradford and the Speaker of the House. Rumor has it that the Speaker of the House has rifts with lots of people.

Thank Heavens for the Internet

Yesterday Colorado’s House voted to extend the “Make My Day” law to include businesses. So, if a clerk feels threatened, they could have the right to shoot the person threatening them. This bill hasn’t passed the Senate, but if it does I’m hoping that it will become possible to buy all groceries on line and have them delivered by UPS, or better yet the besieged U.S. Postal Service.

While the NRA will, no doubt, support this bill and threaten any legislator opposing it, I have a real problem believing that this won’t result in more violence, not less.  The probability of innocent shoppers getting hit by crossfire when a clerk and a criminal engage in a gun battle is great. Been there, done that, not interested in the T-shirt.

Years ago I witnessed a gun battle between a purse snatcher and an off duty Denver cop in the lobby of a bank on Denver’s 17th Street. Bullets often do not find their targets, and a miss generates more bullets. In this case the secretary to the bank president, who was trying to get under her desk to avoid the bedlam, was shot. In a near miss, one bullet went through the wheel chair of an installment loan officer who, because of his disability was not able to move out of the way.

Cottage Foods Act

The bill that will allow me to buy more food at farmers markets and at roadside stands passed the Senate and is headed toward the House.  If I can’t buy food on the internet maybe I can buy it at a roadside stand!

War on Women

The GOP and Catholic Church are continuing their war on women. I’m so dismayed by this insanity that I’m temporarily speechless, but the New York Times isn’t—read the link below.

Homework
Sentinel Story About Bradford

Business Make My Day Law

Who Supports the Cottage Food Act

New York Times Editorial About the War on Women

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the federal government, several state governments, and banks have reached a deal regarding the abuse in the foreclosure system since the 2008 economic downturn. Details are to be announced later today.

My opinion? It is a bunch of bullshit.

Banks will pay a fine. The money will go to the federal government and states, and people who lost their homes will get between $1,500 and $2,000. Oh, Goodie. A bunch of homeless people can now pay rent on an apartment for one full month. What then?

Evidently the agreement also allows people who are underwater on their mortgages to refinance, and requires that the banks reduce the mortgage to better reflect the decreased home values. Remember that home values decreased because as foreclosed properties hit the market and are sold at fire sales, comps on all similar properties see a corresponding decrease in value.

I haven’t seen all the details of the deal, but unless first and second mortgage holders work together on refinancing mortgages, this deal is going to mean squat to most Americans who have been keeping their loan payments current. I’ve yet to see anybody look at the fact that most Americans have both a first and second mortgage on their homes.

I’m one of them. Both of my mortgages are current. I’m underwater only because of the balance on my second mortgage. But I can’t refinance either mortgage to at a lower interest rate because the first mortgage holder will require that the second mortgage holder remain in second position.  And nobody is making second mortgage holders reduce their rates.

Nobody is looking at the way that Americans actually used the equity in their homes to leverage other things. In my case, I used the equity in my Colorado home to purchase a summer home in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The good news for me is that my second home is mortgage free, so if I can’t keep making two mortgage payments with my Social Security income, I will still not be homeless. Most Americans aren’t that lucky.

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WSJ Story About Bank Deal

I had been hearing rumblings about Santorum making a strong showing in Colorado, and it turns out the rumblings were accurate. I remember thinking that Santorum could really connect with people after his speech in Iowa. Given the continuing strength of the Tea Party in Colorado, I’m not surprised that he took Colorado.

This election season has been way too much fun! Last night Santorum cleaned Romney’s clock in three states. I’m sure that Romney will now hit the accelerator on his move to the right. There will be a whole month of no primary contests to check the speed and direction, and the media will telegraph his every move.  The Newt will be moving to the right also, since he is convinced he is destined to be President.

The Komen experience with Planned Parenthood didn’t teach these guys anything. They still think that the loudest voices in the GOP are representative of voters in the general election. But the loudest voices are the fundamentalist Christians in a nation that is increasingly becoming more like Europe, where Church is not a weekly thing and does not dominate the thinking of the people. And then there are those pesky birth control and women’s health issues.

The Catholic Church is going to continue to raise a stink about birth control, and both the media and the GOP candidates are going to listen to them. Why anyone would put a lot of credence in a bunch of guys who hang out mostly with other guys and dress in medieval white, red and black robes while continuing to get caught up in scandals involving sex with altar boys is beyond my comprehension. For sure their own female parishioners are ignoring them when it comes to women’s health, as are many of their nuns.

Santorum, as the latest Anybody-But-Romney candidate, is going to get a lot more media attention, now. His war on birth control will become more widely known, and he will start to fall in the polls. None of the current crop of Republicans seems to remember that Ken Buck was defeated in Colorado because of his war on women. They have even forgotten the recent loss of a Personhood amendment in conservative Mississippi.

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Atheism America Religious Right

Today is Caucus Day for Colorado Republicans. They moved their primary ahead of “Super Tuesday” believing that they would have more say in the nominating process by doing so. Colorado Democrats didn’t move their caucus date, so now there are two separate caucus dates in Colorado. Democrats will caucus on March 6.

Parties are increasingly becoming irrelevant in Colorado, although only people registered as a member of a party are eligible to vote in caucuses or primary elections.  Despite being left out of the primary process, Coloradans are registering as independent. Right now the split is pretty even, with about 1/3 of registered voters being independent, 1/3 being GOP, and 1/3 being DEMs.

One of my favorite Democrats has jumped on the bandwagon. Ken Gordon, a former DEM leader in the Colorado Senate has been reaching out to independents and Democrats to forget about party designations and vote for what is right for Coloradans. It could be said that is the true patriotism—voting for what is best, not for what is ideologically pure by party standards.

For the record, I’ll be caucusing with my Democrats in March. But I’ll be watching the 10:00 news to see how my Republican friends voted. Rumor has it that there might be some surprises coming out of Colorado.

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Independents on the Rise

I’ve been a bit at a loss to talk about all of the stuff that is swirling around Laura Bradford. I know Laura. I’ve had dinner in her home. She’s had dinner in my home. That isn’t recent, it goes back to the days when she had a business in the Incubator Center and I was the Revolving Loan Fund Manager.

I started a monthly dinner club that rotated among members, and Laura was one of the participants in that club.  The first dinner was held at my home and Laura showed up with some linen napkins that her company had made as a hostess gift. Laura, thanks for those napkins. I still use them.

I’m sure that Laura is embarrassed to be in this situation. She knows that it isn’t a good idea to drink and drive. She sponsored a bill that would make it murder of a child if a pregnant woman was killed in an accident after a pregnant woman and her unborn child were killed in an accident.

Laura said that when she votes in the legislature her first priority is her conscience, followed by her constituents, followed by her caucus. I recently met with her about the Cottage Food Act that I’d like to see passed as a board member of Western Colorado Congress. She is sponsoring a competing bill that is much narrower, but would approve making cakes and cookies in home kitchens and selling them to friends and neighbors. She proposed that bill because two of her constituents asked her to do so.

Today an ethics committee will decide if she should be punished in the House for her actions. I think it may be hypocritical of some House members if they vote to censure her. I’m sure many of them are guilty of driving home after more than a few drinks in Downtown Denver. The Denver Post ran an article about historic ethics reviews. I personally found it amusing that the picture chosen to illustrate the story was one of Steve King.

Laura may be in more trouble for having drinks while carrying a concealed weapon, but I’m not up on that part of the legal code—since I don’t have a conceal and carry license.  I feel badly about the trouble that Laura is experiencing, even though she did make some bad choices to get in this position. She’s not a bad person. Could we all just treat her with a little humanity?

Yesterday Rick Santorum held a rally in nearby Montrose. Our local reporters all trekked down Highway 50 to get the story.

Meanwhile, back in Grand Junction, I was shopping with my mother. I frequently shop and run errands with my mother on Saturdays because she doesn’t drive, and since my father passed away doesn’t have a live-in chauffer. I don’t always dress up to go shopping with my mother. In fact, yesterday I had pulled my hair back with combs and gone out of the house without any make-up. No 63 year old woman wants to be photographed without having her hair and make-up done.

So, I was a bit conflicted when I got a call from a reporter from the local NBC affiliate, who wanted a comment from a Democrat about Santorum’s visit. I wanted the rest of the story to be told, but I didn’t want to appear in front of a camera. In the end, I decided to take one for the Party.

Our interview probably lasted for about 15 minutes in the parking lot of a WalMart store on North Avenue.  I said many outrageous things:

Why would any woman vote for a man who wants to take away birth control?

Republicans talk about jobs but get it all wrong—commercial leases of oil shale federal lands isn’t going to create any jobs in THIS century.

Why is it that Republican politicians all say that government doesn’t create jobs, yet they are all trying to get on the government payroll?

Santorum is just another Anybody-But-Romeny candidate. Romney has the money and the plan to go the distance in the primaries; he is going to be the candidate.

Guess which comment they decided to use? The good news is that they didn’t broadcast any of the footage they took in that parking lot. Maybe the reporter IS a liberal!

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NBC 11 Story

Yesterday I blogged about how unions are reacting to workers who consistently vote against their own best interests. Today’s look is at how they are reacting to the future.

I’m not sure what “FRESC” is short for, but it is a coalition between labor and the environmental community. FRESC convened a coalition to raise renewable energy standards in Colorado. Okay, so the “RES” in FRESC must mean “renewable energy standards” and the “C” must mean Colorado. I’m still clueless about the “F,” but this organization deserves an “A.”

They are claiming responsibility for getting legislation passed in 2010 that increases the renewable energy standard to 30%. Environmental groups had worked for at least 10 years trying to move Colorado toward cleaner energy. Recognizing that green energy also meant good green jobs, and healthy communities, labor joined forces with the environmental community to build a broad coalition.

There are some unlikely partners in FRESC, which bills itself as a “blue-green” coalition: Environment Colorado, Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Environmental Coalition, IBEW, Colorado Conservation Voters, Sun Edison, Colorado Building Construction Trades Council, Interwest Energy Alliance, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Solar Alliance, and the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association. They worked with Colorado’s Governor and Xcel Energy to create a policy that promotes both clean energy and workplace standards.

According to a FRESC brochure, during the five year period between 2005 and 2010, employment in Colorado’s clean-tech industry increased 32.7%, while the national increase was only 10%. In 2010, the only growth sector in the state was clean-tech, which had increased to 1,600 companies which employed 19,000 workers.

I was running for office in 2010, so I met with representatives at Xcel Energy to understand how the requirement to produce at least 30% of its energy from renewable sources was impacting the utility giant. They said that it was easy, and they were proud of leading the nation in their movement toward cleaner energy.

What I didn’t realize at the time is that there was another component to House Bill 1001, which Bill Ritter signed into law. Labor is proud that clean energy jobs will be good jobs thanks to provisions in the bill. It requires that solar installation projects include certified solar installers and an on-site project supervisor who holds certification. Certification is through a test that is administered by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. Community colleges and union apprentice programs are designed to prepare workers to pass the test.

The law also requires the PUC to consider job quality and community impact, in addition to environmental impact and public health, when reviewing proposals to build new energy plants. The bill instructs the PUC to consider long-term career opportunities, health care and pension benefits, and wages as part of the approval process. This changes the dynamic form projects with the least cost being approved to projects with the highest probability of creating good middle class jobs in local communities.

It looks to me that this “blue-green” coalition is a winner that deserves an “A” and one that we should be glad exists as their future policy work extends beyond the Front Range into our part of the state.

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www.fresc.org

Last Saturday I attended a meeting hosted by the Colorado AFL-CIO. In addition to union leaders, the Pipefitter’s Hall in North Denver was filled with Democratic legislators and candidates interested in learning about the issues important to unions. Presentations were given by the Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council, public sector unions representing both state and federal government workers, private sector unions, and allied organizations.

The allied organizations were the most interesting to me. There is the Colorado Alliance for Retired Americans, made up of retired union workers.  There is Working America, an organization working to reach out to all working families, regardless of union membership. And there is a Young Worker Project. How about FRESC, working on a “formula for a new energy economy in Colorado?” Finally, there is the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, working on organizing Latino workers.

Working America is working to organize the 99%. They are “the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO.” In their eight years of existence, they have recruited 3-million members by reaching out to working-class moderates and conservatives who don’t have a union on the job. Their membership is not the traditional union membership:

70% are moderate or conservative.

33% own guns.

33% are weekly churchgoers.

82% are active voters.

500,000 are young.

500,000 are unemployed.

Working America recognizes that good jobs will be on the mind of most voters in 2012. Their issues during this election cycle include extending unemployment insurance, creating green jobs and investing in infrastructure, protecting quality public services and public jobs, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, holding Wall Street accountable to Main Street, and getting corporate money out of elections, while protecting voting rights.

Working America canvassed neighborhoods in nine states during the 2010 election. They cite wins in Minnesota and Colorado. In Minnesota, they had 50,000 in-person conversations with voters, helping to elect Mark Dayton.  In Colorado’s seventh district they contacted more than 40,000 voters to help elect Michael Bennet.

I plan to write more about what I learned about unions over the next few days, so stay tuned.

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www.workingamerica.org

Yesterday members of Western Colorado Congress of Mesa County delivered a message to Scott Tipton’s office in the form of a check stamped “insufficient Funds.” For some reason people think that oil shale is simply a bunch of oil waiting around waiting to be pumped into our gas tanks. Republicans, looking for a way to pay for a highway and bridge repair bill, and to put American workers back to work, proposed to mandate commercial leasing of oil shale in Colorado in order to pay for the repairs and workers.

The only problem is that despite billions of dollars of federal subsidies already going into experimental leases in Colorado, nobody has discovered a commercially feasible way to turn a really heavy rock into a liquid that is usable in automobiles.  The recipe that actually produces oil from oil shale requires heating the rock to 700 degrees for four years. It can be mined and then heated, or heated in place. Industry has proven that it can be done. It can’t be done in an economically feasible way. And for sure it isn’t going to pay for any jobs bill that puts Americans to work in this century.

Randy Udall said it best at a recent Grand Junction forum on oil shale—oil shale is the energy of the future, and will always be the energy of the future.  It isn’t ready to use today, and it won’t be ready in 10 years, and it won’t be ready in 100 years. We need to stop thinking of Colorado as having oil reserves larger than Saudi Arabia. We do, but they will never be produced in our lifetimes. Instead of putting our future into a rock that happens to burn, we should be looking to support alternative energy solutions. Solutions that might be ready in THIS century.

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KJCT Story About Protest

For those of you wondering where I’ve been, the answer is Denver. When I visit Denver I usually stay with an artist friend who is not connected to the internet. I stay with him because he doesn’t mind me bringing Jackson, and is willing to babysit the dog while I do other things.

Laura Bradford

I wrote previously about testifying at a Senate hearing about the Cottage Foods Act. One of the companion bills in the House is a cake and cookies bill sponsored by Laura Bradford. There was a hearing on that bill at the same time as the Senate hearing. But Laura Bradford made the news for another reason—it seems that she had a few drinks with some lobbyists. Then while driving around Capitol Hill, she made a mistake with an illegal turn, which attracted the Denver police. She failed one of the roadside sobriety tests, but did not have a blood test or a breathalyzer test. During the traffic stop, it became apparent that she was a legislator, which prompted a conversation among the cops about immunity for legislators. Suddenly Laura was in even more hot water, with her ethics as well as judgment being questioned. If only she would have stuck with cakes and cookies.

Unions

On Saturday I attended a briefing at a Pipefitter’s Union hall in north Denver. It was an issues briefing by unions for the benefit of sitting legislators and/or candidates. I’ll write more about that later, but the big take away was that unions plan on playing a big role in elections this fall, but they are only going to support candidates who support their issues. They believe they represent workers, whether or not those workers are unionized, so they plan on reaching out to working households that they may not have reached before. They made a point of telling candidates that they might be working on their behalf, but that they weren’t going to coordinate any of that with the campaigns.

Foreign Cars

Finally, the best reason I can think of for buying American is the price of getting a foreign car fixed. I could’ve bought a new car for the amount I’ve spent on my VW bug over the past year. But it wouldn’t be as cute.