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Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session?

And the hits just keep on coming from our Democratic masters!

Not content with the wreckage of the 2019 legislative session after Democrats won every statewide office along with big legislative majorities in 2018 for the first time since 1936, Gov. Jared Polis and the Democratic leadership are again on the march.

Remember a few of these greatest hits from a year ago:

They thumbed their nose (or more accurately gave the middle finger) to Colorado voters when they imposed draconian regulatory actions to cripple the oil and gas industry and destroy thousands of jobs despite the fact voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar 2018 ballot proposal by a 55 to 45 margin.

They gave away Colorados presidential elector votes to California and New York under the deceptively named national popular vote and denied Coloradans the right to vote on this diminishment of our role in electing a president. But despite this, voters will get their say after all after a successful petition campaign to put this issue on the 2020 ballot.

They imposed a red flag gun confiscation law that stomps on due process and penalizes law-abiding gun owners who are presumed guilty until proven innocent.

And now theyre back!

Despite the drubbing Colorado voters gave Democrats in November when their Proposition CC to destroy our taxpayer bill of rights, TABOR, and increase taxes was overwhelmingly defeated, the governor and his legislative majorities are trying to surpass their 2019 performance.

While there should be a legitimate debate about the future of the death penalty that would include a statewide vote by all Coloradans, Democrats rammed a death penalty repeal bill through the Legislature, and it will certainly be signed by Gov. Polis. Why are Colorado Democrats so repulsed by the notion of directly listening to the voters through a statewide vote on such a fundamentally profound issue affecting our society and state?

Gov. Polis and majority Democrats have introduced a bill to create a public option health care program that will undermine private health insurance and drive up the costs of health care. This is nothing more than a back-door way to achieve the long-held goal of many Colorado Democrats to create a Bernie Sanders-style single-payer health care system even though Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected such a proposal just a few years ago.

In yet another blow to rural Colorado, ruling Democrats are hellbent to eliminate private prisons in Bent and Crowley Counties that would kill precious jobs, drastically undercut the counties tax base and undermine funding for local schools.

Although there is a split among majority Democrats that has at least temporarily halted the passage of a family leave proposal, make no mistake that there is substantial sentiment within the caucus to impose expensive bureaucratic requirements on small businesses.

Consistent with their legislation to give away Colorados presidential elector votes without a statewide vote, Democrats now want to take away the direct election of the nine members of the University of Colorado Board of Regents.

Two members of the board are elected statewide and the other seven are elected one each from Colorados seven congressional districts. Colorado is one of just four states nationwide that elects the governing board of its flagship university.

Rather than continuing to entrust nearly 3.5 million voters to elect CU regents as our state has done since gaining statehood in 1976, Democratic House Speaker KC Becker of Boulder doesnt trust the voters with this responsibility. Speaker Becker would replace Colorado voters with an all-knowing and obviously much smarter group of 13 people to determine who is qualified and then submit a list of candidates to the state Legislature to make the appointments to the board.

The common thread that runs through so many of these overreaching actions by Colorado Democrats over the past two years is an arrogance that runs roughshod over the ability of Colorado voters to make decisions for themselves.

And the 2020 legislative session still has two more months to continue its destruction under Democratic control.

Some people in our state are claiming Democratic overreach aka, too many changes, too much, too fast. I have heard these claims before, and my response is only to ask, Too much for whom? Too fast on which pressing issue facing Coloradans?

In 2018, we heard the pain, frustration, and impatience of our constituents and put forth a clear, bold vision for Colorado a vision that decreases the cost of health care, uplifts working people, addresses climate change, and insists upon accountability throughout industry and government.

Voters made it clear that the status quo was no longer tolerable and that they desired to see our platform realized. Business-as-usual was decidedly rejected, and the Democrats were given responsibility to govern with majorities in the House, Senate and governors office.

With the people of Colorados endorsement, we hit the ground running.

Last session we enhanced air quality regulations, set goals for renewable energy, addressed student debt, expanded full-day kindergarten, and made health care more affordable. We enacted community protections by passing reasonable gun safety measures that provide avenues for law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from people who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. We also passed equal pay for equal work and continued to implement common-sense justice reforms almost all with bipartisan support.

I successfully sponsored 36 bills in 2019 the vast majority of which had support from both sides of the aisle. Among them were bills to reduce the trend of mass incarceration, which disproportionately impacts communities of color and people suffering from behavioral health and drug addiction issues.

This is not overreach. This is sensible public policy, responsive to community needs.

Then, after a blockbuster year of meaningful change, a small but vocal fringe minority sought to undermine our progress by seeking to recall four legislators, including myself and Gov. Polis.

They made spurious claims, unsupported, inaccurate allegations, and professed that we no longer had the support of Coloradans. But after months of costly petition signature gathering accompanied by name-calling, fear-mongering, and sensationalism, not one recall succeeded. In fact, there was so little support, that none of the petitions could even get enough signatures to get on the ballot.

While our opponents were talking, we were listening. At doors, around kitchen tables, and in communities, we heard peoples concerns. The issues that kept coming up were reducing the costs of health care and housing, guaranteeing a quality education for every student, combating climate change, and ensuring economic justice and security for all hardworking Coloradans.

The reality is its still difficult for people to make ends meet and ensure the health of their families. Housing prices are still skyrocketing, health care is still simply unaffordable, and polluters are continuously poisoning our communities. Our schools and roads are still underfunded, and our residents still need clean air to breathe and water to drink. We still incarcerate and punish people rather than seek accountability of offenders and restoration for victims. And climate change is still an ever-present threat to our future.

At a time when federal policies, failures, and inaction threaten our livelihoods, institutions, and public health, Coloradans need more from their state elected officials, not less, and deserve decisive and collaborative action.

So, when I hear the question: Are Democrats overreaching?, my response is:

Where, how, and to whose disadvantage?

Because it is not the single mom who has to work two jobs to make ends meet. Its not the teacher who has to buy their own school supplies. Its not the student who quits college to help pay for family medical bills. It is not the hiker, biker, skier or river runner who watches the wild spaces they love deteriorate from abuse.

These Coloradans, and thousands like them, are tired of waiting. They are tired of gridlock. They are tired of excuses.

They need their leaders to come to the table to find bipartisan solutions to address the challenging issues and struggles they face every day. They need action and they need it urgently.

As Democrats, thats what weve done, and what well continue to do.

Dick Wadhams is a Republican political consultant and former Colorado Republican state chairman. Sen. Pete Lee, a Democrat, represents Senate District 11 in the Colorado General Assembly.

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POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session? - Colorado Springs Gazette

In May 2019, in the days following his decision to run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Bullock said that he "was never going to run for the Senate ... I have great respect for the senators, but this is something that never really got me excited."In August, Bullock told CNN's Alisyn Camerota that a Senate bid was an "absolute no" for himIn December, Bullock reiterated his previous stance. "I said it before, I said it during, I said it when I got out. I am not running for Senate," he said.

"After hearing from Montanans and talking to Lisa and our kids, we decided now is no time to be on the sidelines, and that's why I'm running so we can make Washington work more like Montana," he said in a statement.

While there's no debate that Bullock's decision is a major boon for Senate Democrats hoping to win back the majority in the chamber this fall, it also occasions an obvious question: What changed his mind?

The answer to that question is, of course, not simple. Why people -- including politicians -- make the life decisions they make are often a mystery. It's what makes life so unpredictable and fascinating.

But there are a few clues as to why Bullock went from no-way, not-ever to "I'm running."

The second is a calculation all politicians make before leaping into another race: Can I win? While winning is never a guarantee, most ambitious pols -- and let's not forget Bullock ran for president, so he is definitely ambitious -- won't risk their political future on a race they don't think can be won.

Which brings us to Bullock and his change of heart. Put simply: If he did not believe the national political environment -- as well as the political environment in his home state -- hadn't moved into a place where he could beat Daines this fall, there is no chance he would run.

How did Bullock make that determination? My very strong supposition is that he was shown a bevy of private polls conducted for the Senate Democrats' campaign arm that showed him very much in the game against Daines and with Trump's numbers in the generally conservative state -- especially at the federal level -- not all that amazing.

But Bullock's decision sends a very clear signal about how Democrats are feeling about 2020, and it's this: Come on in, the water's fine!

See the article here:
Here's how you know Democrats are feeling very good about their chances in November - CNN

Photo illustration: Soohee Cho/The Intercept, Getty Images

The insurgent wave that crested in the Bronx in June 2018, lifting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to victory, had begun with a rock thrown into the water in 1983 Chicago, with the election of Harold Washington. It would be only fitting that the same wave crashed back down in Chicago, in 2019, washing Mayor Rahm Emanuel out to sea.

One of Harold Washingtons lieutenants, Chuy Garcia, had challenged Emanuel in 2015, and gave the mayor a scare from his left. It would later emerge that Emanuels team had suppressed horrifying video of the cold-blooded police killing of Laquan McDonald. He had buried it long enough to win reelection (Emanuel was first elected in 2011, after stepping down as Obamas chief of staff). In 2016, the Cook County prosecutor who facilitated the cover-up was ousted by Kim Foxx, running on an aggressive reform agenda.

It can be painful to think what could have beenif Democratic leadership made different choices decades ago.

In 2018, insurgents took on the beating heart of Chicago politics: county tax assessor. The position may sound mundane, but it produced the lubricant that greased the machine. An insurgent candidate ran for the office in charge of assessing and collecting property taxes in Chicago, and won a startling upset, which came along with other leftist pickups on the city council. Five members of the Democratic Socialists of America won city council races, producing enough socialists on the citys legislative body to form an actual caucus. United Working Families, a sister to the Working Families Party that started in New York, backed an additional three successful leftist council candidates. Emanuel declined to run for a third term. Luis Gutirrez retired from Congress, and Garcia, who had given Harold Washingtons elegy, won the race to replace him.

Emma Tai, executive director of United Working Families, celebrated the progressive sweep of the city. Tonight, voters rejected Rahm Emanuels legacy, she declared. Chicago belongs to the people.

The people, however, have yet to claim control of the country as a whole, or even of the Democratic Party. It can be painful to think what could have been had Democratic leadership made different choices decades ago. What if Jesse Jacksons Rainbow Coalition had won that primary in Wisconsin and managed to clinch the nomination? Even if he had lost the general as Michael Dukakis did anyway it would have shown future candidates that people power provides a genuine path to the nomination. There would have been no room for Trump if we had democratized our economy, Jackson told me.

Instead, the notion of exciting the base and expanding the electorate was suppressed until it reemerged around Howard Dean in 2003 and 2004, then around Barack Obamas first presidential campaign. (We changed the rules in 88 which made [it] possible for Barack to win. Under the 84 rules, Hillary would have been the winner, because we went to proportionality rather than winner take all, Jackson reminded me.) And finally, in a dramatic expression, behind Bernie Sanders in 2016. The eventual recognition that power for Democrats lies in people, not big money, transformed the 2020 cycle. No longer do candidates boast about locking down the most high-dollar bundlers; the competition in fundraising is now who can raise the most money with the lowest average contribution.

Yet the party establishment cant be expected to simply hand over power. In 2019, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it would blacklist any consulting firm who did any work for a challenger to an incumbent. Nancy Pelosi has reserved some of her most forceful language for the squad of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley. Omar and Tlaib and Omar in particular have faced withering attacks from their Democratic colleagues; Ocasio-Cortez has been called by a colleague Nixonian, and much worse in private, where party honchos plot ways to bring her down. Thats all before the president and a billion-dollar right-wing spin machine have had their say.

The final obstacle comes down to the people themselves. Democratic primary voters fancy themselves pundits. Jackson surged in the polls until he came close to winning. To be sure, some voters turned on him simply because they didnt want a black man in the Oval Office. Many others, though, believed that other people would be unwilling to elect a black man president, which meant he wasnt electable, which meant he needed to be stopped. Bill Clinton emerged from a deeply competitive primary and persuaded Democrats that he and his Southern charm could put an end to 12 years of Republican rule. In 2004, Democrats preferred Howard Dean, but believed the military man, John Kerry, would be the smart pick to take on Bush in wartime. Like most strategic calculations made by Democratic primary voters, it was harebrained. The one risk primary voters took was going with their hearts and nominating Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, perceived by the Democratic electorate to be electable, was everything but.

Headed into 2020, Sanders has a robust movement behind him, and Republicans I talk to in Washington believe hes one of the few Democrats who could give Trump fits in the key states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. His organizing operation would be able to register and turn out far more black voters in crucial cities like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit, while he can also appeal to aggrieved working-class voters of all races who want someone to, well, drain the swamp. But the pundit-voter who thinks of Joe Biden knows one thing for sure: That man is electable.

The folksy Scranton man has managed to convince liberals that hes the guy who can talk to those white, working-class voters Democrats have been chasing since they took flight from the party half a century ago.

Biden was little more than a footnote in this books chapter on the 1988 campaign. His 2008 campaign didnt end in disgrace, but merely faded into obscurity; his career was revived by Obama. Bidens contribution to the party debate has been to put himself on the wrong side of the issues with a startling consistency. One would think that just by chance, given a career that spans a half-century, hed manage to get a few things right by accident. Even his most uncontroversial accomplishment, the Violence Against Women Act, was tucked into the Biden Crime Bill, which played a major role in juicing mass incarceration.

This book has been about how todays Democratic leaders, such as Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, or Rahm Emanuel, are scarred from the political wounds they suffered in the 1980s and 90s. Even after Democrats took control of the House in 2018, making repeal of the ACA impossible, the party leadership continued arguing that any effort to advance Medicare for All risked the destruction of Obamacare. In May 2019, Pelosi warned that Trump might resist leaving office if he loses in a close election; therefore, the House should pull back on impeachment hearings and run to the center.

But the old guard has company in their torment. Todays generation of young (and increasingly not-so-young) socialists recognizes the threat of fascism as real, but doesnt shrink from it, rallying behind the boldest possible platform. Their parents, haunted by Reagan and then the Gingrich wave of 94, worry that pushing for a progressive agenda will produce a backlash among the American public an electorate they fear like an alien species meant to be pacified with moderation rather than won over with something robust.

Biden is just the man for that pacification project. The folksy Scranton man has managed to convince liberals that hes the guy who can talk to those white, working-class voters Democrats have been chasing since they took flight from the party half a century ago. Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, similarly exploits liberals lack of familiarity with rural culture to sell himself as the guy who can win the Midwest. Gone unmentioned is that he won a small mayoral election with roughly 8,000 votes fewer than AOC won to beat Joe Crowley and is running for president because he doesnt think Midwest voters will send him to the House or Senate.

Still, for a fearful party electorate, moderate candidates feel safe in ways the wild-haired socialist and the woman from Harvard dont. Meanwhile, carbon concentration in the atmosphere rises, the oceans warm and acidify, the glaciers recede, the tundra warms, the rainforests shrink, coral reefs die off and, according to climate modeling, clouds themselves are at risk. In May 2019, the United Nations warned that the bottom was falling out. The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide, said Robert Watson, chair of the U.N.s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. We have lost time. We must act now. If voters insist on being pundits, incorporating the climate crisis into their analysis ought to reorient their understanding of risk. [Update: It has only gotten worse.]

Trumps reelection isnt the only risk those people face, however. Indeed, its not even the only political danger on the horizon. In 1974, the Labour Party took power in the U.K., with the country at a crossroads. A robust social movement looked to curb the power of banks, capital, and captains of industry, while democratizing the workforce and attacking sources of economic inequality. John Medhurst covered what happened in the next two years in his short but essential book That Option No Longer Exists: Britain 1974-76. Finance fought back, and the moderate wing of the Labour Party won the internal struggle for power, implementing only meager reforms instead of the transformative ideas being pushed by a strong (but not-quite-strong-enough) left wing. Dissatisfied, the British public ushered in Margaret Thatcher, who had no such caution when it came to reshaping the country. Her dismantling of the welfare state and its working class was never inevitable.

If Democrats meet the publics demand for real change with something fake, the other side is willing to offer the real thing. The real risk of a Biden nomination might not be that he could lose to Trump though that is certainly plausible but that he will beat Trump, fail to deliver, and open the door for a fascist who actually knows what hes doing. Playing it safe is going to get us all killed.

Read more:
Democratic Voters Played Pundit in Picking Joe Biden. History Suggests They Are Bad at That Game - The Intercept

Louis Biad, Your view Published 2:56 a.m. MT March 15, 2020

Louis Biad, Mesilla Valley chile farmer, pecan farmer and co-owner of Picacho Hills Country Club.(Photo: Jett Loe / Sun-News)

Theres an interesting dichotomy playing out in New Mexico.

No, Im not talking about which of the superstar Mikeis going to win our states primary and go on to crush President Trump in November. We learned recently that it wont be Michael Avenatti or Michael Bloomberg.

Nor am I talking about the raging debate about stupid pedicabs versus money wasting trolleys from NMSU to Downtown.

In the last month, in this newspaper, we have seen that our legislature will leap into action if the US Supreme Court takes steps to curtail abortion rights. We have seen impassioned commentaries from a New Mexico practicing OBGYN detailing how dangerous it would be to pass abortion bans and restrictions. (Feb. 9). On Feb. 5, we read an article by a reproductive rights attorney for the ACLU of New Mexico arguing that abortion bans are an assault on reproductive freedom.

On the other side of the scale, in suspiciously quiet fashion, a daughter of New Mexico had the honor of speaking at the same podium as the president of the United States. It is easy to look at poverty, childrens healthcare, education, late-term abortion rates and see what is wrong with New Mexico. But, born into a humble community, Elisa Martinez is what is right with New Mexico. So well-known has she become among pro-lifers that she was invited to speak at the pro-life rally in DC.

She is a solid on every issue. Passionately warning New Mexicans about the real dangers of socialism and leftism. She has lived it. Up close has she has seen the havoc it wreaks. While Martinez is no one-trick pony, perhaps she does hold the key to pulling in conservative Democrats who are not thrilled with the prospect of voting for the two far-left, wealthy, whitemen running for president. Or for the establishment, Santa Fe swamp rat running for the open US Senate seat from New Mexico. Elisa, and defense of life may be the wedge that gives traditional Hispanic, Catholic, Democrats permission to hold their nose and vote for a Republican or two.

What else is going on here? Pro-abortion Democrats who have become more fervent over the recent years, are panicked that Trump courts, and even more so, the hearts, minds and souls of Americans are challenging the future of abortion in America. Even the reliably progressive Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the Trump Administration may continue to enforce a rule that federal planning funds, such as Planned Parenthood, separate themselves from abortion activities. This is yuuge. And the left knows it.

The party of JFK is gone. It is dead. Now the party of AOC, it is no longer the default party of blue-collar workers, Catholics, families, anti-war voices, fair trade or moderation of any kind.

This is an opportunity. If the state party, pro-life activists, and religious folks come together there is a chance to save untold unborn children in New Mexico. Even the New Mexico Catholic bishops can help if they can take a timeout from their advocacy of no borders, minimum wage, global warming, and lawsuit settlements to truly live the statement that they made at their 2019 USCCB Fall Assembly.

"The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives it destroys."

Do they truly believe this? Its time for them to put up and be counted on the issue of life.

Make no mistake, the culture war has come to the Land of Enchantment.

Louis Biad was born in the area, and lives and works in Las Cruces.

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Pro-life Democrats have a candidate in the GOP - Las Cruces Sun-News

President Trump in an early morning tweet on Monday accused the"Fake News Media" and Democrats of trying to inflame the coronavirus outbreak as thevirus spreads globally and across the U.S.

The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant, Trump tweeted.

Surgeon General, 'The risk is low to the average American, Trump added.

The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, The risk is low to the average American.

Its unclear exactly what prompted Trump's tweet.

Many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have issued calls for putting politics aside as the nation grapples with the outbreak.

More than 500 cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and multiple people have died from the virus, mostly in Washington state.

At least eight states have declared states of emergency due to the outbreak, including Oregon, which announced its state of emergency Sunday after its number of cases doubled to 14.

Trump administration officials sought to ease fearsin a series of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows, but some Democrats have questioned the administrations response.

Despite Trumps claim last week that anyone who needs a test can get one, Sen. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott MurphyCoronavirus takes toll on Capitol Hill Graham warns of 'aggressive' response to Iran-backed rocket attack that killed US troops US paints murky picture of Russian disinformation on coronavirus MORE (D-Conn.) said thats not the case in his state.

Issues over available tests make it difficult to assess the scope of the epidemic, Murphy said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on CNNs State of the Union that the nation is entering a so-called mitigation phase and people should not panic even as more cases appear.

Trump in tweets later Monday praised Vice President Pence and others members of the White House coronavirus task force, saying his decision to restrict travel from virus-stricken nations saved many lives.

Great job being done by the @VP and the CoronaVirus Task Force. Thank you!

The BEST decision made was the toughest of them all - which saved many lives. Our VERY early decision to stop travel to and from certain parts of the world!

"So much FAKE NEWS!" he added in another post.

So much FAKE NEWS!

Updated at 9:27 a.m.

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Trump: 'Fake News Media,' Democrats working to 'inflame the CoronaVirus situation' | TheHill - The Hill