SUPER PARTISAN MARIO STRIKES AGAIN: “Unaffiliated” Chairman Of Reapportionment Commission Donates To Only State Dems In 2012

Published on November 15, 2012 by

The supposed “Unaffiliated” Chairman of the Reapportionment Commission, Mario Carrera, donated only to state-level Democrats in 2012, a review by Colorado Peak Politics has found.

The Reapportionment Commission was responsible for re-drawing all 65 State House districts and 35 State Senate districts based on population changes identified in the US Census. Carrera was appointed to the Commission as a supposed “Unaffiliated” member, but what became clear in the process was that Carrera was only unaffiliated on paper. In reality, he was a hyper-partisan Democrat who did their bidding in pushing through maps that redrew districts to protect Democrats and imperil Republicans.

In 2012, Carrera gave the maximum contribution of $400 to two Democrat candidates for the State Legislature in districts he himself helped create: Angela Williams and Jesse Ulibarri. How independent of him.

continue…

 

BIPARTISAN BS? “Republican” Stars Of Perlmutter’s New Ad Only Donate To Democrats

Published on September 11, 2012 by

9/20 UPDATE: It was brought to our attention yesterday that Deanne Stodden gave $250 to Republican Cory Gardner in 2009. When we did a fuller check of her federal candidate donations, we also turned up a maximum donation of $2300 to Democrat Joan Fitz-Gerald, bringing Stodden’s total donations to $4300 for Democrats and $250 to a single Republican in an  easy race. Yes, a typical Republican if we’ve ever met one.

UPDATE: A reader provides an incisive bit of context.  “Wow.  She gave to Ritter in ’09?  By that point Democrats weren’t even supporting him.  They must be Democrats who forgot to change their registration.”

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Ed Perlmutter released his first campaign ad yesterday, using two “Republicans” — Chad and Deanne Stodden — who support him because he did his job as a Congressman, helping line up a passport for a military wife. The problem is a review of these “Republicans” donation records reveal them to be anything but.

According to the Secretary of State’s website, Deanne Stodden has made three donations to Colorado candidates — all Democrats. She donated $500 to Bill Ritter in 2009 and a total of $1500 to Tom Mowle in two donations in 2010, who was a Democrat public trustee candidate  Clerk and Recorder candidate in Colorado Springs, while also serving as the El Paso Public Trustee. Not a single donation to a Republican.

It makes sense why Deanne would donate to a public trustee, as she happens to be a managing partner at Castle Stawiarski, a law firm The Denver Post reports ”dominates the foreclosure business in Colorado.” Public trustees are in charge of managing the foreclosure process and The Denver Post has reported on the shady financial connections between public trustees and Castle Stawiarski.

The firm also happens to be the third largest donor to Perlmutter’s entire Congressional career, giving almost $100,000 to his campaigns since 2006, according to OpenSecrets.org.

We’re not saying Perlmutter wouldn’t have helped another military wife, but maybe he returned the call just a bit quicker to a managing partner at one of his biggest donor companies in Colorado?

Deanne’s husband, Chad, also has a history of political donations — to a Democrat and a union. Secretary of State records reveal that in 2004, Chad donated to Peter Mazula, a Democrat running for State House. Then in 2006 he donated to “Citizens for Fire Safety” — a union group. Not a penny to a Republican.

None of this is meant to diminish the great service and sacrifice of Chad Stodden, or his wife Deanne. They have given much to this country. What is true, however, is that these fine folks can scarcely claim to be the kind of people who are loathe to cross party lines to support big government liberals — like Ed Perlmutter. In truth, they have no record of supporting anyone other than liberals, party registration notwithstanding.

Is Perlmutter so hard up to find Republican supporters that the only people he can feature are a managing partner at one of his top donor companies and their spouse? Is it fair to call them Republicans if they’ve only ever donated to Democrats?

It’s become a common tactic this cycle for Democrats to claim the support of “Republicans” in their campaign ads. Barack Obama did it with two Colorado women who turned out to not have been registered as Republicans and whose Facebook pages were chock full of liberal leanings.

Maybe before the press dutifully reports on this bipartisan BS they should check the facts. Republicans these folks are not.

 

DANCE WITH THE ONE WHO BRUNG YA: AFL-CIO To Pull Funding From Political Campaigns

Published on June 14, 2012 by

Following the Wisconsin union smackdown the AFL-CIO has announced its decision to shift funding from political candidates to bolstering its own infrastructure and advocacy. Probably wise, as critics are calling the failed recall a death knell for unions.  

AFL-CIO spokesman Josh Goldstein was very careful in his initial conversation with Washington Whispers to emphasize that the decision is not an indictment of Obama’s failed leadership in the Wisconsin recall. Which, of course, means that it is.  

While there were "a lot of different opinions" about whether Obama should have gone to Wisconsin, according to Goldstein, "this is not a slight at the president."  

Contrast Goldstein’s comments with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s in May: “Trumka threatened to reduce support for the Democratic party and launch ‘an independent labor movement’ if Democrats didn't more fully support the union agenda.”  

We’re not sure how much more pro-union Democrats could be, particularly in Colorado, where union “Get Out the Vote” efforts have been largely spearheaded by union-backed organizations.

According to FollowtheMoney.org, unions have given a total of $5.1 million to Colorado State House and Senate candidate since 1996. The public sector unions alone have given nearly $2.75 million to the same races. Frighteningly, these numbers don’t even calculate money to statewide candidates, statewide ballot initiatives, gubernatorial candidates, or independent expenditure committees (e.g., 527s or SuperPACs).

After the fallout from Goldstein’s statement, he sought to clarify the method behind their madness, saying:

"Some candidates will get more, some less, some the same — but overall we'll be focused more on spending resources to build our own structure [that] works for working people instead of others' own structures."

We wonder which legislative candidates still will receive union “Thank You” money in Colorado. Union donations should be a good barometer of how large of a drain on the system each candidate either has been or promises to be. Stay tuned…..


 

COLORADANS TO OBAMA: We’re Just Not That Into You Anymore

Published on June 12, 2012 by

A report by Buzzfeed this morning found that Colorado is among the top states in the nation where donations to Obama's campaign have drastically dropped since 2008. It seems Colorado Democrats just aren't that into Obama anymore.

Reports Buzzfeed:

As Mitt Romney's campaign fundraising gathers steam, boosted by huge contributions to allied groups, President Barack Obama is unexpectedly struggling to keep pace — and he may be having the hardest time in the mountainous west, where moderate Democrats have made deep inroads in recent years.  

As BuzzFeed reported last week, 88% of donors who gave $200 or more to Obama in 2008 have yet to give that amount to his campaign this cycle.  

A deeper analysis of campaign finance data shows that the west has seen an especially high level of drop off in Obama donors. Oregon topped the list with a 91% decrease in donors giving at least $200—the amount required for contributions to be individually reported—and Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho were close behind. [Peak emphasis]

Those are some striking statistics. Buzzfeed even has a county-by-county breakdown of the liberal love lost:

The darkness of the shading represents the degree of donation drop-off. Looking at the pivotal Denver metro area, it's looking pretty grim. Particularly interesting is the degree of drop-off in the swingiest of swing counties — Jefferson and Arapahoe. If you can't win JeffCo, you can't win Colorado. 

At this point in the campaign, people vote with their wallets. By that measure, Obama is losing in a landslide. 

(Photo Credit: Buzzfeed)


 

GRASSROOTS ASSAULT: Compass Colorado Launches Calls Urging Udall To Return Corrupt Corzine Cash

Published on January 3, 2012 by

With all major Colorado media still refusing to report on the nearly $5,000 in corrupt campaign cash Senator Mark Udall has taken from disgraced investment banker and former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Compass Colorado is launching a grassroots campaign to get Coloradans to call Udall and demand he return the money.

“The fact that Mark Udall has not returned Jon Corzine’s campaign donations shows his wavering commitment to reining in Wall Street corruption,” said Tyler Q. Houlton, president of Compass Colorado. “Udall has refused to follow the lead of his Washington allies and must be held accountable for his unethical actions.”

While The Denver Post reprinted a wire article about President Obama and the Democrat National Committee returning $70,000 in Corzine cash, the state's flagship newspaper has yet to do any of their own reporting on the subject.

That's utterly baffling to us since it's the job of the state's newspapers to report on the Colorado connection of national news stories like Corzine's loss of over $1.2 billion customer's money. 

With the mainstream media delinquent in their duties, conservatives are going around their filter to get their message directly to Coloradans. 

(Photo Credit: Elections Meter)


 
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