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SECURE: Russian Hackers Never Breached Colorado Systems

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According to a new report by the Associated Press, Russian hackers tried – and failed – to  breach the Colorado election system along with several other systems in Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. According to a spokesman from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, the breach was not actually a breach and did not impact electoral outcomes. Here’s the full story from Trevor Timmons, Colorado Secretary of State’s office:

“It’s really reconnaissance by a bad guy to try and figure out how we would break into your computer. It’s not an attack. I wouldn’t call it a probe. It’s not a breach, it’s not a penetration.”

Before liberals get all sorts of squirrely and claim that the fact that Clinton won Colorado, which wasn’t fully breached, is evidence that Russian hackers preferred Trump, please note that the only attack that was considered a full breach was in Illinois, which also went for Clinton.

Kudos to Colorado for resisting hackers.

 

TAX TWEAK: It Can Wait Two Months, Special Session’s A Waste Of Time

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Sen. Kevin Grantham

There is no pressing need for Gov. Hickenlooper to call a special session on Oct. 2 to tweak some language in a marijuana tax law.

That’s the message from state Senate President Kevin Grantham to Gov. Hickenlooper when Balance of Power airs Sunday morning on 9NEWS.

It’s barely caused a hiccup in financing for special districts in collecting sales taxes on marijuana sales — one half of percent of the RTD budget.

That’s not exactly an emergency to inconvenience 100 members of the legislature to reconvene, costing taxpayers nearly $100,000.

Especially when the problem can wait another two months to fix it when the legislative session convenes in January.

He also threw a bit of fire at Hickenlooper, arguing that the governor did not engage enough with Republican lawmakers before calling the special session.

“He is taking a lot of time out of his schedule to work in this bipartisan fashion with a Republican governor from Ohio,” Grantham said. “But he doesn’t seem to be able to do the same here in Colorado, so maybe a little bit more focus here would have been warranted.”

Hick signaled he’s willing to reconsider his decision after talking with Grantham about his concerns.

PHONY PAC PLEDGE? This Would Explain Polis’s No PAC Money Promise

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Jared Polis wants voters to know he will not be “accepting” money from political action committees in his campaign for governor.

We found this at the bottom of a story announcing that the Colorado State Conference of Electrical Workers had endorsed Polis.

(Editor’s note: This story was updated to include that Polis won’t accept money from political action committees.)

Judging by his fundraising history running for the 2nd Congressional District, this won’t be much of a sacrifice.

The campaign financing watchdog, opensecrets.org, reports that PACS haven’t offered much support since Polis was first elected in 2008. He’s always had to contribute most of his money to get elected each cycle.

Here’s the breakdown:

2008: $7.3 million raised, $5.9 million from his own wallet, $24,250 from PACS.
2010: $1.2 million raised, $835,000 from his own wallet, $2,000 from PACS
2012: $1.1 million raised, $385,000 from his own wallet, $1,000 from PACS
2014: $1.1 million raised, $438,000 from his own wallet, $1,000 from PACS
2016: $1.3 million raised, $480,000 from his own wallet, zero from PACS

 

CONFIRMATION HEARING: Bennet Undecided on Gorsuch’s Replacement, MIA

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The confirmation hearing for Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid to replace Neil Gorsuch on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit was held Wednesday.
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was by her side, introducing her to the Judiciary Committee that will decide whether her nomination advances to the full Senate.

While Gardner was singing her praises, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet was once again Missing in Action to support a Colorado nominee.

An aide to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, said he is undecided and would review “Justice Eid’s record and testimony from her hearing before making a decision.”

Sound familiar? It’s the same stunt Bennet pulled on Gorsuch, refusing to state his support until the very last second to avoid bad publicity and pressure from his constituents.

Beltway liberal groups are already pushing Bennet to oppose her, with the flimsiest excuse we’re ever heard: the court’s caseload is so light, Gorsuch’s seat doesn’t need to be filled.

Meanwhile, Gardner told the committee there is no doubt that Justice Eid is superbly qualified for the position.

Justice Eid has been called a “mainstream, commonsense Westerner.”  She is also, as her former law clerks have noted, “fiercely independent” and she will decide cases “as she believes the law requires.”  At the same time, she seeks out different viewpoints and wants to understand all sides of each issue she addresses.

Bennet needs to stop hiding from the confirmation process that advance Coloradans to the higher calling of serving their country. It’s shameful.

WHERE’S PERLMUTTER? He Hasn’t Held a Public Town Hall in Nearly a Decade

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Democrats will need to activate a life size cardboard cutout photo of U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter soon if, as he’s dragging way behind the delegation when it comes to days gone by that he hasn’t held a town hall meeting in public.

According to this website tracking town halls, it’s been more than 3,400 days since Perlmutter made his last public appearance to take questions from constituents in the town hall forum.

That’s 9 years. Perlmutter is more fond of the telephone town halls, which Democrats gripe about when Republicans hold. So following his own party’s logic, those don’t count. Apparently, neither do his “government in the grocery” meetings.

It’s been so long since we’ve actually seen Perlmutter in public, we’ve forgotten what he looks like, and have only his photogrpahs to remind us.

THINK HARD: Democrats Unwise to Want to Repeal TABOR

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Hang on one second, Democrats. Over the past week, Democrats across Colorado have all taken turns railing against TABOR, also known as the taxpayer bill of rights. It is the reason, they pout, that Colorado can’t do anything. Read: spend money recklessly.

But, is repealing TABOR a bad idea for liberals? We think so. Hear us out.

We assert that Democratic politicians have been getting a free ride (typical) thanks to TABOR when it comes to their drunken sailor spending ways.  Because a key component of TABOR requires politicians to get taxpayer permission in order to raise taxes, Democrats never have to really face the music for their unwise spending decisions. They just shrug, grandstand, and blame TABOR.

Imagine an electoral world in which Democrats had to vote to raise taxes…and, then, answer for it. Republican candidates could actually hold Democrats accountable for bad spending, like Medicaid expansion, in a way that is actually meaningful to voters.

It is far different to say State Rep. So-and-So voted to raise taxes by a billion dollars rather than saying Rep. So-and-So voted to ask voters to raise their own taxes to cover So-and-So’s spending. In many ways TABOR takes taxation, Democrats’ Achilles heel, off the table and removes their responsibility. Without TABOR, we predict that there would be fewer Democratic electeds.

Don’t get us wrong, we love TABOR because, ultimately, it keeps our taxes low, but it sure would be nice to hold Democrats clearly accountable for their unwise spending.

Think about it, Democrats.

MAD POOPER: Get Her a Job at the EPA!

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The world is abuzz with news about Colorado Springs’ hometown zero, the Mad Pooper, a female jogger who will not stop pooping in one family’s yard. From the Denver Post to USAToday to BBC, Colorado is now no longer known for its consumption of illegal (in some places) products, but the elimination of everything. How embarrassing both for this woman (who must be mentally ill – right?) and for the state as a whole. Colorado Springs Police Sergeant Johnathan Skarketti said:

“It’s abnormal, it’s not something I’ve seen in my career. For someone to repeatedly do such a thing…it’s uncharted territory for me.”

But not for Colorado. This isn’t the first time Colorado is been known for its inappropriate bodily functions. If you recall, PeakNation™, the Denver Environmental Protection Administration also had a Mad Pooper that was so contaminating the work environment that the management had to send a memo reminding people to poop in the toilets.

Does anyone know who this woman is? Can you get her a job at the EPA? Does she already have a job at the EPA? Does she think in this era of social media that she will remain anonymous forever?  Others have come forward to say that they have seen her do her business in front of a Walgreens and in other people’s backyards. Someone must know who she is….

OFF THE RAILS: Denver Hilariously Hosts Rail Conference Amid Continuing Issues with Light Rail

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We literally laughed out loud when we saw that Denver was hosting the Rail-Volution Conference where attendees can “learn to effectively promote, plan, and implement transit development projects.” We caution the conference attendees – do not learn from our light rail system, which has been quagmired by technical issues and funding (where’s that line to Longmont, again?) issues.

While a Denver Post editorial encourages readers to look at the larger picture of RTD’s successes, it acknowledges that light rail has not been an overwhelming success. Here is the Post’s parting shot:

“We hope RTD, community and state leaders come away from Rail-Volution with a plan to ensure the FasTracks system becomes a self-sustaining operation that carries its own weight both financially and in helping the regions transportation nightmare.

“The infrastructure is here, taxpayers are invested, and now all that’s needed is a flood of riders willing to pay a premium for the service.”

We can’t decide if the writer was being ironic or literally thinks there might be riders, other than little kids, who might pay a premium to ride on a train. If serious, it’s worth reading Reason’s “Myths of Light Rail Transit” that debunks many of the claims that supporters of light rail make. Here are just a few busted myths:

  • Light rail will not decongest roads, it simply takes riders from buses (which in another myth bust are actually more efficient than light rail)
  • Light rail is not more cost effective than buses (which, by the way, are regularly empty in Denver)
  • Light rail imposes heavy costs on low-income people (a fact that the Post rightly pointed out)

Light rail might look shiny and exciting and, perhaps, government officials equate the arrival of light rail with the “arrival” of Denver as a “real” city, but light rail has been a disappointment to many in Colorado.

REVISING HISTORY: Bennet Bill Shifts Blame on Gold King Disaster

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U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is very incorrectly using the Gold King Mine disaster as an excuse to push a mining bill through Congress.

The goal is to avert such a disaster, the rhetoric goes, a disaster caused an EPA contractor.
Extra emphasis on the word contractor.

As everyone including Democrats and even the EPA know, the disaster was caused by the EPA itself. The mine did not cause it.

The legislation would prevent further disasters by requiring gold, silver, copper and other hard rock mining operations to pay the government royalties.

That’s how environmental disasters caused by the EPA are prevented, we are led to believe by Bennet and the other bill sponsors that including Democratic Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

The bill “helps ensure that taxpayers aren’t on the hook for cleaning up abandoned mines, and seeks to prevent another toxic spill like the Gold King Mine disaster of 2015,” the senators said.

It sounds like the Democrats spent more time revising history than they did crafting the actual law.

NOT SO FAST: Governor Hickenlooper Doesn’t Have Special Session Support He Claims

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If you read Governor Hickenlooper’s proclamation about his special session to fix SB17-267, you would think that the entire legislature, including the bill’s sponsors, were behind the move. You would be wrong. Here is a section of the Governor’s proclamation:

“We have had extensive conversations with Senate Bill 17-267 sponsors, interested stakeholders, and General Assembly leadership to identify how to minimize harms to impacted special districts, other limited purpose governmental entities and their constituents; and achieve greater clarity and efficiency in the State’s tax code. A special session is the most expedient way to advance those interests.”

Here is what one of the sponsors of the bill said about the Governor’s decision to call a special session:

“This is not the way government should work in Colorado. Calling a special session without an understanding of the game plan, or proper consultation with the legislators involved, is an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars.”

According to Senate leadership, they were not consulted until after a special session had been called. In fact, most Republican legislators currently claim that the fix would be a tax increase and would need to go to a vote of the people. It’s obviously too late this year, so 2018 would be the earliest.

It looks like those bike lanes might come in handy after all, if the buses stop running, that is.