It’s a strange dichotomy within the Democratic ranks. Some Democrats claim that the oil and gas industry hasn’t been regulated in 1,000 or maybe it’s 50 or maybe it’s 30 years. Other Democrats, like former Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper, believe they held the industry accountable. Well, which is it?

Here’s a quote from a Denver Post article earlier today:

“Opponents of a bill that would overhaul how oil and gas are regulated in Colorado charge that the legislation is being rushed through the legislature. Josh Joswick’s reaction: Thirty years isn’t rushing it.”

If you ask the industry, they would say that Hick, for all of his other failings in leadership (see: Nathan Dunlap) was pretty tough on oil and gas in the state. In addition, former Governor Bill Ritter also believes he held the oil and gas industry accountable.

Why doesn’t this new generation of Democratic electeds think either of these so-called leaders were part of any kind of oil and gas reform? What exactly defines reform of oil and gas in Colorado and why do “keep it in the ground” folks get to determine what reform is? And why don’t mainstream (probably now known as “Democrats in Name Only”) Democrats get credit for their regulatory efforts?

We think the media ought to be asking these questions. But it seems that they’re not.

All of this comes to a head because the new Feelin’ the Bern House Democrats are in a hearing tonight about a bill that could radically change – if not destroy – Colorado’s oil and gas industry. Of course, the real tragedy here is that oil and gas workers showed up by the hundreds in defense of their livelihoods and Democrats in the House Committee on Energy and the Environment were so cold-hearted that it won’t cause a single one to change their vote.

Environmentalists are running around like Chicken Little screaming the sky is falling since the Trump administration released its final plan Friday to protect the Greater Sage Grouse.

The horror is not exactly specified, it never is, what’s interesting is that changes on how energy companies operate were actually asked for by Democrat and Republican governors in the affected states.

And, locals have more control.

It’s funny how the greenies shun local control, when what they really wanted was a ban on energy, mining and grazing.

Oregon’s governor even praised the plan for putting more emphasis on active conservation and land management.

Still, Greenies are mad and plan to challenge the land rules in court, because they want all humans and human activities eliminated from public lands designated as possible habitat for the bird across 11 states.

The law signed by Gov. Polis gives presidential voting power to areas in blue.

And just like that, Gov. Polis gave away Coloradans presidential voting power by signing the Popular Vote bill into law.

We are now officially aligned with several undesirable states determined to kill the Electoral College and the fair process our forefathers established to make sure less populated states had the same power as the big, corruptible cities.

NEW: Gov. Jared Polis has signed the national popular vote bill into law — except journalists weren’t invited to witness it https://t.co/akBeUu3ghH #copolitics #coleg

— Jesse Aaron Paul ☀ (@JesseAPaul) March 15, 2019

The game’s not over yet, as this national compact still needs more states totaling 89 Electoral votes to join.

Here’s the breakdown of which states are in:

District of Columbia – 3 electoral votes
Connecticut – 7 electoral votes
Hawaii – 4 electoral votes
Illinois – 20 electoral votes
Maryland – 10 electoral votes
Massachusetts – 11 electoral votes
New Jersey – 14 electoral votes
Washington – 12 electoral votes
Vermont – 3 electoral votes
California – 55 electoral votes
Rhode Island – 4 electoral votes
New York – 29 electoral votes
Colorado — 9 electoral votes

Sharper minds than us are predicting a Supreme Court fight before this crap game gets off the ground.

If it did somehow survive, it means that whichever candidate wins the popular vote that no one yet knows how to count, the states in the compact would award their electoral votes to that candidate.

So, if Colorado votes for candidate A, but candidate B wins the national mythical popular vote, too bad. Your vote goes instead to candidate B.

How about this Democrat-controlled state House, Senate, and governor we’ve got?

Next time you’re in an argument with someone over whether votes matter, shove this in their face.

Democrats are so thrilled with their initial offering to illegal immigrants to get totally legal drivers licenses, the state legislature is expanding those services from just three to 10 DMV offices.

Democrats claim they just want to make roads safer, and those three offices have so far produced more than 60,000 licenses.

We’d just like to pause, and point out that foreign visitors on our soil are already required to be licensed through their visas with an international driving permit before getting behind the wheel.

Unfortunately for Democrats, those legal driving papers don’t automatically sign up non-residents to vote in our elections.

While getting a drivers licenses also comes with the added bonus, thanks to the Motor Voter Act, of automatically signing them up to vote … Democrat.

The cost to taxpayers is $1.7 million.

A dozen Republican U.S. senators voted against President Trump’s national emergency declaration order to fund a southern border wall, handing Democrats a rebuke of the president.

However, the defection appears to fall just short of a victory, as the president has vowed to veto the Democrats’ measure.

Democrats were gleeful over the temporary win and are eagerly anticipating Republicans will turn on each other.

Meanwhile, Gardner is standing firm on his position and his reasoning for voting against the Democrats’ rebuke.

Read my statement below on why I voted against the resolution of disapproval for the national emergency declaration ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Evpp4HkDsK

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) March 14, 2019

It’s mostly liberals who are criticizing Gardner’s vote, like the Denver Post, which now says their endorsement of Gardner for Senate was a mistake. Like they haven’t been looking for an excuse for some time now to say that.

Colorado’s junior Senator Michael Bennet managed to take a break from the Democratic presidential campaign trail to vote against the Republican president.

The real question is, will the vote be a dealbreaker with the voters? Numerous polls show Colorado Republicans support a stronger border. It’s obvious Gardner voted his conscience, and what his supporters expected and demanded.

We think Gardner made the right decision.

John Hickenlooper slapped fellow Colorado Democrat and presidential wannabe Michael Bennet with a spiteful little backhanded compliment while campaigning in Austin, Texas this week.

Bennet is one of his favorite people in the whole wide world, Hickenlooper began by way of explaining why it was okay to slam Bennet for failing to actually accomplish anything in his political career.

Here’s the exact quote dished up by the Washington Free Beacon:

“Michael Bennet is one of my favorite people in the world and I think he is a great senator, much better than I ever would be. And if he wants to get into the presidential race, you know, I’m all for it,” Hickenlooper began.

“Not unlike the other senators, I have a very different history than Michael does. And you know, he has, he is really brilliant at thinking through complex issues, but I don’t think he probably has the same level of experience that I do in terms of bringing teams together and actually, you know, getting stuff done. Really moving things forward.”

Mega meows there, Hick!

Way to shoot down your fellow Democrat and homeboy before he even declares for the race.

It would’ve been helpful if Hick clued us all in to Bennet’s failings before he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Is there something we should know about Bennet’s work as chief of staff when Hick was mayor of Denver?

Suppose we’ll have to wait for Bennet to actually declare for the race before Hick lowers the big boom.

Yesterday, when all non-essential government offices in Denver were shuttered because of the worst blizzard in years, Democrats in the legislature pressed forward with debate on their family medical leave bill, one of the most expensive pieces of legislation for both employers and employees in recent memory.  The State Senate also voted on SB-181, perhaps the most controversial and economically damaging piece of legislation put forth during the session (although we’re only halfway there).

When it became clear that roads were impassible, Democrats put out word that if you were scheduled to testify and didn’t want to come in/were stranded alongside the highway/or worse, to email your testimony and someone would read it on your behalf.  That was a lie as well.  Instead of reading the emailed testimony, they simply read the sender’s name and announced whether they were for or against the bill.

At least they did not have five computers reading these things simultaneously at 650 words per minute.

To make matters worse, when pressed about why he held session on such a uniquely dangerous day, Senate President Leroy Garcia admitted that he had a political motivation to drive on with the agenda.

So Garcia risked the well-being of low-paid legislative staff so he could ram through unpopular legislation knowing that there would be minimal public opposition.  Every first responder agency in the metro area was pleading with people to stay home.  Hundreds of motorists were stranded in blizzard conditions.

But Garcia kept the State Senate in session for political reasons, willfully putting workers and citizens wishing to testify in harm’s way. We assume he did not drive back to Pueblo last night. You’re quite the hero, Marine.

Democrats are saying at every opportunity that they are not ramming legislation through the system, and that they are being open and transparent about the political process.  They sure have us fooled….

Democrats have now shown their hand, and it’s on video, and it’s a straight flush.  SB-181 will be a tool to effectively ban energy development in key Colorado municipalities.

Democratic former State Representative Joe Salazar, broadcasting a webcast Q&A from somewhere in the State Capitol complex, foolishly revealed the intent of SB-181, and it was just as many expected, a license for municipalities to effectively ban oil and gas development within their jurisdictions. Don’t worry, actual elected officials swear up and down that This. Is. Not. A. Ban. Except that it is.

Speaking to anyone bored enough to tune in, Salazar explained that there is nothing in the bill that says municipalities can or cannot ban, but it does allow towns to “adopt regulations that are extremely stringent that have to be rationally related to the protection of health, safety, and the environment, that might serve as an effective ban.”

Salazar went on to say “there are many tools in here [the bill] that could result in that [a ban].”

One of the women working for Salazar in the video then shows a video clip on her personal cell phone of a third party discussing the bill.  That person describes it as having “some useful elements that may have some stealth qualities to them once this is passed.”

Watch for yourselves, PeakNation™:

So there you have it.  In case anyone wasn’t sure, SB-181 is a “stealth” law designed to accomplish what voters rejected in 2018, a ban on oil and gas development across key areas of the state.

Democrat state Senators failed spectacularly in their attempt to subvert thoughtful and deliberate governing by hauling computers to the floor to read a bill at speeds faster than the human ear can comprehend — 650 words a minute.

This is how Colorado Public Radio tried to explain away what Republicans aptly describe as an attempt to run roughshod over the state’s Constitution.

Eventually, Democrats transferred the reading of the bill from human staff to a bank of computers set to run several times faster than normal human speech. Senate rules do not say anything explicitly about whether a bill reading must be understandable.

Take a listen to this perverse stunt:

So far at #coleg today…

1) Senate Rs demand a 2000-page bill be read at length in order to slow down the D majority.
2) Ds respond by having ***five computers*** read it, cutting the time needed from days to hours.

Here’s how that sounds. Brace yourself. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/7vWb5SDOG9

— Sam Brasch (@samuelbrasch) March 11, 2019

State Senate Republicans say they are trying to slow down the rapid-fire pace at which Democrats are pushing through legislation this session, to give members have time to digest and determine the merits.

The bill they tried to speed read was not controversial, however it numbered more than 2,000 pages.

Garcia maintains that Democrats’ bills are receiving plenty of fair hearings. But if this is an example of a how they’re doing business, Colorado is in worse shape under Democrat control than we thought.

Well that didn’t take long.  Just months after leaving office, Democratic former State Representative Joe Salazar has drawn a Colorado Open Records Request for possibly violating lobbyist rules by influence peddling at the State Capitol.  And this guy wanted to be elected Colorado Attorney General.

One of the most despised aspects of the American political system is the nasty revolving door habit of former lawmakers turning around and selling influence based on the position of public trust that they held.  To counteract this, Colorado lawmakers are prohibited from lobbying activities, or supervising lobbying activities, at the State Capitol for two years after leaving office,

In response to Salazar’s actions, which appear to be  coordinating lobbying efforts in support of SB 181, the Democrats’ overhaul of Colorado’s energy regulations mauling of the energy industry, Colorado Rising Action submitted a public records request to see if Salazar is indeed in violation of Amendment 41 of the state constitution – the “revolving door” prohibition.

Salazar has not registered as a lobbyist, but he supervises lobbyists in his capacity as executive director of Colorado Rising for Health and Safety (which has its own registered lobbyist).  There is a YouTube video of Salazar shamelessly lobbying in favor of SB-181.  It appears that he is actually in a state capitol conference room, which makes one wonder if that’s even legal?

To give you just one idea of why this is revolving door activity is so distasteful, and must be prevented, Salazar idiotically tells viewers to call “Mikey” to support the bill.  Then he clarifies himself, saying, “I’m sorry, Mike Foote, Senator Mike Foote.  I call him Mikey. He’s my homeboy.”  Salazar should not be collecting a paycheck to pressure his “homeboy,” who we assume became his “homeboy” through Salazar’s service in the legislature.  He goes on to look straight into the camera and forcefully tells people to contact specific Democratic senators to “make sure they stay solid on this bill.” Just watch:

He is accompanied by two unidentified women supporting his broadcast.  One announced that “we will give you a list of senators that we have to put extra pressure on right now.”  Salazar immediately affirmed her statement.  Are either of these women registered lobbyists that he supervises?  They certainly look like they are working for him in this video. Stay tuned, PeakNation™.