Author Archives: ColoradoPeakPolitics

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette doesn’t have time to talk to reporters about her campaign challenge from former state House Speaker Crisanta Duran. She’s too busy congresswomaning and all.

But her spokeswoman is gloating and more than happy to talk about the campaign and DeGette’s most recent fundraising numbers, which pretty much doubles what Duran collected in the firstish quarter.

“In the past three months, Congresswoman DeGette has been working to reduce insulin prices, fight President Trump’s family separation policy, and hold the EPA accountable,”  Jennie Peek-Dunstone said in the statement. “At the same time, her campaign raised almost $140,000. Congresswoman DeGette’s focus is on doing the work she was elected to do.”

The work of raising campaign donations, it looks like.

Duran’s campaign says she raised about $70,000 in the first quarter, about half of what DeGette collected.

Meanwhile over in the 6th District, Congressman Jason Crow is bragging he raised nearly a half million, although his FEC filing is not public yet.

In all fairness, though, Duran announced her candidacy the last week of February, so she reported just over one month of fundraising as opposed to DeGette’s three months of work.

So, DeGette’s supporters shouldn’t get too excited until we’ve seen what the two candidates can raise on equal footing.

Well, almost equal. Duran has pledged not to take corporate PAC money, while DeGette is still raking it in — $58,500 this quarter.

To see some of the big ticket donors contributing to Duran and DeGette, check out this Denverite story.

Liberals running amok in the state legislature found another way to raid our wallets for dubious services — they’ve created special taxing districts like for fire and police, only this time it’s for stuff to be decided later that affects, you know, the children.

The “Early Childhood Development Special District” bill swept through the legislature within weeks, and has already been signed by Gov. Polis into law.

Here’s how it taxes:

The bill authorizes the creation of early childhood development service districts (districts) to provide services for children from birth through 8 years of age. Early childhood development services are defined to include early care and educational, health, mental health, and developmental services, including prevention and intervention.

It doesn’t explain how or why we need to intervene with infants, or what we’re preventing, except for our own discretionary spending for the money we earn.

Are the taxpayers now responsible for parenting? Is the state going to snatch children from birth for early socializing and government rearing?

Special tax districts are intended for areas in short need of funding, for example, police services that everyone uses, building new fire stations that benefit everyone, funding libraries free for us all.

How are localities going to define a special tax district that just includes children up to eight years of age?

Karl Honegger with the Colorado Union of Taxpayers says there are no other district like this in the U.S., and he along with Marty Neilson are already organizing a — you guessed it — recall.

The Secretary of State’s office approved the referendum petition last week for the fall election. They need 124,000 signatures.

Those interested in helping the cause can contract them at [email protected]

Second-tier Democrat presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren pow-wowed with 1,500 supporters, fans, and curiosity seekers in the Hangar at Stanley Marketplace last night with promises of confiscatory taxes, a “commitment to prosecute giant corporations and their leaders,” and policy decisions driven by her personal belief in climate change.  She also repeatedly referred to the venue as Denver, when she was clearly in Aurora.  Not a small mistake, as Aurora has more than 300,000 residents and is the 54th most populous city in America.

Of course, Warren has never been known for her honesty or attention to detail, as the most commonly-known fact about the candidate is that she spent a career lying about having American Indian heritage to gain favorable employment treatment throughout her legal and academic careers.

Last night’s applause lines included the obligatory “Medicare for all” scheme buttressed with the nonsensical lie that it would provide healthcare for everyone at the lowest cost.  Recycling, Amazon’s effective tax rate, and replacing Cory Gardner in the Senate next year were also crowd pleasers – not exactly the kind of inspirational stuff that captures the imagination of American voters and propels candidates to the White House.

But let’s not kid ourselves here – no one really expects Warren to win the nomination for president. That honor will most likely go to the truly inspirational Democrat frontrunners: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Warren’s Colorado stop comes around the same time as the state was visited by two other contenders, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Colorado’s own John Hickenlooper.

In an Emerson poll released yesterday, Warren registered seven percent support in a national sampling of Democrat primary voters.  Hickenlooper and Klobuchar both polled less than one percent. Womp womp.

Democrat and former Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran, who is running against Congresswoman Diana DeGette, but cannot articulate any policy differences between the two, bragged about raising $70,000 from donors in the first month of her campaign for Congress.  After paying for campaign compliance and administrative fees, that might buy her a box of yard signs and two direct mail pieces in the heavily-Democratic CD-1 primary.

Reading a statement off of her phone while spending some quality with the dog she adopted, Duran proclaimed to her Twitter audience that she will win this election “with the power of people” which is defined by her as “lifting up the voices and values of all communities in the district.” It was a bad look for Duran, who must be second guessing her strategy of challenging an experienced, popular (among Democrats), and well-funded member of Congress when for the first time in recent memory there is a U.S. Senate seat in play without a Democrat incumbent. (Although, in her defense, there are about 27 candidates lined up.)

And, given the men who have announced for the Democrat Senate primary, Duran would have had a much easier time differentiating herself from that field than from Diana DeGette.  We’re not sure what exactly she was thinking, but Duran needs to be all in for this Congressional election – a switch to the Senate side would be perceived as the worst type of political opportunism, not that such considerations have stopped Democrats in the past.

Duran has only been out of office for a few months, but she could not resist running for another seat right away.  Politics is a long game, a marathon, and Duran’s quixotic run for U.S. Congress right now is like an amateur marathoner running the first mile in five minutes: hasty, ill-advised, unserious, and a near certain path to failure.  This will undoubtedly (further) diminish her brand for years to come (after the Lebsock debacle), and burn bridges with people who would have gladly supported her for a U.S. Senate run this year, or a Congressional contest once DeGette exits the stage.  Things look better for Alec Garnett in this district every day.

Finally, a pro tip for Duran and any other candidate with a phone and the urge to create video selfies: if you are going to try the impromptu-self-made-campaign-video-clip-in-the-park, at least speak from the heart and not read five paragraphs of prepared text.  If you can’t fill thirty seconds of air time with original thought, you probably shouldn’t be on this stage.

Today, liberal Gov. Jared Polis signed SB19-181, a law that liberals claim is the most comprehensive law in 50 years (or something) regulating oil and gas. On hand for the signing appeared to be Polis’ biggest fans, including Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera and Senate President Steve Fenberg. Those not fans of the oil and gas legislation? Families who depend on oil and gas for their jobs, elected officials in Weld County, and the trade associations.

While the Twitter trolls claim it’s because oil and gas can “no longer write its regulations” which is laughable, the truth is that it’s because this bill is really harmful to oil and gas. Here are just a few of the statements from the real stakeholders in this process.

Dan Haley, Colorado Oil and Gas Association:

“While we appreciated and supported a few critical amendments that were added to address some of our concerns and that provide a degree of certainty for our member companies, we still oppose the legislation.”

Ben Marter, Colorado Petroleum Council:

“Governor Polis’ signature makes Senate Bill 181 law, which fundamentally alters the natural gas and oil industry’s future in the State of Colorado. From the introduction of the measure early last month, our industry vigorously opposed the policy and the process. Senate Bill 181 remains a threat to one of the foundations of Colorado’s economy.”

Weld County Board of Commissioners:

“We know the value of the oil and gas industry, even if others in this state don’t. We appreciate the hard work the men and women, employed by the industry do day-in and day-out to make sure we have heat and light in our homes, as well as fuel to power our cars, trucks and tractors. We value the revenue the industry provides to its families, enabling them to enjoy financial stability. We understand the importance of small businesses that support those families and thereby support the industry. We know the significance of the tax revenue generated by the industry to our education system and our fire, water and recreation districts. We appreciate the national security this country enjoys because of locally produced oil and gas.”

Energy workers:

Families in my church who work in energy industry are sending out prayer requests as they look for new jobs out of the state. #SB181 is a horrible, job-killing, recession-inducing bill. Very sad day for Colorado!@kcbecker @jaredpolis @SteveFenberg#copolitics #coleg #cogov

— jeffhunt (@jeffhunt) April 17, 2019

Call it cosmic karma, Gov. Polis was called for jury duty, on tax day.

And the governor looks none too thrilled to be fulfilling his civic duty at the justice center in Boulder County.

Today I’m on jury duty #winninglotteryticket so TAG @LtGov4CO you’re it! pic.twitter.com/0CoONJxGDd

— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) April 15, 2019

Of course he’s just feeling cute, but it’s still a sitting governor mocking jury duty, which most of us still take seriously.

We seriously doubt Polis will actually serve on jury duty. The only duty’s he’s on is selfie, photo op for his twits on Twitter. 

But one can always hope he’ll be chosen and kept tucked away deliberating some complex case until the legislative session is over, to prevent him from signing any more tax increases and laws that infringe on our constitutional rights.

That would be the ultimate Tax Day karma.

Today on Kyle Clark’s political broadcast Next, Dan Baer officially announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate in 2020.  If you do not know who Dan Baer is, we cannot blame you – we cannot find any evidence of this guy actually living in Colorado as an adult until 2017 – the same year he decided to run for Congress.

Baer ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, briefly, and hauled in more than $300,000 in donations before he quit the race after Congressman Ed Perlmutter declared his bid for re-election to the 7th Congressional District after a short-lived campaign for governor.  A vast majority of these contributions came from outside Colorado.

While other contenders quickly withdrew their candidacy in deference to the state’s most popular Democratic politician, Baer took weeks before ultimately deciding to quit the race – apparently unaware of the political landscape that he thrust himself into.

Another interesting fact from Baer’s foolish Congressional run is that even after quitting the race, he did not have the decency to refund the donations that he collected.  Instead, he kept most of that cash in the bank, with the “Dan for Colorado” committee reporting almost $250,000 cash on hand at the end of 2018.  What was he holding onto all this money for?  Of course, his next opportunistic political endeavor.

Baer is no stranger to politics, serving as Obama’s Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (whatever that is), as well as about eight months as an appointee in the Hickenlooper administration.  He valued that Colorado state job so much that he declared his run for federal office less than three months after his appointment.  Real serious guy.

Baer also held an assortment academic positions as a student and instructor – all at pretty impressive institutions.  Funny thing is that Ivy League thing doesn’t play in Colorado like it does inside the Beltway – someone may want to clue him in on that one as well.

Baer joins a field of two moderately successful Democrat politicians, Andrew Romanoff and Michael Johnston, and will have an exceedingly difficult time carving out a following in a Democrat primary against this pair, both of whom have banked many years doing the hard work of building relationships with the people who matter the most in these sorts of things – Democratic donors.

This could well be the greatest poker hand of all time.

Self-righteous liberals are spinning themselves into a tizzy after President Trump volunteered Democrats and sanctuary cities that insist on open borders to take care of all those illegal aliens clamoring to cross our southern border.

With his poker face tightly fixed, the president played the trump card to beat all trump cards — a big ole bus ticket from the crowded, dusty border to a fabulous sanctuary city to get the party started.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is still holding onto his cards, but his hands were trembling mightily, as he declared that every city, must, uhm, welcome those who would come.

And, Hancock said, he will treat them as “human beings,” not “political pawns” like Trump, who would so brutally just open the border and give them all-expense-paid trips to beautiful downtown Denver without so much as a ski-lift pass for a weekend getaway.

Leading the outrage for Democrats on Capitol Hill is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose hometown of San Francisco prides itself on being a sanctuary beacon for illegal immigrants.

Or at least, it did. Appears now the golden gates have closed.

Pelosi’s spokesflack said the idea of just letting illegal immigrants into sanctuary cities willy nilly is a cruel and warped game being played by Trump to perpetuate fear.

Yes, San Francisco is terrifying, and it’s good of her own people to finally admit it.

Democrats have no intention of folding to Trump’s call. Indeed, they have upped the ante and are demanding the White House release any and all such documents hinting at such a policy or action, which they call deeply troubling.

As if, liberals sniff.

When they declared themselves sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants, it’s not like they actually meant it.

Naysayers are thumbing their noses at the anger boiling over among Republicans and some independents who are organizing recall efforts against Gov. Polis, Democratic lawmakers for the Red Flag Law, and repealing the Popular Vote Law.

Granted, the efforts will require a ton of money and organization to pull off any one of them, but one thing’s for damn certain — recalls are uniting the GOP like never before.

They’re fed up, they’re angry, and they are organizing against the Democratic Powers that Be now controlling our state and laws.

They’re recruiting their independent friends who are also frustrated with what they’ve seen so far, and while we don’t expect to see many, if any Democrats rallying to recall Polis, their enthusiasm is diminishing with each new tax proposed.

The first official Recall Polis office opened Saturday at 410 Main Street in Longmont. Juli-Andra Fuentes told Complete Colorado they have 35,000 Facebook followers and 150 active volunteers across the state.

Polis would be the first Gov. in Colorado to face a recall if the attempt is successful. To make it onto the ballot the group needs signatures from more than 600,000 registered voters, and they will have just 60 days to gather that number, although Fuentes said they are aiming for 900,000 to account for any deemed invalid.

Democrats have quickly proven they will not govern in any semblance of a bipartisan manner. It’s either their way, or the highway — and by the way, they now want to raise your sales taxes for highways.

It will take a Herculean effort to recall the governor. Overturning the Popular Vote law won’t require as many signatures, and legislator recalls even less.

Whatever the outcome, we hope Republicans will use this opportunity to get organized like the Democrats have been doing for years, strike up a few protests along the way or thrown a parade.

Just keep up that pressure through the 2020 elections, because we can’t take much more of their kind of leadership.

David Bernhardt and President Trump.

Mr. Bipartisan once again showed his true color (blue) by voting against a well-respected, accomplished and principled Coloradan to lead the Interior Department and set true western standards to guide our region into continued prosperity.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who has quixotic aspirations of reaching the White House by beating back a wild pack of Democratic contenders, voted against the confirmation of Rifle native David Bernhardt, and in turn the Western Slope.

It’s shameful, and it’s become a nasty habit for Bennet, who has taken warmly to the task of working against Coloradans and breaking the long-held precedent of supporting your own constituents when called upon by their president to serve.

Bennet also snubbed the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch.

Bennet has been criticized repeatedly throughout his Senate career for ignoring Colorado and his constituents needs, except for when elections roll around.

His recent voting pattern might explain that, since he’s no longer representing us, but his presidential campaign.

If only he would relinquish his seat while he chases bigger dreams.

Meanwhile, Bernhardt’s confirmation passed on a bipartisan vote of 56-41, with Colorado U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s full support.

In addition to Bernhardt’s Republican support, his confirmation was also approved by Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and independent Angus King of Maine.