independentsforkerry.org

Republican lawmakers have made opposition to industry regulation a top priority, repeatedly framing public health and safety laws as “nanny state” “job killers.” On Wednesday, Montana Republican Congressman Alan Hale used the GOP anti-government “job killer” line to defend drunk driving. He argued that drunk driving laws were killing “small businesses” in his state– small businesses like taverns that make money and “create jobs” by sometimes sending people off into the night bubbly in the head and weaving down Montana roadways. In his ridiculous insincerity, Hale made a satire of GOP politics that would have made Jon Stewart proud.

For reference: The environmental regulations former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter put in place on oil and gas drilling in the state over the last few years have been decried by Republicans as job killers at every turn. In fact, drilling is up in Colorado. It’s just cleaner drilling.

In Washington, Colorado Republicans are now crying out that the Environmental Protection Agency is a “job killer” and must be gutted. But, as Coloradans know as well or better than most Americans, a clean healthy environment is a much greater resource than any small bump in temporary boom-cycle jobs offered by under-regulated toxic industries. That’s why surveys show Americans trust the EPA more than they trust Congress to steward our environment and natural resources.

The Colorado Independent

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Democratic Party announced Wednesday schedules for county reorganization, a biennial event where Democrats meet county by county to pick new local officers.

State Party Chair Chip Forrester sent the following email encouraging Democrats to get involved:

Dear Friend,

The only thing necessary for Republicans to keep running roughshod over our rights is for good men and women to do nothing.

Here’s your chance to do something big.

In the coming weeks, county Democratic parties across Tennessee will host local conventions where Democrats will pick new county party officers and lay the groundwork for selecting delegates to attend the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Do something big and sign up to attend your county convention.

County conventions, also called reorganization, only come along every two years so it’s important you get involved now. You and other passionate progressives will be the engine that drives our campaign to take back Tennessee for working people.

As a member of the Democratic Party, you know we can do big things. But nothing comes without rolling up your sleeves.

Will you work with your county party to take back Tennessee for working people?

The strength of the Tennessee Democratic Party comes from the dedication and hard work of people, like you, who take a leadership role in their local Democratic Party. Our county officers and delegates provide critical support to Democratic candidates and are essential to turning out the Democratic vote and winning electoral victories.

It’s also a great way to meet other like-minded people who want to make a positive difference in their community.

Help us do big things for working people here in Tennessee. Be a doer and get involved with your county party convention.

Click here to find out how.

Yours truly,

Chip Forrester
Chair, Tennessee Democratic Party

P.S. Due to local county bylaws, Davidson, Decatur & Dekalb counties will not be hosting reorganization conventions this spring. Call our office at (615) 327-9779 to find out how to get involved in those counties.

TN Democratic Party News

Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Nuclear System Failures, No Fly Zones, Radiation Clouds over California, Charlie Sheen Disappears from our TV’s and Kunt Dies.    What a week.

Lots of exciting things are happening and none of them point us in the direction of solving our problems.     Its mostly new problems stacked on the shoulders of our old unsolved problems.    As if high unemployeement, no jobs and 2 wars wasn’t enough to keep President Obama occupied with out warning Japan suffered a Earthquake followed an hour later by a Tsunami and somewhere in that time frame or shortly after system failures at several nuclear power plants.     A few days later elevated levels of radiation had arived in California.    

Don’t blink because a short time later we are lobbing tomahawk missles into Libya and engaging in a third conflict in the middle east.    Republicans don’t know whether to line dance or go blind.      Their rule number one is to oppose anything Obama does even if they are on record supporting it a couple of years back.

He didn’t respond quickly enough,  he shouldn’t have gotten involved at all,  his response isn’t strong enough,   America should take more of the lead,  he was born in Kenya.    That last one about Kenya comes from out worthless Congressman Bob Goodlatte. 

Not one Republican is satisfied and few Democrats can keep from show boating about not being involved in a convrsation with the President and a photo of course before he took action.     Each one would not have done it differently and almost all have found a microphone to communicate their differences.    

If you want to second guess and talk down  President Obama Fox News will pre-empt the Super Bowl to accomodate your partisan rant.     The Senators and Congressman can’t agree on a budget and are waiting for the President to bring the sides together.     They are mad because they weren’t consulted and allowed to debate our countries involvement in Libya for a couple of years before the President would have had to step in and make the decision anyway.

Lets face it.    Senators and Congressmen are a waste of tax money and time.      They don’t have jobs and they don’t accept responsibility for anything.     They spend all their time spewing hot air and serving the special interest that fund their campaigns.     They are little children who put their interest ahead of the countries. They haven’t finished working on last years budget so forget next years.     For years they have spent more money than we bring in and now are playing a game trying to solve a long term problem in a short span of time.     The last time a solution was found to a problem and the minimal level of agreement arrived at Bill Clinton was living in the white house.     Making an end runs around the Senate and the House is about the only way to get anything done in Washington and thats not the President’s fault.

If Senators and Congressmen want some respect they need to correct the problem they have with being a non functional body that only breathes to serve special interest, big business and get reelected.     Along the way it wouldn’t hurt for the voter to use a little discretion in who they choose to represent them in Washington either.     The system didn’t fall apart or get bought out overnight and the fix will be a long time coming.

Now that I’ve kicked dust on everybodies shoes lets look at some of the things that knocked Charlie Sheen off of every show on TV in the last week.     Can tiger blood and Winning really be gone?     There are about 37 ways to spell Muammar Qaddafi’s name but anything else that looks out of sorts to you is most likely a mis-spelling.      Don’t worry too much about it as communication is not an exact science.     Its sad for Muammar, 50 years at the same rank and he never made General.     Talk about a over achiever.

Perhaps saddest of all the worlds most famous polar bear, Kunt, died suddenly over the weekend.     Veterinary experts performed a necropsy Monday on Knut to try to determine why he died. The four-year-old polar bear died Saturday afternoon in front of visitors, turning around several times and then dropping to the ground, and falling into the water in his enclosure.        Polar bears usually live 15 to 20 years in the wild, and even longer in captivity, and the zoo is hoping the investigation may help clarify what happened.

The American role in the three-day old air assault to degrade Libya’s military capability has already begun to decline, with the overwhelming share of Monday’s missions flown by pilots from other countries in the coalition, said Gen. Carter Ham,  U.S. commander in the region .     Whereas about 50 percent of the approximately 60 air missions flown on Sunday were by U.S. pilots, the  “overwhelming”  share were by non-U.S. pilots on Monday, Ham said.

The assault has already shown signs of success too, according to several reports.     Republicans are heart broken that the news media is using the word success in a manner that could reflect favorably on President Obama and are hard at work with their attack team to pick apart anything that makes it look like a win for the home team.      Look at how republicans behave when our military are facing enemies in other countries and you will understand why I call them scum.     Sarah Palin is in another country running down our President with her completely ignorant drivel.


Ham said Muammar Qaddafi’s forces could already be seen retreating from the opposition stronghold in Benghazi.     There have also been no reports of Qaddafi’s planes even taking to the air since airstrikes began.


Overall, the coalition operation has succeeded in scattering and isolating Qaddafi’s forces after just a weekend of punishing air attacks, Pentagon officials say, and a no-fly zone implemented over the eastern part of the country will be extended to the capital, Tripoli.


Libyan TV reported that Tripoli had come under a new attack by international airstrikes.     Anti-aircraft fire erupted in the city several hours after nightfall Monday as television made the announcement.    It was not immediately known what the strikes were targeting.


Ham said it was possible that Qaddafi might manage to retain power.     “I don’t think anyone would say that is ideal,”  the
general said, foreseeing a possible outcome that stands in contrast to President Barack Obama’s declaration that Qaddafi must go.

U.S. officials have said repeatedly they do not intend to target Qaddafi directly.     The Libyan leader has ruled the North African nation for 42 years and was a target of American air attacks in 1986.


The full dimensions of the Libya crisis still are coming into view, with questions remaining about how far the Obama administration is willing to go to stop Qaddafi, whether the international military coalition will hold together and whether dissent in his own ranks will soon doom Qaddafi.


Traveling in Chile, Obama said a combination of measures including United Nations sanctions designed to isolate the Libyan leader are the correct approach to hastening his fall.     Obama added that the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing military action did not sanction regime change.    “We are going to stick to that mandate,”   Obama said.


He has little choice if he wants to hold Arab and other backing and hand off front-line responsibility for a no-fly zone to European or other allied warplanes in the coming days.


Discord was evident Monday in Europe over whether the military operation in Libya should be controlled by NATO.     Turkey
blocked the alliance’s participation, while Italy issued a veiled threat to withdraw the use of its bases unless the alliance was put in charge.     

Germany, like the Republican Party questioned the wisdom of the operation, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin railed against the U.N.-backed airstrikes as outside meddling  “reminiscent of a medieval call for a crusade.”          I am starting the rumor that  Vladimir Putin will give the keynote address at the next GOP Convention.    Please feel free to pass it on.     George W Bush looked into Puty’s soul and said he was OK.    

Vladimir can drip onion juice into his eyes and not shed a tear so he will work with John  “a little bitty tear let me down“  Boehner in an attempt to toughen up the emotionally crippled speaker.

In Russia for an awkwardly timed visit on other topics, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it is a mistake to set Qaddafi’s ouster as a military goal.     “I think it’s pretty clear to everybody that Libya would be better off without Qaddafi,”   he said in an interview with Interfax news agency.     “That is a matter for the Libyans themselves to decide,”    and given the opportunity they may take it, Gates said.


The direction of the international military campaign is now shifting from crippling Libya’s air defenses and halting a Libyan attack on the rebel stronghold in Benghazi to expanding the no-fly zone and setting the stage for a flow of humanitarian supplies to displaced Libyans.      The air campaign began Saturday with a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missile attacks by U.S. and British vessels in the Mediterranean.


Attacks were continuing, but on a far smaller scale, Ham and others said.     The general made clear that his intention was to stick closely to the limitations of the U.N. Security Council mandate, which set the primary goal of protecting civilians from attacks by the Libyan military.     Thus, if Qaddafi’s forces should back away from rebel-held areas and fail to demonstrate hostile intent or movement, they would be spared.


“There is no intent to completely destroy the Libyan military forces,”   Ham said.


A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss classified data, said the attacks thus far had reduced Qaddafi’s air defense capabilities by more than 50 percent.    That has enabled the coalition to focus more on extending the no-fly zone, which is now mainly over the coastal waters off Libya and around the city of Benghazi in the east, across the country to the Tripoli area this week.


Ham said there is reason to worry that al Qaeda could use the instability in Libya as an opportunity to establish a foothold there for training and organizing terrorist attacks on American interests.     Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon via satellite from his headquarters in Germany, Ham also said the prospect of Qaddafi using surrogates to launch a retaliatory terrorist strike was a  “very, very legitimate concern.”

One of the more vocal congressional skeptics of the Libya action, Sen. Richard Lugar, called Monday for full debate on the
objectives and costs of the conflict and a need for a declaration of war.    “There needs to be a plan about what happens after Qaddafi: who is in charge then, and who pays for this all,”   said Lugar, a Republican.     “With the Arab League having second thoughts and Turkey nixing NATO taking over, there are even more questions.     We also have to debate how all this effects the Saudis, Bahrain and Yemen.”


Gates, speaking in Saint Petersburg, Russia, said the U.S. military’s will at no point include ground forces.    Qaddafi fires back with promise of “a long war”.      Ham foresaw potential new complications for the United States and its coalition partners:   how to respond in the event that rebel forces seeking Qaddafi’s overthrow launch their own offensive in areas where civilians are threatened.     Would the U.N. mandate for protection of civilians require coalition attacks on the rebels in that case?


Ham noted that while some of the rebels are ordinary civilians trying to protect their homes, families and businesses from
Qaddafi’s forces, others have taken up heavy arms and are mobilized in armored vehicles.


“So this will become a particular challenge for us should that eventuality (a rebel offensive) occur,”   Ham said.     He
repeatedly stressed that the U.S. military has not intervened and will not intervene on the side of the rebels;  he said there has been no military communication or coordination with rebel leaders.

Beyond Fukushima

Support for nuclear power in the UK has dropped by twelve percent following the near-meltdown at Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a national opinion poll conducted since the earthquake near Japan that triggered a devastating tsunami.


Support has dropped in he USA also but the high costs of construction, lack of investor interest and the length of time to complete the sites and constantly changing regulation were always bigger problems than public support.


The nuclear emergency, which the Japanese authorities are still battling to contain, looks set to make it more difficult for the UK government to push through its planned programme of new nuclear power stations.      Of those polled, 37 percent said they were now more likely to oppose the building of new nuclear power stations in the UK and 44 percent said they were worried about the safety of nuclear power plants here.

Anti-nuclear campaigners have been quick to seize on the disastrous events at Fukushima as proof that nuclear power can never be 100% safe.     Craig Bennett, a spokesperson for Friends of the Earth who commissioned the poll said:    “This poll shows that the government’s plans for a major expansion of nuclear power in the UK are out of step with public opinion.     People want clean and safe energy – the government needs to urgently refocus its energy policy, starting by improving the weak energy saving measures within its new energy bill.”

The poll, which was conducted by GFK NOP shows a drop of 12% in support for nuclear power to 35% compared with a similar poll conducted by IPSOS MORI in 2008, 2009 and 2010.     Opposition to the technology rose 9% to 28%.


But supporters for nuclear power continue to hope that in the long run the Japanese events will not spell the end for a form of energy which is, they point out, carbon-neutral.     Environmentalist Mark Lynas has gone as far as offering on his blog to eat the milk, spinach and fava beans which have shown above average levels of radioactive iodine.      “The political fallout,”   he writes,  “will be more dangerous than anything physically radioactive.”

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

The most dangerous of Japan’s stricken nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant appeared to stabilize Saturday, as firemen sprayed more water on spent fuel rods to prevent them from overheating and spreading potentially deadly radiation.

The situation at reactor No. 3 “is stabilizing somewhat,” cabinet spokesman Yukio Edano told a press conference, signaling a rare success in the efforts to prevent a meltdown.


Meanwhile, engineers managed to hook up an external power cable to the crippled plant’s central transmission point, according to the plant’s operator.     They hope to test supply lines inside the plant on Sunday and then to restore power to water pumps in reactors 1, 2, 3, and 4.


The top priority has been to ensure that spent fuel rods in reactor No. 3’s cooling pond are under as much water as possible.     That reactor was using a mixture of uranium and much more toxic plutonium fuel when an earthquake and tsunami hit it last Friday.


Mr. Edano sought to allay fears over the first reported discovery that foodstuffs from the area around the plant had been contaminated with radioactivity.


Milk and spinach from farms in Fukushima and a neighboring prefecture had been found to contain radiation at levels above the legal norm, Edano said, but this “would not affect consumers’ health.”


Officials later announced that they were forbidding the sale of all food products from Fukushima prefecture pending the collection of further data, according to a statement on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s website.


Meanwhile, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s bid to form a government of national unity to deal with the crisis appear to have come to naught in the face of opposition reluctance.


The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest opposition group, Sadakazu Tanigaki, telephoned Mr. Kan Saturday to reject the idea, according to the Jiji news agency.


Before the earthquake and tsunami, Kan’s popularity had slumped to around 20 percent and his government was widely considered on the brink of collapse.


The crisis has given him a window of opportunity to redeem himself, although many voters have been frustrated by how slowly the authorities initially responded to the disaster, and by how parsimonious officials were with information.


Poor communications, bad weather, and insufficient organization slowed the flow of food and other relief supplies to many isolated towns and villages.     Even in larger cities shops only began to open toward the end of the week.     Some 400,000 people are living in shelters or with host families and experiencing shortages of electricity, food, and gasoline in the affected area.

Evacuees who managed to get to parts of the country unscathed by the disaster, however, are now being made as comfortable as they can be sleeping on blankets laid out on the floors of gymnasiums, schoolrooms, and community halls.


In the western prefecture of Niigata, for example, where 15,000 people have fled their homes either because of the tsunami or the threat of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, private companies have donated food and city governments have drawn on the emergency stocks of blankets and relief supplies that they keep in case of situations like this.


At one city gym in Niigata city, where 495 people are sheltering, volunteers handed out soap and other toiletries Friday afternoon while municipal officials prepared hot rice and miso soup.    “We are more or less alright for food,”  says the official running the shelter who identified himself only as Mr. Kato, who normally works in the public relations department at Niigata city hall.    “The quality is not great, but we have enough.”


The shelter is offering other services too.     In a corner of the foyer stood several large cardboard boxes housing the pet dogs that some evacuees had brought with them.     On a table lay piles of the local newspaper available for free.


Also available were photocopied maps of the city, with directions to the nearest coin-operated laundry and to the radiation testing station where evacuees can have their radioactivity levels checked.     And with the sort of attention to detail that displaced people in the quake zone can still only dream of, the shelter management had installed an electronic parking ticket machine to distribute free tickets to the gymnasium parking lot for its temporary residents.

ACVDN Bottom Line    This describes things that happened last week and had to be dealt with.     Congress has not completed work on LAST YEARS BUDGET and they are mumbling that they were  not consulted on these matters.     Start doing your job.

Amherst County Virginia Democratic News

Former Colorado Springs Senator Dave Schultheis is no longer holding forth on bills on the Senate floor in Denver, but he has continued to exert influence this year as the powerful force behind the conservative Republican Study Committee of Colorado. Now that influence may be waning. This week, a third of the RSCC flock quit the committee, rejecting the would-be radical-right revival.

The RSCC claimed 34 Republican members in the state Legislature – 11 in the Senate and 23 in the House – prior to Tuesday. At least 10 legislators quit in the wake of allegations that it was crossing ethics boundaries in influencing lawmaker votes, directing legislative aides and meddling in the race for state GOP chairman.

The committee drew media attention this year for pushing Arizona-style anti-illegal immigration legislation. It held informational hearings that were stacked with anti-immigration witnesses, some with clear ties to white spremacist organizations.

A high-profile surprise rebuke

The committee also took a strong stand in the race to replace Dick Wadhams as head of the Colorado Republican party this month. Schultheis and most conservative study committee members had endorsed RSCC member Senator Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch.

The committee members scrambled on stage last Saturday to nominate Harvey but their “we’ve got it nailed” confidence withered when the Republican Party Central Committee overwhelmingly elected state GOP Legal Counsel Ryan Call on the first ballot with 167.6 votes to Harvey’s 74.4.

As the vote was being read, RSCC Vice Chair Senator Kent Lambert tweeted, “They didn’t buy these ballot boxes at the magic store, did they? ”

The committee members and other hard-right Harvey supporters shouldn’t have been so surprised. Wadhams, dogged this year by Tea Partiers as a compromised establishment figure, received an enthusiastic standing ovation at the event. Also, influential RSCC member Senator Shawn Mitchell had seconded Call’s nomination as the kind of leader who could unify a party still reeling from the fractured 2010 Republican primary races for governor and U.S. Senator, offices the GOP lost in the general election.

The rump committee

Gone from the RSCC website membership page are photos and names of House Speaker Frank McNulty, Majority Leader Amy Stephens, Majority Caucus Chair Carole Murray, Majority Whip B.J. Nikkel and Representatives Cindy Acree, Kevin Priola, Ray Scott, Ken Summers, Spencer Swalm and Libby Szabo.

Several legislators recently questioned whether Schultheis and the group had crossed the line between a policy ad-hoc committee and a volunteer lobbyist coalition. They wondered whether the committee compromised a legislative aide who might have breached ethics by disseminating positions on bills and by twittering opinions.

The RSCC produces Senate and House reports – up to 20 pages long – that designate whether a bill “DOES” or “DOES NOT” support conservative values.

For example, an RSCC report evaluated HB 11-1144, which requires health benefit plans to cover medical evaluations of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. The disease is preventable by treating the mother during pregnancy.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Representatives Judy Solano, Edward Casso, Andy Kerr, Nancy Todd and Democratic Senator Lois Tochtrop, passed in both chambers and was signed into law, despite receiving the thumbs down by the RSCC.

The RSCC said the bill “DOES NOT” support the principles of “constitutional limited government, free markets and personal responsibility.”

That judgment sounded eerily familiar to Schultheis in 2009 citing the need for personal responsibility and less government regulation when he voted against a bill to protect fetuses exposed to the HIV virus. In a Rocky Mountain News interview, he reasoned that as an AIDS-afflicted baby grows up, “the mother will begin to feel guilt… The family will see the negative consequences of that promiscuity.”

The Colorado Springs wing

Earlier in this legislative session, Schultheis candidly discussed his role in monitoring bills and votes for the RSCC with the same eagle-eyed scrutiny he once brought to his search for illegal drug runners and undocumented workers on his treks with the group to the Arizona-Mexico border, most recently in August.

Schultheis appears to be going underground. He claimed “he’s not the brains behind the RSCC” and he blocked public access to his Facebook page.

The RSCC operates under the Legislative Support Group, a nonprofit organization registered with the Secretary of State’s office in June 2006. Schultheis registered the RSCC trade name and designated the entity as an “Other Non-Profit… Social Welfare” located at 1250 Golden Hills Road in Colorado Springs.

The base of operations is Schultheis’ 0,000-plus home perched above the canyon community of Pinecliff, where he rises before daybreak each weekday to assess legislative bills, their sponsors, and the votes cast by members of the Colorado House and Senate.

“It’s frustrating. The Republicans are acting like RINOs,” groaned Schultheis in late February. Among the GOP legislators gone rogue and drawing the ire of Schultheis by defying his version of conservative principles is House Speaker McNulty.

Skewing the initiative process to favor liberal ideology

The source of Schultheis’ anxiety was Senate Concurrent Resolution 11-001, sponsored in the Senate by President Brandon Shaffer and Nancy Spence and in the House by Majority Caucus Chair Murray and Minority Caucus Chair Lois Court. McNulty joined the bill’s numerous co-sponsors.

The resolution aims to tighten requirements to amend the state Constitution. It passed third readings in both chambers, and is pending Senate approval of House amendments. If approved, the measure will go before voters on the 2012 general election ballot.

Schultheis opposed SCR11-001 in a Feb. 23 memo dispatched to House State, Affairs Committee Republican Representatives Randy Baumgardner, Don Coram, Larry Liston, Jim Kerr and Mark Waller. The resolution’s numerous co-sponsors also included Baumgardner, Coram and Liston.

“As conservatives and those who advocate their allegiance for TABOR (Taxpayers Bill of Rights), it seems very apparent to me that should the legislature pass this bill, that two very onerous conditions will result,” wrote Schultheis, who asked that the resolution be killed or at least postponed.

If the resolution passes, Schultheis predicts that TABOR would be repealed and that “more liberal Constitutional amendments will be passed.” He said he had analyzed voter-approved initiatives and amendments over the past two decades, particularly those that passed by at least 60 percent of the vote.

“The shocker is that you will notice that all but one that passed placed liberal ideology in the Constitution,” said Schultheis in a memo. “You can verify that in the initiative summary that I’ve asked Lauri (sic) Bratten to provide you.”

Defining lobbying

Some RSCC members bristled at the notion that Schultheis or the RSCC has lobbied for or against legislation. According to Amendment 41 passed by voters in 2006, statewide elected officials cannot become paid lobbyists until two years after leaving office. Schultheis is free to voice opinions as a citizen or volunteer lobbyist although the latter are supposed to register with the House Clerk.

“I don’t consider the [RSCC] as lobbying,” countered Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, an RSCC member. “They’re just trying to promote Republican ideals and which they stand for. I don’t think they’re lobbying. There’s no difference between the RSCC and Colorado Municipal League or CEA (Colorado Educators Association).”

Both CML and CEA employ registered lobbyists.

More skeptical legislators said Laurie Bratten, referenced in Schultheis’ memo, is dangerously teetering on the ethics line.

Bratten is Director of Communications for RSCC and married to RSCC Executive Director Rich Bratten. She is also the paid legislative aide to RSCC-affiliated Senators Harvey and Scott Renfroe.

The legislators spoke on the condition of anonymity in fear of RSCC members killing their bills or dredging up a primary contender in future re-election bids. They objected to a legislative aide circulating information to influence votes and twittering opinions on bills and politics during committee and floor discussions.

For example, Bratten twittered about Senate Bill 126 that proposed in-state college tuition rates for high school graduates who attended a Colorado school for the three previous years regardless of immigration status. It was introduced and discussed in the Senate on Feb. 2.

On that day, from 1:00 – 1:19 p.m., Bratten pecked several tweets bashing the bill.

“Your kids can’t get a break for tuition in CO but Dems thinks they should give tuition money to illegals,” wrote Bratten.

“CO Dems just CANNOT stay focused on jobs and the economy! Giving an tuition to 4 illegals pressuer NOW.”

“Dem Senator Michael Johnston and the CEA are sponsoring this redistribution to a special class. Be afraid.”

“We have 8.8% unemployment in CO and a 1.5 billion $ deficit & CO Dems want 2 subsidize illegals college degrees?”

The rule governing legislative aides is well known to Schultheis, whose legislative aide Dave Crater testified before the House State Affairs Committee on behalf of the “Dr. Laura” bill in March 2001. The committee rejected Schultheis’ bill to mandate counseling for couples seeking a divorce, and Crater lost his job as a legislative aide.

“We can’t have someone on the state payroll that is advocating for the passage or defeat of a piece of legislation,” then-House Speaker Doug Dean, a conservative Republican, told The Colorado Springs Gazette.

Crater was demoted to an unpaid intern working for Schultheis. The senator, however, admitted that he’d personally padded Crater’s 0-a-month salary to the tune of more than ,000 a month.

Has Laurie Bratten been inadvertently placed in a similarly compromising position?

“We’re very careful to simply put the legislative analysis in the perspective of whether a bill is consistent or inconsistent with our principles,” said RSCC Executive Director Bratten who refused to comment on his wife’s role. “I suppose that’s a question you will have to ask Senator Harvey.”

“It’s kosher!” laughed Harvey.

Harvey said that the legislative aide’s work on behalf of RSCC is part of her duties for himself and Renfroe, and asserted that other Republican senators’ aides also assist. Legislative aides, he said, follow the directives of their bosses.

Got a tip? Story pitch? Send us an e-mail. Follow The Colorado Independent on Twitter.

The Colorado Independent

From an article posted by Jim Cook on March 25, 2011, on the blog ‘Irregular Times‘:

They Never Write, They Never Call

Over the past six months, I’ve made repeated efforts to reach out to the nascent 501c4 corporation/political party Americans Elect, establish contact and learn to see things from their point of view. I’ve made phone calls. I’ve sent e-mails. I’ve sent certified letters in the mail. I’ve asked simple questions. I’ve done all these things all at nicely spaced intervals so as to not give them a harried feeling. I have yet to receive a response.

Americans Elect has been engaging in outreach and sharing information, mind you, but only to limited audiences of powerful and well-connected people. Last fall, Peter Ackerman distributed literature regarding Americans Elect and solicited communication from attendees at a gala dinner charging up to ,000 a plate. Americans Elect also held an exclusive, invitation-only event in Aspen last summer at which it distributed literature to those in attendance. With the well-connected and well-heeled, Americans Elect has maintained lines of communication. It’s with the little people like you and me that Americans Elect isn’t communicating.

Read the rest here.

Independent Political Report

Ken Beingenheimer has been running a series on Top Two. The debate continues here:

The Hankster

MSNBC reports that “trace amounts of radioactive iodine linked to Japan’s crippled nuclear power station have turned up in rainwater samples as far away as Massachusetts during the past week, state officials said Sunday.”

The low level of radioiodine-131 detected in precipitation at a sample location in Massachusetts is comparable to findings in California, Washington state and Pennsylvania and poses no threat to drinking supplies, public health officials said.

Testing of air samples from the same area in Massachusetts that the water reading came from show no radiation is detecable.

“The drinking water supply in Massachusetts is unaffected by this short-term, slight elevation in radiation,” said Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach.

“We will carefully monitor the drinking water as we exercise an abundance of caution,” he said.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. directed the Department of Environmental Protection to collect additional samples for testing from several water bodies across Massachusetts. Results will be available over the next several days.

At concentrations found, the radioiodine-131 would likely become undetectable in a “relative short time,” according to a statement issued by agency.

Please, make your voice heard and let Congress and President Obama know that it is time to take nuclear power in the United States off the grid — forever.

The Democratic Daily

from Poli-Tea

The Hankster

Bill strips Tennessee teachers’ ability to negotiate contracts

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Democratic Party chair denounced Thursday the anti-teacher bill approved by House Republicans on the Education Committee this week.

The “so-called compromise” bill continues a misguided effort to strip teachers of their current right to negotiate classroom improvements for students, better working conditions and fair wages.

“To call this a compromise is nothing short of ridiculous,” said Chip Forrester, chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party. “You don’t make compromises with yourself. This was a back room deal cut in secret between Republicans, Republicans and presumably their public relations people.”

The anti-teacher bill makes it illegal for teachers to effectively negotiate a contract covering their salary, benefits, working conditions, school safety, class size, planning time, time to teach, length of the school day, scheduling and other priorities. The measure passed the House Education Committee Tuesday on a 12-6 party-line vote.

“This is nothing more than a Republican PR stunt,” Forrester said. “It is not a compromise — it is a blatant power play to strip teachers of their right to effectively negotiate with their employer.”

“With state unemployment rising and Tennesseans clamoring for work, the majority party and the administration should be pursuing an aggressive jobs package, but once again, all we are seeing is a concerted effort to shred the rights of working people,” Forrester said. “Meanwhile Democrats are standing by their pledge to get people working again and will introduce proposals in the coming weeks that would bring more jobs to Tennessee and preserve quality jobs and rights for our teachers and all working families across the state.”

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