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May 24, 2018 12:14 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (May 24)

  • 1 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Today is the last day of school for many of Colorado’s largest school districts. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

 

TOP OF MIND TODAY… 

► President Trump abruptly called off a planned summit with North Korea. As the New York Times reports:

President Trump, citing a flurry of hostile statements from North Korea, pulled out of a highly anticipated summit meeting with Kim Jong-un on Thursday, telling the North Korean leader “this missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.”

But Mr. Trump said later that the meeting with Mr. Kim, which had been scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, could still happen, even as he renewed threats of military action against the North and vowed to continue a campaign of economic pressure against Mr. Kim’s regime.

The mixed messages deepened the uncertainty around a diplomatic encounter that had an air of unreality from the time in March when Mr. Trump spontaneously accepted Mr. Kim’s invitation to meet.

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) is among the Republicans who are dutifully trying to pretend that this was not Trump’s decision:

Diplomacy by shouting does not appear to be working.

 

► Oil and gas giant Anadarko finally came to terms on a settlement over a home explosion in Firestone last April that killed two people and seriously wounded two others. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has been facing new charges from former employees that it repeatedly neglected to act on safety concerns related to drilling operations throughout Colorado.

 

► Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is under fire for questionable remarks about immigration enforcement through local schools. From the Washington Post:

Civil rights groups slammed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for saying Tuesday that schools can decide whether to report undocumented students to immigration enforcement officials, saying her statements conflict with the law and could raise fears among immigrant students.

DeVos’s answers came during testimony before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who was at one time undocumented, pressed the secretary for her positions on immigration enforcement…

…The Supreme Court made clear in Plyler v. Doe that public schools have a constitutional obligation to provide schooling for children, regardless of immigration status. That means schools also cannot enforce measures that would deter undocumented children from registering. They cannot ask about immigration status. And according to the American Civil Liberties Union, they cannot report students or their families to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

 

► Employees at Harley Davidson are wondering what happened to all of those big promises from the Republican tax plan. As NBC News reports:

Tim Primeaux has worked at the Harley-Davidson plant in Kansas City, Missouri, for 17 years. He was sure he was going to retire from the company.

That all changed when Harley-Davidson told its 800 employees in January that the plant will be closing next year. Operations will be shifted to the motorcycle manufacturer’s facility in York, Pennsylvania.

“We did everything Harley-Davidson asked us to do,” said Primeaux, a welder. “To have it all blow up in your face is kind of disappointing.”

Days later, Harley-Davidson announced a dividend increase and a stock buyback plan to reward shareholders, repurchasing 15 million of its shares, valued at nearly $700 million.

Like other corporations, Harley-Davidson is benefiting this year from the tax cut law passed in 2017, which slashed the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The company maintains that the dividend increase and stock buyback is unrelated to the tax savings.

The Republican tax plan: Making rich people a little more richer.

 

► A half-assed attempt to recall a La Plata County Commissioner finally comes to an end.

 

► Grand Junction state Sen. Ray Scott got caught trying to repeatedly reimburse himself for expenses related to the 2018 legislative session.

 

► Congressman Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) is promoting legislation he co-sponsored that would allow people to open bank accounts via smartphone.

 

► Republican congressional leaders are scrambling to contain a revolt over immigration reform legislation. From Politico:

Speaker Paul Ryan’s last-ditch effort to stop Republican moderates from forcing votes on immigration proposals is running smack into a familiar roadblock: conservative opposition to a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.

The Wisconsin Republican and his top lieutenants have been playing shuttle diplomacy between conservatives who oppose any vote on a bipartisan solution for Dreamers, and moderates who are demanding one. Leaders of the factions will convene Thursday morning to continue talks in hopes of coming to an agreement that would stop a discharge petition filed by moderate Republicans and Democrats.

Conservatives have resisted allowing moderates to vote on a bill that includes what they call a “special pathway” to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who came here as kids — just as they had in past negotiations with House Republicans. They’ve adopted that stand even though President Donald Trump himself backed a plan to give more than 1.8 million Dreamers a path to citizenship….

…Moderates, however, have said repeatedly that any agreement must include a vote on a bill that includes a pathway to citizenship if they’re going to back away from their discharge petition push. GOP leaders and conservatives are desperate to avoid a showdown that would allow moderate Republicans and Democrats to team up to force the House to vote on a compromise immigration plan.

 

► President Trumpis not allowed to block you on Twitter.

 

► Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) appears to be closing in on another re-election victory despite tough opposition.

 

► Republican gubernatorial candidate Walker Stapleton continues to get hammered by fact checkers on his first television ad of the cycle. Fox 31 is the latest to ding Stapleton on claims that are easily disproved.

 

► Democrat Jared Polis is campaigning on the Western Slope of Colorado this weekend in his bid for Governor.

 

► Governor John Hickenlooper supports efforts to head off the invasion of the zebra mussels.

 

► General Lori Robinson is retiring today as the head of NORAD in Colorado Springs.

 

 

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

► State Treasurer Walker Stapleton — a Republican candidate for Governor — likes to portray himself as a “numbers guy.” He’s just not clear about which numbers he should be discussing:


► The White House lawn is sinking into a swamp. Literally.

 
 

ICYMI

 

► Check out this interview with Democratic Attorney General candidate Joe Salazar in the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Show.

 

 

Click here for The Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!

 

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One thought on “Get More Smarter on Thursday (May 24)”

  1. A Better Deal!

    N.J. Democrats loved the idea of taxing the rich — until they actually could do it

    Democrats in the New Jersey state legislature approved a tax hike on millionaires five separate times under then-Gov. Chris Christie (R) — knowing he would veto it.

    But now that the state has a liberal governor eager to sign the bill, Democratic legislators are backing off the “millionaire’s tax,” echoing some of the concerns once expressed by Christie.

    Not the politics they profess but the policies they enact.

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