November 28, 2016 11:38 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (November 28)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Happy Cyber Monday! To celebrate, today’s edition of Get More Smarter is completely free (sans shipping and handling). It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. 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-elect Donald Trump is casting doubts on the legitimacy of his own election. From Politico:

Donald Trump on Sunday used his platform as president-elect to peddle a fringe conspiracy theory to justify his loss of the popular vote, claiming without evidence that millions of people voted illegally Nov. 8.

Trump’s tweets marked an unprecedented rebuke of the U.S. electoral system by a president-elect and met with immediate condemnation from voting experts and others. And they offered a troubling indication that Trump’s ascension to the highest political office in the United States may not alter his penchant for repeating unproven conspiracy theories perpetuated by the far right.

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” Trump wrote on Twitter. There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim and PolitiFactruled it false.

Several hours later, he added more specifics, but again without any evidence: “Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California — so why isn’t the media reporting on this? Serious bias — big problem!”

Election law experts quickly rejected Trump’s claims as far-fetched.

Trump’s comments on Sunday are confusing to say the least; the President-elect is almost making an argument in favor of a recount of his own victory. Last week, Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein moved forward with a plan demanding a recount of votes in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania; on Monday, officials in Wisconsin set Thursday as the starting date for a recount. Casting your own doubts on the legitimacy of the 2016 election is not a good strategy when you are simultaneously trying to delegitimize efforts that could cost you the election.

► Trump-whisperer Kellyanne Conway is definitely not on board with the possibility that Mitt Romney could be named Secretary of State. From “The Fix”:

Kellyanne Conway made one thing very clear in her Sunday interview with “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd: She’s not a fan of Mitt Romney. Like, at all.

Here’s how she responded to Todd’s question about her feelings about the 2012 Republican presidential nominee:

People feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump, now our president-elect, would be given the most significant cabinet post of all, secretary of state. And that is a decision that only one man can make, President-elect Donald Trump. I will respect it, and I will support it 1,000 percent. But I’m reflecting what the grass roots are saying…

…They feel a bit betrayed that you can get a Romney back in there after everything he did. We don’t even know if he voted for Donald Trump. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year. [Pols emphasis]

Trump is scheduled to meet again with Romney on Tuesday.

► As much as Colorado Republicans would like to blame the federal government, Colorado is not facing crippling budget problems because of Medicaid. Get the facts first.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado survivors of Japanese-American internment camps during WWII are understandably troubled by the anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from President-elect Donald Trump.

► Colorado Republicans, including Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) are gleefully planning out proposals for eliminating programs enacted under President Obama, with Obamacare at the top of the list. If you are interested in hearing about what Republicans plan to actually do themselves, once they are done repealing stuff, you’ll have to wait a bit longer for that answer.

► The Denver Post reports on some “lame-duck” legislation that Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) hopes to get approved before the end of the year:

One of the few pieces of legislation that Congress could pass by year’s end is a signature bill co-authored by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, that’s aimed at reducing the time it takes to get new medical treatments into the hands of patients.

House and Senate legislators spent months trying to hammer out a deal, and Friday they unveiled a 996-page package that tackles a broad spectrum of issues: from cancer treatment to opioid abuse to pediatric research.

“This would be the last substantive piece of legislation to pass in this Congress,” said DeGette, who partnered with U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., in introducing the original proposal last year.

Success, however, is not guaranteed — though the bill does have the support of top lawmakers. Consumer groups have criticized the measure as being too favorable to the medical industry, and negotiators have just a few short weeks to get the measure across the finish line.

► Questions continue to swirl around proposed changes to rules around overtime pay.

► Colorado Senate Republicans announced appointments for chairmanships of key legislative committees. On the House side, Republicans are making some significant staffing changes.

► Here are some fun facts on the outcome of state legislative races in 2016.

► Former state Rep. Bob Martinez of Commerce City died last week at the age of 73.

► Some Colorado journalists are concerned about the future of news from a non-partisan perspective.

► The Colorado Statewide Water Plan is one year old! It still needs money, however. 

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Supporters of legal marijuana in Colorado continue to express concern about future federal policies under Donald Trump’s administration.

► Officials throughout Colorado are attempting to quell fears about racial targeting and immigration in the wake of Donald Trump’s election as President. From the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel:

Immigrant communities across the Western Slope say they are facing uncertainty as President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to deport immigrants living in the country illegally.

The phone was ringing nonstop last week at the law office of Imelda Mulholland, an immigration attorney in Grand Junction, with calls from people seeking advice on how to proceed.

“Most of the people that come to us are terrified of being separated from their family, especially if their sole wage earner is taken away,” she said. “People are coming in and there’s absolutely nothing we can do. It’s a sad, dark time for everyone. We’re just trying to stay as informed as possible.”

Trump has pledged to terminate President Obama’s executive actions, one of which includes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, commonly known as DACA. The 2012 policy dictated that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would not deport undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children.

ICYMI

► The Denver Broncos are 7-4 after a gut-wrenching overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. Next up for the Broncos is a Sunday trip to Jacksonville to face the not-very-good Jaguars.

Don’t forget to check out The Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!