December 05, 2016 11:23 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (December 5)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Hell hasn’t frozen over — as far as we know — but Hawaii is expected to get up to six inches of snow. 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…

► If you aren’t paying attention to Republican plans surrounding Obamacare, it’s time to get serious. As we wrote in this space over the weekend, Republicans are eager to dump Obamacare and replace it with…basically the same thing, only with a different name and with massive public bailouts of the insurance industry attached. Mother Jones has a good explanation of this entire mess.

► President-elect Donald Trump has officially selected former neurosurgeon Ben Carson as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. As CNN reports, you have reason to be concerned about Carson’s ability to direct a big government agency (don’t take our word for it):

Carson’s name had been attached to multiple cabinet-level positions throughout the transition process, most significantly the position of Health and Human Services secretary. But, according to Carson aide Armstrong Williams, the veteran neurosurgeon turned down an offer of that position due to his lack of experience running a federal agency.

“He’s never run an agency and it’s a lot to ask. He’s a neophyte and that’s not his strength,” Williams said.

And to think: Ben Carson made a reasonably-effective run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016.

► After weeks of baseless claims about election fraud, North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has finally conceded his re-election bid to Democrat Roy Cooper. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to push that nonsense transgender bathroom bill in North Carolina, eh, soon-to-be-former Governor McCrory?

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Protestors may have succeeded in stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline (for now, anyway). From the Washington Post:

The Army said Sunday that it will not approve an easement necessary to permit the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, marking a monumental victory for the Native American tribes and thousands of others who have flocked in recent months to protest the oil pipeline.

“I’m happy as heck,” said Everett Iron Eyes, a retired director of natural resources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and one of the organizers of a camp protesters set up near the pipeline site. “All our prayers have been answered.”

President-elect Donald Trump has been clear about his support for the pipeline, however, so opponents of the project are girding themselves for a longer battle.

► As Politico reports, supporters of legal marijuana could be in for a real battle under new Attorney General Jeff Sessions:

On Election Day, eight states voted to legalize recreational or medical marijuana, bringing the nationwide total of medical states to 29. In Florida, medical marijuana won nearly 2 million more votes than Donald Trump. Added up, 65 million people now live in states that authorize adult recreational use; more than half of all Americans have access to medical marijuana; and almost everyone else lives in a state that permits CBD, a non-psychoactive component of cannabis that helps treatment of juvenile epilepsy. It’s easier now to identify the six states that have done nothing to end the prohibition on marijuana than the ones that are breaking away from the federal law that treats marijuana the same as heroin…

…Sessions has not shared his plans on marijuana enforcement, but if he chooses, he will be able to act decisively and quickly—more so perhaps than with any other of his top agenda items such as re-doubling efforts to combat illegal immigration and relaxing oversight of local police forces and federal civil rights laws. With little more than the stroke of his own pen, the new attorney general will be able to arrest growers, retailers and users, defying the will of more than half the nation’s voters, including those in his own state where legislators approved the use of CBD. Aggressive enforcement could cause chaos in a $6.7 billion industry that is already attracting major investment from Wall Street hedge funds and expected to hit $21.8 billion by 2020.

The Ft. Collins Coloradoan has more on the local angle of angst surrounding the future of legal marijuana in Colorado.

► Fears about deportation and other major shifts in immigration policy continue to fester in Colorado.

► Colorado’s Electoral College representatives continue to formulate a plan to keep Donald Trump from becoming President.

► Donald Trump’s pollster says the President-elect ran something called a “post-ideological campaign” in 2016. From the Washington Post:

“Everybody in this room needs to pull their head out of their a**es,” said Tony Fabrizio. “We really live in a world where everybody thinks that ideology is linear, and that, ‘If you answer these 10 questions correctly, that makes you a conservative.’ But not every conservative is pro-life. Not every conservative is anti-gay marriage. Not every conservative puts 100 percent emphasis on this or that.”

“One of the problems is many people tried to look at the Donald Trump phenomenon through the ideological lenses which had defined previous Republicans presidential nominating contests,” Fabrizio added. “Donald Trump is post ideological. His movement transcends ideology … Through his own antennae – and, trust me, many times I had this conversation with him – Donald Trump understood the fold in American politics. It’s the reason so many Trump supporters and so many (Bernie) Sanders supporters agreed on so many things.”

► Political experts discuss the transition of power on 9News’ “Balance of Power.”

► As Brian Eason writes for the Denver Post, Democrats are dealing with a strategic conundrum regarding how to approach different voter groups in 2018 and beyond:

Inside the Democratic Party, a battle is roiling for the future of the party: double-down on the party’s roots and try to rebuild its blue collar base? Or embrace a different demographic entirely: college-educated Millennials.

This weekend’s summit in Denver comes as party leaders are jockeying for position in the race to become the next DNC chair. And on Saturday, Interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile said she was ready to step down when the executive committee chooses a new leader in February.

► Peter Marcus takes a look at a large potential field of candidates for Governor of Colorado in 2018.

► Colorado has a submarine!

► Colorado’s economy looks to be in pretty good shape heading into 2017.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Candidates seeking to be the new chair of the Democratic National Committee convened in Denver over the weekend. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean removed his name from consideration during the meetings.

► Sorry, Steve House, but you’re not going to be Governor of Colorado. 

ICYMI

► The Denver Broncos remain in the hunt for the playoffs after a boring-as-hell 20-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. If you know anybody who can play running back, you might want to call the Broncos with a recommendation.

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