October 11, 2021 11:05 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (Oct. 11)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Happy Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day! Let’s 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 an audio learner, check out The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter. 

CORONAVIRUS INFO…

*Colorado Coronavirus info:
CDPHE Coronavirus website 

*Daily Coronavirus numbers in Colorado:
http://covid19.colorado.gov

*How you can help in Colorado:
COVRN.com

*Locate a COVID-19 testing site in Colorado:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment 

► The Associated Press looks ahead to how Congress may finish out the year on the big issue regarding the debt ceiling:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blinked last week. And then he said he wouldn’t blink again.

McConnell said since summer that Republicans wouldn’t supply the votes majority Democrats needed to extend the federal debt limit. But Thursday night, 11 Republicans including McConnell joined Democrats in narrowly overcoming a procedural hurdle so the Senate could subsequently approve $480 billion in fresh borrowing.

House passage, expected Tuesday, would stave off until December a first-ever federal default that could disrupt the global economy, delay government checks to Social Security recipients and others and unleash voters’ wrath on lawmakers.

But the partisan dispute will resume in two months.

Republicans want Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own to underscore their argument that Biden’s multitrillion-dollar social and environment agenda is unaffordable. Democrats want Republicans to put their imprint on the borrowing limit increase, noting that the $28 trillion national debt is for unpaid bills already incurred, including $7 trillion under former President Donald Trump.

By enabling a two-month reprieve on the fight, McConnell angered Republicans who wanted a tougher stance against Democrats including Trump, still an intimidating force in the GOP. Even usual McConnell ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called it “complete capitulation.”

Everybody loves alliteration.

► Republican gubernatorial candidate Hiedi Heidi Ganahl held some sort of online interview thing with wacko right-wing bluster machine Dennis Prager over the weekend (if you’re not familiar with Prager, this will give you some idea of what to expect). Ganahl’s campaign is still having trouble with some of the important details of a statewide contest, such as SPELLING YOUR CANDIDATE’S NAME CORRECTLY:

The Colorado Democratic Party sent out a press release today with more information on Ganahl’s Prager event:

A few short weeks before the widely expected CDC approval of the COVID vaccine for 5-11 year-olds, Ganahl gave Prager the platform of her gubernatorial campaign to spread dangerous rhetoric about the COVID-19 vaccine. Heidi Ganahl personally kicked off the event by giving Prager the microphone and allowing him to claim it was “child abuse” to give children the COVID-19 vaccine, despite CDC recommendations. Prager also told people in the audience the vaccine was “not good for you” if you had already been infected with COVID-19, disregarding the advice of public health experts, again. The U.S. Surgeon General described COVID misinformation an “urgent threat” and its proliferation a major hindrance towards ending the pandemic.

Prager went on to call schools “poison factories” and praise failed California Republican gubernatorial nominee, Larry Elder. Giving right wing extremists a platform for dangerous misinformation is not new for Ganahl. Prager is yet another addition to the growing list of extremists Ganahl has surrounded herself with such as John Eastman and Lauren Boebert — and we can expect to see more as her campaign continues. [Pols emphasis]

In other Ganahl-related news, the GOP gubernatorial hopeful is trying to distance herself from Republican Party Chair Kristi Burton Brown, whose leadership of a militia group is getting a lot of attention. Check out “The Daily” podcast from The New York Times for more on KBB and right-wing conspiracist Joe Oltmann.

► Colorado Newsline reports on efforts by Rep. Jason Crow (D-Aurora) to overhaul how we conduct background checks for gun purchases.

Click below to keep learning stuff…

And Now, More Words…

► Republicans have found yet another guy willing to invest some of his own money in a fruitless campaign for U.S. Senate. Welcome Joe O’Dea (no, we have no idea who that is, either), and thanks for being GOP consultant Josh Penry’s latest meal ticket.

► Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper are both supportive of efforts to reform immigration policy in the United States…though neither are articulating much in the way of specific ideas.

► A new AP/NORC poll shows that most Americans have significant concerns about cyberhacking, particularly when it comes to efforts out of China and Russia.

► Bears Ears cheers!

► The Colorado Sun reports on the Colorado Supreme Court hearings related to the new congressional redistricting map.

► Two prominent Republicans have an interesting message for voters in 2022 as they attempt to claw back control of their party from Donald Trump. From The New York Times:

► Fox 31 Denver notes that Colorado’s voter registration numbers continue to give an advantage to Democrats.

► POLITICO looks at the campaign of former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke as he tries to claw his way back into Congress, via Montana, while spending the majority of his time IN CALIFORNIA.

► The Denver Post looks at how a law intended to help residents of mobile home parks may not be working as well as its supporters had hoped.

► As The Colorado Times Recorder explains, former Republican DA George Brauchler is waffling on his Trump bonafides.

► The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports on the latest legal woes facing Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters:

Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters has 10 days to notify the state that she intends to file a report on donations she is accepting as part of a legal defense fund that she’s actively soliciting, the Colorado Secretary of State ruled Friday.

Responding to a complaint filed by a Grand Junction resident, Luis Lipchak, campaign finance enforcement manager in the Secretary of State’s Office, issued a “Notice of Initial Review and Opportunity to Cure” memo to Peters, saying she has until Oct. 18 to comply with Colorado laws governing legal defense funds.

Such funds are permissible, but only if elected officials report contributions and expenditures, don’t accept money from registered lobbyists, and report fund activity in a timely manner, Lipchak wrote.

“Respondent (Peters) is not currently an active candidate … nor is there an active candidate committee,” Lipchak wrote. “However, respondent has a campaign website soliciting contributions through a donation button. The (SOS) division makes the initial determination that complainant identified one or more potential violations of Colorado campaign finance laws.”

► Florida teachers are quitting their jobs at a rapid rate.

► COVID-19 hospitalizations in Colorado are trending in the wrong direction.

Say What, Now?

Again, we have absolutely NO IDEA what Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert is complaining about today. Democrats are…anti-parent? [P.S. The word you’re looking for is “altogether.”] 

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

► The Washington Post looks at where in the United States that “Columbus Day” is still a thing.

► You’re going to want to avoid attempting to travel on Southwest Airlines for awhile.

► Dozens of anti-vaxxers rallied with each other in Denver over the weekend.

ICYMI

► Colorado’s “independent” redistricting process is looking much less “independent” as the legislative commission nears an endpoint.

► The battle for the 2022 Republican Senate nomination is an all-out race to the bottom. 

► This week on The Get More Smarter Podcast, hosts Jason Bane and Ian Silverii interview Evan Wyloge of The Colorado Springs Gazette for a in-depth look at the 2021 redistricting process in Colorado.

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