April 21, 2015 10:39 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (April 21)

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• by: Colorado Pols

We’ve been up early celebrating 4/21. 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).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► The U.S. Senate may finally get around to voting on President Obama’s nomination of Loretta Lynch as Attorney General. If you had “five months” in the pool for “How long will it take for Republicans to approve a new Attorney General?” you might win some money.

► Look on the bright side, Rep. Ken Buck. You almost made it four whole months in D.C. without breaking the law. Don’t forget, Polsters: You read it here first.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► The State House is still trying to find funding for a program that provides contraception to teenagers because, you know, IT WORKS. But as Peter Marcus of the Durango Herald reports, even bipartisan support in the House may not be enough to get it through the Senate:

Co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Don Coram of Montrose, the measure passed 37-26 in the Democratic-controlled House, with Republican Rep. J. Paul Brown of Ignacio also supporting the measure.

House Bill 1194 now faces an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The legislation would provide $5 million to continue the Colorado Family Planning Initiative program that health officials say lowered the teen birth rate in Colorado by an impressive 40 percent [Pols emphasis]…

…Coram added, “It’s one of those situations where if you do not believe in abortion … if stopping a bleeding heart is really your problem, then if you can actually prevent that egg from being fertilized, that saves abortions.”

Brown agreed, adding, “Rep. Coram convinced me that it saves babies, it saves money.” [Pols emphasis]

This is not a real litmus test, but perhaps it should be: If this legislation even makes sense to Rep. J. Paul Brown, who once claimed to have punched a bear, then WTF? Senate Republicans have absolutely no excuse for voting against HB-1194.

► Now I’m going to read you a couple of names…ah, screw it. Just press ‘1’ if you’ve had enough of Sen. Laura Waters Woods.

► The Denver Post seems to be running into a bit of inconsistency when it comes to writing editorials about Personhood. Of course, the editorial board now consists of two people and a stapler after so much turnover at the newspaper.

► Colorado officials are increasingly speaking out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal proposed in Congress.

► Yeah, high school can get pretty boring this time of year. But at least you didn’t have to listen to Sen. Michael Bennet for an hour (we’re joking, relax).

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► What’s the first rule of holes? All together now: “STOP DIGGING!” If nothing else, DO NOT claim that your beliefs are being persecuted because you were so open about your own bigotry. Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post found a Douglas County family that totally supports discrimination, so, there’s that.

► A “business-backed ballot reform bill” is still alive in the state legislature. We support alliteration wholeheartedly.

► There’s a public meeting in Broomfield tonight about proposed toll road changes to Hwy 36. Surely there are better ideas for keeping Boulderites out of Denver.

► See, this is what happens when you preach “abstinence” as the only acceptable public message on sexual education: You get “Conservative scholars” who get all confused about where babies come from. As the Washington Post reports:

As the Supreme Court prepares to take up same-sex marriage next week, conservative scholars have produced a last-ditch argument to keep the scourge of homosexual unions from spreading across the land: Gay marriage kills.

They’re saying that legalizing same-sex marriage will cause 900,000 abortions.

The logic is about as obvious as if they had alleged that raising the minimum wage would increase the frequency of hurricanes. If anything, you’d think that more same-sex marriages would mean more adoptions.

Try not to shake your head too hard — you don’t want to cause a neck injury. Or a tornado.

ICYMI

► The Denver Post lists its endorsements for the Denver Municipal races. Election Day is May 5, but most Denver voters should already have mail ballots.

► Meanwhile, this may very well be the least helpful “endorsement” story we’ve ever read. 

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