June 18, 2015 11:32 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (June 18)

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• by: Colorado Pols

We’ll take the heat over the rain, thank you very much. 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…

► Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has moved back to the “denial stage” of her controversy surrounding a coup attempt against State Republican Party Chair Steve House. It’s a little late to go that route, however; denial will not make Cynthia-gate go away. Here’s a good visual representation of Coffman’s problems.

► Former Congressman Tom Tancredo, meanwhile, appears to be feeling a little lonely sitting underneath the proverbial bus with Coffman and Pueblo County GOP Chair Becky Mizel. Tancredo says now that there were numerous Republican lawmakers who were aware of the plot to overthrow House, just three months into his tenure as Party Chair.

► Police have a suspect in custody following the killing of 9 people at a church in Charleston, SC on Wednesday. The attack claimed the life of a state senator, among others, and appears to be racially-motivated. President Obama made some emotional remarks about the shootings and about gun violence in general.

The president said that the FBI is on the ground and will send more agents to assist with the investigation. He cited a statement by Attorney General Loretta Lynch classifying the effort as a hate crime investigation. But though he acknowledged many facts are not yet known, he also said that insufficient gun laws were partially to blame.

“We don’t have all the facts, but we do know that once again innocent people were killed in part because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun,” he continued. “Now is the time for mourning and for healing, but let’s be clear: At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency.” [Pols emphasis]

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Janet Buckner, the widow of former Rep. John Buckner, says she will run for House District 40 because that’s what her husband would have wanted. Janet Buckner’s candidacy all but ensures that Democrats will not have to deal with a primary battle next June. A Democratic vacancy will meet on June 25th to make the move official.

► Pope Francis says that God is not happy about climate change and global warming. As the New York Times reports:

Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action.

The vision that Francis outlined in the 184-page encyclical is sweeping in ambition and scope: He described a relentless exploitation and destruction of the environment, for which he blamed apathy, the reckless pursuit of profits, excessive faith in technology and political shortsightedness. The most vulnerable victims are the world’s poorest people, he declared, who are being dislocated and disregarded.

The first pope from the developing world, Francis, an Argentine, used the encyclical — titled “Laudato Si’,” or “Praise Be to You” — to highlight the crisis posed by climate change. He placed most of the blame on fossil fuels and human activity while warning of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequence for all of us” if swift action is not taken. Developed, industrialized countries were mostly responsible, he said, and were obligated to help poorer nations confront the crisis.

Okay, climate change deniers. Your move.

► A Senate subcommittee gave initial approval for additional funding to fight wildfires.

► A coalition of Republicans business groups are lobbying Gov. John Hickenlooper to not choose University of Colorado law professor Melissa Hart to fill a Colorado Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Gregory Hobbs.

► So long, Alexander Hamilton. The U.S. Treasury Department announced that Hamilton’s mug will no longer appear on the $10 bill in 2020; the Treasury Department is seeking public input about swapping Hamilton with a likeness of a prominent American woman.

► Congressional Republicans are frantically trying to figure out how to respond if the Supreme Court invalidates significant sections of Obamacare. A ruling on King v. Burwell could come as soon as today.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► President Obama’s trade proposal has been resurrected by Republicans in the U.S. House.

► Layoffs are coming to the Wall Street Journal.

ICYMI

► Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is the bizarro Robin Hood of our time.

► Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams is promoting a new initiative aimed at trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. 

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