January 28, 2016 10:55 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (Jan. 28)

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• by: Colorado Pols

With any luck, tonight’s GOP Presidential debate will be the last time we have to listen to at least half the candidates. To Iowa…and beyond!!! 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…

► Colorado Democrats are again trying to push legislation on equal pay for women. No, this is not the mid-20th Century. As Joey Bunch reports for the Denver Post:

Friday is the seventh anniversary of President Obama signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, so Thursday Colorado Democrats will renew efforts on equal pay by unveiling two bills on the issue…

…Neither of the bills involve Colorado’s Equal Pay Commission, which was not renewed last year after Republicans argued that the commission had had a hard time scheduling meetings and produced little or no substantive work in its previous eight years.

A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last year indicated Colorado women make 77.9 percent of what men receive in weekly wages, below the 82.1 percent national gender gap average. The gap for minorities is even greater, proponents argue.

In response, Republicans will argue something about “businesses have every right to pay men more money than women because, freedom, or something.”

► We’re still kinda partial to “Frackapalooza.”

► Our friends at “The Fix” think they know the real reason that Donald Trump is skipping tonight’s final pre-Iowa caucus Presidential debate in Des Moines. The first reason — that Trump is sick of debating — is just a piece of the story. The primary reason Trump won’t debate tonight is because he looks stronger by staying away:

For Trump then another debate this close to the Iowa caucuses has almost no upside. His attacks on Ted Cruz are working. All of the second tier candidates are either attacking each other or Cruz. Thousands of people are coming to every one of his rallies — including the one he will hold tonight in Iowa while his rivals debate.  He is getting wall-to-wall media coverage and will continue to do so.

What Trump wants to do then is run out the clock. Take as few risks as possible between now and Monday. He and his campaign know that if he wins the Iowa caucuses, he will almost certainly cruise in the New Hampshire primary eight days later. Win those first two states and Trump starts to look (even more) like a juggernaut for the Republican nomination.

On the other hand, perhaps Trump just wants to hear more from Jim Gilmore.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

► Republican State Rep. JoAnn Windholz won’t face a recall effort over her disgusting 2015 comments on the Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado Springs. Instead, pro-choice groups will just let Windholz’s own words make the case against her re-election bid.

► It’s quite possible that Republican Rep. Kevin Priola didn’t even realize the irony in his actions this week. As we wrote yesterday, Priola voted “NO” in committee on a Parental Leave bill intended to allow parents to be more engaged in their children’s lives without fear of losing their job. The vote was delayed, however, because Priola had to leave early to take one of his children to the doctor.

► State Sen. Tim Neville (R-Jefferson County) continues to shepherd legislation intended to allow Coloradans to carry concealed weapons without a permit. This is a stupid bill with a stupid rationale, but it will certainly help Neville in his campaign to win the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate this year.