February 01, 2017 11:31 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Wednesday (February 1)

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• by: Colorado Pols

You wanna march? Let’s march on that damn groundhog tomorrow so that we can hurry up and get to Spring. 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…

► Rules? Rules?!? We don’t need no stinking rules! Republicans in the U.S. Senate have decided to abandon rules and decorum and all that crap so that they can hurry up and ram through appointments for Donald Trump’s Cabinet. Republican leaders are trying hard to blame Democrats for this mess, conveniently ignoring the fact that the GOP started well down this road last year when it refused to hold hearings for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.

From Politico:

Democrats said they were boycotting the confirmation proceedings because of concerns that Price and Mnuchin had misled the committee, and that the nominees needed to provide more information.

Republicans slammed Democrats as being obstructionists and downplayed their concerns with the nominees.

► As expected, President Trump on Tuesday nominated Colorado Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) managed to squeeze in a meeting with Gorsuch at his office this morning in Washington D.C. — something Gardner refused to do for Obama nominee Merrick Garland in 2016.

For Senate Republicans, Gorsuch represents something of a reward for their 2016 efforts at preventing Garland from donning the black robes of a Supreme Court Justice. The Denver Post has more reaction from Colorado officials.

► Republican legislators in Colorado are trying to repeal Colorado’s health insurance marketplace at the same time that Connect for Health Colorado is seeing a record surge in people signing up for coverage. A large crowd gathered at the State Capitol on Tuesday to speak out against GOP efforts to dismantle the state health exchange.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, doesn’t seem to have much support behind her as she tries to assuage fears that she is absolutely unqualified for the job. As the Denver Post reports, DeVos can only manage to get mixed reviews from charter school advocates in Colorado. DeVos probably does have the support of plagiarists, however.

Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) voted ‘NO’ on the DeVos nomination on Tuesday in the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee, though she passed this test on a 12-11 partisan vote.

► Republicans are fuming about leaks from last week’s GOP retreat in Philadelphia. As the Washington Post reports:

A person secretly recorded closed sessions on national security and health care that were attended by many dozens of GOP lawmakers. They had gathered for a private discussion of some of the thorniest legislative issues of the moment, as well as a question-and-answer session with Vice President Mike Pence.

The recordings were anonymously emailed that night to reporters for The Washington Post and other news outlets that published stories exposing qualms inside the GOP over the party’s plans to roll back the Democratic health-care overhaul and a looming debate between defense hawks and advocates of fiscal rectitude. Pence, meanwhile, made news by committing to pursue an investigation into unfounded accusations of widespread voter fraud…

…Top congressional leaders, meanwhile, have been forced to reassure their colleagues that their private deliberations will remain that way.

In defense of law enforcement officials, it has become awfully difficult to determine the imposters from the public servants anymore.

► Congressional Republicans continue to move forward in efforts to sell off public lands.

► State Rep. Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs) is pushing legislation that is nothing short of asinine.

► Only one member of Colorado’s Congressional delegation is an unabashed supporter of Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban. If you had Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) in your office pool, then you’re a winner!

► The State House  passed a resolution on Tuesday condemning Trump’s immigration travel ban policy. As the Denver Post reports:

Declaring the United States a nation of immigrants and a refuge for asylum-seekers, the Democrat-controlled Colorado House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution denouncing President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing a travel ban on several countries and urging its repeal…

…Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, urged his caucus to vote no on the resolution, wryly noting that if Trump was trying to ban Muslims as his critics claim, it was a “laughable” effort, because most Muslim countries were not on the list.

Very witty, young Neville.

► Cherry Creek School District is considering changing start times for the 2017-18 school year so that kids don’t have to stumble into class before the sun comes up.

► Constituents of Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez) descended on his Durango office on Tuesday to voice concerns about issues such as potential cuts to the Affordable Care Act.

► You suck, online ticket “convenience fees.”

► Ernest Luning of the Colorado Statesman reports on the release of an annual conservation poll:

By more than three-to-one, voters across seven states said they prefer that the Trump administration protects water, air quality, wildlife and access for recreation on public lands rather than prioritize producing more domestic energy by making more public lands available for oil and gas drilling.

The Colorado College State of the Rockies Project’s Conservation in the West Poll surveyed voters in seven Western states — Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The bipartisan poll was conducted jointly by Republican pollster Lori Weigel of Public Opinion Strategies and Democratic pollster Dave Metz of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates. It’s the seventh consecutive year Colorado College has polled westerners on public lands and conservation issues.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► Parents and teachers in Jefferson County are worried about budget problems that could force the closure of at least five different schools.

► David Leonhardt of the New York Times explains why Democrats should oppose the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court: Stand up to bullies.

ICYMI

► Congratulations to all of Colorado’s high school athletes signing National Letters of Intent to play college sports today.

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