February 21, 2017 12:59 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (February 21)

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• by: Colorado Pols

You have only one shopping day left until George Washington’s birthday. Now, let’s see if we can’t 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 a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Congress is taking a break for its annual President’s Day Recess, but that doesn’t necessarily mean elected officials such as Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) are likely to make themselves available to constituents. As the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports, local residents are so incensed with Gardner’s inaccessibility that they are planning their own town hall meeting as protest. The Denver Post has more on Friday’s town hall meeting (sans Gardner):

Organizers invited U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, who declined, but Farnan said it’s important to hold it anyway so that residents can share their ideas and demonstrate that town halls still matter.

“You should be standing in front of your constituents and hear what they have to say as long as it’s civil and respectful,” Farnan said.

Aides to Gardner said the Republican senator has meetings this week with the Colorado Space Coalition, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Colorado Health Care Association — to name a few — but no public forums. [Pols emphasis]

But they defended his outreach efforts and noted his past use of telephone town halls, a tool that has become an increasingly popular substitute on Capitol Hill.

You may not have any real access to your own U.S. Senator, but if you’re lucky, you might get invited to listen to him talk on the telephone! That’s pretty much the same, right?

Unfortunately for Sen. Gardner, this routine is wearing thin across the state. In the meantime, Colorado residents show no sign of letting up on demonstrations and protests.

► Before leaving Washington D.C. last week, House Republicans released a vague outline of a proposal about what to do with Obamacare if they end up repealing the health care law. On Monday, former South Carolina governor and current Rep. Mark Sanford admitted in a television interview that he could not guarantee that the Republican health care plan would allow all Americans to keep their current health insurance coverage.

As The Hill explains, Republicans may have a hard time convincing constituents that this vague new plan is even half-baked.

► We all know that campaign finance loopholes are big enough to accommodate whatever metaphor you prefer, but some paid campaigns are so brazenly sketchy that it’s hard to believe they could exist. For example, this barrage of advertisements promoting Walker Stapleton’s campaign for Governor apparent interest in term limits. The intent is so obvious that even Republican-aligned groups like Compass Colorado can’t help but applaud the name recognition boost for Stapleton.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Apparently Heaven has a policy in place for immigrants, or something. Bob Beauprez is involved…naturally.

► President Trump is averaging about four false claims for every day he has been in the White House. As “The Fix” explains:

Donald Trump has been president for all or part of 33 days. He has averaged four falsehoods or misleading statements a day(!) during that time. There hasn’t been a single day of Trump’s presidency where he has said nothing false or misleading.

That data, which comes from a terrific new project from the Post’s Fact Checker documenting Trump’s statements over his 100 days, is stunning.

► Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) says he has had a number of “great conversations” with President Trump. Uh, okay.

► Where is Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora)? Who knows! But we can tell you who he isn’t meeting with this week…

► According to a new poll, 3 in 10 Republicans in the U.S. have a favorable view of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The poll does not indicate what percentage of these respondents were told that they were supposed to answer favorably.

► Huge crowds turn out in Denver in support of an immigrant woman who is taking sanctuary in a Denver-area church in order to avoid deportation. The Trump administration, meanwhile, says it would sure like to prevent people from panicking about new immigration policies.

► If you think the White House is dysfunctional, you should visit Breitbart headquarters.