February 28, 2019 09:39 AM UTC
Get More Smarter on Thursday (February 28)
1 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
And that will do it for February. It’s time to “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…
► President Trump’s second in-person meeting with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un turned out to be about as productive as hunting for Bigfoot. From the Washington Post:
Two days of soaring rhetoric and over-the-top flattery between President Trump and Kim Jong Un could not bridge the gap on an issue that has plagued U.S. negotiators for months: the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on the impoverished rogue state.
Trump said Thursday that North Korea’s demand for full sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization was the main impediment to reaching an agreement on dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic programs, a centerpiece of the president’s foreign policy..
“Basically they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that,” Trump told reporters at a news conference in Vietnam that capped a two-day summit. “You always have to be prepared to walk.”
The abrupt conclusion of the talks on Thursday without a future meeting date or a plan to move forward exposed the vulnerabilities of relying on the personal rapport of Trump and Kim to overcome disputes that faceless negotiators had been stuck on for eight months following the two leaders’ first summit in Singapore.
Last summer Trump boasted that North Korea was no longer a “nuclear threat” after his first in-person meeting with the North Korean dictator. Now, a second meeting has produced bupkis. The “Negotiator-in-Chief” strikes again!
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma), who fancies himself to be an expert on North Korea but generally takes his cues from the President, issued a lengthy nothingburger statement following the end of the latest round of “negotiations.” Remember this headline from The Weekly Standard a little more than a year ago:
Is Gardner giving Trump bad advice, or is Trump just not paying any attention to Colorado’s junior Senator? The answer might be: Yes.
► President Trump’s former personal attorney and “fixer,” Michael Cohen, testified publicly before Congress on Wednesday regarding a slew of issues related to Trump. The New York Times says Cohen depicted a life “more like ‘The Sopranos’ than “The Apprentice.'” Here’s more from CNN:
Wednesday’s hearing, which played out amid fiercely partisan scenes, contained revelations that hinted at future and deeper legal exposure for the President. Most notably, Cohen produced a personal check for $35,000 that Trump signed while in office that appears to show that the President reimbursed him for hush payments he made to women who claimed affairs with the then-GOP nominee.
Cohen has already admitted paying off the women in an infringement of campaign finance law. If it is proved that Trump — who has denied having affairs with the women — knew he was breaking the law, the President could be in serious trouble, even after he leaves office.
Cohen, a former confidant turned accuser, also revealed that prosecutors in New York were probing Trump’s organization for alleged illegality in a previously unpublicized case, underscoring the potential that the biggest threat to the President may come not from special counsel Robert Mueller but from the hard-charging US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
“I think it’s ominous news for the President,” said former southern district prosecutor Elie Honig on CNN.
“Ominous news.” Is there any other type of news when it comes to President Trump?
CNN’s Chris Cillizza looks at the “Winners and Losers” from Wednesday’s hearing. Right-wing Republicans generally ended up in the latter category. Take a look at this part about Republican Rep. Mark Meadows:
The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus was out for blood in the hearing; he could barely contain his anger and contempt for Cohen every time he spoke. The stunt of bringing Lynne Patton, a longtime African-American employee of the Trump organization (and now a member of the administration) to stand behind him as a prop to prove that Trump isn’t racist was a very, very bad idea.
D’oh! D’oh! D’oh!
► A State Senate committee will hear testimony this afternoon on House Bill 19-1032, the sex education bill that has right-wingers in a tizzy thanks to a steady stream of misinformation from a handful of extremist interest groups. We have one humble request for those on the right who will be returning to the Capitol to testify today: Can we go ahead and skip the anal fisting explanations?
Get even more smarter after the jump…
IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…
► Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) kicked off his 2020 re-election campaign in Washington D.C. on Wednesday with a high-dollar luncheon fundraising event.
► The League of Conservation Voters released its 2018 Congressional scorecard on Wednesday. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) received a 100% score from LCV, while Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) managed a mere 7%.
► Marshall Zelinger of 9News explains the concept of “reinsurance,” which is set to become a hot topic in the Colorado legislature:
Reinsurance is essentially insurance for insurance companies. It exists in eight other states: Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Wisconsin and Maine.
“I don’t think I met a single person anywhere in the state, in my campaign for Governor, that said I’m paying too little on health care,” Polis said at a news conference on Wednesday just before a reinsurance bill was to be debated at the State Capitol. “Reinsurance has been proven to bring down rates.”…
So how does providing insurance for insurance companies save you money on your health care?
A group of bipartisan lawmakers pushing the bill believes that reinsurance will get insurance companies to offer lower premiums to consumers, knowing that they will still get paid for high claims through a new funding mechanism that would protect insurance companies.
► Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) voted NO on a House measure Tuesday intended to reject President Trump’s emergency declaration for border wall money. But as Marianne Goodland reports for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, Colorado’s own Brick Tamland isn’t particularly comfortable about Trump’s plans:
A day before U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn voted against a measure to block President Donald Trump’s move to divert funds from military projects to pay for border-wall construction, the Colorado Springs Republican sent a letter to the Pentagon, raising concerns about redirecting military funds.
Lamborn was among the 182 Republicans who voted Tuesday against U.S. House Joint Resolution 46. That resolution was an attempt to terminate the national emergency declared by Trump on Feb. 15. The measure passed the House by a 245-182 vote, with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats in favor, and moves on the GOP-led Senate.
► Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) on Wednesday chaired a hearing in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about a nationwide measles outbreak. Meanwhile, an ICE detention facility in Aurora has confirmed a case of the “mumps.”
► Colorado Public Radio takes a look at preparations by former Gov. John Hickenlooper as he nears a likely announcement for President in 2020.
► Governor Jared Polis wants Colorado to be a hub for blockchain innovation.
► As Jesse Paul reports for the Colorado Sun, so-called “red flag” gun safety legislation is likely to make it through the state legislature to the desk of Gov. Polis. The editorial board of The Denver Post supports these efforts:
“You don’t ever know if you’re going to save a life, but why would we not try to do something? If we aren’t going to try to make the system better, then why are we even talking?” Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock asked rhetorically, sharing our frustration at the opposition to this bill…
…Like Spurlock, we don’t know for sure that a “red flag” law like this would have stopped tragedies like those that occurred in an Aurora movie theater in 2012, an Arapahoe High School in 2013, a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood in 2015, a Centennial neighborhood in 2016, or an apartment complex in Douglas County in 2017.
But we’re willing to try something now that could have worked then.
► Two State Senators in Colorado are promoting legislation to help ensure “net neutrality” in our state.
► The Colorado Springs City Council is giving away $40 million in tax breaks for what they claim will lead to $4 billion in economic growth over the next 25 years.
Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► Don’t neglect the space bar.
► The stupid…it burns.
► More reaction from Michael Cohen’s testimony on Wednesday:
ICYMI
► We still miss you, Rocky Mountain News.
► Politico examines plans by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to gain majority control in 2020.
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Korean War update: The armistice continues.