President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%↑
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd
(D) Adam Frisch
52%↑
48%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
52%↑
48%↓
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
January 06, 2011 04:46 PM UTC
96 Comments
http://www.chieftain.com/news/…
In response:
Two things give me pause: The Department of Revenue and Colorado’s history with failed computer systems.
Dor and OIT. When they combine forces, we reach new lows in mediocrity. Here’s hoping Hick can find competent people to replace the ding-dongs presently there.
And to Sal Pace, the primary focus should be on competence. If you can run it competently in Pueblo – great. But it’s not acceptable to keep it in Pueblo “for the jobs” if it’s going to be an ongoing clusterfuck.
In one sentence you talk about how DoR is poorly run, and in the next you concur with the DoR director’s assessment of the situation at the site in Pueblo. Which is it?
My comment was in agreement with Ellie that DOR and OIT are both disasters. Pueblo is probably a mess, but having DOR & OIT join up to “fix” it means we’re probably facing another CBMS financial sinkhole.
going off of what someone you define as a “ding-dong” says is probably not the best way to go.
That’s Pace’s district
The Colorado Division of Unemployment within the Dept. of Labor gets my vote for worst agency. They audit nearly every Colorado business for the purpose of assessing only about $100 for anyone they deem to be an employee (I’d love to see the cost/benefit on those audits); they assess penalties for failure to file a return that has no taxes due; they file liens for as little as $50 or $100 for those businesses that didn’t file a zero tax return (I’d love to see the cost/benefit on those liens); and, they have auditors who state their belief that it is not possible for a Colorado business to have subcontractors.
Republican and Democratic legislators should look into this agency. It seems ripe for budget cutting.
I filed for unemployment benefits in December a year ago, after being told by a workforce center employee an estimation of what my benefits would be. I received at least four Notices of Decision in January and February of 2010 which seemed to be contradictory, but one notice clearly indicated my eligibility. I filed my continued claim timely, every other week, until mid-April when I was finally told I was eligible for nothing!
I’m sure there are other stunning stories out there . . .
I can’t embed it, but it’s from the Daily Show absolutely humiliating the idiot SF City Councilman that pushed through the ban on toys in Happy Meals.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/wa…
“idiot” and “S.F. Councilmember”.
But your use of anything SF in exactly the same way Rush Limbaugh would use it reinforces, in my mind, that you have more R in your political DNA than D.
conservative has no heart
liberal has no brain
next…
From KKTV
This certainly opens her up to accusations that she was trying to change how things looked in order to avoid charges. And isn’t supposed to be dangerous to move an accident victim without properly trained medical personnel?
If they had damage to their spine that could cause permanent paralysis. Putting her public image before the fundamental health of her grandchild shows very skewed priorities.
The assumption that anyone knew her state of mind after an accident is inaccurate. I have been in accidents. I wish to hell I had not. (I have taken the AARP safe driving and it has been almost 20 years since my last accident), But your mind goes blank and you do stupid things. People who survive an initial accident are sometimes killed because they are subsequently run over by oncoming traffic.
Let us not do another pileon, until the Grand Jury delivers its verdict.
I am correct that if Williams resigns her seat, the dems will appoint another dem so the Senate will not be lost.
this is being reported like it’s going to be the nail in her coffin, but I’m not convinced the grand jury will indict her based purely on this reason. It doesn’t look good, though.
And you’re also correct that a vacancy committee would designate her replacement in the event that she does resign, but it wouldn’t have an effect on the majority in the State Senate, even if it was a special election, because the senate Democrats hold a four seat majority.
5 seat majority.
What could be so important about getting kids in jammies that it couldn’t wait until she could pull over? Why does she remember nothing to investigators while apparently having shared details with a friend a day after the incident? What’s the deal with not, as of yet, producing proof of insurance? It just gets worse every time a new story appears and its the drip, drip, drip that does it.
I’m, not passing any judgements yet on any of these questions. Maybe she tried to talk her son out of the lunacy and he wouldn’t listen. Maybe she only repeated to her friend things that were told to her but that she didn’t really remember. I seem to recall that when you don’t have proof of insurance on you, you are usually asked to produce it at your court appearance. But Whatever the answers may be, it’s too many drips.
I don’t think Williams political career can survive this, which is the least of it since there was a fatality involved. And, fair or not, hiring a celebrity defender as notorious as Lane sends a definite message that you know you are in deep, deep trouble. Sorry, but Susan’s loyal defenders (and from what I understand about her she deserves such friends) will probably be disappointed in the outcome for her.
instead of judging whether or not something was criminal or not (only a grand jury in TX, and possibly a judge and trial jury gets to say)…
I agree that it is a huge problem for her in terms of credibility. Her like party colleagues have started passing judgement and are recommending resignation; I know of at least two lobbyists looking for new sponsors. That’s going to be pretty tough to come back from. Even if she were cleared of everything and the victim’s family doesn’t sue. After all, it’s not like she’s a truck driver fighting to keep her license. Her business is, arguably, credibility. Best case she’s a hypocrite. Best. No matter how much people like her or don’t, the damage’s been done.
You never, ever move an injured person unless they are in immediate danger where they are at. That’s why you see injured football players laying on the ground for long periods of time with trainers and medical personal attending to them checking out any possibilities of spinal or other neurological damages.
This is a tragic incident in which a young mother to be lost her life and there were other serious injuries. I personally know Sen. Williams and hopefully drugs, alcohol, or cell phone distractions are not in play here. But at a minimum, she is negligent for what happened and should be held accountable with the appropriate charges.
Not surprising she has hired David Lane. She has potentially serious legal problems and a PR problem as well.
And I’m so sad about the young mom.
However – I wouldn’t ever inject politics into something like this. I think for me the only concern I have is that she might somehow not get in trouble for her responsibility in this (and it’s a tragic accident) simply because she’s powerful.
Beyond that, I’d have a hard time assuming she’d have to suffer politically for being in a horrible accident, even if she were at fault.
This is going to a grand jury for charges.
I guess it just made me feel better about myself anyway that I didn’t immediately default to ‘Oh SWEET! She’s going to have to resign!’. Especially after I’d read a couple of comments right after this first happened.
It’s a really sad thing. The image of her running around the scene to find a kid that had been ejected is just chilling.
on what kind of charges (if any) she is indicted on by the grand jury. If it’s just a misdemeanor traffic violation, she’ll probably stay in her seat.
If she’s indicted on a felony, though, she could face up to ten years in prison. As much as I appreciate the kindness of LB’s comment, I think there should probably be political consequences for that. But like dwyer said above, let’s wait to go into chattering class mode on this one until we get the grand jury’s verdict.
It’s just a horribly sad story all around.
A grand jury indictment just means that there’s enough evidence to go to trial, right? It’s an accusation, not a conviction. Maybe it’s appropriate to wait for a conviction before demanding somebody resign?
As for moving the child, unless you’ve taken a first aid class, it’s quite likely that you’re unfamiliar with the notion that you’re not supposed to move victims. And it remains to be seen whether she did so to avoid the appearance of wrongdoing or to “protect her image” or because it seemed like the best thing to do for the child.
Williams and Brandon Schaffer will meet soon, and he indicated to the Prophet that they would announce what she was going to do after that meeting.
And you’re absolutely right, ajb. Nobody knows how they’re going to react in that situation.
In any case, I’m no lawyer, but I’m having trouble seeing how her putting him back in the car seat is in any way connected to her being negligent in the accident that resulted in the death of Ms. Gomez. Unless they’re saying that the action of moving the child back is a different potential charge, but I haven’t seen anyone saying that.
also seem the most obvious?
Wouldn’t you pick an infant up off the hard, cold ground and put him in a warm seat and belt him in so you knew he was safe while you checked on everybody else? This isn’t rocket science logic here–it’s what anybody would do.
not an infant, but your point is valid. If that’s my kid on the ground, I’m going to pick him up and move him somewhere safe.
My point wasn’t necessarily about her state of mind, but rather the fact that it has nothing to do with the aspect of the case that is the most relevant, which is the death of Ms. Gomez.
let’s just wait for all the facts to come in before we pile on and start speculating.
Agreed that the most relevant points here are Ms. Gomez and now a baby that will grow up without a mother. The rest is just white noise right now.
I think that ship has sailed, but I’m going to cut it out now.
I think I would do the same thing. Moving an injured victim is an unknown risk. Getting a small child out of harm’s way to prevent further injury is the priority. Sounds like she made a good call.
There’s little question of her negligence since she crossed into oncoming traffic. The extent of any charges will then hinge on why that happened.
Agreed that this shouldn’t be politicized. But it inevitably will be, not because of the accident but the perception Sen. Williams is being disingenuous in her actions.
The extent she is judged on that perception by the public (as opposed to what will happen legally) will determine the extent of damage to her political career.
Ted Kennedy legally got off with a slap on the wrist on Chappaquiddick, but the perception surrounding his actions in that incident dogged him for the remainder of his political life.
Kennedy’s actions and Sen. Williams’ are in different universes.
Kennedy’s actions after the accident (leaving the scene of an accident, not reporting the accident until the next day), clearly were culpable and inexcusable on his part and far more serious than anything suggested in Sen. Williams’ case. This is why his nefarious actions left a permanent stain on his political career.
At this point much is conjecture, and it’s best to let the accident investigation proceed without political bias and charges filed, if any, based on the factual allegations as`evidenced by the investigation.
As appropriate in criminal matters, there is an assumption of innocence and the state must prove the essential elements of whatever charge(s) beyond a reasonable doubt.
You have no idea what Sen Williams was or wasn’t thinking after the car crash. To even insinuate that she put her public image before the health of her family is wrong.
She moved her three year old into his car seat. Speaking with someone yesterday, who was an EMT for many more years and has more experience than you in first response, she said it isn’t unusual at all what Sen Williams did.
Quite a while ago, but I’m pretty sure the basics of don’t move someone until you’ve checked for spinal injuries, broken bones, etc. still holds.
As a former EMT you’re correct, you shouldn’t move an injured person until an assessment is done on them. But, you calimed Sen Williams was,
You don’t know, and others don’t either, why she moved her grandchild. Most likely it was out of concern for the child’s safety vs any considerations of her political career.
To me it is “never do that” but that doesn’t mean others might not know.
The child would be in danger no matter what she did. If she moved the toddler to a safe place, she possibly prevented the child from being completely run over by other cars or emergency vehicles. Moving him/her adds risk of injury, but also prevents the risk of a potentially more serious second injury.
When an accident occurs other cars stop, they provide blocking, and they have their flashers on. Maybe the toddler was in a dangerous place and if so, yes moving might be the safer action. But the vast majority of the time traffic is well blocked almost immediately.
Sen. Williams has hired David Lane as her attorney for some reason.
http://blogs.westword.com/late…
We’ll see what he’s able to do on Sen. Williams’ behalf.
But Lane’s reputation for defending the undefendable caused me to pause when I heard he was representing Sen. Williams.
…and the Republican’t Party is dropping it’s campaign pledges left and right!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201…
But wait – they’re going to waste er spend the day today reading the Constitution aloud! I guess The Orange Man thinks this is “Beetlejuice,” and if someone says “liberty” enough times all the country’s problems will just disappear!
http://www.chieftain.com/news/…
about this yesterday.
in one of the diaries about the SD-8 vacancy committee. Ali Hasan said in one of the comments that he was trying to persuade McConnell to join the Democrats. Yeah… Ali… not helping there buddy.
Barking up the wrong tree, Ali, my friend.
is looking for some new blood…or anybody for that matter. Bob might just find himself a soft place to land, after all.
I keep meaning to post this. Last Monday am, boyles had his loyal listeners call in and name their news source and also the sources which they would never trust. To a man, they all claimed that the msm was corrupt and couldn’t be trusted and if it weren’t for Drudge, Rush, World Net and of course, petey, the listeners wouldn’t know the REAL truth about anything.
This went on for four hours. Every ten minutes or so, boyles would say “The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the nation is $3.75 and is expected to go to $4.00 by summer.” Not one caller, as far as I know, questioned that statistic, which is absolutely false. One of the last things boyles said before signing off was: “The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the nation is $3.75 and is expected to go to $4.00 by summer.” He said it as he if were programmed.
It was a fascinating psychological study. Of course, I fear for my country as this is the most popular talk show in that slot, but then you all know that.
The stories just keep coming.
Finish reading dwyer’s entertaining and well written post, and you pop up with the same crap you’ve been throwing out since this happened.
And you weren’t even polite, or smart enough to include your comment with the other ones on this subject–all of which were more thoughtful and topical than yours.
How could he have known the Nigerian-e-mail-backed derivatives market would collapse?
Check this kid out.
That’s amazing . . .
You’re easily entertained . . .
I never knew you were a closeted Hindu . . .
Dirty old man . . .
Wow. That’s alot more content than I’ve come to expect from any of your links . . .
Bite me.
🙂
My Bad. My Ad-blocker hid your entire embeded video or any evidence of a link. So, when I first looked at your post, I saw nothing there except for “Holy Cow. Check this kid out”.
I assumed that you had posted without including your embeded video. Live and learn.
My apologies. Bite Me.
Were you able to watch the video? THis is going to be the first kid turning pro out of middle school.
After I saw Dan’s comments about basketball/hockey, I thought, WTF — am I missing something or is Dan being ironic?
I temporarily switched from Foxfire to Internet Explorer and voila’.
He’s playing BASKETBALL! I expected some Hockey skillz from you….
More time allocated to a kid playing with a ball than is allocated by all the “news” stations in Colorado to explaining significant global events.
This is something to celebrate. USA #1!
(Really, the kid is amazing (in the good way, not in the failed governor candidate way) but is it really THIS “news” worthy?)
This is an open thread. Lighten up. You got something better? Post it.
it’s an open thread, thus I can respond as inappropriately as I choose. 😛
The kid’s amazing, no doubt about it.
But the fact that a “news” program feels it has several minutes of a 22 minute broadcast to devote to this is, well, why I’m so proud to cheer “USA #1!”
Or maybe it was a really bad news day, with loads of downers and they ended with a feel good story. Who know. Would you prefer Russian music videos? 🙂
No kid that good at basketball comes from Colorado. …Except Chauncey.
where this is from, the state of “news” reporting remains deplorable.
MOTR asked me if I had anything better to post. I’m not claiming “better,” just important newsworthy information.
http://www.reuters.com/article…
More relief for struggling billionaires from the new House majority. Once you’ve got yours, they’re going to help ensure that nothing, absolutely nothing, threatens to reduce the value of your holdings.
They said so even before the election. I guess people will be disappointed that they’re as bad as they said they’d be. But I suppose next election the same people will still tell us Republicans are just as interested in solutions as Democrats are.
The GOP has a remarkable knack for pissing off large groups of voters with their narrow-minded intolerance.
I have a vivid memory from 2008 of being cornered at a party by a rabid Republican, Tancredo-loving neighbor who wanted to talk politics. He knew I was a Dem. I tried to duck out, but then he startled me and said he was spending his weekends canvassing for Obama. I was speechless. He went on to say that he had lost his job a few months earlier and that as a hard-working adult who wanted to work, but was unemployed, he realized that the GOP only cares about money and that they don’t give a shit about human beings. I told him, “Yeah, that’s pretty much what prompted me to switch parties.”
The GOP has already successfully alienated hispanics, blacks, Muslims, gays, women, etc. They can now add people who have been unemployed to the list.
What happens after? It’s pretty easy to forget our own pasts, so I’m heartened that at least one person out there learned, and absorbed, the lesson that it really can happen to anyone.
A hit to my cynicism certainly.
That’s what this neighbor says about his political views on his current FB profile. I just looked that up tonight. I’ve kind of wondered if a few paychecks and the anti-dem sentiment of the 2010 election cycle might have lured him back to the dark side. I’m relieved to see they have not.
This has to be one of the most short-sighted, idiotic proposals to have come out of a Congressman’s mouth in the past decade – and there’s some tough competition out there for the honor…
Long term full employment is what leads to large corporate profits.
I find that comment very funny.
If you’re serious, I find that comment very funny.
So, either way, good one I guess.
I own a company. Our profits rise and fall with the global economy.
India, Mexico, China, etc., etc.,
There’s a whole boatload of corporations who’ve made record profits during this recession. And, they’ve made those record profits by at the expense of American workers and full employment by shedding jobs here is the U.S. and shipping them out of the country.
Maybe there was a time when some corporations held such a long-term view, there is little or no evidence of that vision today. “Most Corporations”? — not a chance.
(But, you already knew that — which is why your comment is very funny.)
…I’m sure it’ll be NO PROBLEM to ask them for Unanimous Consent to fix this little problem…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_…
Now, considering how calm and rational the Republican’ts were when President Obama flubbed the Oath of Office, I’m very sure the demonized House Minority Leader will just get on that vote as soon as she can…
they have to read the constitution again?
from asymco
from Business Insider
And the big question is, if Google isn’t working, what do we use?
Glad to see others are noticing it too.
Aggregation sites and sales sites have pretty much taken over the search results. That’s good if you want to go to an aggregation site or if you want to buy something, but not so great if you want solid information from original sources.
Their original thought was that the aggregators would all link to the original source and bump up the quality of the original source. But the aggregators have been able to out-rank the original sources through cross-links of their own (i.e. link-spamming).
So now Google has to be able to distinguish between link-spammers and “real” sources. That will probably entail a massive search of their database, attempting to distinguish between valid cross-link relationships (e.g. progressive political sites cross-linking to articles on each others pages) and link-spammers. It’s not necessarily an easy task – I wish them luck.
from Pew Research Center
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01…
Front page item today (Friday) on the Times’ web site.