June 28, 2021 10:54 AM UTC
Get More Smarter on Monday (June 28)
5 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
Happy Tau Day, which is like “Pi Day,” but different. Let’s 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 an audio learner, check out The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.
CORONAVIRUS INFO…
*Colorado Coronavirus info:
CDPHE Coronavirus website
*Daily Coronavirus numbers in Colorado:
http://covid19.colorado.gov
*How you can help in Colorado:
COVRN.com
*Locate a COVID-19 testing site in Colorado:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
*Coloradans can now get a COVID-19 vaccine at one of six locations without a prior appointment.
► Oh, look: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to derail an infrastructure bill because…um…well…as POLITICO reports:
Mitch McConnell is pressuring President Joe Biden and congressional Democratic leaders to further weaken the link between a bipartisan infrastructure deal and a bigger liberal-leaning spending bill, warning Monday that Biden’s party wants to “hold a bipartisan bill hostage over a separate and partisan process.”
The Senate GOP leader called on Biden to request that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi decouple passage of the bipartisan bill from a second, Democrats-only effort set to raise corporate taxes while spending on education, child care and fighting climate change. Biden on Saturday reversed a vow to not sign the bipartisan bill until he also has the separate, more progressive bill in hand.
McConnell’s gambit raises fresh doubts about whether the Senate minority leader will ultimately support the package negotiated by five of his rank-and-file members.
Performative obstruction. This is the Republican brand. There is no broader goal — just getting in the way of anything supported by Congressional Democrats.
► The Associated Press reports on the passage of new methane rules as part of legislation sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver):
Congressional Democrats have approved a measure reinstating rules aimed at limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas drilling, a rare effort by Democrats to use the legislative branch to overturn a regulatory rollback under President Donald Trump.
The House gave final legislative approval Friday to a resolution that would undo a Trump-era environmental rule that relaxed requirements of a 2016 Obama administration rule targeting methane emissions from leaks and flares in oil and gas wells.
The resolution was approved, 229-191, and now goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it. Twelve Republicans joined 217 Democrats to support the measure.
Democrats and environmentalists called the methane rule one of the Trump administration’s most egregious actions to deregulate U.S. businesses and said its removal would help launch a broader effort by the Biden administration and Congress to tackle climate change. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, packing a stronger punch in the short term than carbon dioxide.
► Nonpartisan staff from Colorado’s Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission will release a first look at potential new maps for state house and senate districts on Tuesday — a day later than planned. These maps were originally slated for release today.
► As CNN explains, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially ruled in favor of a transgender student who just wanted to use the bathroom:
The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a decision that allowed a transgender student to use the bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity, a victory for the LGBTQ community that has been fearful the high court would take up the case and reverse a lower court opinion.
The case concerns the scope of Title IX that prohibits schools from discriminating “on the basis of sex.” It began when Gavin Grimm, a transgender male who was then a high-school student, challenged the local school board’s decision to require him to use either a unisex restroom or a restroom that corresponds to the sex, female, he was assigned at birth.
Click below to keep learning stuff…
And Now, More Words…
► Republicans such as Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert LOVE to talk about “cancel culture.” They also seem to revel in playing a part in the culture as well.
► CNN looks at the 2024 GOP Presidential hopefuls and their tightrope efforts to not incur the wrath of Donald Trump.
► Justin Wingerter of The Denver Post examines the efforts of Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) to kneecap Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.
► It’s hotter than a microwave in Hell outside, as The Washington Post reports:
Lytton, a village in British Columbia, became the first place in Canada to ever record a temperature over 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday — and experts are predicting even hotter weather to come.
The temperature in Lytton soared to just under 115 degrees Sunday, according to Environment Canada, a government weather agency.
As The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang noted, that’s just one degree lower than the city record in Las Vegas. The previous records for hottest temperature, both 113 degrees, were set in Yellow Grass and Midale in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937.
“It’s warmer in parts of western Canada than in Dubai. I mean, it’s just not something that seems Canadian,” Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips told CTV News on Saturday.
Extreme heat is not just a Canadian problem. Last weekend saw the most severe heatwave IN THE HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
► Colorado Newsline reports on legislation signed by Gov. Jared Polis that gives new rights to agricultural workers in Colorado.
► Marianne Goodland of the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman reports on the results of an initial State Senate Ethics Committee hearing into the actions of Republican State Sen. Bob Gardner.
► A proposed ballot initiative to use more revenue from the sale of marijuana to fund after-school and other education programs has lost the support of the Colorado teacher’s union.
► Longtime Colorado political consultant Mike Stratton issued a statement thanking people for their support in the wake of news that his wife, Cassondra Stratton, is among those missing in the collapse of a condominium complex in Miami, Florida.
► Colorado Public Radio reports on the likely impact of the end of a nationwide eviction moratorium.
► Efforts by former President Trump to rebuke a Wisconsin Republican for not being sufficiently loyal have not panned out, as POLITICO reports:
Just as the state party gathered this past weekend, Trump issued a statement tearing into the state Assembly speaker, Robin Vos, and two other Republican lawmakers for doing too little to promote his election conspiracies.
But in a rare setback for his post-presidential interventions in the GOP, Trump in Wisconsin appeared to shoot a blank. When Vos and Devin LeMahieu, the state’s Senate majority leader, took the stage on Saturday in front of some of the party’s most fervent pro-Trump activists, it was as though Trump had said nothing at all. There were no boos. Vos drew applause. Convention-goers dismissed an effort to censure him.
In Wisconsin at least, Trump failed to set off the same intra-party chaos that has marked his efforts elsewhere. Worse for him, despite the former president’s harsh personal criticism, there were signs his comments were dismissed with a roll of the eyes.
“I just think it’s been going on for so long that people are kind of tired of it,” said Tony Kurtz, a GOP assemblyman from rural Juneau County, which went for Trump last year by nearly 30 percentage points.
Internal fears about the sway of Trump are still very much alive, however; in a separate story, POLITICO reports on how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is terrified of upsetting Trump as the former explores a 2024 bid for President.
Say What, Now?
Neat!
Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► Just casually dropping book titles…
► CNN’s Chris Cillizza breaks down Friday’s release of a big report on UFOs.
ICYMI
► Beginning on Thursday, you’ll need to bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store in Denver if you want to avoid paying a new fee on plastic bags.
► RIP Mike McLachlan.
► You’re not being paranoid if everyone really is out to get you.
► Check out the new episode of The Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an interview with Jon Murray of The Denver Post about his big profile story on the Libertarian Party and its Colorado founding:
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Pewpew must be referring to CO's southern border with Mexico.
Denial of certiorari is not a ruling in a case. The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the transgender discrimination case involving bathroom use is not a statement of any kind about the merits of the lower court ruling. It simply leaves the lower court ruling in that case intact.
"'The denial of a writ of certiorari imports no expression of opinion upon the merits of the case, as the bar has been told many times.'" United States v. Carver, 260 U.S. 482, 490. We have repeatedly indicated that a denial of certiorari means only that, for one reason or another which is seldom disclosed, and not infrequently for conflicting reasons which may have nothing to do with the merits and certainly may have nothing to do with any view of the merits taken by a majority of the Court, there were not four members of the Court who thought the case should be heard." Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 490-492 (1953).
No inference about the justices' views of that lower court ruling should be inferred.
Technically, Nothopeful is right. Practically, denial of cert means the ruling is mandatory precedent in the circuit involved and persuasive precedent everywhere else.
For trans fans, this is the next best possible outcome.
Fair point. We changed the wording to say "essentially ruled."
Thank dog they’ve got all those Koch tar sands up there to help power their ACs!!!??? . . .