CO-04 (Special Election)
See Full Big Line
(R) Greg Lopez
(R) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
President (To Win Colorado)
See Full Big Line
(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%↓
CO-01 (Denver)
See Full Big Line
(D) Diana DeGette*
90%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
See Full Big Line
(D) Joe Neguse*
90%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
See Full Big Line
(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
(R) Ron Hanks
40%
30%
20%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
See Full Big Line
(R) Lauren Boebert
(R) Deborah Flora
(R) J. Sonnenberg
30%↑
15%↑
10%↓
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
See Full Big Line
(R) Dave Williams
(R) Jeff Crank
50%↓
50%↑
CO-06 (Aurora)
See Full Big Line
(D) Jason Crow*
90%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
See Full Big Line
(D) Brittany Pettersen
85%↑
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
See Full Big Line
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
(R) Janak Joshi
60%↑
35%↓
30%↑
State Senate Majority
See Full Big Line
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
See Full Big Line
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
March 21, 2012 04:58 PM UTC
63 Comments
Mike Littwin was the biggest reason we still suscribed to the paper newspaper! The Denver Post continues to become the newspaper of the right, and because of that, its demise will be fast and furious. Great news for on-line blogs. Dumb mistake, Post owners.
So, the NY TImes got rid of Bob Herbert and Frank Rich. MSNBC gets rid of Olbermann. Now, the Post gets rid of Mike Littwin.
The best progressives are dropping like flies.
I am really pissed off.
Cutting the people who make the product you sell always seems like the bad management move. I wonder how many people $500K translates to… It also seems weird to let go a big name columnist like Littwin, who is a pro and who draws readers. He’s already become a big part of the brand. He should have been offered a new deal that would have made him even more productive and valuable, like ask him to run that flat dopey spot blog. The Post is a bad paper and it seems like a badly managed organization.
The Post is still trying to make their old model work. And that is destined for failure. But it’s too bad, having a news source like the Post (was) is a good thing.
Ritter’s oil and gas regulations.
These exposed the DP to higher fuel costs via new taxes …. on top of the rising base load power costs to print which of course as you point out were the fault of Ritter and people like Glen Vaad and that former Arapahoe County state legislator that lost in 2010.
Didn’t the DP editorialize for these taxes and the clean energy/jobs. Sometimes things come back to bite you I guess.
Just think if those things didn’t happen, Litwin still might have a job.
You should be watching “NOVA.”
Well that was on a tee I saw today … Some public school kid I passed by at the mall on the north side was sporting it.
Anyway, seek the truth dude, it will set you free.
Nice logic.
Perhaps without gas taxes, your mommy would have been able to enjoy the prenatal care that might have yielded offspring with fully developed cognitive abilities?
…Gannett is already going down this road – you don’t need good reporting, you don’t even need adequate reporting.
You just need a large volume of reporting, and every once in a while a decent story will get printed.
As far as the rest of the problems with print media, they’ll just pretend they don’t exist and LALALALALALA they’ll go away.
Because that’s the way we’ve always done things…
Not just because he’s one of the few local progressive voices featured but he’s so good, so entertaining. Writers that good who combine accurate, fact checked information with humor are rare. This sucks. The editorial page just continued on its (note, no apostrophe) road to being even more predominantly conservative, less local and much less fun. One more reason not to bother. Huge mistake.
The Denver Post has a whole lineup of Cato institute libertarian writers, and then a whole lineup of Repbulican writers.
Only a few Democratic writers and no Communists to balance the Liebertarians.
At least he can get welfare for 98 weeks.
imagineering that all y’all had to do–y’all being the actual 1% and the deluded as yourself that feels compelled to do their bidding–was get up an leave and all would be fine. Because if only we silly Statists understood…
They kicked out Doonesbury last year, now this.
Mediocrity is their apparent goal and damned if they aren’t achieving it with these dumb ass moves.
I have subscribed to the Post for the last 40 years as well as the News when it still published. For newcomers to the state or youngsters – the Post used to be the liberal paper! The News was always far more conservative – that is where Vincent Carroll came from.
Also to reinforce the clown show mentality they reviewed a restaurant today that closed yesterday. The excuse – online -was that the section was printed on Monday. Do they do the same with weather?
Sheesh.
It also saddens me to see the decline of the Post . . . to see less comprehensive coverage of Colorado politics. However, in a sense it is not surprising. The Post editorial board has become quite sloppy, slothful, and unethical.
As evidence of this I present the Post editorial of July 3, 2011, “Editorial: State Dodges PERA Bullet” at this link:
http://www.denverpost.com/opin…
Recall that Colorado PERA retirees are suing the state and PERA over the theft of contracted, fully-vested, accrued pension cost-of-living (COLA) benefits that were earned over 30 years. In the first round, a District Court judge has ruled against the plaintiffs (saveperacola.com) in an incredibly flawed opinion. That ruling is under appeal.
Note that prior to the Legislature’s taking of the contracted COLA benefit the Colorado Attorney General issued an opinion that this action would contravene Colorado case law, and that the taking of contracted benefits from fully-vested pension members would be unconstitutional. Also, note that in 2008, in a Denver Post article, PERA’s General Counsel Greg Smith was quoted stating that taking the COLA would likely be illegal. For some reason he had a change of heart, and testified in favor of the COLA theft bill in 2010.
Nevertheless, the General Assembly donned its blinders and adopted the bill, and like lemmings the Colorado PERA Board of Trustees followed Meredith Williams over the cliff. PERA led a parade across Colorado and managed to frighten a fraction of PERA retirees into supporting the proposed theft. They then used the support of this fraction to bolster their case for the theft of contracted benefits from all other PERA retirees.
To ensure passage of SB 10-001, PERA hired (12 to 20? lobbyists) with the pension’s trust funds, using PERA member assets to finance the theft of contracted benefits from those same members. That is insane. PERA corralled the public unions into supporting the COLA-theft bill, and then rammed the bill through the process. PERA and the General Assembly were informed hundreds of times that the proposal was prima facie unconstitutional.
What are the problems with the district judges’ initial decision you ask?
The district judge does not seem to understand that Colorado has an “automatic COLA” rather than an “ad hoc” COLA that could legally be altered by the pension plan sponsor. The judge states in his decision that PERA retirees have a contractual benefit to their base benefit, but not the COLA. He argues this in spite of the fact that the COLA benefit is set forth with the same force of law as all other PERA pension statutory provisions. The COLA benefit is an earned benefit identical to all other earned PERA benefits. Judge Hyatt argues that since the COLA rate has changed in the past it can be diminished in the future. The judge does not seem to understand that increasing a COLA benefit is not a taking, however, diminishing a COLA benefit harms the beneficiary and is therefore a taking. The fact that a COLA benefit has been increased in the past does not grant the state the power to violate the pension contract.
If Judge Hyatt were correct then no pension COLA provision in the nation would be considered contractual, and these provisions have been upheld as contractual in courts around the country. If the state and other PERA members did not like the terms of the pension contract, they should not have become a party to the contract.
PERA members who paid the pension for “service credit” did so based on this “guaranteed” (PERA’s words) COLA rate. If these PERA members had any idea that the state would renege on its contractual obligations, lowering the value of their purchase, they would not have given PERA the money. They would have left these funds in their 401K accounts.
In addition, the judge contradicts one of his prior decisions in which he ruled that the COLA benefit was contractually protected. See below this post from “Alan B” in the on-line version of the Denver Post:
“What truly confounds me in this case is that Judge Hyatt ruled the opposite in my divorce case. Which only shows what I have read before that it takes the courts 5 to 10 years to figure something out. He ruled that my wife was entitled to her share of PERA discounted at the legal rate assuming that PERA would pay my pension compounded at 3.5 percent for the rest of my life. Her lawyers argued that her social security could not be guaranteed yet the PERA could be. Judge Hyatt ruled for her and in this case he ruled the opposite of what he had ruled in the current case. Is the 3.5 percent annual adjustment guaranteed or not, Hyatt has spoken on the record, yes and no.”
So, by stating that “Colorado has dodged a bullet” the Denver Post editorial board essentially countenanced the breach of contractual obligations in Colorado and sanctioned outright theft. If the editorial board had performed due diligence it would have discovered that members of defined benefit plans in the United States do not bear market risk. That is why the pension plans are referred to as DEFINED benefit plans rather than VARIABLE benefit plans.
THE COLORADO WE LIVE IN.
Fact #1: Governor Hickenlooper signs a bill to give a raise to state legislators. Fact
#2: State legislators steal contracted, earned, fully-vested, and accrued retirement benefits from elderly in our state (SB 10-001, COLA theft bill.)
Our values are warped.
Thank God the courts are beginning to correct the outright, unabashed theft of public pension benefits that has occurred in a number of states across the U.S. Read below the clarity that this Florida judge brings to the matter, it is truly breathtaking.
COLA LAWSUIT VICTORY IN FLORIDA! – FLORIDA JUDGE: IT’S ILLEGAL TO TAKE EVEN FUTURE COLA ACCRUALS FROM EMPLOYEES, LET ALONE COLA BENEFITS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN EARNED AND ACCRUED (SEE: COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY, SB1.)
The Florida Legislature attempted pension reforms that were not nearly as aggressive, in terms of risk of unconstitutionality, as those adopted by the Colorado General Assembly. Nevertheless, the Florida Legislature has been smacked down by the courts.
Here are some noteworthy portions of the Florida ruling:
“This court cannot set aside its constitutional obligations because a budget crisis exists in the state of Florida. To do so would be in direct contravention of this court’s oath to follow the law.”
“To find otherwise would mean that a contract with our state government has no meaning.”
“There was certainly a lawful means by which they could have achieved the same result.”
“Florida law is clear that a legislature can, as part of its power to contract, authorize a contract that grants vested rights which a future legislature cannot impair.”
“The elimination of the future COLA adjustment alone will result in a 4 to 24% reduction in the plaintiffs total retirement income. These costs are substantial as a matter of law.”
“Where the state violates its own contract, complete deference to a legislative assessment of reasonableness and necessity is not appropriate because the state’s self-interest is at stake.”
“All indications are that the Florida Legislature chose to effectuate the challenged provisions of SB 2100 in order to make funds available for other purposes.”
“If a state could reduce its financial obligations whenever it wanted to spend the money for what it regarded as an important public purpose, the Contract Clause would provide no protection at all.”
“The Takings Clause is intended to prevent the government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens, which in all fairness and justice should be borne by the public as a whole.”
“Defendants are further ordered to reimburse with interest the funds deducted or withheld . . . from the compensation or cost-of-living adjustments of employees who were members of the FRS prior to July 1, 2011.”
Here’s a link to the decision in Florida:
http://judicial.clerk.leon.fl….
Here’s hoping that one day Justus will prevail in Colorado. Read all about it and support the lawsuit at saveperacola.com.
the Open Thread, or write a diary and see if someone will promote it
Nobody’s gonna read it.
Wall o’ Text
or anything else for that matter. Al
consider myself self-reprieved.
thanks for the power! Al
My page down button is getting tired.
you took the time type this reply.
In any event, I posted about the PERA benefit theft in an Open Thread last week . . . even there it was criticized. It’s not a fun topic!
there are, no doubt, reports in the Post today even about O&G regs, but this isn’t the right diary to post those either
Just for grins I did go to the linked website which appears just a listing for eveything published about PERA COLA. I would guess that most of the folks here are very supportive of your cause, but you don’t write well, coherently or concisely
agreed the post could be written in a more coherent and concise fashion. However, my goal is simply to get the facts out regarding the pension theft, in spite of my limited time and talent. Al
PERA lawsuit, TABOR lawsuit, Lobato lawsuit. The Denver Post published an editorial supporting the pension theft. Perhaps the quality of the Post’s editorials contributes to its decline.
It has been argued that states should honor corporate contracts, but abandon their contracts with public employees. I think that is sick.
In this one post (to which I’m immediately replying) you probably said all you needed to say in that f’ing War and Peace you posted above (which nobody bothered to read).
indefatigable! Perhaps you have sufficient energy to compose your own War and Peace. My guess is that the PERA post had quite a few readers, it discusses a public policy matter critical to our future. I’m making a mental note to explore the subject further in future Open Thread posts as was recommended by several readers. Al
Tighten it up, Al. We oldz can’t stay awake long enough to read all that.
If somebody doesn’t speak English, they’ll understand you if you speak slowly and loudly.
your post is 3x the length of your link and neither one has shit all to do with the decline of the DP. Just know “consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” — and if nothing else you consistently drumming one topic to death.
you think you’re sick of it. Al
Er, reading. Take the advice. We’ll click on it if we have the time. Or not.
Post this as a diary. FWIW, I see a long post like this, I skip to the bottom and unless it’s one of a very few number of readers, then skip the post. You I skip.
So posting this all I know is you have some long winded opinions about PERA. Don’t know what they ae and at that length, don’t care.
Most of the well known reporters the Post picked up from the News are now all gone. Parker was with RMN for years and then picked up by the Post in 2009.
Hell of a way to lose your job–have your 33 year old boss give you the news instead of the editor of the paper, Greg Moore, having the decency to tell you himself.
thing worth reading in that damn rag. I’m so pissed I would cancel my subscription, except that I haven’t had anything but a NYTimes subscription since the Rocky was killed.
can’t face mornings without a print paper spread out on my table with my coffee and toast. Screens just aren’t the same although I must admit I mainly keep up with fresh news via the internet. I still love and am , truth be told, addicted to, a real paper. On the rare occasions when one isn’t there in the morning I can barely stand it.
I did call to strongly voice my dismay without saying that I wouldn’tcancel and expressing the opinion that many who were just hanging on for Littwin and a few other features would consider this the last straw and cancel.
Please call and if you are planning to cancel because of this please make sure they know. I’m assuming Littwin wasn’t forewarned or called personally either. That stinks.
…any chance Karen Crummy also got a pink slip?
I had nearly 37 years on that newspaper. At times, we were ranked among the ten best in the country. It is very very painful to watch the continuing cuts and layoffs.
I went to the funeral of Art Branscombe, one of our greatest journalists the other day, and simply couldn’t help but weep at not only the loss of a great man, Art, but of the era of journalism that made his greatness possible.
Journalism diminimus seems all we have left.
Sorry to hear about Art Branscombe, I didn’t know he had passed.
Total print ad revenues in 2006 $47 billion
Total print ad revenues in 2011 $23 billion
I live in a 16 unit town house project. As an early riser I often see the Denver Post delivery person tear into the parking lot, get out and throw a paper on the doorstep of the elderly woman across the drive, the only person out of 16 households that still gets the paper.
I go to my kitchen table and turn on my laptop where I start reading from a number of news sites.
The work of developing and writing content remains the same. The method of delivering that content has and will continue to change.
The cost of delivering that content approaches zero. We will have “newspapers” in 10 years. The demand is there and the cost with an online delivery model is pretty low.
But like most major transformations, the old companies go out of business and the new ones replace them.
And as the cost of delivering that content becomes negligible (a good thing), new business models must be developed on the revenue side to pay for the development and writing of that content.
Simply put, content, whether in print or electrons, has no economic value unless paid for by a sustainable revenue model.
They don’t care. All that matters is SEO, which means bullshit celebrity news.
Unless a model is found to pay for real reporters and real editors, we’ll be doomed to reading our “news” from our favorite sites. No matter how biased or left-leaning or right-leaning or moonbatty or wingnutty.
Then we’ll all vote.
The problem is the Internet came along and first the papers ignored it. And during the ignoring time they lost their biggest cash cow, classifieds. By the time they woke up to the threat Craigslist and Monster had reached critical mass and that fight was over.
Now on keeping display ads they focus on print which is the part that is clearly headed for extinction. And for their online content it’s prett much print repurposed to the web which is about as ineffective a way as possible to do this.
And in terms of selling content, again they go old school talking a yearly subscription when that’s probably the least effective way to get paid for content.
I’m with you that I’m sorry to see our great newspapers go away. They were a strong and necessary force for the health of our democracy. But they didn’t figue out how to be profitable in this changed world.
Mike Littwin is terrific.
This is the latest unclassy thing from the Paper That Shall Not Be Named.
There were other places they could have cut.
Mike Littwin was the last reason to subscribe.
They could have cut a few bucks out of Dinky’s million a year compensation.
Mike is a fine and creative writer. Perhaps a Huffpost or some other ‘net business will pick him up.
even the fathead clowns running that pathetic rag aren’t stupid enough to start eliminating any of their “hard news” journalism team . . . their readers would revolt.
Littwin had gotten oh so boring. Penny Parker instead of being lively as she once was got in the bad habit of running one or two corporate press releases and calling that a column. This new guy Murphy clearly stole Littwin’s thunder and made him expendable. BTW whatever happened to Bill Johnson was he canned or did he move on to another paper?
Thank God we have Pols to get our news from!
But, unlike say liberal icon Paul Krugman Mike Littwin began to speak in a monotonous monotone with nary an original thought. His column was on cruise control. He rarely did interviews to augment his own views which were never very profound. Sorry to see him go but the game is about number of readers and as he got more and more boring the reader numbers must have declined.
For political reporting we now have a gossip column. It wasn’t that long ago we had two dailies, an independently owned weekly and far better access to serious reporting.
don’t shed any tears for this newspaper going the way of the Dodo bird. They are poorly managed and do not deserve to stay in business.
Although I feel bad good people lost their jobs it’s worth mentioning that the entire newsroom was offered buyouts many months ago…so it’s not like they didn’t know downsizing and layoffs were on their way…if they didn’t know, then shame on them and maybe they weren’t as good reporters / investigative journalists as you all think they were?
again, not trying to make fun of the good people who lost their jobs, just pointing out that these people knew or should’ve known the hammer was gonna drop at some point (and if it’s obvious that a ship is sinking, why would anyone willingly stay onboard after being offered a lifeboat ie; buyout?)