The United States Men’s soccer team advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after defeating Iran by a score of 1-0; the U.S. team now faces Netherlands on Saturday. Now, let’s GetMore 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.
House Democrats elected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as their leader, making him the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress. The New Yorker succeeds House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who has led the Democrats for two decades. Jeffries will carry the title of minority leader when Congress returns in January with Republicans in control of the House as a result of the midterm elections.
Approved by acclamation, Jeffries, 52, and two other lawmakers in leadership — Reps. Katherine M. Clark (Mass.), 59, and Pete Aguilar (Calif.), 43 — will represent a generational change for Democrats who will be in the minority in the new Congress.
►Seth Klamann and Nick Coltrain of The Denver Post have more details on what lawmakers are considering in order to address gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs:
Addressing gun violence was a top priority before the attack at Club Q, lawmakers say. But the massacre there — “unfortunately, another chapter in a long story of tragedies,” as Senate President Steve Fenberg put it — underscores the need for action.
Though the shooting has prompted lawmakers to discuss everything from an assault weapon ban to age restrictions on the purchase of firearms, they said policymakers cannot continue to wait for a mass shooting to react to gun violence here.
“Everything should be on the table,” Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, said. “We should prioritize what we think is going to save the most lives and have the most impact. That should be our north star.”
The City of Broomfield, meanwhile, is already moving ahead with several new gun safety measures.
Congress is moving swiftly to prevent a looming U.S. rail workers strike, reluctantly intervening in a labor dispute to stop what would surely be a devastating blow to the nation’s economy if the transportation of fuel, food and other critical goods were disrupted.
The House was expected to act first on Wednesday after President Joe Biden asked Congress to step in. The bill lawmakers are considering would impose a compromise labor agreement brokered by his administration that was ultimately voted down by four of the 12 unions representing more than 100,000 employees at large freight rail carriers. The unions have threatened to strike if an agreement can’t be reached before a Dec. 9 deadline.
Lawmakers from both parties expressed reservations, but the intervention was particularly difficult for some Democratic lawmakers who have traditionally sought to align themselves with the politically powerful labor unions.
Many Senate Democrats, including Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, want to ensure that rail workers receive the seven days of sick leave that has been a sticking point in negotiations.
► Colorado’s U.S. Senators — Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper — both voted ‘YES’ on Tuesday on the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which codifies into federal law protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. The measure passed by a vote of 61-36.
Click below to keep learning things…
Check Out All This Other Stuff To Know…
► Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty on Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. As The New York Times reports, “The last successful sedition prosecution was in 1995 when a group of Islamic militants was found guilty of plotting to bomb several New York City landmarks.”
Fun fact: Current State Republican Party Chairperson Kristi Burton Brown was the President of a militia group before being elected to her current post in March 2021.
►Dr. Oz is looking to get back into television after losing a bid for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Captain Crudité, the interest is not mutual.
At least Colorado’s failed U.S. Senate candidate, Republican Joe O’Dea, still has his concrete.
► For all the bellyaching about the accuracy of political polling, the reality is that 2022 numbers were fairly accurate…unless you were reading a nonsense right-wing poll designed to flood the zone with crap. As The Bulwark explains:
The nonpartisan polling was actually pretty good in 2022. Most of the phantom Republican strength in pre-election statewide polling was a function of junk firms with poor data quality and low transparency spamming the polling averages with bad polls.
In reality, an aggregation of nonpartisan polls predicted the correct winner in every Senate battleground and would have predicted the margin substantially more accurately than the partisan GOP pollsters which flooded the averages in almost every major race.
These Republican firms, such as the Trafalgar Group, overstated Republican strength by roughly 3 points more than the non-partisan polls. Trafalgar, for instance, showed the GOP with a closing advantage in New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. In states that saw Democratic blowouts, such as Washington and Colorado, they (incorrectly) showed tight races within the margin of error. In nearly every case, they look to have missed the mark substantially.
Let’s all remember this in 2024 about GOP-leaning polling firm Trafalgar:
Trafalgar’s Gubernatorial Misses
Out of 13 Governor races only 4 fell within Trafalgar’s own margin of error of 2.9%
Vermont, Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania were particularly bad
Trafalgar also claimed repeatedly that Colorado’s U.S. Senate race was a close battle; Democrat Michael Bennet ended up beating Republican Joe O’Dea by 15 points. We’re looking at you, Natalie Allison.
►Nicole Narea of Vox.com examines the lonely battle being waged by failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake to convince people of election fraud.
► In a wildly-irresponsible story, Tim Sullivan of The Associated Press profiles a whiny asshole in Wisconsin who thinks the forces of evil are out to get America because voters don’t agree with him or his rural neighbors:
John Kraft loves this place. He loves the quiet and the space. He loves that you can drive for miles without passing another car.
But out there? Out beyond the cornfields, to the little western Wisconsin towns turning into commuter suburbs, and to the cities growing ever larger?
Out there, he says, is a country that many Americans wouldn’t recognize.
It’s a dark place, dangerous, where freedom is under attack by a tyrannical government, few officials can be trusted and clans of neighbors might someday have to band together to protect one another. It’s a country where the most basic beliefs — in faith, family, liberty — are threatened…
…“It’s no longer left versus right, Democrat versus Republican,” says Kraft, a software architect and data analyst. “It’s straight up good versus evil.”
He knows how he sounds. He’s felt the contempt of people who see him as a fanatic, a conspiracy theorist.
After every election, there are millions of people whose preferred candidates don’t win. That’s how it works.
► Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wants to see more regulation of cryptocurrencies. As The New York Times reports:
Yellen said on Wednesday that the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX was a “Lehman moment” for the cryptocurrency industry, which she continues to view with skepticism.
Speaking at The New York Times DealBook summit, Ms. Yellen described cryptocurrencies as “very risky assets” and said she was thankful that their recent volatility had not spilled over into the mainstream banking sector. The comments came amid growing concerns about the risks of investing in digital assets and as lawmakers have been calling for more regulation of the industry.
“I have been skeptical, and I remain quite skeptical,” Ms. Yellen said.
The Biden administration over the last year has been studying the landscape of digital assets to develop a new regulatory framework.
The Treasury secretary praised banking regulators for having been careful when it came to cryptocurrencies.
This will probably make former Sen. Cory Gardner very sad. Gardner is now a cryptocurrency lobbyist in Washington D.C.
►Governor Jared Polis is encouraging Congress to pass protections for DACA recipients.
► The Colorado Sun has some tips if you’re looking for new health insurance now that open enrollment season has begun.
► As the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports, activists are not happy about an air-pollution permit for an oil and gas wastewater management facility north of Parachute.
► Colorado Springs conservative radio host and former Congressional candidate Jeff Crankflies his asshole flag.
► Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker was asked about why former President Donald Trump isn’t campaigning for him in advance of next week’s runoff election. His response was not great.
ICYMI
► If you thought Republican leaders in one of Colorado’s largest counties might have learned a lesson from the 2022 election…think again.
► Don’t miss the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an interview with Congresswoman-elect Brittany Pettersen providing a look behind the curtain about how newly-elected Members of Congress get acclimated to Washington D.C..
Don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter. Check out The Get More Smarter Podcast at GetMoreSmarter.com.
10 thoughts on “Get More Smarter on Wednesday (Nov. 30)”
Kari Lake is going on about the evils of allowing Democrats in to office, too. People will become slaves – to corporations acting with Democratic lawmaking, apparently. And in Florida apparently the entire GOP strategy was to flood the airwaves with accusations of impending communist doom.
I almost want to say "because Lamborn was probably worse", but, then again, he beat Dave Williams in a primary this year. And Williams is one of the worst human beings on the planet.
Merrick Garland speaks to the press, says Jack Smith is now moving swiftly through Donald Trump's secret document case without "pause or hiccup in his work."
November 30, 2022 10:14 AM UTC
10 Comments
The United States Men’s soccer team advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after defeating Iran by a score of 1-0; the U.S. team now faces Netherlands on Saturday. Now, let’s Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (
Kari Lake is going on about the evils of allowing Democrats in to office, too. People will become slaves – to corporations acting with Democratic lawmaking, apparently. And in Florida apparently the entire GOP strategy was to flood the airwaves with accusations of impending communist doom.
Fear works, even if it's patently false.
"Colorado Springs conservative radio host and former Congressional candidate Jeff Crank flies his asshole flag."
And yet some people still wonder how this moron lost to Doug Lamborn.
I almost want to say "because Lamborn was probably worse", but, then again, he beat Dave Williams in a primary this year. And Williams is one of the worst human beings on the planet.
RIP Christie McVie
Really sad. Terrific band, even with all of their drama.
Last saw them at Dodgers Stadium about four years ago. They rocked it out to a full house. Amazing evening.
I missed it until I saw your post, Michael.
We're all getting old.
Poor, poor Fat Donnie from Queens, reposting himself at 3am in the morning. I wonder what’s keeping him up these days??
Ruh roh…
All I want for Christmas is an indictment!