March 01, 2023 01:23 PM UTC
Get More Smarter on Wednesday (March 1)
2 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
If it’s true that the month of March will come in like a lamb and out like a lion (or vice-versa), what do you make of today? Sort of a lamb/lion hybrid? 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.
FIRST UP…
► Here’s a quick look at what’s happening in the Colorado legislature:
♦ House Bill 1215 is targeting excessive and opaque hospital facility fees.
♦ Lawmakers are working on strengthening “Equal Pay for Equal Work” legislation originally passed in 2019.
♦ Legislation to increase auto theft penalties advanced out of a State Senate committee.
♦ 9News reports on proposed legislation to help alleviate a teacher shortage in Colorado that educators say is worse than it has ever been.
► As The Denver Post reports, Colorado food banks are bracing for a rush in demand as some pandemic-era benefits come to an end:
Since March 2020, people who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, have received the maximum legal allotment for their household size. Starting Wednesday, the program will revert back to its previous formula, based on household income and certain expenses, such as rent and utilities.
The Colorado Department of Human Services estimated the average person receiving SNAP benefits in the state will lose about $90 in assistance per month, for a roughly $53 million monthly reduction overall. In January, monthly payments averaged about $538 per household in Colorado, and about 553,000 people in more than 291,000 households received food assistance.
The “emergency allotments” were supposed to expire when the federal public health emergency ends in May, but Congress opted to end them early. Nearly 30 million people nationwide will see their food assistance reduced this month. Eighteen states already reduced benefits, affecting about 10 million people.
It sure would have been nice if Congress had renewed Sen. Michael Bennet’s “child tax credit” program.
► Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Denver) today introduced Phil Washington at a confirmation hearing to become the next head of the Federal Aviation Administration. Washington is currently the CEO of Denver International Airport. Click here to view Hickenlooper’s full remarks.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is doing his best to get in the way.
► Check out the latest episode of the Get More Smarter Podcast with hosts Jason Bane and Ian Silverii:
Click below to keep learning things…
Check Out All This Other Stuff To Know…
► Intelligence agencies in the United States have concluded that “Havana Syndrome” is definitely (probably) not the result of an enemy weapon of some sort. From The Washington Post:
The mysterious ailment known as “Havana syndrome” did not result from the actions of a foreign adversary, according to an intelligence report that shatters a long-disputed theory that hundreds of U.S. personnel were targeted and sickened by a clandestine enemy wielding energy waves as a weapon.
The new intelligence assessment caps a years-long effort by the CIA and several other U.S. intelligence agencies to explain why career diplomats, intelligence officers and others serving in U.S. missions around the world experienced what they described as strange and painful acoustic sensations. The effects of this mysterious trauma shortened careers, racked up large medical bills and in some cases caused severe physical and emotional suffering.
Many of the afflicted personnel say they were the victims of a deliberate attack — possibly at the hands of Russia or another adversarial government — a claim that the report contradicts in nearly every respect, according to two intelligence officials who are familiar with the assessment and described it to The Washington Post.
Seven intelligence agencies participated in the review of approximately 1,000 cases of “anomalous health incidents,” the term the government uses to describe a constellation of physical symptoms including ringing in the ears followed by pressure in the head and nausea, headaches and acute discomfort.
Unfortunately for the people afflicted “Havana Syndrome,” it remains unclear what might be the medical cause of the problem.
► Dark Brandon keeps lining ’em up and knocking ’em down:
As Dylan Matthews writes for Vox.com, this Joe Biden guy has turned out to be pretty good at being President of the United States.
► Right-wing loudmouth/militia founder Joe Oltmann made an appearance on RT News on Tuesday — the Russian state television network — just a few days after hosting a “Yay Guns!” rally with Reps. Scott “There is No” Bottoms and Ken “Skin” DeGraaf. What’s the old saying about the company you keep?
► Shannon Mullane of The Coloado Sun reports on efforts in Congress to reduce wildfire mitigation and repair damaged Western lands:
Wildfires are a big enough threat in the West that federal lawmakers are trying to get ahead of future burns by spending $60 billion to shore up forest, grassland and watershed health before fires can clog rivers, disrupt economies and end lives.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Jason Crow, both Colorado Democrats, on Tuesday introduced a bill, known as the Protect the West Act, that would establish a grant fund to help reduce wildfire risk, restore forests and watersheds, expand outdoor access and improve wildlife habitats.
“If it passed, we would reorient our focus on the condition of watersheds and … national forests in the West from a reactive, emergency-responsive posture to a posture where we’re making thoughtful and collaborative investments on the front end,” Bennet told The Colorado Sun…
…The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Ron Wyden of Oregon, both Democrats, is designed to supplement, not duplicate or replace, existing federal funding, like the $8.3 billion set aside for Western water projects in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
Congressperson Lauren Boebert (R-ifle), who represents much of the landmass in Colorado affected most by wildfires, was busy doing less-useful work:
► Okay, okay, it’s not true that Rep. Boebert is doing NOTHING other than engaging in schoolyard arguments. Boebert apparently missed the news about record oil and gas profits, as The Colorado Times Recorder reports:
Last week, Denver Business Journal reported that Colorado oil and gas companies raked in billions of dollars in profits in 2022. Despite this, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) says that energy companies are overregulated, and these regulations are clamping down on rural communities’ livelihoods.
“I know many communities have experienced a very large fall from the rise that they had because they are being regulated into poverty,” Boebert said. “And we’re not subject, you know, to oil and gas, we’re subject to climate extremists, forcing us all to bow at the left’s altar of climate change.”
We wrote just yesterday about the BILLIONS of dollars that oil and gas companies have collected recently despite their endless “Chicken Little” complaints about regulations.
► A confusing and altogether unnecessary election reform bill proposed by Republican Rep. Ken “Skin” DeGraaf was killed in a committee hearing on Monday.
► Denver7 reports on the Weed Bus:
The Cannabis Experience, Colorado’s first licensed cannabis-friendly tour bus, is ready to roll in Denver.
The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, which issued the license Thursday, believes it may be the first and only licensed mobile marijuana hospitality establishment in the nation.
We’d say that’s a safe assumption.
► Westword reports on a controversial tree-thinning program in Jefferson County.
► The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports on efforts by activists to raise awareness of a homeless problem on the Western Slope.
► If Republicans who will select a new State GOP Chairperson are looking for an election denier to lead them, then they’re in luck! As The Colorado Sun reports, all six candidates seeking to become the next State Republican Party Chair are full-on election deniers.
For more on this circus of a campaign, check out our Debate Diary from last week’s forum in Weld County.
► Colorado grocery stores can start selling wine as of today.
► Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot failed on Tuesday in her bid to advance to a runoff election. Four years ago, Lightfoot became the first Black woman elected Mayor of Chicago, but pandemic problems and increases in gun violence made her increasingly unpopular.
Say What, Now?
Make sure to stretch properly before attempting to roll your eyes at this:
Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
► New York City Mayor Eric Adams is getting a little…weird:
► We wrote a few weeks ago about Steve Laffey, a Colorado man who is on a long quest to fail as far upward as possible in politics. Sadly, Laffey is moving to New Hampshire for at least the next three months as he works full-time on not becoming President of the United States.
ICYMI
► What would Colorado Republicans do if they were able to eventually gain majority control on the state legislature?
Don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter. Check out The Get More Smarter Podcast at GetMoreSmarter.com.
I'll admit it, I'm a product of my times. But, if the CIA is now reporting that "'Havana Syndrome' did not result from the actions of a foreign adversary," I'm stuck on just two possibilities.
Either, "Havana Syndrome" definitely is the result of actions of a foreign adversary, or "Havana Syndrome" resulted from CIA actions they had planned against foreign adversaries?
There's a possibility. It came from a lab in Wuhan.