Wednesday Open Thread

6 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. Colorado Sun says Mike Lynch has stepped down from leadership.

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   1. CPR saying the same (Not that I don't trust Colorado Sun, it's just nice to see confirmation from another source.)

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2. I would like to believe that if someone with the temperment of Donald Trump wanted to advance the causes that I believe in (affordable healthcare, social programs to reduce the load on public safety, public education, etc.) that I would still not support such a person for any public office, especially the President.

   However I find it hard to believe that someone with Trump's temperment could be the kind of person to advance the causes I believe in.

   This is in response to thinking of folks who say "Yeah, Trump is a fucking lunatic and I don't trust him as far as I could throw him, but I like his policies."

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3. A Republican named Heather Graham just won the Pueblo Mayor's election, defeating the incumbent. No, not THAT Heather Graham, baby. Not sure that's great news for hopes of flipping CD3, since Pueblo's the largest debatably blue city in the district, but local elections usually have unique backstories. https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/politics/elections/local/2024/01/23/heather-graham-wins-2024-pueblo-mayoral-runoff-against-nick-gradisar/72330345007/

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4. I hate to trash Polis 2 days in a row, but he just canned the venerable Bernie Buescher from the State Board of Equalization, and replaced him with a Republican which flipped the Board majority. Again this whole thing is debatable, but it seems to me that Buescher made an adult decision not to approve a Douglas County property tax cutting decision, that according to some sources would have forced the state to backfill lost revenues for a very wealthy county.

   Don't get me wrong, I'll take a tax cut if it comes my way, but I do know they can have consequences for fiscal matters and services for those who can't otherwise afford them. Damn the torpedoes, I guess.

   https://coloradosun.com/2024/01/24/jared-polis-state-property-tax-board/

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5. AP reports a case about No Labels:   When is a group that has “party status” NOT a “party”?

   The group Accountable.US filed its complaint in Colorado, where No Labels has qualified for party status, arguing that the group has failed to file quarterly campaign finance reports, as required under state law. It aims to force No Labels to reveal who its donors are.

   Colorado includes an exemption for groups that are also registered with the FEC. But the complaint argues that No Labels’ efforts to “hide behind” its national organization “would create a dangerous gap in Colorado’s campaign finance law, and allow national groups to funnel dark money into Colorado’s elections via state-level organizations.”

   No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy disputed the suggestion that the group had run afoul of campaign finance law. He pointed to a federal case called Unity08 v. FEC, which he said established a precedent sanctioning its approach.

   Clancy said No Labels is not required to register as a political committee “so long as we are not actively supporting any specific candidate.”

   But Noti, who was one of the attorneys who argued the case, said there are key differences between the 2010 case and what No Labels is doing now, characterizing the current argument as a bit “too cute.” In this instance, while No Labels may not be advocating for a specific candidate, they are advocating against both Biden and Trump, who are

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