January 11, 2016 01:15 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Monday (Jan. 11)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Rest in Peace, David Bowie. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► The Colorado legislature reconvenes on Wednesday, and as John Frank writes for the Denver Post, Republican Party infighting is on the rise (again):

The vast majority of the Senate votes against legislation in the 2015 session came from Republicans, rather than Democrats, according to a Denver Post analysis using data from the nonpartisan bill-tracking service Colorado Capitol Watch.

The Post’s findings point to a reversal of the typical voting pattern, particularly given that the majority party determines which legislation advances to the floor and often kills measures it opposes in committee.

“Republicans have splattered all over the place,” said Paula Noonan, a principal at Colorado Capitol Watch and a former Democratic school  board member.

Eight conservative senators — essentially a Colorado version of the  congressional “Freedom Caucus” — led the protest that split Republicans on issues related to taxes and spending, regulation and social issues.

► Yet another Republican has decided to enter the race for U.S. Senate. State Rep. Jon Keyser announced today that he will resign from the legislature after serving just half of his first term in order to seek the GOP nomination in 2016. The GOP could still end up with as many as 10 candidates running in advance of the June Primary.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Colorado College released the results from its annual “Conservation in the West” poll, and it’s a good bet that a majority of Western voters disagree with the armed militants of #YallQaeda who are still squatting in a federal building in Oregon. From a press release on the “State of the Rockies” project:

Against an uptick in anti-public lands rhetoric from militant extremists, a new Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West Poll released today revealed strong public support for efforts to protect and maintain national public lands.

The poll surveyed the views of voters in seven Mountain West states on key public lands issues affecting the region, including proposals to designate new national monuments in the West, establish new environmental and safety standards for oil and gas drilling, and prioritize renewable energy production on public lands.

Central to recent local controversies in Burns, Oregon and elsewhere, the poll—for the first time in its six-year history—asked voters about efforts to turn national public lands owned by all Americans over to state or private control. 58 percent of respondents oppose giving state governments control over national public lands. 60 percent of respondents oppose selling significant holdings of public lands like national forests to reduce the budget deficit. That view was echoed in Nevada, where just 30 percent of respondents identify as supportive of Cliven Bundy, the local rancher who led an armed confrontation with federal authorities in April 2014.

The armed militants/terrorists have created quite the wish list of requested items to assist them in their uninvited occupation.

► Congressman Mike Coffman’s comments last week in response to President Obama’s Executive Order on gun safety were not well-received. Dave Hoover, a close relative of one of the victims of the 2012 Aurora Theater Shooting, slams Coffman in a statement, wondering aloud how “the representative of the district where the Aurora theater is located could be so heartless.”

► On another Coffman note, the Aurora Congressman has now voted 7 times to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Coffman implied that he had the endorsement of Planned Parenthood in a 2014 campaign advertisement.

► Republican Cole Wist was selected by a vacancy committee on Saturday to replace Jack Tate in HD-27. This is the last stop in a merry-go-round that began with the resignation of state Sen. David Balmer in late 2015. Former State GOP Chair Ryan Call was among the candidates seeking to replace Tate.

► There’s still time to purchase health insurance for 2016, according to Colorado officials.

► Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul continues to trend in the wrong direction in his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination.

► Greeley resident Ronna Rice will be a guest of Michelle Obama at President Obama’s final State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► The Supreme Court could cripple public unions in the United States today.

► Still not convinced that Donald Trump could actually win the Republican nomination for President? Recent history suggests otherwise.

ICYMI

► The Denver Broncos will host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in the second round of the AFC playoffs. You don’t need to (literally) be afraid of the Cincinnati Bengals.

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