September 15, 2016 11:35 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (September 15)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Happy Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day (for you Slovenians out there). 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). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► The “new” Donald Trump has once again been strangled by the old Donald Trump. As Politico explains:

Donald Trump’s newfound commitment to message discipline and restraint showed some cracks on Thursday, with the Republican nominee attacking an African-American pastor who cut off his political speech in a Flint, Michigan, church.

“Well, I was in Flint yesterday and it was a very interesting experience and got unbelievably good treatment from people, I must say, and even in that audience, the treatment was great. But something was up because I noticed she was so nervous when she introduced me,” Trump said in a telephone interview with “Fox & Friends,” noting that the Bethel United Methodist Church pastor Faith Green Timmons “was so nervous, she was shaking” when she introduced him for his speech…

…Since elevating pollster Kellyanne Conway to be his campaign manager last month, Trump has been relatively restrained, generally sticking to the TelePrompTer at his speeches. He even initially refrained from delivering an “I told you so” when Clinton nearly collapsed after appearing at a 9/11 memorial service on Sunday. (Her campaign initially said she was “overheated” but later revealed that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia.)

But on Wednesday night, Trump apparently couldn’t resist, and again questioned Clinton’s stamina during a rally in Canton, Ohio.

As we wrote yesterday, we don’t put much stock in a new outlier poll from Reuters/Ipsos that suggests Trump with a 43-41 lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton in Colorado, and a couple of new polls confirm that analysis. Whatever gains that Trump may have made recently will be swiftly erased by Trump’s own bombastic style anyway.

► There’s lots of buzz about a Newsweek article that examines Donald Trump’s foreign business dealings and the massive conflict-of-interest that could result if Trump is somehow elected President:

A close examination by Newsweek of the Trump Organization, including confidential interviews with business executives and some of its international partners, reveals an enterprise with deep ties to global financiers, foreign politicians and even criminals, although there is no evidence the Trump Organization has engaged in any illegal activities. It also reveals a web of contractual entanglements that could not be just canceled. If Trump moves into the White House and his family continues to receive any benefit from the company, during or even after his presidency, almost every foreign policy decision he makes will raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires.

► Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received a doctor’s note affirming that she is in good health. Clinton will turn 69 next month, while Trump is already at age 70; it’s a little absurd to believe that either candidate is in perfect health. 

Clinton, meanwhile, is back on the campaign trail in North Carolina today after taking a few days off to recover from pneumonia.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► A new study shows that Amendment 70 — the ballot measure seeking to increase the minimum wage in Colorado to $12 per hour — would pump more than $400 million into the state’s economy. Opponents of Amendment 70 have trotted out discredited economic “expert” Eric Fruits to throw some shade on the proposal.

Elsewhere, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez was in Denver this week and gave his support for raising the minimum wage.

► The first Presidential debate of the General Election takes place in about two weeks, and there is plenty of discussion about how best to moderate the head-to-head podium battles between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

► Donald Trump says that Ford Motor Company is going to close up shop in the United States and move all of its operations to Mexico. Ford says Trump is full of shit. From CNN Money:

The automaker quickly shot down Donald Trump’s latest hyperbolic claim, made on Fox News Thursday, that Ford plans to “fire all its employees in the United States” as part of a plan to build a plant in Mexico.

Ford said there will be zero job losses in the U.S. as a result of the new plant in Mexico. The Wayne, Michigan, plant that now builds the Focus and C-Max that will move to Mexico will instead start building other models — probably the new Ford Bronco SUV and Ranger small pickup.

“Ford has been in the United States for more than 100 years. Our home is here. We will be here forever,” said spokeswoman Christine Baker.

The company has 85,000 U.S. employees, up 28,000, or nearly 50%, in just the last five years. It has 8,800 employees at Mexican plants, and will add 2,800 jobs there when the new $1.6 billion plant opens there in 2018.

We’re going to go with Ford on this one. It is ludicrous to think that such a huge corporation would just up and move the entire company.

► Donald Trump, Jr., is screwing up his namesake’s narrative about not releasing tax returns for public scrutiny. From “The Fix”:

Donald Trump has been adamant that the sole reason he is the only major presidential nominee in modern history refusing to release his tax returns is because he is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

As we’ve noted, that’s sort of a flimsy excuse since you absolutely can release tax returns while under audit;President Richard Nixon did it in 1973.  I’ve written in this space about the six reasons Trump might not want to release his taxes. But, on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the Republican nominee, gave us a simple and sensible explanation: His dad doesn’t want the scrutiny.

Here’s the relevant passage from Trump Jr.’s interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

When asked why his father has not released his tax returns as presidential candidates have traditionally done, Trump Jr. said, “Because he’s got a 12,000-page tax return that would create … financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that would detract from (his father’s) main message.”

Right.

► We’re on a roll with Donald Trump news, so let’s just keep it going: Meet the reporter who is exposing the charitable fraud that is the Trump Foundation.

► Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn is still trying to explain why he won’t speak to the Denver Post, which is really not a good message. As Peter Marcus writes for the Durango Herald:

Republican Darryl Glenn on Wednesday said he remains committed to speaking with the media and explaining his positions, despite accusations in the U.S. Senate race that he is shielding himself from public scrutiny…

…Glenn said his decision to no longer speak with the Post is not a strategy. He said it has to do with a sensitivity issue stemming from the paper’s investigation into whether he had a past criminal history…

..The Post characterized the incident as resulting in an “assault charge.” The paper also ran an editorial that stated, “Why Darryl Glenn’s assault denial matters.”

When asked why he blamed the incident on others – including another Darryl Glenn, or his dead half-brother – even after being presented with the evidence, Glenn said he was suffering from the trauma of the alleged domestic violence incident.

Is Glenn the worst statewide candidate in Colorado history? We’d say yes, but at the very least, he’s in the Top 2.

► 9News fact-checks a TV ad from opponents of Amendment 72, a proposal to increase cigarette taxes. It doesn’t turn out well for the opposition.

► States that have expanded Medicaid under Obamacare are receiving billions of dollars in federal funding to help the uninsured.

► Former President George W. Bush was in Colorado Springs on Wednesday to speak at the Fort Carson Transition Summit and to elaborate on his new painting hobby.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► A Colorado apprenticeship program for high school students is getting a huge influx of money thanks to two big donors: J.P. Morgan Chase and Bloomberg Philanthropies together are donating nearly $10 million to the CareerWise Colorado program.

► The Colorado Statesman examines the Denver District Attorney race between Democrat Beth McCann and Independent candidate Helen Morgan.

ICYMI

► What happens when a crackpot runs for President? We’re finding out.

Don’t forget to check out the Get More Smarter Show. You can also Get More Smarter by liking Colorado Pols on Facebook!