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Just because the President denies facts doesn't mean that you should too! As we continue to work through these uncharted times, make sure that you're staying up to date on what's happening in Colorado and with our democratic processes by checking out these websites:
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You Can't Quarantine Democracy: Week 6! |
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We did it!
Thanks to the support of our state and county party officers, countless volunteers, and to the thousands of delegates from all across our state, we held our first ever virtual state assembly and convention! |
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Over the past month and a half, this is what your state Democratic Party has been working on:
So why does this matter?
Caucuses are the neighborhood process that allow us to elect 2 precinct organizers from over 3,133 precincts in Colorado, that become the trained grassroots army for winning in 2020!
Assemblies are the way candidates can compete to get on the ballot through the party. They are a FREE process where candidates with grassroots support (30% or more) can get on the ballot (some states instead use large fees to get on the ballot e.g. $20,000 or only have a petition process which usually means hiring an expensive signature gathering firm and fundamentally unsafe during a health pandemic).
Conventions are how we elect the delegates that will go to the Democratic National Convention and help us elect the next President and Vice-President of the United States. |
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With support from our furry friends, we practiced social distancing to stay safe and worked every day to make sure the wheels of democracy could continue moving forward and that the assembly/convention process could finish! |
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What were the results of the State Assembly and Convention?
But, wait! Where are the At-Large and PLEO Delegate selections? Great question! Currently, the presidential campaigns for former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders are in negotiations to allow Senator Sanders to be eligible to receive statewide delegates to the national convention. Once a deal has been reached, we will announce who the delegates are! |
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COVID-19 Updates |
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From CPR News
Ahead of the April 26 scheduled expiration of the statewide stay-at-home order, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy outlined what life in Colorado might look like as soon as next week.
“As it rolls off April 27, we need to figure out how to run the marathon now that we’ve run the sprint,” Polis said. “I hate to break it to you, but the easy part was the sprint.”
Polis, speaking from the Governor's Mansion in Denver, said that the state isn't able to test enough -- and investigate confirmed positive cases -- to relax social distancing very much yet. Colorado is still having trouble getting supplies, he said.
He said that Coloradans should still stay at home whenever they can, and that older Coloradans and other people with high-risk health situations will need to continue to be extremely cautious.
"Your May will look a lot like your April if you’re in that most vulnerable group," he said.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that our job isn’t finished, your job isn’t finished, not by a long shot,” Polis said, as he outlined new rules for businesses that would maintain levels of social distancing that are much higher than normal, but that are greatly relaxed from the way the state has operated for nearly a month.
“Retail curbside delivery, any retail that wants to do that, that starts immediately April 27,” Polis said. Other retail would be allowed to open May 1 with some restrictions.
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BOB'S CORNER A NOTE FROM OUR PARTY SECRETARY |
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One football stadium's worth of dead Americans.
As of today, COVID-19 has killed over 50,000 Americans, roughly as many as can fit into the football stadium at Air Force Academy. Think about that the next time you drive down I-25.
Now imagine that instead of dying of a disease, these 50,000+ people were killed by terrorists while attending a football game.
How would you expect the President to respond? With empathy? Compassion? Humanity?
Now imagine that the President had knowledge of a potential terrorist attack for at least eight weeks prior to the event and that he chose to do nothing. Imagine he publicly denied the existence of the threat. Picture him holding rallies, mocking security and terrorism experts who said it was coming.
Repeatedly.
Imagine he knew the attack had begun and told people to go to the game anyway.
Now imagine that after the attack, the President blocked the roads that would have allowed First Responders to assess the damage, treat the wounded, and evacuate people in case there was a second terrorist strike. Imagine that the President mocked First Responders as they tried to save lives. Imagine him saying, "We could still watch the game if these people would just get out of the way!" and encouraging others to also block access to the stadium.
That's where we are. This is our stadium. And, unfortunately, this is our President.
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DON'T FORGET: |
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We may all be practicing social distancing, but one activity we can all participate in is making sure to complete the 2020 Census you may have received in your mail by now! |
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What's the Census? The count is mandated by the Constitution and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency. The 2020 Census counts the population in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. |
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Why should I participate? This critical process ensures that Colorado receives fair representation in Congress and its fair share of federal funding. There is approximately $880 billion in federal funding allocated across the United States based on Census counts. In Colorado, this equates to approximately $13 billion annually or an estimated $2,300 per person according to a study by George Washington University. Some of the programs funded by Census dollars are Head Start programs; section 8 housing; Tier 1 grants for educational agencies and emergency food and shelter. |
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Are my answers safe? The Census is safe and important; the answers are protected by law and are not shared with anyone pursuant to federal law, to include any other Federal Agency. |
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How do I participate? By April 1, 2020, every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. You will have three options for responding:
If you have not already received it, check your mail for official Census Bureau mail with detailed information on how to respond to the 2020 Census. |
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Click here to sign up for updates from the Federal Census Bureau, and click here to learn more! |
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Dems Leading the Way |
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Bennet Works Tirelessly to Bring Americans home |
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'We never thought Peru was closing': Colorado senator helps Missouri woman return to U.S. From 9News
Zoe Parham was supposed to spend weeks working on a small, remote avocado farm in the Andes mountains – instead, she found herself trapped in a foreign country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ultimately it was the intervention of one of Colorado’s U.S. senators that got the Missouri native back to the United States.
“When I came to South America in February, there were no cases of [the] coronavirus in any country in South America,” Parham told 9Wants to Know.
But after she moved to Peru on March 9 for the chance to work on that small-scale farm, she started hearing that the world around her had changed – particularly in the U.S. With little access to the outside world and minimal cell service, she heard bits of pieces of what was happening. ... She tried reaching the two senators from her home state, Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, both Republicans, but didn’t get the sense that it was doing any good.
In the meantime, her boyfriend, James Zafarana, called his U.S. senator – Michael Bennet, a Democrat.
Bennet personally called her – she missed his first attempt because she thought it was likely spam.
“You know, he just kept asking, 'What more can I do for you?'” she said. “'How can I help you? Is there anything you can think of I can do?' And he has no reason to care about me, you know … I can’t vote for him.”
Bennet said, “friends and family count, too” and that Parham is one of about 300 people his office has worked to get home in the face of the pandemic. It’s estimated that about 50,000 Americans are currently in other parts of the world.
“We were able to, through the state department, arrange transportation for the folks that were stuck in that outlying area,” Bennet said.
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DeGette Calls on Trump to Produce More Testing Supplies for States |
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DeGette: Trump must use his powers to produce the testing supplies needed to reopen this country From the Denver Post
As social distancing continues to slow the spread of coronavirus around the country, Americans are eager to know when life will begin to return to normal. People are looking to the federal government for answers on when they can get back to work, when their kids can go back to school, when they can gather together with friends and so much more.
But rather than create a plan based on the advice of our nation’s top public health experts, the Trump administration seems to be pulling dates out of a hat when suggesting when the country should lift social distancing measures.
First, President Donald Trump said the nation would need just 15 days to slow the spread of the virus. Then, he said he hoped to reopen the country by Easter. Now, as the holiday weekend has come and gone, he’s floating a May goal.
There’s a reason his promises keep falling flat: The president has failed — from day one — to develop a robust national testing strategy, in part because of his refusal to fully invoke his powers under the Defense Production Act.
Right now in the United States, there are nearly 750,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. And the number of deaths, on Sunday, sadly reached more than 35,000.
If the Trump administration is serious about saving American lives — and quickly reopening the country — it needs to facilitate the large-scale production and rapid deployment of precise coronavirus testing, as other countries have done.
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Perlmutter Goes to Bat for Colorado's Cannabis Industry |
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Perlmutter introduces bill to extend economic relief to cannabis industry From Colorado Politics
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter has introduced the Emergency Cannabis Small Business Health and Safety Act, designed to allow marijuana businesses to participate in U.S. Small Business Administration relief measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Cannabis businesses are major employers and significant contributors to local economies in Colorado and across the country. They should receive the same level of support as other legal, legitimate businesses and be eligible for SBA relief funds during this COVID-19 crisis,” Perlmutter said. Under federal law, marijuana is still illegal, although Colorado has declared its cannabis vendors as essential businesses in the pandemic.
The bill, which Perlmutter brought forward with Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., makes marijuana companies eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans and emergency grants that Congress has enacted to prevent businesses from shutting down and halting payroll to workers.
Under the proposal, the Small Business Administration would be able to provide economic aid without incurring liability for sanctioning the cannabis industry contrary to federal law. Although Colorado has not reported sales figures since the stay-at-home order went into effect, marijuana sales during the first two months of 2020 reached their highest levels compared to the same period in previous years.
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Weiser Fights For Families In Need |
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Weiser joins AGs in asking for halt to restrictive food stamp rule From Colorado Politics
Attorney General Phil Weiser joined his counterparts in 20 other states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday in asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to halt its rulemaking on a proposal to change income requirements for food assistance beneficiaries.
“The present crisis is precisely the wrong time to be imposing additional burdens on the States in their efforts to ensure that all families are safe and nourished,” reads the letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
The Trump Administration’s rule, proposed in 2019, would eliminate less restrictive income requirements on food stamp eligibility that some states have implemented through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Colorado’s Department of Human Services has calculated that 33,000 residents would lose benefits under the change, approximately 7% of the total number of Coloradans receiving food assistance.
The department estimated that nearly 7,400 persons over age 60 would be affected by proposed limits on net income and assets, while 6,442 adults under age 60 who do not have children would lose benefits if they earned between $16,000 and $24,000 annually. Families with children would see the biggest impact, with 19,700 potentially removed from the program if they do not receive at least $50 per month through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program.
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Trump, Gardner, & GOP Watch |
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This Week in "Don't Listen to Trump": Don't Drink or Inject Bleach. |
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Bleach and sunlight might kill the coronavirus on a park bench, but they can be harmful to the body From CNN
Bleach and sunlight can both kill the new coronavirus on surfaces outside the body, a federal official said Thursday at the daily White House briefing.
But that simple scientific summary quickly turned into a puzzling brainstorm by President Donald Trump about how to treat Covid-19 patients, from injecting disinfectants -- a dangerous prospect that could be fatal -- and possibly streaming light into the body.
Here's what was said -- and what science really tells us about safely killing viruses.
Bleach should not be injected or ingested
Studies of the virus have shown that bleach kills coronavirus on surfaces in about five minutes, and isopropyl alcohol destroys it on surfaces even faster, Bill Bryan, a senior official at the US Department of Homeland Security, told reporters Thursday.
Bryan, who is not a scientist, said a US Army biological lab outside Washington DC had been conducting tests on the virus.
Trump then said this: "And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in one minute. Is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning ... it would be interesting to check that."
Chlorine bleach is toxic. It can and does kill people who drink it. The US Food and Drug Administration regularly warns the public against drinking bleach, or even inhaling fumes from bleach. It's also irritating to skin.
Following Trump's comments, the company that makes Lysol urged customers not to consume its cleaning products.
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Gardner Kisses the Ring, Refuses to Acknowledge Trump's Dangerous Politics |
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From NBC News
In early March, Mike Bowen, the executive vice president of the medical mask manufacturer Prestige Ameritech, found the perfect way to drum up some federal business: He went on Steve Bannon's podcast, which is highly popular at the White House.
"If the government wants to throw some money at it, we can hire more people and build more machines," Bowen said during an appearance on the "War Room" podcast co-hosted by Bannon, who was the chief executive officer of Donald Trump's presidential 2016 campaign. "We're kind of out there on our own, and we are doing everything that we can possibly do on our own."
A month later, at the explicit request of the White House, Prestige Ameritech had a $9.5 million contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It then won another deal with the state of Texas and was given 50 National Guard members, deployed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, to work shifts at its suburban Fort Worth manufacturing facility. ... Key allies are rewarded: Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Martha McSally, R-Ariz., two of their party's most politically vulnerable lawmakers, have been able to claim credit publicly for using their influence with Trump to secure ventilators for their states. Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who presides over a state that is both Trump's official home and crucial to his re-election hopes, says the president has delivered everything he needs. Meanwhile, other big jurisdictions across the country say they are scrambling to find test kits and personal protective equipment. ... While White House officials say the disaster response has been apolitical, the actions they have taken and the words Trump and other Republican politicians have used strongly suggest that political relationships are a key factor in the distribution of equipment.
"Will be immediately sending 100 Ventilators to Colorado at the request of Senator Gardner!" Trump said in an April 8 tweet, referring to one of the handful of Republicans in danger of losing a seat in November.
The state isn't among the top dozen in per capita or overall infections or deaths from COVID-19, and it actually reduced its request for assistance from the federal government's Strategic National Stockpile. But at the time of Gardner's request, state officials believed FEMA had stepped in to stop 500 ventilators from going into the state — with the end result appearing as if FEMA had stopped Democratic Gov. Jared Polis' attempt to buy 500 ventilators from a private company while the president gave 100 back in the name of a Republican senator he is trying to help politically. ... Gardner's office did not respond to NBC News' request for an interview on his efforts to secure lifesaving equipment for his constituents.
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Volunteers of the Week |
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Todd with his father David, who received an award form the Urban League of Metropolitan Denver. |
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We'd like to give a special shoutout to Todd Cole -- son of the late political consultant and community activist David J. Cole -- for donating office furniture and supplies to the Colorado Democratic Party!
With this new furniture, we'll be able to sit even more volunteers and staff at CDP HQ so we can continue towards our mission to defeat Donald Trump and Cory Gardner, and to elected Democrats up and down the ticket! Thank you Todd, and thank you David! |
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Do you want to volunteer? Reach out to our volunteer coordinator Karin Asensio at [email protected], and see how YOU CAN GET INVOLVED! |
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Join the Elbow Bumpers Club! |
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What's the Elbow Bumpers Club (formerly known as the High Fivers Club), you ask? It started with a simple idea: There are nearly 1.2 million registered Democrats in Colorado -- what if every single one of them gave just $5 a month to the Colorado Democratic Party (CDP)?
Answer: The CDP would be the best-funded state party in the country -- with zero dollars from corporate PACs and plenty for flipping red seats to blue!
Here's the reality -- the Colorado Dems are working in overdrive to keep the wheels of democracy moving forward, and now is a time when we could really use your help! If you haven't joined the High Fivers Club (temporarily known as the Elbow Bumpers Club now) -- please consider a few reasons to give!
Click the gif below to join the Elbow Bumpers Club! |
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The Funnies! |
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Editor's Note: Since we haven't been able to be on the road, we thought we would end today's edition of the Dispatch by showing a few solid political cartoons! |
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Contributions or gifts to the Democratic Party of Colorado are not tax deductible |
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