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A Democratic National Convention To Remember |
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We don't know about you, but we are FIRED UP after watching last week's DNC! It was filled with feel-good moments, tear-jerking moments, and motivating moments that got us feeling energized and motivated to go out and WIN in November!
Are you fired up, too? Sign up to Volunteer, or Sign up to be a Poll Watcher and protect voters from voter intimidation! |
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Meanwhile, at the Republican National Convention... |
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From Business Insider
The first night of the Republican National Convention was all about injecting fear into the hearts of US voters.
Using hyperbolic and dystopian language, virtually every speaker warned Americans that if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were to win, it would destroy America as we know it.
Early in the night, the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who runs an organization that's espoused blatantly Islamophobic rhetoric, described President Donald Trump as "the bodyguard of Western civilization."
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the gun-toting St. Louis couple who gained internet fame after threatening peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters with firearms earlier this summer, argued that Democrats "are not satisfied with spreading the chaos and violence into our communities" and want to "abolish the suburbs all together."
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host who is Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, echoed these apocalyptic, conspiratorial sentiments in her remarks.
"Biden, Harris, and the rest of the socialists will fundamentally change this nation," Guilfoyle said in a speech that was filled with rage.
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Guest Columnist: What the Harris Nomination Meant To Me Tikneshia Beauford - Arapahoe County |
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I was not yet born in 1968 and I was just two years old in 1972 when the first African American woman, Shirley Chisholm was elected to the United States Congress representing the 12th Congressional District of New York. She then went on to become the first African American candidate for a major political party's nomination for President of the United States and the first African American woman to run for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination. My mother has often shared with me the joy she felt at that time and emphasized how important it was to have such a powerful, black female role model to look up to and how much it helped to empower her for her own future. |
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Tikneshia's parents, Anthony and Bebra. Bebra was two months pregnant with her in this photo. |
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So, after nearly 50 years, it was with exhaustive emotion and long overdue tears of joy, redemption and validation that I was able to finally wrap myself in the unthinkable, euphoric comfort of being able to come full circle to share this life changing moment with my dear mother, my sisters, my granddaughter and my nieces . As black and brown women in this country and throughout the world, we had all just bore witness to seeing Senator Kamala Harris, become the first African American and Southeastern Asian American woman in our country's history to be nominated as Vice President of a major political party and become the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee. As an African American and Southeastern Asian American woman of Thai and Indonesian descent, her being chosen was extremely personal for me. It was beyond gratifying, satisfying and almost surreal to finally see someone who looks like me possibly become one of the two most powerful leaders in the world and be just a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States of America.
The nomination of Senator Harris as Vice President represents the manifestation of the collective, multi-generational voices of millions of black and brown women who have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party and our society in general. She has given little black and brown girls everywhere a role model to follow by leading by example, showing that they can aspire to be anything they want to be and that there is no limit to their potential. Her presence on the world stage as the first woman of color to possibly occupy the White House represents the intersection and elevation of important under represented cultural demographics from all over the world. She is me and I am her, we are her and she is us. We now feel visible, no longer invisible. We now have a choice that shares our voice. |
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PICK HICK! Updates and Fast Facts from John Hickenlooper for Senate |
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Then-Governor John Hickenlooper signing Public Lands Day into law in 2016, flanked by bill sponsors State Senator Kerry Donovan, and then State Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (running for Congress in CD3!) |
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Did you know? As Governor, John Hickenlooper made protecting our natural resources and our public lands a top priority. That's why, as governor, John Hickenlooper signed into law a bipartisan bill to create Colorado's own Public Lands Day in 2016!
As a landlocked state, water is a precious resource for our residents -- especially in the lower Arkansas Valley and the Western Slope. When he was governor, John Hickenlooper oversaw and unveiled the state's first ever water plan. |
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Then-Governor John Hickenlooper unveiling Colorado's first ever Water Plan in 2015. |
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THIS WEEK ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: |
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John hit the road this weekend and made several stops along the Western Slope -- including Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction, Delta, and Gunnison -- to meet with voters and talk about the top issues facing Coloradans.
He kicked off the swing in Steamboat Springs where he stopped in on small businesses along Main Street and heard from small business owners on what kind of relief they need from Washington.
Read more in the Steamboat Pilot or listen to John’s interview with Steamboat Radio.
On Saturday, John held a roundtable discussion with Grand Junction teachers to hear about their concerns during this unprecedented back to school season and what Washington should be doing to help safely reopen schools. Watch coverage from KKCO here or read more in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. |
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Overlooking the Curecanti National Recreation Area, John was joined by Commissioner Jonathan Houck and other conservation advocates to discuss the CORE Act and Senator Gardner’s refusal to support legislation to protect 400,000 acres of Colorado’s public lands. And finally, John wrapped up by cutting the ribbon on the new headquarters for the Gunnison Democratic Party and spoke to a small crowd about the importance of this election. |
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DEMOCRACY TOOLKIT |
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Our Future Is On The Ballot -- Are You Ready? |
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Voter Registration You can Register to Vote, Update your Registration, and Add your cell # or email to receive alerts when your ballot has been sent, received & counted -- all at http://www.govotecolorado.gov or at the buttons below! |
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See a Preview of your Ballot at Ballot Ready! |
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Ballot Ready allows voters to plug in their address and see the whole ticket of Democratic candidates running where they live. The tool pulls up the voter’s slate card of candidates, and includes photos of the candidates and links to their websites and social media channels so voters can learn about them. Go to http://www.coloradodems.org/ballot or click on the below to try it out! |
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What do those down ballot seats actually do? |
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You know the candidates, but what about the office? Check out these nifty resources to find out what they do! |
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Judicial Performance Commission Find out more about the judges who will be on your ballot before your ballot arrives either at the button below or this link: http://www.coloradojudicialperformance.gov/review.cfm?year=2020 |
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Voterfied -- Make YOUR Voice Heard |
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Voterfied is a tool that allows voters to directly cut through the noise, and make their voices and opinions heard by their elected officials and to the Colorado Democratic Party, without the vitriol or spam-like nature of social media and email. During this time of COVID-19, voters are not able to attend town hall meetings without fearing for their safety -- Voterfied allows voters to make their voices heard while maintaining social distancing. Try Voterfied at https://codems.voterfied.us or at the button below! |
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Become a Poll Watcher If you are 18 years old or older and a Registered Democrat, YOU can become a guardian of democracy! Sign up to be a Poll Watcher, and ensure that no voter intimidation is happening, and that every eligible voter can vote! Sign up at https://coloradodems.org/watchpolls/ or at the button below! |
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Download the Vote Joe App
Text "Vote" to 30330 or click the buttons below, depending on your device. |
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Become an Election Judge
These are PAID positions that ensure elections are being conducted fairly and in accordance with the law! You must be 16 years or older to apply -- visit your county clerk's website and find out more! |
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Volunteer to Call, Text, Postcard Voters or Host a House Party
Contact Karin Asensio at [email protected] to find out how you can help democracy in this era of COVID-19 with postcards, phone banking, or hosting a virtual house party! |
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Volunteer with Your Local Coordinated Field Organizer
Visit https://www.mobilize.us/coloradovictory2020/ or click the button below to connect with your local field organizer and get involved with electing Democrats up and down the ticket! |
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Did you Fill Out Your Census?
Don't let your community be left behind. Click the button below or visit this website to fill out your census today and be counted: http://www.2020census.gov |
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Redistricting / Reapportionment Commissions
Don't let politicians choose who they want to vote for with unfair gerrymandering! Sign up today to apply join the independent redistricting commission by click the button below or going to this web address: https://redistricting.colorado.gov |
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Fund our 2020 Win Plan
Whether you can give $5, $10, $50, $500, whatever you can manage to donate can go so far to help fund our 2020 Win Plan and help us launch a blue tsunami in November! And, if you can, please make it monthly :)
Click the button below or go to this link: https://coloradodems.org/donate/ |
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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!
Click the gif below to join the Elbow Bumpers Club! |
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Commit to Vote Ballots Will be mailed to all registered voters between Oct. 9 – 16, 2020 DROP your ballot off ASAP Last safe date to mail your ballot Oct. 26, 2020 Last date to register AND receive a mail ballot Oct. 26, 2020 Vote the WHOLE ballot – Local Leadership Matters!
Peer to Peer GOTV (Get Out the Vote) Make a list of YOUR friends and family. Text, Call or Email them to ask 1. Is their voter registration up to date? 2. And after ballots are sent, have they dropped off their ballot?
Be a Proud Voter Write an Op Ed Post Your Support on Social Media #whyivote #whyivolunteer
Test Your CO Voting IQ Did you know in CO: · Every registered voter automatically is mailed a ballot? · That we have same day registration (but for God’s sake please don’t wait that long) · We have early voting, in person voting and mail ballots? · Everyone can look up and confirm the accuracy of their own voter registration information at www.govotecolorado.gov. · People with a criminal record CAN vote in CO? (Only convicted felons in still serving a sentence can’t vote) · Our 2020 recommendation is to vote EARLY and DROP off your ballot ASAP! · Homeless people have the right to vote in Colorado? · In person machine voting in Colorado has a paper trail. · Inactive voters are not “purged” in Colorado. |
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This Week In Making a Difference |
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REGISTER TODAY! Colorado Communities Connect |
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For us here in Colorado, we're fighting not only for the soul of this nation alongside Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but we're fighting to build a better future. But, the reality is that this could mean so many different things to different people.
What does building a better future mean to you? To your community? Come join in one of our new "Colorado Communities Connect" virtual series and be part of the discussion! |
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2020 Win Stops -- Virtual Edition! |
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You heard Edna! By joining us for these Win Stops, this is how we win! |
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Even in the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, Team CDP is connecting with Democrats all across the state to ensure that we launch a blue tsunami in 2020!
Join us for our final virtual win stop to learn how you can be a part of electing Democrats in your county this November! |
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Saturday, August 29 at 6:00PM VIP Guest Speaker: Senator Michael Bennet Very Small Purple (Alamosa, Bent, Clear Creek, Conejos, Huerfano, Rio Grande, Ouray, San Juan ) |
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Work for the 2020 Wave Webinars |
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SAVE THE DATE for our upcoming "Work for the Wave" webinars! |
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Monday, August 31, 2020 @ 6:00PM MST Campaign Finance 101 (Hosted by Martha Tierney and Neil Reiff) Navigating campaign finance laws can be tricky. Whether it's knowing the federal laws or the state laws, campaign teams need to know what I's do they need to dot and what T's they need to cross! Come learn from two campaign finance experts at this free webinar. Click here to sign up! |
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Monday, September 14, 2020 @ 6:00PM MST VAN 101 (Hosted by Bruce Norikane) The Voter Activation Network (VAN) is one of the Democratic Party's most critical tools to victory and success at every level of campaigning! Whether you're new to VAN, or if you could use a refresher on the basics, check out this training by technology director Bruce Norikane! Click here to sign up! |
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Monday, September 28, 2020 @ 6:00PM MST GOTV and GOTV Messaging (Hosted by Morgan Carroll and Halisi Vinson) How do we make sure that that we turn out the vote? How do we convince our voters to turn in their ballots, and make sure that they don't leave their ballots on their kitchen counter until it's too late? We go over strategies in this webinar! Click here to sign up! |
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PANEL: “Rural Broadband – Why Don’t I Have It?” |
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What’s working, what’s not? How do I get high-speed internet access in my community?
Join a great panel discussion hosted by the CDP Rural Initiative on Friday, August 28, 2-3:30pm about programs working to extend broadband all over Colorado.
* Teresa Ferguson, Director of Federal Broadband Engagement, Broadband Office, Governor’s Office of Information Technology
* Miriam Gillow-Wiles, Executive Director, Southwest Colorado Council of Governments (SWCCOG), SCAN (Southwest Colorado Access Network) Broadband Project. The SWCCOG includes LaPlata, San Juan, Montezuma, Dolores, and Archuleta counties.
*Nate Walowitz, Regional Broadband Program Director, Northwest Colorado Council of Governments (NWCCOG). The NWCCOG includes Jackson, Grand, Summit, Eagle, and Pitkin counties.
Register by clicking the button below, or going to https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-uurzwiEtdHrNjN80oqU88ueD1mHQma |
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HELP WANTED: New Positions to Apply For! |
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We're staffing up in preparation for the 2020 General Election! Colorado is a battleground state, and we're looking for scrappy, driven, politically savvy organizers to join our team!
Job Descriptions: |
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Join the Pitkin County Dems for their *Virtual* Annual Gathering! |
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Scan the QR code below to register! |
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Local Candidates of the Week |
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Candidate: Lori Boydston
Office Running for: State House (House District 60)
Why this matters: Lori is a mother, grandmother, and small business owner who has been living on her 11 acre ranch in Salida for the past 25 years. She has pledged that she will work to bring better broadband access and healthcare access, Green energy and Green jobs to the rural mountain community. With YOUR help, we can win this seat and bring the representation needed to CO HD 60.
Connect with Lori on Facebook. |
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Candidate: Carlos Lopez https://www.carloslopezforcolorado.com/
Office Running for: State Senate (District 35)
Why this matters: Carlos was raised in Colorado my entire life. He attended School District #1 in Trinidad, started his college career at Trinidad State Junior College and finished undergrad degree at the University of Northern Colorado. He's running because he is concerned that the State Government too often ignores the voices of Southern and Rural Colorado. This office has been represented by a Republican for years, and if we can elect Carlos, we can flip this seat!
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Dems Leading the Way |
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Bennet: "No president in our history has had less respect for democracy than Donald Trump." |
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Michael Bennet: We have 79 days (Sunday) In the Colorado Sun
In 79 days [this was published Sunday, August 16], Americans will vote under conditions none of us would have imagined – a raging pandemic, a staggering economic crisis and unrelenting attacks on our democracy from the president of the United States.
No president in our history has had less respect for democracy than Donald Trump. As a candidate, he refused to say whether he would accept the results of the 2016 election.
Having won, he claimed without evidence that millions of undocumented immigrants had voted for Hillary Clinton to explain why he lost the popular vote.
As president, Trump still denies Russia’s interference in our elections. Worse, he actively invited foreign interference by attempting to withhold security assistance from Ukraine to coerce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.
Through it all, he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have blockaded virtually every effort to strengthen and protect our democracy.
At the start of this election year, Americans stood ready to overcome all of these obstacles to cast their ballots.
Then the pandemic struck. Instead of using the crisis to unite the country, the president has used it to continue his assault on our democracy – this time, by training his fire on vote-by-mail, a model we helped pioneer in Colorado.
For months, he has made one false claim after another about vote-by-mail. He claims it leads to fraud, even though the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, found that out of roughly 250 million absentee ballots cast over a 20-year span, the incidence of fraud was a mere 0.00006% of all ballots cast. Put differently, an American is more likely to be struck by lightning than commit mail voter fraud.
The president claims vote-by-mail invites foreign interference. He must not have spoken with his former Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, who praised Colorado as a national leader for election security and said she would “love to continue to use [Colorado] as an example of what other states can adopt.” She was right to do this.
Some election experts argue that because vote-by-mail leaves a paper trail, it is actually more secure than traditional, in-person voting.
The president has also claimed that vote-by-mail is an attempt by Democrats to steal the November election. He should talk to my Republican colleague, Sen. Cory Gardner, who won our state’s first election after transitioning to vote-by-mail.
The truth is, in two of our last three general elections, more registered Republicans voted by mail than Democrats. A recent study of Colorado’s elections found that vote-by-mail benefited both parties the same, increasing turnout by an average of eight percentage points.
This is the president’s true concern. He fears that he can’t win the vote, so he’s trying to suppress it. This is not speculation; the president admitted it last week on national television, saying he would oppose new funding for the U.S. Postal Service to keep states from expanding vote-by-mail.
This came after we learned that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Trump donor, reportedly notified states about his intent to nearly triple the cost of sending ballots by mail – increasing costs for states weeks before the election and when their budgets are already stretched thin.
None of this is by accident. Together, the president’s words and deeds constitute the most brazen campaign of voter suppression since Jim Crow, and they, too, will go down in history with everlasting shame.
The question now is what history will say about the rest of us, having seen this blatant attack on our democracy. At a minimum, the Senate and the House of Representatives should immediately return to Washington to fully fund our elections and the U.S. Postal Service, overriding the president if required.
The time is long past for my Republican colleagues to decide whether they love our democracy more than they fear Donald Trump.
In Colorado, we should take every opportunity to burnish our example and push back against the disinformation about vote-by-mail.
Finally, we need to reach out to our friends and family across the country to make sure they have the right information to vote and save our democracy in its moment of need. We have 79 days.
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Weiser, Dems Hold Trump United States Postal Service Head Accountable |
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Weiser looks warily at Postmaster General's promises as Colorado joins multi-state lawsuit From Colorado Politics
In the wake of continued controversy over the operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service, Attorney General Phil Weiser said on Tuesday that states in a federal lawsuit would stay "committed" to ensuring that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy does not delay or disrupt mail delivery.
"While the Postmaster General has said he is suspending operational initiatives he implemented illegally at the USPS, we are going to monitor his actions and make sure that he lives up to his word. A mere statement isn’t legally binding and nothing in the DeJoy statement says that he is reversing the actions already taken," Weiser said.
Weiser, Gov. Jared Polis, and Secretary of State Jena Griswold had announced earlier that Colorado joined a multi-state federal lawsuit claiming that the drastic changes at USPS threaten critical mail delivery and could undermine the national election in November.
DeJoy said in a statement after the announcement that "to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded."
Colorado joins Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin in that lawsuit, to be filed in federal court in Washington state.
The Postal Service cuts — including the removal of five Delivery Bar Code Sorters and at least one Flat Sequencing System from a major Denver distribution center — threaten the timely delivery of mail to Coloradans who rely on the Postal Service for everything from medical prescriptions to ballots, according to a statement from Weiser's office.
Other factors that could cause delay include not only the increased load on the remaining sorters, but also new policies such as reduced staff overtime and an earlier deadline for end-of-day mail processing.
DeJoy did not say what is to become of the 671 mail sorting machines and hundreds of mail collection boxes believed to have been already removed by USPS in recent weeks. He is scheduled to testify before both houses of Congress next week.
Weiser's statement noted that the Postal Service had recently notified states it would end its longstanding practice of processing ballots as first-class mail regardless of what type of postage is used. States and counties that use marketing or bulk-rate postage for their ballots could experience delays that would prevent some ballots from being counted.
In Colorado, ballots are sent to voters at least three weeks before the election. Griswold has said that they advise voters not to return ballots by mail beginning a week before the election and to drop them off at secure ballot collection boxes.
Weiser said these delays are likely to affect Colorado’s all-mail elections and the constitutional right to vote for the state’s 3.5 million active registered voters, as well as delay mail-order prescription drugs to nearly 50,000 Colorado veterans.
“Coloradans depend on the U.S. Postal Service to conduct business, pay bills, order prescriptions, and to vote by mail. The sweeping changes that the Postmaster General implemented at the Postal Service are illegal and threaten to undermine our state’s independent authority to conduct elections," Weiser said Tuesday. "We are bringing this lawsuit to fight for every citizen’s constitutional right to vote and to protect our State’s ability to manage our reliable, safe, and easy-to-use vote at home election system."
The lawsuit claims DeJoy "acted outside of his authority and did not follow the proper procedures required by federal to implement these drastic changes. Under federal law, changes at the U.S. Postal Service that cause a nationwide impact in mail service must be submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission. The commission then evaluates the proposal through a procedure that includes public notice and comment," according to the statement.
DeJoy is a former deputy finance chairman for the Republican National Committee and a donor to President Trump's election campaign, with more than $1.2 million in contributions and millions more to other Republican organizations and candidates, according to NPR.
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Crow Talks DNC, Uniting the Country |
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Rep. Jason Crow Talks About The DNC's Theme of Unity From CBS Denver
Rep. Jason Crow talks to CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd about the DNC's theme of unity.
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Trump, Gardner, & GOP Watch |
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Colorado GOP: From Never Trumpers to Always Trumpers |
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How Colorado Republicans transformed from “Never Trump” to Donald Trump loyalists in four years From the Colorado Sun
Colorado’s delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention led a last-minute insurrection designed to prevent Donald Trump from securing the party’s nomination.
They called themselves “Never Trumpers” and staged a walkout on the convention floor in Cleveland.
Now, four years later, many of those anti-Trump delegates are among his fiercest supporters.
“We didn’t know how things would turn out four years ago,” said Andy Jones, a 2020 delegate for Trump who opposed his nomination in 2016. “This president has not disappointed. … I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
“I had it all wrong,” said Don Olmstead, another delegate from Colorado who vowed not to vote for the Republican nominee in 2016 because Trump didn’t have “any core principles.”
The turnabout in Colorado reflects the shift in national Republican sentiment after Trump’s takeover transformed the party into a one-man show and drew legions of unequivocal supporters. A series of recent polls show about 80% of Colorado Republicans approve of the president, an increase from 2016. And the change is evident at the top of the party.
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck — who doubles as the Colorado Republican Party chairman — led the opposition in 2016 as a top supporter of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who won all the state’s presidential delegates in the caucus. On the convention floor in Cleveland, Buck shouted “Objection!” in response to party rules that locked in Trump’s delegate support. Two days later, he told delegates to “suck it up” and support the party’s nominee.
At the scaled-back convention Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Colorado sent six delegates, Buck cast the state’s 37 votes for Trump in a full-throated endorsement. “The past four years, President Trump and Vice President Pence have made America great again in the eyes of the world so now our friends respect us and our enemies fear us,” Buck said from the convention hall, reprising the campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Like the state’s delegates from four years prior, Buck cited the president’s record of conservative judicial appointments, his response to the coronavirus pandemic, new trade deals and tax cuts as reasons to support his reelection.
The difference between Colorado’s delegates now and then didn’t register with him. “It didn’t feel weird to me this time because I’ve been supporting the president in Congress as much as I can, and I have been really supporting him as a state party chair as much as I can,” Buck said in an interview afterward.
The activist who led “Never Trump” camp is no longer a registered Republican The leader of the “Never Trump” movement in Colorado never made the conversion.
Kendal Unruh, a 2016 delegate from outside Castle Pines, emerged as a national leader behind the effort to change the party rules and unbind delegates to allow them to “vote their conscience” against Trump.
Her “Free the Delegates” movement drew enough support to force the issue at the convention, but Trump’s allies quickly quelled the rebellion and the delegates didn’t get the roll call vote needed to oust him. The move spurred a shouting match on the floor between Trump supporters and others and the walkout.
The moment defined the first day of the convention and stirred animosity that persisted throughout the four-day event. The Smithsonian even requested Colorado’s sign from the convention floor for its historical collection.
In the November election, Unruh didn’t vote for Trump and left the Republican Party to register as an unaffiliated voter. “If you’re wondering if I’m glad I challenged Trump at the convention, the more corrupt and evil he reveals himself to be, and the more complicit the GOP is, the more proud I am that I did it,” the 55-year-old former American government teacher said.
Earlier this year, rumors spread on social media that Unruh planned to organize against Trump again in 2020, but she said she’s no longer involved in politics.
Looking back, she considers the 2016 convention a pivotal shift for the party. And the president’s first four years in office have only served to reinforce Unruh’s stance. “I predicted a lot of what would happen, but I had no idea it could literally get as bad as it did,” she added.
She suggests the party has become a cult and lost its moral high ground by defending him amid the impeachment and the campaign’s ties to Russia. “Now to find out the Democrats are ones who actually upheld law and order, who actually pushed back against tyranny, who actually held people accountable … that one I still cannot get over,” she said.
“I mourn that most — that Republicans don’t have a platform of morality,” she added. “And I can honestly tell you they will never get it back. I don’t care who they run in the future.”
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Gardner's Sham Pre-Existing Conditions Bill "Horse Excrement" |
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(Photo Credit: Mark Reis) |
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Truth Test: Ad makes claims about Cory Gardner and voting history regarding preexisting conditions From 9News
Truth Tests normally begin with a look at the claims, but this one needs to start with the group responsible for the claims.
"Duty and Honor" is responsible for an ad going after Republican Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and his votes regarding coverage for preexisting conditions.
Gardner recently introduced preexisting conditions protection bill
On Aug. 6, just before the Senate went on break, Gardner introduced bill S. 4506. The bill text is eight lines long, when you open it in pdf form. It's entitled: "To ensure coverage of pre-existing conditions under private health insurance, and for other purposes."
Here is the text of the bill:
"A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage may not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion with respect to such plan or coverage, factor health status into premiums or charges, exclude benefits relating to pre-existing conditions from coverage, or otherwise exclude benefits, set limits, or increase charges based on any pre-existing condition or health status."
It does require insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions, it just doesn't require an insurance company to take you on in the first place.
"In order to truly protect people who are sick with preexisting conditions, you have to be willing to strictly regulate insurance companies and provide the kind of funding that would keep the insurance market stable. And this bill from Sen. Gardner falls well short of providing comprehensive protections for people with preexisting conditions," said Larry Levitt, vice president of Kaiser Family Foundation.
KFF is a non-profit that focuses on health issues. It is not connected to Kaiser Permanente.
"This bill is clearly somewhat incomplete in that it's so short, but what the bill is really missing certain words that requires insurance companies to take anyone," Levitt said.
Despite multiple requests to speak with Gardner about his bill, his Senate staff and campaign spokesman have not made him available.
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Boebert Arrested Multiple Times Since 2015 |
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Arrest Warrants Issued for Boebert in Multiple Cases After She Didn’t Show Up for Court Hearings From the Colorado Times Recorder
At about midnight four years ago, restauranteur Lauren Boebert, in her words, “turned too sharp,” and rolled her truck into a ditch near her home in Rifle, Colorado.
She faced a careless driving and unsafe vehicle charges, and a court date was set for three months later.
Not an uncommon slip-up on rural roads at night.
But Boebert, who’s now a Republican candidate for Congress, never showed up for her court hearing on October 5, 2016, according to records obtained by the Colorado Times Recorder from Colorado’s 9th Judicial District.
This led a Garfield County judge to issue a warrant for Boebert’s arrest for failing to appear in court.
Information about the 2016 warrant comes after Colorado Newsline reported last week that Boebert failed to appear for two separate hearings following her 2015 disorderly-conduct arrest at the Country Jam music festival near Grand Junction. A document search shows that the Mesa County court issued a warrant for her arrest in this case as well after she didn’t show up.
In the 2016 case involving the car accident, a letter was sent by the court to Boebert’s home address in Rifle and advised Boebert that a “warrant for your arrest” was issued for “failure to appear on 10/5/16,” in reference to the case.
“You may take care of this matter by contacting the court…and request a new court date,” the letter, dated Oct. 7, 2016, states. “If you wish to plead guilty, it may be possible for you to do so by mail. In addition to the warrant, a warrant fee has been assessed and a hold may have been placed against your driver’s license. Please contact the court as soon as possible to resolve this matter.”
After apparently ignoring the court’s letter, Boebert was arrested four months later, on Feb. 13, 2017, fingerprinted, photographed, and fined $100. The following month, she appeared in court, as ordered, and the matter was settled in a plea bargain, dropping the careless driving charge.
When arrested in 2015 for disorderly conduct, Boebert warned deputies at the time that she had “friends at Fox News.”
One deputy wrote that Boebert was “trying to get subjects to leave the custody of law enforcement,” according to Newsline. Some of these “subjects” were detained for underage drinking.
At her restaurant, Shooters Grill, Boebert once let at least one juvenile server carry a weapon illegally.
Newsline pointed out that Boebert recently criticized protesters for not respecting the law. “Civil order, rule of law, respect, and decency need to be restored!!!” Boebert tweeted June 23, as quoted by Newsline.
Without citing any evidence, Boebert also claimed Black Lives Matter protesters in Rifle were “paid and bussed in.”
Boebert’s campaign did not return a call seeking to know why the candidate didn’t show up for court hearings after being arrested in 2015 or after the car crash in 2016.
But the Rifle Republican wrote an explanation of her 2016 car crash on the police report at the time.
“My lights were pointed up at the peak of the hill and I could not properly judge the right switch back turn,” she wrote on the report. “I almost came to a complete stop estimating where to turn but thought I was clear and on the road correctly. I had actually turned too sharp and too soon resulting in my truck rolling in the ditch.”
After upsetting GOP incumbent Scott Tipton in a June primary election, Boebert now must defeat Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush in November to represent the rural congressional district that stretches across western and southern Colorado.
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