We need "Listening Points," not just talking ones

Do you ever wonder what passes for political news would sound like without Talking Points?

Have you ever noticed how rare it is that you can turn to a channel on your TV and hear original thought and not just commentary?

We thought it would be fun to try out the idea of “Listening Points” at Park County Democratic sponsored event booths held the past two weekends – one at The Pine Grove Rhubarb Festival on June 11, and one at Bailey Day on June 18.

In addition to inviting people to stop by and just talk, we also asked them to take a few moments and answer a couple of simple questions on a free form survey:  What issues are the most important to you – on any level of government – and what do you believe you need from your government?

No, it wasn’t intended as a reverse spin on John F Kennedy’s famous “Ask not what your country can do for you” quote but was, rather, an effort to get people to stop for just a minute and think about the role they believe government should play and what is important to them.  We didn’t care what political party they were registered to, either, or even if they were.   And a couple dozen took the time.

A number of respondents discussed health care as a concern, but offered no suggestions about how to improve it. I’ll assume that when some suggested “nationalized” health care, they meant the idea of “single payer” or “Medicare for all,” which is something I personally support as well.

A unique idea from a woman in Conifer was to use doctors and nurses in medical school to work in Medicare-related services, and then compensate them by paying down their education costs.  It’s one I hadn’t heard before.  She also advocated a political “no-call” list.  Another woman asks to stop development along US 285 while one wants to control motorcycles on residential streets.   Living up here in the rural Bailey area, I can appreciate that one when my ears perk up just to hear a coyote down the road.

Also a repeated theme relates to concerns people have about education and focus on our domestic needs, with questions about the money the country is spending on five wars:  in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, and the War on Drugs.  One Pine man says who declared himself a Republican said he’d like to get rid of the Department of Education (although I would’ve preferred a little more discussion about “why”).  One questioned the spending of money in Pakistan to “aid terroists.”

One very unhappy Democratic woman is hoping to see a more Progressive Candidate for President, especially given what she feels has been preferential treatment of the financial industry by the current administration.  “Get rid of Geitner and all of the other loser Bush-Light Wall Street operatives,” she said, and she proposes that corporations get tax credits when they bring jobs BACK to the United States.  

One unsigned respondent wants to see states’ rights protected, but failed to offer detail for what his point was.  He worries about devaluation of the US Dollar.  Several wanted to see more control of corporations as they play a bigger role in our political system every day.

A topic that came up several times, including between myself and chair of the Republican Party here in Park County, is the need for campaign finance reform.  It’s an issue so many people agree with, yet so few know how to tackle.  Clearly, it’s something we should all be working together on.

   

Too often, it seems in politics, we talk past one another rather than listen and much of our political discourse has become one of party talking points without serious thought or discussion of what those talking points mean.  Taking the time to listen, and giving the people time to be listened to, is something we need to see more of.

This column was originally published in the June 24, 2011 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"

Natural Gas: Let's get Answers First

In a newsletter earlier this year, the Burland Homeowners Association tells about plans for setting up new swings for the park in the Ranchettes.  Up north of Pine Junction, members of the Woodside Park Homeowners Association are planning for their 2011 summer kids fishing derby and community barbeque and residents in the Town of Alma prepare for the 12^th annual Soup Cook-off and Bingo on April 3.  These local activities all contribute to the sense of community that is all of Park County.  Each place is the home of one of our county commissioners.

Seemingly far, far away, in a distant Park County neighborhood, a drive down Elkhorn Road between US 285 and Hartsel tells a different story.  Midway between the two, a crooked hand-painted sign points west to another dirt road saying simply, “El Paso,” and it’s not directing drivers to the city on the Texas-Mexico border.   Instead, it is pointing to ground zero in the battle between the need for energy and the fears of environmentalists as well as many every-day residents over natural gas drilling in the county.

The below ground land rush began in earnest last year when the same Commissioners gave the OK to El Paso Corp. to begin exploratory drilling at three sites in search of rich natural gas reserves.  They accelerated last week when the Colorado Division of Wildlife gave the approval to allow access four more wells in the James Mark Jones Wildlife Area – approval a likely precursor to more drilling.  If they strike it rich, expect industry efforts to drill hundreds of additional wells to follow.

First, a political geography lesson:  the closest county commissioner to the El Paso site, Mark Dowaliby, lives 15-20 miles away, (as the crow flies) on Alma’s Main Street and at a higher elevation.  Would he be as quick to support drilling and the 7x24 tanker traffic on the vacant land just north of the South Park Saloon?  A 50 mile drive to the site from Commissioner John Tighes’ home makes one wonder if the same support would come if the waste disposal pond or tanks were to be set up next to the Burland swing sets in his subdivision.   Farther away yet, how about a rig at the end of Meadow Drive just past Commissioner Dick Hodges home in the extreme northeast corner of Park County?  Just what would the neighbors say?

Natural gas drilling companies have major exemptions for numerous federal environmental laws written to protect air and drinking water from radioactive and hazardous chemicals.

This week, Colorado Democratic Congressional members Diana DeGette and Jared Polis have introduced a new bill seeking transparency in the process of hydraulic fracking, a process in which undisclosed chemicals are forced into the ground in a process to release the natural gas trapped there.  The bill also wants oil and gas companies to comply with the Safe Water Drinking Act, something they were exempted from during the Bush Administration. 

Telling the Denver Post this week the industry doesn’t oppose fracking fluid disclosure on its merit, Oil and Gas Lobbyist and GOP strategist Michael McKenna said, “Let’s not have the federal government involved.  It slows the process down to a crawl and it increases costs and leads to a lot of unhappiness.” 

Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn, who “represents” Park County’s 5^th Congressional District, told the Post, “I don’t think we need a federal bureaucracy piled atop of state regulations at this time; states are doing a very good job.  If we make it more difficult and costly and time consuming to bring energy to the market, it doesn’t help our economy.”

When combined, the $48,000 Lamborn received in campaign contributions from oil, gas and mining industries rank as his largest donor group according to the web site opensecrets.org.

When Republicans took over control of the US House of Representatives after the 2010 elections, the fight to regulate fracking fell to former Colorado Senator and now Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar who hinted the department might order gas drillers to disclose the content of their fracking fluids.

Following that announcement, Park County’s other Congressional Representative, Republican Mike Coffman, from the 6^th Congressional District, joined in a GOP letter to Salazar urging the Secretary to put any plans to regulate fracking fluids on hold.

A recent 3-part expose of the political and environmental collision in Washington appeared earlier this month in the New York Times.  Among highlights, an EPA Administrator tells how in 1987, under the Reagan Administration, the EPA was pressured to not seek tight control of the industry.  “It was like science didn’t matter,” the author an EPA report to Congress told the Times, as concerns were eliminated from the final report version.

Similarly, a former assistant administrator for water at the EPA under the George W Bush Administration told the blog ProPublica this month that in 2004 EPA officials never intended to grant the industry a perpetual exemption, but wording of an original EPA report was watered down.  A 30-year EPA agency veteran in Denver who challenged the report’s findings was rebuffed and a senior EPA spokesperson told the Los Angeles times in 2005 that the potential threat was “low and doesn’t justify additional study.” 

In Colorado just last year, 18 Republican members of the State Legislature sent a letter to the EPA demanding the federal agency refrain from regulating fracking, no matter what a new two-year study of the process reveals.  State Senator Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, said in a release to the Colorado Independent newspaper that “the EPA shouldn’t stick its nose into the regulation of fracking or other oil and gas industry processes in states.”

The GOP won control of the Colorado House last November and a bill presented this year by Rep. Roger Wilson, D-Glenwood Springs, seeking to review a pending federal study on fracking and drinking water died in the Republican controlled Agriculture Committee in February.  The bill also sought a report to the legislature outlining complaints related to fracking be presented to the Legislature.  It drew this response from Rep. J Paul Brown, R-Ignacio.  Brown said, “I have a little problem with complaints from the public.  You can complain about just about anything.  This should not be able to happen.”

But we must remember that representatives are elected to represent the public, and at all levels, those members deserve to be heard and their concerns addressed, not smoothed over by nice politically-motivated and edited dialogue.

Let’s put a moratorium on any further activity here in Park County until the questions and concerns receive real answers – answers based in science – not based on politics.

This column was originally published in the March 25,, 2011 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"

Why was that again that you vote Republican?

What is it about living in Park County that appeals to you?  Is it the critters of all sizes running by the front of your house or the bright stars at night that you can almost reach out and touch unencumbered by the reflections from the lights of the big city?  Maybe it’s the fresh air or the taste of the water from your well or the privacy still with proximity to bigger cities in every direction. 

So here’s the question:

Rather than saying why you dislike those of us who label ourselves as Democrats, how about coming up with a positive list of why you continue to vote Republican?   I can’t for the life of me understand why residents here keep voting against their own best interests and it’d be great to drop a letter to the Flume to hear your thoughts.

But before you rush to your writing instrument of choice, here are three current-event facts to ponder:

Park County Commissioners (of gas profits)

Earlier this week, Colorado Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate whether a dozen oil and gas service companies violated the Safe Water Act by using more than 32 million gallons of diesel fuel across 19 states in the controversial drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing. A year-long investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee found that more than a million gallons of diesel fuel was injected into the ground in Colorado by an oil and gas industry as a way to coerce natural gas up from the ground as part of a process called “fracking.” 

Now, I can’t say for sure whether or not El Paso Exploration and Production Company uses diesel fuel in their fracking process – and under the Haliburton Loophole of 2005, named after the company former Vice President Dick Cheney headed, we don’t have to be told, either.  But the company was granted permits by the Park County Board of Commissioners last year and if their exploratory wells pay off, the area in and around the James Mark Jones State Wildlife Area could see as many as 300 wells constructed on land owned by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management and private individuals.  At a meeting with wildlife officials in mid-January residents from throughout the state came to Fairplay to seek assurances that the water supply here will remain pristine. But a week after I first wrote about the plan last year, the Flume reported on the millions of dollars that Park County stands to “earn” from the project.

Intermountain Rural and Gas Association (of scientific ostriches)

IREA elects a new slate of directors this spring, and it’s not too late to run.  Potential candidates have until February 23 to gain 15 signatures and declare their candidacy.

Technically a non-partisan election, there is little doubt where the majority of this anti-environmental board running the electric company I’m a “member (owner)” of, comes from.  Last month, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking member on the House Committee of Energy and Commerce sought clarification concerning just who paid anti-global warming propagandist Dr. Patrick Michaels to testify before his committee in 2009. Michaels received $100,000 back in 2006 from IREA to provide, it appears, anti-global warming propaganda.  Today, the board continues to try and cover its rear by claiming global warming is a myth while, at the same time, putting more and more money into Coal-produced energy. 

Now, on the IREA web site, IREA claims that since there are no stockholders, profits are returned to its members through capital credit refund checks.  None were issued last year.  But IREA did spend thousands of member dollars to lobby in the Colorado Legislature against new laws to require better openness and transparency in their dealings.  With the exception of incumbent Mike Kempe, who is the lone “progressive” on the board, the rest of the bunch need to be sent packing.

Moonlight Madness by the new Republican Colorado Secretary of State and Treasurer

Colorado's newly-elected Secretary of State, Scott Gessler, has announced his intention to continue working, part-time, for his old law firm to supplement his $68,500 state salary.  The Secretary of State deals with and enforces Colorado election laws.  The firm he represented, Hackstaff Law Group, is said to be “the most well-known elections and campaign law firms in town and distinguished for representing many Republican soft-money organizations."  Colorado’s new State Treasurer, Walker Stapleton, announced that he also plans to moonlight at his old firm, a real estate investment company.

So, now, where were we?


This column was originally published in the February 4, 2011 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"

Vote for People over Profits

If you watch television and are a registered voter, you don’t need to have another person tell you that you need to vote for or against a candidate next Tuesday.  So I won’t.  

You already know that as a Democrat I believe my party supports people far better than the GOP and its close ties to business. 

When my father used to use that simple comparison, I would always think it had to be more complicated than that.  But in fact he had it right all along.

Look at any newspaper:  The All-Republican group of Park County Commissioners voted earlier this month to allow El Paso Exploration and Production to drill a trio of exploratory wells in search of rich natural gas supplies.  While the commissioner group added some possible protections, the approval says little for consideration of the long run which could lead to another 300+ wells puncturing the landscape, pumping unknown and some-toxic chemicals into the ground to release the supplies.  It doesn’t say anything about the likely round-the-clock traffic that will decimate the area north of Hartsel.  There are, after all, few voters in the area and the prospect of a few million dollars for county coffers down the road outweighs their quality of life.

Just look at our children.   More than one in three kids in Park County schools are now eligible for reduced-rate lunches, and in some areas nearly half.  It relates to the poverty level and reduced income brought about by the Republican-created recession.  The money to fund such programs doesn’t grow on trees and comes from your tax dollars.  Of course, some folks who didn’t live during the depression might not appreciate the idea of soup-lines and starving families.  They cry NO NEW TAXES and blame the Democrats.

Look at our Health Care System, only partially repaired during the first two years of the Obama Administration.  Democrats led the way in creating some reform – believing people in our community we call America deserve a dignified level of care regardless of their status in life.  The Health Insurance Industry spent millions in lobbying money to assure that they could continue to profit off of the health misfortunes of others.

Why not make money by refusing to provide even basic care to those without the money in an industry that still gets away charging $700 a month to -- RENT -- an oxygen contractor that can be purchased new for only a little more than a fee for a single month?  That’s one from personal experience.  My party compromised too much and instead created a mandatory insurance system which stripped out some of the injustices but created others as a way to compromise with a GOP US Senate with its heels in.  But the error was still slanted for the people.

Look at our Financial System.  The Republican Senate, only a few years ago operating in tandem with a Republican House and White House, put the United State deep into debt by using credit to fund two wars and cutting taxes for the most wealthy.  They changed bankruptcy laws to make it harder for individuals to get a fresh start and looked the other way when the Banking industry was able to change interest rates at whim and stuck credit card users stuck in a cycle of debt with usury level interest rates.   The Democratic Party has made some progress there, too, by creating a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help look out for the little guy who has had no weapons to fight when the companies force people from their homes or try to level the playing field.

When you’re sick of all of the negative advertising, much of it paid for by nice-sounding organizations that serve as shills for corporate interests, remember that it was a Supreme Court created by George W Bush that led to an “activist” ruling allowing unlimited and secret sponsorship of them.  It’s using money to continue to move the wealthiest Americans into the role of Kings.

If you care about people over profits, the support for the Democratic Party is obvious.

This column was originally published in the October 29, 2010 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"

The Tragedy of GOP Greed

"A rising tide lifts all the boats." -
 my Grandfather took me to see JFK 

in August 1962 in Pueblo.

Taking a drag from his short fat stogie, the man started to shuffle past our Burro Days booth, and then stopped. Pivoting toward me and puffing out a circle of smoke, he began to “explain” that lead, not gold, would be the next most-precious metal. He was talking about bullets.

Any hopes I had of reaching common ground with him were dashed when he complained about the action taking place in Congress to extend unemployment insurance benefits to those “worthless, lazy” people who have been unable to find jobs during the recession created by eight years of policies from (his) Republican Party. “They shouldn’t benefit from my efforts,” he authoritatively blurted, as if the unemployed were taking money from his pocket. I wondered what his father must’ve been like.

Spending time in Park County at his “summer home,” the man wreaked of arrogant, ignorant greed. While 62 percent of the public supported extending those benefits, only 6 of 219 Republicans ultimately voted for it after Democrats bucked another unconscionable GOP filibuster.

It’s the kind of greed that led the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans to pass huge tax cuts that benefited only the wealthiest in our country. Conservative hacks like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity would have you believe allowing those tax cuts to expire as they are scheduled to at year-end would do damage to this fragile economy when in fact it would likely do damage to their income and those that fund Fox “News” instead.

Never mind that the reason the cuts took place at all were done under a special voting rule called “reconciliation,” when the GOP pushed the cuts through - the same process they hypocritically decry when the Democrats consider using it.

The man looked at the charts from the Bureau of Public Debt that were posted in our booth and grimaced; clearly unable to absorb the reality – increases in the National Debt, flat and less than $100 billion a year under Jimmy Carter in the late 70s, jumping to a record $283 billion under Ronald Regan, then to $432 billion under George HW Bush in 1991 before dropping sharply down, to $18 billion under William Clinton.

Then, in just the first half of his two terms, George W Bush added more than $2 trillion! But that’s what happens when you finance two wars on credit and give tax breaks to the richest Americans to tuck away or invest offshore.

Go ahead. Believe the Republicans when they say it’s the Democrats that are big spenders. Do it at your own peril and think about the money given – under the Bush Administration -- to “help” banks, only to be turned into multimillion dollar bonuses for executives.

Realize how the bottom 1/5th of families in our country have only seen a 16% increase in inflation-adjusted income over the last 30 years while the top 1/5th have doubled their earnings and the top 1% have reaped a 281% increase in the same period. Understand how our system keeps the lesser well off among us down, and how Republicans put all of their effort onto the highest end of the spectrum.

The man seemed unable to absorb the truth of how the Republican Party has consistently been the reason for unpaid debt in spite of the rhetoric they spout. He can never handle the truth as it would ruin his fantasy that those who “have” built this country and the “have-nots” who should be sent packing or worse.

As he left, I told him I was reminded of a speech my Grandpa took me to when I was 7. We sat on folding chairs in the August heat of Pueblo Public Schools Stadium to listen to President John F Kennedy.

The President spoke of the promise of the Frying Pan Arkansas Project that Congress had passed funding for that year and how it would benefit a wide range of citizens across much of Colorado; but it was more about many public projects around the country. He spoke about long-range thinking and making this country a better place for everyone.

Kennedy said, “What I preach is the interdependence of the United States. We are not 50 countries-we are one country of 50 States and one people. And I believe that those programs which make life better for some of our people will make life better for all of our people. A rising tide lifts all the boats.”

The man went on without another word.

This column was originally published in the July 30, 2010 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"

The Coming Park County Oil Slick

Garfield County's Drilling Landscape - Coming to Park County?

If you were driving through my subdivision and looked over to discover a large piece of equipment on my land looking to be pumping huge tanks of liquid “stuff” into the ground, would it concern you? You might ask since you probably use well water for your domestic needs and you might wonder what I was up to.

I calmly tell you it’s not really a big deal. I need the money and I’ve leased the natural gas drilling rights to a Houston company who thinks there’s lots to be found and we’re so dependent on Middle East energy that we should try and use our own resources. They say all they’ve got to do is pump this “hydraulic fracking” material into the ground and presto – up comes the gas!

“Sounds pretty nifty,” you say. “Will it save us money?”

“I don’t know. I’ll make some from the lease, that’s for sure. But for the rest, I don’t know. “It’s up to the company, I guess.”

I began to wish that the derrick was better hidden. I didn’t want to think about the answers to the questions. Another neighbor approaches.

“What is that stuff they’re pumpin’ down there anyway?” he asks.

“I don’t know, but the company says it’s safe,” I say, getting a bit uncomfortable.

“Looks awful,” the neighbor says. “How long will it be here? And what’s that pond of guck I see over there? What do those tanks do?”

You already noticed an unusually large number of big tanker trucks coming and going at all hours and thought you smelled something “funny.”

Then all of the warnings that you’d been told were “alarmist” begin to fall into place.

"Processed" frac water in Garfield 

County Pit.  Companies don't have

to disclose the chemicals thanks to

"The Haliburton Loophole"

On the Precipice - Gasland
We’re on that precipice here in Park County after a Denver Based company, Land Energy, Inc., spent $1 million during a BLM lease auction in May for 10-year rights to potentially drill on more than 6,000 acres on land north of Hartsel. The Flume reported it on May 21, and through fortunate timing, HBO has been airing the Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary Gasland since last week with airings still scheduled July 2, 5, and 9, as well as HBO on-demand.

The show is an eye-opening vision of possible hazards from domestic natural gas drilling and uses toxic scenes from Garfield County on Colorado’s Western Slope to bring home unintended consequences to the viewer. Of course, the gas industry has done its best to discredit the film, knowing full well that it’s more fact than fiction.

These documentaries are the only way to effectively get the word out as major media in this country has been taken over by money and corporate interests.

The Garfield County drilling boom triggered a rash of citizen complaints that petrochemical pollution has caused adrenal and pituitary tumors, headaches, nausea, joint pain, respiratory problems, and other symptoms. One related organization, the Paonia- based “Endocrine Disruption Exchange” seeks to compile and disseminate via their web site and other means, information on health and environmental problems caused by low-dose exposure to chemicals that interfere with development and function, called endocrine disruptors.

One little-known piece of the puzzle is the “Haliburton Loophole,” a 2005 Republican-created exemption named after the company former Vice-President Richard Cheney headed. Cheney, you’ll recall, conducted numerous secret meetings with members of the energy industry during his VP tenure.

“Fracking” involves forcing millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals, some toxic, into the ground. The process frees the gas back to the surface for capture. Cheney’s Haliburton “perfected” the technology and the loophole created an exemption to the Safe Water Drinking Act allowing companies to keep secret the chemicals injected deep into ground. Some statistics say each well uses from one to seven million gallons and that while half returns to the surface as a black muck, called “produced water” to be trucked away, the rest stays below.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-Colo) 

has pushed for better oil and gas 

disclosure of materials used in fracking.

Who’s there for you – the Democrats
Regardless of your political leanings, the facts are clear that it’s the Democratic Party trying to look out after you in spite of a Conservative-loaded Supreme Court intent to let corporations rule and make the muck murkier.

In the film, Colorado 1st Congressional District Congresswoman Diana DeGette, D-Denver, is shown sparing with industry executives over disclosure of the chemicals, but a bill she sponsored to close the loophole died in her Congressional committee in May and her amendment was withdrawn.

Contrast that with British Petroleum Lobbyist Dan Meyer co-sponsoring a $1,000 a plate Washington DC fundraiser on June 24 for Cory Gardiner, a Republican running to unseat incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey, D-Ft. Collins, in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.

At the state level, Colorado Democratic Governor Bill Ritter helped put in place what some say are the most environmentally stringent oil and gas regulations in the country. Likely GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis will take aim at relaxing those rules.

McInnis has been an attorney representing the oil and gas industry and down on the county level, in 2008, he contributed $10,000 to help fund a 501c4 nonprofit group called Western Heritage; half of the $20,000 the group used for advertising in support of winning Garfield County Republican Commissioner candidates favorable to the industry.
The election drew record spending from outside interests and led to one fine levied against another 527 political committee for improper electioneering tactics.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, a former geologist and our Democratic candidate for governor, has called on the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals to give the public faith in the processes.

Quality of Life
But this is more than just about fracking; it’s about quality of life. It’s about change and big money at a time when we should be focusing more on environmentally friendly energy technologies and less on how to get more oil and gas out of the ground and giving the industry more control over our landscape.

Colorado Democrats -- US Senators Mark Udall (left), Michael Bennet (right), and Bennet Primary challenger Andrew Romanoff (center) with a youthful constituent.

You’ve seen how that lack of interest in oversight led to the largest oil spill ever, still in progress in the Gulf of Mexico. Does this industry deserve more control?

To my astonishment, the US Senate voted in June NOT to repeal $35 billion in subsidies to BIG OIL, money that could’ve been used to pay down the deficit and fund a $10 billion grant program to encourage energy-efficient buildings. Voting with BIG OIL were Colorado Democratic US Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, along with 19 other Democrats. Among other things, they cited a negative impact on jobs in that industry and a bill that could’ve been written better.

Bennet primary challenger Andrew Romanoff, who received unanimous support from Park County delegates at the state assembly in May, told the Colorado Independent newspaper last week “the truth is, it’s not about our wellbeing or well water that is at stake here, it is our children’s future.” He favors better regulatory reform and control of “a bigger slick of money spreading through Congress and washing away our hopes for reform.”
I agree. And believe you should as well.

In light of the activist Supreme Court carved out by George Bush, which earlier this year changed laws granting corporations the ability to contribute unlimited funds to influence elections – at any level -- if we care about our pristine State we should take heed.

In response, our Democrat-controlled state legislature passed a bill requiring more disclosure of corporate and union spending in our elections. It was signed into law by Governor Ritter in May. Every Republican in the Colorado Senate voted against the bill.

Colorado Oil & Gas Map by Resource Play. GREEN: Producing Wells YELLOW: Permitted Wells RED: Not-Producing www.resourceplay.com


This column was originally published in the July 2, 2010 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"

In Search of a Platform that has Meaning

There is no greater disconnect between voters and politicians than when elected officials fail to live up to expectations that are created for us during a campaign.

At the very core of that disconnect is the Party Platform.

Purporting to be Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or Tea Party “values,” over the years the party platform has become an advertising afterthought, a sales and marketing piece filled with catch-phrases that sound great, but bear little resemblance to how representatives actually vote once in office.

It’s with some surprise, even, that I give a tip of the hat to a Republican plan to seek public feedback in creation of their 2010 national party platform (if only for concept). The GOP is asking for internet feedback in development of a national platform, and it’s nice to see that the “party of no” realizes, finally, perhaps, that the public really does understand that they are responsible for the lack of progress in Washington and that if the direction doesn’t change soon, there won’t be much of a GOP left.

Over the past few weeks, though, I had the opportunity to represent State House District 60 as a member of the Colorado State Democratic Party Platform Committee. The district includes all of Park, Fremont, Chaffee and Custer counties, and parts of Saguache and Pueblo counties as well. This year we’re headed in a different direction.

This year, it is the grass roots of the party starting what needs to be a trend for all officials by having those running for elected office state their positions or convey their thoughts on all of the items of the party platform.

It’s simple enough: “All Party Candidates should be asked to publicly state their positions on planks of the Colorado Democratic Party Platform,” it says. But its meaning is far deeper. And while some counties on the committee desired to replace “asked” with “required,” we’ll hope that voluntary compliance will be sufficient.

The idea sends chills down the spines of some candidates who believe that to dodge and weave is a better approach than to fight for their own core beliefs. What if it were OK for a candidate to state what they think, even if it’s not popular with everyone within their own party? Would not an open and honest reflection of self confidence gain support and respect from all voters and create a gauge to be measured against once in office?

Not only should Democrats insist on it, but so should all voters and all parties. This is what representative government should look like, not selecting officials by listening to a televised interview where the majority of the time is spent avoiding the answer to a question. The Democratic Party thrives on different opinions and discussion, not lockstep compliance to leadership. And in the end, we all benefit.

Based on experience, the GOP’s recent discovery of the Internet will be a start, but pay close attention to the end product which without a doubt will be a marketing piece devoid of meaning and without commitment.

More than 4,000 delegates attended the Colorado Democratic Party Assembly last weekend in Broomfield, and by voice vote the party platform was overwhelmingly adopted.

Don’t hesitate to take a look at the Colorado Democratic Party Platform (it is lengthy, detailed, and a search-able .pdf file) set to appear shortly on the Colorado Democratic Party web site.

Then ask your candidates about things important to you, and remind them that the Democratic Party has encouraged their reply.

This column was originally published in the May 28. 2010 edition of The Flume, the paper of record for Park County, Colorado.  The monthly column is titled "Democratically Speaking"