http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/category_rss/budgetpriorities As Colorado Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry hypocritically attacked the state government and Governor Bill Ritter during Colorado's ongoing budget crisis, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization demanded Wednesday that Penry come clean about immediate family members both recently hired and currently employed by Mesa State College. "It is ridiculous beyond belief that 'Pandering' Josh Penry misrepresents fiscal reality and vital state services for political gain, while his own family pockets state funds each payday," said ProgressNow Colorado Founder Michael Huttner. Penry's Misrepresentation  The  Denver Post  recently reported that despite Penry's attacks on Governor Ritter's so-called "hiring spree," most of the growth in state employment can be traced to simple population growth, increases mandated by the voter's passage of Referendum C in 2005, and legislation passed by the General Assembly--including legislation sponsored by Sen. Penry. (Denver Post,  "Analysis suggests increased Colorado state jobs may be overstated,"  10/11/2009) Penry's Hypocrisy  Last week, the  Grand Junction Sentinel  reported that state-funded Mesa State College "has a history of hiring former political workers and those connected to them," including Kristi Pollard, the recently-hired 'Interim Director of Development' at Mesa State and Sen. Josh Penry's sister. Jamie Penry, Sen. Penry's wife, is also a former Mesa State employee according to the  Sentinel . ( Grand Junction Sentinel , "Mesa State hires as campus grows, enrollment soars," 10/25/2009) "That Penry would make these lazy, irresponsible accusations, while his own family snaps up the very same high-paying state jobs Penry complains the loudest about, is just mind-boggling and laughable," said Huttner. "Penry at the very least owes the public a good explanation. I think he owes the public, and thousands of hard working Colorado civil servants he's insulted, an apology as well." "Finally," concluded Huttner, "we call on Penry to immediately disclose whether he personally has sought employment at Mesa State College while serving in the Colorado General Assembly, or at any time discussed the hiring of his family members with Mesa State officials."  http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZRm http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZRm/commentary#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:55:15 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZRm Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRm/ "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat every problem as a nail"Don't think we suck at nation building?"The record of past U.S. experience in democratic nation building is daunting. The low rate of success is a sobering reminder that these are among the most difficult foreign policy ventures for the United States. Of the sixteen such efforts during the past century, democracy was sustained in only four cases ten years after the departure of U.S. forces. Two of these followed the total defeat and surrender of Japan and Germany after World War II, and two were tiny Grenada and Panama." Source NY TimesOctober 29, 2009Op-Ed ColumnistMore Schools, Not Troops By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Dispatching more troops to Afghanistan would be a monumental bet and probably a bad one, most likely a waste of lives and resources that might simply empower the Taliban. In particular, one of the most compelling arguments against more troops rests on this stunning trade-off: For the cost of a single additional soldier stationed in Afghanistan for one year, we could build roughly 20 schools there. It’s hard to do the calculation precisely, but for the cost of 40,000 troops over a few years — well, we could just about turn every Afghan into a Ph.D. The hawks respond: It’s naïve to think that you can sprinkle a bit of education on a war-torn society. It’s impossible to build schools now because the Taliban will blow them up. In fact, it’s still quite possible to operate schools in Afghanistan — particularly when there’s a strong “buy-in” from the local community. Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” has now built 39 schools in Afghanistan and 92 in Pakistan — and not one has been burned down or closed. The aid organization CARE has 295 schools educating 50,000 girls in Afghanistan, and not a single one has been closed or burned by the Taliban. The Afghan Institute of Learning , another aid group, has 32 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with none closed by the Taliban (although local communities have temporarily suspended three for security reasons). In short, there is still vast scope for greater investment in education, health and agriculture in Afghanistan. These are extraordinarily cheap and have a better record at stabilizing societies than military solutions, which, in fact, have a pretty dismal record. In Afghanistan, for example, we have already increased our troop presence by 40,000 troops since the beginning of last year, yet the result has not been the promised stability but only more casualties and a strengthened insurgency. If the last surge of 40,000 troops didn’t help, why will the next one be so different? Matthew P. Hoh, an American military veteran who was the top civilian officer in Zabul Province, resigned over Afghan policy , as The Washington Post reported this week. Mr. Hoh argues that our military presence is feeding the insurgency, not quelling it. Already our troops have created a backlash with Kabul University students this week burning President Obama in effigy until police dispersed them with gunshots. The heavier our military footprint, the more resentment — and perhaps the more legitimacy for the Taliban. Schools are not a quick fix or silver bullet any more than troops are. But we have abundant evidence that they can, over time, transform countries, and in the area near Afghanistan there’s a nice natural experiment in the comparative power of educational versus military tools. Since 9/11, the United States has spent $15 billion in Pakistan , mostly on military support, and today Pakistan is more unstable than ever. In contrast, Bangladesh, which until 1971 was a part of Pakistan, has focused on education in a way that Pakistan never did. Bangladesh now has more girls in high school than boys. (In contrast, only 3 percent of Pakistani women in the tribal areas are literate.) Those educated Bangladeshi women joined the labor force, laying the foundation for a garment industry and working in civil society groups like BRAC and Grameen Bank . That led to a virtuous spiral of development, jobs, lower birth rates, education and stability. That’s one reason Al Qaeda is holed up in Pakistan, not in Bangladesh, and it’s a reminder that education can transform societies. When I travel in Pakistan, I see evidence that one group — Islamic extremists — believes in the transformative power of education. They pay for madrassas that provide free schooling and often free meals for students. They then offer scholarships for the best pupils to study abroad in Wahhabi madrassas before returning to become leaders of their communities. What I don’t see on my trips is similar numbers of American-backed schools. It breaks my heart that we don’t invest in schools as much as medieval, misogynist extremists. For roughly the same cost as stationing 40,000 troops in Afghanistan for one year, we could educate the great majority of the 75 million children worldwide who, according to Unicef, are not getting even a primary education. We won’t turn them into graduate students, but we can help them achieve literacy. Such a vast global education campaign would reduce poverty, cut birth rates, improve America’s image in the world, promote stability and chip away at extremism. Education isn’t a panacea, and no policy in Afghanistan is a sure bet. But all in all, the evidence suggests that education can help foster a virtuous cycle that promotes stability and moderation. So instead of sending 40,000 troops more to Afghanistan, how about opening 40,000 schools? NY Times http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRl http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRl/commentary#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:49:35 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRl Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRl/ Waste not, want not.  Pee- the most abundant waste on Earth.Urine-Powered Cars: The Pros and Cons Bradford Plumer October 23, 2009 | 12:39 pm For reasons explained before [1], we'll likely all be driving electric cars long before we ever see mass-market vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which was once the great clean-car hope. Still, the fuel-cell approach is obviously worth researching, and now researchers have lit upon [2] a particularly promising fuel source. Oh yes, urine: Using hydrogen to power cars has become an increasingly attractive transportation fuel, as the only emission produced is water - but a major stumbling block is the lack of a cheap, renewable source of the fuel. Gerardine Botte of Ohio University may now have found the answer, using an electrolytic approach to produce hydrogen from urine—the most abundant waste on Earth—at a fraction of the cost of producing hydrogen from water. Urine's major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule—importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules. Botte used electrolysis to break the molecule apart, developing an inexpensive new nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell—much less than the 1.23V needed to split water. Good to know! Meanwhile, there's an opposing school of thought that, while piss-powered cars are awfully promising, we should really be conserving our urine for other, more important ecological purposes: However, Logan does feel that it would be a good idea to start saving up our urine—although not for the hydrogen. 'You have to remember about the P [phosphorus] in pee—globally we need to start thinking about conserving phosphorus for fertiliser, because, just like oil, one day the deposits are all going to run out and we need to start building phosphorus recycling into our infrastructure,' he says. More on peak phosphorous here [3]. NY Times http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRD http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRD/commentary#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:13:20 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRD Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRD/ Absurdity upon Absurdity Michael Collins The health care debate and general political climate compound absurdity upon absurdity. First we're told that our health care is only worth the time and effort if the remedy has no negative impact on the budget.  No deficits allowed.  The deficit risk defines your chances for health and longevity. At the same time, we see that Wall Street failures and the overseas war effort are not held to the same standard on deficits spending. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZnp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZnp/commentary#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:58:04 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZnp Michael Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/0f4307568de17110c5_xdbmv2rzb.jpg Michael Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnp/ Lets see, McChrystal wants 40,000 troops and his boss, Petraeus, is keeping his mouth shut. What's up with that? MC "— Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s reported recommendation of 40,000 additional troops — is itself counterinsurgency light. In his definitive recent field manual on the subject, Gen. David Petraeus stipulates that real counterinsurgency requires 20 to 25 troops for each thousand residents. That comes out, conservatively, to 640,000 troops for Afghanistan (population, 32 million). Some 535,000 American troops couldn’t achieve a successful counterinsurgency in South Vietnam, which had half Afghanistan’s population and just over a quarter of its land area."   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnJ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnJ/commentary#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:27:51 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnJ Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnJ/ Could $292,000 pay for a college or trade school education, room and board?  Subsidize a young person until they could land a good job?  With the change left over, could it pay to make high school more hospitable to the poor? For public works projects? For more teachers? Research and development?  We ignore the needs of young people at a terrible cost. And yes, it does take a village.  What are the economic effects of 1.2 million high school dropouts per year?  At $7,300 per student, that amounts to $8.76 billion a year, year two adds another 1.2 million students and becomes $17.52 billion, ad infinitum. Can we solve the problem?  Can we afford not to? What can you buy with $8.76 billion?  How about 175,200 teachers at $50 K a pop, that's one teacher for every 7 dropouts.  MC "The report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000. Mr. Sum said that figure took into account lost tax revenues, since dropouts earn less and therefore pay less in taxes than high school graduates. It also includes the costs of providing food stamps and other aid to dropouts and of incarcerating those who turn to crime." October 9, 2009 Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts By SAM DILLON On any given day, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a new study of the effects of dropping out of school in an America where demand for low-skill workers is plunging. The picture is even bleaker for African-Americans, with nearly one in four young black male dropouts incarcerated or otherwise institutionalized on an average day, the study said. That compares with about one in 14 young, male, white, Asian or Hispanic dropouts. Researchers at Northeastern University used census and other government data to carry out the study, which tracks the employment, workplace, parenting and criminal justice experiences of young high school dropouts. "We’re trying to show what it means to be a dropout in the 21st century United States," said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern, who headed a team of researchers that prepared the report. "It’s one of the country’s costliest problems. The unemployment, the incarceration rates — it’s scary." A coalition of civil rights and public education advocacy groups and a network of alternative schools in Chicago commissioned the report as part of a push for new educational opportunities for the nation’s 6.2 million high school dropouts. "The dropout rate is driving the nation’s increasing prison population, and it’s a drag on America’s economic competitiveness," said Marc H. Morial, the former New Orleans mayor who is president of the National Urban League, one of the groups in the coalition that commissioned the report. "This report makes it clear that every American pays a cost when a young person leaves school without a diploma." The report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000. Mr. Sum said that figure took into account lost tax revenues, since dropouts earn less and therefore pay less in taxes than high school graduates. It also includes the costs of providing food stamps and other aid to dropouts and of incarcerating those who turn to crime. Continued at the: NY Times http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnn http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnn/commentary#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:25:13 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnn Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnn/ From the Bob Herbert op/ed, "Igniting the Growth of Jobs" NY Times '40,000 teachers lost their jobs in the last year.  16 to 29 year olds, worst unemployment ever since national records have been kept.   One in four black men in Illinois between the ages of 20 and 24 has a job.' One of the regents of the University of Colorado, Michael Carrigan, told me that Colorado had a return on investment of 40 to 1 for each dollar invested in higher ed. The only figures I could find for Colorado was a 15.07 percent return.  New Jersey leads the nation with 42.32 percent, followed by Massachusetts 39.16, New York 37.82, California 36.53 percent.  All in all a substantial return on investment.  The lowest in the nation, predictably, was Mississippi at 6.49 percent.  Most surprisingly, Indiana is second from the bottom at 7.22 percent Higher Ed Return on Investment for States Most significantly, Herbert says this: ""The past," as William Faulkner told us, "is not dead. It’s not even past ." The lessons of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s are right in front of us, ready to be studied, analyzed, updated and applied to the present-day needs of the country." I hate to say this, but we are a country of nepotism, in our unions, our military, in corporations, in government.  Because of this "inbreeding" and counterproductive behavior, we must import the brightest minds/strongest work ethics from around the world to carry our water and be used as if indentured servants.  It is all a vast pyramid scheme where the unqualified extinguish the flames of the most gifted and reap the rewards off the backs of the timid.  Their only qualification?  Being members of the lucky sperm club.  Here's something the "conservative revision" Bible will surely leave out, "As you have done to the least of these......."  The least very much includes the youthful poor, who have no say in the conditions they find themselves in and obviously don't have the attention of those that have the most.  While we argue about war, healthcare, social justice, gay rights, Obama's Nobel Prize, etc., no one considers our most precious asset nor what should be our greatest legacy to them, "Liberty and Justice for all .."  This is what is great about the idea of America, eloquently pronounced in the Preamble of the Constitution, not just to ourselves but to our Posterity,  the word was capitalized unlike the word "ourselves": http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnG http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnG/commentary#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:30:58 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnG Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnG/ Senator Michael Bennet was one of 30 signatories on a letter to the Senate leadership demanding that the HELP Committee's optional public insurance plan be included in the final bill. The next day, Senator Bennet, Senator Udall (not ours, but his cousin from New Mexico), and others joined Senator Brown on the floor to press for the public option in person. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnS http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnS/commentary#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:19:14 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnS Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnS/ Early on Kristoff suggests that Congress eliminate insurance for 15% of their members and let that 15% take their children to an emergency room for care. NOT going to happen, however he will incur apoplectic reaction from the jingoists for "demeaning" the holiness of 9/11. Forever waving the bloody flag of 9/11, never stopping to consider those responsible for allowing it to happen, the unconscionable attack of Iraq, our unlawful and horrific violations of human decency, the civilian casualties ("We don't do body counts"). The most cowardly concept that "fighting them over there.........." by recruiting our economically disadvantaged citizens and green card immigrants was somehow noble and justified defilement of the Constitution, death and disfigurement to innocents. A most arrogant display to the rest of the world of what we are actually capable of. For a country that spends $600 Billion on "defense" allowing a 58 minute attack on three different targets was absurdly incompetent. The absurdity of what we spend is a whole other can of worms. "............We accept that life is unfair, that some people will live in cramped apartments and others in sprawling mansions. But our existing insurance system is not simply inequitable but also lethal: a very recent, peer-reviewed article in the American Journal of Public Health finds that nearly 45,000 uninsured people die annually as a consequence of not having insurance. That’s one needless death every 12 minutes. When nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, we began wars and were willing to devote more than $1 trillion in additional expenses. Yet about the same number of Americans die from our failed insurance system every three weeks. The obstacle isn’t so much money as priorities. America made it a priority to provide tax breaks, largely to the wealthy, in the Bush years, at a 10-year cost including interest of $2.4 trillion. Allocating less than half that much to assure equal access to health care isn’t deemed an equal priority............." Complete Op/Ed at The NY Times http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnM http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnM/commentary#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:50:51 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZnM Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnM/ I've been a little depressed lately, the Michael Moore movie seems to have intensified the despair. Much has been said to marginalize the so called "left wing" of the Democrat Party. In reality, the left wing is the "right" wing, meaning that it is the segment of the party that is mostly correct in it's philosophies and promotes academic, logical introspection and solutions. Most of all they are somewhat unselfishly devoted to truth, justice and the idea that America is duty-bound to strive for a more perfect union. That liberty and justice for all applies to our law and most certainly to economic equity. I am afraid that conservative/blue dog Democrat thought implies no room for improvement or reflection and a preference for a balance that is in their favor. The Right Wing of the Democrat Party seems the most "Christian" in its opinions and deeds. However, they are less likely to belong to an organized religion, they carry within them the only law that matters when dealing with most human, animal and earthly interaction. The Golden Rule is at once logical and effortless, what else could qualify as "self-evident" if not the Golden Rule. Where are we as a nation? From the Declaration of Independence comes a profound clue, an indication that we are in fact sheep, the status quo is undemanding of social responsibility or activism: "accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." The Declaration of Independence "When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed............................." In the words of Ann Richards in answer to, "What must Democrats do in order to win" she answered, "You (All of us) must find the courage to talk to the people you don't know and tell them things they may not want to hear." Michael Moore has that kind of courage. I wish I had asked Governor Richards if there was a cure for complacency. MC CONFORMITY We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. - Mark Twain's Autobiography Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect). Mark Twain- Notebook, 1904 Conformity-the natural instinct to passively yield to that vague something recognized as authority. Mark Twain- "Corn Pone Opinions" TREACHERY Gratitude and treachery are merely the two extremities of the same procession. You have seen all of it that is worth staying for when the band and the gaudy officials have gone by. Mark Twain- Pudd'nhead Wilson TRADITION ...scrap heap of unverifiable odds and ends which we call tradition. Mark Twain- Speech, 5/25/1908 JUSTICE The rain ...falls upon the just and the unjust alike; a thing which would not happen if I were superintending the rain's affairs. No, I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust outdoors I would drown him. - Mark Twain, a Biography TRUTH Familiarity breeds contempt. How accurate that is. The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get familiar with it. Mark Twain- Notebook, 1898 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY/commentary#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:58:31 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSY Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSY/ If the American people are fed up with war, imagine how the soldiers, sailors and airmen feel.  Besides, being "fed up with war" would imply America's sacrifice in general or  profound awareness of what our troops endure.  I can name several of the Colorado delegation that have never visited the Denver VA and without naming names, I daresay, with the exception of patients, their families and a handful of volunteers, the VA is a total mystery to most and a place where you can meet America's most recent wounded heroes along with many from the past.  If you haven't seen "Born on the Fourth of July" rent it.  The only difference between then and now?  The VA is even less prepared to deal with those in it's care and those new to the system.  Without civilian knowledge and advocacy, the VA remains what it is and not what politicians call the "best care in the world."  Not sure how these young men and women are doing it, after my Vietnam tour, I was not capable mentally or physically from doing another.Herbert mentions a victory parade towards the end of this op/ed.  I know that Colorado Springs had a parade in honor of Ft. Carson a few years ago.  Has it ever occurred to any large American city to have a thank you parade for any of the major combat units that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.  After the first tour?  The second tour?  The third tour?  MC NY Times September 26, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Fed Up With War By BOB HERBERT Most Americans, looking at a globe, would be hard pressed to find Afghanistan. Americans on the whole know very little about the land or its people — and care even less. They know we’re at war over there, wherever it is, but if you were to ask what a Pashtun is or mention the name Abdullah Abdullah you would most likely get a blank stare. Americans’ minds are on other things, like trying to figure out why, if the Great Recession is over, as Ben Bernanke seems to believe, the employment landscape still looks like a toxic waste dump. A New York Times/CBS News poll found that eight years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, there is a general feeling of disenchantment with our military involvement there and a desire to bring it to an end. About half of all Americans believe that the war has had no effect on the threat of terrorism, and a majority want the troops out of there in two years. Americans are tired of the war. Some of the young people currently being outfitted for combat were just 10 or 11 years old when Al Qaeda struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. They are heading off to a conflict that most Americans are no longer interested in. The difference between the public’s take on this war and that of the nation’s top civilian and military leadership is both stunning and ominous. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf/commentary#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:06:13 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSf Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSf/ Not actually making light of this tremendous tragedy, my hometown of Austell was hardest hit. FYI, Georgia receives $1.01 for every dollar they pay in federal taxes. Colorado receives 81 cents. The top three states that receive federal money are New Mexico, Mississippi and Alaska, $2.03, $2.02 and $1.84 respectively. Governor Perdue of Georgia is a Republican, but most Republicans down there drink lots of the Libertarian Kool-Aid. Housing down there is pretty cheap by Denver standards, so $250 million is pretty substantial.   "Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia declared a state of emergency in 17 counties and pleaded for federal aid, offering his appeal directly to President Obama on Tuesday night. The state insurance commissioner estimated that $250 million worth of damage had been done, mostly to homeowners without insurance." NY Times September 24, 2009By ROBBIE BROWN and LIZ ROBBINS ATLANTA — The death toll from the floods in Georgia rose to nine people as the waters continued to recede on Wednesday, and residents grappled with the damage that has destroyed their homes, uprooted their lives and shut down bridges and major roadways around the Atlanta area. Another body was found Tuesday evening in hardest-hit Douglas County. Richard Butler, 29, was swept from his car and died, like the other five victims from the county, as a result of flash-flooding, said Wes Tallon, the spokesman for the county’s emergency management agency. In the county, about 23 miles west of the city, people were lining up for bottled water while the authorities checked abandoned cars for bodies and swept debris to clear streets. Continued at the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/us/24rain.html?hp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSK http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSK/commentary#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:19:50 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSK Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSK/ FYI, I sure am glad I finally figured out the html editor. :-)) They Say Trickle Down Economics is a good thing for business. What has worked even better for business-corporate welfare. The Democrats are mostly to blame, Democrat legislators recieve more money from the top 50 industries in every category except the automotive industry and by substantial margins. http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/mems.php Regarding Corporate Welfare  "According to the Cato Institute, the U.S. federal government spent $92 billion on corporate welfare during fiscal year 2006. Recipients included Boeing, Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Dow Chemical, and General Electric. Alan Peters and Peter Fisher have estimated that state and local governments provide $40-50 billion annually in economic development incentives, which many critics characterize as corporate welfare." "The U.S. Agricultural Department is required by law (various U.S. farm bills which are passed every few years) to subsidize over two dozen commodities. Between 1996 and 2002, an average of $16 billion/year was paid by programs authorized by various U.S. farm bills dating back to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, the Agricultural Act of 1949, and the Commodity Credit Corporation (created in 1933), among others. The beneficiaries of the subsidies have changed as agriculture in the United States has changed. In the 1930s, about 25% of the country's population resided on the nation's 6,000,000 small farms. By 1997, 157,000 large farms accounted for 72% of farm sales, with only 2% of the U.S. population residing on farms. " http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSH http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSH/commentary#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:51:04 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSH Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 5 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSH/ A follow up to the "Real Men Tax Gas" Governor Ritter ran on a platform that very much included energy conservation. Reducing the speed limit to 55 mph in the metro area and increasing the gasoline tax would reduce consuption by 20%(a sin tax if ever there was one) Republicans have never seen a highway project they didn't like or for that matter an increase in Defense spending, with an increase of $1 in addition to the paltry 20 cents collected now would go a long way toward sustainable infrastructure as well as funding the CANG and CNG. The interstate highway system is for national defense, is it not? Much ado was made recently regarding the discovery of over three billion barrels of oil by BP in the Gulf, a whopping six month US supply. We ARE running out of US oil, sooner rather than later and our consumption of foreign oil is a huge problem and a national security issue. As far as the governors political will to do the right thing, may I use a recent quote by Governor Ritter regarding politically unpopular decisions. But, "that's just part of the life you live when you're in leadership," the governor said. 49,635,000 barrels of gasoline annual consumption in Colorado (49.635 million barrels 42 gallons per barrel) 2,084,670,000 gallons (2.084 billion gallons) $416,934,000 gasoline revenue @ $.20 per gallon $2,501,604,000 gasoline revenue@ $1.20 per gallon $500,320,800 reduction of revenue with 20% reduction in consumption if the governor reduces the speed limit to 55 mph in the metro area and people start using more fuel efficient automobiles. $2,001,283,200 ($2.001 billion) Projected total annual revenue $822,320,629 (2006 Transportation Budget) $1,178,962,571 (Transportation Surplus) ($1.178 billion) $6,200,000,000 (FasTracks Total Budget) ($6.2 billion) http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSW http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSW/commentary#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:19:59 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSW Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSW/ September 20, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Real Men Tax Gas By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Do we owe the French and other Europeans a second look when it comes to their willingness to exercise power in today’s world? Was it really fair for some to call the French and other Europeans “cheese-eating surrender monkeys?” Is it time to restore the French in “French fries” at the Congressional dining room, and stop calling them “Freedom Fries?” Why do I ask these profound questions? Because we are once again having one of those big troop debates: Do we send more forces to Afghanistan, and are we ready to do what it takes to “win” there? This argument will be framed in many ways, but you can set your watch on these chest-thumpers: “toughness,” “grit,” “fortitude,” “willingness to do whatever it takes to realize big stakes” — all the qualities we tend to see in ourselves, with some justification, but not in Europeans. But are we really that tough? If the metric is a willingness to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and consider the use of force against Iran, the answer is yes. And we should be eternally grateful to the Americans willing to go off and fight those fights. But in another way — when it comes to doing things that would actually weaken the people we are sending our boys and girls to fight — we are total wimps. We are, in fact, the wimps of the world. We are, in fact, so wimpy our politicians are afraid to even talk about how wimpy we are. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSZ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSZ/commentary#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:49:18 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSZ Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSZ/ I just had to throw this chart in. According to these statistics, 95 percent of all American wage earners are chumps for change, pocket change that is. And the point of the rat race is? Michael Moores email below the chart. MC For Tax Year 2007 Percentiles Ranked by AGI AGI Threshold on Percentiles Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid Top 1% $410,096 40.42 Top 5% $160,041 60.63 Top 10% $113,018 71.22 Top 25% $66,532 86.59 Top 50% $32,879 97.11 Bottom 50% http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSp/commentary#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:40:56 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSp Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSp/ Religious Leaders Urge Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy Jobs As leaders from Colorado’s faith communities, we call for dramatic action to avert the most drastic effects of global climate change as one of the dominant moral imperatives of our time. The earth, our home, is a gift—we did not create it or earn it, and we do not own it, but we do have a sacred responsibility to be good stewards of that gift. The earth's resources are finite, and with our technological prowess we have the ability to upset the ecological balance which supports our life on this earth. We must be attentive to the impacts of our activity on the environment, and not foolishly pretend that we are immune from those impacts. We believe that our planet is in great peril from the threat of climate change. We believe it is real, and that it is to a significant extent human-induced. We accept the vast body of scientific evidence which forecasts severe consequences for the Earth and all its inhabitants—including rising sea levels, increased drought and desertification, more frequent and more severe extreme weather events, ocean acidification, new disease epidemics, massive population relocation and attendant conflicts-- if we fail to act. Our thirst to consume the earth's natural resources, and our reliance on old energy sources which emit greenhouse gases, has led us to a both a spiritual and environmental crisis. In view of this, for us as spiritual leaders to remain silent would be an abdication of our responsibilities. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CZSJ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CZSJ/commentary#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:49:18 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CZSJ Nelson Bock http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/4b519578d91f18752b_efm6b4e7n.jpg Nelson Bock 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSJ/ Must be the Anschutz money, do you think? Read below and tell me who his master is. Better yet go to his site and read how many times he repeats his experience with big money. And because he understands complex financial and economic issues he's going to protect "working families" from the big bad wolf and has anyone asked him why things have to be so complex?. Not once does he mention using his law degree to uphold the Constitution and protect working families, organized labor and the poor from corporations run amok. MC "Michael was a Managing Director at the Anschutz Investment Company, where he managed the restructuring of over $3 billion in corporate debt. Representing Colorado as our state’s next U.S. Senator, Michael will use his understanding and leadership on complex financial and economic issues to be a voice for Colorado’s working families." Source Bennet's Website: http://bennet.senate.gov/about/ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSn http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSn/commentary#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:53:48 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSn Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSn/ Sign me up, I'm a "Liberal" If your elected Democrat doesn't talk and think like this, you have a problem and perhaps you should encourage that "Centrist" to switch parties. I certainly wouldn't contribute my money or time to a person just because they use a "D" by their name. People who pretend to be liberal can get elected in Colorado, e.g. Ken Salazar, a liberal Hispanic, Bill Ritter, a liberal, law and order, Catholic kind of guy ("Law and Order" types scare me, they usually consider "prison building" a solution). Ben NightHorse Campbell, a liberal Native American. Liberals can get elected in Colorado, even if they are DINOs. MC "What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label 'Liberal'? If by 'Liberal' they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of 'Liberal'. But if by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal', then I’m proud to say I’m a 'Liberal'." John F. Kennedy Wikipedia http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSM http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSM/commentary#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:04:19 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSM Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSM/ Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, et al., all DINOs. Anti-tax, anti-prosperity and anti-justice for all is anti-American. Look no further than the peamble of the US Constitution or the beauty of the concept, "E pluribus unum" "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. " NY Times September 9, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Our One-Party Democracy By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Watching both the health care and climate/energy debates in Congress, it is hard not to draw the following conclusion: There is only one thing worse than one-party autocracy, and that is one-party democracy, which is what we have in America today....................................... ...........................The G.O.P. used to be the party of business. Well, to compete and win in a globalized world, no one needs the burden of health insurance shifted from business to government more than American business. No one needs immigration reform — so the world’s best brainpower can come here without restrictions — more than American business. No one needs a push for clean-tech — the world’s next great global manufacturing industry — more than American business. Yet the G.O.P. today resists national health care, immigration reform and wants to just drill, baby, drill. “Globalization has neutered the Republican Party, leaving it to represent not the have-nots of the recession but the have-nots of globalized America, the people who have been left behind either in reality or in their fears,” said Edward Goldberg, a global trade consultant who teaches at Baruch College. “The need to compete in a globalized world has forced the meritocracy, the multinational corporate manager, the eastern financier and the technology entrepreneur to reconsider what the Republican Party has to offer. In principle, they have left the party, leaving behind not a pragmatic coalition but a group of ideological naysayers.......................” Continued at the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09friedman.html http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSx http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSx/commentary#comments Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:01:04 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSx Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSx/