http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/category_rss/economicsecurity Less than 48 hours into the effort, support is growing rapidly for ProgressNow Colorado's call to boycott online retail giant Amazon following its decision to terminate relationships with affiliates in the state. The public can sign the pledge to boycott Amazon here: http://progressnowcolorado.org/ShopMainStreet The editorial board of the Aurora Sentinel writes in today's edition ( click here to read ) that "a clearly punitive act by online retailer Amazon not only invites retribution from Colorado consumers, it practically demands it...it's important for consumers to press back against Amazon for trying to bully their way into making more profit at your expense. Send Amazon an e-mail message telling them of your displeasure at their mean-spirited and politically motivated antics instead of an order, and take your wallet to an Aurora store instead." "After only one email alert to our list, thousands of Coloradans have pledged to shop elsewhere until Amazon stops using their business partners as political pawns," said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Bobby Clark. "We've heard from individual citizens, angry ex-Amazon affiliates, elected officials, and local retailers, virtually all expressing their support." Anne in Fort Collins writes in response to ProgressNow's call to boycott, "Amazon doesn't want to follow the law and wants to strong-arm Colorado into backing off...sorry, Amazon--I would rather support local businesses than do business with a company that employs unfair tactics to compete." Tannis in Greeley replied, "I've been thinking I need to do a better job of supporting local businesses. Thanks to your decision to protect your unfair advantage, I will be shopping at stores which actually benefit my community." Jim in Denver writes, "As a Denver retailer for the past 45 years, you bet I'll support this campaign. A level playing field is what I want to see." http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZpX http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZpX/commentary#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:10:50 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZpX Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZpX/ Colorado doesn't take well to being bullied. Yesterday, one of the world's biggest online retailers, Amazon, announced that it will no longer pay referral fees to Colorado bloggers and nonprofit charities who advertise Amazon's products on their websites. The reason? Amazon is unhappy about a law passed in our state, asking online retailers to help in the collection of the state's longstanding 2.9% tax--a tax we all already pay to merchants every day, both online and offline. That's right: in a move leaders from around the state have called 'tyrannical' and 'pure duplicity,' Amazon, with no warning, closed the accounts of Colorado website owners--many of whom are individual bloggers and nonprofit organizations--in protest of routine collection of state sales taxes. What they've done won't allow them to evade the new law. All they have done is punish our neighbors in order to score cheap political points. Sign our pledge to shop elsewhere until Amazon stops using Colorado residents as pawns: http://progressnowcolorado.org/ShopMainStreet After profiting from millions of dollars in tax-free sales to Colorado residents for years, Amazon is determined to protect their unfair advantage over local brick-and-mortar retailers. When the state legislature passed a law to enforce collection of taxes for online purchases, lawmakers understood that one of the key effects would be leveling the playing field between massive online merchants like Amazon and local retailers who pay their taxes and employ Coloradans. It's true that online sales have enjoyed preferential tax benefits in many areas, giving them a needed competitive advantage during the industry's early years. But today, the logic of that approach has been turned on its head: online sales are proliferating while Main Street goes out of business. Local businesses like Tattered Cover Books and Ultimate Electronics, who employ thousands of Colorado residents and pay their sales taxes back into the community, have suffered greatly while giant corporations like Amazon profited from their tax-free sales advantage. Today, with Colorado in the midst of the greatest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, properly collecting taxes owed on these purchases means millions of dollars in badly-needed revenue for schools, roads, and health care. That's the choice: stand up for our local job-creating businesses, and collect the revenue the state is already owed to help pay for vital public services. Or, get bullied by a giant corporation that has already helped put retailers in your neighborhood out of business, and now is willing to do the same to its own partners out of spite. Tell Amazon that we won't be pushed around! http://progressnowcolorado.org/ShopMainStreet Thanks for everything you do every day to stand up for our common interests. We'll share your name and comments with Amazon, elected officials, and the press, and keep you up to date about further developments. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZph http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZph/commentary#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:30:48 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZph Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 9 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZph/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, March 8, 2010 CONTACT: Bobby Clark, Deputy Director at 303-905-8375 DENVER: Responding to news that the online retailer Amazon.com has terminated relationships with business affiliates in Colorado in protest of a new state law, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization released the following statement: "After profiting from millions of dollars in direct sales to Colorado residents for years, Amazon is determined to protect their unfair advantage over local brick-and-mortar retailers," said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Bobby Clark. "This year, the Colorado legislature passed a law to enforce collection of taxes for online purchases, leveling the playing field between massive online merchants like Amazon and local retailers who pay their taxes and employ Coloradans. "Rather than comply with the law as Amazon already does in many other localities where they collect sales tax on purchases, they chose to 'make an example' of our state, and unfairly punish their own business associates for political gain. Amazon clearly expects Coloradans to react hastily and in anger, but our state's citizens understand who is manipulating the situation for their own financial and political benefit. "Local companies like the Tattered Cover Bookstore and Ultimate Electronics, who employ thousands of Colorado residents and pay their sales taxes back into the community, have suffered greatly while Amazon profited from an unfair advantage. With millions of dollars in badly-needed revenue set to make its way into the budgets for Colorado's schools, roads, and health care, standing behind Main Street over online behemoths like Amazon is an easy choice." ### http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZpR http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZpR/commentary#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:09:45 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZpR Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 5 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZpR/ This is major, I am thinking that Congressman Perlmutter must have been affected by his visit to the Prosthetic Lab. Either way, thank you, Ed. MC VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Opens Brand New Clinic DENVER, COLO. - VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System will host a Grand Opening Ceremony for the brand new Jewell Clinic at 14400 East Jewell Avenue in Aurora, CO on Friday, February 19 at 1pm. Congressman Ed Perlmutter, Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer and State Representative Nancy Todd, among others, will attend. The program will include a short ceremony, as well as tours of the facility and veteran demonstrations of the equipment and programs. The new Jewell Clinic provides state-of-the-art rehabilitative and prosthetic care. This clinic is home to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service, the Prosthetic Treatment Center, and the Call Center. Outpatient services include a new Polytrauma Program, the Assistive Technology Program, Drivers' Training Rehab, Outpatient Recreation Therapy, the Regional Amputee Center, Rehab Psychology, Speech Pathology and Voice Lab, Wheelchair Program, Orthotic and Prosthetic Lab, Shoe Clinic, Brace Clinic, Amputee Clinic, Gait Lab, Telemedicine Wheelchair and Amputee Clinics and our Visual Impairment Services Outpatient Rehabilitation Program (VISOR). Bill L. Holen Office of Congressman Ed Perlmutter Constituent Services Representative 12600 West Colfax Avenue, Suite B-400 Lakewood, Colorado 80215 Telephone: 303-274-7944 FAX: 303-274-6455 bill.holen@mail.house.gov http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJy http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJy/commentary#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:15:48 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJy Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJy/ Did you know that it's legal for predatory lenders to charge as much as 521% interest on payday loans?  That's not a typo. Out of state payday lenders have flocked to Colorado in the last decade because the once right-wing Colorado legislature passed a loophole in 2000 that exempted these predatory lenders from having to charge reasonable interest rates. You've seen them--they cluster along main streets and in low-income neighborhoods, preying on hard-working Coloradans and taking more than $80 MILLION in interest and fees out of our economy every year! In these times, banks, credit card companies, and these payday loan sharks are making record profits on the backs of Colorado consumers. If we organize, we can take on the payday loan shark industry. We don't have to wait on Washington DC to do anything-the power is right here in Colorado's legislature. They broke it in 2000, and they can fix it today. We want our state legislature to act.  So my question to you is do you agree?  http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZJ9 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZJ9/commentary#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:45:00 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZJ9 Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJ9/ Not only are conservatives somewhat immoral about most things, they are Weak, Incompetent, Malingering, Pussies ( WIMP's )  Think Dick Cheney. MC "Conservatives may be more responsive to health reform, he suggested, if it is framed as a national security argument. For example, American companies complain about the difficulty of competing with foreign companies that don’t have to pay for employee medical coverage. In that sense, our existing health care system leaves us vulnerable." "That foreign threat might make conservatives sweat so much that maybe, just maybe, they’d consider revisiting the issue."  hahahahahaha NY TimesFebruary 14, 2010Op-Ed ColumnistOur Politics May Be All in Our Head By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF We all know that liberals and conservatives are far apart on health care. But in the way their brains work? Even in automatic reflexes, like blinking? Or the way their glands secrete moisture? That’s the suggestion of some recent research . It hints that the roots of political judgments may lie partly in fundamental personality types and even in the hard-wiring of our brains. Researchers have found, for example, that some humans are particularly alert to threats, particularly primed to feel vulnerable and perceive danger. Those people are more likely to be conservatives. One experiment used electrodes to measure the startle blink reflex, the way we flinch and blink when startled by a possible danger. A flash of noise was unexpectedly broadcast into the research subjects’ earphones, and the response was measured. Continued at the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/opinion/14kristof.html   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJ8 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJ8/commentary#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:11:53 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJ8 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJ8/ "It was primarily a symbolic gesture. Way back in 1979, in the midst of an energy crisis, Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House. They were used to heat water for some White House staffers. “A generation from now,” said Mr. Carter, “this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken , or it can be a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people, harnessing the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil .” Ronald Reagan had the panels taken down............" Think the opposite of the Preamble of the Constitution and you have in a nut shell what modern day Republicans stand for.  Nanny state, indeed, someone has to watch these red state welfare queens.   Run, Sarah, Run.   MC "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." Democrats     Republicans                     ( Coal Mining Lobby last 20 years ) $4,659,133   $17,817,662     21% 79%   Democrats       Republicans                     (Electric Utilities Last 20 Years) $54,524,071  $83,199,434  39% 60% Democrats      Republicans                      (Gas and Oil Last 20 Years) $60,303,284   $184,561,353     24% 75% Source, OpenSecrets.Org New York Times February 13, 2010O p-Ed ColumnistWatching China Run By BOB HERBERT New York Times http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJd http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJd/commentary#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:31:31 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJd Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJd/ Have you heard Jane Norton's latest radical idea? Taxing your groceries, medicine and health care! Speaking before a small group of hardcore conservatives this week, Norton asserted that both a "national sales tax" and a so-called "flat tax" were two options she supported. ( Ft. Morgan Times 2/9/10) These tired old right-wing ideas have been discredited for years because they would shift the tax burden away from the wealthy while hitting seniors, students, working families, and the poor. http://progressnowcolorado.org/NoGroceryTax By every objective measure, a national sales tax on virtually all goods and services (estimated by proponents to be 19% or higher) would shift the tax burden away from the wealthy and hurt seniors, students and working families. And the "flat tax" is no better. The Brookings Institution says that a flat tax would raise the tax burden for many workers from 30% to nearly 40%, while eliminating most popular deductions for things like healthcare. The only people a "flat tax" benefits are the rich, who would pay a much smaller percentage of their income than they do today. Click here to tell Norton that these are bad ideas: http://progressnowcolorado.org/NoGroceryTax These are the latest in a recent string of radical ideas from Jane Norton. She recently told a "Tea Party" gathering that the Department of Education should be abolished. She's said that the federal government should have "no role" whatsoever in health care (this means you, Medicare recipients). And Norton even claimed that President Obama cares more about "terrorist rights" than protecting Americans. Add your comments and help us send Jane Norton a message that mainstream Colorado rejects her radical ideas. Thanks for demanding better from our public leaders. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZJl http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZJl/commentary#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:28:23 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZJl Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJl/ Bank of America Looks Like  First of Many Michael Collins "This merger (Bank of America and Merrill Lynch) is a classic example of how the actions of our nation’s largest financial institutions led to the near-collapse of our financial system," said Attorney General Cuomo. "Bank of America, through its top management, engaged in a concerted effort to deceive shareholders and American taxpayers at large. This was an arrogant scheme hatched by the bank’s top executives who believed they could play by their own set of rules. In the end, they committed an enormous fraud and American taxpayers ended up paying billions for Bank of America’s misdeeds." ( Image ) New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Andrew Cuomo's complaint filed in the New York Supreme Court, County of New York against the Bank of America and two former top executives has the potential to push that too big to fail entity off the edge of a very steep cliff. The charges of massive fraud are based on a compelling and exhaustive filing on February 4. A trial will likely involve testimony by the current Bank of America CEO and President Brian Moynihan against defendants Kenneth Lewis, the bank's former CEO and board chairman, former chief financial officer (CFO) Joseph L. Price , and the bank itself. Price is currently in charge of BofA's credit card division. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZJf http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZJf/commentary#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:25:12 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/mcollins/CZJf Michael Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/0f4307568de17110c5_xdbmv2rzb.jpg Michael Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJf/ Colorado is in the middle of the greatest economic and fiscal crisis since the Great Depression. Working families, senior citizens, and college students around the state are making sacrifices to protect the vital public services we all depend on. Right now in the Colorado legislature, a crucial debate is underway to close specific loopholes and suspend a few special-interest giveaways in order to fund essential services like schools, health care, and public safety in a balanced way. But corporate lobbyists are pulling out all the stops, pressuring your representatives to shift the burden onto the middle class and preserve these giveaways--the legislature needs to hear from you today. http://progressnowcolorado.org/StopTheGiveaways Colorado loses billions of dollars each year in needless giveaways of your tax dollars for things like fast food packaging, corporate electric bills, even delivering junk mail to your home. The Governor and legislative leaders have proposed eliminating some of these loopholes. In response, corporate lobbyists flooded the state capitol, pushing a proposal to tax your groceries and medicine instead--a terrible idea that would hit average working families the hardest. Please take 30 seconds right now: tell your legislators to reject corporate lobbyists and close these special interest loopholes to balance Colorado's budget. http://progressnowcolorado.org/StopTheGiveaways With revenue to fund Colorado's vital public services plummeting in the current recession, we need everyone to come together and do what is necessary to ensure that our citizens are healthy, our streets are safe and our children have the education they need to compete in the global economy. It's time for corporate and other special interests to pay their fair share, and suspending a small fraction of the over $2 billion Colorado loses every year in corporate loopholes and giveaways is not too much to ask. Thanks for standing up for what's right in these challenging times. Together, we'll see Colorado through today's tough choices and emerge stronger. Sincerely, Alan Franklin ProgressNow Colorado http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZhY http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZhY/commentary#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:32:05 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/al/CZhY Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhY/ For the $663 Billion we are spending this year on defense, we could build 2,652- 64 MW solar concentrators and produce a total of 169 GigaWatts of electricity. For $663 Billion you could install 82 million roof top photovoltaic panels @ $8000 each. There are 129 million housing units in the US. For $663 Billion you could erect 236,785 wind turbines with a capacity of 473 giga watts. For $663 Billion could pay a four year college tuition @ $16,000 for 41 million students. For $663 Billion you could build 1,326 Veterans Administration hospitals @ $500 million each. That works out to 26 new, state of the art hospitals per state. For $663 Billion you could build 2,882 L.A. Class high schools at $230 Million each. That works out to 57 per state. For Colorado that is almost one per county. For $663 Billion -16,575 miles of high speed rail line at $40 million per mile. About 331 miles per state. For $663 Billion 13,260 miles of light rail at $50 Million per mile. For the 50 largest cities in the US, that is 265 miles for each city. For $663 Billion -29 million Toyota Prius automobiles, 10 percent of registered autos in the US saving 37 million gallons per day of the 378 million gallons per day the US consumes. That works out to 13.8 Billion gallons a year or 776 million barrels of oil producing 18 gallons of gasoline per barrel. That represent 128 days of OPEC imports at 5.95 million barrels per day. That is $30 Billion is almost 5% of the $667 Billion annual trade deficit or another 1.3 million hybrids built right here in the US. For $663 Billion -442,000 miles of water pipe. For $663 Billion -66,300 waste water treatment plants capable of sustaining 45,000 people at $10 Million each. Total capacity 2.983 Billion people. For $663 Billion -3.07 Million housing units at the median price of $215,000 each For $663 Billion increasing the entire annual State Department budget, $13.2 Billion, 50 times. The mission of the State Department is peace keeping. For $663 Billion- 245,555 miles of new interstate highway at $2.7 million per mile. For $663 Billion - 221,000 miles of new rail road track at $3 million per mile For $663 Billion you could feed 363 million impoverished people for a year at $5 per day. There are 963 million malnourished people in the world. For $663 Billion you could build 1.326 million hybrid buses at $500,000 each. That works out to 26,520 buses per state. For $663 Billion you can purchase over 66 million top of the line, street legal golf carts at $10,000 each. 1.326 million for each of America's top 50 cities or all 50 states. For $663 Billion -2,833 Minneapolis I-35 Bridges at $234 Million each. 56 new bridges for every state in the union. For $663 Billion- 697 Sears Towers at $950 million each. That is 13 for every state in the union. For $663 Billion- 110 million water wells 500 feet deep at $12 a foot ($6000 each). Enough to supply a well for every nine people in Africa. Total population one billion people. The annual profit for Lockheed Martin in 2009, $32.665 Billion. Lockheed employs 140,000 people and represents 5% of the defense budget. Assuming that 140,000 employees represent 5% of the civilian defense labor force, that total would be 2.8 million and would represent almost 2% of the total US labor force. The total US labor force is 154 million. All things considered Ford Motor Company has twice the employees as Lockheed, three times the sales and a negative profit. I suspect Ford represents a capitalist enterprise and Lockheed is a government supported, monopolistic enterprise. Last, even though the list could be endless, $663 Billion a year is $2,195 annually for every man, woman and child in the US. For a family of four that amounts to an extra $731 a month. Enough to raise the standard of living substantially. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh7 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh7/commentary#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:12:10 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh7 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZh7/ Great op/ed by Frank Rich. MC "Last year the president pointedly studied J.F.K.’s decision-making process on Vietnam while seeking the way forward in Afghanistan. In the end, he didn’t emulate his predecessor and escalated the war. We’ll see how that turns out.   Meanwhile, Obama might look at another pivotal moment in the Kennedy presidency — and this time heed the example . The incident unfolded in April 1962 — some 15 months into the new president’s term — when J.F.K. was infuriated by the U.S. Steel chairman’s decision to break a White House-brokered labor-management contract agreement and raise the price of steel (but not wages). Kennedy was no radical. He hailed from the American elite — like Obama, a product of Harvard, but, unlike Obama, the patrician scion of a wealthy family. And yet he, like that other Harvard patrician, F.D.R., had no hang-ups about battling his own class. Kennedy didn’t settle for the generic populist rhetoric of Obama’s latest threats to “fight” unspecified bankers some indeterminate day. He instead took the strong action of dressing down U.S. Steel by name. As Richard Reeves writes in his book “President Kennedy,” reporters were left “literally gasping.” The young president called out big steel for threatening “economic recovery and stability” while Americans risked their lives in Southeast Asia. J.F.K. threatened to sic his brother’s Justice Department on corporate records and then held firm as his opponents likened his flex of muscle to the power grabs of Hitler and Mussolini. (Sound familiar?) U.S. Steel capitulated in two days. The Times soon reported on its front page that Kennedy was at “a high point in popular support.”" NY Times January 24, 2010 Op-Ed Columnist After the Massachusetts Massacre By FRANK RICH It was not a referendum on Barack Obama, who in every poll remains one of the most popular politicians in America. It was not a rejection of universal health care, which Massachusetts mandated (with Scott Brown’s State Senate vote) in 2006. It was not a harbinger of a resurgent G.O.P., whose numbers remain in the toilet. Brown had the good sense not to identify himself as a Republican in either his campaign advertising or his victory speech. Continued at the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/opinion/24Rich.html http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhT/commentary#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:58:41 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhT Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhT/ Considering the anti-labor, anti-welfare, anti-social justice, anti-environment tilt in our corporacracy, one might consider the Preamble of the Constitution. Also coinsider the significance of SCOTUS decisions, perhaps a 5 to 4 split is not good enough. Judicial relevance of the Preamble The courts have shown interest in any clues they can find in the Preamble regarding the Constitution's meaning. Courts have developed several techniques for interpreting the meaning of statutes and these are also used to interpret the Constitution. As a result, the courts have said that interpretive techniques which focus on the exact text of a document should be used in interpreting the meaning of the Constitution, so the Preamble provides additional language against which to compare other parts of the Constitution. Balanced against these techniques are those that focus more attention on broader efforts to discern the meaning of the document from more than just the wording; the Preamble is also useful for these efforts to identify the "spirit" of the Constitution. (Source Wikipedia) "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." And if that is not enough, quote this to a righty: `This is the love of-God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3) http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh8 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh8/commentary#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:36:01 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh8 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZh8/ I just posted this link to Romanoff's statement today at his press conference. http://www.andrewromanoff.com/blog/entry/january-19th-press-conference/ Once again, Romanoff demarcates himself as starkly different from the current, appointed Senator who was never tested by Colorado's electorate. Unlike Bennet, Romanoff won't accept PAC money, relying instead on Colorado voters to build a sound, untainted campaign fund. Romanoff truly earned the support of Colorado's more than 420,000 veterans through his work in the Colorado General Assembly on their behalf. Veterans who would like to know more about his commitment to this population can speak with any legislative leader of the United Veterans Committee of Colorado (an umbrella organization of more than 50 Colorado veterans groups) to learn full details of his record of service to veterans over many years. Colorado veterans have pleaded with Bennet to work for urgent Senate action on the backlog of nearly one million disability compensation and other claims filed by Iraq, Afghanistan and other veterans across the nation. There is scant evidence he has done so. While the backlog began growing wildly under the Bush Administration after it elected to go to war unnecessarily with Iraq, Democrats have controlled Congress for long enough now to have no excuse for this tragic situation to continue, leaving millions of severely, even profoundly disabled veterans unable to feed, house and cloth themselves and their loved ones. Our congressional delegations' half-measures in connection with this issue alone leave Colorado veterans with a very bad taste in their mouths. We remember their assurances to veterans during their campaigns in 2004 and 2006. Do we like the Republicans on veterans issues? Hell no! But we need public servants who have a measurable track record of REAL service to veterans! Honestly, we don't need more lip service, nor lectures from their staff (as I received from Senator Bennet's veterans aid at a recent groundbreaking ceremony) about awards they have presented to the American Legion reflecting their 'deep concern' about Colorado veterans. Veterans can't feed their children with a plaque or certificate of appreciation from their appointed Senator sitting in a veterans office display case. They need elected public officials who have a history of putting up or shutting up, who will fight for them and their families a mere fraction as hard as they fought for their nation. Check out Romanoff''s veterans record in the General Assembly. Check out his human rights record generally. Then ask this question: What has Senator Bennet actually done (substantively) to get disabled veterans and their loved ones past this monumental backlog? Jim Hudson Vietnam Veteran---RVN 1969-70 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/jimhudson/CZhf http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/jimhudson/CZhf/commentary#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:44:24 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/jimhudson/CZhf Jim Hudson Jim Hudson 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhf/ Colorado's budget shortfal is $1.4 billion, California's shortfall is $42 billion. The total short fall for all states combined – $192.6 billion. Dividing the total TARP money by 50 states, $780 Billion, you come up with a whopping $15.6 Billion per state. 90% of the entire 42 thousand miles of the interstate highway system was financed with $114 billion federal dollars. What's that smell? MC NY Times January 10, 2010 Op-Ed Columnist The Other Plot to Wreck America By FRANK RICH THERE may not be a person in America without a strong opinion about what coulda, shoulda been done to prevent the underwear bomber from boarding that Christmas flight to Detroit. In the years since 9/11, we’ve all become counterterrorists. But in the 16 months since that other calamity in downtown New York — the crash precipitated by the 9/15 failure of Lehman Brothers — most of us are still ignorant about what Warren Buffett called the “financial weapons of mass destruction” that wrecked our economy. Fluent as we are in Al Qaeda and body scanners, when it comes to synthetic C.D.O.’s and credit-default swaps, not so much. What we don’t know will hurt us, and quite possibly on a more devastating scale than any Qaeda attack. Americans must be told the full story of how Wall Street gamed and inflated the housing bubble, made out like bandits, and then left millions of households in ruin. Without that reckoning, there will be no public clamor for serious reform of a financial system that was as cunningly breached as airline security at the Amsterdam airport. And without reform, another massive attack on our economic security is guaranteed. Now that it can count on government bailouts, Wall Street has more incentive than ever to pump up its risks — secure that it can keep the bonanzas while we get stuck with the losses. Continued NY Times: NY Times   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh3 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh3/commentary#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:31:27 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZh3 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZh3/ A country of hamburger flippers, bean counters, speculators, leveraged buy outs and 254 million passenger cars, representing $7.62 Trillion at a $30 K average per car, half of the yearly Gross Domestic Product of the US in 2008. Enough to build 1,169 rail transit systems the size of Denver's RTD at $6.5 Billion. MC Upper Mismanagement Why can't Americans make things? Two words: business school. Noam Scheiber December 18, 2009 | 12:00 am One of the themes that came up while I was  profiling   [1] White House manufacturing czar Ron Bloom earlier this fall was managerial talent. A lot of people talk about reviving the domestic manufacturing sector, which has shed almost one-third of its manpower over the last eight years. But some of the people I spoke to asked a slightly different question: Even if you could reclaim a chunk of those blue-collar jobs, would you have the managers you need to supervise them? It’s not obvious that you would. Since 1965, the percentage of graduates of highly-ranked business schools who go into consulting and financial services has doubled, from about one-third to about two-thirds. And while some of these consultants and financiers end up in the manufacturing sector, in some respects that’s the problem. Harvard business professor Rakesh Khurana, with whom I discussed these questions at length, observes that most of GM’s top executives in recent decades hailed from a finance rather than an operations background. (Outgoing GM CEO Fritz Henderson and his failed predecessor, Rick Wagoner, both worked their way up from the company’s vaunted Treasurer’s office.) But these executives were frequently numb to the sorts of innovations that enable high-quality production at low cost. As Khurana quips, “That’s how you end up with GM rather than Toyota.” Continued: The New Republic   http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhH http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhH/commentary#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:11:09 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhH Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhH/ Workers facing lockout now locked in; workers still negotiating are empowered by Richard Myers Concession bargaining means corporations demanding that unionized workers give up benefits, rights, or wages they've won in previous agreements. Colorado's grocery chains have engaged in concession bargaining for several contracts in a row. On December 14th, Colorado grocery workers voted on a “last, best, and final” contract offer from King Soopers and Safeway that gave little that was new, and demanded some very significant concessions. The corporations both hoped and propagandized that this offer was to mark the end of their negotiations. But just as the corporations' earlier “final” offers weren't really final, some older workers clearly understood that corporate spin doesn't necessarily dictate the end of the process. Other workers may learn this lesson through experience. In spite of strong and pervasive recommendations to the contrary by Colorado's UFCW Local 7, workers at King Soopers (division of Kroger) and their sibling subsidiary, City Market, accepted the latest offer. By doing so, these workers have locked themselves in to a new three tier wage system, absorbed very significant pension cuts and have given up a variety of pension fund-related benefits. These include death benefits; supplemental benefits; early retirement; and, controversially, disability benefits. According to the new contract's provisions, most workers in the stores (who have not seen a raise in a number of years) will get no raise from this new contract. Indeed, entry level new hires (called courtesy clerks) will start at absolute minimum wage, and (absent a promotion) will never see a wage increase, no matter how long they hold their position with the company. The corporations have used the savings from lowered wage rates and decreased benefits in previous contracts to remodel stores, and to build new stores . Safeway workers rejected a nearly identical contract offer by a substantial margin. A newly remodeled King Soopers store at 120th and Colorado Boulevard. Each remodeled King Soopers store is estimated to cost six to eight million dollars. Many workers are resentful that the company's profits go to purchase bricks, rather than to reward the workers who make the profits possible. After a challenging and eventful eight months of negotiations, some observers have conjectured that, concerned with competitive advantage, Safeway's position will harden, and Safeway workers will now be forced to accept similar terms. But in my view Safeway (which took the lead in the past eight months of negotiations) has demonstrated excessive greed and stubbornness throughout. And now Safeway management seems to be alarmed about the next round of negotiations, where an opposite result is at least as likely if Safeway workers are allowed to exercise a newly-realized strength. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CZhr http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CZhr/commentary#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:06:57 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CZhr Richard Myers http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/d7a21bd1f5de483e15_fkshmvxwd.jpg Richard Myers 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhr/ I have been biting my tongue about a lot of things, namely the allegiance of the House and the Senate, not to mention the lack of leadership, moral courage and indeed "hope" from the White House.  Thank you Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean for saying what needs to be said regarding the cowardice and greed of the hideous men and women that occupy  the halls of Congress.  Serving their self-interests above all things without thought to the preamble of the Constitution  or the sacred duty of serving a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  MCThere are not enough morally brave men in stock. We are out of moral-courage material.  Mark Twain An apt description of the villains among us: Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, & over these ideals they dispute & cannot unite--but they all worship money. - Mark Twain's Notebook Olbermann: Ruined Senate bill unsupportable Conservatives have destroyed this version of health care reformSPECIAL COMMENTBy Keith OlbermannAnchor, 'Countdown'updated 7:16 p.m. MT, Wed., Dec . 16, 2009 Finally, as promised, a Special Comment on the latest version of H-R 35-90, the Senate Health Care Reform bill. To again quote Churchill after Munich, as I did six nights ago on this program: "I will begin by saying the most unpopular and most unwelcome thing: that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat, without a war." Last night on this program Howard Dean said that with the appeasement of Mr. Lieberman of Connecticut by the abandonment of the Medicare Buy-in, he could no longer support H-R 35-90. Dr. Dean's argument is informed, cogent, heart breaking, and unanswerable.    Seeking the least common denominator, Sen. Reid has found it, especially the "least" part. This is not health, this is not care, this is certainly not reform. I bless the Sherrod Browns and Ron Wydens and Jay Rockefellers and Sheldon Whitehouses and Anthony Weiners and all the others who have fought for real reform and I bleed for the pain inflicted upon them and their hopes. They have done their jobs and served their nation. Continued: URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34455168/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/ http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhc http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhc/commentary#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:49:48 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhc Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhc/ Just watched the movie "Invictus" produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African rugby team captain.  I thoroughly enjoyed the film.  I also wanted to read the entire poem, "Invictus" and find out more about Nelson Mandela, his 27 years in prison and what he did to deserve such a severe sentence.  The CIA had a hand in his arrest in 1962 and by my summation of the CIA, the US Senate, corporate, industrial and banking interests and our own proclivity for racism.  ('Welcome to America, now clean our toilets')  I was pretty sure the US was definitely on the wrong side of apartheid.  We have yet to ratify sanctions against apartheid and the reason the US Ambassador gave at the time are as pathetic as our rationalizations regarding torture.  Are we really the good guys?. "Invictus" Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. " Invictus " is a short poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley. On 5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested after living on the run for seventeen months, and was imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort. The arrest was made possible because the U.S. Central intelligence Agency (CIA) tipped off the security police as to Mandela's whereabouts and disguise. Signatories to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid: parties in dark green, signed but not ratified in light green, non-members in grey Seventy-six other countries subsequently signed on, but a number of nations have neither signed nor ratified the ICSPCA, including Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.  In explanation of the US vote against the convention, Ambassador Clarence Clyde Ferguson Jr. said: "[W]e cannot...accept that apartheid can in this manner be made a crime against humanity. Crimes against humanity are so grave in nature that they must be meticulously elaborated and strictly construed under existing international law..." Research source, Wikipedia http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhR http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhR/commentary#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:07:48 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZhR Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZhR/ In my job working for grocery workers, i sometimes hear that unions are a thing of the past. "We now have laws to take care of things like safety, and child labor," i am told. An ABC News investigation reveals today that our child labor laws in particular haven't been so effective:  ...an ABC News investigation found children, including one as young as five-years-old, working in its fields. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/young-children-working-blueberry-fields-walmart-severs-ties/story?id=8951044 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CZRd http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CZRd/commentary#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:18:00 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/richardmyers/CZRd Richard Myers http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/d7a21bd1f5de483e15_fkshmvxwd.jpg Richard Myers 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRd/