http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/category_rss/infrastructure If anything pisses me off about that charlatan and wannabee Democrat/Green governor Bill Ritter is that he has not seen the virtue of slowing traffic in the metro area, a mere 20% savings at 55 mph vs.65, not to mention the real balls it would take to enforce it. He is obviously worried about those whiney, pissy pants, me generation socker moms and dads who vote Republican, love Jesus and especially white people, flipped their houses and donated the proceeds to their stock brokers. Raise your glass of Pinot Noir to the one eyed king in the country of the blind. MC NY Times February 17, 2010 Slow Trip Across Sea Aids Profit and Environment By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL It took more than a month for the container ship Ebba Maersk to steam from Germany to Guangdong, China, where it unloaded cargo on a recent Friday — a week longer than it did two years ago. But for the owner, the Danish shipping giant Maersk, that counts as progress. In a global culture dominated by speed, from overnight package delivery to bullet trains to fast-cash withdrawals, the company has seized on a sales pitch that may startle some hard-driving corporate customers: Slow is better. By halving its top cruising speed over the last two years, Maersk cut fuel consumption on major routes by as much as 30 percent, greatly reducing costs. But the company also achieved an equal cut in the ships’ emissions of greenhouse gases. Continued at the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/business/energy-environment/17speed.html?hp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJP http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJP/commentary#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:11:07 EST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZJP Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZJP/ "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/ 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/ 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/ 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/ If Initiative 300 in Denver passes, and you forget your wallet and get pulled over, police officers will be forced to impound your car leaving you stranded. Which is why we're asking for your help. We need you to vote  No on Initiative 300 if you live in Denver County. It's deceptive. It's scary. It's expensive. And it's unnecessary. Police officers already have the ability to impound vehicles if they are concerned about public safety. The Denver Post , Mayor Hickenlooper, ten members of the Denver City Council, House Speaker Terrence Carroll, and a long list of Denver community organizations and individuals oppose Initiative 300 . And the proponents of this nightmare are counting on low turnout in an off-year election to sneak this one past us. What can you do? Send an e-mail to 5 friends in Denver and ask them to vote no. Talk to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers in person about how important it is for them to return their ballots, and ask them to vote no on Initiative 300. Sign up to volunteer . As for voting, the 2009 Election will be Mail-In Ballot only. Voting couldn't be easier-- it just takes 2 stamps to return, or you can drop it off to the Denver Election Commission in person. So please Vote NO on Initiative 300 and help spread the word. If you live in Denver, you should have received your ballot in the mail. To check on your voter registration and on the status of your ballot, click here to look it up at the Secretary of State: http://www.sos.state.co.us/Voter If you believe you are registered to vote and you have not received your ballot, call 311 today . http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnR http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnR/commentary#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:34:37 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelditto/CZnR Michael Ditto http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/f660dc8ce688a8bfdc_5fmmv2i99.jpg Michael Ditto 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZnR/ 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/ The vehicles affected by the advisory were the: * 2007–10 Camry * 2005-10 Avalon * 2004-9 Prius * 2005-10 Tacoma * 2007-10 Tundra * 2007-10 ES350 * 2006-10 IS 250 and IS 350 http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/toyota-seeks-solution-to-floor-mat-issue/ Meanwhile, Toyota’s advice for handling a stuck accelerator includes how to shut off the engine in a vehicle with a starter button. When the vehicle is moving a single stab of the button won’t do it. The button must be held down for three seconds. Mr. Lyons said that was a safety feature to prevent the engine from being shut off accidentally if the button were brushed. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZST http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZST/commentary#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:22:48 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZST Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZST/ 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/ Starts Friday, October 2 at the Mayan Theatre and Greenwood Village In Capitalism: A Love Story, filmmaker Michael Moore (Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Roger & Me) tackles an issue he has been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). Moore explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown and takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what he has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country—the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr/commentary#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:11:32 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZSr Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZSr/ 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/ 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/ FYI, the discovery is over Three Billion barrels, a whopping six month US supply :-((. You can bet this is not a serious article, but a paid advertisement. All is well, we found some more oil. Next thing you know we'll be declaring war on Belize or fill in the blank, over oil rights. LOL MC BP Discovers ‘Giant’ Oil Field in Gulf of Mexico ".......Further appraisal will be required to ascertain the volumes of oil present, BP said, but a spokesman said the find could be bigger than its Kaskida discovery, which had more than three billion barrels of oil........" NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/business/global/03oil.html?_r=1&hp http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5d http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5d/commentary#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:47:18 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5d Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZ5d/ "I say again, as I have before, if health insurance is good enough for the President, the Vice President and the Congress of the United States, then it is good enough for you and every family in America." Senator Edward Kennedy-Democrat National Convention August 12, 1980 Well, things worked out a little different from the way I thought, but let me tell you, I still love New York. My fellow Democrats and my fellow Americans, I have come here tonight not to argue as a candidate but to affirm a cause. I'm asking you--I am asking you to renew the commitment of the Democratic Party to economic justice. I am asking you to renew our commitment to a fair and lasting prosperity that can put America back to work. This is the cause that brought me into the campaign and that sustained me for nine months across 100,000 miles in 40 different states. We had our losses, but the pain of our defeats is far, far less than the pain of the people that I have met. We have learned that it is important to take issues seriously, but never to take ourselves too seriously. The serious issue before us tonight is the cause for which the Democratic Party has stood in its finest hours, the cause that keeps our Party young and makes it, in the second century of its age, the largest political party in this republic and the longest lasting political party on this planet. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5Z http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5Z/commentary#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:26:56 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5Z Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZ5Z/ Turning Dirt An Editorial by James Hudson (Hu dson served as a reporter-photographer with the 5th Special Forces Group throughout Vietnam in 1969 and 1970) Eastern Colorado VA Health Care System officials anticipated about 500 veterans, family members and assorted public officials yesterday at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new VA Medical Center to be built at the Anschutz Medical Campus (the historic and hallowed Fitzsimons Army Hospital grounds). But the large vinyl tent designed to comfortably shelter that number from a heartless sun, was bursting at the seams with participants as the VA efficiently kicked things off only a few minutes after 1 p.m. After a brutally long and arduous campaign waged by the state’s rank and file veterans, a new VA Medical Center that will assuredly save the lives of thousands--no, tens of thousands of our and surrounding state’s veterans--will soon be a reality. The program was mercifully quick-paced, especially important to the WWII and Korean War veterans and their spouses in the audience, as the temperature approached 100 degrees in the shelter of the tent, more for those wilting in the sun at its edge. It doesn’t happen often with old soldiers--you know, something to get thrilled about, something that catches you in the throat. But this was one of those things. This new hospital was going to help a lot of American heroes, a lot of regular GIs. It was going to save a lot of lives over the next 50 to 75 years or so. And it was going to help of lot of their loved ones have an easier go of it. But not everything came up roses this day, I’m sorry to say. I don’t like to throw a wet blanket on such a grand occasion, but I’m getting pretty sick of phony politicians of both political persuasions. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and retired Four Star U.S. Army General Eric Shinseki was greeted with an exceptionally friendly, standing ovation as he was introduced to the Colorado audience, many of them members of the 53 veterans groups that make up the United Veterans Committee of=2 0Colorado, which has led the fight—yes, fight, for over a decade--to make the vitally important hospital a reality. Nothing phony about this guy, who lost his career when he took a stand and warned Rummy that it would take 300,000 troops to win the War in Iraq and manage its aftermath. Among Colorado's highest ranking officials, only Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman John Salazar, and Senator Ken Salazar, were unable to attend. But it is worth noting that alone among the congressional, cabinet, city, and various other government officials who did attend, only Internet marketing multi-millionaire Jared Polis (everyone knows he couldn’t have made a dime if his parents hadn’t busted their backs for decades building an all occasion card business) seemed unable or unwilling to honor the occasion by wearing a suit and tie, sporting instead a comfortable golf shirt; no doubt he had other things on his itinerary this day. Congresswoman Betsy Markey also attended. Veterans gave her a pass on any suit and tie expectations. The strongest ovation went to Congressman Mike Coffman, the lone Republican in the congressional delegation this day, who not only wore a suit, but a pair of Iraq War Theater combat boots. It was a fashion statement with which even the Vietnam veterans present were unfamiliar (though the author remembers wearing his dad’s Korean War boots to Junior High School in the 1960s). But Coffman, who served multiple tours in Iraq, unlike Polis (a ROTC drop-out), has earned the right to wear any damn thing he wants to. It does, however, make one a little nervous when elected officials who supported that unnecessary and immoral war continue to wear a key element of the uniform to official congressional functions. There’s such a thing as liking war paraphernalia too much. Platitudes came from all the politicians present. Markey placed the number of veterans in the state at 475,000, a whopping fifty thousand more than the estimate found at va.gov. The Internets are a terrible thing in the hands of a lazy staffer! Ritter fondly spoke of the nuns who taught him as a boy at a small Catholic church just across Colfax, and whom he said had ministered to Vietnam veterans at Fitzsimons some days--though it wasn’t entirely clear to anyone what the significance of that was. But politicians who haven’t served often mention brothers, fathers, even uncles who have--and now, apparently, nuns who taught them and then ministered to those who did too. It’s important to note, however, that Polis had to be dragged kicking and screaming into supporting the new stand-alone VA medical center. He pointedly refused to sign a letter that the rest of the delegation sent to Shinseki asking for the stand-alone facility, claiming he needed 30 days to review the matter. Yep, this empty suit (make that suitless shirt) is a piece of work! Veterans remember well that Polis claimed he left ROTC because the military's ‘don't ask don't tell’ policy rubbed him the wrong way. Many veterans wonder if Americans might be eating sauerkraut with chopsticks if America's blacks, Hispanics, native Americans, gays, and Japanese Americans had demanded that their civil rights be perfected before they served in the U.S. armed forces as volunteers or draftees. Veterans also note that while Polis refused to serve in the armed forces, which just implements Congress’ policies, he was only too happy to ‘serve’ in Congress, the vile and discriminatory entity that actually insisted on the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy. Let’s see, one of these things is not like the other, right? One institution’s members get shot at, while the other institution’s members have power, authority, great perks, and, oh, that’s right, “DON ’T GET SHOT AT!” Most veterans know exactly where Polis is coming from. It's not surprising that the now-defunct veterans organization’ that endorsed Polis' candidacy was formed and headed by Richard Strandloff, whom the FBI has determined was not the head-injured Iraq War veteran he claimed to be; or in fact, a veteran at all! And since the Denver Post has learned that Polis is fond of writing checks to politicians and just about anyone else who can grease his way to power, it would be interesting to know if Strandloff ever had his palm greased by Polis or his campaign or his foundation. I do know of one other veterans group that received a phone call from Polis’ campaign manager with the offer of a connection to a veterans scholarship program. The call came within a couple of days of a major daily newspaper article in which a leader of that very veterans group was critical of Polis’ defacement of the U.S. Flag depicted in the Iwo Jima Flagraising (he covered it with the Blackwater logo—clever, huh?) in thousands of his campaign brochures, an event that is sacred to millions of veterans and their fam ilies. And it is hard for a leopard to change its spots. By the way, the veterans’ leader told the campaign manager to take a walk. One last observation. We all know that, to the chagrin of many Colorado Democrats who have slaved in the political trenches for decades, recently appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet held no political office before Governor Ritter elevated him to that august role. Some believed it was Bennet’s close association with Billionaire Phillip Anchutz that cinched the appointment. After all, politicians need money to win races. And the Governor will likely run again for something soon. Today, after joining his colleagues in turning dirt at the Official Groundbreaking Ceremonies for the New Denver VA Medical Center at the Anschutz (yes, that Anschutz! Bennet's Anschutz!) Medical Campus, Senator Michael Bennet walked away from his last media interview with that historic, ceremonial20shovel still in his hand. The shovel had been chrome-plated and engraved at considerable taxpayer expense. More importantly, many veterans had waited a long time for this, while enduring substandard care at the existing Denver VA Hospital, and many more worked awfully damn hard to see that shovel turn that dirt. But young Senator Bennet turned to his Veterans Affairs Specialist, Bennie Milliner, and said, “What do I do with this?” The expression on his face was that of a man who needed a handi-wipe, two actually. Milliner, who held a similar post with Senator Ken Salazar, said, “I don’t know.” Senator Bennett, said, “Well, put it somewhere.” Milliner set the shovel against a post holding up the massive vinyl tent that enclosed the remaining veterans and their loved ones, perhaps hoping someone would find it. Both proceeded to walk away. A Vietnam veteran who had overheard their conversation spoke to Milliner: “It’s his. He gets to keep it.” “Oh,” Milliner replied, and came back to pick up the shovel. You learn a lot coming up through the ranks, whether you’re in the military, in a political party, or serving in a veterans organization and working your way “up through the chairs,” as they like to say. No one should make too much of Senator Bennet’s insensitivity. He’s very young, and obviously inexperienced, and he was probably nervous around all those veterans. Undoubtedly, he had to rush off to another meeting. But the next time Governor Ritter or anyone has to make an appointment to say, the U.S. Senate, or a President appoints a head of FEMA, wouldn’t it be great if they first determined if that person has paid some real dues? P.S. The VA backlog of veterans’ disability and other claims is now nearly one (1) million. Oh, sure, veterans know; it’s all the Republican’s fault. They could have anticipated the increase in claims their BS war would result in and didn’t up the number of needed adjudicators and other key staff. But Democrats have now controlled Congress since 2007. The claims backlog then was hundreds of thousands lower. The Democrats acted too slowly and too modestly to make the necessary adjustments. And war veterans of that war and others are dying before their claims are processed. It’s a fact. And elected officials, of either party, can’t change that with platitudes. http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5V http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5V/commentary#comments Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:03:28 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZ5V Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZ5V/ Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009 Time: 1:00 PM Location: 1600 Wheeling Street Aurora, Colorado 80045 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZR2 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZR2/commentary#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:04:16 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZR2 Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZR2/ Can you hear me now? Howard Dean threw the gloves off, you should too. Starting with the economic advisors in the WH, I would start finding real liberals to help run the show. If he continues to surround himself with wimps (Democratic Party retreads) his administration is doomed, they wouldn't know an original thought if it bit them in the ass. Lots of really pissed off LIBERAL women like Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9) can help turn it around. This ain't politics, this is WAR against corporate America, the greatest villains in the history of the world. MC "While the Obama administration offers kind words to unions, reform to ensure workers' rights to organize is not one of its priorities. Too many other liberal interest groups have become Beltway operations, packaged and polite affairs disconnected from the real grass roots." Rage the Left Should Use By Robert Kuttner Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Where are the liberal protesters? Wall Street and the abuses of corporate America crashed the economy, leaving regular people anxious and financially insecure. Yet the far right, not the reformist left, is getting the political windfall. Something is severely off when economically stressed Americans confront members of Congress about "death panels" in the Obama health plan. The rumors, fanned by talk radio with a little help from Republicans, are false and even delusional. Yet the anger, if misdirected, is genuine. People should be plenty angry about their jobs and their mortgages and their health insurance. With health care, however, virtually all of the fears attributed to the Obama health reform efforts more accurately describe the existing private system. Continued: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702363.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRr http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRr/commentary#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:35:13 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRr Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRr/ Colorado has a House power ratio of .016 (7 members of 435) a Senate power ratio of .04, equal to all the other 49 states. Seemingly insignificant unless you look at Wyoming's House power ratio of .002. Getting rid of the filibuster might be a giant step in the right direction. If majority rule works in the house, surely it should be applied in the senate. "Add the rise of the filibuster and the fact that small-state senators tend to stick around longer, gaining powerful chairmanships under the seniority system, and you've got today's change-resistant Senate." MC The Gangs of D.C. In the Senate, Small States Wield Outsize Power. Is This What the Founders Had in Mind? By Alec MacGillis Sunday, August 9, 2009 Wonder why President Obama is having a hard time enacting his agenda after sweeping to victory and with large congressional majorities on his side? Look to the Senate, the chamber designed to thwart popular will. There is much grousing on the left about the filibuster, the threat of which has taken such hold that routine bills now need 60 votes. Getting less attention is the undemocratic character of the Senate itself. Why, for example, have even Democratic senators been resistant on health-care reform? It might be because so many of the key players represent so few of the voters who carried Obama to victory -- and so few of the nation's uninsured. The Senate Finance Committee's "Gang of Six" that is drafting health-care legislation that may shape the final deal -- without a public insurance option -- represents six states that are among the least populous in the country: Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Maine, New Mexico and Iowa. Between them, those six states hold 8.4 million people -- less than New Jersey -- and represent 3 percent of the U.S. population. North Dakota and Wyoming each have fewer than 80,000 uninsured people, in a country where about 47 million lack insurance. In the House, those six states have 13 seats out of 435, 3 percent of the whole. In the Senate, those six members are crafting what may well be the blueprint for reform. More at the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080702045.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRS http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRS/commentary#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:30:35 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRS Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRS/ Salon: http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/business/2009/08/06/D99TLNR80_us_cash_for_clunkers_top_10s/index.html Aug 6th, 2009 | Here are the top 10 most popular vehicles purchased and traded under the government's "cash-for-clunkers" program as of Aug. 5: TOP 10 NEW VEHICLES PURCHASED 1. Toyota Corolla 2. Ford Focus FWD 3. Honda Civic 4. Toyota Prius 5. Toyota Camry 6. Hyundai Elantra 7. Ford Escape FWD 8. Dodge Caliber 9. Honda Fit 10. Chevrolet Cobalt TOP 10 TRADE-IN VEHICLES 1. Ford Explorer 4WD 2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD 3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD 4. Jeep Cherokee 4WD 5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD 6. Ford Explorer 2WD 7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD 8. Ford F150 Pickup 4WD 9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD 10. Ford Windstar FWD Van http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRg http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRg/commentary#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:55:54 EDT http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/post/michaelcollins/CZRg Mike Collins http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/profile_picture/bcdcfd97be4d93f8d2_izvrmv8p8.jpg Mike Collins 0 http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZRg/