The "Bush Loves Torture" Bill isn't the only thing that's been going on in DC lately.
Pending legisliation introduced by Colorado Democrats Ken Salazar and Marc Udall back on July 27, 2005 to give Rocky Mountain National Park "permanent legal protection" is still up in the air.
The road block has been Wayne Allard and Marilyn Musgrave, the Republicans Udall and Salazar reached out to in hopes of putting the interest of Coloradans above those of national partisan bickering.
But Musgrave and Allard's allegiances are not to the Coloradans that elected them, but to the special interest Republicans and the Bush Administration.
x-posted at SquareState.net
As a
Denver Post editorial in
late July of this year pointed out:
A permanent wilderness designation will solidify management practices that have been in place since the Wilderness Act was passed in 1964. Yet, last week, Allard and Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave urged delaying action on the bill - citing concerns that wilderness designation might inhibit efforts to control insect infestations and forest fires and urging a study of the economic impact of such a designation.
There is no merit in those objections. The bill contains specific language ensuring that the wilderness area can be protected against fires and insects. As to economic impact, wilderness designation is avidly supported by local chambers of commerce and local governments in the area - the very people whose livelihoods depend on luring outdoor recreationalists to the area.
Allard and Musgrave should drop their objections and put their shoulders to passing the wilderness designation. While it has Democratic sponsorship, it would be a shame if partisanship derailed efforts to protect one of Colorado's most precious natural assets.
But Allard and Musgrave didn't take any action until Thursday of this week (you know, yesterday), by introducing new "copy cat" legislation of Udall and Salazar's RMNP bill--only with their names on top!
Salazar sent this letter Thursday, Sept. 28th to Allard's office, CC'ing Musgrave, Udall, and Hefley:
Dear Wayne,
We have worked tirelessly and patiently with you and your staff to address any remaining concerns you might have with pending legislation to designate much of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness. Since 1974, when President Nixon recommended that the Park be designated as wilderness, Congress has failed to make permanent the wilderness protection of approximately 250,000 acres in the Park, and completion of that task is long overdue.
[...]
I was therefore surprised and dismayed when you told me today that you and Representative Musgrave will introduce your own Rocky Mountain National Park wilderness legislation in the waning hours of this Congress. This is happening fourteen months after I introduced the wilderness legislation for Rocky Mountain National Park.
The surprise last minute introduction of your bills is a breach of the understanding we had on how to move forward with wilderness legislation for Rocky Mountain National Park. Indeed, in August the chiefs of staff of our offices, along with those of Representatives Udall and Musgrave met and agreed to work together on resolving any outstanding concerns with the legislation.
Today it is obvious that Rocky Mountain National Park is being used as a political pawn. In so doing, political agendas are being placed over the interests of the 4.6 million people of Colorado.
Sadly, this is but one of Musgrave's last minute attempts to show she even cares about Colorado. As covered in the NYTimes, Musgrave has hastily moved to get relief to farmers in the Eastern Plains suffering for drought conditions--actions curiously timed to when Democratic challenger Angie Paccione released this statement demanding Musgrave do something to help her constituients.
If you didn't read Howie Klien's intro of Angie at FireDogLake, you're missing out. He lays out just how Musgrave's extremism has cost Coloradans federal assistance.
And that's the simple truth: Musgrave's extremism has cost Coloradans the due representation they deserve regardless of political party.
A drought doesn't care if you're a Republican or Democrat, and neither should a farmer's Congressperson.
But that's not what concerns Marilyn Musgrave. As you can watch at this Think Progress Video Post, gay marriage 'is the most important issue that we face today'.
How more out of touch could Musgrave be?
Had Enough? Support Angie: