Some good news for Colorado today:
http://www.gazette.com/...
A national struggle to get Colorado millions of federal dollars for watershed recovery could end Monday with a much-anticipated U.S. Senate vote.
Colorado politicians and land management officials have fought since the end of 2012 for Emergency Watershed Protection Program money, which lawmakers first cut then reintroduced into Senate and House bills. The Senate’s Monday vote could all but guarantee El Paso and Larimer counties much needed millions to rehabilitate watersheds damaged by wildfire.
For El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark, who spent months calling attention to the county’s endangered watersheds, the vote would be a decided victory. But, the watershed protection money won’t be a cure-all, and won’t help complete all of the work left to do in burn area, according to the Colorado branch of the National Resource Conservation Service. The $8.7 million set aside for El Paso County is for erosion and flood control, said John Andrews of the NRCS in Denver. - Colorado Springs Gazette, 3/18/13
Senators Mark Udall (D. CO) and Michael Bennet (D. CO) played huge roles in securing the federal funding:
Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied the state’s requests for money to help with erosion control and flood damage repair. Until now, rehabilitation of Colorado’s lands has been mostly funded by state grants.
Colorado officials saw an opportunity for some federal financial relief this fall when a bill was introduced that would have allowed states to access offered watershed protection money through the Emergency Watershed Protection program. The program supplies money to states with major disaster declarations to mitigate flood and erosion.
The bill specifically targeted areas damaged in October by Hurricane Sandy, but would have made some $125 million available to states like Colorado and Utah.
But watershed protection money was cut from the bill, and Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet launched campaigns to re-introduce a resolution in Congress to give states like Colorado access to the Emergency Watershed Protection pot.
In mid-March, the House approved $48.2 million for watershed protection and erosion control, and the Senate’s Monday vote could set aside at least $65.5 million in a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through end of the fiscal year. - Colorado Springs Gazette, 3/18/13
Once the funding for Colorado to access the Emergency Watershed Protection relief was finally included in the bill, Udall praised Congress for finally taking action:
http://www.kunc.org/...
Colorado Senator Democrat Mark Udall says the funding is a big victory for watersheds damaged by the High Park and Waldo Canyon fires. “We needed those monies right away, but we’re going to have those monies after 7 months,” said Udall. “It’ll help meet the $20 million in watershed repair needs for both the Waldo Canyon area then up north for the High Park Fire, which is going to affect everything having to do with the Poudre River.”
Despite the considerable wrangling in Congress over disaster relief, Udall says there's still a role for the Federal government to play in natural disaster recovery.
“Communities are small, often they don’t have the necessary resources or the expertise,” said Udall. “We bring the Forest Service and other federal agencies that really know our forests. The Soil Conservation Service which knows how you conserve water and maintain your soils to keep your landscapes healthy. They’re a really important part of this effort.” - KUNC 91.5, 3/12/13
Udall is also working to make sure Colorado is prepared for any more upcoming emergencies like the Galena Fire that happened in Larimer County:
http://denver.cbslocal.com/...
Sen. Mark Udall worries Federal bureaucracy and not Mother Nature is keeping more planes from helping fight fires this summer.
“They need air assets and the Forest Service needs to get a new generation tankers, and we’re going to work with the Air Force to repurpose the big transport aircraft C-130s so they can fight fires this summer,” Udall said.
Udall is fighting on the federal level to get more air tankers available to Colorado and the West.
“The season starts earlier and earlier and extends further and further into the fall, so let’s get prepared, let’s get out in front of this,” he said.
Udall says his fight for more air support is moving forward and he hopes to have the extra resources available this summer. - CBS Denver, 3/17/13
No doubt that Republicans are gunning to take out Udall in 2014 despite some claims that the GOP in Colorado is dead:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Denver Post Publisher Dean Singleton on KHOW with Peter Boyles
Singleton: You've got two elected state-wide office holders, the treasurer and the attorney general. The attorney general is not running for re-election, so that will go Democratic... [BigMedia comment: Colorado's secretary of state is also a Republican.]
Boyles: Is it because of the party or is it the candidates they choose?
Singleton: Well, it's both. The party has shifted so far right that that's the kind of candidates they pick. And they pick candidates that aren't in the mainstream. And you see the growth of Colordo, and where the growth has come from demographically. I think Colorado is probably a Democratic state from now on...
It is a Democratic state today, and I don't think it's going back. I'm an independent. I've never registered for either party, and, in fact, the first Democrat I ever I voted for for president was Barack Obama. So I'm not a Democrat, but when you go to vote you, you have the choice of two candidates. And you pick the best candidate if you're thinking straight...
You'll see a lot of Republicans trying to get back in the game statewide, but I don't see it happening. I don't think it's necessarily good. I just think it's what it is...
The Republicans don't have a candidate to run against Udall in '14. They have nobody.
Boyles: It's a year away.
Singleton: And they don't have anybody to run against him. Part of it is, nobody wants to run against him, because he's going to win big. So, why do it?...
I find it sad that in '14 we won't have a spirited Senate race. There just won't be. That's not the way democracy was supposed to be.... - Huffington Post, 3/8/13
And while Republicans don't have their candidate yet, Tea Party Congressman Cory Gardner's (R. CO-4) has come up a lot as a potential Udall opponent:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/...
New rankings on partisanship among members of Congress puts Rep. Cory Gardner among the most conservative members in the U.S. House of Representatives and Sen. Michael Bennet as among the most moderate senators.
In its annual rankings that evaluate votes over the past year, the National Journal ranked Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, as 10th most conservative member in the House.
Bennet, a Democrat elected in 2010, is the 45th most liberal member in the Senate. His Democratic colleague Sen. Mark Udall is the 39th most liberal, according to the National Journal Senate rankings. - Denver Post, 3/13/13
Though the National Journal's ideology ranking system might be questionable, Gardner's views would make him an ideal candidate for extremely conservative voters and Tea Party supporters:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
With respect to women, Gardner not only voted to redefine rape, but is a full-on supporter of the personhood amendment, which would ban abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest, as well as common forms of birth control.
In this video, Gardner says: "I have signed the personhood petition. I have taken the petitions to my church, and circulating into my church. And I have a legislative record that backs up my support for life." Personhood initiative leader Kristi Brown (formerly Kristi Burton) called Gardner "one of our main supporters" during the 2008 initiative campaign.
- Huffington Post, 1/14/13
In the Colorado Legislature, even when illegal immigrants were routinely attacked by both parties, he took some of the cruelist positions against illegal immigrants, including a 2006 vote against allowing state funds to be used for undocumented children to receive preventative care, like immunizations.
More recently, in 2010, in his race against Rep. Betsy Markey, Gardner made it clear he opposes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, unless you'd call no path at all reasonable.
Just this past June, he not only bashed Metro State University's plan to reduce tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, he also again condemned the concept of helping any undocumented college student anywhere:
"And, of course, I oppose in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. I think it's the wrong policy. It sets the wrong kind of message to people who are in the country illegally. And I think we've got to work on border security before anything else, and I think Metro State has it backwards." - U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner (R. CO-4) - Huffington Post, 1/14/13
Who knows if Gardner will challenge Udall for the U.S. Senate and we'll see how "dead" the Republican party in Colorado is when the 2014 election gets closer. But if you would like to donate to Udall's re-election campaign, you can do so here:
https://secure.actblue.com/...