Just One Thing: Emotion does not equal expertise
There are always legislators who, for a wide range of treatments, look to pass legislation about things they don’t understand. For example, economorons State Rep Emily Sirota and State Senator Faith Winter just tried to do that by micromanaging how restaurants schedule workers. Fortunately, even most other Dems backed away and their bill got crushed. But there’s rarely been a group as clueless about that which they intend to restrict or ban as Democrats who hate so-called assault weapons. And for the record, knowing a victim of gun crime does not confer wisdom or knowledge about guns. On Friday, we learned of a new so-called assault weapons ban proposed for Colorado. It’s full of proof of my claim. Some of the things that the gun-banners hate? “Flash hiders” and hand guards which keep your hand from getting burned by a hot barrel. It’s likely unconstitutional and I think it’s only 50/50 to become law even temporarily, but it’s a good reminder of why you should never elect to public office people who think they are geniuses and you are an idiot.
The bill’s page at the legislature is here: Prohibit Assault Weapons In Colorado | Colorado General Assembly
Colorado bill banning sale, transfer of assault weapons is introduced (coloradosun.com)
One small procedural note: The fact that this bill is proposed by Elisabeth Epps, perhaps the most leftist member of the House (she’s a true radical…I’ve debated her on television a time or two) and someone who is brand new to the House suggests to me that the leadership wasn’t really on board and this might not get too far. But maybe that’s just my own version of motivated reasoning.
(Separate from any discussion of the merits but I think Democrats REALLY don't want to have a discussion right now about creating heroin injection centers in Colorado neighborhoods, but Elisabeth is bring that bill as well: Overdose Prevention Center Authorization | Colorado General Assembly)
I believe many Dems are afraid of kicking the hornet's nest with a bill this aggressive, and I also suspect that Jared Polis doesn't want to be put in the position of vetoing it but it wouldn't surprise me if he did if it got to him. One thing I think has Dems upset is that just the announcement of the bill is a tremendous fund-raising opportunity for various pro-Second Amendment groups in Colorado. While Rocky Mountain Gun Owners is not famous for making a big difference (at least among my friends who follow these things more closely than I do), they are famous for being prolific fundraisers and I'm sure that Dem leadership does not want to give them a chance at a public win so they may well look for a way to kill Epps' gun bill early in the process. Below is the beginning of RMGO's effort. For the record, I don't believe RMGO will likely be the lead organization in lawsuits against gun bills. Other groups, quieter and with better lawyers, will likely be the tip of the spear. But that doesn't mean RMGO is wrong and it doesn't mean they can't have an impact.
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Today's Guests
Longinos Gonzalez is a retired USAF Lt Col and candidate for mayor of Colorado Springs
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Dr Jeffrey Singer is a surgeon and senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. We'll discuss the new law in Colorado (recently signed by Jared Polis) creating a new medical professional category, prescribing psychologists. What does it mean? How will it help? Who was opposed and why? (I bet you can guess.)
Jeffrey A. Singer | Cato Institute
Licensed Psychologist Prescriptive Authority | Colorado General Assembly
Follow Jeff on Twitter here: Jeffrey A. Singer (@dr4liberty) / Twitter
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State Senator Mark Baisley represents Senate District 4 which includes parts of 8 different counties: Chaffee, Custer, Douglas, Fremont, Jefferson, Lake, Park, and Teller.
We'll discuss the same topic as the prior time he was on the show, but now with new information as his bill to address the issue failed: Why some private land owners will likely cut off access to popular hikes and 14’ers after Dems cave in to trial lawyers.
Mark Baisley | Colorado General Assembly
https://coloradosun.com/2023/03/03/landowner-closing-14ers-mount-lincoln-democrat
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Other Stuff
Because it’s the first thing on the first show of the week I’m gonna start off with good news:
Suncor refinery announces progressive restart of Plants 1 and 3 | FOX31 Denver (kdvr.com)
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Let's talk about bad politics and bad politicians:
Here in Colorado: Tina Peters: Colorado election denier found guilty of obstructing government operation | CNN Politics
Note that this is NOT the felony part of her case which is still to come.
Colorado clerk Tina Peters pleads not guilty in election security breach case | CNN Politics
Trial start delayed from today until August: Judge delays Peters criminal trial | Western Colorado | gjsentinel.com
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You might get away with this as the Republican Party in the reddest of states (by which I don't mean that it will pass but that you might not get wrecked in upcoming elections for proposing it) but you won't get away with it anywhere else and it makes Republicans everywhere look bad:
South Carolina bill could make death penalty possible punishment for abortion | WBTW
And on a different issue but where the exact same conversation applies. If I were Ron DeSantis, I would slam this sooooo hard.
Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state, face fines
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1316/BillText/Filed/HTML
The state senator behind the bill is getting a LOT of blow-back and offered an almost-rational explanation which is to say I understand his reasoning but it's still a horrendous bill that would certainly have massive negative unintended consequences and almost certainly violates the First Amendment.
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What doesn't the left understand about "you're going to make the problem much worse" (which is of course a separate question from the obvious illegality of Biden's scheme to make other people pay off some people's college and MBA and law school and medical school debt)?
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Some Colorado history is for sale, though not without controversy: A piece of Colorado Capitol history is for sale on eBay for $9,000 (coloradosun.com)
ORIGINAL BRONZE WALL SCONCE FROM THE COLORADO STATE CAPITOL BLDG. IN DENVER COLO | eBay
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I owe you these from Friday:
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Look, I really do feel sorry for many of these people, but not all, and they are NOT the only "stakeholders" here. Sorry (not sorry) but I don't want the homeless riding all day long on one ticket. That said, I don't know that I'd make kicking them off a high priority if they're not making a nuisance, sleeping on the floor or in the aisle, or making the train smell bad.
New RTD rules would ban riding all day. So we did that. - Denverite, the Denver site!
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And you wonder why some Denver high school kids are out of control? I am aware of situations in Denver Public Schools where the administrators wanted to call the police about the behavior of students, and you would too in the same situation, but they can't. Thanks, Tay Anderson. (It's time to beat this malign influence on Denver's schools in an election.)
Look at the kind of stuff that schools can NOT involve law enforcement about:
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Can you imagine the outcry from the left if we said we'd send illegal aliens from Honduras to Rwanda? I bet it would make them think long and hard before crossing into the US illegally. Britain to stop those arriving illegally from staying | Reuters
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I'm sure Fox likes writing this stuff about CNN, just as CNN likes writing about Fox's current troubles. But for Americans generally speaking the corruption of "news" is very bad news...and it's worse at CNN than at Fox as far as I can tell. After all, the issues at Fox surround opinion hosts and their idiot/liar guests. The issues raised here regarding CNN surround actual news coverage.
And Dr Fauci: https://nypost.com/2023/03/05/new-emails-show-fauci-commissioned-paper-to-disprove-wuhan-lab-leak-theory
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Today's Videos
Trump was at his Trumpiest at CPAC on Saturday, including with the line, "I am your retribution." What do you make of this language? Guessing some people will resonate with it and love it. I mostly don't...mostly. But I get it. The further the left moves to strip Americans of fundamental rights and to redistribution income and wealth, the more the right will feel that everything is at stake. And the further the right moves toward things like outright bans on abortion (and, as noted above, proposing the death penalty for getting an abortion), the more the left will feel that everything is at stake. And the great majority of us who are roughly in the middle just suffer.
Duke is NOT getting out of the pool
Think therefore am: an unusual explication of Descartes
Best comment on this video notes that this little tyke's behavior suggests he'll grow up to be a professional soccer player