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COLORADO IS SOLIDLY BLUE NOW And this means one of two things....conservatives need to get their act together and make a case that their way is the best way, or we all need to move. I have more faith in the latter, to be honest. This election showed that Coloradoans will vote for higher taxes on other people (Family Leave) but they sure don't want to pay for the giant programs they just voted in (income tax cut). This is how the politics of Greed and Envy take root. And I'm going to be retiring somewhere else if things don't change dramatically.
MY GUESS WAS WE'D KNOW TOMORROW MORNING WHO IS PRESIDENT And maybe, maybe we'll know today. Right now I'd say it's too close to call. The good news is the Dems couldn't flip the Senate, so that's encouraging in case President Biden/Harris is a thing.
WHAT DID WE VOTE FOR IN COLORADO ON THE BALLOT INITIATIVES? I am most disappointed that the late term abortion ban failed. The opposition ran ads that were flat out lies to beat it and they did. So now a woman who decides on her due date to kill the baby in her womb to have it sucked out in pieces can do just that. And we think we're compassionate people. If you voted against this knowing what late term abortion is you're a ghoul. If you fell for the lies, you're just a sucker. We voted to lower our income taxes but then voted for the Family Leave boondoggle which will more than eat up any income tax savings we might have been expecting. It's not all bad, as voters will get a say on Enterprise fees, and other ballot measures like local control for gaming and citizenship requirement for voting passing. See all the voting results here.
WE ARE OUT OF THE PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD OFFICIALLY So what does this mean? It means that we withdraw from an agreement with no real teeth as we continue to lower our own carbon emissions, as we have since 2007. Most nations in the Paris Accord aren't even close to meeting what they agreed to, so this is just international virtue signaling at this point.
OREGON IS BEGINNING THE LEGALIZED DRUG EXPERIMENT The voters in Oregon voted to decriminalize small amounts of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. They are using the treatment rather than jail theory. I'm genuinely interested to see what's going to happen there, as what we are doing now with the war on drugs has been a massive failure. Here's hoping that we let this play out in Oregon before adopting it here, just in case this whole thing goes sideways. I'm glad Oregon is doing it first, and I wonder if we went down to Civic Center Park and offered bus tickets to Oregon we could make a dent in our homeless population that is drug addicted? Only half kidding here.
THE BIGGEST LOSER YESTERDAY WAS POLLING Let's face it, pollsters and their craft were on life support after 2016. I think it's fair to say we can declare the industry, as we knew it, completely dead after yesterday. They weren't even close. The only poll that matters is the one on election day.
WE WERE ALL LOOKING FOR LIQUOR STORES LAST NIGHT And I think this is so telling of how ready we are all for this to be over. Google says this anyway.
BEFORE YOU FREAK OUT OVER HOSPITALS BEING OVERWHELMED Realize this is NOT an uncommon occurrence, especially during flu season. Read this article from 2018 about hospitals all over the country being overwhelmed by flu patients. And we did NOT shut down the economy. Not once, not ever.
COVID LOCKDOWNS ARE KILLING ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS This is so very sad. People living with Alzheimer's have died at a 20% higher rate than the previous three years. People struggling with dementia or other memory issues are greatly helped by visits with family and friends. Isolation is literally killing them. And here I thought we were doing things BECAUSE IF IT COULD SAVE ONE LIFE or some such crap.
ASK YOURSELF THESE TWO QUESTIONS EVERY DAY TO HAVE A GREAT DAY
THIS MIGHT BE WHY MILLENNIALS VOTE THE WAY THEY DO
IF YOU ARE SUPER STRESSED ABOUT THE ELECTION, HERE EIGHT HOURS OF BIRDS SINGING AND NATURE SOUNDS TO SOOTHE YOU Mount Shuksan is in Washington State, fyi.
JOY REID UTTERS RACIST EPITAPH ABOUT CLARENCE THOMAS But it's okay because she works for MSNBC and he's a conservative. She also had lots to say about what a possible Trump re election says about Americans and spoiler alert: it's not good.
DENVER VOTERS VOTED TO RAISE THEIR TAXES IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE And I'm again super glad I don't live in Denver. Oh, and pit bulls are allowed again. See all the results here. The big story in Denver in my mind is that the voters have severely curtailed the Mayor's power by voting for two issues that were designed to do just that. Read about that here. From that article:
Ballot Measures 2E and 2G, on the other hand, were staunchly opposed by Mayor Michael Hancock’s office and a group called Citizens for a Responsible Denver, led by two former Denver council members as well as former Mayor Wellington Webb and Wilma Webb, who argued the changes would bring “chaos” and were "solutions in search of a problem.”
Measure 2E, spearheaded by Councilwomen Amanda Sawyer and Candi CdeBaca, amends the Denver City Charter to give the council authority to approve 14 mayoral appointments. As of Tuesday night, the ballot measure had earned 59% of the vote.
"I'm just glad the gamble paid off," Sawyer said in a phone interview. "It was definitely a risk, but it worked out. And at the end of the day, when you give the people what they want and what they're asking for, they will take it."
In addition to Denver’s chief of police, sheriff, fire chief and safety director, the council will now have a say when it comes to appointing the executive directors of aviation, the city attorney’s office, community planning and development, public health and environment, transportation, excise and license, finance, general services, human services, and parks and recreation.
LOOKING FOR A $2000 OUIJA BOARD? GWINNIE PALTROW HAS YOU COVERED Part of me admires Gwyneth Paltrow for remaining unashamed to be stupid rich while so many people are suffering. The rest of me just thinks she needs to get out among real people more. Her Goop Gift Guide is out and it's as ridiculous as it is every year. Good news the $75 dollar candle that smells like her vagina is available.