Ross' Tues Blogcast: Build Back Better SUCKS; CO AG Phil Weiser in studio

Today's Guests

Thomas Tighe (pronounce the g!) is the president and CEO of Direct Relief, a medical non-profit that runs on a truly industrial scale. It's a remarkable effort and you can learn more about it in the video at the end of this blog note.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joins me in the studio for a full hour to cover a wide range of topics including: a new program to help released prisoners get jobs so they don't return to prison; how he plans to spend $400 million of money recovered in opioid-related lawsuits; his getting involved in the Texas abortion case at the Supreme Court; his office's report accusing Aurora Police of racist policing; his spearheading the Ginsburg-Scalia Initiative to foster true conversation among state attorneys general of widely varying political views.

Here are some relevant links for things we might discuss.:

Employment help for people leaving prison in Colorado announced (denverpost.com)

Attorney General Phil Weiser is fighting the opioid epidemic on many fronts - Colorado Attorney General | Colorado Attorney General (coag.gov)

Colorado Department of Law finds pattern and practice of racially biased policing, use of excessive force by Aurora Police - Colorado Attorney General | Colorado Attorney General (coag.gov)

I have a big problem with the use of data regarding arrest and use-of-force rates in that they ignore the fact that some groups commit crime at a higher rate than other groups. See esp page 55 where they wave away looking at crime rates using a bogus argument that some argue that higher propensity to crime is inherent in certain races, which approximately nobody argues:

Pattern-and-Pracice-Investigation-Report.pdf (coag.gov)

Attorney General Phil Weiser urges U.S. Supreme Court to halt unconstitutional Texas abortion ban - Colorado Attorney General | Colorado Attorney General (coag.gov)

EDITORIAL: Colorado should butt out of the Texas abortion suit | Subscriber-Only Content | gazette.com (archive.org)

Compass Bank, Air Academy Federal Credit Union to refund Colorado vehicle owners after failing to return unused GAP fees - Colorado Attorney General | Colorado Attorney General (coag.gov)

We the people must rebuild our democracy | Columns | gjsentinel.com (archive.org)

Some public health officials want a statewide mask mandate but Gov Polis isn't going along

Denver-area public health directors call for Polis to order statewide mask mandate (thedenverchannel.com)

Gov. Jared Polis avoids questions about mask mandate in appearance on 'Face the Nation' | Coronavirus | denvergazette.com

Rittenhouse trial goes to jury today

I wouldn't be shocked if we have a verdict this week. The gun charge has been dropped so now what's left are charges of homicide and endangerment of public safety. I think it's very unlikely that Rittenhouse gets convicted on the most serious charges. Will the jury convict on a "lesser included" charge, whether out a misguided feeling of "compromise" or because they feel some pressure not to be responsible for rioting after an acquittal? (After all, don't you think that part of the reason for the media talking about the governor preparing some National Guard troops to protect the town against riots is to put just that sort of pressure on the jury?) I predict he won't be convicted on anything but there might be a hung jury on some lower-level lesser included charge. I have no guess as to whether the prosecutor will decide to retry the case.