( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Douglas County has three streams running from South to North. The Cherry Creek, East Plum Creek and West Plum Creek all eventually flow into the Platte River and the water then makes its way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Many of Colorado's first settlers made their homesteads on these three rivers. The West Plum Creek ends at Sedalia, Colorado, founded in 1865. This land along the West Plum Creek is Horse Country as it has been for over 140 years.

On Saturday September 19 th, the Douglas County Republicans held their annual picnic. They chose the Wiens Ranch as this year's site. We are still over a year away from the next statewide election but politics was heavy in the air. The Wiens Ranch is owned by former state Senator Tom Wiens and his family. The spacious ranch has over 1,200 acres along the West Plum Creek and it was a wonderful location for the GOP picnic.

GOP hopefuls for Governor, U.S. Senator, Congress, State and Local races were present to meet and greet the GOP faithful. The weather was perfect, the conversation was joyful, and all had a good time.

Gubernatorial hopeful Dan Maes addressed the crowd. Having been an employee and business owner over the years, he said "I know what its like to sign the two sides of a paycheck."

J.J. Ament, running for State Treasurer, brought cheers when he talked about how concerned he was how much the noise coming from the Colorado State Capital is sounding more and more like the noise coming from Washington D.C.

Scott Gessler, running for Secretary of State, talked about how that office is the first line of defense against voter fraud by organizations like the disgraced Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Tom Wiens was the host of the Picnic and he spoke to the throng. Although not yet a formal candidate for U.S. Senate, he was graciously received with the other candidates. He talked about how the 2010 election is the chance to send people to Washington that will work for us instead of taking from us.

Candidates for Governor who were at the picnic included Mr. Maes and former congressman Scott McInnis.

Candidates for U.S. Senate included Ken Buck, Ryan Frazier and Jane Norton. Congressman Mike Coffman attended as well, along with candidates for the District RE-1 School Board and county offices.

Many of the attendees at the picnic are the men and women who built Douglas County from a thinly populated rural ranching county into the true modern metropolitan world that it is today. It is quite fitting that the picnic was held in one of the more historic areas of our state.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock law firm.

Whie Rep. Betsy Markey has been doing her best to duck her constituents, Rep. Mike Coffman from neighboring CD-6 introduces a novel concept: a Congressman who isn't afraid to face the people he represents.

         Who:       Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora)

·         What:     Elbert County town hall meeting

·         When:   Thursday, September 3, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.  MT

·         Where:  Elbert County Public Health Building, 75 Ute Ave., Kiowa, CO
                  *The building is located at the North end of the fairgrounds.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Congressman Mike Coffman spoke to an energetic and engaged Douglas County GOP breakfast club at the monthly meeting in Castle Rock, CO.  A decorated Marine Veteran, Coffman gave attendees an update on a broad range of topics, from America’s military and diplomatic efforts in the Middle East to domestic issues including health care, government spending, and immigration.

Fresh off his factfinding trip to Israel, Coffman cited that nation as an example of how to effectively protect the border.  By contrast, the Congressman saw the inherent problems of an unsecured border in a visit he made to southern Arizona.   Suicide bombing attacks have decreased dramatically since Israel built their fence.

Coffman found in his visit that President Obama is not the toast of Israel.  “If you think that President Obama’s approval ratings are bad here in America, consider Israel: his approval rating there is 6%... Israelis fundamentally distrust Obama because they believe that he will try to force them into another land-for-peace deal...We made budget appropriations to provide funds for Israel’s security fence, and we helped to build security fences in former Yugoslavia, but we seem to lack to the political will to build a fence on our own border.”

Colorado’s 6th Congressional District was represented by Tom Tancredo before Coffman’s election.  Coffman’s pointed views on border security appear to be in sync with the 6th CD’s electorate.  Coffman was elected to Congress by a landslide in 2008. 

(- promoted by Rocky Mountain Right -)

The U.S. House of Representatives finally released the text of the health care bill called ··America·s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009·· HR 3200 and it can now be read in its 1,018 page entirety. The bill's subtitle is " A Bill to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes. All the bill's language was written to further this cause, i.e, to provide healthcare to everyone and to reduce the growth in spending. You can link to a pdf of the health care bill here.

Since the bill's public release, a lot of people have gotten fired up in support and in opposition to it. Each side has called the other liars, and worse. One part of the bill in particular has touched a nerve. That is Section 1233, ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION.

Although the section is only ten pages long, it is still hard to digest. Below is a condensed version of this Section with cites to page number and line number. In Section 1233, the person being consulted is an individual over 65 in the medicare program. The Consultant is called a "practitioner".

p. 428, l. 14-19 - A 'practitioner" is a physician, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant. The practitioner is the one who consults on Advanced Care Planning with the individual. There is nothing in the health care bill that states the consultation is voluntary.

p. 425, l. 17-21 - The practitioner first gives an explanation of and counsels on advance directives, living wills, durable powers of attorney and health care proxies.

p. 426, l. 4-8 - The practitioner then explains and counsels end-of-life services, palliative care where they ease pain without curing the underlying disease, hospice programs for meeting the physical needs of the terminally ill and the benefits for such services. The practitioner does not have to explain any drawbacks of these end-of-life services such as death itself.

P. 426, l. 9-16 - The practitioner finally explains the Order Regarding Life Sustaining Treatment and why it is beneficial to the individual and the individual's family. The practitioner does not have to explain any drawbacks of this Order such as death itself.

After the consultation is over, the individual is not involved with any further parts of the Advance Care Planning Consultation. In no part of the process is the individual required to sign anything or execute any planning documents.

p. 427, l. 10-25 - Having a consultation in and of itself, allows the practitioner to formulate an Order Regarding Life Sustaining Treatment without any further input from the individual. The Order just needs to be signed by a physician, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant to be in full force and effect. The Order is an actionable medical order designed to stay with the individual and to be followed by health care professionals for the remainder of the individual's care.

p. 430, l. 1-4 The only input from the individual for the formulation of the Order is that it communicate the individual's preferences regarding treatment. Since the individual doesn't have to sign anything or affirmatively state anything during the consultation, it is up to the practitioner to presume and interpret the individual's preferences.

p. 430, l. 13-24 The Order has the power to limit medical interventions, limit the use of antibiotics, limit nutrition and limit hydration. The Order can address whether an individual goes to the hospital or remains at a hospice or other nursing home.

So where does the language in the Order come from?

p. 428, l. 5-13 The Order is guided by a coalition of stakeholders including state hospice associations, home health association, etc. This is the section that has been decried as a "Death Panel" by Gov. Palin and others.

Since this house bill is written to reduce the growth of health care spending and people over 65 consume health care dollars at the end-of-life, it is pretty easy to see why Section 1233 was inserted into the health care bill.

Older Americans are not stupid. They can read and they can comprehend this health bill. No wonder so many older Americans are turning out in droves at town hall meetings. You would be angry too if the federal government was trying to kill you off.

If you want to vent, below are the phone numbers for our congress members and senators. Give them a buzz.

Dianna Degette - CD1 - 202-225-4431

Jared Polis - CD2 - 202-225-2161

John Salazar - CD3 - 202-225-4761

Betsy Markey - CD4 - 202-225-4676

Doug Lamborn - CD5- 202-225-4422

Mike Coffman - CD6 - 202-226-4623

Ed Perlmutter - CD7 - 202-225-2645

Mark Udall - Senate - 202-224-5941

Mike Bennett - Senate - 202-224-5852

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock, CO law firm.

You can get PPP to do polling in Colorado at by voting Colorado at http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/

We are only a few votes down from Arizona, let's get some match-up info for 2010. We need to update from Bill Owens and John Elway

 Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) opposes ObamaCare for some pretty good reasons, but his solutions are a bit off.

His column, which apparently was published in the Denver Post as well as on his web site, concludes:

If the Democrats want to provide real reform and pass a bill that accomplishes the goals they espouse — increased coverage and reduced, sustainable costs — they should take a cue from their Republican colleagues’ health care reform priorities and do the following:

• Increase access to care by providing tax incentives for individuals to purchase their own health care and provide relief for those who are working but can’t afford health care;

Pretty broad generalizations. But he had limited space. I think the GOP is too hung up on tax incentives for people who don’t pay income taxes. Maybe nobody should get tax incentives for buying health insurance. Give them tax incentives to buy preventive and wellness care as well as prescription drugs and prescribed medical devices with their credit cards.

• Build on the proven employer-based system and require health insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions;

Employer-based health insurance is a disaster. It denies insurance portability to workers, locking them into jobs that don’t allow advancements in responsibility or incomes. To me, this shows how Coffman and the GOP are owned by insurers, brokers and agents who make a living selling insurance and consulting services to employers.

• Enable small businesses to reduce health care costs through group purchasing and make all policies portable;

Ironically, Coffman helped create a Colorado purchasing coop for small employers when he was in the state senate. And when insurers moved to kill that coop, he backed them and opposed community rating. This, again, shows he’s listening to his contributors, not small businesses.

and

• Include medical malpractice reforms in order to reduce the costly practice of defense medicine.

Ok. I agree with this, but the GOP makes too much of it. There are bigger reforms that would work, as I’ve outlined many times here over the last 6.5 years.

House Democrats are presenting the American people with a false choice by comparing their current plan to the alternative of doing nothing. We deserve better. We deserve real reform.

Yep.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

(Castle Rock, CO 5/30/09) The Weekly Homebuyer's List in the Denver Post catalogs residential real estate sales in Colorado. The Homebuyer's List for the week of May 24th totaled only 62 sales for all of Douglas County. The low number of sales may not surprise many in the current market, but a closer examination of the problem reveals a strange disparity in housing prices. It may be easier and a little more fun to think of today's market as a Monopoly game.

** The most expensive property conveyed last week in Douglas County was for $1,050,000. That would be Boardwalk in Monopoly terms. The property, on Longsbluff Lane in Parker, had previously sold for $1,120,000, so the reduction in price was only $70,000. Not terribly bad.

**The most inexpensive property conveyed was for $139,000 for a new condominium on Cutter's Circle in Castle Rock. That would be Mediterranean Ave. just past GO, COLLECT $200 on the Monopoly board.

**Again this week, bank-owned foreclosure properties have taken the biggest hits. Things are not doing so well on the middle of the board, at St. Charles Place and Marvin Gardens. A property in the Cherokee Ridge Estates section of North Douglas County sold for $730,000. The sale would not be remarkable except for the fact that the foreclosed property had previously sold for $1,549,000. That means this million dollar home sold for less than half what it fetched two years ago - a loss of $819,000. That is a big pile of gold $500 monopoly bills taken off the board.
 

Ryan Frazier and Cleve Tidwell, both candidates for US Senate, are trying real hard to pull a victory in this straw poll. Tidwell had been leading for days when at the last minute Frazier got out the word on facebook and as taken a lead. Over 1150 people have voted. Ken Buck has little support and Bob Beauprez has virtually none.

Update: Tidwell wins with 47% to Frazier's 45%. Ken Buck recieved 6% and Beauprez managed to win 1%.

The proposed Army expansion into the Piñon Canyon area has become a hot issue lately. Rep. Mike Coffman has now joined with potential gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis in supporting the Army's attempt to invoke eminent domain to expand into the Piñon Canyon area. Proponents frame it as necessary for our nation's security and functioning of the military while opponents feel it is an abuse of eminent domain rights.

What is your view on the subject?

(- promoted by Rocky Mountain Right -)

Ever stood in line at Target next to that mom who threatens and threatens her bratty little 2-year-old while the kid screams and screams?

Congress has apparently taken the same stance in dealing with the Wall Street mess - only this time it's taxpayers who will be forced to foot the bill or listen to the screaming. Republicans have a chance to demonstrate some tough love with their Wall Street counterparts and tell them to "suck it up."

I, for one, am tired of paying for other people's mistakes and bad gambling habbits. This isn't rocket science - either you have the money and can afford a home or you don't. If a lender decides to take a chance on bad debt, why are taxpayers left making the banking industry whole? You take your loss, 'cause that's how we do it in the NBA.

Most Americans couldn't tell you what is going on in Congress let alone Wall Street - all they know is that things cost more now than they did a year ago.

Most national business groups have thrown their lot in with the Democrats.  Don't believe me? If Republicans are smart, they'll simply thumb their nose at Wall Street and stand up against this sort of government takeover. But I'm guessing that most of them haven't the fortitude it will take to let a few bad companies (and investors) die to preserve the rest of the herd.

History has shown us that 'inevitable' and 'emergency'  legislation like the Patriot Act or Sarbanes-Oxley is never more popular than on the day it is passed -- and this issue isn't all that popular to begin with.

Coffman: 42% (21,298)
Armstrong: 32% (16,274)

Out of 50,619 tallied as of 7:34.

GOP primary candiates across Colorado are making their final pitches to voters. Here are a few recent television ads:

Wil Armstrong (CD-6)

Mike Coffman (CD-6)

Jeff Crank (CD-5)

Democrat Ken Gordon continues to maneuver his way towards the Secretary of State's office should Mike Coffman win the CD-6 primary and resign his office prior to the November election. The Rocky Mountain News reports on the latest:

Veteran state lawmaker Ken Gordon will lead the Colorado Election Reform Commission, a new panel that will study voting systems and recommend changes to the state legislature.

Gordon, a Democratic state senator from Denver who is leaving office after 16 years in the General Assembly, sponsored the bill that establishes the commission and has led numerous legislative efforts related to voting issues in recent years.

"A lot of what we're going to do is going to relate to how the 2008 election goes," Gordon said Friday.

"We'll look and see what kinds of problems there are and that will inform what we do."

Republicans are rightfully concerned that Ken Gordon could be a problem during the 2008 election given some of his more "progressive" views on voting (IRV, anyone?). The most perplexing thing to those within the party opposed to Mike Coffman's plan to resign from the SoS should he win the CD-6 primary is his rationale that remaining Secretary of State would constitute a conflict of interest. Why would his position be a conflict of interest only in the general election and not during the primary election or when Coffman's Secretary of State office validated Coffman's congressional primary petitions?

If Coffman is indeed the victor in CD-6 next week, he should at least be consistent and hold on to his position until after the November election.

The Wil Armstrong campaign has released polling data that shows a dead heat with Mike Coffman in the CD-6 Repubican primary:

                        Ballot                          Raw                 %

                        Ted Harvey                 186                  11.0

                        Steve Ward                 141                  8.4

                        Wil Armstrong            548                  32.5

                        Mike Coffman            570                  33.8

                        Undecided                  239                  14.2    

The Armstrong campaign has been enjoying a large media advantage over Coffman thanks to an investment from their candidate and the Coffman campaign has been targetted by a stream of agitated Republican officials over the last few months. This poll had a sample size of 1684 and the exact phrasing is unknown at this time. If accurate, the CD-6 race will hinge on voter turnout so Republican activists should get out there on behalf of their favorite candidate.

In light of Mitt Romney's strong showing the caucuses, this might be the most dramatic endorsement that Wil Armstrong could have announced. Unlike previous endorsements that consisted largely of Republican politicians from outside CD-6, this one could very well have a tangible impact among primary voters.

(BOSTON, MA) – Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney today announced his support for congressional candidate Wil Armstrong.  “Washington is broken and Wil Armstrong is the best man to fix it,” said Romney.

    “Wil Armstrong gets my strong endorsement for the Republican nomination in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.  He is best qualified to bring the conservative change we need to Washington and reduce the size and cost of the federal government.

    “Wil Armstrong is a career businessman, not a career politician,” Romney continued.  “It is that real-world experience that Washington so desperately needs today.  He has dealt with complex business situations and forged solutions during both the highs and lows of an unstable economy.

    “For the same reason I decided to enter public service, Wil Armstrong is doing the same.  People who have spent their careers outside Washington creating jobs and running enterprises can bring a unique perspective to Washington.  It is a voice and perspective with which we need to hear more.” 

Speculation is intense that Romney could be named John McCain's running mate in a matter of weeks if not days. It would be interesting to see how that would factor into the race.

CD-6 candidate Wil Armstrong is unleashing the first shots in a media blitz today. Word from the Sixth Congressional is that Armstrong's media buy will dwarf the other CD-6 candidates.

(- promoted by Rocky Mountain Right -)

Natalie Meyer, the former SoS, blasts Coffman for abandoning the office in the Rocky Mountain News:

The secretary of state is the chief elections officer in Colorado and has a lot of latitude and authority to protect the integrity of our democratic process. This includes interpreting and enforcing existing election law.

For example, Coffman recently declared the three Republican candidates in Jefferson County eligible to run for the legislature, despite an uproar among Democrats who claim that they missed a deadline and should not be allowed to run.

Another example is the one former Secretary of State Gigi Dennis made in 2006 when she interpreted election law to demand that "small-donor committees" get permission from their members before automatically deducting from members' paychecks. Democrats and labor unions sued to reverse her decision.

The secretary of state has a lot of discretion on the enforcement side, too. For example, if a candidate raises illegal amounts of money or raises it from illegal sources, there are consequences. The secretary of state can do anything from sending a harsh letter of admonishment to imposing substantial fines.

Finally, recounts. This is probably the most high-profile aspect of a secretary of state's duties. You don't have to look further than George W. Bush's presidential victory in Florida in 2000, Bob Beauprez's victory for Congress in Colorado in 2002 or even Coffman's own victory for secretary of state in 2006. As widely reported, Republicans and Democrats fought tooth and nail arguing for different legal standards in these close counts.

Wil Armstrong's campaign is continuing to announce endorsements from Colorado politicians.

Centennial, CO – Today US Senator Wayne Allard formally endorsed Wil Armstrong for congress to succeed retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo.  Allard recently sent out a fundraising letter for Armstrong.

            Allard remarked, “In the many years that my wife Joan and I have known Wil, he has consistently demonstrated his conservative principles as a business leader, as an involved community member, and as a father.

            “We need more leaders in Congress who have hired employees and grown businesses in the real world.  Wil’s business acumen, particularly relating to the current economic woes and financial turbulence, will make an impact in Congress.”