The Colorado Index

Mark Udall's Politics

Mark Udall is a green politician in a world that is going to turn ugly for green politics.

Tonight, CBS News ran an uncritical piece on shale oil development in Colorado.  At no point did it mention that Mark Udall and John Salazar were trying to deep six the technology.  It was a positive piece.

The ugly truth is that four dollar a gallon gas, going to seven dollar gas is a deal breaker.  Mark Udall's politics are too idealistic.  He wants the public to go from an economy of plenty to an economy of poverty.  That might be possible over a long period of time.  It is not possible over a small number of years.

Another CBS story that has the potential to impact Mark Udall is the California fires around Big Sur.  If there are fires of that magnitude in Colorado, Mark Udall will have to answer for his refusal to allow thinning, mountain roads, and fire breaks.

We will be writing tomorrow about a fraud on the public by IPCC editors.  We won't call them scientists.  If the public begins to understand that the IPCC has been manipulating the global warming science, every politician who has bet his career on global warming may find himself doing something else.

Finally, we discovered that Mark Udall wants to have it both way on water.  He spoke to the Colorado Livestock Association Convention.  About six minutes in, he announces that he opposes the use of Arkansas water by Aurora, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.  In the next sentence he pays homage to prior appropriation of water rights.  In short, he favors protecting the water rights of everyone except the people in those three cities.

It will be interesting to see if time runs out before the public becomes aware of how anti-public Mark Udall's policies are.

Coffman Press Release

Dear Friends, This year, the voters in Colorado's 6th Congressional District will have a historic opportunity to send the first Republican Iraq Veteran to the United States Congress.  Mike Coffman led Marines in combat during the first Gulf War and recently served in Iraq.  Let's send a combat veteran to Congress! Mike has served in both the U.S. Army and in the Marine Corps.  We can count on Mike to be a strong conservative voice in the Congress.  Mike has the courage to stand up to the political establishment in Washington to stop out of control spending and to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.  Mike will be a strong and experienced voice in the Congress for the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. But first we need to get Mike past the August 12th Republican primary.  We need your help to do that!  We are $15,000 short of reaching our fundraising goal for the end of June.  I am emailing you to ask that you please click here to visit our secure website today to make a contribution to Mike's campaign for Congress. Your contribution will make all the difference in this race. Your contribution of $10, $25, $50, $100, $500, or even $1,000 will go directly towards reaching out to the voters via direct mail, radio, and television ads.  If you'd like to see what your contribution will buy go to www.coffmanforcongress.com to view our most recent ad (click on "Media" to see previous ads). By clicking here to make an online contribution you will help make sure that our campaign has the necessary resources to make one last big push before the primary election. There are only six weeks to go until the August 12th primary and only two weeks until ballosts are mailed to absentee voters! Right now is when we need you the most! Thank you in advance for your support.  I look forward to telling Mike you helped us reach our fundraising goal. Sincerely, Dustin Zvonek Campaign Manager Coffman for Congress

For more information, please contact Katie Behnke at 303-791-6453 9135 Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 170 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 www.coffmanforcongress.com Paid for by Coffman for Congress

Latest Jeff Crank Press Releases

It hasn't been a week, but here are the latest Jeff Crank press releases.

Will Armstrong Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CONTACT:  Jack Stansbery

June 30, 2008                                                                                                  303-770-0220

Allard Officially Endorses Armstrong for Congress

Praises Armstrong’s conservative principles and real life experience

            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.”

            Others who have recently endorsed or expressed support for Wil Armstrong include:

                        Former Governor Bill Owens

                        US Rep. Marilyn Musgrave

                        Former US Rep. Scott McInnis

Former State Senate President John Andrews, Centennial

State Rep. David Balmer , Centennial

John Brackney, President and CEO, South Metro Denver Chamber

County Commissioner Jim Dyer , Littleton

State Rep. Victor Mitchell, Castle Rock

Council Member Ron Rakowsky, Greenwood Village

Mayor Randy Reed, Castle Rock

State Sen. Nancy Spence, Centennial

State Rep. Spencer Swalm, Centennial

Former Director of Colorado Economic Development, Brian Vogt, Littleton

Armstrong, currently the CEO of software developer Blueberry Systems, is a businessman from Greenwood Village .  He lives there with his wife Kristy and 3 children Elisabeth 13, Kathryn 11, and Jack 8.

Revisions to Adverse Possession Laws Effective July 1

The Independence Institute’s Property Rights Project blog points out a Boulder Camera story on big changes coming July 1 in Colorado adverse possession law.

At midnight Tuesday, several changes to Colorado law will go into effect that increase the legal standards for proving “adverse possession,” a legal maneuver that has allowed trespassers who openly use land for at least 18 years to claim it as their own with relatively little legal burden.

The changes also will give judges the power to force adverse possessors to pay for the land they do win in court, and to compensate the original owner for back property taxes, and interest.

Another law going into effect this week will restrict judges from hearing cases involving other judges from the same jurisdiction, in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of favoritism.

All of the changes are the result of dozens of state lawmakers who signed onto legislation this year aimed at preventing the abuse of adverse possession.

In the earliest days of private property ownership, surveying techniques were crude and legal descriptions of property boundaries did not always follow the actual boundary as physically marked in the field. The original adverse possession laws sprung from the concept of “possession is nine-tenths of the law.” If two adjoining land owners considered a fence as the boundary line for decades, and one party built improvements right up to that fence, an adverse possession case could arise if a surveyor determined the boundary line was five feet from the fence (and through the improvements). The adverse possession, in this instance, could return the boundary to the historic fence line.

As in other land rights cases, justices expanded the definition of the law beyond its spirit, such as the Kirlin case in Boulder. It is sad that a law is necessary to force a judge to recuse himself because of a conflict-of-interest due to working with another judge. The idea of paying back taxes on the land would work well when the disputed land is a large parcel, but the costs would be limited for a small strip of land.

What a concerned property owner should do is inspect his or her land. Have a Professional Land Surveyor survey your land, set pins if necessary, and show you where your boundaries are. If neighbors have buildings, concrete, flowerbeds, paths, or whatever crossing your property line, write a certified letter to them. Even if you have no problem with the flowerbed or the concrete, the mere act of notification could stop the eighteen year adverse possession timeframe. *SEE UPDATE BELOW

Hopefully, the higher bar for adverse possession will limit the number of cases in the future. While a judge will determine the property line in a boundary dispute, that is the riskiest and most costly way to go. Who knows what the location of the common line will be, and what rationale the judge use to make the determination.

In most cases, a boundary line agreement between the disputing property owners can determine a common boundary line in a much more satisfactory manner than forcing litigation and adverse possession will ever do.

by Civil Sense

*UPDATE: The purpose of this post was to provide a layman's overview to the adverse possession issue.  Please note that I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.  One should consult an attorney and/or a land surveyor to discuss the specific legal issues involved in any land dispute.

Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis In The News

Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis wrote a nice little essay for the Denver Post this weekend.  It begins:

On July 1, a law that strengthens Colorado's system for evaluating concealing the job performance of its judges from the public takes effect, making our process the fools gold standard for the nation.

Well...I may have modified her words a bit, but I wrote the truth.  She wrote pure propaganda.

Readers may recall that I tried to get this law fixed.  I was stonewalled by the legal profession, lead by Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis.  The very first hostile question I got came from her when I made my presentation to the group of 40 lawyers and perhaps two non-lawyers.

She opposes any meaningful reform.  She stood silent when the law was amended to make it unlawful for judicial performance commissions to report judicial ethics violations to disciplinary authorities.  Her minions could have supported my objections when I testified before the judiciary committees, but didn't.

I have come to the conclusion that her institute is a fraud, a sham, intended to protect the status quo.

More on this later.

Edited to clarify:  the phrase "lead by Justice..." might be slightly more accurate to read "aided by Justice..."  She was not leading this particular effort.

Denver Post Strikes Again

I am a regular critic of the Denver Post, both here and as a commenter on their articles.

I have to chuckle when I write a comment on their article or editorial that is effective enough that no one else comments.  That usually happens when I catch them in a liberal lie.  It is hard to refute a comment that exposes a lie.

It happened again this morning.

Environmental Studies Even Delay "Green" Energy Projects

Here is an interesting data point which provides an argument against the Delay, Don’t Drill, Do-Nothing Democrat energy policy.

The US government is putting a hold on new solar energy projects on public land for two years so it can study the environmental impact of sun-driven plants. 

The Bureau of Land Management says the moratorium on solar proposals is needed to determine how a new generation of large-scale projects could affect plants and wildlife on the land it manages.

The move has angered some solar energy proponents who argue it could hold up the industry at a vital juncture, given the pressing need to secure alternative energy sources at a time of soaring oil prices. "This technology has been around for nearly three decades.

If there is an environmental concern, that can be addressed without putting a halt to this technology and helping to impact our greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental degradation from coal-fired and natural gas plants," said Brad Collins, executive director of the American Solar Energy Society.

He said the review appeared to be an arbitrary "road block" that contradicted "the stated goals of both presidential candidates, the stated goals of Congress and the American public." The Bureau of Land Management, which looks after 258 million acres of federal land, much of it flat, sun-baked terrain in the western US considered ideal for solar energy development, says the study is required by law and backed by environmental groups.

The two-year delay on solar panels shows exactly why other Delay, Don’t Drill, Do-nothing Democrat Congressional moratoriums on domestic exploration must be removed now. As every project will require an extensive environmental study, the longer the drilling delays last, the longer before the study begins.

It is almost as if the government and the Delay, Don’t Drill, Do-nothing Democrats want us to have high energy prices with limitations on supply.  Just let the market work and the energy companies begin planning for future exploration now--before the energy crisis worsens further.

by Civil Sense

Little to Celebrate on Guns - Part 2

Conservatives are by nature rule followers.  We want a set of rules that will be the same tomorrow as they are today, and the same today as they were yesterday. 

We dislike judicial activism because it starts by breaking every rule that we thought protected us and ends by creating rights that no reasonable person without an agenda could imagine.  Justice and constitutions become nothing much more than images in carnival funhouse mirrors.  Move just a little and the outcome is unrecognizable.

Before conservatives celebrate the Heller decision, they might want to consider whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction in the litigation.  It is traditional for the Court to describe why it had the authority to rule when it makes a decision.

That it didn't happen in Heller should be of concern.  Very recently, we wrote about the liberal justices taking and acting upon an issue that Congress forbade them to consider.  This may be the conservative's revenge on their liberal friends for that action.  If so, it ratifies their action. 

We are all poorer for it.

It would seem that the Supreme Court, the body with the power to enforce the rules, would be more circumspect about following them even when it means that they couldn't rule on an issue they would like to rule on.

When they are not, the public should be concerned.  It should be very concerned because we move closer to being ruled in all important matters by an unelected majority on the Supreme Court.

Added:  This was written earlier this week.  Today, the Denver Post has not one but two editorials which touch on these issues.  Their editorials are so sloppily one sided that I compared one to Goebbels' Nazi era big lie.  In the other, I wondered if what they wrote was a product that the Pulitizer Prize committee could admire.  Their editor sits on that selection committee.

Financial Outlook Bleak For Denver Newspapers

Here is some bad news about the Denver dailies with reports that both will have severe financial difficulties in the near future.

The continuing decline of the newspaper industry is putting pressure on the owners of Denver's two daily papers.

On Tuesday, E.W. Scripps, the owner of the Rocky Mountain News, will spin off its fastest-growing businesses - cable networks and Internet sites - into a new company called Scripps Networks Interactive. Shorn of those pieces, the stock of Cincinnati-based Scripps - now a local media company, with newspapers and broadcast stations - is poised to fall by 90 percent or more.

The final quarter of MediaNews Group, the owner of The Denver Post, ends Monday. Major rating agencies say the company is at risk of defaulting on its debt by the end of 2008. The results for the quarter ending Monday may violate the terms of MediaNews' loans, Standard & Poor's analyst Emile Courtney says.

Of the two newspapers, the Rocky Mountain News is in better shape. Perhaps it is only because of the one-newspaper weekend in Denver that the Post did not report on its financial problems. Owner Dean Singleton even disputes the default at all.

Privately held MediaNews has financed its growth through debt. Companies that borrow must keep in compliance with certain other requirements, called "covenants," such as having enough earnings to keep the lenders comfortable.

The company had to renegotiate with its lenders in 2007 because it was poised to violate the covenants. Analysts, like S&P's Courtney, believe that once MediaNews tallies its earnings for the quarter that ends Monday, it may violate covenants again.

"That is their opinion," MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton said. "We're in compliance with our covenants. We've always been in compliance with our covenants, and we'll always be in compliance. These are difficult times, and we know how to operate in difficult times."

It will be interesting if the Post is right, or if the Rocky’s reporting is true. Either way, these are bad times for the newspaper business.

The newspaper industry's problems are twofold. One is a massive shift in how readers consume news. Ever-growing use of the Internet is contributing to steep declines in paid circulation.

Now, as growth has slowed and a recession seems inevitable, major drivers of advertising - real estate, automobiles and help-wanted - are "in a tailspin," said newspaper analyst John Morton of Silver Spring, Md.-based Morton Research.

The Internet has changed many business models, and news consumption is no exception. The classified ads are increasingly moving to the Internet with sites like Craigslist offering classifieds at a fraction of the newspaper price. While we are not yet in a recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, one must wonder if the newspaper reporters color their economic reporting due to their industry’s financial woes.

As one who reads the dead tree version of the Post every day, I hope they straighten their financial situation out. The blogosphere does mostly commentary, and we still need the original reporting, even if it is biased, from actual reporters in the field.

by Civil Sense