Tag: elections

Consumer advocacy, Corruption, Crazy Republicans, Elections, Grand Junction Chamber, Lies, Lobbying, politics, Stupid Republicans, Weird Grand Junction Stuff

Mike Anton is Back, This Time Plugging an Events Center

by Anne Landman • January 19, 2017 • 0 Comments

Michael P. “I’m Your Worst Nightmare” Anton, author of the Grand Junction’s only negative campaign ad, and cheerleader for the chamber’s lies and political interference

Mike Anton is back, appearing on TV and speaking to groups around town, telling Grand Junction residents they should vote for an extra sales tax to build an events center downtown.

Do you remember Mike Anton?

No?

Well then let’s recap exactly who Mike Anton is, and what he has done over the last few years, so you will remember him:

Anton owns a business in town called EmTech. He sat on the board of directors of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce in 2013, the year the chamber backed Rick Brainard for city council.

Remember how THAT turned out?

U.S. Intelligence Community: “Putin Ordered Influence Campaign Aimed at Electing Trump”

by Anne Landman • January 6, 2017 • 1 Comment

U.S. Intelligence Community reports President-elect Donald Trump got assistance in winning the election from Russian President Vladimir Putin himself

The U.S. Intelligence community (CIA, FBI and NSA) jointly issued a formal report today stating that Russian President Putin ordered a campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election and help elect Donald Trump. The report states that Russians worked to undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and promote Trump. The entire unclassified version of the report is available to the public on Scribd:

Following is an excerpt from the report, with bold emphasis added:

“We assess with high confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election, the consistent goals of which were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.

We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election, the Russian influence campaign then focused on undermining her expected presidency.

Nationwide Team of Lawyers Submits Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Trump from Taking Office

by Anne Landman • January 5, 2017 • 0 Comments

Trump: Electorally illegitimate President-Elect?

The New York Times and other news outlets including AlterNet, RawStory, and DailyKos are reporting that a bipartisan nationwide team of attorneys has performed detailed research into each of the 538 members of the electoral college and found that more than 50 members who voted for Donald Trump were ineligible to vote because they violated their state’s laws governing who is eligible to serve as an elector. For example, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi served as an elector and voted for Trump, but the Florida state Constitution specifies electors cannot hold any other paid government office while serving as an elector. In other cases, electors did not reside in the congressional district they were charged with representing, or were not registered to vote in the districts they were supposed to represent as electors. Each of these situations constitute legal violations of eligibility to serve as electors.

The report states:

“We have reason to believe that there are at least 50 electoral votes that were not regularly given or not lawfully certified (16 Congressional District violations and 34 dual office-holder violations). The number could be over a hundred.”

The group issued an “Electoral Vote Objection Packet” containing this information, as well as the specific language they need to use to object to certification of the vote, to members of Congress and are asking them to stop the certification of the 2016 Electoral College results scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Friday, January 6.

You can read the entire report here:

The Electoral Vote Objection Packet and spreadsheet detailing the problems the attorneys found with the 50+ electors can be seen here.

Corporations, Corruption, Elections, Ethics

Who are the Electors of the Electoral College?

by Anne Landman • November 26, 2016 • 2 Comments

trumpcorrupt On December 19, the electoral college will vote on who the next president of the U.S. will be, and they are not all bound by law to vote for Mr. Trump. Now that it’s been concluded that Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2 million, it would be within the Eletoral College’s purview to change who they vote for.

At the same time, Constitutional experts are arguing that unless Donald Trump divests himself of all of his foreign business holdings, he will be in violation of Article 9, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution as soon as he takes his oath to uphold it.

City Processing Marijuana Petitions

by Anne Landman • November 21, 2016 • 0 Comments

screen-shot-2016-11-21-at-12-59-11-pm On Thursday, November 17, members of Grand Junction Cannabis Action Now (GJCAN) turned petitions in to the City containing 3,300 signatures to get a proposed ordinance (pdf) on next April’s citywide ballot to bring marijuana commerce back to Grand Junction.

The group needs 2,254 valid signatures for the proposal to advance.

The City has ten days from the day the petitions were turned in to validate the signatures, making November 27 the deadline for the city to declare whether the goal was met. City Clerk Stephanie Tuin says they are working now to validate the signatures, and says they actually validate each signature turned in.

If GJCAN has submitted enough valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot, City Council will get an opportunity at its January meeting to approve the petition’s wording and adopt the ordinance as-is. Council’s other option, if they are still too afraid to address the marijuana issue themselves, is to send it to the April ballot for a vote of City residents. Either way, by its inaction on the marijuana issue, Council has missed it’s opportunity to weigh in on the matter and left it to City residents.

That’s probably just as well, though.

What’s Really Going On Inside Mesa County Government? Here’s a Hint: It’s Pretty Bad.

by Anne Landman • October 22, 2016 • 6 Comments

Rose Pugliese, one of the sitting county commissioners responsible for ongoing discontent among County employees

Rose Pugliese, one of the sitting county commissioners responsible for a high level of discontent among Mesa County employees

The following is a guest column from the August 28, 2016 issue of the Daily Sentinel that many people may have overlooked. The author is the operations manager for the elections division of Mesa County. She describes how the County treats its employees. I am reposting it here because many people probably missed it, and county residents need to know about the poor management of county under our current county commissioners.

Local “Deplorables” Gather for Trump’s Visit

by Anne Landman • October 19, 2016 • 0 Comments

Former Delta County "Castration school board member" Kathy Svenson attended Trump's rally of self-described "Deplorables" yesterday at West Star Aviation in Grand Junction

Former Delta County “Castration school board member” Kathy Svenson (arrow, in kooky hat) was one of the self-described “Deplorables” at Trump’s visit at West Star Aviation in Grand Junction yesterday

A woman who attended Donald Trump’s rally in Grand Junction yesterday appeared in a front page photo in today’s Daily Sentinel and was identified as “Kathy Svenson of Delta.”

Svenson was a highly suitable attendee for Trump’s rally. She is, in fact, a bona fide “Deplorable.”

Svenson is the famous former Delta County School Board member who gained notoriety nationally and internationally for saying transgender students should be castrated before being permitted to use the restrooms in public schools. She became known as “The Castration School Board Member” of Delta County, Colorado.

Svenson made her comments after the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled that a 6-year-old transgender student could use the girls’ restroom at her school.

Long Ballot? Don’t Worry. Use AnneLandmanBlog Voter Guide!

by Anne Landman • October 17, 2016 • 3 Comments

The entire November ballot is in today’s Daily Sentinel, and it takes up 6 pages of fine print, like these two.

Ballots were mailed today in Mesa County, and it’s a long one. The Daily Sentinel has published the entire November ballot in today’s paper, and it takes up six full pages of the paper, in fine print.

If you are worried about all the time it’s going to take to figure out how to vote on all this stuff, worry no more. We’ve done the research for you! We’ve looked into where the big money and corporate influence are coming from on all the issues, and how wealthy corporations are using ballot initiatives to try to trick you out of your rights, and weaken your influence and your ability to protect yourself and your families from their activities. We’ve looked at the ins and outs of all the issues, what’s fair and what’s not, and figured out how people can cast votes in their own interest.

Just go to AnneLandmanBlog Voter Guide 2016 to see the recommended votes on the local, state and federal candidates and ballot issues. The rationale for the votes is toward the bottom of the post.

Happy voting, and remember, after this you can mute all those annoying election TV ads!

Elections, Health care, politics

AnneLandmanBlog Voter Guide, 2016

by Anne Landman • October 11, 2016 • 5 Comments

ALVoterGuide This guide offers AnneLandmanBlog’s opinion on how to vote on candidates and issues in the November 8, 2016 election.

A discussion of the issues follows the recommendations.

Recommendations:

Federal offices:

President/Vice President: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine

U.S. Senate: Michael Bennet

Representative to U.S. Congress District 3: Gail Schwartz

CO U.S. Senate Candidate Darryl Glenn: Pregnancy Resulting from Rape is a “Gift from God”

by Anne Landman • October 7, 2016 • 2 Comments

Colorado’s Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Darryl Glenn, addressed a group of people in Jefferson County in 2015, telling them that pregnancy resulting from a rape is a “gift from God.”

Glenn is running against Democrat incumbent Michael Bennet.

Corporations, Economics, Ethics, Marketing, politics, Worker advocacy

Hundreds of Business Owners Go Public with Support for Amendment 70, the Minimum Wage Increase

by Anne Landman • October 6, 2016 • 2 Comments

The owner of Illegal Pete’s, a Colorado-based restaurant chain with 8 stores, reports that after raising wages, employee turnover dropped markedly. The owner credits his employees with making his business one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the country.

Business owners across the state are lining up to support Amendment 70, which would raise Colorado’s minimum wage to $12.00 and hour by 2020. Many of these owners voluntarily raised their own employees’ wages and are telling the public about the impacts it has had on their businesses.

They report positive economic results that directly contradict the predictions advanced by groups opposing the measure, like the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Delves Into Politics in Grand Junction: Is it Legal?

by Anne Landman • September 29, 2016 • 13 Comments

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church at H and 26 1/2 Roads in Grand Junction is irritating some people in nearby Paradise Hills with their political signs

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church at H and 26 1/2 Roads in Grand Junction is irritating some residents of Paradise Hills with their political signs. Is it illegal?

Paradise Hills residents have been contacting Western Colorado Atheists and Freethinkers expressing their irritation and asking if it is legal for the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, which dominates their neighborhood, to display political signs opposing Proposition 106, the “Colorado End of Life Options Act,” on their lawns along the streets on two sides of their property.

Costco vs. Sam’s Club: Busting the G.J. Chamber’s Minimum Wage Myths

by Anne Landman • September 25, 2016 • 11 Comments

screen-shot-2016-09-25-at-11-38-08-am Colorado’s Amendment 70, if it passes this November, will gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $12.00 an hour by 2020. Some people wonder, if we pay people a higher minimum wage, where will the money come from?

The money comes from either a businesses’ profits, or its debts. But raising the minimum wage doesn’t necessarily mean customers will pay higher prices for goods and services. To the contrary, a number of real-life examples show that rock-bottom pay and benefits don’t necessarily translate into lower prices. In fact, stingy wages often prove even more costly.

Why Average People Shouldn’t Listen to the Grand Junction Area Chamber

by Anne Landman • September 19, 2016 • 24 Comments

chamber It’s election time again, and soon the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce will issue it’s “2016 Voter Guide” in an attempt to try and influence how people in Mesa County vote on ballot measures and local elected offices.

If you’re an average, hard-working working citizen in Mesa County, there is only one thing you need to know about the chamber’s voter guide: ignore it.

Why?

Because the chamber doesn’t represent Mesa County’s working population. It exists solely to promote the financial interests of the few Mesa County businesses who pay its dues, and nothing more. What’s more, most businesses oppose measures aimed at helping workers and their families, so the chamber reflexively opposes any ballot measures that would benefit the thousands of workers and residents who spend money locally and really keep this area humming.

Organized Effort to Undermine Mulder for Commissioner’s Campaign?

by Anne Landman • July 26, 2016 • 1 Comment

Some low-life is stealing Mel Mulder's hand-made campaign signs. Turn them in for a reward!

Some low-life has been stealing Mel Mulder’s hand-made campaign signs. Know who it is? Turn them in for a reward!

The race for Mesa County Commissioner in District 1 is heating up, and someone in Happy Valley is playing dirty.

Some unknown person has been stealing County Commissioner District 1 candidate Mel Mulder’s hand-made campaign signs. Mel, his wife, Vera, their friends and high school students painstakingly hand-made each sign in the summer heat to try to stretch the money Mel has raised for his campaign. Mel has raised about $1,385 so far, a fairly normal amount for a campaign for local office in the Grand Valley. By comparison, the incumbent Commissioner in District 1, John Justman has over $46,000 in his campaign fund, most of which — $31,500 — came from Justman’s own wife, Frances. According to KREX, Justman’s similar-sized, professionally-made signs cost about $500 each. Mel’s hand-made signs cost only about $100 each, showing that Mel knows how to do more with less.

Why Western Slope Republicans are Useless Anachronisms

by Anne Landman • July 5, 2016 • 9 Comments

Colorado House Rep. Ray Scott (R-Grand Junction) continues to promote drilling for methane gas — the most potent greenhouse gas — as an “incredibly clean fossil fuel” that “reduces emissions.”

Western slope Republicans constantly point to a “war on coal” or a “war” on drilling and fracking as the cause of massive job loss. They scapegoat western slope residents who are concerned about degradation of the environment and global climate change, while clinging to tired, predictable responses like boosting extractive energy industries that are technologically on the way out.

Republicans’ hand-wringing and finger-pointing reveals their narrow view of what is happening in our world.

Blaming Obama and environmentalists for job loss is like looking at the Grand Canyon through a toilet paper tube and saying you know everything about what’s there.

Republican Kook Runs for Mesa County Commissioner Against Justman

by Anne Landman • May 9, 2016 • 5 Comments

Mesa County Commissioner District 1 candidate John Davis ran for President of the United States in 2012

Mesa County Commissioner District 1 candidate John Davis in front of his eponymously-painted motorcoach when he ran for President of the United States in 2012

Another doozy of a Republican candidate is running for local office, this time against Mesa County Commissioner District 1 incumbent John Justman.

It’s John Davis.

The local Republican Party just keeps them coming, don’t they?

Mel Mulder for Mesa County Commissioner, District 1

by Anne Landman • March 18, 2016 • 3 Comments

"It's Okay Little Buddy" - Mel Mulder was a featured subject in this famous local painting by his artist wife, Vera

“It’s Okay Little Buddy” – Mel Mulder and his super-cute little friend are featured in this famous local painting by his wife, artist and art teacher Vera Mulder

Longtime Grand Valley resident and Fruita City Council member Mel Mulder is running for Mesa County Commissioner in District 1. He is easily of the most qualified candidates for this office that Mesa County has seen in the last 35 years, and certainly the best artistically-rendered candidate. (See picture above.)

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