Bush Fundraiser for Schaffer

The Denver Post is reporting that President Bush will be in Colorado for a $1500 a person fund raiser for Bob Schaffer on Jan 31.

Our friends at Rocky Mountain Politics published an identical report six days ago.

The Cost of Udall's Pinon Canyon Pandering-Part 2

Some time ago, we wrote about the cost of Mark Udall's pandering to the ranchers in Pinon Canyon with a statement that shows either that he is willing to play games with national defense to score a political point (very likely given his record of untruthfulness), or that he is too naieve about US Defense to be a Senator (not unlikely given some of his actions).

The Gazette recently reported on the efforts to bring Air Force Cyber Command to Colorado.

Rocky Mountain Politics, a new political blog, brings more focus on the impact of Mark Udall's Pinon Canyon pandering:

In the letter, they [ Lousiana Congressional Delegation ] write "We were happy to learn recently that the Army is studying the potential acquisition of additional lands contiguous to the installation." They further add that the additional lands result in "ensuring the continued viability of the base for years to come." To drive the nail home, they say "We feel this is a compelling reason to seize the opportunity to acquire additional lands now, and look forward to assisting the Army in any way possible throughout the process."

So whom do you think the lands will be acquired from? I bet there will be private lands acquired, just as would happen at Pinon Canyon. You have to wonder if the difference in support here won't play out in the halls of the Pentagon on an issue like locating Cyber Command. Guess we will have to wait and see, maybe sooner rather than later.

The High Cost of Pandering

Not long ago, Mark Udall, Ken Salazar, Bill Ritter, and the Colorado Legislature signaled their uncertainty about keeping Fort Carson viable with an expansion of the Pinon Canyon training area.

Today, our friends at Rocky Mountain Politics laid out the potential cost of this pandering. Keep in mind that if Space Command leaves, some very high paying civilian contracting jobs will move out of state, not only from Colorado Springs, but from Jeffco and Boulder.

Nebraska is not alone by the way in trying to take advantage of our feud here in Colorado over Pinon Canyon [by trying to get USSPACECOM and NORTHCOM moved to Omaha ]. Guess who the only 2 Republicans in the United States Senate to vote for Ken Salazar's amendment to stop the expansion were? The 2 Republicans from Kansas, Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback. Kansas is home to Fort Riley, which was one of Fort Carson's competitors in the last BRAC round and came very close to being closed. They sure wouldn't mind an expanded base with more units stationed there.