Git Yur Fur-Bearing Mammal Marriages

The Trailhead Group, a political campaign committee that has been running advertisements and robocalls in select areas of the state for Republican candidates, may have violated election law when it sent out communications to voters in regards to the special legislative session earlier this month. As Mark Couch of The Denver Post writes, the political watchdog group Colorado Common Cause says that Trailhead violated state law because the group is not registered as a lobbyist organization.

Republicans in Washington can’t seem to agree on much of anything these days, as The Washington Post reports. Members of the House left Washington yesterday for their August recess, and members of the Senate are expected to head out of town shortly; they’ll reconvene again after Labor Day, but will have just 15 days before their fall adjournment to work out several issues. As The Post reports:

The House completed its summer work in a flurry of post-midnight debates and votes yesterday, approving changes to the federal minimum wage, estate taxes and pension laws. But with deep divisions lurking in the Senate, it all may go for naught, as have so many other recent efforts, leaving the two chambers open to perhaps the loudest taunts of “do-nothing Congress” in decades.

Despite their control of the House, Senate and White House, Republicans have been unable to reach accord on immigration, lobbying reform, military tribunals, Social Security and even nuts-and-bolts measures such as a 2007 budget plan. Lawmakers still have time to pass some of that legislation, but not much.

Is it just us, or is it strange that members of congress have more recess than most schoolchildren?

Congressional Republicans talk a big game about illegal immigration, but it doesn’t appear as though they are going to do anything about it. Again. Anne C. Mulkern of The Denver Post reports that congressional leaders have no plans to negotiate with the Senate on an immigration-reform bill.

Republican House leaders still think they can use immigration and border security as issues in their favor come November…as long as they can continue to pretend that they will someday take up the issue on their own.

Jeff Smith of the Rocky Mountain News takes a look at the issue of net neutrality today.

Net neutrality is the notion that the companies that control the broadband pipes – such as Comcast and Qwest Communications in much of Colorado – should treat all Internet content providers the same.

Without such a law, proponents argue, certain Internet companies could be discriminated against, forced to pay more or blocked from gaining access at all, and be driven out of business. Consumers could find certain Web sites blocked or slower to get to.

It’s hard to believe the testing has been going on for this long, but the 10th year of CSAP scores are due out this week. But as The Denver Post reports, experts still don’t know whether the much-maligned test is proving whether or not Colorado students are learning more. Or learning good.

President Bush was roundly criticized for vetoing Rep. Diana DeGette’s stem cell research bill two weeks ago