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	<title>The Colorado Observer</title>
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	<description>Colorado News, Analysis and Commentary from a Fresh Perspective</description>
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		<title>Hickenlooper Blocks Dunlap Execution, For Now</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/hickenlooper-blocks-dunlap-execution-for-now/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hickenlooper-blocks-dunlap-execution-for-now</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/hickenlooper-blocks-dunlap-execution-for-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 22:33:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Observer Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State and Local]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15094</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER – Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper triggered a firestorm of controversy on Wednesday when he issued an executive order preventing the execution of convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap.  The order, described as a “temporary reprieve,” will likely keep Dunlap alive – at least for the duration of Hickenlooper’s term. Hickenlooper took aim at the death penalty itself in a statement, describing it as an “inequitable system,” echoing his Chief of Staff Roxane White, who posted controversial statements on Twitter earlier this month suggesting that the capital punishment was racist and inhumane. Dunlap murdered four of his former co-workers in 1993 at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. Three of those who died were teenagers, and one was a 50-year-old mother.  Another employee was wounded in the attack. In his order sparing Dunlap’s life, Hickenlooper argued that Colorado “is not immediately equipped to carry out a death sentence,” and implied that Colorado should follow the example of other states in putting an end to capital punishment. “Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois and New Mexico recently repealed the death penalty. There are now 18 states without the death penalty and 7 of the states with the death penalty (including Colorado) have not carried [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Protesters Denounce IRS at Denver Rally</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/protesters-denounce-irs-at-denver-rally/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=protesters-denounce-irs-at-denver-rally</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/protesters-denounce-irs-at-denver-rally/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 14:31:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Valerie Richardson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State and Local]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15078</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER&#8211;More than 100 protesters jammed onto the sidewalk in front of the Internal Revenue Service office Tuesday to decry the agency&#8217;s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny. &#8220;IRS=Bully&#8221; was among the messages on signs held by demonstrators, who took turns speaking to the crowd with a megaphone as passing cars honked in support during lunch hour in downtown Denver. &#8220;We are done being shut down, shut out and shut up, period,&#8221; said Randy Corporon, chairman of the Arapahoe County Tea Party, which organized the protest. The demonstration was one of more than a dozen protests nationwide coordinated by Tea Party Patriots. Other cities reporting rallies outside IRS offices Tuesday included Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and San Diego. At least four Colorado conservative groups have reported encountering lengthy waiting periods and intrusive questions as part of their application process for tax-exempt status. The Denver crowd was fired up, shouting support for speakers and chanting &#8220;More freedom! Less government!&#8221; Several police officers and the building manager monitored the protest, while people inside the building could be seen filming the rally with their cell phones. The building, 1999 Broadway, is privately held and includes both government and [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Bennet Turns Serious on IRS Probe as DSCC Sees GOP Overreach</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/bennet-turns-serious-on-irs-probe-as-dscc-hopes-for-gop-overreach/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=bennet-turns-serious-on-irs-probe-as-dscc-hopes-for-gop-overreach</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/bennet-turns-serious-on-irs-probe-as-dscc-hopes-for-gop-overreach/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 12:41:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Stricherz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15058</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON &#8212; Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said the testimony of two former commissioners of the Internal Revenue Service Tuesday did not impress him. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think we got a lot of answers and the conversation needs to continue,&#8221; the Colorado Democrat said in a brief interview as he walked to his Senate office. Bennet is a member of the Senate Finance Committee which called on former IRS heads Douglas Shulman and Steven Miller to explain the origins of the unfolding scandal. The two ex-chiefs said they did not know who authorized IRS officials to target organizations seeking tax-exempt status with the words &#8220;Tea  Party,&#8221; &#8220;Patriot,&#8221; and &#8220;9/12&#8243; in their title.  Bennet&#8217;s comment contrasts with his public statements last year that singled out an organization a former George W. Bush campaign official founded as an example of a group worthy of additional IRS scrutiny. Yet it is consistent with the political strategy of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the organization of which he serves as chairman. On the group&#8217;s website Friday, a DSCC aide advised Senate Democratic candidates to adopt a sober, non-partisan approach to the Obama administration scandals. &#8220;What matters is how any candidate &#8212; Democratic or Republican &#8212; handles [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Hick to Pitch $1.1 Billion Tax Hike</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/hick-to-pitch-1-1-billion-tax-hike/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hick-to-pitch-1-1-billion-tax-hike</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/hick-to-pitch-1-1-billion-tax-hike/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 06:50:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leslie Jorgensen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State and Local]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15086</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER – Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a public education finance bill Tuesday that can’t be implemented without voter approval of a $1.1 billion tax increase. He plans to pitch the statewide tax hike as a critical investment in Colorado’s students and schools. “This bill really positions Colorado to be the national leader in terms of school reform and school effectiveness,” said Hickenlooper. “It allows us to look at being number one in the country in creating a financial system that really threads reform… that delivers results.” Opponents argue the proposal is a union-backed measure designed to boost salaries and benefits for teachers and administrators.  It’s not the time to raise taxes, they say, when the state has not rebounded from the recession. “It’s a billion-dollar tax increase for virtually no reform for our education system,” said Dick Wadhams, political strategist and former state GOP chair. “It’s the CEA union as usual behind this.” The tax hike would fund schools with high enrollment of at-risk students, defined as children from low income families. The money would be used for special education, full-day kindergarten, half-day preschool for at-risk children of low income families, and language instruction for students who are not fluent [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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		<title>Ex-Cop Morse Sees Whole Lot of &#8216;Criminals&#8217; Among His Political Foes</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/ex-cop-morse-sees-whole-lot-of-criminals-among-his-political-foes/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=ex-cop-morse-sees-whole-lot-of-criminals-among-his-political-foes</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/ex-cop-morse-sees-whole-lot-of-criminals-among-his-political-foes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 05:13:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Valerie Richardson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State and Local]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15037</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER&#8211;Locked in a fight for his political life, Senate President John Morse is showing that he&#8217;s not afraid to deliver a few low blows. The Colorado Senate Democrats, which he leads, issued a Twitter message Friday accusing 55 county sheriffs of siding with &#8220;criminals.&#8221; A week earlier, the Morse campaign launched radio ads claiming that those gathering signatures to place him on the recall ballot were &#8220;criminals convicted of forgery, fraud and even sexual assault.&#8221; El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, one of the sheriffs accused by Democrats of backing criminals by filing a lawsuit against the state&#8217;s new gun-control laws, said such political tactics have become par for the course. &#8220;I&#8217;m not at all surprised,&#8221; said Maketa. &#8220;This is their typical way of deflecting having to engage in a true debate. I would challenge the Senate Democrats to respond to the issues instead of making these childish claims and accusations.&#8221; It&#8217;s unclear whether Morse wrote the #Sheriffs4Criminals hashtag sent out by the Colorado Senate Democrats, or if the message was sent without his knowledge by staff. The message said, &#8220;2day CO sheriffs stood in opposition of CO&#8217;s new gun laws, but not w/law-abiding citizens, but with criminals.&#8221; The sheriffs [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
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		<title>Bennet Led Dem Effort to Curb Conservative Groups</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/bennet-led-dem-effort-to-curb-conservative-groups/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=bennet-led-dem-effort-to-curb-conservative-groups</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/bennet-led-dem-effort-to-curb-conservative-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 19:30:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Stricherz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15048</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON &#8212; As the 2012 presidential election race heated up, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado led a Democratic effort to scrutinize and curb the reach of tax-exempt organizations, which he identified with a conservative leader and suggested would grow after the Republican presidential primary ended. Bennet was a leader of an ad hoc Senate Democratic group that lobbied federal officials and lawmakers repeatedly to limit the effect of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling on the political system. Named after &#8220;Citizens United&#8221; &#8212; the high court decision that ruled government could not restrict the politically independent expenditures of corporations, labor unions, and associations &#8212; Bennet&#8217;s task force announced its intentions during a period when former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney had emerged as the likely presidential nominee of the Republican Party. &#8220;The group will pursue all available legislative and administrative avenues to shine a light on who is influencing American elections and to stem the tide of secretive spending that is already a corroding and corrupting influence on our political system,&#8221; the seven Democratic senators wrote on March 13, 2012. &#8220;The rate of spending will likely only increase as the Republican primary ends, the general election begins in earnest, and congressional races [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Hickenlooper Homeless Plans Questioned</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/hickenlooper-homeless-plans-questioned/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hickenlooper-homeless-plans-questioned</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/hickenlooper-homeless-plans-questioned/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 13:35:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leslie Jorgensen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State and Local]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15020</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER – Gov. John Hickenlooper successfully pushed a plan to transfer homeless people to Fort Lyon in southeast Colorado for rehabilitation despite arguments from both Democrats and Republicans against spending more than $10.5 million on the untested program. The Fort Lyon project isn’t the first homeless initiative that Hickenlooper has backed.  As mayor of Denver, he launched “Denver’s Road Home,” an initiative to end homelessness in the city by 2015. Critics claim that the 10-year initiative has failed to provide sufficient housing and services despite spending more than $10 million a year. Hickenlooper said he planned to make the program 88 percent government funded by 2012, and intended to use part of $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funds for housing and support projects. “We have been asked lately if the economy is going to impact the progress we are making to end homelessness&#8230; We have never been more determined to move this initiative forward,” asserted Hickenlooper. Yet the number of individuals panhandling and sleeping on the streets has escalated, threatening the viability of downtown businesses. That led the Denver City Council to pass the “Urban Camping” ban in May 2012. Occupy Denver, MoveOn, labor union members and illegal immigrant rights activists who railed against the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Dems Accuse Sheriffs of Siding With Criminals</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/dems-accuse-sheriffs-of-siding-with-criminals/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dems-accuse-sheriffs-of-siding-with-criminals</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/dems-accuse-sheriffs-of-siding-with-criminals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 05:59:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Valerie Richardson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State and Local]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=14992</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER&#8211;It&#8217;s not every day that Colorado&#8217;s county sheriffs are accused of supporting criminals, but that&#8217;s what happened Friday after 55 sheriffs filed a lawsuit against two new gun-control laws. The Colorado Senate Democrats issued a message on Twitter saying, &#8220;2day CO sheriffs stood in opposition of CO&#8217;s new gun laws, but not w/law-abiding citizens, but with criminals.&#8221; The Democrats also created a Twitter hashtag: #Sheriffs4Criminals. So far the only other message on the hashtag comes from Gretchen White of Colorado, who says: &#8220;Um, #Sheriffs4Criminals for real? Are you 17 years old? Did this acct. get hacked? Be more wise with your words.&#8221; Fifty-five of the state&#8217;s 62 county sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging two gun-control bills signed in March by Gov. John Hickenlooper: House Bill 1224, which restricts ammunition-magazine capacity to 15 rounds, and House Bill 1229, which requires background checks for all firearms sales and transfers, including temporary transfers. The measures, which passed with no Republican votes, are scheduled to take effect July 1. In addition to the sheriffs, the lawsuit was filed by Magpul Industries, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Colorado State Shooting Association, the Colorado Outfitters Association, Colorado Youth Outdoors, Women for Concealed Carry, [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>21</slash:comments>
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		<title>POLL:  Most Believe IRS Investigations Were “Politically Motivated”</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/poll-majority-believe-irs-investigations-were-politically-motivated/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=poll-majority-believe-irs-investigations-were-politically-motivated</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/poll-majority-believe-irs-investigations-were-politically-motivated/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Observer Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[National]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=14974</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DENVER – Most Americans believe that President Obama or his top aides were aware that federal tax officials were improperly targeting conservative non-profit groups, and think those responsible should be fired or sent to prison, according to the results of a recent public opinion poll. Nearly six in ten respondents – 57 percent – said they believe that recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigations against conservative groups were “politically motivated” compared to just 16 percent who said the IRS investigations were “a coincidence.”  Another 27 percent were “not sure.” A majority of men (61 percent), women (53 percent) and political independents (60 percent) agreed that the IRS investigations were politically motivated; as did a plurality respondents who described themselves as politically moderate (49 percent). News of the IRS abuses broke last week, the latest in what has been a series of recent scandals to hit the Obama administration, culminating the resignation of IRS acting commissioner Steven Miller on Wednesday. IRS officials blamed the misconduct on a few “rogue employees,” and President Obama has denied any advance knowledge of the IRS’ improper actions, saying that he learned of the scandal through press reports. But the survey suggests voters are skeptical of [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>From the Cheap Seats: Udall and Bennet Families Cash in on Political Non-Profits</title>
		<link>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/from-the-cheap-seats-udall-and-bennet-families-cash-in-on-political-non-profits/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=from-the-cheap-seats-udall-and-bennet-families-cash-in-on-political-non-profits</link>
		<comments>http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2013/05/from-the-cheap-seats-udall-and-bennet-families-cash-in-on-political-non-profits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 04:41:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Observer Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[From the Cheap Seats]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thecoloradoobserver.com/?p=15013</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The administration is making it clear that President Obama believes the First Amendment applies fully to those who agree with him.  Everyone else, not so much. Some 500 conservative non-profit groups were subjected to politically motivated harassment, intimidation, delaying tactics, and carefully designed bureaucratic inertia in the run-up to the 2012 election. Colorado &#8216;s two senators, Democrats Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, close pals of the prez, have said they are shocked, shocked to learn that the machinery of government was turned against their common political opponents. Of course, that hasn’t stopped both the Udall and Bennet families from profiting handsomely from speaking their minds on behalf of, you guessed it, non-profits. Cheap Seats has taken pains (not that it was actually painful) to document the activities of Mrs. Sen. Mark Udall, aka Maggie Fox, who runs the Climate Reality Project, CRaP, where she turns the First Amendment into a cool $250 large each year. Mrs. Sen. Michael Bennet, aka Susan Daggett, did quite well herself when she was an attorney for Earthjustice , which brags that it exists because the Earth needs a good lawyer. Like CRaP, Earthjustice pays no taxes because it&#8217;s recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as, you guessed [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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