Author Archives: james

Once on the ballot, voters decide on whether to amend the constitution: Adding language to the constitution requires 55% of the votes. Removing language from the constitution requires a simple majority of the votes. Measures to amend the constitution get on the ballot in one of three ways: The state legislature voted to put theContinue reading “Amending the Colorado Constitution”

Fact Sheet reformatted from Indivisible.Org (National Organization) The federal government’s funding runs from October 1st through September 30th of the following year. This is called the fiscal year. If September 30th comes and Congress hasn’t passed all of its appropriations bills, the federal government shuts down until they get their act together.If Congress is simplyContinue reading “CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS”

Eric Pavri has been an immigration lawyer for eight years and is currently the Director of Family Immigration Services at Catholic Charities of Central Colorado.  In a Facebook post, he provides answers to the questions:  “Why don’t all of these [DACA] immigrants just become legal and do they get all kinds of public benefits?” AsContinue reading “Why Don’t Immigrants Just Become Legal Citizens?”

Every time the gun debate rolls around, some overzealous gun enthusiasts use a set of familiar tactics to stifle discussion. People who are into guns tend to know a fair amount of detailed technical facts about guns, and use that knowledge to intimidate others who don’t know as much and hold different points of viewContinue reading “Learning the Gun Language”

We are grateful to Michael Harriot for his article in The Root, from which we took this material.  By debunking the common arguments against sensible gun laws, Mr. Harriot provides excellent material for those of us who want to change the narrative that is preventing our country from enacting sensible gun laws. Guns don’t killContinue reading “Debunking Arguments Against Sensible Gun Laws”

Another mass shooting.  Politicians will be praying, thinking and calling for action.  They will blame mental illness, video games, a godless society – just about anything other than the root problem – access to guns in the United States is easy and unregulated.  The NRA craftily controls the messaging around gun regulation, much of whichContinue reading “Debunking the NRA’s Lies and Myths Distorting the Gun Control Debate”

The funding for 2017 runs out October 1. Congress is currently planning on being on recess until September at which point when they return they will have four weeks to pass a budget. If they are unsuccessful in passing a budget, we will have another government shutdown. The federal budget is a tricky process thatContinue reading “Federal Budget Process”

In this Fact sheet, we explain the mainstream economic perspective on a balanced budget, present the conservative talking points for a balanced budget and discuss ways to respond to the conservative talking points. Definitions Balanced budget: a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures, e.g., no deficit or a surplus Cyclically balanced budget: aContinue reading “Balanced Budget Amendment”

What happens if the debt ceiling is not raised by October Absent action on the debt ceiling, the Bipartisan Policy Center calculates that the Treasury would fall short by $80 billion sometime in October, meaning it couldn’t pay all of its bills for that month. When the Treasury falls short, it will be impossible toContinue reading “Debt Ceiling”