Access trumps ‘net neutrality’ for Native Americans

I am very concerned about an upcoming vote on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) for Net Neutrality. I agree that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should not block or censor content, but the CRA is not the way to codify that.

If the CRA passes, it will impose utility-style rules that were designed for 1930s landline telephone networks. That will fundamentally damage the future of American innovation by weighing ISPs down with outdated and overreaching regulations that will hamper their ability to serve their customers.

Access is more important than net neutrality. Today, 40 percent of rural Americans lack access to high-speed broadband capable of 25 Mbps or more. This rural divide affects none more so than our tribal residents; voting against the CRA will safeguard their futures by providing a level playing field for internet technology investments that benefit rural communities.

Furthermore, as the owner of a large office supply business, I must speak out when proposed legislation threatens our economy’s well-being.  If we allow our country’s innovation to falter, it will drastically affect generations to come. Republicans and Democrats must stand together and make a bi-partisan effort to enact new laws that will serve the complex and unique needs of tomorrow’s Internet as we move further into the 21stCentury.

Don KelinFounder, Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of CommerceDenver

Being a Democrat means being pro-choice

Democrats For Life Of America hosted their first conference in Aurora, asserting that the Democratic Party make room for “pro-life” Democrats. Having the ability to make choices about one’s own body is an essential human right. Whether or not a woman chooses to terminate a pregnancy, she must decide this for herself, unobstructed by dangerous, uninformed legal policies.

Those who actively defend anti-choice policies aren’t genuine supporters of the Democratic Party or platform. Contesting the validity of a woman’s decision to be pro-choice directly conflicts with many facets of the official Democratic Party platform, including: guaranteeing women’s rights; securing reproductive health, rights, and justice, and ensuring the health and safety of all Americans. I believe that labeling oneself as an anti-choice, “for life” Democrat is an oxymoron; anyone who disagrees with a woman’s ability to make decisions about her life and her body doesn’t support women’s health and isn’t a true advocate of Democratic values.

I identify as pro-choice because I believe that women should have access to abortion care and birth control no matter what their reasons are for needing these services. Whether it be for preventing unwanted pregnancy, aiding menstrual regulation, relieving endometriosis pain, terminating a life-endangering pregnancy or any other reason, I believe that women should be able to benefit from these health services and necessities without opposition.

When women are denied this access, their lives are threatened. As a woman and a Democrat, I find any action that endangers women’s health to be unacceptable and un-Democratic.  Those who aren’t in favor of pro-choice policies jeopardize women’s health and lives, derailing the valuable priorities of the true Democratic Party.

Ashlin CrossDenver

‘The most dangerous tax increase in the country’

Initiative 93 appears to check all the boxes in what we look for as Coloradans when it comes to making sure our education system is funded properly. But this is the most dangerous tax increase in the country, and it’s being disguised as pro-education.

If Initiative 93 passes, it will tax Coloradans an additional $1.6 billion annually, and economists predict we will be on the hook for an additional $260 million a year with no end in sight for tax raises. The extreme language permits additional tax revenue to be taken from Coloradans to adjust with the annual rate of inflation. For us, that means an additional 2.1 percent of tax revenue taken, every year, for life. In five years, when this initiative goes for its first review period, we’ll have already been subjected to forfeiting 10.5 percent of tax revenue from the general fund.

How is this acceptable? Why are Coloradans being left on the hook for the mismanagement of the additional marijuana revenue that was supposed to fix this budgetary gap for education? Why are Coloradans being asked to bail out the unions, Colorado Department of Education and pension funds that are taking money away from our children and out of the classroom?

Initiative 93 is radical; it’s a wolf in disguise, and it’s the most dangerous and permanent annual increase in taxes for Colorado to absorb. You can read it here: https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/results/2017-2018/93Results.html

I urge you to vote NO on Initiative 93 in November.

Nicholas Morse Fort Collins

‘Politics ain’t beanbag’

In the July 13 Colorado Politics (print edition), Joey Bunch wrote about Saira Rao, who was defeated in the June 26 Democrat primary by incumbent CD-1 U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette 68 percent to 32 percent.

Ms. Rao announced recently in a tweet that she has “given up on white people” and that she feels she was “used as a pawn by the Democratic Party.”  She went on to announce she’s moving out of state after receiving threatening comments on social media.

I remind Ms. Rao of two old sayings:  “Politics ain’t beanbag,” and “if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

As my grandmother used to say, wherever you go, there you are.

Sue McGinleyDenver

Colorado Politics an ‘accomplice’ of the right

I am about two weeks away from canceling my subscription to your obviously right-wing biased “newspaper.” Virtually all your too many posts about Republican candidates are slanted positively and with a negative twist for Democrats. In a world where Trump is at war with the world and all the institutions in America are supported by compliant Republican sycophants, much like 1930s Germany, your “newspaper” is an accomplice.

Karl FriedmanCherry Hills

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