Free Republic

DENVER – Republican Rep. Don Coram of Montrose is at odds with members of his own party after co-sponsoring a measure that would fund long-acting contraceptives for low-income women. Coram Enlarge photo The measure, House Bill 1194, was introduced on Friday, despite cries that the legislation funds devices that induce abortion. The issue has become a battle of science, with doctors arguing that there is little evidence to indicate that intrauterine devices, IUDs, cause abortion. Coram’s bipartisan legislation, which he is carrying with Rep. KC Becker, D-Boulder, would provide $5 million from the state general fund to continue a program...

A Christian activist who filed a complaint against a Colorado bakery for refusing to make two cakes protesting against homosexuality has denied asking for the confections to include the phrase "God hates gays." Recently Azucar Bakery of Denver had a complaint filed against them before the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Regulatory Agencies for refusing to make the cakes. Bill Jack, founder of the Christian group Worldview Academy and the one who filed the complaint, told The Christian Post that he never wanted the phrase "God hates gays" put on any of the cakes he requested. "I requested...

Yes you read that right, and an academic one, no less, much to the consternation of the circles he travels in. “I’m a philosophy professor specializing in ethics and political philosophy, and like many of my fellow academics, I’m a political progressive,” Philip Cafaro writes in The Chronicle Review. “I value economic security for workers and their families, and support a much more equal distribution of wealth, strong and well-enforced environmental-protection laws, and an end to racial discrimination in the United States. I want to maximize the political power of common citizens and limit the influence of large corporations. My...

PUEBLO, Colo. - KRDO NewsChannel 13 has confirmed that Pueblo's only Planned Parenthood clinic will close at the end of February. The clinic is located off of Highway 50 West near Club Manor Drive. Carl Winder reports that the shopping center where the clinic is located was recently sold, and that the new owner decided not to renew Planned Parenthood's lease. Planned Parenthood said it was unable to find anywhere else in town to rent. The clinic will close for good on February 24.

Less than three weeks after President Barack Obama announced the loosening of a 52-year-old embargo with Cuba, a group of 18 people from Boulder traveled to the island nation. While spending American dollars on a beach getaway in Cuba is still illegal, the United States government has relaxed travel restrictions over the years so that American citizens can take "people to people" tours, which must be education-based and led by a Cuban government-approved tour agency.

Police say this suspect is the commander-in-chief of a shooting and robbery. Zachary Bowyer, a President Obama look-alike known by his street name “Baby Obama,” is wanted in Denver for a December holdup that ended with the victim shot in the ankle, police said. Authorities are offering $2,000 for the apprehension of the 21-year-old baby-faced perp, who should be considered armed and dangerous.

Unless there is any doubt, the vast majority of Democrats value partisan support for a failed president over support for our own national security and for that of Israel. Hence, they want to delay once again a vote on the Menendez-Kirk bill imposing sanctions on Iran unless it agrees to an acceptable final deal. The bill was introduced more than a year ago. The timing just isn’t right, you see. Will it ever be? A letter by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) signed onto by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.),...

Ten Senate Democrats warned the White House in a letter Tuesday that they will support legislation imposing new sanctions on Iran if a framework to roll back the country’s nuclear program isn’t reached within two months. "In acknowledgement of your concern regarding congressional action on legislation at this moment, we will not vote for this legislation on the Senate floor before March 24," said the letter, led by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who is the co-author of Iran sanctions legislation. "After March 24, we will only vote for this legislation on the Senate floor if Iran fails to reach agreement...

U.N. gives mixed signals on Tehran cooperation as nuclear talks intensifySenate Democrats on Tuesday backed away from a bipartisan push for immediate new sanctions on Iran, bowing to President Obama’s call not to undercut international talks to get Tehran to curb its nuclear programs in the coming weeks. The shift, announced Tuesday by Sen. Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat and one of the party’s outspoken hawks on Iran, came amid a series of mixed signals from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency over the question of whether Tehran was honoring promises to put its suspect nuclear programs on hold as...

Everyone involved seems to be trying to put the best face on it, but Barack Obama went so far as to suggest senior Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who take a hard line on Iran, are doing so purely to appease their donors. Obama said that as a former senator himself, he understood how outside forces — like special interests and donors — can influence senators to act, one of the senators recounted.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A heated exchanged between President Barack Obama and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) broke out Thursday over whether the U.S. should reimpose sanctions on Iran amid ongoing negotiations over the country's nuclear program, according to two senators who were in the room. Menendez, the leading Democrat pushing for additional sanctions against Iran, forcefully pressed Obama on the need for additional sanctions during a meeting in which Obama urged Menendez and other senators to drop their efforts to pass sanctions legislation. Additional sanctions, Obama argued, could torpedo ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The unusually sharp exchange, between...

Menendez: Obama Admin Statements on Iran 'Sound like Talking Points Straight out of Tehran'

MBank, an Oregon bank that last week said it would allow Colorado marijuana businesses to open accounts, now says it won't. The Denver Post reports the bank is saying it doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the volume of customers in the pot industry. But the newspaper cites unnamed sources as saying federal banking regulators told MBank the move was too risky. Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, companies in the industry haven't been able to find a bank to handle their business. MBank doesn't have a Colorado location. Instead, MBank intended to have marijuana businesses deposit their cash...

EPA chief Gina McCarthy was harshing on everyone’s mellow up in Aspen Thursday going on about global warming and generally being a buzzkill. Not content just to catch the men’s snowboard superpipe, McCarthy used the Winter X Games as an excuse to lecture the liberal crony class on the benefits of investing in tank tops versus GORE-TEX. According to the Denver Business Journal: McCarthy was in Aspen to make the point that warmer temperatures caused by carbon pollution hurt the winter-sports industry, and to advocate for Obama administration policies to curb greenhouse gases. Apparently we can’t stress this enough because...

I write today to encourage your support of Steve House for Chairman of the State Republican Party. Steve formerly chaired the Adams County Republican Party and was a candidate for governor in 2014. As I worked alongside Steve, I saw a uniquely talented leader whose passion for conservatism and our party is infectious. His speeches are inspired and motivating. His ideas are forward thinking and common sense. I was so impressed that I asked Steve to speak on my behalf on the campaign trail. After my election as Attorney General, I brought Steve in to serve on my transition team....

Colorado Seeks Permission To Grow Pot At State Universities By DAVID KELLY After years of trying to stamp out marijuana use on college campuses, Colorado officials are now asking the federal government to allow its state universities to grow their own pot. The reason, they say, is that the legalization of the drug here has raised questions about its health effects, questions that can only be answered by studying large amounts and different strains of marijuana. Why not have the best and brightest working on discovering not only the dangers but also the therapeutic benefits of marijuana? - Colorado state...

DENVER (AP) - A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who tried to go to Syria to help Islamic State militants has been sentenced to four years in prison. Shannon Conley learned her punishment in Denver federal court on Friday as her parents watched. She wore a black and tan headscarf with her jail uniform. Conley pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in September under a deal that requires her to divulge information she may have about other Americans with similar intentions. FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she...

President Obama believes more states are likely to legalize marijuana following efforts in Colorado and Washington state. "My suspicion is that you're going to see other states look at this," the president told YouTube blogger Hank Green. Obama said that the federal government was "not going to spend a lot of resources" enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that had decided to legalize the drug. He also noted that the Department of Justice was examining how to shift policies for nonviolent drug offenders. In an interview with The New Yorker last year, Obama appeared to tacitly endorse a Colorado referendum...

Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana was a bad idea, the state’s governor said Friday. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the 2012 decision by voters to make pot legal, said the state still doesn’t fully know what the unintended consequences of the move will be. If I could've waved a wand the day after the election, I would've reversed the election and said, 'This was a bad idea,’” Hickenlooper said Friday on CNBC's “Squawk Box.” “You don't want to be the first person to do something like this,” he said. He said that he tells other governors to “wait...

DENVER (AP) — Democrats who pushed to get driver’s licenses for Colorado immigrants regardless of their legal status are outraged over a Republican vote to block access to funds for the program. The issue is a reminder to Democrats of the power they lost in November when Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 10 years, and sets up what could be a contentious budget-writing process. The measure allowing driver’s licenses for immigrants in the country illegally passed in 2013 and it was signed by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper when his party controlled both legislative chambers....