Conservatives slap Schwartz

Yesterday, the now infamous HB07-1174 (We're coming for your guns and we'll be back for you Bible later) passed the Senate on Third Reading.

The Republican Caucus, who stood up in support of the right to keep and bear arms, were joined by Sen. Lois Tochtrop and Sen. Jim Isgar.

However there was some funny business with the bill, as reported by the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC) and ColoradoSenateNews.Com.

From the RSCC:

Senate observers believed HB07-1174 to be dead when it failed on a 2nd reading vote in the Senate. However Democrat leadership strong-armed the deciding vote, Democrat Senator Gail Schwartz (Snowmass Village) into flip-flopping and voting against the interests of her rural constituents.

“Party politics has taken center stage in the Senate, over the interests of the people of Colorado,” stated Senator Scott Renfroe (R – Eaton), a member of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC). “It’s sad that Senator Schwartz would put the priorities of the gun-grabbing Democrat leadership ahead of representing the rural values of her district.”

Gail Schwartz better be looking over her shoulder come election time in 2010.

Money Quotes:

From ColoradoSenateNews.Com, Senator Greg Brophy (R-Wray) on Gail Schwartz flip-flop:

In comments after the debate, Brophy added, “At least Sen. Morse has been consistent and honest in his contempt for gun-owners. I'm disappointed in Sen. Schwartz for actually voting for the bill after she voted against it."

It is note worthy that the Colorado Springs Gazette, the paper of record for Morse' district called him out in an editorial on Sunday for his backward stance on gun rights.

We also urge Morse to stop thinking and acting as if he’s still on the police force, take a refresher course on the Constitution and try to see the world through the eyes of his non-cop constituents, who have civil liberties that need to be protected.

From the RSCC:

“The true irony of this session is that the Democrats accuse conservatives of only caring about God, gays and guns. Yet one hallmark of this session has been a stream of bills introduced by prominent Democrats with an anti-God, anti-gun, and pro-gay slant,” concluded Lambert.

State Senate GOP Continues to Flex Muscle

This morning Senator Dave Schultheis (R - Colorado Springs) and Senator Greg Brophy (R - Wray) pulled a fast-one on the gun grabbers in the Colorado State Senate.

John Morse's SB07-34, which would have completely gutted Colorado's conceal carry law, was up for a second reading vote. SB07-34 was fast tracked out of committee and has been laid over for the past several weeks.

It was brought up on second reading today, but Schultheis and Brophy were able to pass a "strike below" amendment, which changed the bill language to allow Colorado to recognize all conceal carry permits issued to legal residents of the United States. The amendment passed with three Democrats voting in favor of the amendment.

Due to the drastic change in fortunes of his bill, Morse asked for the bill to be laid over again. The tough choice in front of Morse and Majority Leader Ken Gordon will be whether or not to kill the now good bill in the senate or try to "fix" it in the house.

We can only hope that the week continues to go poorly for the Majority Party.

[UPDATE]
Brophy and the Minority Press Office take a couple of shots at Morse, here. (See money quote below)

- Box of .45 shells: $14

- CCW Permit: $100

- Protecting the Constitution while taking a high-profile Dem out to the woodshed: Priceless...

Some of Morse's fellow senators dubbed the development an embarrassment to him and the Democrat leadership. Morse, a rookie legislator serving in his first elective office ever, watched in silence as his first bill was manhandled by critics--including three members of his own party--and rewritten into the opposite of what he intended.

“He never saw it coming,” said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. “The next time that Senator Morse wants to take away the rights of law-abiding citizens, he’d better get up a little earlier in the morning." [Emphasis added]

El Paso County GOP Shake Up

Colorado Pols has a ridiculous post about the internal goings on of the El Paso County Republican party, that requires at least brief commentary.

In a nut shell, new El Paso County GOP Chair Greg Garcia and the executive board removed one John Hazelhurst from his position as precinct committee person for violating the county party's bylaws. The bylaws say that all party officers, which includes precinct committee people, are forbidden from publicly supporting any candidate in a general election other than the Republican candidate.

Hazelhurst publicly support three Democrats in the 2006 general election, including John Morse, claiming he was the "smart, reasonable" candidate.

Mr. Hazelhurst was justly removed from party leadership, and his claims to be "heart broken" about it ring hollow with me.

It's important to look at Morse record so far, to see how egregious Mr. Hazelhurst's support of Morse really was. Morse defeated State Sen. Ed Jones in 2006, as a moderate, riding the Anti-GOP Establishment wave.

The question I have for Mr. Hazelhurst is this; are anti-family, anti-gun, anti-business, big government policies "smart, reasonable" or anywhere remotely similar to the platform planks of the Republican party?

John Morse in office has proven to be anything but "smart" or "reasonable".

For the Record, here's the case against Morse:

Anti-Family
Morse joined established liberals like Betty Boyd to "celebrate" the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in the United States. Pictures of a smiling Morse holding a "Bridge the Gap: Roe in 2007" standing next to the Director of Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood can be found here. He is a co-sponosor of SB07-60 requiring hospitals to counsel the use of emergency contraceptive measures. He also voted twice for SB07-80 which would require 12 year old girls to be vaccinated by their school for HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Anti-Gun
Morse has staked out a strongly, anti-2nd Amendment stance. He is the the author of SB07-34, which would strip Colorado's conceal carry reciprocity laws.

Anti-Business
Voted and vocally supported HB07-1072, the Big Labor pay-off, closed shop union bill.

Big Government
Morse sponsorship of SB07-26 (Full Day Kindergaden), SB07-136 , & HB07-1263 (DOJ Training Fee Increase) reflect his dedication to greatly increasing the size of government.

John Morse has three more years before he is held accountable by the voters of El Paso County. It will be interesting to watch how much more liberal he becomes over the next few years and how much he alienates his constituents with his far-left voting record.