Then, I read some of the comments attached to the article. I’ve chosen to share some of the more “intellectually deficient” (these are 5 of the 8 comments on the article when I read it, I kid you not) ones:

They’re going to raise utility rates so high, a person will need to monitor them on a daily basis. Thanks to Salazar and Ritter!

I’d like to be there when they tell these meter readers they’re spending 21 million dollars to eliminate their jobs. Way to go Fort Collins.

Alas, government marches on with its never ending increase in taxes, fees or however you want to label it, totally unconcerned that peopole are struggling as it is. Why did the people of Fort Collins re-elect every incumbent last fall? I did not vote for one incumbent, and certainly won’t next time either. If memory serves me, every incombent got put back into office.

Big Brother is watching, sucking away your liberty and making you pay for the process of doing so. Americans, you are idiots for allowing this to happen.

I wish my small business was “government…” Instead of taking it like the rest of us are in this economy all you have to do is raise “fees” (taxes). It’s SO easy!

It’s almost as if each and every one of these people failed to read the article. Sure, a 9.5% increase in utility rates sounds like a lot, but lets look at some facts:

• The city of Fort Collins charges $0.067 cents per kilowatt hour. Xcel Energy (which powers other parts of Colorado) charges $0.109¹ per kilowatt hour; that’s getting close to twice the cost.
• Power outages are very rare in Fort Collins. The city actually does a good job.
• Advanced Metering accounts for 2.08% of the proposed rate increase, the rest comes from power costs and other needs (at least most of which we have to pay for anyway!)

So, in essence, the City Utility wants to raise our rates by an amount that will cover their (really, our) electric bill and simultaneously upgrade our electric system. As part of the bargain, we get a smarter system that will allow us to monitor our power usage in real time. That means we can make smarter choices about how we use electricity. As we gain more knowledge about how we use electricity, the utility gets better intelligence about how power is distributed around the city; knowledge they can use better and more efficiently manage our system. All of this, and we’ll still pay less than Xcel customers.

Yes. It will cost more. No, it’s not a special fee or a tax. It’s the cost of us maintaining our own electric grid instead of a private entity. And we get a pretty smoking deal from it, too.

Oh, did I mention that the 2.08% bump is temporary? Just to pay for the upgrade²? Did I also mention that the 10-15 meter readers would be retrained and have opportunities at other jobs in the utilities department?

Yes. I realize the irony of me commenting about a news article to complain about the commenters on a news article. I think it’s funny too.

1 – quoted from Astralux Power Systems – probably not a great source.
2 – I’m under no illusion that the 2.08% will just be diverted at the end of the 3 year period to pay for other programs or utility-borne cost increases.

For some reason, I remembered that during President George W Bush’s administration, one of his economic principles was the “trickle-down” methodology. To me, this meant as approximately this:

1. Lower taxes on higher income brackets.
2. The high-earners now have more money to spend.
3. The high-earners spend money and that stimulates the economy.

So, by using that logic, it seems that if we were to socialize medicine (disclaimer #2: I have no particular feelings on healthcare reform other than I think something should be done and that I’m not smart enough nor informed enough to know precisely what we should do) by taxing the rich, we would in essence be re-capturing a pre-existing expense (that is: health insurance for employees) as a “tax.” I think it might even be net-zero.

Let’s see:

1. We “socialize” medicine by taking the cost of health insurance out of the regular economy and assigning it to the government; this removes a huge cost burden on American companies (may help them stay competitive with international firms, too)
2. Big-time investors in these companies realize higher dividends due to higher profits driven by lowered costs.
3. Raise taxes on the very wealthy to pay for this healthcare, some (most?) of whom may be the very same big-time investors (in the aggregate of their investments).

In essence, because the government (“the people”) assumed the cost of healthcare in this scenario (which some have called a “crushing cost”), private investors would see higher dividends on their investments. We would then (indirectly) tax those gains away to pay for it. It’s possible the effect would be net-zero (or even net-positive if costs are actually lowered) in the long term. So, in the end, we improved the efficiency of the private sector and converted pre-existing costs into approximately equivalent (maybe even lower) taxes.

(Note #1: This idea conveniently ignores tax-sheltered investments and small-time investors; it also presumes that lower costs will not translate to lower consumer pricing. Also, this idea is lacking in specific numbers; this is further evidence of my overall lack of economic sophistication.)

(Note #2: The thought that “socializing” medicine may lower costs is on the basis that Medicare has very low overhead (I’ve heard 2-5%) versus private insurers (I’ve heard 25-35%). Also, I imagine if there was a single-payer, that the medical billing costs in doctors offices would lessen.)

(Note #3: This also assumes the size of the problem stays the same. This is probably not true as the goal of healthcare reform is to cover more people/everyone. See note #2 though.)

See what I mean about half-baked? Now time for bed.

Today, in the opinion section, the Coloradoan posted a soapbox written by Mrs. Markey that I thought was well written. It was reflective, constructively critical (mostly of her opponent and her opponent’s continued attacks on her business),  and optimistic for the future:

My mother was a Catholic and a Republican.

She raised seven children, kept up with the stock market, helped me buy my first condo and set up the books in our first business.

I talk about fiscal responsibility on the campaign trail because it was a value instilled in me by my mother from the time I started baby-sitting for spending change.

Read more »

I encourage you to read the rest of the letter. It’s really very good.

We talked a bit about the seemingly unified themes coming out of the Colorado (and to an extent, the national) campaigns — themes like alternative (maybe we should say “smarter”) energy, health care, and ending the war in Iraq. These things are rallying points for Democrats and ideas amenable to some Republicans. The focal point for the message contrast seems to be our current administration and their friends in Congress.

Lets take the war in Iraq as an example. Betsy Markey, Mark Udall, and Barack Obama are both calling for a smart withdrawal of our troops from the region. One of their main arguments is the sheer cost of the war — some put it in the high billions, even trillions. Unless we’ve found a way to literally grow wealth on trees, if these numbers are even slightly accurate, we’re plunging ourselves into massive debt in order to finance the war. This is interesting, because unlike some other wars we’ve fought: we haven’t raised taxes to pay for this war.

Americans are an intensely generous people. We send aid at the drop of a hat to regions devastated by natural disaster: China, Myanmar (as we can), Indonesia, and New Orleans to name a few. Ostensibly our goal in Iraq is to rebuild their infrastructure, economy, and deliver a democratic regime friendly to our interests; noble goals, to be sure.

Why haven’t we, as a people, been asked to help this effort (short of enlisting)?

Iraq is war-torn (we should know, we did the a lot of the tearing) and country desperately in need. Why haven’t we seen a national push to give aid to our brothers and sisters there? Our troops, who do good work there, don’t work for free and we certainly know that their equipment isn’t free. Installing and maintaining a logistical support base also can’t be a small cost. So, to my friends who support the war in Iraq: I suspect you think of yourselves as the fiscally-responsible sort, so, would you accept a tax increase to pay for this war?

In addition to the chat and networking opportunities with fellow Democrats, I must admit to being awed by a single thing: the resounding support of CD4 Democrats for Betsy Markey.

Betsy entered the CD4 Assembly to a fanfare of drums. Following many (and often tedious ) nomination speeches, Betsy finally took the podium. There, she delivered a rousing speech outlining her goals as our district’s next congresswoman. She touched frequently on the “politics of the small”, the negative, divisive, and damaging politics that infects our system today. “Big problems require bold solutions” she says, a line that continues to echo in m mind over and over again. She stood tall, calling for a “uniquely American” system for universal health care, a withdrawal from Iraq, and the need to rebuild our middle class. Big problems — bold solutions, indeed.

Finally, to toot my own horn before I sign off, if you listen to AM 1310, you may hear an interview of yours truly on Ken Clark’s show. If you hear it, let me know what you think

Northern Colorado is quickly becoming a hub for the new energy economy. If the recent opening of the new Vestas wind-turbine blade plant, Woodward Governor announcing 100 new jobs for their wind-turbine inverter business, AVA Solar Inc.’s plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Del Camino and the new Colorado State energy research “super cluster” are any indication, the future looks bright.

Just as we did for the oil companies in their heyday, we can help spur additional investment in the region with tax credits and other incentives. Unfortunately, our House representative, Marilyn Musgrave, recently voted against such a renewable energy stimulus package. In fact, over the last few years, she has consistently supported the oil companies and the “old” energy way.

It’s time to ensure that our interests are represented in the U.S. Congress. Unlike Musgrave, Betsy Markey has renewable energy high on her priority list: She wrote: “We have a unique opportunity at this time in our history to change the way we power this country. Colorado is poised to lead this effort. Our state’s wind, solar and agricultural energy supplies offer opportunities to create jobs, protect the environment and decrease our dependence on foreign oil.” I have no doubt that she would have voted to secure the long-term economic and energy security of the region by voting “aye” to the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008.

Sean Rees,
Fort Collins

Update: This letter has been printed in The Coloradoan and The Journal Advocate.

At work – we’re making a concerted effort at work to get our product development cycle to the “Feature Complete” state. This means that all the prescribed features are implemented and that after this date (3/31), we will be in stabilization (“polishing up”) mode. As a team, we opted to make our ‘death march’ a twice weekly event (with company-provided dinner) instead of a whole-week pain fest right at the end of the cycle.

At home – I had the pleasure of entertaining David over the last few days. He was gracious enough to drive out from California and hang out with myself and Mary. We enjoyed some cycling along the city of Fort Collins trail system and out in Lory State Park. We visited some breweries and did some evening outings in downtown Fort Collins and Boulder. Fun was had all around.

In the community – I’ve started volunteering for the Betsy Markey for Congress campaign as a writer. Due to the incredible workload at work, I haven’t had time to put my thoughts to text. I’m hoping that when April rolls around, I’ll have more time. In addition, I’ve been selected as a delegate to the statewide Democratic convention in Colorado Springs as a delegate for Congressional District 4 and for Larimer County. Yay!

In the eCommunity – I’m actively (as active as I can ) executing my role as a server administrator on EsperNet. I’m also heading up efforts to replace the IRC daemon currently in use with a custom set of patches to ircd-hybrid. So far so good!

In my glass – New Belgium Springboard. Yum.

I arrived at Fossil Ridge High School (a LEED-certified green building) a little after 0800 to register. After being issued my delegate credentials, I made my way to the auditorium to review the agenda and the list of propositions before the assembly was gaveled into session.

This event was really two events: the Democratic Assembly, charged with selecting the county’s choice for nominee to the US Senate seat soon to be vacated by Wayne Allard (and other “local” business). The Convention, on the other hand, was charged with selecting the county’s choice for nominee for President of the United States.

Once gaveled into session, we took floor votes to pass various measures before the assembly (Robert’s Rules of Order). This phrase (and variations like it were heard often):

Chair: Is there a motion on the floor to <do something>?

Someone on the floor: So moved.

Chair: Is there a second?

Someone else: Seconded.

Chair: Motion before the floor to <do something>. Those in favor say Aye.

Floor: Aye!

Chair: Those opposed, say nay.

Floor: Nay!

Chair: The (Aye’s or Nay’s) have it. Motion (passes or fails).

After a short while, we broke into our house groups. I got the opportunity to meet and talk with my representative in the Colorado House, John Kefalas. He addressed us (House District 52) about his candidacy and goals. By acclimation, we voted to nominate him and hopefully, send him back to the House.

We broke for an early lunch while alternates were seated in the delegation. At 1145, we were gaveled back into session to vote on perhaps the most important item before the Assembly: the nomination for US Senate. After a speech to the floor by the leading candidate’s wife, we voted by paper ballot to send our entire contingent of 356 delegates to the State Convention in support of Mark Udall.

This voting process was hectic; attempting wrangle about 700 delegates into voting lines was rough going. This was substantially rectified in the next voting session.

At this point, the Assembly was recessed and the Convention was gaveled into session. I was sent as a delegate to both the Convention and the Assembly, so I stuck around (this was the most common arrangement).

The Convention took up its sole issue: a preference poll on our choice for the Democratic nominee for President. It was about a 60/40 split for Barack Obama. This vote was also a paper vote and was much more orderly. *Whew*

At this point, the convention adjourned and the assembly was gaveled back into session.

The final items on the agenda for the day included a breakout session for Colorado Senate District 14, where we nominated Bob Bacon (for those that have visited me, he has a namesake elementary school) and floor votes on the remaining issues before the assembly.

All in all, this was a very eye-opening and exhilarating experience. Whereas my former state has an anonymous primary system, Colorado’s caucus system involves voter participation at a very high level. At the convention, I got to listen to the candidates for the various local, statewide, and national offices. I got to talk to my representative in the Colorado House. I got to meet (again) a local labor leader. I got to listen to the fiery Betsy Markey (candidate for US Congress, CO-14) give a rousing speech to the floor. All in all, an exciting day. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud to be a Democrat.

Hopefully I’ll get selected as a delegate to the statewide convention in Colorado Springs.

Unlike my former state, Colorado holds primary elections in the form of caucuses. This is the first year we’ve caucused on Super Tuesday; and it was exciting. If you’re unaware, a caucus works by gathering the people in your voting precinct together at a common location and at a common time. On matters of importance, say, a nominee for President, you take a straw poll of the gathered voters. Each precinct is proportionally allocated a certain amount of delegates to the county convention based on registered voters in the precinct. At the end of the caucus, members of the precinct assume the roles of delegates and are dispatched to the county convention to report results officially.  This has a trickle up effect to the state convention and then to the national convention.

The Democratic caucus was indeed a crazy event. The neighboring precincts gathered at a local elementary school up the street from me (Werner Elementary) and filled both the gymnasium and the cafeteria. The first order of business was to elect a Chairman and Secretary of the precinct who would oversee the caucusing process and ensure the results were carried forth. We dispensed with that readily and began voting.

When the voting started, we stood in locations indicating our preference and were counted. I helped with the counting process, counting the votes for Hillary Clinton (though Hillary is not my personal preference). Counting was independently conducted twice to ensure validity. I reported my numbers to the secretary and the process moved on.

Our precinct was low-key relative to others. Our precinct secretary and chairman prepared the paperwork and conducted elections for who would represent the precinct at the county convention and assembly. Figuring that it might be an interesting experience, I threw my name in my hat and was voted upon.

We concluded business by voting on resolutions to be included in the party platform. Two members of the precinct introduced resolution and both were passed by the precinct for passage upwards. I’m honestly not sure where they go, though.

Overall, an interesting process. It was excited, crowded, and full of an enthusiastic energy that a race like this one can bring.

I look forward to attending the county convention and assembly to cast my vote on behalf of my precinct for Barack Obama.

Geeks only.