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Boycott Dave

No sooner had we called out Sen. Dave “Police State” Schultheis in this space last week for defending that new anti-immigrant law in Arizona than he called for a boycott of Boulder because of the city’s ban on travel to that state.

How very R-Colorado Springs of him.

Oh no! What will we do if all of those right-wingnuts stop coming to Boulder and spending their money?!

Our restaurants will close! The undocumented workers sweating away over those kitchen stoves and sinks will lose their jobs, and they will have to move south, to Colorado Springs maybe, to find work!

Does Schultheis really think the great American market could withstand a complete pullout of immigrant workers? Who does he think does his dishes after he eats his posh five-course meals?

Dave might want a “free” market, but he’s going to have to get the government to crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers to free his perfect little world from this perceived blight. Let’s see how his benefactors like that.

“Boulder has a history of looking the other way when it comes to enforcing the law,” Schultheis snorts in a May 6 news release. “Not only does Boulder act like a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, but its district attorney allows an illegal needle exchange program to operate right under his nose, and the city council recently voted to exempt topless women from a city ban on public nudity.”

Oooh, that’s low, Dave. Don’t bring the boobies into this.

Hey, Dave, you forgot one. We also let 10,000 people gather on the CU campus every April 20 to smoke pot.

Ain’t Boulder grand?

Hemp, hemp hooray!

Speaking of Mary Jane, next week is Hemp History Week, and none other than U.S. Rep Ron Paul, R-Texas, who has sponsored legislation to allow hemp farming, is trumpeting the benefits of this wrongly maligned crop.

He issued a statement noting that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew industrial hemp and used it to make cloth. The full statement is available at www.hemphistoryweek.com/press.

Organizers of the national Hemp History Week celebration are trying to collect at least 50,000 hand-signed postcards addressed to President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, urging them to end the ban on hemp farming.

“Lost opportunities for farmer and businesses have real consequences,” says David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, which uses hemp oil in almost all of its products. “With over $360 million in estimated U.S. retail sales, American companies making hemp products have no choice but to import their raw materials because our farmers continue to fear they will be prosecuted for growing hemp, due to an out-of-date federal policy which confuses non-drug industrial hemp with drug varieties of cannabis.”

We don’t have the votes

You probably heard about that recent legislation signed by the governor increasing the amount of electricity that Xcel and other utilities must provide from renewable-energy sources.

Well, the fossil fuels industries didn’t like that one bit and sounded the alarm that costs to consumers would increase because renewable energy is more expensive.

Western Tradition Partnership (WTP) — that Montana-based conservative group that funds smear campaigns against liberal candidates like former Longmont City Council member Karen Benker — had even begun pushing for a ballot initiative to reverse the renewable energy initiative.

But, alas, WTP backed off that effort last week, lamenting that it would just be too much trouble. After all, it would be much easier to try to pass something through the Legislature next year than try to swim against the current of public sentiment.

“Polls show people overwhelmingly support affordable energy and consumer choice, but putting the issue on the ballot requires tremendous time and money,” backpedals Dan Fuchs, WTP’s director of government relations. “Rather than let them off the hook, we are going to hold legislators accountable. They are the ones who stripped utility customers of voter-approved consumer protections. We’re going to make legislators fix this because they’re the ones who broke it.”

We’re sure lawmakers are shaking in their boots.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com