Who will provide relief from rising costs?
My wife and I are 73 and living on a fixed income. We find it very difficult to come up with money to pay our ever-increasing utility bills. We struggle to decide whether we should buy food, medicine or pay our utility bills in the cold winter months.
Prices are rising out of control, and those of us on a fixed income can’t keep up with day-to-day expenses. Now, with a hot summer behind us, we face yet another proposed rate hike by Xcel Energy. As people are deciding whom to support for governor, I recommend they ask who will stand up for the consumer and appoint a Public Utilities Commission that will look out for the average Coloradan and not the big energy interests.
Any kind of help or relief that Xcel and the PUC can provide for us, and for other senior citizens like us, would be very much appreciated.
Vincente Z. Serrano, Littleton
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The race to be Colorado’s next governor
Re: “Ritter and Beauprez differ on how to stimulate growth,” Oct. 8 business news story.
In every business- and economy- related question, Bob Beauprez’s position supports economic growth while Bill Ritter supports the growth of government, unions and regulation. It is embarrassing for Colorado that someone so extremely liberal could have a lead in the polls over a pro-business congressman who has served his district with distinction.
Sadly, the GOP has only itself to blame: When the so-called “business community,” theoretically a critical part of the Republican base (especially financially), supported Referendum C, many voters like me had to ask what the Republicans stand for.
It used to be for limited government and liberty, but it became nothing more than redistributing citizens’ money as recklessly as the Democrats do, just to different people. Beauprez consistently opposed Referendum C, but is still suffering from the Republicans’ likely-fatal self-inflicted wound. If the Democrats take the Colorado governorship, it will be because Bill Owens and friends abandoned the most important principles of the Republican Party. Then we will have to suffer through four years of an economically clueless Bill Ritter.
Ross Kaminsky, Nederland
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Re: “Governor’s race comes down to dirty immigration fight,” Oct. 9 Jim Spencer column.
Jim Spencer tries, but fails, to absolve Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter from his failure to prosecute several illegal immigrants charged with major crimes before allowing them to go free upon pleading guilty to far lesser offenses. That’s not the kind of DA or governor we Coloradans want. We want an honest man, one like Bob Beauprez, not a governor nor a district attorney who works for the welfare of all of us citizens and legal residents.
Ritter’s favoring of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and their kids and amnesty for illegal aliens is not going to help him in his race with a man ideally fit to govern Colorado: Bob Beauprez.
Charles L. King, Boulder
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Re: “Debaters talk immigration,” Oct. 6 news story.
Bob Beauprez stated that he would adhere to his Catholic faith and its beliefs. That would mean no abortion at all under any circumstance – no exceptions. That would mean no birth control except abstinence. That would mean no stem-cell research. If Beauprez stays loyal to his party and his faith, he would have to adhere to these policies.
Carolyn Turner, Parker
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As a concerned native Coloradan, I am disappointed to see that neither candidate for governor addresses the serious problem of a population that is growing out of control in our beautiful state. How can any candidate for governor ignore this problem? Drive along the Front Range and you cannot help but see farm land being bulldozed for more housing developments, traffic congestion, pollution and trash that litters our highways. Are we going to wait for water shortages to dictate this? We need a governor who is loyal to Colorado and has the courage to take a stand and won’t be dominated by developers and Realtors. Someone who will take strong measures to rectify wild growth before we look any more like California.
My prayer is that Colorado will be spared from further destruction and we won’t be the generation that stood by and did nothing. I hope one of these candidates will have the courage to be proactive and make a real difference to preserve Colorado.
Ken Gennetta, Colorado City
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Every day there are people blasting Bill Ritter and Bob Beauprez and explaining why we should vote for one and not the other, as if they were the only two candidates running for governor.
Wake up, Colorado! We do have more than two choices for governor of our fair state. Despite the media’s lack of coverage of them, there are three other candidates in the race: Paul Fiorino (unaffiliated), Charles W. Sylvester (Republican write-in) and Dawn Winkler (Libertarian).
As citizens, we must recognize the fact that the only reason the two-party system dominates our politics is that we as citizens allow it to by simply accepting Republicans vs. Democrats as an either/or choice. The race for governor shouldn’t be about accepting the lesser of two evils, but about picking the right person for the job. Look into the qualifications of the other three people running before making up your mind.
And for those of you who feel your vote will be wasted if you don’t vote for one of the big two – you are helping to perpetuate the system and I think your vote is wasted when you don’t vote for the best person for the job, even if they aren’t Republican or Democrat.
Chris Heismann, Lakewood
Why should the victims have to change?
All the repercussions and solutions to the recent tragic events of school shootings, terrorist threats, and misconduct against congressional pages seem to involve making the victims change. It has been suggested that armed guards be added to schools, girls take up self- defense, families quit bringing bottles for babies when flying, and minors not be allowed to work in our Congress.
Let’s stop punishing the victims and put the changes back on the one common element: men. Perhaps we should call for no guns sold to men, no men allowed on public transportation, and no men allowed in our government. As ridiculous as this sounds, so does making women and children (and innocent men) continue to give up their right to feel safe, comfortable and involved. When will we get to the real issue of why these men felt so angry or disenfranchised that instead of asking for help, they killed, molested or blew up something? Only then will real change occur.
Janet Williams, Arvada
Both sides of the story
Re: “Boots tell tales of 2,744 U.S. lives lost in Iraq,” Oct. 10 news story.
The picture of the 2,744 pairs of empty boots was quite graphic. Where is the picture of the empty shoes of the Sept. 11 victims and the tens of thousands of Iraqis murdered by Saddam Hussein that were also on display? It would be nice to see both sides of the story.
Wes Piippo, Arvada
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