Conference back40::soapbox

    On the ...?

    He is one of the Lead singers for Chicago.

Hey, I remember back in the 70s when he was elected to Colorado Governor on
the "I'm not Richard Nixon" ticket that also brough us Tim Worth, Gary Hart
and Pat Schroeder.

He campaigned around the state on foot (no mean feat, given the size of
Colorado), prompting the bumper sticker "Dick Lamm may have walked the
state, but he sure can't run it."

Replacing Gov Love, who ran the state in ways that now make me think of
Sununu running NH, Lamm managed to take the state from running a surplus to
being nearly broke.  His environmental policies had the effect of setting
road improvements back 10 years, with the requisite 10-fold increase in
price of getting them done.

He was the first governor of Colorado who had too much of a 'tude to go
meet the students from CSM when they performed their yearly ritual of
pushing an orecart from Golden to the capitol building, so's to present the
gov with a can of Coors.

Never had much use for the man.

If it's gonna be him running against Unca Bill and {on the} Dole, he's sure
got my vote.

 He did used to show up at the July 4th celebrations in Colorado Springs and
 narrate..



 Jim

    Not quite sure if I understand this note topic.
    

    Lamn was reelected governor twice.  
    
    Some of his beliefs:
    
    1.  No extreme medical procedures for the elderly, terminally ill or
    infirm.  
    
    2.  Having worked in the peace corps in Central America, he saw first
    hand what unsafe abortions do to women.  When he was in the legislature
    (pre RvW) he authored the liberalizing of abortions in CO
    
    3.  In three elections, the CO republicans never managed to find a
    human who didn't come off as sane or reasonable as Lamm.  
    
    4.  Lamm demanded that anything anyone came up with for the govmint to
    do also have the funding pegged with it.  TYhis has created at least a
    temporary budget surplus in CO.
    
    5.  He has been married, once, and his first (and current) wife is a
    charming and eloquent individual.  
    
    6.  He did a remarkable job as governor, give that the legislature in
    CO is generally to the right of Anthony Scalia.   
    
    meg

    Oh yeah, I think I vaguely remember hearing something about him on the
    news.
    

    lamm may run for pres on the Perot party ticket.

    I really hope he doesn't. I'd like to vote in a two party race for
    once.
    -ss

    
    Saw Lamm on one of the weekend "talking heads" shows about a month
    back. While the items Meg lists in .6 were touched on, it seemed
    the single item he wanted to run on was (as I think he put it)
    "the generational inequality" of federal spending. 
    
    He points out that something like 40% of govenment spending is spent 
    on the elderly, the richest segment of the population; and something
    like 10% is spent on children, the poorest segment of the population.
    He is also willing to admit that the Social Security and Medicare
    systems are frauds (not his words), and need major overhalls.
    
    He was a good speaker, and seemed like a nice guy. 
    
    						Ed
    
    
    

    Ain't he the fella who was said to have advocated euthanasia for the
    elderly?
    
    I recall a marvelous parody done to the tune of Rocky Mountain High... 
    sung by an old couple to one another, in praise of Governor Lamm...
    
    "We'll put our heads in the oven in Colorado, little darlin'...
     and blow ourselves Rocky Mountain High."
    
    Cain't remember who done it though.
    

 I dunno if he advocated euthanasia, but he did advocate reduced medical
 technology being applied to the elderly, as I recall.


 He is officially in the race

    Think it may have been Tom Paxton.
    
    Lamm didn't so much advocate lining up old people for euthanasia, as he
    did advocate limiting expensive medical services to the old who are
    terminally ill.  having seen first hand how much physicians are willing
    to do in someones last days, I think this might not be such a bad
    thing.  
    
    He is a bit situational:  Is it better to keep a small child in an ICU
    who has potential to come out of whatever happened, or to have a
    90-year-old, who has had a stroke, kidney and heart failure, and has no
    potential of survival or quality of life taking up the bed instead? 
    (FWIW my sister told me her fellow nurses refer to the 90-year-old
    whose family wants "everything possible" done as "gardening." 
    
    Lamm's "Duty to Die" speech touched on these very issues, as well as
    how to deal with limited money and medical bills.  
    
    I can see his point in this.  I didn't always like Lamm's philosphies,
    but this is one that does need to be looked at, though AARP and people
    who have issues around death and dying will.

    
    	Sorry, Mr. Jones, your time is up.  We need the bed.
    
    

    re .14
    
    If you think we don't already have medical rationing in this country, I
    suggest you look over your HMO or insurance policy, as well as what
    exactly medicare/medicaid allows at this time.
    
    meg

    But at least I can choose who my doctor is.

    Try it on Medicare!  I have just been through this finding a new PCP
    for my mom.  My Dr. says she has her quota, her former PCP was a "take
    this pill and go away" type, and it took three weeks to find another
    that took assignment and is also a human being.
    
    meg

    
    	The old PCP just doesn't give her the same thrill, eh, Meg?
    
    	Has she tried LSD?  And I hear there's this new thing called
    	crack that's also a possibility.
    

    
      The Reform Party, eh ?  Apparently, Perot has not endorsed Lamm,
     but nowadays elections are about media, media are about money,
     and in the 'R' party, money is about Ross.
    
      bb

re: .19 (BB)

Yup; you heard it here first.  If you don't bow to the mantra of
"democrats and republicans", you're a whack-o.

Though you'd think this place would be a much better one if this
were true.

\john

from what I understand, his wife isn't endorsing him either.

she didn't want him to run.

    Lamm has $6000 in his campaign fund.
    
    He'll go far.

Lamm to the slaughter?

    pcp==Primary care physician, a rare commodity for those on medicare,
    and many people in HMO's.
    
    meg

  .23  it was just a matter of time - didn't think _you'd_ go
       for it though. ;>

Lamm joins presidential race
By Genevieve Anton

DENVER -- Tired of waiting for Ross Perot to make up his mind about running
for president, former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm announced Tuesday that he
wants to be the Reform Party's candidate.

"Conventional politics is not working for real Americans. We need to think
and do the unconventional. We need to take a third path," Lamm said at a
news conference at the University of Denver, where he teaches a course
called "Hard Choices."

"I begin this campaign with only one promise, and that's to present the
truth, in some cases the hard truth, and to trust you to make the right
choices."

Lamm was surrounded by family, former colleagues and political friends. His
wife, Dottie, who had expressed reservations about him entering the race
because it might draw votes from President Bill Clinton, told reporters
she's now on board.

"I'm a Democrat and I support the party's ideals, but we have to attack
programs sacred to the middle class," she said in an interview. "I think
our friends in the party will understand and support us."

Although he has raised just $6,000, has only four months to campaign before
the November election, is little known outside Colorado and is still in the
dark about Perot's intentions, Lamm believes he can win. Perot has said he
will run if nominated at the party's Aug. 11 convention, but it remains
unclear if he will actively seek the nomination.

Lamm spoke to the man who created and bankrolls the Reform Party this week,
but called Perot "a good poker player" who refused to tip his hand. Lamm
said he will not withdraw if Perot gets in and will not accept a vice
presidential slot. But he pledged to support whoever the party selects next
month.

Lamm said he would campaign on a platform of restoring fiscal sanity to
Washington by drastically curbing popular entitlement programs such as
Medicare and Social Security. The country, he said, needs a full 10 years
to balance the budget, cut the trade deficit, fix government institutions,
promote responsibility over indulgence and return politics to the people.

"America has to ask itself not what it wants, but what it can afford," Lamm
said. "The New Deal, in my mind, has become a raw deal for our children."

"What America needs, in short, is a `no BS' agenda. This is the one and
only place you'll get it."

Officials from the state Democratic Party have been reticent about Lamm's
potential candidacy. But with his announcement came the critiques.

Gov. Roy Romer, a friend and former staff director of Lamm's, doesn't
believe Lamm can win or be an effective president without a major party to
back him in Congress. Being a third party candidate "takes you out of the
real race," he said.

"Dick Lamm doesn't live in the real world," Romer said at his own news
conference. "I live in a system that's not perfect, but it's not
dysfunctional. . . . To throw out the whole thing and say none of it is
working, that's an `Alice in Wonderland' world."

While some political experts think Lamm's bid might hurt Democratic
candidates in Colorado, state party Chairman Mike Beatty said people who
support Perot's party are just as likely to be disgruntled Republicans or
independents.

"I think Dick Lamm is going to be stunned when he finds out who his
supporters really are," Beatty said. "He's not going to be comfortable over
there. He knows that in his heart, but he's trying to avoid it in his
mind."

Republican Rep. Joel Hefley, who represents the 5th Congressional District
that includes Colorado Springs, offered a cynical assessment of Lamm's
motives.

"Dick Lamm misses being in the spotlight and this feeds his ego," Hefley
said. "I think it's rather silly for him to act like he's serious about
winning; he's obviously not going to be president. But it may provide some
material for his next book or stimulate his lucrative speaking circuit once
it's over."

But Republican Sen. Hank Brown said no one should underestimate the man who
served as governor for three terms.

"When he ran for governor (in 1974), no one gave him a chance of winning,"
Brown said. "But he proved to be the most permanent resident of office in
Colorado history.`

Lack of money is a huge hurdle for Lamm, who plans to wage an "unorthodox,
grassroots campaign" without a lot of polls and political consultants. He
plans to spend the next few weeks drumming up support from Reform Party
leaders in other states. And he's wasting no time: Lamm planned an
early-morning trip Wednesday to court Reform activists in northern
California, before moving on to Minnesota.

"American politics can and should be different," he said. "And rest
assured, my campaign will be different."

    	
    	re .15
    
    	Exactly where in my note did I discuss whether or not medical
    	rationing exists?
    
    	It's existence, however, doesn't mean we need to make it policy.
    

Lamm on the issues:
    
Health care: Supports making basic health care available to all citizens,
cutting health care bureaucracy and spending more on public health programs
and education. Argues that the country should spend less on expensive care
for the dying and heroic efforts that are unlikely to prolong a person's
life more than a few days.

Social Security: Supports changes to bolster the program, including
stopping payments to wealthy retirees, lowering automatic cost of living
adjustments, increasing the federal retirement age to 70 and privatizing
the program.

Federal budget: While he once opposed a constitutional amendment to require
a balanced budget, Lamm now supports it. Would back cuts to military
pensions, civil service pensions, Social Security and various entitlement
programs, and higher taxes on alcohol and tobacco.

Immigration: Wants to limit immigration. Believes unskilled immigrants take
jobs away from America's own poor. Would require immigrants to show job
skills or talents that are needed in the workforce to enter the country.

Tort reform: Supports changes that would limit a person's ability to sue
hospitals and doctors. Wants to lower the costs of "defensive medicine" --
procedures and tests done mainly to protect against lawsuits.

RICHARD LAMM:

AGE: 60; Born Aug. 3, 1935, in Madison, Wis.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from University of Wisconsin in 1957; law
degree from University of California in 1961. Certified public accountant.

MILITARY: Army, first lieutenant, 1957-58.

EXPERIENCE: Colorado state representative, 1966-74; Colorado governor,
1975-86; unsuccessful candidate for 1992 Democratic Senate nomination;
executive director University of Denver's Center for Public Policy and
Contemporary Issues, 1987-present.

Author of several books including "The Angry West," co-authored with G.
Michael McCarthy; and "Pioneers and Politicians," with Duane A. Smith.

FAMILY: Wife, Dottie, a newspaper columnist. Two grown children, Scott
Hunter Lamm and Heather Susan Lamm.

HOBBIES: Hiking, mountain climbing, skiing, whitewater canoeing, reading.

QUOTE -- "Somebody's got to tell the American people that the New Deal and
the Great Society are unsustainable."

EXCERPTS OF LAMM'S REMARKS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Associated Press

"America has to ask itself not what it wants, but what it can afford. The
choices we make now will really determine whether the United States will
maintain the mantle of greatness into the new millennium."

------

"Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats want to deal with our most
pressing issues. They have hit the snooze alarm and they've gone back to
sleep. Neither the Republicans or the Democrats have an agenda that will
keep this country great."

------

"Special interest money has hardened the arteries, has shut off the flow of
blood to the brain and it simply could cause democracy a paralyzing stroke.
So the question to me isn't which political party can keep this country
great. The question is really: Can either of them?"

------

"In the span of a single generation America has gone from the largest
creditor nation in the world to the largest debtor nation in the world and
this is a road to decline. This is not a road to continued greatness."

------

"The current political system is simply dysfunctional, and so also are most
of our public institutions. They don't work as they were intended. Many of
our public institutions have become so dysfunctional that they would be
ideal guests on daytime talk shows."

------

"We need more than a change of presidents. We need a change in our
political culture, the whole political culture. That's why I'm here today,
to announce my candidacy as president of the United States on the Reform
Party ticket."

------

"Ross Perot was right. In the Reform Party, he has created a movement that
is bigger than himself."

------

"Time is short and there is much work to do. America needs a decade of
reform and renewal. It just doesn't need a new president, it needs a whole
decade of reform and renewal. Ten years to balance the budget and stop
borrowing from our children. Ten years to reduce or eliminate the trade
deficit. Ten years to fix our institutions and make them work again. Ten
years to promote responsibility instead of indulgence as a national virtue.
Ten years to put American politics and American government back in the
hands of the people. These will be the pillars of our campaign, and they
will be also the pillars of an American renewal."

------

"Most Americans patriotically love their county but hate their political
system, and that's terribly sad. American politics can and should be
different. It must be different, and my campaign will be different."

------

"So I begin this campaign with only one promise. And that's to present the
truth, and in some cases the hard truth and to trust you to make the right
choices."

------

"What America needs in short is a `No B.S. agenda.' The Reform Party is the
one and only place I believe that you will get that."

------

"Now, you don't have to change your party to join us. But if you're looking
around at the Democratic and the Republican party candidates and you're
saying `is that all there is?' come and join us."

------

"So voters will have to decide for themselves whether my message is one of
gloom or whether of hope. I firmly believe it is one of hope.

------

"My parent's generation survived a depression and won a war. Our challenges
are less dramatic but I truly believe they are equally urgent. This nation
will mobilize and respond as it has in the past to challenges. But only if
its leaders are willing to confront the hard truths, and we owe this to our
children and their children and all of America's future."

------------------------------

    re: .26
    
    Even though the article didn't explicitly this, I'll assume that
    Lamm is a former Democrat.  And in that case, why didn't he run
    against Clinton in the primaries when he had the opportunity?
    
    
> "I'm a Democrat and I support the party's ideals, but we have to attack
> programs sacred to the middle class," she said in an interview.
    
    I wonder what programs she's referring to.  I consider myself to be
    middle class, and there are currently *no* government programs that
    I'm aware of that I consider to be "sacred" to me.
    
    Chris

Re: -1 last 'graf

Agreed.

> QUOTE -- "Somebody's got to tell the American people that the New Deal and
> the Great Society are unsustainable."
    
    Somebody's got to tell Lamm that most of his potential voters don't
    have the slightest idea what the New Deal and the Great Society are.
    And of course, that's part of the problem.
    
    Chris

>Although he has raised just $6,000, has only four months to campaign before
>the November election, is little known outside Colorado and is still in the
>dark about Perot's intentions, Lamm believes he can win.

Just what we need.  A president with less grasp on reality than the current
crop of bozos.

>    I wonder what programs she's referring to.  I consider myself to be
>    middle class, and there are currently *no* government programs that
>    I'm aware of that I consider to be "sacred" to me.

You mean you don't care if you never see the $ you've paid to Social Security?

> A president with less grasp on reality than the current crop of bozos.

It may not be much, but it can get him elected.



:^)

    > You mean you don't care if you never see the $ you've paid to
    > Social Security?
    
    Agagagagag.  Oh, you're serious?  Heck, I kissed off that money
    many years ago!
    
    Chris

    
    re: -1
    
    	yup, we'll never see that cash.
    
    
    jim

    Re. tort reform, I asked a friend of mine who is a physician how much
    malpractice insurance cost him.  He runs his own office where he is the
    only doctor, his wife is the receptionist, and he has 2 part time
    nurses.  Charges $30 for a visit, generally.  Kind of an old fashioned
    general practice doctor trying to keep his head above the water.
    
    He pays $90,000 a year in malpractice insurance premiums, which of
    course are passed along to all of us in his fees.  That *does* seem a
    bit excessive to me, and I would be quite willing to give up the
    possibility of becoming a multi-millionaire in case of medical
    malpractice, in order to get more reasonably-priced health care from
    now on.
    

    Actually,
    
    Lamm may have problems getting on the ballot in CO, as he has been a
    Registerd Dem in recent months.  
    
    A Lamm candidacy could actually change the complexion of debates.  He
    has nothing to lose, and everything to gain in getting his message out. 
    It may force both Dole and Clinton to start being realistic in campaign
    promises and approaches to reducing the deficit.  
    
    meg

>    He pays $90,000 a year in malpractice insurance premiums

Where are the obscenity laws when you need them?

That sort of thing has to give a lot of people a lot of second thoughts
about entering the profession.

    
    RE:751.40
    
     >It may force both Dole and Clinton to start being realistic in
    campaign promises and approaches to reducing the deficit.
    
     Its not the promises they make but the ones they keep after getting
    elected which seem to be few and far bewteen!
    
    Thats my problem with most of them.
    
    
    Dave

    Lamm?
    
    It was over before he got on an airplane.
    
    								-mr. bill

    so is this guy good-looking, or what?

    <snicker>

    
    He was on Larry King..He is disheartened by the Democratic part
    in there fiscal beliefs. He feels they do not have a handle on 
    the economy. He is pro-choice but feels that should not be 
    an issue  in an  election - that is a personnel thing and there
    are more important issues. He leans towards the republicans 
    fiscal conservatism and feels at this point but parties are
    too entrenched and individuals cannot go against "party"
    beliefs and that Americans need a new party.
    
    He used to have an adorable Basset Hound named Trevor when
    he was governor.. : ) - just an aside for dog lovers
    
    
    
    

He's a democrat that leans towards republican fiscal policies.

Largely an outgrowth of his environment.  He tried getting elected in
Colorado.  The first time ("I'm not Richard Nixon") was easier.  The
subsequent times, he realized that he did have to appeal to a few voters
outside of Denver, which was his primary base of liberal voters.

Many of the democrat politicians out in CO got very good at preaching
conservative gospel during the election years, then enacting liberal
policies once in office.  (Ref: Gary Hart, Gov. Gloom, and to a lesser
extent, Tim Wirth.)

>He's a democrat that leans towards republican fiscal policies.

Kind of like Weld? :-)

    This guy seems very interresting.  I wasn't a resident of CO when he
    was gov. This topic has been very informative.
    -ss

    The only problem I see with him, and the reason I will vote for Browne,
    is that Lamm is a reformer, a government insider. The system IMO is not
    reformable (is that a word?).

    for those who think he is, Lamm is NOT an environmentalist.  He brought
    "Two Forks" back to life, which Governor Vanderhoof (R) had tried to
    drive a stake through (thank goddess for the EPA)  He was also involved
    in the financing of AWDI, an attempted water grab in the San Luis
    Valley.  He may have some credentials, like keeping the winter olympics
    out of Colorado in 78, but his only opposition was that he wanted to
    know who was going to pay for the upgrades to highways, waste treatment
    and other infrastucture.  He was unwilling to have all CO taxpayers go
    into debt to make a few ski area financiers wealthy.  
    
    meg

I think it was the '76 Olympics.

Back in his first term, he wanted to redivert all the federal highway funds
to create bike paths.  Nice idea, but the feds (with their interminable
strings attached) said "No, this money is for highways for cars.  Use it
for that or give it up."

He fought it for a while, and the only net result was that the roads got
built too late, and ended up costing more.  Lots more.  And many of the
roads in question were around Denver, and not particularly close to the
airport, ski resorts, or parts in between.  Strange, 'cause at the time,
Denver was about the only place he was getting votes.

>    The only problem I see with him, and the reason I will vote for Browne,
>    is that Lamm is a reformer, a government insider. The system IMO is not
>    reformable (is that a word?).

See 87.1152 for a true outsider.

    
    	I tried, but I couldn't find that reply.
    

Whoops.  87.1122.

    
    	I know.  But I owed you 1 at least.