At yesterday's No Kings protest here in nearby Edwards, CO, Indivisible Vail/Eagle invited our representative Meghan Lukens to give a short speech. I booed her loudly.

The reason why is because Meghan Lukens is more of the same. She's a corporate Democrat and everything that's wrong with the Democratic Party right now. Just look at who her contributors are.

Meghan takes quite a bit of money from lobbyists and special interests. These folks all expect a return on their investment. But what if their interests don't line up with ours? We don't know. Not knowing is not right. Meghan doesn't seem to understand or not care that citizens want to get rid of money in politics.

According to this reporting in Colorado Politics, while the rest of us are struggling representative Lukens attended an all-expenses paid retreat this month at the Sonnelap in Vail with roughly "15 other moderate Democrats". Rooms in the Sonnelap go for $500 a night.

Democrats retreat in Vail raises intraparty eyebrows

A group of Democratic state legislators headed to Vail during the Oct. 4 weekend for an “opportunity caucus” retreat that also included lobbyists, raising a host of questions, including who paid for the getaway and whether the policymakers discussed the legislative business away from the public eye. The “opportunity” caucus rejected the latter insinuation, stating […]

Colorado PoliticsMarianne Goodland

More reporting here:

Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors - Rocky Mountain Voice

At least 17 Democratic state lawmakers gathered with lobbyists during a weekend retreat at a Vail hotel organized by the nonprofit Colorado Opportunity Caucus. The two-day gathering included “educational panels” and discussions, according to state Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat who is chair of the caucus formed in January as a nonprofit. She said the purpose of the event was to “get a group of pragmatic, diverse legislators together to really talk about our goals for our caucus based on what we think the Colorado people really want and need.”

rockymountainvoice.comExternal Outlet

The bill for representative Lukens' room and all other expenses was paid by some shadowy outfit called the "Opportunity Caucus".

Look who she pals around with. According to the rockymountainvoice.com piece some of the attendees were what I'd call corporate, dark money shitheads. "Lobbyist Jason Hopfer — whose clients include the Colorado Association of Realtors, Xcel Energy, the private prison contractor GEO Group, and the Denver-based tech company Ibotta — attended the retreat. Other lobbyists present included Patrick Boyle, whose clients include the cities of Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village and the Colorado Restaurant Association; Katie March, who represents GoWest Credit Union Association; and Brian Tanner, vice president of public policy for the Colorado Association of Realtors.

"As a nonprofit, the Opportunity Caucus doesn’t have to report its donors. Nonprofits file annual financial forms, called 990s, that generally only include their total revenue, expenses, assets and liabilities.

"Daugherty declined to name the group’s donors after being asked by The Sun, but she said they include business and environmental groups, as well as nonprofits. She also said members of the caucus pay dues".

Working class folks? Transparency? Not so much.

It is out of bounds to me that on a day where millions are protesting against corruption and money in politics, Indivisible Vail/Eagle invited Lukens to speak. Did they know about the Opportunity Caucus shindig? How could they not have? It was all over the local political feeds. Or are they okay with it? I'm going to find out and post back here.

This is why I booed Lukens loudly. Not because I'm some sort of rabble-rouser. I was shocked no one else booed.

It looks to me like there's a rift between the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party. Or in other words the same folks who ran Bernie out in 016 and 020, the same folks who hid Biden's condition from us, the same folks who didn't allow a primary in 2024, the same folks who installed Kamala – are at it again.

Once again, Democrats want arsonists in charge of putting out the fires. They've cost us dearly. It's way past time for we the people to take control of the Democratic Party and clean house.

tty next time,