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Rove will crank it up on the Jeff Crank Show tomorrow

May 27th, 2011, 9:52 am by

Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, is scheduled to be on Jeff Crank’s radio show on 740 KVOR tomorrow morning.

“He will be on during the first segment from 8 until 8:15,” Crank said in an email.

In an invitation to his Facebook friends, Crank said he’ll have a “preview” of Rove’s visit to Colorado Springs next week and a “review” of the current Republican presidential candidates.

Crank will be broadcasting from Territory Days in Old Colorado City at the corner of 25th and Colorado Avenue between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

In addition to talking to Rove, Crank will discuss the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of TABOR.

“The assault on taxpayers never stops,” he said on Facebook. “Now several politicians – including usual suspects Senator John Morse and former Representative Michael Merrifield have filed a federal lawsuit to end your right to vote on tax increases – as required by TABOR – the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. We’re going to fight back and tell you ways that you can become involved.”

Crank takes calls at 719-540-0740.

Just one request, folks: Please don’t accuse a certain reporter of being a puppy killer.

Posted in: Etc. • • • • • | Post a Comment »

Quote of the Day

May 20th, 2011, 10:38 am by

“Well, like my Grandma used to say, ‘It takes two to tango.’ From what I have read, both men need to grow up.”

– Mark Shellhammer wrote today in the City Desk blog about the ongoing dispute between Jeff Crank and John Weiss.

Crank is a radio personality on KVOR and the state director of Americans for Prosperity, which clogged the airwaves with television and radio ads that portrayed losing mayoral candidate Richard Skorman as a tax-and-spend liberal.

Weiss is the publisher of the Indy. Weiss took a leave of absence to work on Skorman’s campaign. After election results were announced Tuesday night, Weiss called KVOR and asked Crank to reveal his donors.

“He has not said where this money came from,” Weiss said on the radio. “Now that the election (is) over, as part of the healing process, would he say, ‘Hey, I got this money from local people. I got it from national groups. I got it from the Ku Klux Klan.’ We don’t know where he got this money, where he spent it.”

Crank demanded an apology from Weiss over the KKK comment. Weiss said his comments were heated and a tad over the top, but he didn’t apologize.

Posted in: Elections • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Crank ‘unfairly smeared and distorted’ Skorman’s record, Weiss says

May 19th, 2011, 9:06 pm by

John Weiss/Photo by Cayton Photography

John Weiss, publisher of the Colorado Springs Independent, issued the following statement in response to Jeff Crank’s demands for an apology over Weiss’ comments on the radio Tuesday night.

Here is the full text of Weiss’ statement:

For a man who throws around lots of mud, Jeff Crank certainly has very thin skin.

Yes, my analogy was a tad over the top. While driving home last Tuesday night I heard Crank gloating on the radio about the election results. I called KVOR-AM to point out that Crank’s shadowy front group, Americans for Prosperity (for millionaires and billionaires), had just used Joe McCarthy-like tactics to flood the local airways with a $100,000 ad buy that unfairly smeared and distorted the record of a great man, Richard Skorman.

My comments, while heated, were 100% factually accurate. Why do I call Jeff Crank’s group shadowy? Because Jeff Crank’s refuses to inform the public where he gets his money.  Obviously, the people funding Jeff Crank do not want it known that they are spending big bucks to influence Colorado Springs elections. Thus, he runs a shadowy front group.

For all we know, Crank could have gotten money from a group who did not want a human rights do-gooder elected in Colorado Springs?  Or perhaps the billionaire Koch brothers?  Was he funded by Doug Bruce? Or some corporation seeking a mayor who might want to privatize Memorial Hospital?

As the great economist Milton Friedman stated: “He who pays the piper, call the tune.”

Who paid Crank to do their dirty work – and why is still wanting to hide who paid for his ads?

People of good will, of all political stripes, must challenge Crank to let the public know who paid for his attack ads. For if we remain silent, then this practice will expand in future local election cycles.  And that will be a sad state of affairs for the citizens of Colorado Springs.

This election is over. Like everyone from the Skorman campaign, I wish Mayor-elect Bach the very best. And I pledge to do my very best to help him move our city forward.

One last comment about Jeff Crank. When he ran for Congress, he vehemently denounced the very same independent expenditure committee ads paid for by secret out-of-state money. These TV, radio and print ads, paid for by now Congressman Doug Lamborn supporters, actually accused Crank of being a homo-loving, big taxer. No lie.  Now Crank turns around and uses the same tactics he once publicly deplored.

Jeff Crank is a hypocrite.

John Weiss
Publisher
Colorado Springs Independent

Posted in: Elections • Etc. • • • • • | 7 Comments »

Crank demands apology from Weiss over Ku Klux Klan comment

May 19th, 2011, 10:20 am by

Conservative radio host Jeff Crank is demanding an apology from Indy publisher John Weiss, who questioned Tuesday whether Crank’s television and radio ads against mayoral candidate Richard Skorman were funded by the Ku Klux Klan.

Weiss was making a rhetorical point rather than accusing Crank of being backed by the KKK.

Still, Crank said Weiss’ comments were out of line.

“His rhetoric was uncalled for and beyond the bounds of civil discourse,” Crank said.

Crank is calling on Weiss to apologize to the members of Americans for Prosperity, a Republican advocacy organization that spent about $100,000 in TV and radio ads that portrayed Skorman as a tax-and-spend liberal. Crank is the group’s Colorado director.

After election results were revealed Tuesday, Weiss, who took a leave of absence from the Indy to work on Skorman’s campaign, called KVOR while Crank was on the air.

“I have a question for Jeff Crank,” Weiss said on KVOR.

“He has not said where this money came from. Now that the election (is) over, as part of the healing process, would he say, ‘Hey, I got this money from local people. I got it from national groups. I got it from the Ku Klux Klan.’ We don’t know where he got this money, where he spent it. Everyone else reported it.”

Crank said he’s already disclosed where he got the money.

“I have explained to (Weiss) and to others that AFP’s issue ads were funded by general revenue from AFP Colorado,” he said.

“Not only are we not supposed to file paperwork with the city clerk because it is an issue ad there is no form that the city has for AFP to file on,” Crank added. “The City Clerk’s Office has confirmed three months ago and again last week that there is no paperwork that AFP needs to file. The City Attorney’s Office confirmed as well. I have been very up front that we spent $100,000 on radio and television for the ad.”

Weiss is in a meeting but said he would call back to comment.

Crank called Weiss’ comment about the Ku Klux Klan “despicable.”

“Now, if a conservative had said such a thing, there would be mounting pressure for an apology and for John Weiss to step down or be reprimanded in some way,” Crank said.  “His behavior was not just out of line but pathetic.”

To listen to the comments on KVOR on Tuesday night, click here.

Posted in: Elections • Etc. • • • • | 41 Comments »

Crank: Skorman owes Bach’s chief of staff an apology

April 30th, 2011, 8:22 am by

Jeff Crank

Jeff Crank said on his radio show this morning that mayoral candidate Richard Skorman “has come out of his skin” over TV and radio ads that portray Skorman as a tax-and-spend liberal.

“My ads are honest, and they’re truthful,” he said.

“The truth hurts.”

Crank invited Skorman to appear on his show two weeks in a row. But in a sharply worded email Friday, Skorman flatly rejected the offer, saying he wouldn’t appear on his show this Saturday or any Saturday.

Crank responded to Skorman’s email last night. In it, he questions the role that Indy publisher John Weiss is playing in Skorman’s campaign given that Skorman questioned the ties between Crank and his organization Americans for Prosperity and Laura Carno.

Carno is a producer on the Jeff Crank Show — unpaid, according to Crank — and she also works as chief of staff for Steve Bach, Skorman’s opponent in the mayor’s race.

“You are wrong in your assertion that she is or was an employee of mine and, frankly, you owe her an apology,” Crank wrote in the email to Skorman.

“Now, how about John Weiss’ arrangement with the Independent and your campaign?  Is he a paid employee of either?  Might there be an appearance of impropriety there?  I don’t know but there certainly would be much more than exists between Laura and I when there is no business or financial relationship.  None,” he wrote.

Here is the full and unedited text of Crank’s email:

Richard,

Thank you for the response.  While I appreciate the time you took to repeat your false charges, I noticed that you still have not challenged the truthfulness of the claims made in the ad.  The ads are based on your record and your policies.  Period.

Taking your email point by point, you claim that my show is “simply a vehicle to espouse my biased views.”  Yes, it is.  I have never claimed to be journalist.  I am a commentator on political issues.  You didn’t seem to mind when you came on the mayoral forum I hosted a few months ago (where you were treated fairly).  In any case, of course it is my biased view.  That is what I am paid to do.  Given that, I have a reputation and track record of allowing those I don’t agree with the time to talk and respectfully defend their positions.  If you listened to my show you wouldn’t be able to find a single example of a guest who I disagree with that I have been rude or disrespectful to.

With regards to my comments about out-of-town 527’s, yes, I did say that.  You seem to be under the false impression-perhaps guided by the hysteria on the left about Americans for Prosperity – that this is an “out of town” or out of state operation.  First, AFP is not a 527, we are a 501(c)4.  Second, the Colorado chapter is fully funded by contributions within Colorado.  The money I have raised to fund AFP Colorado was raised right here.  I know that might not match the view that George Soros has pounded into you, but it is the truth.  The statement I made was about groups that come in, make unfounded allegations and nobody knows who the group is.  Well, you know exactly who is behind the AFP ad – me and the 6,000 AFP members in Colorado Springs.  Reporters can call me and get my comments – hardly a “fly-by-night operation”  or an unaccountable one.

You are irresponsible in your charge that Laura Carno is now, or ever has been, an employee of mine or of Americans for Prosperity.  The information that you apparently Googled about her appearance at an AFP press conference does not mean that she worked for the organization.  She went to the press conference on her own time and own her own dime – one time and one day.  In your zeal for a “gotcha moment” you made an inaccurate portrayal.  You are wrong.

In addition, Laura is not an employee of mine on the radio show.  She is and always has been a volunteer radio producer for me – not an employee.  She also took a leave of absence when the runoff began and has not done any work for the show on-air or off.  You are wrong in your assertion that she is or was an employee of mine and, frankly, you owe her an apology.  Now, how about John Weiss’ arrangement with the Independent and your campaign?  Is he a paid employee of either?  Might there be an appearance of impropriety there?  I don’t know but there certainly would be much more than exists between Laura and I when there is no business or financial relationship.  None.

I’ve already explained that AFP Colorado is funded by Colorado contributions – much like the police and fire union which funded an ad as well.  I don’t anticipate you will ask them to disclose all the police and firefighters who contributed to the ads that were run in your campaign, so let’s be honest about a membership based organization being able to use their First Amendment right to run ads.  Americans for Prosperity ran those ads with funds raised inside Colorado.  I ran them and am fully responsible for them.

Your comment trying to connect me to Doug Bruce is clever, but inaccurate.  I have a long and well-documented history of fighting with Doug Bruce.

Finally, Richard, on a personal note- and you may not want to hear this, but here goes.  Every candidate for office (me included) faces a decision about whether they are going to do things in a campaign that they are not proud of – things they later regret.  Perhaps things like accusing an opponent of being a developer when you voted for 50 developments between 2001 and 2003 on council or implying in an ad that you opponent is responsible for the scar on the mountain when it is actually the registered agent for your campaign who worked on the project.  Perhaps the regret would be making charges that your opponents chief of staff worked for a group running an ad when they really didn’t.

I hope you will finish this race standing tall and standing strong and being able to look into the mirror feeling good about the way you ran the race.

I know I have no regrets about running the ads that my organization, Americans for Prosperity, is running right now.  They are truthful, they talk about your record, they are well sourced, they are not a personal attack on you, and they ask citizens to contact you about your policies.  I understand why you wouldn’t like them, but they are truthful and the fact that you haven’t challenged me as to their truthfulness is proof of their validity.

I’m sorry you’ve decided not to be a guest on my show.

Jeff

Posted in: Elections • • • • • | 12 Comments »

Skorman to Crank: ‘I will not be subject to your distortions or lies’

April 29th, 2011, 4:09 pm by

Mayoral candidate Richard Skorman just responded to Jeff Crank’s invitation to appear on his radio show tomorrow morning, and the response ain’t pretty.

Skorman compares Crank to Douglas Bruce, saying he’s part of the group of people who “have given Colorado Springs such a bad name around the country.”

“I will not appear on your show tomorrow or any Saturday,” Skorman said in an email to Crank.

“You have proven over and over again that your radio show is simply a vehicle for you to espouse your biased views and is not a balanced forum for public discussion. I will not be subject to your distortions or lies,” he wrote.

Crank could not be immediately reached for comment.

Here’s the full text of Skorman’s email to Crank:

Jeff,

I will not appear on your show tomorrow or any Saturday. You have proven over and over again that your radio show is simply a vehicle for you to espouse your biased views and is not a balanced forum for public discussion. I will not be subject to your distortions or lies.

For example, didn’t you just a couple weeks ago tell the Colorado Springs Independent that you despised 527s? I quote, “These fly-by-night groups come into town, make their allegations, and then they’re gone,” you said on April 14, 2011. “There’s no accountability, there’s no responsibility – it’s just wrong.” [Colorado Springs Independent, 4/14/11]

Here you are, less than two weeks later, launching an outside special interest campaign of your own. The facts are simple: in a campaign with no limits on contributions to candidates, if you didn’t have something to hide, you wouldn’t resort to secret outside spending.  So, I’m giving you the opportunity to do the responsible thing and disclose the American’s for Prosperity list of donors who are funding your Independent Expenditure campaign against me. I am also asking you to do the responsible thing and at least acknowledge the appearance of a conflict-of-interest of your employee Laura Carno, the recent producer of your radio show, who is Bach’s Campaign Chief of Staff.

Jeff, I challenge you to do the right thing and take down these IE ads immediately, so your candidate, Steve Bach, can finish this run-off standing on his own two feet, without the support of your secretly-funded, out-of-state special interest group.  Steve Bach should demand this of you as well.

It’s people like you and Doug Bruce who have given Colorado Springs such a bad name around the country.  It’s time for that to end.

Richard Skorman

Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • • | 11 Comments »

Quote of the Day

April 29th, 2011, 10:24 am by

“I’ve invited him on the show for the second week in a row, but do you hear the crickets chirping?”

– conservative radio host Jeff Crank, who said on Facebook today that he plans to talk about the “self-destruction” of mayoral candidate Richard Skorman on his show tomorrow.

“Generally known as a ‘nice guy’ in politics, (Skorman) seems to have made the determination – which every politician faces – of either trying to win at all costs or saving your reputation. After lying about his opponent, Steve Bach, last week Skorman has attacked me and the ads that I put up from Americans for Prosperity. He hasn’t attacked the truthfulness of the ads. He’s chosen instead to fling untrue allegations,” Crank wrote on Facebook.

In an email, Crank said he extended an invitation to Skorman or a campaign spokesman to go on his show to talk about the truthfulness of the ads or his “incorrect allegations” in a press release about the ads.

“He has not responded to either email request,” he said.

Crank’s show airs every Saturday at 8 a.m. on KVOR 740 AM.

Posted in: Elections • • • • | 17 Comments »