I understand that Americans are frustrated right now -- that they are hungry for bold change. I understand that our young people, especially, see socialism as an attractive alternative to the political gridlock and economic recession they experienced during their formative years, but it would be a grave mistake to abandon the American entrepreneurial spirit that has always been at our country's core.

John Hickenlooper

Categorized in : Politics

Even as we continue to carry the banner of civil rights and environmental justice, we've also got to focus on many, many people - for them, life starts with a good job.

John Hickenlooper

rights justice jobs

"On what motivated Colorado voters: "Let's face it, the War on Drugs was a disaster. It may be well intentioned ... but it sent millions of kids to prison, gave them felonies often times when they had no violent crimes ... I was against this, but I can see why so many people supported it."

John Hickenlooper

marijuana war kids

Denver is a city that will be far more defined by its future than its past.

John Hickenlooper

denver cities past

Medicaid is one of the rare times where Democratic governors are saying, "Hey, states' rights." We don't want the federal government coming in and telling us how to do our environmental remediation or how we're going to do our healthcare.

John Hickenlooper

environmental government rights

In the restaurant business, you never want to have enemies, whereas it seems that many politicians judge their success by how high their enemies are and whether they can show that they can hold their ground and give a punch for every punch they take.

John Hickenlooper

judging giving enemy

There's nothing wrong with the Democratic Party that talks more about - and more loudly about - jobs, and cutting red tape, and bureaucracy, making it easier for entrepreneurs to start jobs, making it easier for businesses to grow and create more jobs. That has historically been the wheelhouse of the Democratic Party.

John Hickenlooper

cutting party jobs

I look at some of the things that Donald Trump will do around cutting red tape, reducing bureaucracy, helping entrepreneurs, helping businesses grow more rapidly, more access to capital - I'm all for it. That's all stuff that I've been trying to do in Colorado.

John Hickenlooper

entrepreneur cutting trying

I think the political reality for the Democratic Party is, you know, there are two sides. There's one side saying that we weren't liberal enough and another side saying we're too liberal. I think they're both right.

John Hickenlooper

party reality thinking

I may not have voted for Donald Trump, but I'm an American first. My entire administration is going to do everything we can to make him as successful as we can.

John Hickenlooper

successful may firsts

Especially during the first nine months, there was so much going on with trying to hire 55 people to run the city, it was hard to imagine any honeymoon.

John Hickenlooper

cities running people

A mayor is a symbol and a public face of what a city bureaucracy provides its citizens.

John Hickenlooper

citizens cities faces

The Democratic Party is always going to be the party of civil rights and fairness - everybody gets an equal, fair shot at the American dream. And we're going to be the party that really fights to protect planet Earth - enjoy whatever time we're going to get!

John Hickenlooper

party fighting dream

"On unanticipated problems: There's been "a dramatic increase in edibles." And "no one had ever worried about dosage sizes. The original edibles that came out, once you took the packaging off there was nothing to show it was any different than candy."

John Hickenlooper

packaging marijuana different

"As Colorado attempts to build its brand as a healthy state, marijuana "dilutes what you're trying to do."

John Hickenlooper

marijuana healthy trying

"One of the governor's concerns: "This high-THC marijuana, what can it do to a brain that is still developing?"

John Hickenlooper

concern marijuana brain

People don't realize that almost two-thirds of the population in the United States lives in a state where either medical or recreational marijuana are now legal. Two-thirds of the country. I am looking at it as kind of a 10th Amendment, states'-rights issue.

John Hickenlooper

marijuana rights country

I assume we will have figured out a way to efficiently utilize solar energy and tied that to an efficient way to use nuclear energy in such a way that it doesn't pose a serious environmental issue.

John Hickenlooper

environmental issues energy

America is always attracting people, from all over the earth.

John Hickenlooper

earth america people

You looked at Stanford or Harvard, or the University of Colorado, these were powerful engines just turning out people ready to create and grow businesses.

John Hickenlooper

colorado powerful people

Almost all government starts at a very local level at some point.

John Hickenlooper

locals levels government