DENVER– At InterTech‘s spanking clean plastic molding factory in an industrial park near the airport here, Sen. Michael Bennet and Intertech President Noel Ginsburg celebrated the effects of small business legislation supported by Congressional Democrats and signed into law by the President at the end of September.

Ginsburg pointed to $850,000 worth of new machinery he acquired with cash available through tax savings. He said he was able to win new work for his roughly 85 employees and rehire workers laid off last year.

Both men running for U.S. Senate in Colorado know that Washington is broken.

But The Denver Post believes one of them is better suited to fix it than the other.

Michael Bennet, who was appointed as Colorado’s junior senator in January 2009, has the temperament, intelligence and passion to be a leader — not just for Colorado, but also for the fractured Senate and the country.

While Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet talked about credit for small businesses, clean energy and education Tuesday afternoon at a campaign stop at Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, his supporters sipped hand-crafted brews.

“Times are tough for many small businesses across the state,” business co-owner Wynne Odell wrote in a prepared statement an assistant read because Odell lost her voice. “We need someone focused on solutions for small businesses. Michael Bennet has lived in the real world and knows what it takes to create jobs, grow a company and ensure that we succeed. He knows tough challenges require real solutions and Michael’s work in Washington is focused on results.”

The Colorado chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet on Wednesday in his bid to retain the U.S. Senate seat, despite the fact that Bennet’s opponent, Republican Ken Buck, has a law enforcement background.

“Michael understands the complexities of the challenges facing Colorado’s law enforcement community,” said Colorado Fraternal Order of Police President Frank Gale in a Bennet news release. “His focus on common-sense solutions, not extremes or political games, is just what Colorado’s police officers and Colorado’s communities need in the U.S. Senate.”

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., called for increasing the exemption on estate tax and offering increased credit to small businesses to recharge the nation’s economy.

“Small business creates two-thirds of the nation’s jobs,” Bennet said Tuesday in announcing his small-business plan. “The economy is not going to recover until they have the credit they need to grow.”

DENVER–Speaking Thursday at a small dog-grooming shop, Sen. Michael Bennet said small businesses weathering the recession needed the relief provided by greater access to loans, something he hoped to provide through the Small Business Jobs Act he said was falling victim to partisan gamesmanship.

Republican senators filibustered Bennet’s proposal late last month. The bill is designed to spur liquidity through tax breaks for business owners and investors and by bolstering the lending market for small business.

Tom Jackson of Fort Collins was a lonely Republican voice Saturday at a town hall meeting with Sen. Michael Bennet, but he wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion.

“Both parties have got to quit spending money we don’t have because I’ve got a 2½-year-old grandson and that kid hasn’t got a prayer of having a life if stuff doesn’t change,” Jackson, who owns a welding and fabrication business, told Bennet at the town hall meeting at Catalyst Coffee, 3501 S. Shields St.

I am wife, mother, a small-business owner and an enthusiastic supporter of Michael Bennet for U.S. Senate.

His compassion, depth of knowledge and search for realistic solutions show Bennet for what he is – a remarkable, genuine man who has spent his entire career outside of politics achieving results in the face of tough problems.

Federal money would be redirected to develop improved onshore and offshore safety and oil-spill response technologies under a bill to be introduced this week by Sen. Mark Udall.

The measure, announced by the Democratic senator on Monday in Denver, will make oil-spill prevention and drilling safety a priority by tapping money from an industry-backed program to increase oil production within the Department of the Interior.

The research will include looking at blowout preventers, new cementing techniques and well casing systems — technologies that are between 20 and 40 years old, Udall said. Cleanup technologies, such as booms and skimmers, will be assessed as well.

Washington, DC – Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, joined a bipartisan group of 53 Senators in sending a letter to Senate leadership urging that the Senate take up and pass landmark child nutrition legislation. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 will reduce childhood hunger, promote health through improved nutritional quality, reduce childhood obesity and improve program efficiency. This fiscally responsible legislation is entirely paid for.

“The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 represents an historic opportunity to enact legislation that enjoys broad bipartisan support and a strong grassroots backing among anti-hunger advocates, public health organizations, as well as many members of the food and beverage industry,” the Senators wrote in the letter. “With child nutrition programs scheduled to expire on September 30 of this year, time is of the essence. Accordingly, the Senate should take up and pass this legislation at the earliest possible convenience.”