Month: December 2022

(Colorado Peak Politics)

The grand political ambition of Jared Polis to one day (in 2024) be elected president is our only hope for keeping Colorado’s increasingly progressive state legislature from going off the left end.

So admits that wing of the party, while noting the political pendulum could swing back to the right if the left goes too far.

And if the good Lord’s willing, with candidates who can withstand the tar and feathering of a spiteful media and deliver a refreshing message of how to move forward, elected Republicans will once again have enough numbers to relocate their meeting place from the broom closet.

From The Gazette editorial board:

The worst-kept secret at the state Capitol is Jared Polis’ aspiration to higher office. Given a choice between accommodating his party’s hard-left fringe in the Legislature and plotting a more moderate course for his future, Polis’ choice would seem clear.

Though bearing the indelible label of “Boulder liberal,” Polis isn’t served by a radical image.

Adrian Felix, president of Young Denver Democrats, admits:

“The problem (progressive Democrats) are going to run into is that they have a governor who seems far more concerned about his presidential aspirations than he does with helping their constituents. I know all of these legislators have great ideas, but it’s really about what the governor is going to allow. At this point in his career, he’s just going to be prioritizing his own future.”

So that’s the barometer for 2023,

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(Colorado Peak Politics)

Colorado’s slide into progressive politics is prompting urban flight out of liberal Denver and Arapahoe Counties and into more rural and conservative areas, while many are fleeing the state to Florida, Arizona, and Texas.

CBS News Colorado reports migration patterns over the last 12 years confirms the trend, with Weld and Douglas Counties benefiting from the growth in 2021.

Many are even moving (back) to California.

The U.S. Census Bureau confirms tens of thousands of people fled Colorado in the last 12 years, which one realtor interviewed blamed on affordability and the pandemic.

But another realtor in the southern Denver metro area said many of her clients are moving for “freedom” and to get away from the political changes on the state and local level.

Krista Barker summed it all up with her explanation for relocating to Florida after 45 years:

“Crime, homeless, political atmosphere. It was it was time to pack up, go closer to family,” she said when asked why she decided to leave. “I would walk every morning with my dog and every evening with my dog. Unfortunately, it got to a point in the area that I walked where homeless were setting up tents. You would run across a syringes and bullet casings. You would hear gunshots in the middle of the night. … It was not safe anymore.”

We’re not surprised the statistics cited by Colorado CBS News are backing up the anecdotal evidence that progressive politics are ruining our beloved state.

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(Complete Colorado Page Two)

Colorado has often been ground zero for major policy and political battles over K-12 education—teacher evaluation, school board policy, school finance, union issues, curriculum transparency, and more. But as the state’s educational ecosystem continues to evolve in a post-pandemic world, all those issues pale in comparison to perhaps the most important question on the table in 2023: How can Colorado continue to provide more high-quality public options to families who demand them?

At the center of that question is a critical, though often overlooked, question of public policy. Who holds the power to approve or deny new schools of choice? And, maybe more importantly, should those entities be the only ones holding the keys to opportunity?

In a new publication, Independence Institute dives into the current school-authorization process in Colorado, how that process throttles the availability of educational opportunity in some communities, and how Colorado might think about removing those bottlenecks so more students can access choice seats.

A politicized process

Like most things involving K-12 education in Colorado, the authorization of public schools of choice is highly political. The most common form of public school choice, public charter schools, is a perfect example. Colorado’s Charter Schools Act passed in 1993. Today, there are more than 260 public charter schools serving north of 130,000 students statewide.

These schools, which operate under their own school-level boards rather than the governance of their school districts, cover a wide variety of educational models—classical,

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(Complete Colorado Page Two)

DENVER — During the recent Arctic blast, it was fossil fuels that kept Colorado warm, yet the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) continues to move forward on a plan to make natural gas lines more cost prohibitive on any new construction, While local governments eye outright bans for new construction.

Click to enlarge

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, on day two of Colorado’s recent, record-setting subzero temperatures, and despite the heavy winds that blew for nearly a week, coal contributed the largest portion of fuel Xcel Energy used in generating electricity to heat homes and businesses (43 percent), with natural gas second at 33 percent, wind next at 22 percent and solar at just 3 percent.

“Because the cold front blew in with the wind, early on, wind was creating more than 30 percent of the energy,” said Jake Fogleman, energy policy analyst at the *Independence Institute, a free market think tank in Denver. “It gave a pretty strong showing, but the rest of it was mostly coal, and a pretty large chunk of natural gas.”

Fogleman was referring to statistics from the first day of the cold front when wind production (33 percent) of electricity came in second to coal (37 percent), with natural gas at 27 percent and solar at 2 percent.

Solar does not ever contribute much more than 2-4 percent of the electric needs in Colorado according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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(Colorado Peak Politics)

Colorado is making national news as one of three states hailed by progressives for mandating public option insurance plans to eventually force us onto government-controlled health care because — big shock — it’s not working as expected.

Colorado, Washington state and Nevada all have the public option plans that are supposed to reduce costs while offering boutique services.

Colorado’s plan offers  plastic surgery, acupuncture, HIV prevention drugs, gender reassignment, mental health, and issues resulting from substance abuse.

Turns out only one provider in Colorado can offer all the new options while promising to meet targeted costs. And yet it looks to us like those costs are still higher than other plans.

Politico reports on the downfall of public options, noting Colorado is still trying to get the plan off the ground for 2023.

Public option proponents argue that even if they haven’t been able to lower costs as much as expected, they’re able to offer consumers higher value plans with more robust benefits and networks that are more culturally responsive.

Progressives blame insurance companies for insisting on making a profit from the services it provides as the reason government’s costly big ideas would cost more money.

None of the states has hit on a magical solution to bring down costs or reduced the number of uninsured, Politico reports.

Progressives actually believe that consumers who did not need, nor could afford a product like health insurance,

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(Colorado Peak Politics)

Turns out it’s not just Republican elected officials who get frustrated with Colorado journalists and call them out on social media when they get frustrated with wildly biased reporting.

Democrat State Rep. David Ortiz of Centennial takes issue with biased girl reporters who are mean and gossip.

And not because a story was written about him for being a male chauvinist pig who stereotypes women and belittles them professionally on social media.

Although we expect such an article will be forthcoming.

Ortiz kicked off the battle royal with the female media corps with this:

When asked to give an example of the mean girl reporting and gossip that triggered his Twitter tantrum, Ortiz lashed back with this:

spicy! let’s see some examples, plz

— Gary F. “Scrooch” McGooch (@scroochmcgooch) December 27, 2022

https://t.co/mAigu0GpdG

— David Ortiz (@DavidDOrtizCO) December 28, 2022

Needless to say, the proverbial dung on the sidewalk hit the fan with a frenzy.

Colorado Politics is not amused.

The comments came from State Rep. David Ortiz, D-Centennial, who made a name for himself in his first two years at the state House fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and against discrimination that individuals who use wheelchairs, like him, face.

Ortiz’ comments on Twitter drew silence from House Democratic Speaker-elect Julie McCluskie,

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(Complete Colorado Page Two)

(Editor’s note: You can listen to this column, read by the author, here.)

Here’s an example of how the left funds a system to accuse their foes of “hate,” while employing violent hate-group organizers themselves.

The progressive guru Saul Alinsky laid out an effective battle plan for the left’s cultural socialistic revolution, the heights of which are being played out now throughout American and in Colorado specifically.

His 1971 book, Rules for Radicals, taught young socialists to disrupt the system. His 13th Rule has now been perfected like a sniper’s rifle, “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

Otherwise known as the politics of personal destruction, it’s now the hallmark of the modern political age. Focus on one person, or organization, get all your allies to triangulate on him, keep attacking until he quits or has been effectively destroyed.

Think of all the Republican candidates that have a series “offensive little stories” pop out from their past to build up like a wave and wipe them out. It’s not an accident. It’s the 13th Rule in action.

In Colorado the operation is well-funded and oiled. One of the levers of the machine is to collect and warehouse stories that might someday been useful. So, they fund organizations that look like legitimate news sources.

Although you’ve likely never heard of Colorado Times Recorder (CTR) it’s run by a handful of social justice warriors.

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(Colorado Peak Politics)

Looking back on Colorado politics throughout 2022 … well, we’d rather not.

Instead of the standard, year-in-review fare being offered by every other online publication, here’s what conservatives can look forward to in the New Year with Republicans leading the charge in the U.S. House.

Investigations! Investigations! Investigations!

Every big news story coming out of Washington will have a gate at the end of it — Huntergate, Chinagate, Faucigate, Bordergate, Fentanylgate, Energygate — the list of desperately needed oversight after just two years of Democrat rule is endless.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Democrats’ unchecked one-party rule over the past two years has resulted in multiple crises abroad and at home. Americans have made clear they want accountability in Washington, and Republicans are ready to deliver.

Governmental transparency also suffered, abetting these disastrous policies. Under Democratic control, the House Oversight Committee targeted American industry instead of fulfilling its primary job of providing Americans governmental transparency. Democrats’ inordinate focus on things like climate pledges made by U.S. oil and gas companies shielded the administration from meaningful oversight—as is made evident by the F grade the Oversight Committee received from the nonpartisan Lugar Center.

That will change in January when the GOP assumes its House majority. In the new Congress, Republicans will return the committee to its proper role: rooting out waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the federal government. Committee members will conduct credible oversight,

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(Complete Colorado Page Two)

Do you know the temperature inside a tauntaun? It’s luke-warm. You can blame Governor Polis for that one.

If Weather-dot-com is to be believed, it’ll be back in the 50s when you read this. It sure got cold before Christmas, with Denver temperatures dropping to 24 below, the coldest in three decades.

On Thursday I broke out my Grand Junction-made Wiggy’s arctic jacket to shovel snow. Despite the deepfreeze I overheated within about half an hour of shoveling and had to strip down to my wool sweater. My fingers got too cold though; I’ll have to invest in some better gloves.

I was grateful for the natural gas burning in the furnace to raise the indoor temperature of my house some eighty degrees above that outside. Although we didn’t get nearly as much snow as during the big storm of ’03, when the snow filled the space between parked cars and I traipsed around in waste-deep powder, this storm seemed more daunting due to the extreme temperatures. It was that deep cold that makes the snow scrunch like styrofoam when you walk on it.

My gas-burner is ancient, though, so I figure I’ll have to replace it one of these years. Consumers now have a choice: Go with gas—I could get a much more efficient model than I now run—or get an electric heat pump.

What’s a heat pump, you ask? It’s basically the same technology your refrigerator uses.

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