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Minary: Humor is good—even and especially in politics and culture
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Minary: Humor is good—even and especially in politics and culture

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “And now for something completely different.” (the opening scene of every episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus on BBC) This article is a departure from the usual banter on politics, religion, morality and taxes.  We can all use a good laugh now and again.  Monty Python was a British comedy troupe that did out of the box, thought-provoking, bawdy, irreverent skits on a variety of topics including politics and religion. That show has aged very well.   Politics should still be a rich source of humor.  Here’s a simple way to tell if something is genuinely funny: it will make most people laugh, smile and feel better.   Mark Twain, one of my favorite humorists wrote two of my favorite quo...
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Tristan: How Trump’s second term is making history—promises made, promises kept
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Tristan: How Trump’s second term is making history—promises made, promises kept

By George Tristan | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice It’s often said that elections have consequences; I submit this assertion expresses an undeniable truth that nearly all would attest to, regardless of one’s political persuasion. That said, how should the first six months of President Trump’s administration be objectively characterized?  Many tout it has been an unprecedented success; while others decry it has been an abysmal failure. Wherever you may sit on this continuum of opinion, what cannot be argued is whether Trump’s accomplishments, since January 20, 2025, have lived up to his 2024 campaign promises. The American electorate returned Trump back to Washington D.C., largely due to how he led over the course of his first term as the 45th POTUS. Had Trump not live...
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Colorado’s Medicaid growth is colliding with fiscal reality
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Medicaid growth is colliding with fiscal reality

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer A new report from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) warns that Colorado’s Medicaid program is on an unsustainable path—driven by rapid expansion at the state level and compounded by shrinking federal support. The warning comes as lawmakers prepare for a possible special session to address the state’s growing budget deficit. State policy has driven major cost growth Since 2019, Colorado has enacted 182 healthcare-related laws, with 21 of them expanding Medicaid eligibility or benefits. According to CSI’s July 2025 report, these expansions alone add approximately $158 million in recurring annual state costs. In total, the new legislation contributes around $858 million per year in additional Medicaid-related spending. Only 36% of that new spend...
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Hemingway Says the Anti Trump Conspiracy Never Ended, More Classified Disclosures Coming
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National, Approved, Real Clear Politics

Hemingway Says the Anti Trump Conspiracy Never Ended, More Classified Disclosures Coming

By Tim Hains | Real Clear Politics "The Federalist" editor Mollie Hemingway comments on CIA Director John Ratcliffe telling FNC's "Sunday Morning Futures" that the next declassification will open up James Comey, John Brennan, and Hillary Clinton to perjury charges over false testimony regarding "Russiagate." "People are so worried about a statute of limitations because some of the crimes that were committed were prior to five years ago," she said. "But the conspiracy is ongoing—it’s going on right now, not just with these same officials, Brennan and Obama, but also the media." MOLLIE HEMINGWAY: My reaction to what you just heard from CIA Director John Ratcliffe on your show is he actually broke some pretty major news there. We have had this week absolutely explosive ...
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Banks Pressured to Cut Off Hunting and Ranching in Push for Plant-Based Agenda
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National, Approved, NRA Hunters' Leadership Forum

Banks Pressured to Cut Off Hunting and Ranching in Push for Plant-Based Agenda

By Mark Chesnut | NRA Hunters Leadership Forum We reported recently how Citibank’s apparent reversal of its punitive policy of discriminating against companies in the firearm business was a big win for American hunters as well as all other lawful gun owners in the nation. The corporation’s announcement came amid a number of efforts at both the federal and state level to ban the practice of big financial institutions discriminating against certain industries they don’t consider to be politically correct. Now the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearm industry, is sounding the alarm on a move by animal rights groups to weaponize banks and other financial institutions against animal agriculture businesses. With those animal rights groups also d...
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Colorado Joins California on 2025 List of Costliest States to Live
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National, Approved, Fox40 News

Colorado Joins California on 2025 List of Costliest States to Live

By Jeremy Tanner | Fox40 News (NEXSTAR) – Despite President Trump’s social media declaration that “the USA is Rockin’, there is VERY LOW INFLATION,” the rising cost of living looms over many Americans, especially so in some states, according to a recent CNBC study. While inflation has cooled across many states since the highs of the pandemic, it rose in June and remains a persistent issue for residents of other states. “One of the biggest problems with inflation is that once it has burrowed into an economy, it is very difficult to rid of it,” according to the report. “Just when Federal Reserve policymakers thought they might have finally gotten the better of the inflation that gripped the U.S. economy following the pandemic, along came the specter of tariffs.” To determine whic...
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Feds Take Aim at Colorado Sanctuary Laws that Protect Illegal Alien Criminals
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State, Approved, denvergazette.com

Feds Take Aim at Colorado Sanctuary Laws that Protect Illegal Alien Criminals

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an amended complaint against the state of Colorado and the city of Denver over sanctuary policies. The lawsuit was initially filed in May, but the amended complaint, filed last Friday, also targets the lawsuit filed last week by Attorney General Phil Weiser against a Mesa County deputy sheriff. The Weiser lawsuit alleges Deputy Alexander Zwinck shared information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement about a 19-year-old nursing student who was the subject of a traffic stop. The student was later picked up by ICE and detained for two weeks and released on bond. The Weiser lawsuit claims Zwinck broke Colorado laws that forbid Colorado state and local government employees from cooperating or s...
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Colorado Ranchers Say Wolf Plan Built on Lies and Broken Promises
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State, Approved, The Coloradoan

Colorado Ranchers Say Wolf Plan Built on Lies and Broken Promises

By Miles Blumhardt | The Coloradoan PITKIN COUNTY — Distrust of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's implementation of the wolf recovery plan runs as deep as the Capital and Sopris creek drainages where longtime ranching neighbors Mike Cerveny and Brad Day run around 700 cattle combined. The two buddies from Wisconsin moved to the stunning Roaring Fork Valley about 30 years ago and have been steadily building their herds on leased ranches, unable to buy their own property due to the high cost of land 20 miles from ritzy Aspen. They admit there are plenty of challenges ranching among multimillion dollar homes steadily squeezing the ranches they lease. But the latest challenge is a gut punch that staggered the steady ranchers because it happened so quickly, secretly in conjunction with ...
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Park Avenue Shooter Blamed NFL for Brain Injury Despite Never Playing
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National, Approved, New York Post

Park Avenue Shooter Blamed NFL for Brain Injury Despite Never Playing

By Joe Marino, Kenneth Garger and Emily Crane | The New York Post The crazed gunman who killed an NYPD officer and three other people in a Midtown skyscraper on Monday evening was carrying a note in his pocket that expressed grievances with the NFL and claimed he suffered from CTE – a brain injury linked to head trauma, sources told The Post. Shane Tamura, 27, cited the NFL in the writings, which were found after he fatally shot himself in the chest on the 33rd floor of 345 Park Ave. – a swanky skyscraper that houses the football league’s headquarters. The mentally ill shooter wanted to shoot up the NFL HQ — but “mistakenly went up the wrong elevator banks” and ended up on a higher floor, Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Tuesday. In the ramblings, which was several pages long, Tamura...
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Gaines: Instead of schools, state grants funded advocacy for equity, gay forestry—and ‘indigenizing’
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Instead of schools, state grants funded advocacy for equity, gay forestry—and ‘indigenizing’

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project In an earlier post (see the first link below), I mentioned a couple of state expenses to the environmental advocacy group Cultivando that had caught my eye in their TOPS expense report.The first was a line item for $500 labeled as "personal services -- professional" charged to the Colorado Energy Office (CEO). The other was a grant for $24,700 to Cultivando charged to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).I wrote in and got the records back for these expenses. I thought them interesting enough to share. Perhaps they're not big dollar amounts, but they are representative of the kinds of thought processes among policymakers and bureaucrats that put us in the financial state we're in--you know the state where we are short...
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