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There’s a Vacancy on Colorado’s Transportation Investment Board. You Should Apply.
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

There’s a Vacancy on Colorado’s Transportation Investment Board. You Should Apply.

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project A reader sent in a tip about an upcoming vacancy at CTIO. Before getting more on that, let’s back up and talk about what CTIO is. The first link below is to their “About” page, but in brief they’re one of the copious number of enterprises (government “businesses”) that do so much of Colorado’s work. Quoting their page: “The Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery Act (Part 8 of Article 4, Title 43, Colorado Revised Statutes), otherwise known as FASTER, created the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), now doing business as the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO), in 2009 as an independent, government-owned business within CDOT. CTIO has the legal re...
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“Your Transaction Cannot Be Completed At This Time.”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

“Your Transaction Cannot Be Completed At This Time.”

By Maria Orms | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice That’s what my banking portal told me when I tried to send $1,500 through Zelle for a personal transaction. I was below my daily limit. Everything was correct. And yet, my money was blocked. When I called customer service, the interrogation began. The agent asked who I was sending the money to. I said I did not have to disclose that. He insisted Zelle was blocking the payment and could not lift the block unless I answered. After repeated prodding, I reluctantly said it was a personal friend. Next came the question of the purpose of the transaction. Again, I refused. He cited fraud prevention. I confirmed the payment was legitimate, but the questioning continued: “Is this for a loan, an investment, a product, or what?” I fi...
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Colorado commentator calls on Senate president to address Sullivan’s treatment of citizen witnesses
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado commentator calls on Senate president to address Sullivan’s treatment of citizen witnesses

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project The Free State Colorado video I link to first below was infuriating to me. In it, host Brandon Wark details Senator Tom Sullivan’s berating of a witness who came to testify on a bill before a committee where Sullivan is chair. Not okay. I don’t care what the bill is. I don’t care what any one person’s or organization’s stance on it is. This is impolite, bullying behavior and it’s not okay. Nor is it, and this is why I find it infuriating, the first time I’ve seen Sullivan do this in public. The second link below is to an earlier newsletter about a time a ways back where, shockingly, Senator Sullivan berated some citizens who came in to speak about a gun bill, essentially lobbing the accusation at them that they ...
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Colorado’s Fair Map Fight: What’s Happening and Why It Matters
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Fair Map Fight: What’s Happening and Why It Matters

By Robyn Carnes | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A nonpartisan overview of the competing redistricting initiatives on Colorado’s 2026 ballot — and what’s at stake for every voter. A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR As a former elected official and candidate, I’ve experienced Colorado’s election system from the inside. I’ve seen how much trust in that system matters — not just for candidates, but for the communities we serve. I’m doing this because I believe in fair process, strong institutions, and trust in elections. This isn’t about parties — it’s about process. The Big Picture In 2018, 71% of Coloradans voted to take map-drawing power away from politicians and give it to an independent constitutional commission. It worked. In 2021, the commission drew a balanced map ...
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Investigative Report Raises Questions About Soros Influence In Biden Administration
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DataRepublican, Approved, Commentary, National

Investigative Report Raises Questions About Soros Influence In Biden Administration

By DataRepublican | Commentary, DataRepublican Substack On January 30, 2017 — ten days into the Trump presidency — Rosa Brooks published an article in Foreign Policy titled “3 Ways to Get Rid of President Trump Before 2020.” She outlined four scenarios for removing the new president from office: impeachment, the 25th Amendment, cabinet revolt, and a military coup. Of the last option, Brooks wrote that it was “a possibility that until recently I would have said was unthinkable in the United States of America.” Brooks was a former Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon, where she reported to Michele Flournoy from 2009 to 2011. Before that, she served as Special Counsel to the President at the Open Soci...
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New Federal Tax Credit Could Expand Colorado School Choice Options
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Commentary, State

New Federal Tax Credit Could Expand Colorado School Choice Options

By Brenda Dickhoner | Commentary, The Colorado Sun State lawmakers made the right move to postpone legislation that would have created barriers for the program. Colorado lawmakers have been working to close a budget gap of more than $1.5 billion, and programs that students and families rely on are under pressure. At the same time, a new federal tax credit gives Colorado a chance to bring substantial philanthropic dollars into education without drawing from the state’s general fund. The Education Freedom Tax Credit allows taxpayers to receive a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually for charitable contributions to scholarship-granting organizations that support K-12 students. Essentially, the program encourages private giving to step in where public fun...
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Colorado lawmakers say new insurance fees lower costs: Critics say families pay the bill
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado lawmakers say new insurance fees lower costs: Critics say families pay the bill

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Rising homeowners insurance rates have been a hot topic at the capitol this legislative session. I wrote about a couple bills to do so in late April. That newsletter is linked first below. It wasn’t too long after writing about this laser focus on homeowners insurance affordability by our legislature that I finally had a free minute to comparison shop on mine. The picture heading this post is from one of the quotes I got. While the legislators talk a great game about affordability, right there on the quote are two brand spanking new fees they imposed. Let’s look at what they are. The first is a $5.75 (yearly) fee assessed on my insurance: a Colorado FAIR Plan Recoupment Fee. This program — FAIR standin...
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When the people vote, the majority should not pre-load a workaround
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

When the people vote, the majority should not pre-load a workaround

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is supposed to be a representative government, not a manager class that “handles” voters the way an accountant handles a problem line item. Yet that is exactly what HB26-1430 represents: a legislature preparing a conditional “counterpunch” that activates only if voters approve Initiative 175 this November. Reasonable people can disagree about Initiative 175. That is not the point. The point is this: the majority is building an escape hatch before the people have even spoken. That posture is a warning sign in any republic, because it reveals what leadership thinks about consent. What HB26-1430 is, in plain English Initiative 175 would amend the Colorado Constitution to redirect certain transportation-rela...
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Brauchler Warns Colorado’s Legion Of Doom Is Reshaping Justice
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Brauchler Warns Colorado’s Legion Of Doom Is Reshaping Justice

By George Brauchler | Commentary, The Denver Gazette As a kid growing up in Colorado, I loved watching the animated series The Super Friends, who fought against evil and for good as a part of the Justice League. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and more. They were opposed by the Legion of Doom and its cast of villains, always fighting for wrong over right.   Colorado has its own Legion of Doom under our Gold Dome in Denver, and you need look no further than how they have wielded their legislative superpowers to know who leads them. In the DC universe, it is Lex Luther and Sinestro. In the General Assembly, it is Democratic state Sens. Mike Weissman and Julie Gonzales.  No single individual in Colorado ...
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Would Be Trump Assassin Allegedly Driven By Anti America And Anti Trump Fury
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I Stand for Freedom, Approved, Commentary, National

Would Be Trump Assassin Allegedly Driven By Anti America And Anti Trump Fury

By Noah Stanton | Commentary, I Stand for Freedom The distance between a talking point and a trigger pull is shorter than most Americans want to believe. It’s a gap measured not in miles but in repetition — the slow, steady drumbeat of rhetoric that tells an unstable mind the president is a monster, that democracy is dying, that someone has to do something. On April 25th, someone did. Cole Tomas Allen traveled cross-country to the Washington Hilton, checked into a tenth-floor room, and descended to the lobby outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner ballroom carrying a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol, and multiple knives. Minutes earlier, he’d sent a pre-scheduled email to family and friends — a thousand-word manifesto in which he called himself the “Friend...
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