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Lundberg: My list of the good and the bad bills (so far) of the 75th session
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Lundberg: My list of the good and the bad bills (so far) of the 75th session

By Kevin Lundberg | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice I have been reviewing most of the bills introduced in the Colorado legislature for the past 23 years. I haven’t kept exact records, but that amounts to more than 15,000 bills and resolutions. From that perspective, I have the following observations about the current crop of bills we have already seen this year. With the Democrats in full control of the House, Senate and governor's office, it is no surprise that there are a lot of bills that promote a woke agenda, expand government reach, increase taxes (which they label fees) and give homage to the global warming extremists. There are also many very good bills that could head our state in the right direction, but most of these bills will never get past their first committe...
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Defunding USAID isn’t about reducing the deficit, it’s about shutting down left-wing propaganda
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Approved, Commentary, The Federalist

Defunding USAID isn’t about reducing the deficit, it’s about shutting down left-wing propaganda

By John Daniel Davidson | Commentary, The Federalist The most common argument you’ll hear from those defending the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is that the grant dollars in question are just a fraction of the federal budget — less than one percent! Even if the Trump administration eliminated USAID altogether it wouldn’t put much of a dent in the deficit or help control the national debt, is the argument. Everyone from the talking heads at CNN and MSNBC to Jim Geraghty at National Review are repeating this line. But trimming the federal budget and reducing the deficit aren’t really the point of this exercise. The point is to expose USAID for the left-wing propaganda and regime change operation that it has become, and to shut it down. In the six...
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Editorial: HB 1055 fixes a $3 million mistake and protects small business, taxpayers
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Editorial: HB 1055 fixes a $3 million mistake and protects small business, taxpayers

By Editorial Board | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As House Bill 25-1055, by Republican Rep. Max Brooks, approaches a committee hearing on Thursday, Feb. 6, stakeholders are emphasizing its significant implications for the state's business environment. The bill seeks to repeal the Democrat-led House Bill 24-1353, which mandates that firearm dealers obtain a state permit to operate. Critics argue that maintaining HB 1353 could impose substantial financial and regulatory burdens on Colorado small business owners. According to the Joint Budget Committee's fiscal analysis, HB 1353 requires an initial general fund expenditure of $618,973 in fiscal year 2024-25 to set up the program, with ongoing costs projected of nearly $3.1 million annually in subsequent years. Additionally, imple...
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Boll: In a transition from principles to compromise, Douglas County School Board’s CRT conundrum
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Boll: In a transition from principles to compromise, Douglas County School Board’s CRT conundrum

By Laureen Boll | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As a long-term resident of Douglas County — and a parent who watched my children navigate K-12 education in Douglas County School District (DCSD) — I’ve witnessed the shift from community engagement to ideological battles. I was always an engaged parent, volunteering at my kids’ schools, knowing most teachers on a first-name basis, and voting in school board elections. However, my perspective on school governance dramatically changed with the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. As public schools remained closed, despite evidence suggesting low risk for children — while private schools just a few blocks away were re-opening — I began attending virtual school board meetings. The decisions made by the school board to keep the schools ...
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Ganahl: What is the significance of Republican organizational meetings?
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Ganahl: What is the significance of Republican organizational meetings?

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice It is essential for every Republican to recognize the importance of the upcoming organizational meetings. These gatherings, held in odd-numbered years, play a pivotal role in shaping the party's direction at both county and state levels. The election of new leadership during these meetings will significantly influence the party's effectiveness, adherence to conservative principles and overall success in future elections. Key dates and objectives County-level organizational meetings are scheduled between Feb. 1-15, followed by the state party meeting, which occurs between Feb. 15 to April 1 and has been set for March 29. The primary objective of these meetings is to elect new party leaders — including the chair, vice-chair an...
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Bluey: Lee Zeldin hits the ground running at Environmental Protection Agency
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Approved, Commentary, The Daily Signal

Bluey: Lee Zeldin hits the ground running at Environmental Protection Agency

By Rob Bluey | Commentary, Daily Signal Two years after a train derailment exposed residents of East Palestine, Ohio, to hazardous chemicals, the new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency is making the village his first official visit Monday. Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman from Long Island, won his Senate confirmation vote Wednesday afternoon, spent Thursday and Friday meeting with agency employees, and now heads with Vice President JD Vance to the Ohio community still reeling from the catastrophic train crash on Feb. 3, 2023. Zeldin invited The Daily Signal and a half-dozen other reporters to the EPA’s headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue last week to preview his plans for the agency. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE DAILY SIGNAL Editor’s note: Opinions e...
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Minary: Conservatives could cause change if we would get involved, become informed, always vote and run for office
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Minary: Conservatives could cause change if we would get involved, become informed, always vote and run for office

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Americans, across the political spectrum, have become frustrated with the entire election process and feel that they are powerless. They feel their views and needs are ignored.  Consequently, they have unplugged from the very system which was designed as an effective way for them to manage their local governments, rather than vice versa.  It is a sad fact that the single largest voting bloc in Colorado and in many parts of the U.S. is unaffiliated.  That’s a clear indication that neither political party has engaged this group of voters. Republicans often use the word ‘conservative’, assuming the average person knows what it means.  They don’t.  Many Republicans don’t, either.  So, we on the polit...
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Disgraceful, discriminatory hiring — by CU
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Approved, Commentary, gazette.com

Disgraceful, discriminatory hiring — by CU

By The Gazette Editorial board, Commentary Colorado’s most prominent higher-ed institution, the University of Colorado system, has discreetly changed the name of the office that oversees its controversial “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs — i.e., institutionalized discrimination. It’s as if CU wanted the change to fly under the radar. The new name, the Office of Collaboration, is vague enough to escape notice. And it wasn’t publicized through an official announcement; it was outed on X by a user who presumably didn’t speak for the CU system. When The Gazette pressed CU’s front office for details, a spokesperson referred our news staffer to a page on the university’s website that the spokesperson said was “all the comment we’ll be making on this at this time.” The webpage ...
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Devotional: Vision is not just a cliché, but requires action
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Devotional: Vision is not just a cliché, but requires action

By DRAKE HUNTER | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Vision is not just a buzzword, it's a crucial aspect of effective leadership — here, there, and everywhere. Let’s examine its true meaning and how it can empower us to lead with purpose and meaning. Unfortunately, vision has lost its meaning and purpose today; it has become clichéd. Phrases like “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” “You can't see the forest for the trees,” and the ever-popular “Where there is no vision, the people perish” are overused. People frequently discuss vision, but few truly understand its significance and power. Let's not underestimate the power of vision. It's not just a passive idea or a fleeting dream; it's a force that can empower us to understand and reason our purpose and meaning in life. When a...
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Walcher: Throw off climate suffocation and ‘shovel, baby, shovel’
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Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Walcher: Throw off climate suffocation and ‘shovel, baby, shovel’

By Greg Walcher | Guest Columnist, Rocky Mountain Voice, via GregWalcher.com My friend Amos Eno, one of the country’s leading conservation experts, spent a decade running the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and more recently the Land Conservation Assistance Network. His writing appears in all the right publications, and he is a popular speaker at conferences everywhere.  Writing about the old/new President’s endorsement of the almost-cliché adage, “Drill, baby, drill,” he added another related, but separate, concept: “Shovel, baby, shovel.” It is an apt way to describe what he calls an urgent need “to resurrect our mining of strategic and critical minerals and coal, throwing off the wet blanket of climate suffocation policies.” There is considerable attention and deb...
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