Rocky Mountain Voice

Commentary

Walcher: The way out of the Colorado River crisis is abundance not subtraction
GregWalcher.com, Approved, Commentary, National

Walcher: The way out of the Colorado River crisis is abundance not subtraction

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com John Wesley Powell, the 19th Century Colorado River explorer, long-time head of the U.S. Geological Survey, and one-armed veteran of the Battle of Shiloh, published one of the earliest analyses of the American Southwest in 1879, called “Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States.” He may have been the first to figure out that the limiting factor for settlement and growth in the West would never be land, but always water. It would be just as prescient if written last week. As he predicted, the modern prosperity of the West is built entirely on dams, canals, and irrigation – about which millions of its citizens are barely aware. People focus on water slightly more during droughts. English clergyman Thomas Fuller publish...
Big government or individual freedom: There is no third choice.
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Big government or individual freedom: There is no third choice.

By Jay Davidson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Both good and evil ideas start with a vision. That vision promises to solve a problem we have. Politicians fit the same mold. How to differentiate, how do we tell if a vision is good or evil? And if evil sounds good in the beginning, what shall guide us to choose the right path? These issues have perplexed philosophers since the beginning of time. Each person must decide for himself; fortunately, many great thinkers have pondered these profound ideas and many have written their revelations into books or carried them through the spoken word. Although the knowledge is readily available, it seems our Creator wants us each to find the answer to that question in our lifetime. The fact that our Creator wants each person to see...
Boebert Sounds Alarm Over Growing License Plate Surveillance Networks
The Daily Caller, Approved, Commentary, National

Boebert Sounds Alarm Over Growing License Plate Surveillance Networks

By Rep. Lauren Boebert | Commentary, Daily Caller As we near the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, I write in defense of freedom not as a politician seeking applause, but as a Coloradan, a mother, a grandmother, and a fierce defender of the liberties that define this nation. Fixed license plate reader cameras are quietly turning American streets into zones of constant monitoring. These systems continuously scan and record vehicle plates, logging time, location, and travel patterns. In community after community, this infrastructure has often expanded without explicit statutory authorization, clear democratic limits, or the individualized suspicion that a warrant typically requires. It is simply happening. The result is a growing database of everyday movements — where people wor...
Sloan: Mamdani’s socialism leaves private property “perpetually insecure”
Washington Examiner, Approved, Commentary, National

Sloan: Mamdani’s socialism leaves private property “perpetually insecure”

By Kelly Sloan | Commentary, Washington Examiner Watching Mayor Zohran Mamdani carry on in New York, I am reminded of Lord Percy of Newcastle’s ominous definition 75 years ago of “social democracy”: “The phrase,” he wrote, “does not imply that economic activity should not continue to be based on private property; it implies only that, as a matter of legal rights, such property should be perpetually insecure.” One would be hard-pressed to find a more apt descriptor of the current situation in New York, three-quarters of a century after Lord Percy wrote those words intended as a warning to anyone who found themselves tempted by the intoxicating effects of socialism. Indeed, the rhetoric of Mamdani and his acolytes, who are now in the process of gobbling up Democratic...
Bermúdez: Colorado voters become a test case for Democrats’ transgender long game
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Bermúdez: Colorado voters become a test case for Democrats’ transgender long game

By Alejandro Bermúdez | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As national LGBT activists prepare a decade-long campaign to reshape public opinion on transgender issues, Colorado voters will face two major questions this November: whether biological males should compete in female sports and whether minors should undergo transgender-related surgeries. According to The Washington Times, members of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBTQ caucus recently acknowledged that Republicans are preparing to make transgender policies a major issue in the 2026 campaign, especially those involving children, medical interventions and women’s athletics. Rather than retreat, activists are pursuing a longer strategy modeled on the campaign that transformed public opinion on same-sex marriage. ...
Gaines: Will Jena Griswold fail upward again?
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gaines: Will Jena Griswold fail upward again?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I well remember how I felt when Jena Griswold got her second term as Secretary of State. She ran against a Republican who, though eminently qualified not to mention competent, was about as plain-Jane as they come. She was boring. Oh, and she said all the right things for Trump-avoidant voters about elections and voting machines.And yet, Jena won handily. When I woke to those election results I kept asking myself how Jena continues to fail upwards. It is a mystery to me. I get party line voting, something many engage in and parties depend on, but even at that how does Jena Griswold survive primaries and contests with people who are obviously better?I read the story linked below about Griswold recently which brought...
Colorado made registration more expensive. Now it punishes drivers who fall behind.
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado made registration more expensive. Now it punishes drivers who fall behind.

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice There is something almost perfectly governmental about Colorado's growing obsession with expired license plates. First, make an unavoidable part of ordinary life increasingly expensive. Then act surprised when more people struggle to pay for it. Then impose late fees on the people who fall behind. Then send police out to fine them again. And finally, call the whole thing "compliance." Across Colorado, law enforcement agencies have been escalating their efforts against motorists with expired registrations. Denver has conducted repeated enforcement campaigns. Colorado Springs and surrounding agencies have organized regional crackdowns. Police departments speak of zero tolerance. Drivers can face registration cos...
Whatever happened to ‘When in Rome’? Joondeph on Britain’s assimilation problem
American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Whatever happened to ‘When in Rome’? Joondeph on Britain’s assimilation problem

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Britain’s new guide for asylum seekers raises an old question: Should newcomers adapt to their host country, or should the host country adapt to them? When visiting a new place, one should follow local rules and customs. Hence the old axiom, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Apparently, in modern Britain, that requires a nine-page government instruction manual. Image created by ChatGPT The U.K. Home Office recently published “Understanding Behaviours and Expectations in the UK: A Guide for Asylum Seekers.” It begins by acknowledging the obvious: We understand that coming to a new country can be difficult, and that laws and customs here may be different from your home country. Fair eno...
Riess: Give rural patients more choices, rural providers more flexibility
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Riess: Give rural patients more choices, rural providers more flexibility

By Naomi Riess | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Healthcare access in rural Colorado is not an abstract policy debate. It is about whether a family can find a primary-care provider, an expectant mother can receive care close to home, or a patient ends up in an emergency room because there was no timely alternative. In Southwest Colorado, we know the problem: too few providers, long waits, financial pressure on clinics and hospitals, and a system too often designed around the Front Range. In 2027, I would pursue a practical, bipartisan Rural Colorado Primary Care Access Act built around four principles: access, provider capacity, sustainability and flexibility. My proposal would build on ideas in HB26-1096, Colorado Medicaid Access to Primary Care Services, considered by th...
Gun rights and Phil Weiser: an answer that stops at Heller
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Gun rights and Phil Weiser: an answer that stops at Heller

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Does current Attorney General (and candidate for governor) Phil Weiser know there’s been more gun control decisions past Heller? After reading about a curious statement AG Weiser made during the 8/27 gubernatorial debate. That debate in full is linked below. The remarks I reference relate to gun control and begin at about the 52:40 mark in the video when candidate Weiser was asked (quoting from the transcript): “Any laws the legislature has passed you disagree with, and does the state need to go further?” Candidate Weiser goes on to equivocate for some time before pausing and allowing one of the moderators to come back with a follow up, get an actual answer to the question. “And I’ll give you 30 seconds,...