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Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s crime problem is bigger than the laws on the books

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado’s crime problem isn’t just due to our laws As I've written before, our troubles with crime involve more than just the laws on the books.There are a few steps in the criminal justice process where someone has discretion. Discretion means the ability to be too hard, or too soft.District Attorneys decide on whether to charge and what charges to bring. Judges decide on bail, and the trial judge passes sentence.Each step a chance to be too harsh or too easy.The Complete Colorado article at bottom details a new effort by some lawmakers and talk radio host Jeff Hunt. Their website is linked below the story for convenience.I'll leave it to you to read either, but in brief, their effort is intended to bring publ...
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Capitalism vs socialism: What the global data reveals about human well-being
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The Daily Signal, Approved, Commentary, National

Capitalism vs socialism: What the global data reveals about human well-being

By Sanjai Bhagat | Commentary, The Daily Signal Capitalism versus socialism has become a topic of intense debate in senior political and business circles. The recent election of socialist-leaning candidates in major U.S. cities highlights the contemporary relevance of this topic. A recent Gallup poll finds that Americans view capitalism more positively than socialism; the 54% viewing capitalism favorably is down from 60% in 2021. Americans view socialism more negatively (57%) than positively (39%), with little movement in these attitudes over time. How have the people of a country fared that have adopted socialism? Not so well—the evidence below indicates. How have the people of a socialist country that have adopted capitalism fared? Very well—again, t...
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When protest becomes rebellion against the rule of law
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

When protest becomes rebellion against the rule of law

By Mark Salley | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice So many things come to mind when thinking about the dissension gripping our country. It seems nearly everything has become contentious. Should people be citizens in order to vote in elections?  Should children have sex-change surgeries?  Should people work to expose corruption and bring consequences to the fraudsters? None of these things — on their face — seem contentious.  Yet…there is rebellion brewing. The rebellion has overflowed in Minneapolis. Rather than supporting enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws (even Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden supported deportation), there is a contingent of rebels who are willing to directly interfere in law enforcement efforts to bring lawbreakers to just...
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A ‘county average’ for pretzels: Colorado’s next price-control creep
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

A ‘county average’ for pretzels: Colorado’s next price-control creep

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice HB26-1012“A PERSON IS PRESUMED TO BE ENGAGED IN AN UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE IF THE PERSON CHARGES A CAPTIVE CONSUMER A PRICE FOR AN ANCILLARY GOOD OR SERVICE THAT IS MORE THAN THE AVERAGE PRICE OFFERED FOR A COMPARABLE GOOD OR SERVICE SOLD IN THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE CAPTIVE CONSUMER PURCHASES THE ANCILLARY GOOD OR SERVICE” Welcome to bill #12 of over 700 to be considered and passed into law in 120 days of session. The Democrats keep piling on regulations that jack up costs for everyone, then act like the fix is squeezing vendors harder—instead of slashing the taxes, fees, and mandates they've created. They could drop sales taxes on basics, cut absurd airport fees, or repeal rules that inflate...
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Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Open letter warns HB26-1065 expands unelected power and state control

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project An open email to the sponsors of HB26-1065 and the House Finance Committee Members In keeping with earlier posts, I have been watching affordable housing legislation this session. One of the bills that came up in an earlier post is HB26-1065. I link to that bill first below. Mild in the impact, especially compared with efforts that take away local control and further reinforce the NGO/nonprofit/government complex, this bill is still concerning in what it sets up. My open letter to the committee is copied below the link. If it’s helpful to you in advocating on this issue, please feel free to use any part or the whole. Before I get to my email (and testimony if I can make the hearing) howe...
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Why Community Standards Matter When Public Venues Market Events as “Family-Friendly”
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FAIR Colorado, Approved, Commentary, Local

Why Community Standards Matter When Public Venues Market Events as “Family-Friendly”

By: Dikki Schober | Commentary, FAIR Colorado Why community standards matter in publicly-supported spaces. Recent controversy surrounding a production of Shrek the Musical at the PACE Center in Parker has reignited an ongoing debate in Douglas County: how should publicly-supported institutions navigate community standards, parental expectations, and artistic expression—especially when events are marketed as “family-friendly”? This discussion is not unique to Shrek, nor is it limited to one performance or one community. In recent years, Douglas County residents have raised concerns about programming promoted as appropriate for families that, upon closer review, did not align with many parents’ reasonable expectations. The Shrek controversy fit...
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Phil Weiser’s ICE portal: A hotline for the wrong crisis
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Phil Weiser’s ICE portal: A hotline for the wrong crisis

By RMV Editorial Board Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wants you to do something. Not vote. Not volunteer. Not show up to a school board meeting and read the agenda before somebody else reads it for you. He wants you to report ICE. Weiser’s office rolled out a portal inviting Coloradans to document “concerns” about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. His pitch is tidy and familiar. The public assumes rules apply to everyone and that safety isn’t optional. When that assumption fails, there needs to be a way to say so. Fine. In theory. In practice, this portal is a neon sign pointing at the wrong problem. It's a taxpayer-funded invitation to fixate on federal immigration enforcement while the crimes and dysfunction Coloradans actually live ...
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Do We Vote by Faith in Colorado? 
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Do We Vote by Faith in Colorado? 

By Pamela Poll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters has become a national figure in the battle for transparent elections in the USA. I believe her story holds important revelations. After the controversial 2020 election, around mid-year 2021, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold informed County Clerks that an update of their Dominion election software called the ‘Trusted Build’ would be installed on their election server. Preserving election data for at least 22 months is required by Federal law.  Clerk Peters arranged to have an outside person come in and create backups of the 2020 and 2021 election data. He made a second backup after the “Trusted Build” update was installed. The second backup confirmed that the 2020 ...
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Transit Equity Day and the price of “equity”: Who pays when fares go to zero?
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Transit Equity Day and the price of “equity”: Who pays when fares go to zero?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Did you forget to celebrate Transit Equity Day? A reader pointed out the recent RTD press release linked first below. It touts how RTD celebrated Transit Equity Day on the 4th by giving everyone a free ride.Transit Equity Day itself is observed in remembrance of Rosa Parks and her stand against segregation of city busses. Quoting the press release (with links intact):"Transit Equity Day is observed annually on Parks’ birthday in recognition of public transit as a civil right and a critical pathway to opportunity. On Dec. 1, 1955, Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, an act that helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement and launched the Montgomery Bus ...
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Jay Bhattacharya’s Senate testimony signals the end of a public health era
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Rational Ground, Approved, Commentary, National

Jay Bhattacharya’s Senate testimony signals the end of a public health era

By Justin Hart | Commentary, Rational Ground Substack The man they tried to destroy is now dismantling the machine piece by piece. There he sat — our friend, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the Stanford professor who dared to question lockdowns when questioning was heresy, who co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration when such thoughts were considered dangerous misinformation. The man who was shadow-banned, fact-checked, and ostracized by the very institution he now leads. (I wrote about his censorship in the Wall Street Journal back in 2022 — it’s worth revisiting today.) Today, February 3rd, 2026, Jay Bhattacharya testified before the Senate Health Committee as the Director of the National Institutes of Health. The irony was so thick you could cut it wi...
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