Rocky Mountain Voice

Commentary

DSA wants Medicare for All as Medicare itself nears insolvency
TownHall.com, Approved, Commentary, National

DSA wants Medicare for All as Medicare itself nears insolvency

By Chris Talgo | Commentary, Townhall AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson The Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) recently released “Workers Deserve More” program is full of silly policies that will probably never come to full fruition, fortunately. However, one of the more “mainstream” policies of the program, Medicare for All, absolutely could become the law of the land.  Medicare for All is popular because it drips empathy and means different things to people. There is no distinct definition. To some, it means a single-payer system. To others, it means providing subsidies to those who cannot afford healthcare.  Specifically, the DSA’s Medicare for All plan would “guarantee universal healthcare at no cost to individuals, including complete access to repro...
Kindergarten sex ed at Colorado district challenged over explicit content, letter says
The Western Journal, Approved, Commentary, Local

Kindergarten sex ed at Colorado district challenged over explicit content, letter says

By Samuel Short | Commentary, The Western Journal A Colorado school board is proving once again that the left truly relishes in talking to young children about sex. In a letter from the Alliance Defending Freedom to the Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education, Director Katherine L. Anderson of the Center for Parental Rights noted some truly disturbing and graphic imagery that children are seeing as part of the 3Rs curriculum, a comprehensive program to teach about sexuality. The Rs in question refer to “Rights, Respect, Responsibility” according to the website of its creator, Advocates for Youth. The curriculum “seeks to address both the functional knowledge related to sexuality and the specific skills necessary to adopt healthy behaviors. Rights, Respect, ...
Three Colorado judges drew do-not-retain recommendations this year. State evaluators break with local reviewers.
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Three Colorado judges drew do-not-retain recommendations this year. State evaluators break with local reviewers.

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I’ll be dipped: the judicial retention system does sometimes NOT recommend retention. The Colorado Politics article linked first below details a rarity in Colorado: three judges that the judicial evaluation committees (at least the local ones -- more later) recommend that voters do not retain. I say rarity, because I can only recall one other case in my time writing when this happened. I’ll leave it to you to read the article if you’d like. I went to get the information straight from the horse’s mouth and thus the three judges who didn’t get a retain recommendation are listed in links 2 - 4 below. Roughly speaking, the three are from the NE Plains, Crowley County, and Pueblo County.  The one that...
Walcher: The Forest Service overhaul is long overdue
Greg Walcher, Approved, Commentary, National

Walcher: The Forest Service overhaul is long overdue

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com Earlier this year U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Chief Tom Schultz announced a major reorganization of the agency, prompting the usual opposition from employees predictably opposing any change in the status quo. A few environmental industry groups expressed skepticism, but the story was mostly ignored elsewhere. That might be because many people assume it will face the same future as the first Trump Administration’s attempt to move the Bureau of Land Management from Washington to Grand Junction. The Biden Administration simply cancelled that plan and moved the office back to D.C., but this new USFS plan is much more far-reaching in scope and impact. This plan also involves moving a national headquarters out of Washington, in this case to ...
Cherry-picking the rankings: A columnist’s case against Polis education claim
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Cherry-picking the rankings: A columnist’s case against Polis education claim

By Ari Armstrong | Commentary, Complete Colorado Colorado ranks 47th in crime and corrections, 45th in fiscal stability, and 39th in opportunity, according to U.S. News and World Report, Governor Jared Polis noted in July. Ha ha, just kidding! Polis proclaimed that “Colorado Ranked #1 in Education,” ignoring the low rankings in other categories and downplaying the fact that most Colorado students cannot read or do math at grade level according to state testing. You can see the U.S. News rankings for yourself. Colorado ranks as 17th “best state overall,” which I guess is kind of good? I mean, it’s the top half, right? Okay, sure, we got beat by Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Delaware, while our neighbor Utah took the #1 spot. Not embarrassing at all! Cherry pick...
El Paso County’s public safety tax returns to the ballot with a change to oversight
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

El Paso County’s public safety tax returns to the ballot with a change to oversight

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Heads up El Paso County: you've got a tax to vote on in November and I believe you can speak up about it in your local Grey Book! Per the Tribune article linked at bottom, El Paso County Commissioners approved a ballot measure to extend a sales tax whose proceeds go to help fund the sheriff's office. The tax originally started in 2012 and has been extended a few times since. In its current iteration, it is slated to end in 2029, but commissioners approved a ballot measure which would extend it to 2037.  If you live in El Paso County, take a minute to carefully review the ballot measure. There were a couple things in the article that would have raised an eyebrow for me if I were voting on it. Quoting: "...
Colorado law already protects Douglas County teachers. Why a union contract?
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local

Colorado law already protects Douglas County teachers. Why a union contract?

By Martha Carver | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice You may be aware that the Douglas County Federation (DCF), the teachers’ union, is asking the Douglas County School District to engage in Collective Bargaining.  Before making a major shift in school governance, district leaders should recognize the protections already in place and require clear support from a majority of teachers.  But the most important question is what does this proposal actually mean for teachers? Collective bargaining agreements (CBA) are contracts between the union and administrators that cover teacher pay, benefits, seniority rules, transfer rights, evaluations, and grievance procedures.  Currently, teachers have the option to join the union, and this will not change if the S...
Colorado’s weirdest race is safe: Manitou Springs funds the coffin races for 2026
ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, Local

Colorado’s weirdest race is safe: Manitou Springs funds the coffin races for 2026

By Scott K. James | Commentary, ScottKJames.com Manitou Springs found a practical way to protect its coffin races without burying a beloved Colorado tradition. In my rounds as a county commissioner, I get to talk to a lot of people. Different towns. Different politics. Different backgrounds. But I hear the same uneasy sentence in a hundred different forms: Things just ain’t what they used to be. Then, almost immediately, we apologize for saying it. Because somebody is always standing nearby ready to explain that this is called “progress,” and apparently progress means you’re supposed to smile politely while the thing you loved gets turned into luxury apartments and a parking app. Every small town has a big day. In my beloved Johnstown, it’s BBQ Daze. Milliken ha...
The stopwatch has no ideology: Why biology defines women’s sports
Uncategorized, American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

The stopwatch has no ideology: Why biology defines women’s sports

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker On July 16, 1988, Florence Griffith-Joyner sprinted 100 meters in 10.49 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Nearly four decades later, no woman has run faster. But ... On July 16, 1988, Florence Griffith-Joyner sprinted 100 meters in 10.49 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Nearly four decades later, no woman has run faster, and her world record still stands. Her 200-meter record, set at the Seoul Olympics later that year, has also stood for almost forty years. Flo-Jo remains the fastest woman who has ever lived. Yet her 100-meter record has repeatedly been surpassed by American high school boys. The current U.S. high school boys’ record is 9.92 secon...
Hillman: Democratic Socialism is about control
Mark Hillman, Approved, Commentary, State, Uncategorized

Hillman: Democratic Socialism is about control

By Mark Hillman | Commentary, Capitol Review Democratic Socialists are cruising through Democratic Party primaries like a hot knife through butter. Entitled young adults, especially, respond to their angst-driven message, frustrated that expensive college degrees landed them entry-level jobs easily attained without a six-figure education. Here in Colorado, Melat Kiros’ decisive win over 30-year incumbent Diana DeGette led a socialist wave in Denver that also saw a first-term centrist legislator ousted by a DSA challenger. U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper did fend off a challenge by state Sen. Julie Gonzales, but the former two-term governor and mayor of Denver, lost to Gonzales in Denver by 13,000 votes. And in Congressional District 8, social-media obsessed state Rep....