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Caldara: Colorado’s political future under Proposition 131
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Caldara: Colorado’s political future under Proposition 131

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Out of the 14 statewide ballot questions, which by the way ties the record, it’s Proposition 131 that would bring the most political change and disruption with its jungle primaries and ranked-choice voting general elections. Assuming voter fatigue doesn’t keep voters from reaching this down-ballot issue, it’s the last of the statewide questions, it should pass. This is a prediction not an endorsement. It will pass because of its more than $15 million in funding, and because there is no effective or funded campaign against it, and generally voters are frustrated with both major parties. READ THE FULL STORY AT COMPLETE COLORADO Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not neces...
Armstrong: Punishing the innocent with Colorado’s Proposition KK
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Armstrong: Punishing the innocent with Colorado’s Proposition KK

By Ari Armstrong | Complete Colorado Imagine the screams from the left if, instead of facing a ballot measure to allow for tax-subsidized abortions, Colorado voters instead saw a measure to tax abortions to fund mental health for women dealing with matters pertaining to fertility, pregnancy, and raising children. “This is punishing people for exercising their basic rights,” we would hear. “This is not how we should fund essential services,” the chorus would chant. And the critics would be right. But, when it comes to new taxes on guns and ammunition, the same people who would don sackcloth and ashes over an abortion tax are all cheers and grins. Why the double standard? Abortion good, guns bad, is the basic orientation of our dominantly Democratic legislature. We get more of ...
As Election Day nears, opposition to big cat hunting ban grows with counties, CPW staffers in mix
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As Election Day nears, opposition to big cat hunting ban grows with counties, CPW staffers in mix

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado The list of organizations, local governments and others across the state opposing Proposition 127, the mountain lion hunting ban on Colorado’s statewide ballot, continues to grow less than two weeks from the general election. The ballot measure purports to ban the practice of “trophy hunting” of mountain lions (as well as lynx and bobcat), which generally means killing an animal for sport and not for consumption or harvest, a practice that is already illegal in Colorado. However, the initiative goes on to broadly define trophy hunting as “intentional killing, wounding, pursuing or entrapping of a mountain lion, bobcat or lynx,” which in practice means a ban on hunting the animals entirely, according to Dan Gates from Coloradans for R...
Caldara: Vote no on retaining Colorado judges, all of them
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Caldara: Vote no on retaining Colorado judges, all of them

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado I urge people to vote against retaining judges in Colorado. Yes, all of them. We do not directly elect judges as other states do, where Republican and Democrat candidates face off. Instead, the governor appoints the state’s judges after a nominating committee brings him two or three to choose from. The only check and balance we meaningless citizens have is to vote thumbs up or down on their retention every so often. Every so often can be as long as a decade. The problem is seemingly 99.9% of the time the judges are all retained, usually with around a two-third vote in favor. It’s a rubber stamp, not accountability. I vote no on all judges in the hopes at some point these retention elections might become competitive, and judges must...
Want to know how to vote? Here’s a collection of ballot guides for 2024 election
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Want to know how to vote? Here’s a collection of ballot guides for 2024 election

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado Don’t be surprised when you open your Colorado general election ballot to find fourteen statewide measures, both constitutional and statutory changes.  Add in as many as a dozen local measures (as is the case with the Denver ballot) and it may feel like you sat down to start a novel. Complete Colorado has compiled a list of ballot guides from a variety of libertarian and right-of-center sources, as well as Colorado Governor Jared Polis, to help you sort through it all. READ THE FULL STORY AT COMPLETE COLORADO
Caldara: State power weaponized against out-of-favor gay group
Approved, Commentary, completecolorado.com

Caldara: State power weaponized against out-of-favor gay group

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Being gay but not holding a liberal opinion makes you a hate group. It’s fine to be part of the LGBTQIA+ crowd in Colorado. In fact, you’ll be celebrated, and, if you wish, officially honored with a flag that has flown over the Capitol. However, if you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community but don’t believe small children should be indoctrinated into thinking they were born to the wrong gender, well then, you’re a hater and must be canceled. So says our state government. According to the state of Colorado, only straights can be against indoctrinating little children to want to mutilate their bodies. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COMPLETE COLORADO Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and...
If you live in Denver, Larimer counties, you can expect marathon ballots to vote
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If you live in Denver, Larimer counties, you can expect marathon ballots to vote

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado Depending on where you live in Colorado, the 2024 election ballot may seem like you just sat down to start a new novel, with a storyline that hikes taxes and debt,  makes changes to city and county charters, bans “trophy” hunting of mountain lions when it’s already illegal, and allows government employees to collectively bargain, among myriad other things. Indeed, if 14 statewide ballot measures and a near like amount of judicial retention questions aren’t enough, many cities, towns, counties, school districts and other special taxing districts have piled on their own measures, making some ballots — such as Denver’s — as much as six pages long. Complete Colorado looked at a few of the local ballots around the state, incl...
Gaines: Left-leaning Colorado Trust influencing Colorado journalism
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Gaines: Left-leaning Colorado Trust influencing Colorado journalism

By Cory Gaines | Complete Colorado In Stanley Kubrik’s The Shining, Jack Nicholson’s character says to the Overlook’s ghost bartender, “I’m the kind of man who likes to know who’s buying their drinks, Lloyd.” A sound policy, and not just in the bar of a haunted hotel.  I’m the kind of guy who likes to know who’s buying his news, and this seems to get more and more convoluted every year.  A recent (I hesitate to call it an article) story generated by the Colorado Trust, but appearing in the Colorado Sun, is emblematic of the problem. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COMPLETE COLORADO Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice,...
Hillman: Colorado highways crumble under CDOT neglect
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Hillman: Colorado highways crumble under CDOT neglect

By Mark Hillman, Commentary | Complete Colorado Colorado highways are among the worst in the nation.  That’s hardly news to anyone who travels across our state. Only two states report a larger share of interstate highway in poorer condition than Colorado.  Less-traveled highways are even worse. In 2021, the Democrat-controlled legislature passed a $5.4 billion package of new “fees” – including an annual increase in fuel prices and that irritating 29 cents only Coloradans pay on every Amazon order – supposedly to boost the transportation budget. Despite that infusion of money, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) predicts the condition of every category of state-maintained highways will get even worse over the next seven years.  By 2031, just 25%...
Caldara: Taxpayers subsidize Progressive war on affordable energy
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Caldara: Taxpayers subsidize Progressive war on affordable energy

By Jon Caldara | Complete Colorado “350 Colorado” is an anti-fossil fuels organization which lobbies to end the state’s oil and gas industry. They organize anti-energy zealots to march, protest and pressure lawmakers. Proud of their role in civil disobedience during Colorado Oil and Gas Commission hearings, they take credit for helping pass the “strictest anti-fracking regulations in the state.” Blah, blah, blah. One tiny little thing here: you are coerced through your taxes to fund their lobbying to make your energy bills skyrocket. In gambling there is a term, “playing with the house’s money.” In politics it’s “playing with your opponents’ money.” Your tax money is used to influence policy that hurts your own interests. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT COMPLETE COLORADO Edi...