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Tag: taxpayer money

Government Shutdown Exposes Massive Abuse in EBT System
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Daily Wire, Approved, National

Government Shutdown Exposes Massive Abuse in EBT System

By Matt Walsh | The Daily Wire Many people receiving food stamps would rather rob you than have to pay for their own groceries. Ever since the government shutdown began a month ago, it’s been a challenge to identify anyone in real life — outside of government employees — who has noticed or cared in any meaningful way. Even Democrats don’t seem particularly bothered by the shutdown. They’ve been spending most of their time lately complaining about the renovations that are underway in the East Wing of the White House — which is the kind of thing you complain about when you desperately need to find something to complain about, but you have absolutely no other options whatsoever. Even if you normally don’t care much about how the government spends your money, this is the kind of dev...
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The Case of Ian Roberts: A Slap in the Face to Law-Abiding Citizens
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The Case of Ian Roberts: A Slap in the Face to Law-Abiding Citizens

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The arrest of Ian Roberts, former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, is more than a scandal. It is an insult to every law-abiding citizen who plays by the rules, pays their taxes, and expects their government institutions to uphold the law with fairness and integrity. Roberts, an undocumented immigrant with a final deportation order, was entrusted with the leadership of Iowa’s largest school district. For this role, he collected nearly $300,000 a year in taxpayer money. Parents who struggle to pay rising property taxes funded his salary and benefits, even while their children’s classrooms lacked resources and their teachers went without competitive pay. How could this happen? According to federal filings, Roberts...
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Budget cuts and bots: Denver shortens 311 hours and expands AI usage in city services
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Budget cuts and bots: Denver shortens 311 hours and expands AI usage in city services

By: Jacob Factor | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Facing major budget shortfalls, Denver is cutting back hours and staff for its call center that assists residents with city services and looking to leverage an artificial intelligence chatbot to pick up the slack. Denver in Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed 2026 budget is looking to cut more than $1 million from the 311 City Services budget, most of which comes from cutting vacant call center agents positions in the Technology-Services-Department-run office. One employed call center agent was also among the cuts. The city and county’s X page on Monday announced the new hours for the 311 phone line: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. This is a reduction of two hours each day, as it was previously open until 7 p.m. ...
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Who’s funding Vibrant Denver? Big developers, nonprofits and tax-funded arts groups
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Denverite, Approved, Local

Who’s funding Vibrant Denver? Big developers, nonprofits and tax-funded arts groups

By Kyle Harris | Denverite One notable booster hasn’t donated yet. A who’s who of Denver cultural giants, developers, construction industry leaders and nonprofits are donating big to Mayor Mike Johnston’s Vibrant Denver bond campaign. Vibrant Denver Bond, the committee raising money for the effort, had brought in more than $1 million as of the end of September.  The opposition to the bond, Citizens for NO New Debt, had raised just over $3,000. The group argues that Denver should avoid incurring debt and hold off on starting new projects until the city can afford to do the work without bonds. Taxpayer-funded cultural groups are among the biggest donors. The five regional taxpayer-funded Tier One Scientific and Cultural Facilities District institutions – the Denve...
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RTD requests additional $1.6 billion in funding for rail expansion project
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Fox31, Approved, Local

RTD requests additional $1.6 billion in funding for rail expansion project

BY Jared Dean | FOX 31 NEWS DENVER (KDVR) — Over 20 years ago, voters approved RTD’s expansion program, the largest in the nation. 113 miles of both commuter and light rail systems, 78 rail transit stations, and 18 miles of rapid bus transit were set to hit the metro. “We have a lot of challenges in terms of completing the program in a shorter period of time. And I know everybody’s anxious about it, but we really do need other sources of revenue in order for us to kind of be able to complete it in a reasonable amount of time,” senior manager for transit-oriented communities for RTD Bill Sirois said. Major hits to the economy and a massive decline in ridership have made funding the project nearly impossible. RTD is now asking for $1.6 billion to get the project done by 20...
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Education funds drained by bureaucrats while kids fall behind
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New York Post, Approved, Commentary, National

Education funds drained by bureaucrats while kids fall behind

By Post Editorial Board | Commentary, New York Post If you think spending more money on America’s schools will lead to greater student achievement, guess again: A new analysis of 12,000-plus school districts shows just the opposite. Not only does more spending not correlate with better student performance, turns out it coincides with moderately worse performance. The public-policy watchdog Open the Books looked at payroll growth at 12,531 public-school districts from 2019 to 2023, and compared it to the percentage change in the district rankings on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exams, the gold standard for measuring reading and math proficiency of fourth and eighth graders. Guess what: The greater the payroll growth, the more...
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Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress
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State, Approved, DENVER7

Colorado GOP Says Special Session Fell Short as Democrats Claim Progress

By Colleen Slevin | Denver7 Governor Jared Polis is expected to address the remaining $500 million budget gap in a presentation to the Joint Budget Committee on Thursday. DENVER — Colorado's special legislative session ended on Tuesday after six days. The success of the session depends on which state lawmaker you ask. Governor Jared Polis called the session on Aug. 6 to address the state's $1.2 billion budget hole, which he said was created by tax changes made in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Act (H.R.1). According to the governor and fellow Colorado Democrats, Colorado will collect less revenue than expected when lawmakers approved the state budget in May. Some of that $1.2 billion revenue loss was absorbed by the state education fund and the affordable housing fu...
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Polis says Colorado isn’t a sanctuary state but the laws say otherwise
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The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Polis says Colorado isn’t a sanctuary state but the laws say otherwise

By The Gazette editorial board | Commentary, The Gazette Gov. Jared Polis has distinguished himself in business and politics, yet he arguably missed his true calling — doing stand-up at a comedy club. He’d leave his audience in stitches. Case in point: His thigh-slapper the other day — about Colorado not being a sanctuary state. He had us rolling on the floor. We were laughing through our tears, of course, given the toll illegal immigration has taken here. But there’s no denying the governor is a hoot. He is in fact such a natural-born comic, his familiar, “Sanctuary? What sanctuary?” routine is uproarious even when delivered secondhand by his communications staff. “Colorado is not a sanctuary state,” Polis’ office deadpanned in a news release Thursday for our news affiliate Co...
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Dear Colorado Legislature: Here’s Your $1 Billion Cut List
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ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Dear Colorado Legislature: Here’s Your $1 Billion Cut List

By Scott K. James | Commentary, ScottKJames.com Colorado’s $1B budget hole isn’t rocket science – we found the cuts. From illegal immigration perks to bloated credits, here’s the fix. (And Yes, We Found It In the Couch Cushions) Colorado lawmakers are about to lock themselves in a special session cage match because they’ve managed to spend themselves $1 billion into the red. Cue the finger-pointing, cue the “hard choices” speeches, cue the “we just need more revenue” crocodile tears. Well, guess what? We did your homework for you. We found your billion. And unlike your staff memos written in bureaucrat-ese, this cut list is in plain English – with receipts. Brace yourselves, this will be long, but I’ll give you a TL, DR version right up front… TL;DR: Colorado’s ...
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Denver wasted millions on homeless shelter that never housed anyone
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Local, Approved, denvergazette.com

Denver wasted millions on homeless shelter that never housed anyone

By Noah Festenstein | The Denver Gazette After not housing a single homeless person, Denver’s $9 million purchase of a former hotel planned as a new homeless shelter is set to be sold off again — well over two years after its initial purchase, according to Denver’s Department of Housing Stability. The city’s new price tag? Just $10. That is, of course, if an interested developer is willing to continue transforming 12033 E. 38th Avenue, a former Stay Inn hotel, into a shelter providing “supportive” homeless services, according to stipulations set by HOST. “To make this financially viable, the property will be sold for $10 — a strategic move that reflects our commitment to long-term affordability rather than short-term financial returns,” spokesperson Julia Marvin told The D...
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