What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope
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If you’re 40 or older, today’s Colorado is very different politically than the state where you grew up — assuming you grew up here. Except for Lyndon Johnson’s landslide win over Barry Goldwater in 1964, no Democrat won more than 45 percent in Colorado between 1952 and 2000. When Bill Clinton won Colorado in 1992 (with 40 percent in a three-way race), we became a “swing state” in presidential races through 2008. Three of those elections were decided by less than five percent. Republicans...
With the election mercifully behind us, Americans should expect those we’ve elected to get to the less-pleasant task of governing responsibly. While hot-button issues such as immigration, inflation and foreign affairs will garner most headlines, a more pressing concern is too often overlooked: America’s staggering national debt. Growing faster than the economy and projected to reach a record share of gross domestic product within three years, our debt is a national crisis. If we continue down th...
No cat has more lives than Donald Trump’s political fortunes. To be sure, he is as skilled at retail politics as anyone since Bill Clinton, but he also benefits from being habitually underestimated by his adversaries. His unprecedented political rehabilitation wasn’t merely a product of Republican support. Democrats and the dominant liberal media must ask themselves, “Did our relentless obsession with demonizing Trump instead breathe new life into him?” Democrats were convinced they could b...
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 bud...
In a close election, everything matters. Just ask Hillary Clinton about taking Wisconsin and Michigan for granted in 2016. This election looks like another close one because some voters will enthusiastically vote for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, but many others will again be voting against the candidate they dislike most. Based on recent polling, Trump has a base support of about 42 percent. He can likely count on those voters no matter what. Biden’s lowest numbers were similar, so Harris p...
Property taxes remain a hot topic in Colorado and rightly so. During COVID, economists expected home values to fall as the economy experienced a sharp recession. So in 2020, the legislature asked voters to eliminate a 40-year-old law that prevented property taxes from rising in unison with the value of that property. Voters agreed. Then something strange happened: the COVID recession was brief and instead of tanking, home prices soared because few homes were offered for sale. Without the 40-year...
We used to joke that “no man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” That’s no laughing matter in today’s Colorado. The collective sigh heard across our state when 100 legislators finally went home to mind their own business reflects the growing sense of dread that accompanies the Colorado General Assembly convening each January. Although some of their worst ideas died on May 8 when the annual session ended, many of them will rise again like zombies next Janu...
Although I am less optimistic, I still hold out hope that Colorado isn’t irretrievably doomed to follow California, Oregon and Washington into the hopeless abyss of Progressivism. A few key indicators will soon reveal if we have passed the point of no return, including whether enough common-sense Democrats remain to stand with Republicans against the Far Left’s relentless assault on our Second Amendment rights. Senate Bill 131 would prohibit licensed concealed-carry permit holders from car...
Remember when Democrats fiercely defended freedom of speech and freedom of expression with few limitations? That was when Colorado Democrats still had to compete with Republicans for statewide elected offices and legislative majorities. Having grasped the political upper hand, Democrats are now sadly in thrall to Progressivism and its requisite censorship of dissenters. Instead of proclaiming, “I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” Democrats at o...
Forty-four years ago this month, Ronald Reagan won the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, vaulting him on a path to the 1980 nomination and a landslide victory over President Jimmy Carter. The last presidential candidate to largely unite the country, Reagan defeated Carter 489-49 in the Electoral College and 51-41 percent in the popular vote. Four years later, he won 49 states and 59 percent of the popular vote. Reagan “rose from the ashes” of Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presi...
Businesses that fuel Colorado’s economic engine can’t be blamed for cringing at the specter of the Colorado legislature’s return this month. Plaintiffs lawyers, however, are not cringing. Instead, the people who pay to put their faces on billboards along our busiest highways are licking their chops. Last year, lawmakers went on a lawsuit binge, introducing a record 25 bills that used private lawsuits for enforcement, rather than entrusting enforcement to a government agency. According to the Com...
For all the talk about President Biden’s determination to seek a second term, the case against him doing so is building. Numerous polls now show him decisively trailing former President Trump, both nationwide and in key battleground states. Overwhelmingly Americans realize Biden is too old and no longer competent to be President. By only slightly smaller margins they feel the same about Trump. In a recent story which attempted to portray a viable strategy for Biden’s re-election, Pol...
To realize that “the human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked” one need only look at the anti-Israel protests around the world since Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,400 civilians and kidnapped 200 others. The horrific acts include: • More than 260 people concert-goers gunned down as they fled marauding butchers. Women were raped, their legs broken, some burned alive. • A grandmother taken hostage was executed by terrorists who filmed her murder then posted it to her social media account...
Even if Prop HH passes, our taxes will go up! We didn’t need an election this November to receive a modest property tax reduction. The legislature can cut taxes anytime; it doesn’t need voter approval. But with Coloradans facing the largest property tax increase of our lifetime due to soaring home prices, the legislature chose to put a massive expansion of government on the ballot disguised as a property tax cut. Remember this: even if Proposition HH passes, property taxes will still inc...
For the first time I can recall, this year’s session of the Colorado General Assembly concluded with frenzy and confusion more typical of what we see in Washington, D.C., than what’s expected of our citizen legislature. It’s not unusual for a few complicated bills to linger until the waning hours. However, this year’s 120-day session ended on Monday, May 8, with these ignominious developments: • On Day 117, still 156 bills – one-quarter of the 617 introduced since Jan. 9 – remained unre...
For the past two weeks, Democrats and Republicans have engaged in a test of wills in the Colorado House of Representatives. Democrats are using their 46-19 majority to pass bills which they consider essential to address shootings in public places and to establish Colorado as a regional refuge for “reproductive health care.” Republicans know they cannot stop these bills, but because they view them as a threat to citizens’ constitutional freedoms, they have chosen to inconvenience the major...
State Representative David Ortiz (D-Littleton) makes a compelling advocate for the rights and struggles of disabled Coloradans. “I lived 30 years as an able-bodied leg-walker, a five-minute-mile running, hard-charging combat aviator — until a crash in Afghanistan left me paralyzed from the waist down,” he told the House Judiciary Committee. He understandably views himself as the unofficial representative of the disabled community and fashions his legislative agenda with that constituency in mi...
Last year, the Colorado General Assembly demonstrated the good sense to pass Senate Bill 115, recognizing that property owners are not liable for actions committed on their property by criminals. It didn’t matter, legislators agreed, if the property owner operated a controversial business. Ultimate responsibility for harm rests with the person who pulled the trigger. This bipartisan legislation, which passed the Senate 34-0 and the House 64-1, came in response to a lawsuit arising from the 2...
“Democracy,” wrote H.L. Mencken, “is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” A majority of Colorado voters have made it clear that they want to be governed by Democrats. With Democrats presiding over a struggling economy, widespread crime and social disorder, this result is dumbfounding. Surely, Coloradans were ready to restore some measure of political balance? Instead, voters soundly rejected Republican candidates across the board. Democra...
Here’s my plain-and-simple explanation of and recommendation for statewide issues on the Colorado ballot for 2022: Amendment D, New 23rd Judicial District Judges. In 2020, the legislature created the new 23rd Judicial District by removing Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties from the 18th Judicial District. This amendment makes it easier to assign some judges from the 18th to the 23rd Judicial District. I will vote yes. Amendment E, Property Tax Exemption for Gold-Star Spouses. The existing p...
My late father often reprimanded my loquacious tendencies by quoting Proverbs 10:19: “In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” The passing of Queen Elizabeth II reminds me of that wisdom because her 70 years as ceremonial monarch of England shows the power of silence. If my parents were still here, they would rightfully remind me that I could learn from her example. In Great Britain, the Prime Minister — somewhat like our President — is “head o...
Not long ago, Colorado was one of the safest, most prosperous states in the nation. Today, Colorado is a mess. Crime is soaring. The economy is faltering. Energy prices are rising. Schools are struggling. Many of today’s problems are the predictable result of “progressive” policies adopted during the four-year reign of Governor Jared Polis and large Democrat majorities in the legislature. In the next few months, Colorado voters must decide if they’ve had enough. Democrats pursued legislation tha...
Equality of all citizens is a uniquely American concept. Historian G.K. Chesterton said, “America is the only nation in the world that was founded on a creed.” That creed comes from the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This declaration came at a point when slavery was nearly universal. Native...
Sometimes it seems Democrat strategists know the minds of Republicans better than Republicans know themselves. Consider the current scheme by Democrats to spend millions to influence the Republican primary. Organizations funded by Democrats are running ads to promote United States Senate candidate Ron Hanks and governor candidate Greg Lopez. One of their favorite messages is that Hanks or Lopez is “too conservative for Colorado.” Remember, they are intentionally sending this message to Rep...
God saw fit to stop at 10 commandments, but politicians can’t leave well enough alone, so a series of “Eleventh Commandments” apply to them. One of those admonishes: Thou shall not make the voters more cynical. This year, Democrats at our State Capitol are breaking that commandment, too. With polls showing that Colorado voters may finally be ready to end their four years of unrestrained power, Democrats are discarding their professed priorities like a sinner headed for confession — hoping...
