A DOUBLE HEADER KICKS IN AT 12:30 But I've got enough blog to keep you entertained for a while.
YOU CAN ALWAYS LISTEN TO GRANT'S PODCAST As he's been doing some great work with great guests lately. I'm stoked to listen to the new one with Ryan Edwards wife Amanda Edwards about her work as an Intimacy and trauma therapist. You can find them all here, and I especially love the ones with Father Mike, of course. Listen to them all!
THE WESTERN CONSERVATIVE SUMMIT HAS DENIED THE DENVER POST A PRESS CREDENTIAL And this is kind of inside baseball, but I disagree with this, although I get it. Jeff Hunt of the Western Conservative Summit shared this Tweet thread about it.
To be honest a part of me cheered when I read this because conservatives are rarely treated fairly in the press and I've been the victim of that myself so I get it. BUT, and this is a big but, it simply further narrows the silos of information that people are exposed to and that is not good. It's like our Governor being afraid to come on my show even though I've never been unfair to him in an interview and have even provided the topics I wanted to discuss so he could be prepared. My audience doesn't get to hear from him themselves, and this is bad for everyone. Of course now I don't give a rat's ass if the Governor comes on my show so there's that. By the way, the Denver Post can still buy a ticket if they want to cover the event if any are available. Hunt is not wrong about the crappy job they've done in the past actually covering the event. Maybe they will do better if they are standing outside with the inevitable protesters.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE HIGH COSTS GOVERNMENT HAS SHOVED ONTO MARSHALL FIRE VICTIMS As the latest government imposed cost driver is "use taxes" that are levied on wholesale materials and appliances that are used to rebuild. They are in lieu of sales taxes and the same rate. Because so many of the Marshall Fire victims were underinsured, they are asking for a waiver on these taxes to rebuild. Read this response from the City of Boulder when asked if they would consider a waiver:
Louisville would not comment on whether it would refund its use tax because it said it had not received the letter as of our story deadline. RTD said it would look into the request. Boulder County says its use taxes are earmarked for a specific purpose so it would have to consult with its attorney.
So Boulder anticipated houses burning down and already factored those new use fees into its budget? That's a lie, it's a windfall and they don't care that you are underinsured so go pound sand.
POLIS CONSIGLIERES IN CDOT ARE FORCING THEIR GREEN DREAM ON US And not fixing the roads at all. Joshua Sharf has written a super infuriating column about CDOT's screwed up priorities and how they are draining our roads and bridges money for bike lanes and charging stations. I got super angry about this. Super angry.
WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SCHOOLS And we should be, as they are the latest political battleground over ideas and the progressive agenda. In my view the real reason there is growing unhappiness with the direction of schools is that parents have begun to fight back and the liberal educrats don't like that. So they fight back and they nothing gets done in the way of student achievement. The best way to fix this issue is to go back to teaching facts, figures, reading the writing and leaving out all the crap and nonsense that doesn't help kids learn.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES IS SUING COLORADO OVER OUR SICK LEAVE LAW And they are right to do so, as they have a union negotiated contract that is better in most respects than Colorado's policy. It is different in a few areas though, and that could lead to a very confusing situation for employees who live in Colorado. I'll follow this story for you.
THE OPPRESSED BECOME THE OPPRESSORS: GAY EDITION I've used the phrase "the oppressed become the oppressors" about a myriad of organizations, mostly unions, but it fits perfectly for this column from Beri Weiss's Substack. It's written by guest author James Kirchik and it's about how important free speech was for gay people fighting for equality, and how ironic it is that gay people are fighting free speech now that they have earned that equality. Very interesting, read it here.
A NEW STUDY ON MASKING IN SCHOOLS SHOWS CDC CHERRY PICKED DATA AND THEY REALLY DON'T WORK That's a long headline but I don't want to be accused of burying the lede here. Two scientist replicated the CDC study that seemed to show that masks in schools showed slowed the spread of covid. But they didn't stop there. They then expanded the study to include other areas, more students and a longer period of time and guess what? Masks don't work. And moreover, the CDC cherry picked data to get a result they wanted to get. This line from the Abstract of the study is the money line:
Our study demonstrates that observational studies of interventions with small to moderate effect sizes are prone to bias caused by selection and omitted variables. Randomized studies can more reliably inform public health policy.
Mask. Don't. Work.
I'M SMARTER THAN TREASURY SECRETARY JANET YELLEN Because I knew inflation wasn't transitory, I knew it was going to be bad because I pay attention to history. But she didn't and now she's saying she's sorry that you can afford to put food on the table. Notice she didn't resign. Also note that Biden's inflation plan is to "Respect the Fed" which just admitted it doesn't know what it's doing. But no one will resign in shame. We need to bring shame back.
THE TRUMP TAX CUTS ARE MAKING THE GOVERNMENT RICH And it's incontrovertible that the tax cuts have brought in a windfall for the federal government, but or current economic dummy in the White House wants to repeal them even though tax revenues have SOARED since they were passed. Read this:
Biden wants to make the economic situation worse by repealing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Speaking of which, the CBO report also confirms that former President Donald Trump's signature tax bill has been a boon both to the economy and to government coffers. According to the CBO, federal corporate income tax collections in 2017, before the rate cut, came in at $297 billion. By 2021, they had jumped to $372 billion — a 25% increase in just four years, which significantly outpaces inflationary growth and also amounts to a larger percentage of the overall economy.
Far from starving the government, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generated so much economic growth that the entire bill has apparently paid for itself, even after controlling for the other economic factors that may have played a role. A rising payroll tax and individual income tax revenues also show that the tax cuts boosted job growth and wages as well. The CBO says that even with lower rates, total revenues in 2022 “are projected to equal 19.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product — the largest annual revenues relative to the size of the economy since 2000.” This is 2.3% higher than the average of the past 50 years, which includes a period in which the top income tax rate was 70%.
HOW STUPID ARE YOUNG PEOPLE IN AMERICA The answer is very, very stupid.
EVEN DISNEY KNOWS THE OSCARS DON'T MATTER Or they wouldn't be releasing the new Tom Hanks lead Pinocchio straight to Disney+ instead of the theater. It hits the small screen in September, here is the trailer.
IT'S TIME TO VISIT THE DENVER BOTANICAL GARDENS As they are in full bloom. This column is a lovely reminder.
THE BIDEN ADMIN HAS LET IN 1.35 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Which is more people than the number who reside in Denver + Boulder + Colorado SpringS COMBINED. But I'm sure it will be fine. Read more here.
COFFEE DRINKERS REJOICE, WE'RE GOING TO LIVE LONGER Okay maybe not all of us, but a new study showed coffee drinkers were LESS likely to die than non-coffee drinkers. You know why? Because coffee brings so much joy to our lives.
BRADLEY COOPER'S NOSE PROSTHETIC CAUSES A STIR And if you want to make an argument that the famous Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein should be played by a Jew fine, but let's not make hay about the fact Cooper had to wear a nose prosthetic in order to be believable a thing. Leonard Bernstein was Jewish and had a big nose, so what? In order to portray him, Cooper has a big nose. So what? Giovanni Ribisi just gained a crap ton of weight to play Joe Colombo and no one is taking that as a slap at how fat Italians are. It's acting, people.
WILL THERE BE ENOUGH POPCORN FOR THE SUMMER MOVIE SEASON??? If there is no popcorn is there any reason to go to the movies??? Now that could be a problem, because along with farmers growing more profitable crops, there is a lined bag shortage as well. I have to say I have perfected at home popcorn which is AS GOOD as movie popcorn. It is an Atom Pop as the vessel, loaded with 3 tablespoons of ghee and 1/3 cup of this popcorn. You're welcome.
ARE WE MORE PRODUCTIVE AT HOME THAN AT THE OFFICE? This article says yes we are, but there is tension around returning to the office so this feels a bit like posturing before a fight. One thing I think we can all take away from this experience is that open offices suck, we can't get anything done in them and I want my cubicle back. There, I said it.
MEET STOFFEL, THE GENIUS HONEY BADGER And you simply will not believe this until you see it.