WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO THE INDIA-PAKISTAN FLARE UP And I've got Cliff May from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies on at 1pm to talk about this column that not only gives some needed history and context but clearly lays out which side we should likely align with.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE BRONCOS SCHEDULE RELEASE TONIGHT ON KHOW! Tune in to 630 KHOW tonight for our official Broncos Schedule Release show where the guys will break down all the upcoming games AND give away some tickets to home games this season!
YES, MEDICAID CUTS ARE NEEDED Because you may not realize this but Medicaid costs EXPLODED under the Biden Administration. This story by Brian Blase at Paragon demonstrates that changes made during the pandemic that have stuck around far too long flooded the program with able bodied adults and then prioritized those adults OVER the traditional Medicaid recipients like people actually in poverty with children and the elderly. Read this bit:
Several Biden policies explain a portion of this increase. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act provided states with additional federal Medicaid money so long as they maintained Medicaid enrollment during the COVID public health emergency (PHE). The Biden administration also extended the PHE into the spring of 2023, which kept ineligible people on the Medicaid program much longer. Finally, the Biden administration took regulatory actions to keep ineligible people on the program longer and to validate state financing gimmicks that fleece federal taxpayers and raise Medicaid rates well above Medicare rates for many providers in many states. As a preview, in March, Paragon will be releasing a research paper on the growth of Medicaid money laundering and what policymakers should do about it.
It's time to return Medicaid to what it once was: the insurer of last resort for people who have no means to pay otherwise. Now the Republicans in Congress are cutting Medicaid and doing just that, assuming that many in their ranks don't go squishy about this. What's in the cuts?
To be eligible for Medicaid, there would be new “community engagement requirements” of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents. People would also have to verify their eligibility to be in the program twice a year, rather than just once. The bill also adds a more rigorous income verification for those who enroll in the Affordable Care Act's health care coverage.
Wow, so heartless to require able bodied people to actually contribute SOMETHING to get the free bennies. Then there's this:
Some Medicaid recipients who make more than 100% of the federal poverty level — about $32,000 a year for a family of four — would be required to pay out-of-pocket costs, too, for some services. Those fees, which would not apply to emergency room visits, prenatal care, pediatric visits or primary care check-ups, would be limited to $35 per visit.
And applicants could not qualify for Medicaid if they have a home that is valued at more than $1 million.
The proposed bill also targets any immigrants who are living in the country illegally or without documentation. It reduces by 10% the share the federal government pays to states — such as New York or California — that allow those immigrants to sign up for Medicaid. To qualify for the ACA coverage, enrollees would have to prove they are “lawfully present.”
I realize that any cuts to Medicaid are going to be shouted down by Democrats screaming "people will DIE" as I've already seen it, but do any of these sound unreasonable to you?
HOW CAN A JUDGE LET A KID GET AWAY WITH MURDER? A young illegal immigrant without a driver's license took his mom's Jeep without her permission and sped through a neighborhood with a 45 mile per hour speed limit until he slammed into another car and killed the driver. He was just given probation and I can't understand this story at all.
WHO IS GOING TO LONDON, BRONCOS FANS? I'm thinking it might be me, but we'll see. The Broncos will be suiting up against the Colts in London this October, read it here.
MORE BUILDING SELL FOR NOTHING IN DOWNTOWN DENVER In 2019 a couple of office buildings were valued at 200 MILLION dollars. Now, they just sold for $3.2 million. Why? Our office buildings have never recovered and are sitting with far too many vacancies, and this story by 9News misses a really big point. The cost to retrofit old buildings to meet Denver's new Green Dream standards is going to be enormous and developers know it.
IF UBER LEAVES, SO WILL LYFT Both rideshare companies are making noise about leaving Colorado unless the Governor vetoes a bill that forces a slew of new regulations on them. Arod sent me a video that I put on the blog a couple of weeks ago where a clueless young woman declared her allegiance to Lyft because they had not been vocal about leaving the state and I said then it's a fantasy to think Lyft will abide by these rules. Both companies have demonstrated their willingness to leave market when regulations get too expensive for their business model, they did so in Austin, Texas for more than a year. I can't wait to see what the Governor does on this one.
NO SHOWERS FOR YOU, MANITOU SPRINGS Manitou Springs is having a water emergency, which is ironic since there is literally a river running right down the middle of it. Heavy snow followed by rapid melt has put too much organic material in their water supply and now the town has closed schools and issued water restrictions that include no showers. Luckily you can find patchouli oil in pretty much every store there to cover up the smell.
DOUGCO PARENTS, A CHILD PREDATOR AT SCHOOL HAS BEEN ARRESTED And I guess it's a nice change that this is a dude being charged instead of some horny woman teacher (I'm being sarcastic, no child abuse is nice) but if you've got a kid in Roxborough Intermediate School please pay attention to this.
WE MAY HAVE FINALLY FIXED CONSTRUCTION DEFECTS And we may finally be able to build condos again. Read about the bill signed by Jared Polis here.
TRUMP IS BARNSTORMING THE MIDDLE EAST RIGHT NOW And visiting Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to shore up relations with anyone they can get on their side against Iran. The Free Press has been paying attention to the Qatar PR offensive that has been going on for a decade or more now and writes about it here. From shoveling funding to American universities while also offering a new plane to the President, Qatar is trying to buy their way out of a history where they funded terror for a very, very long time, and much of that terror was against American interests. Have they changed? Or is the PR just working? The Trump admin is LOADED with people with Qatar ties:
The airplane deal was signed off by Attorney General Pam Bondi. She used to work at a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm that received $115,000 a month from Qatar to fight human trafficking, according to a 2019 contract reviewed by The Free Press.
She’s not the only one in the administration with ties to the Persian Gulf state.
President Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, led lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs when it represented Qatar’s embassy in Washington. FBI Director Kash Patel worked as a consultant for Qatar, though he didn’t register as a foreign agent.
And then there is Steve Witkoff, president Trump’s longtime friend and senior adviser, who is accompanying him on his trip this week. For months now, Witkoff has served as Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East—and his name has been floated as a future national security adviser. Witkoff also happens to be a beneficiary of Qatar’s largesse: In 2023, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund bought out his faltering investment in New York’s Park Lane Hotel for $623 million.
Meanwhile, the Trump Organization is hard at work planning a new luxury golf resort near Qatar’s capital, Doha, in partnership with a Qatari company. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. will speak next week at the invitation-only Qatar Economic Forum in a session titled “Investing in America.”
This tracks with Trump's "Business not war" way of thinking, but Qatar currently houses the leadership of Hamas, and the mother of one of its leaders praised the October 7th attacks on social media, and they are still in bed with Iran on energy. But they've got money to spend and they are spending it to great effect. If this were the Biden administration doing this I'm sure we'd all feel very strongly about it. The New York Times points out that Qatar's money has led to quite the image comeback here.
DAVID HOGG IS OUT AT THE DNC And I will enjoy this for so, so long. The young, mouthy dude who has made a cottage industry from an event he was absent from, has now been bounced out of his DNC Vice Chair role, ostensibly because of rules violations that didn't favor women enough. I don't care why, because now this smug, young jerk can see exactly what the party he's carried the water for is all about. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
THE BABYLON BEE NAILS JAKE TAPPER I remain SO ANNOYED at this but this is funny as you know what.
This column in The Federalist goes back in time to find all the ways Jake Tapper carried the water for the doddering President that he is now SHOCKED to find out covered up his decline. SHOCKED, I tell you!
DID ISRAEL JUST GET THE LAST OCTOBER 7TH MASTERMIND? They hope so and they think they might have but we'll have to wait to see if they can scrape any of this clown's DNA off the walls. Read more here, but this could be the last roadblock to actual peace in the region.
TARIFFS ARE HERE, BUT INFLATION IS NOT And Axios is VERY puzzled as to why inflation went DOWN this month as tariffs took hold (though now they've been put off for 90 days). Read more here, but hopefully we'll see a rate cut coming soon from these numbers. Our chances of recession dropped as well, and markets have responded well this morning. They aren't wrong about businesses stocking up before tariffs took hold, but we'll see what happens now.
WOMEN ARE DRINKING MORE AND THAT'S NOT GOOD I've talked about this many times before but the data is startling on how many women are now DYING from alcohol related causes. Women are staying child free longer, going to college where drinking is a standard part of life, and enjoying a standard of living that allows them the time and money to drink more. This is not a good thing. Read the data here but we'll dive in today.
THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS MAY GET OUT OF PRISON As they were resentenced yesterday to 50 years to life with the chance of parole. They will both face parole hearings soon now. I am agnostic on this one.
WHAT CONCERTS ARE THE BEST VALUE? This is kind of cool. Someone studied how much concert tickets cost versus how many songs you get to come up with a value proposition of cost per song. Some artists are asking way too much for way too little in my view.
CANNES DOESN'T WANT YOUR NEKKID BODY The famous film festival had to release a dress code explicitly saying that nudity is not allowed. They also banned massive dresses with huge trains, which forced Halle Berry to make a quick outfit change. I think this is kind of hilarious. That grown people have to be told they can't show up nekkid. Heh.
THE TRUCK WAS A SHELL OF IT'S FORMER SELF Watch below or click here.
NIC CAGE AND CHRISTIAN BALE NAIL IT They are doing a movie for Amazon about Al Davis and John Madden and holy cow!
JEFFCO SCHOOLS LEADERSHIP IS A DUMPSTER FIRE Good grief.
SHRINKFLATION EXPOSED We all know when products get smaller but the price stays the same.
THE OFFICE SPINOFF LOOKS REALLY GOOD And has a lot of potential just based on the premise that a small town newspaper is out of money so the editor tries to train a team of volunteers to keep the paper going.
WHO IS MAKING YOUR SHEIN CLOTHES IN CHINA?
THE OPENING OF IDIOCRACY IS TRUE RIGHT NOW And there is some bad language but really, watch this.