Just One Thing: I fear and loathe my (state) government
Lots of folks put all their focus on the federal government, and I realize that the narcissism of Donald Trump and the feckless incompetence of Joe Biden, and the lies from both of them, can drive one to distraction. But don't ever forget that typically your state government has bigger impact on your life than the national government does. And right now, I live in fear, for my freedom and my money, every day that our Democrat-dominated Colorado state legislature is in session. Today is the last day of the session and they're going to do as much harm as they can.
With one business day left in this year’s legislative session, and with no warning to Republicans, Colorado House Democrats rammed through a bill that would cause all Coloradans to get an equal TABOR refund this year instead of there being six divisions based on income ranges with higher income folks getting bigger refunds, which is only fair since they paid more in taxes and this is a tax refund. Under the plan low-income folks will have TABOR refunds 50% higher than they would be. People or couples earning between $50K and $157K will see little change, and those over $157K get screwed. Our Democrat legislators are socialists and thieves.
Also, a little on the politics of this: They're certainly going to try to use this to get lower-income folks to vote for the property tax hostage-taking which we'll see as Amendment HH on the November ballot. It's basically a bribe to everyone making under $50K to vote the way Dems want them to. And, maybe they're thinking that if they make the TABOR refunds for middle-class and upper-middle-class and rich folks small enough, they can get those people to go along with the disgusting hostage-taking of their so-called "property tax relief" that is also an income tax hike (in years when there is a TABOR refund.)
UPDATE: I HAD A TEXT INTERACTION WITH A DEMOCRAT IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE YESTERDAY. He said "I thought you'd like the equal refunds because it will make lower-income people like TABOR more." Seriously, this is the world that these people live in. So incredibly cynical...They are out of their freakin' minds. I told him, "It's theft."
Seriously, these Democrat legislatures disgust me and I feel as close as I've ever felt to truly hating my government. Hate is a word I don't like using and I use sparingly, but I'm getting there with these people. And Governor Polis talks a good game about saving taxpayers money but it's all a shell game.
Meanwhile, this analysis (by Ben Murrey of the Independence Institute) of that property tax bill, which would go to the voters rather than to the governor, is a MUST-WATCH and MUST-SHARE
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One More Thing: SCOTUS stays execution of Richard Glossip
Listeners to this show know I've been following this case closely. I've had Mr. Glossip's attorney (who's based in Littleton) and OK State Rep Kevin McDugle on the show to talk about it. It's disgusting how hard some people in Oklahoma are trying to kill a man who's probably innocent and certainly not "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
Supreme Court blocks execution of Oklahoma death row inmate
From the NY Times: In a rare move, (Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner) Drummond wrote that the state had “come to the difficult but essential conclusion that Glossip’s capital conviction is unsustainable and a new trial imperative.”
Lawyers call such statements “confessions of error,” and courts ordinarily give them great weight. The stay issued by the Supreme Court will remain in place while the justices decide whether to hear Mr. Glossip’s appeal, and if they do, until they decide it.
...
Prosecutors had reason to know that Mr. Sneed’s testimony was false, the state’s brief said. “Despite this knowledge,” it said, “the state permitted Sneed to effectively hide his psychiatric condition and the reason for his prior lithium prescription through materially false testimony to the jury.”
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Today's Guests
Natalie Davis is president of the Colorado Association of Realtors. We're going to talk about the current status of the real estate market in our state. I think it's actually quite fascinating. Interest rates are up and the number of transactions is down and yet, contrary to what you'd typically expect, prices (so far) have declined very little. I suspect that part of the reason is that lots of people refinanced during COVID into loans with interest rates between 2.5% and 3.5% and are not interested in selling their homes and buying something else with an interest rate that will be double what they have now. And if they're willing to consider it, especially if they don't really have to move, they're going to demand a high price for the current home to offset the cost of the next home with the higher monthly payment.
Colorado Association of REALTORS – Knowledge Happens Here (coloradorealtors.com)
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Roger Pielke Jr is an interesting dude. He has TRUE expertise in climate change (and is a persistent debunker of misinformation and data abuse) as well as in sports governance. We'll talk about a lot of things including lies in the UN IPCC's latest climate change report and his thoughts for the most reasonable approach to transgender participation in competitive sports. His Substack is called "The Honest Broker" and I encourage you to subscribe...he has a deal right now that's 50% off the usual annual price for the first year. (I just subscribed with that very deal.)
We'll also discuss his latest note (4th link below) running through some possible scenarios for the University of Colorado's upcoming football season, the first under Coach Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime.
The Honest Broker - Roger Pielke Jr. | Substack
Misinformation in the IPCC - by Roger Pielke Jr.
We'll discuss this nonsense: Opinion | Florida. Arizona. Climate Change Is Coming for Home Values. - The New York Times (May require subscription)
Colorado Football's Reality TV Experiment
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Other Stuff
Candi CdeBaca is a communist lunatic, and I'm not using "communist" as hyperbole. (Nor "lunatic".) She's literally a communist. She also faces a credible challenger in next month's runoff so let's run her off, shall we? I think her only actual function is to make Tay Anderson look reasonable.
Kyle Clark called Comrade Candi out for her lies about race-based taxes being constitutional and about San Francisco having a program similar to her racist proposal. (Video below, and link here: Denver Councilwoman CdeBaca suggests tax on white-owned businesses (original at 9News.com)
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Will Tucker Carlson "torch Fox News"? Guessing he doesn't want to but he will if he thinks he has to: Scoop: Tucker Carlson ready to torch Fox News (axios.com)
Tucker Carlson Wants to Return to TV Before 2025. Will Fox Let Him? (original at NY Times)
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As the public becomes more and more convinced that Joe Biden is unfit to be president, we now have the first poll in a while showing Biden losing to Trump (and losing to DeSantis by about the same margin): Biden trails Trump in brutal new poll after 2024 kickoff (yahoo.com)
It's only one poll. Don't make too much of it. But if other polls show the same stuff, one will have to wonder whether a credible Democrat will jump into the fray.
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Regarding "Red Flag" laws, this article is interesting. It's NOT just about Michigan. Michigan nears red flag gun law, but some sheriffs likely to ignore it | AP News
In fact, this part about Colorado is fascinating: "In Colorado, 37 counties that consider themselves “sanctuaries” issued just 45 surrender orders in the two years through 2021, one-fifth fewer per resident than non-sanctuary counties." That's a remarkably small difference. And since it's safe to assume that the "sanctuary" counties aren't issuing very many of these orders, technically called Extreme Risk Protection Orders, it means that all the other counties aren't issuing many either.
Indeed, an AP analysis last year showed CO toward the bottom of the list in terms of frequency of ERPO use (as a rate based on population): Red flag laws get little use as shootings, gun deaths soar | AP News
More CO data here: Colorado's "red flag" law: What to know about how it works - Axios Denver
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It's good to be the king. Less good to be the rebellious former prince: Prince Harry Jets Off After Being Royally Frozen Out of Coronation (yahoo.com)
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It won't be easy to spend $3 TRILLION but the Dems are sure gonna keep trying to bankrupt our children while kneeling at the altar of Gaia: ‘Over My Dead Body’: Backlash Builds Against $3 Trillion Clean-Energy Push - WSJ
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The battle for Bakhmut rages on in eastern Ukraine: Wagner’s Russian Leader Yevgeny Prigozhin Reverses Course on Plan to Withdraw From Bakhmut - WSJ
Can in imagine if one private citizen had this much influence over the American (or any other Western) military?
Gotta check out the video near the end of the article of fighting near Bakhmut. And notice the utter devastation of the land.
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This is why I said Budweiser is smart to just keep their mouth shut after the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco: Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney controversy deepens: Chicago gay bars roar at beer maker's 'abandonment' of cause (msn.com)
(That one group of bars isn't really very important, and conservative media will play it up a little, but still it points to what I said a couple of weeks ago: Bud can't say anything now without attracting the ire of either the left or the right, depending on the statement.)
But the guy had to say something at some point, and I guess he did the best he could with it: Anheuser-Busch CEO: 'Too early' to see full sales impact of Dylan Mulvaney controversy, called it 'one post' (yahoo.com)
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Horror in Texas: Texas mall shooting: What to know (axios.com)
White Supremacist ideology is truly evil. This mass murderer is truly evil. This story will likely get more coverage than other similar stories just because of the guy's ideology. And that's not right. Texas Mass Shooter Posted Neo-Nazi Content, FBI Document Reveals (yahoo.com)
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Manchin can say he'll vote to repeal the IRA (or parts of it) but he won't ever get the chance because this is very likely his last 20 months in office and repeal won't come up for even a committee vote during that time. He caved, he screwed the country, and he got played just like everyone with a brain told him he was getting played.
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Another one bites the dust: Denver Ted's Cheesesteaks has closed its doors indefinitely | 9news.com
And yet there is life! Yard Milkshake Bar holds grand opening of first Denver location | 9news.com
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I'm completely sick of being asked to tip where I had little to no interaction with an employee: Tipping at Self-Checkout Has Customers Crying 'Emotional Blackmail'
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Today's Videos
It's rather remarkable that this weekend held the first coronation of a British monarch in 70 years. It will be a lot less than that until the next one. The spectacle was absolutely remarkable...and somewhat more religious than I expected. You can watch the key part of the coronation below though much of the rest of it was also interesting, especially some of the incredible singing which I've also embedded below.
I was also absolutely fascinated by the chair/throne that Charles sat in while being crowned. And I'm especially curious about the graffiti carved into the chair. When I saw the chair, I said out loud, "That has to be at least 500 years old." Yep, it's more than 700 years old.
Oh, this is juvenile yet hilarious: A Giant Penis Was Mowed Into the Grass at a Coronation Party Site (menshealth.com)
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See, if this guy were holding a Budweiser, THAT would have been a great Bud ad. And the dude was still king for a day a week ago.
Dad With Baby Strapped To Chest Holding Beer Catches Foul Ball At Dodgers Game (today.com)