A truly terrible thing
To lose a close friend this way is something I don't even want to imagine. I feel just terrible for the Sperbeck family and for John Elway who, depending on what exactly happened, may carry a feeling of guilt (even if he shouldn't) for the rest of his life. I hope he doesn't.
John Elway golf cart accident: Sheriff investigates Jeff Sperbeck death
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Just One Thing: It's a done deal
I mentioned on the show how good a sign it was -- and how grateful I was to Donald Trump for overcoming his clear personal dislike or frustration with Volodymyr Zelenskyy -- when those two presidents met while in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. It seemed to me that that was extremely likely to mean the nations were close to cementing a so-called "minerals deal" and today it was signed.
This should massively change the dynamic of America's involvement in trying to broker a peace deal because Trump is highly motivated by profit, obviously for himself, but also for the country and he'll see this as a significant revenue opportunity. But realizing the revenue requires being able to develop Ukraine's mineral resources which are mostly toward the eastern part of the country and partly in areas under control of Russia, I believe. This absolutely ends any hope that KGB thug Vladimir Putin has of convincing the US to go along with a deal that would let Russia keep so much of eastern Ukraine, much less to take even more of it.
Indeed, Trump is suggesting that Americans may start working on initial stages of developing mines, searching for oil and gas, and other preliminary steps, and that an American presence should deter Russia from encroachment into those areas. It probably would, but I'm not sure what American engineer wants to be the tripwire.
To be clear, the deal does NOT include American security guarantees for Ukraine.
Still, this is great news for the civilized world.
What I wonder now is how MAGA followers of Trump who have for some reason found their own version of virtue signaling in moral equivalence between Russia and Ukraine or outright siding with Russia as Trump had done until now. Will these people switch to supporting Ukraine since Trump almost certainly must now, and if so how will they explain it? Will it be as simple (and ridiculous) as "now there's money in it for the US"? I can't see how else they'd even try to justify such a massive change. But if it's good enough for Trump, it'll be good enough for them, I suppose.
US and Ukraine sign mineral resources agreement - ABC News
U.S., Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal in Major Breakthrough for Peace Talks | National Review
This is the imagery and language that we need. Better late than never.
Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent offers some comments
It's a good idea to try to crush Russia financially and the only way to do that is to create strong disincentives for countries to buy Russian oil and gas. This is a step in that direction. Not sure I've heard a better plan because sanctions just on Russia haven't worked. Still this is a VERY tricky thing with potentially serious unintended consequences. We'll see how it plays out. It's not nearly as stupid as just embarking on trade wars against friends: Graham pushes plan to sanction Russia, tariff its oil customers
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Today's Guest
DJ Summers is Director of Communications and Research Operations at the Common Sense Institute. We'll discuss CSI's new paper -- the first with my involvement as the Mike A Leprino Free Enterprise Fellow -- about the ongoing and intensifying Democratic assault on Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Here's my first report!
The Legislative Assault on TABOR
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Other Stuff
I'm putting this first. I do not make this statement out of partisanship but out of reality, and what's best for Colorado's 8th district and perhaps for Yadira Caraveo herself although that's not really my priority in this situation: IF this story is true in its most important aspects, Caraveo must drop out of the 2026 race for Congress. I don't care if that increases or decreases the chance of a Dem winning the seat. She can't be in Congress. The headline of the article is very much burying the lede.
Yadira Caraveo’s former aides say she mistreated, traumatized them
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I have no idea why the article headline would say the reason is shocking: Gen Z is most likely to be hit by a train for this shocking reason
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Looks like they're going to delete some of the most egregious provisions, but that doesn't mean it's a good bill: Colorado legislature updates on housing, trans rights bill, evictions (gift link, no subscription required)
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It's a double-edged sword: Front Range home values dip in latest property tax assessments
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We talk a lot about the economics of tariffs (bad) but rarely about the morality of them (also bad). To wit: why is it OK for a government to interfere in my right to buy a product from wherever I want to buy it? (Especially if the nation selling the item isn't an enemy of the United States.)
Trump says children could have ‘two dolls instead of 30’ with his tariff plan
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My theory: The US knows that Israel will, or at least will want to, attack Iran. Trump and team are looking for a way to support that when it happens even after recent reporting that Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu not to attack. Hegseth threatens Iran over Houthis support: ‘You will pay the consequence’
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I realize that some Republicans represent states with truly terrible tax policy, like New York, and maybe they represent swing districts. But I still find it disgusting that they want to raise the SALT deduction from $10,000. One Congresscritter said $25,000 is not enough. The right number is $0. Every extra dollar of SALT deduction is another dollar of national debt. It's immoral and, I repeat, disgusting for any Republican to support increasing it. Grow a pair and explain to voters why you won't.
https://thehill.com/business/domestic-taxes/5276435-house-republicans-salt-relief/
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I hope he thinks it was worth it: Elon Musk goodbye Trump Cabinet, claims DOGE saved $160 billion
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Some stuff I didn't get to yesterday:
A modest proposal from this writer. I don’t like any of it but Trump’s idea has proven ineffective in every country where it’s been tried. That said, I must admit that it’s probably a legit national interest to not get into a population doom loop like South Korea or Japan or China or even Russia (esp because of the war) seem to be in.
Trump's $5k bonus won't bring more babies — here's what will
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And you thought the US justice system was slow…Kim Kardashian robbery suspects to appear in Paris court as trial begins | Kim Kardashian | The Guardian
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Fine with me except that it's legally mandated. Not sure how to thread that needle: Trump dismisses scientists writing the National Climate Assessment - E&E News by POLITICO
National Climate Assessment Authors Are Dismissed by Trump Administration - The New York Times
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I think this is a very interesting case. My gut instinct is that if I were on the Court I'd vote in favor of the school.
Looks like 4-4 or 5-3 (in favor of the religious school): Supreme Court divided over approving first religious charter school - SCOTUSblog
Interesting background here: Supreme Court to consider bid for first religious charter school - SCOTUSblog
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The inevitable consequences of a lack of competition and a misguided business model: Xcel customers face more outages, longer wait times, reports say
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Stop the "reformulated gas" insanity. Just get rid of it.
Colorado fight over reformulated gas and ozone gets complex
Diminishing Benefits of Federal Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Compared to Conventional Gasoline (CG)
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I realize that Donald Trump spends almost as much time online as my teenager does, but, wow, is he really this gullible? Or is he lying intentionally? This kind of thing really annoys me. This man is leader of the free world and he can't tell an obvious Photoshop when he sees one, or can't ask his team whether a picture he sees online is real? It's just so mindless and so far below what we should expect from a president. And even after the world has been alerted to how foolish Trump looks in this conversation, he hasn't taken down his posts. The man never admits a mistake, but maybe that's because it would take too much of his time given the number of mistakes he makes. It's all a massive and unnecessary distraction from the important policy goals of his administration. Why fight so hard, why lie so much, to explain away the government making a mistake and violating a court order when you could so easily solve the problem by bringing the guy back and then, if they want to, deporting him in accordance with law and court orders?
Trump Mistakes Photoshopped Image of Immigrant's Tattoos for Real Thing in ABC Interview
An advertisement masquerading as a poll and news, but I still like the underlying question: Home is where the party is? Staying in may be the new going out
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Today's Video
Is that a baby werewolf?