5/16/24 Blog: What Does Ranked Choice Voting Looks Like And Why We Need It

HAVE YOU HEARD OF RANKED CHOICE VOTING? It is a system that would replace partisan primaries with the goal of taking the incentive to appeal to the most fringe elements of both sides of the political aisle. My guest at 12:30 is Nick Troiano who has written a book about primaries and how the system we have now puts too much power in the hands of a tiny number of party insiders. Ranked Choice Voting is the topic of his book The Primary Solution:Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes which you should buy here. When I started reading I was a skeptic but Nick does a great job of laying out the history of change with our primary system and how the current system incentivizes polarizing politicians. Find out more about Unite America by clicking here. Nick is doing an event at the Tattered Cover Colfax on May 22nd and you can find out the details here.

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH And I'm talking to the CEO of Aurora Mental Health Dr. Kelly Phillips-Henry about the mental health needs we're facing Aurora and how they are building to meet them. She's on at 1:30.

THE LEFT WING BILLIONAIRES FUNDING THE LEFT WING MACHINE In his new book ARABELLA: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America Author Scott Walter, who also happens to be president of Capital Research Center and renowned expert in money and politics, shows a secretive “dark money” operation that channels megadonor funds into leftist political causes via pop-up groups designed to look like innocent grassroots outfits. Buy the book here and Scott joins me at 2:30.

THE DEMOCRATS JUST GAVE XCEL A BLANK CHECK AND YOU WILL PAY BECAUSE OF IT This is a GREAT overview of what will surely be massive rate hikes after the Democratic Legislature gave them what amounts to a blank check where they no longer have to ask permission to raise rates when they say they are building out infrastructure. You should watch it, it's only 22 minutes and SUPER important.

SOMEONE FORGOT TO TELL THEM THEY CAN'T SUCCEED IN DENVER The other day during the rollout of the race based office of Gobbledygook the Mayor unfurled one of the "experts" in charge of finding racism around every corner had this to say about Denver:

Sanders claimed that Denver is a city where race and other social identities predict someone’s outcome in life.

Good thing these triplets whose parents immigrated from Ghana didn't know that, because they graduated at the top of their high school class while getting their Associate's Degrees at the same time. And I'm relatively certain they are black. They credit the support of their parents and close knit family for their success. Imagine that.

THE BRONCOS SEASON IS OUT And you can plan appropriately by clicking here.

OMG OMG OMG THE ROCKIES ARE HAVING A REAL STREAK And I listened to most of the game yesterday and THEY STILL WON! Read about yesterday's shutout of the Padres here.

WHEN DID PEOPLE STOP LET THEIR KIDS WALK HOME FROM THE BUS? Yesterday I found myself driving during the time when buses are dropping kids off and out of ten kids that got off the bus, ONE walked home. The rest got into the waiting cars of their parents. There were a couple of little kids but these kids were like 10 or 11. When did we start this? This was not a thing when I was a kid. I'm just curious.

NEVER FORGET WHY GAS PRICES ARE GOING UP And here's a fun piece from Colorado Peak Politics about how it's Governor Jared Polis's fault.

INFLATION ISN'T FROM CORPORATE GREED At least the Federal Reserve says so anyway. An analysis of prices during the last two years have shown the markups taken by corporations (to cover their rising costs) are NOT the main driver of inflation. This is not helpful to Biden and Liz Warren, neither of which have ever run a business or produced anything, as they continue to lie about corporate greed.

COLORADO DRUG OVERDOSES ARE MOVING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION Even as most of the rest of the nation saw a reduction, we saw an increase in the number of drug overdoses. We're #10 in the nation when it comes to the increase in drug deaths, and we are beaten by other states that have decided to make drug addiction easier.

ESTES PARK HAS GONE HIGH TECH and I think this is really cool. They have created an AI tool to help people plan their visits called The Rocky Mountain Roamer to get you all the info you need. Read about it here.

WILL GOOGLE CENSOR US FOR OUR ELECTION? This story about Google removing 35,000 YouTube videos ahead of the EU elections has me left with more questions than answers. What did those videos say? What was offensive or wrong about them? Who decides they are wrong and why? Is this Google gearing up for OUR elections? I fear so as we know the Biden admin has a hot line to the corporate office to silence anything unflattering about Biden or his family.

TOM BRADY REGRETS THE ROAST But not because it hurt his feelings but for how it affected his kids. This makes me like him more to be honest.

SLOVAKIA'S PRIME MINISTER SHOT It's not just here that political divisions are roiling, Slovakia's Prime Minister survived gunshot wounds in an assassination attempt by a man described as a "lone wolf". The Prime Minister is a populist, Pro-Russia Anti-American who was re elected last year in a contentious election. Even his political rivals have called for a ratcheting down of tensions around the political divisions. We'll see if that works.

ISSUES AND TRUTHS ABOUT THE SOUTH

ADVICE FROM A 95 YEAR OLD AND 89 YEAR OLD WOMAN

AN IMMIGRATION CONTROL COALITION TAKES OVER THE NETHERLANDS And I'm only mentioning this because the Netherlands has been overrun by Middle Eastern Islamic men who seem to have no desire to assimilate to the very specific Dutch culture. Now a group of lawmakers who say they will sharply curtail immigration and deport anyone there illegally has taken over government. Though the AP calls them "hard right' the reality is they are just conservatives and they are part of a group of conservatives taking over Europe right now after years of hard left rule. People are tired of being overrun by people who don't want to share their values. Sounds familiar.

TO THE CLASS OF 2024: YOU ARE ALL DISEASED This is a great commencement address that gives a head nod to the late great George Carlin with the headline. It's a great column for those who have just spent four years (or more) steeped in the Sky-is-falling progressive run university system and need something to feel good about. Read it here. Check out this snippet for a taste:

You live in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, yet you feel economic anxiety. The late Charlie Munger summarized it succinctly: “The world is not driven by greed. It’s driven by envy.” And in this era of instantaneous communication networks and social media, envy has been put into hyperdrive. 

But envy has also been transformed and rebranded. Once a deadly sin, it became a virtue. We call it “fairness” (or sometimes “equity”) now and concentrate our attention on all the ways the world is “unfair.” Mostly the ways that lead to others in our peer group having more than us.

The world is unfair. Deeply so. It’s just that you’re the lucky ones. You won the birth lottery. 

In a truly fair world, any dollar you make or spend above $5,000 a year would instead be given to someone else. Maybe a poor Kenyan, or Bangladeshi, or Indian. But that’s not the kind of fairness and equity anyone talking about “fairness” and “equity” around you seeks. 

CHRISTIAN TOTO REVIEWS STEFFAN TUBBS NEW DOCUMENTARY And you can read it here before watching the film in its entirety below.

A TEACHER FIGHTS BACK OVER PRONOUNS A teacher who was fired for not using students preferred pronouns and expressing concern about not telling parents about gender dysphoria issues has won a $360,000 settlement over it. She said her religious faith prevented her from lying to students and parents. Good for her.

ONE IN FIVE CREDIT CARD USERS IS MAXED OUT And this is not heading in a good direction for Gen Z, who are leading the demographic pack when it comes to maxing out cards. They are far less likely to have other assets to tap into to pay that off, like home equity. People who are maxed out are far more likely to become delinquent and ruin their own credit, something it takes YEARS to recover from. I know, I've been there. Delinquencies are on the rise as well. Thanks, Bidenomics!

IF YOU'RE GONNA BE STUPID, YOU BETTER BE TOUGH: BULL EDITION This woman is an idiot but I hope she wasn't seriously hurt.

WHAT EXPENSES AREN'T WORTH IT ANYMORE? This is a sort of interesting concept. From subscription services to fast food this story says these things are just not "worth it" anymore. What have you given up?

WHY ARE ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS SO BAD? Scientists are just beginning to study why ultra processed foods seem to have a huge impact on obesity rates. To start, let's define ultraprocessed foods:

Ultraprocessed foods made using industrial methods and ingredients you wouldn’t typically find in grocery stores — like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and concentrated proteins like soy isolate. They often contain additives like flavorings, colorings or emulsifiers to make them appear more attractive and palatable. Think sodas and energy drinks, chips, candies, flavored yogurts, margarine, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, sausages, lunch meats, boxed macaroni and cheese, infant formulas and most packaged breads, plant milks, meat substitutes and breakfast cereals.

This makes up a huge part of the American diet which would go a long way to explaining why we have an obesity epidemic. But why they make us fat is still a mystery that needs to be studied, though the fact they are loaded with sugar, fat, and salt while being easy to chew probably creates a blood sugar spike that keeps us hungry all the time.

IF YOU BOUGHT THESE JEANS WE NEED TO TALK Proving once again that a fool and his money are soon parted, I present you pee stained jeans for $800. Sorry, they've sold out.