6/25/25 Blog: DougCo Says NO To Home Rule, And Is Social Security Broke?

DOUGCO SAYS NO THANK YOU And hooboy it was a butt kicking. Check out these vote totals from DougCoVotes:

That was an absolute shellacking. It wasn't just a NO it was a repudiation of George Teal and Abe Laydon in my view. Not only did residents vote on whether or not to form a commission, they voted on potential commission members if the Home Rule part had passed. All three commissioners put themselves on the At-Large ballot even though the Commission is supposed to play an advisory role ONLY to the charter commission, and those results look like this:

The three top vote getters were the OPPONENTS of home rule. Heh. This was one of the first times in my life I voted for Democrats. Someone made the funniest comment ever on my FB post about it, which was this:

"The Marxists are wielding their influence in Douglas County. Next up . . . the school board"

I laughed and laughed. Just because someone is against a process shrouded in secrecy, where three county commissioners who could stand to gain in the new charter, to this person is means they are a Marxist. We've made that label utterly useless. Now I'd like to hear robust discussion from the citizens of Douglas County about whether or not Home Rule is a good idea. I think a vast majority of the NO votes were against the process and the people behind it, not Home Rule itself. Read more here. You know it was shady as hell when George Teal tries to blame Chinese Communists for the opposition. Because yes, the Chinese government is SO CONCERNED about little old Douglas County that they funded the opposition. This is as absurd as some of the other things they've been saying to get this done.

WEATHER WEDNESDAY IS BACK! Because I'm back! Fox 31s Dave Fraser joins us at 12:30 to let us know what's coming up this week and take your questions.

WAR HISTORIAN PAUL RAHE ON TODAY To talk about how Israel being at war with Iran is the natural conclusion to the attacks of October 7th, and why it is in our best interest that Israel win. He joins me at 1pm to discuss. Find out more about Paul at https://www.hillsdale.edu/faculty/paul-rahe/ or http://www.paularahe.com/

IS SOCIAL SECURITY BROKE? I saw this story recently and had to sort of roll my eyes, even though this directly affects my ability to retire. Social Security will have to cut benefits in 2033 because they are running out of money. I've got Mike Murphy with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget at 2:30 and we will talk about what needs to happen to prevent this from happening. Learn more about the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget here.

MORE ON EMPATHY I'd like to thank listener Kim for sending me this column after listening to yesterday's interview with Dr. Joe Rigney on the Sin of Empathy. It's a much deeper read so buckle in, but if you're a person of faith you really should read it. If you're NOT a person of faith but want to understand better what a relationship with Christ could be, you should read it. Find it here.

TAX THE RICH WILL MAYBE BE ON THE BALLOT THIS YEAR A proposal to jack up income tax rates in Colorado for those making over $1 million bucks may be on the ballot this year. From the Denver Gazette, about a recent survey:

The survey asked voters if the state should increase the income tax rate from 4.4% to 9.5% for individuals who make over $1 million a year, decrease the rate to 4.2% for those who make $100,000 or less, and maintain the tax at 4.4% for people whose income falls between $100,000 and $1 million annually.

I actually think the decrease may kill this proposal. It's really hard to talk about "fair" taxation when you're trying to get people who pay very little into the system to pay even less. We'll see if we get to vote on this. I fully expect if this passes they will come for your income bracket soon if you're the least bit successful.

FOREST MANAGEMENT IS BACK! After the repeal of a Clinton era law that severely curtailed the ability of the forest service to manage our forests. From the Denver Gazette:

the "Roadless Area Conservation Rule," which inoculated inventoried roadless areas within the national forest system from road construction, road reconstruction and timber harvesting.

This won't change anything in Colorado, which asked for an exemption to the rule years ago, but perhaps it will make it easier for California to not catch on fire and send their smoke our way anymore.

COLORADO BACKS DOWN ON GENDER IDEOLOGY This article about Camp IrRaHaJe dropping their lawsuit over a new law forcing organizations to give access to female spaces to any man or boy who says they are a girl is interesting. The camp filed the suit in May, and the state could have immediately said what they said here:

As part of the settlement, camp officials asked the department to affirm that the camp is not subject to the gender identity rules that are part of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, as it's a private Christian organization, not a "place of public accommodation."

The department, however, says those exemptions were long-standing, that it's "not aware of any reason the regulations cited in the Complaint would have prevented the Camp from opening or continuing to operate this summer," and that it never took any action against the camp based on the gender identity rules.

"We are glad to support Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je's understanding of their ability to provide a Christian camp experience to kids. The CDEC did not take any enforcement action against Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je related to any of the licensing regulations raised in the lawsuit and the camp was never under a threat of closure," Roy said in a statement Tuesday evening.

Why not just say this Day One? I think they assessed the situation and knew they would lose in court so they backed down. We need people who have been forced to affirm things they don't believe to stand up and sue over all these laws that restrict speech and freedom under the guise of protecting a favored class.

I BOTH LIKE AND HATE THIS EDITORIAL First off, I agree that we do not need to be spending $70 million bucks on Medicaid for illegal immigrants. But this part irritated me badly:

Colorado’s OmniSalud and Cover All Coloradans programs each provide care to those experiencing illegal residency,(emphasis mine) costing $20 million and $50 million respectively. These dollars could instead bolster care for struggling seniors and others who spent years funding Medicaid. The money could save rural hospitals on the brink of closure.

WTF is "those experiencing illegal residency"? Like it just HAPPENED to them. Like they were plucked out of the sky and dropped into our country only to find themselves being here illegally. This sort of semantic nonsense drives me crazy.

THE IRANIANS SAY THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES WERE BADLY DAMAGED And as much as I want to take their word for it part of me thinks they are lying so WE think they were destroyed. It reminded me of this.

However, Israel's intelligence assessment says the Fordow site is "inoperable" and the attacks, along with Israeli bombings, had set back the Iranian nuclear program "years". They have much more to gain from really accurate intelligence so I'm going to believe them.

WILL THIS BRING IRAN TO THE TABLE? But more importantly, is there anyone to negotiate WITH? This story says the Iranian leadership is in disarray so we aren't sure who could even make a deal. Mmkay.

AN AWESOME TIMELINE CLEANSER FOR YOU Thanks to Joe for bringing this bit of light to my day.

A TOO GENEROUS CITY BENEFIT LEADS TO 911 CALL ISSUES Did you know that Denver doesn't pay into the Family Leave program created by the state? But that it created an EVEN MORE generous program for workers? And now workers are taking advantage of it? How generous is the "Care Bank" leave program? Read this:

What's occurring now began in 2020 when Colorado voters passed Proposition 118, which called for paid family medical leave funded through a payroll tax, with 50% paid by employers and 50% paid by employees. But municipalities were given the option to create their own programs, which dozens have done, including Denver, which called its program Care Bank. It is more generous and less restrictive than the state program, as it requires no contribution from city employees, and there is no cap on benefits. So city workers can take up to 8 weeks of paid leave for a variety of reasons including personal health issues, caring for a child or caring for a family member with a serious health condition. Physical illness, mental illness, injury, pregnancy, bonding and being a victim of domestic violence or stalking also qualify for the Care Bank leave. The state program, called FAMLI, caps employee benefits at about 70% of their salary per week. The Denver Care Bank has no such benefit cap, paying employees 100% salary while on Care Bank leave and no contribution is required from employees.

And now so many 911 employees are taking advantage of the benefit that calls are not getting answered in a timely fashion and massive amounts of overtime are being paid. This needs to be fixed to be brought in line with the state program. Of course that won't happen.

AN NFL PLAYER OPENS UP ABOUT OCD This story is super interesting. Indy Colt Braden Smith has opened up about his OCD and how that lead to religious scrupulosity that almost ruined his life. He used psychedelics to get some help with it. Read it here.

DISPOSABLE E-CIGS MAY BE WORSE THAN CIGARETTES Well this isn't good news. Read more here.

YOU CAN HELP BACK PAIN WITH THERAPY I am a big believer in the power of our brains and this just affirms that even more. It explains how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help deal with back pain without powerful drugs.

WINTER PARK PLEASE DO THIS! There is talk of a gondola that could connect Winter Park Village to Winter Park proper, something that would make SO MUCH SENSE. Read more here. Winter Park remains my favorite mountain town because it's not so far and it's lovely.

MICHAEL WINSLOW DOES STAR WARS And I have to admit this is really, really clever. Watch below or click here.

MORE METALLICA TICKETS!

NUGGETS PRESIDENT MENTIONS THE UNTHINKABLE Watch below or click here.

YES FOR TWO AISLE SEATS We do this when we fly. Watch below or click here.

A RECORD WE DIDN'T KNOW WE NEEDED Watch below or click here.

AROD'S CHRISTMAS GIFT Watch below or click here.

AN OLD MOVIE THEATER GETS NEW LIFE And I'm bummed this is all the way up in Thornton but good for you guys. Read about Malibu Jack's here.