Another Meat In Day event to share, reporters and their ideological "bubbles", and the consequences of electing socialists.
A couple of Meat In Day events from NW Colorado. Easiest to share the link from my FB page because there are two different things: a restaurant event and giveaway.
Another way to get there is to check out Moffatt County Beef’s page:
https://www.facebook.com/MoffatCountyBeef
Do you ever get the sense that reporters don't bother to ever move outside their bubbles?
God knows I do. The article below is an example.
The topic is a fair one: it details how Xcel Energy is selling itself as environmentally concerned while at the same time funding and helping with the effort to keep natural gas as a viable option for cooking, heating, etc. in Colorado.
This is a fine thing to cover. I am a decided booster for keeping access to clean, affordable natural gas as a fuel and energy source (both in heating/cooking and power generation), but I have no problem with articles on the topic. Frankly, I wonder why this is a thing. Xcel sells natural gas. Yes, they'd likely defend its future sale.
If you read the article (and I'd recommend it), you'll quickly pick up on the "tone" of it. It's easier shown that written about; give the screenshots attached a quick look and you'll see what I mean.
Whether intentional or no, I get the sense in reading articles that reporters do not make the effort to step outside their own bubbles to get a sense of what everyday people think. I don't think they actively seek views that are contrary to the ones they hold.
This hampers their ability to fairly report on things, it shorts readers of a fuller understanding of issues, and, frankly, I think its one of the big drivers behind the polarization we see.
I thought, in that spirit, that some counterpoint would be in order here. I wanted to offer some encouragement to you in case you see articles like this and figure that you're on the wrong side or that you're the only one who thinks the way you do.
1. There is more than just Xcel and fossil fuel companies pushing to make sure that natural gas remains an option. I and many of you have also spoken up about the same. I and others have written about the same. Remember that just because a reporter doesn't seek you out, it doesn't necessarily mean you're a part of a small minority of weirdos.
2. Is Xcel and the fossil fuel industry putting money into lobbying efforts to keep natural gas a viable option? Yes they are. Guess what? There are people on the other side of the issue putting money into lobbying efforts to make sure natural gas is not allowed. Again, a lack of reporting doesn't equal an absence.
3. Lastly, if the idea here is that (and this is related to #2 above) keeping natural gas lines is supported by giant corporations while the opposition is a scrappy bunch of environmentalists, that is not the case. I have sat in on many hearings, listening to the same words coming out of mouth after mouth; I have read through public emails aplenty which are the same words. Environmentalists are just as organized and professionally-led as any other group. They just have the sympathy of the left and so this gets downplayed.
If you're speaking up, continue. You are not the only one. If you haven't because you think you are the only one, start.
https://www.cpr.org/2023/02/27/xcel-energy-coloradans-for-energy-access/
If you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas. If you elect socialists, you get policies like these.
I don't think I realized (until I read the post from Free State Colorado linked first below) that we had some Democrat Socialist party members in our own Assembly. I wasn't aware.
I suppose I should have been because when I look at some of the bills coming out of the Assembly this session (esp those that are sponsored by the socialists), they bear the marks of socialist ideas.
As an example, I want to point you to a couple bills. The first was the bill that allows local governments to enact rent control (see second link below), and the second is the bill that would, in certain cases, make it so that a landlord either must pay to evict a tenant or let them rent there forever.
Yes. You read that right. See links three and four below for more detail--I want to esp recommend reading link 4 because it, unlike the CPR article, contains a full statement from groups opposed to the bill.
This is exactly the sort of thing that you get when you elect socialists. This is exactly what you get when the moderate Democrats in the Assembly are afraid of bucking them.
Not good.
https://freestatecolorado.com/dsa/
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/legislature/rent-control-bill-heads-to-colorado-senate-with-uncertain-future/article_326c4eb8-b6d7-11ed-80cf-e7c8d619ab39.html
https://www.cpr.org/2023/03/01/if-your-lease-expires-you-could-still-keep-renting-under-colorados-just-cause-evictions-bill/
https://kdvr.com/news/politics/colorado-politics-news/just-cause-eviction-bill-colorado-renters-rights/