Get the sense that Gov Polis isn't listening? It's not just you. Flawed reasoning on school finance and TABOR. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners fights for your 2A rights. I urge you to follow me and donate.
Get the sense that the people who decide things in this state really don't listen to you?
Yeah. Me too.
And it isn't without reason.
I saw an article about Polis' "listening tour" (reason for the quotes will be readily apparent--keep reading) which I linked below.
You might think to yourself, "well, it's not nothing, he is making an effort to get out and hear people's concerns".
Yes, you might think that. Until you carefully read the article and know those three bothersome little words I boxed in red: "invite-only event".
What do you suppose the chances are that people were randomly chosen and invited.
Yeah.
He's "listening" alright", to those that tell him what he wants to hear and won't give him serious challenge.
https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/20/what-governor-jared-polis-heard-at-a-listening-session-in-pueblo/70913507007/
And if Polis’ listening skills are shaky, I am not sure about his reading skills either given the below.
Whether or not Polis is listening, I think it's also valid to ask whether he can read. The tweet in the picture is old (from Constitution Day roughly) and the wording struck me as curious.
"... see Life, Liberty, and pursuit of happiness"?
I wondered if this was a typo. Maybe he meant "seek"? But I didn't see the tweet get deleted or a followup correction.
So then I began to wonder, assuming this was intentional, what in the world this means and why he'd insert the wording in there (check the Constitution wording and/or the Declaration wording at the links below--I didn't see it in either one).
Maybe Polis struggles to read as much as he does to listen to those that disagree with him politically.
Or maybe he's adding words to not anger his virulently pro-abortion base.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/declaration-of-independence
Flawed reasoning re. school funding.
The Sun article linked below has a couple pretty major flaws in reasoning that I think are worth addressing. Some of this is a retread, but God save me, if I have to say it 1000 times and then say it again I will.
Take a look at the attached screenshot from the article. I boxed the pertinent bit in red.
The first major flaw in this article is that more funding automatically equals better education. As an educator who has worked more years than I care to count in the field, I can tell you that this is wrong. It is an incomplete thought.
Beyond a certain amount, i.e. once the basics are cared for and outside of thoughtful spending, more money into the education machine does not produce better outcomes. One need look no further than to compare our state's spending on education with the educational outcomes over time. We dump more and more money in and outcomes are no better. Life is more complicated than that.
Second, TABOR doesn't guarantee low school funding, nor does it prevent more money from going to schools. Not surprising (since the Sun is a very Progressive news outlet and this is a common trope among Progressives) to see it here, but this is also incorrect.
Our Assembly decides what money goes where. If they truly wanted more money to go to schools, they could do it. Easily.
How do I know? Take a look at the bottom paragraph in the red box. Democrats have held every lever of power in this state for years now and the BS factor (the amount we owe to schools proscribed by Amendment 23) has yet to be touched. It has yet to be paid down in the slightest.
Democrats didn't start the BS factor true, but they have actively worked to continue it. Over the past (at least) two Assembly sessions Republicans have tried to use some of the giant piles of cash the Feds have helicoptered in to try and pay down the BS factor. They've tried to at least open the conversation and Assembly Democrats have voted down every single attempt.
Every. Single. One.
The Democrats could have easily voted and passed something to give more money to schools. They could have easily voted to pay down the BS factor. They have not.
What we're really driving at here with statements like you see in the article is not so much more money to schools in the usual sense. That is, we're not talking about reprioritizing to make schools higher on the list. We're really talking about an all-or-nothing approach where schools get more money only insofar as the government is allowed to grow. After all, to do so differently might mean making the same decisions regular families have to all the time. Doing so differently might require letting go of some pet projects.
Just keep reminding yourself and others when you hear the relentless drum beat: more money doesn't automatically mean better schools and TABOR doesn't automatically mean less for schools (and cute little puppies, orphans or whatever other sympathetic thing Progressives trot out).
https://coloradosun.com/2023/09/26/colorado-schools-fiscal-cliff-esser-funding/
Standing up for your Second Amendment Rights
I saw yesterday on Twitter that what I expected to happen was going to happen; that is, that Rocky Mountain Gun Owners sued the state over the 3 day waiting period law which just went into effect on 10/1.
See screenshot 1 attached.
I do not necessarily agree with RMGO on every policy stance, but, you know what, they fight.
And that's enough for me. I donated some money to them shortly after seeing the lawsuit. That's screenshot 2.
It's not a ton of money, but it's not nothing.
I want to encourage you to do the same. Supporting the groups that will go to court to defend your rights is, right now, the best way for you to protect and defend your Second Amendment rights.
Don't worry about saving the world, my donation was not big, but every little bit helps.