The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: Let’s not confuse tax cuts with tax reform
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, released the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Thursday, the first version of “tax reform” to be put into legislation.
But is cutting taxes really tax reform? It’s a key question in the debate about overhauling the tax code, which is rife with political engineering to encourage or discourage economic behavior.
So while the House bill ostensibly offers a series of tax cuts and breaks aimed at helping most Americans, it doesn’t really simplify the tax code. Yes, it eliminates or scales back a lot of deductions, but it includes some gimmicky phase-ins and phase-outs of tax repeals and credits that make it difficult to predict the fiscal impact.
Bureau of Land Management revokes American Prairie’s bison leases | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
The Associated Press
the-associated-press@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 days ago
MONTANA BLM revokes bison grazing leases The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on Jan. 16 that it is revoking grazing permits in Phillips County that American Prairie had been using to sustain its herd of bison. The decision comes...
Colorado GOP Chair Brita Horn rebuffs critics as fellow party officer greenlights ‘no-confidence’ vote
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 22 hours ago
A Colorado Republican Party officer said last week that a move by party officials to impose restrictions on state GOP chair Brita Horn and hold a “no-confidence” vote on her leadership can proceed. Horn, however, told Colorado Politics that the...
Evans challenger Evan Munsing qualifies by petition for Democratic primary ballot in Colorado’s 8th CD
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 23 hours ago
Thornton Democrat Evan Munsing, one of three major Democratic candidates challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans’ bid for a second term, became the first candidate to qualify for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District primary after submitting a sufficient number of valid...
Pueblo state representative defects from party, handgun carry permit bill receives first real scrutiny | A LOOK BACK
Rachael Wright, Special to Colorado Politics
rachael.wright@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 days ago
Forty-Five Years Ago This Week: After being labelled a turncoat by activist John Van Vranken in The Colorado Statesman, state Rep. Bob Kirscht, R-Pueblo, defended his defection from the Democratic Party on the grounds of “philosophical differences.” The Democratic Party,...
Capitol M: Olympic version | Week of Feb. 7, 2026
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 days ago
The lighter side of the state Capitol, usually. Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, who turns 50 this year, is sporting eyeglasses for the first time. He blames the lege. “With 700 bills to read a year, my eyes are failing me,”...
Colorado Politics Calendar Feb. 9-15
Rachael Wright, Special to Colorado Politics
rachael.wright@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 days ago
CoPo’s weekly political calendar will help you find political and public-policy events throughout Colorado. It includes candidate and issue campaign events, public policy meetings, court hearings, state and local party conventions, assemblies, debates, rallies, parades, speaking engagements, traveling dignitary appearances,...
Trump’s critics are not the ones suffering from “derangement” | SONDERMANN
By Eric Sondermann
by-eric-sondermann@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 days ago
It appears that 63% of Americans, plus or minus, are deranged. Per recent surveys, that is the percentage of fellow citizens who do not approve of President Trump’s performance a year into his second term. In Trump’s world, almost any...
Federal judge blasts government for violating court order, confiscating man’s property
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 days ago
A federal judge gave the government three hours on Friday to return the property of a man released from immigration detention, which it allegedly retained in violation of her previous order. “At its most benign, this failure is an unforced...
DA’s withdrawal from veterans treatment court not judge’s problem, ethics panel says
Michael Karlik
michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 days ago
There are no ethical concerns from a judge continuing to participate in a specialty veterans treatment court if the district attorney’s office has withdrawn from the program, the Colorado Supreme Court’s ethics committee advised on Wednesday. Colorado law permits chief...
As federal vaccine guidance shifts, Colorado Senate backs recommendations from pediatric groups
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 2 days ago
At least 20 states have said they are using guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical associations when setting vaccine policies and immunization schedules, in some cases supplementing or diverging from recommendations issued by the Trump administration...