Kelly Sloan: "As fate would have it, the imposition of the Leviathan-version of the Five-Star program became a moot point; right about the time it was to be approved for several Front Range counties, Gov. Jared Polis decided to move most everyone back down to orange on the misery dial, accomplishing the same thing without the hoops."

Kelly Sloan: "If government bureaucracy can be said to excel at any one thing, it is redundancy, usually of the harmful variety. Most of the time, the free market and private industry find themselves far ahead of the government when it comes to achieving societal goals and meeting social and environmental targets."

Kelly Sloan: "Denver’s self-inflicted community corrections mess, to the surprise of no one except City Council, keeps getting worse, and the city’s taxpayers will be on the hook."

Paula Noonan: "No traditional Denver public school carries over that much money in unassigned funds. If those funds are donations, no Denver public school is eligible to accept such contributions directly. DPS non-charter donations must go to the Denver Public Schools Foundation which has total assets of $12.6 million to support 80,000 students."

Paula Noonan: "A year ends and a new year begins. On the last day of the year, it’s a good time to think about what the state can do to make the next year better."

Coloradans are all-in on two redistricting commissio…

Hal Bidlack: "While I pointed out above how petty and vindictive some elected officials can be, quite often elected officials (at least at the state and local levels) can get along and do at least some of the people’s work."

Hal Bidlack: "Since the end of World War II our military has gone from an organization that drew from a wide swath of American culture ... to a volunteer force that has become spectacularly skewed politically. Why? Because for some reason that I truly do not understand, for far too many, military service is seen as a 'conservative' idea."

Hal Bidlack: "While I understand the disapproval, I also think Coffman should get some credit for at least trying to understand the challenges of homelessness more fully."

Jimmy Sengenberger: "I will say it bluntly: Gov. Jared Polis and his administration have already failed front-line health care workers, 'essential workers,' seniors, teachers and many other Coloradans with their botched COVID-19 vaccine rollout."

Jimmy Sengenberger: "Let’s be real: The 2020 presidential election is over."

Jimmy Sengenberger: "In 2020, college really hasn’t been all it’s cracked up to be. Students should be forgiven if they are paying an arm and a leg, racking up tens of thousands in debt and griping about their subpar experience.  That’s because they’re right to complain." 

Miller Hudson reviews "last week’s sequence of political thunderclaps."

Miller Hudson: "Let’s take a minute and consider the tightrope act Jared Polis is walking."

Miller Hudson: "The RTD Accountability Committee reports back later in January. Largely unbeknownst to the general public, three sub-committees have been conducting Zoom meetings throughout the fall. Focusing on finance, governance, and administration, they will submit a joint report of their findings without ever attempting to solicit public and rider input."

Jon Caldara: "We forget how quickly inflation can start and how easily it can run out of control. There are many signals that, despite what drivel the Federal Reserve tries to placate us with, inflation could come galloping back as early as this year."

Jon Caldara: "Colorado judges wear black robes to symbolize the absolute lack of transparency in their operations."

Jon Caldara: "Per capita, we voluntarily donate about seven times as much as continental Europeans. In Europe people see little reason to give more of their own money when so much is being forcibly taken by taxes and redistributed by the state for 'what charity used to do.' "