On January 16, 2025, Bob Boswell, Karen Levine, Pam Long, and Paul Lundeen joined the show. Energy CEO exposes 23 TABOR-circumventing fees draining oil and gas development while expressing optimism about Chris Wright leading the Department of Energy under Trump Realtor reports market picking up with interest rates stabilizing at 6 West Point graduate analyzes 700 bills to identify effective resistance: organized opposition with economic evidence,.
Bob Boswell, CEO of Laramie Energy, described Colorado’s regulatory environment as death by a thousand cuts. The Governor has circumvented the TABOR Act’s requirement for voter approval of tax increases by implementing 23 fees that drain hundreds of millions from energy development.
“The latest one was affecting oil and gas production, where the fee on every unit of production that takes several hundreds of millions of dollars out of the ability to develop hurts the economics and further subverts monies that could be going to the counties.”
Bob Boswell, Laramie Energy
Boswell highlighted that Colorado is following California’s destructive path, where environmental policies contributed to the devastating fires by constraining utilities from improving infrastructure. The latest fee on oil and gas production diverts money from county development to fund a Front Range train system that western slope residents will never use.
“On the western slope, over 70% of that land is federal, and the federal government has always looked at states’ rights and let states dictate certain elements of development, but they’ve completely overstepped on federal lands.”
Bob Boswell, Laramie Energy
Despite federal overreach from state policies affecting federal lands, Boswell expressed optimism about the incoming Trump administration. Chris Wright, founder of Liberty Energy and author of Bettering Human Lives, brings unparalleled engineering and policy expertise to energy leadership.
Karen Levine, RE/MAX Alliance realtor, reported that showings picked up after the Broncos’ playoff exit. Interest rates stabilizing around six and a half to seven percent represents the new normal. She highlighted construction defect reform as the Colorado Association of Realtors’ top priority.
“I would say in the forefront of the realtor community, we’re going to be looking at and pushing for and advocating lobbying for construction defect reform.”
Karen Levine, RE/MAX Alliance
Without reform, developers cannot economically build condominiums for sale, eliminating the first rung of homeownership that many Coloradans need. Rising HOA fees, driven largely by soaring insurance costs, compound the affordability crisis.
Pam Long, West Point graduate and director of the Children’s Health Defense Military Chapter, analyzed last session’s 700 bills to identify effective resistance strategies against the Democrat supermajority.
“A legal challenge can deter or halt an illegal tax, but can also deter many types of other bills which violate the rights of citizens.”
Pam Long, Children’s Health Defense Military Chapter
First, organized opposition with economic evidence defeated the 400% tax increase on short-term rentals when 150 property owners showed up wearing coordinated blue shirts. Second, preemptive legal challenges, like the American Rental Car Association’s lawsuit against SB 184’s $3-per-day fee, can halt unconstitutional taxes. Third, recall campaigns drain opposition resources and bring public attention to overreach.
“The opposition to the supermajority is under utilizing recalls. And not all recalls will be successful, but these campaigns, they drain time, resources, reputation of the party involved.”
Pam Long, Children’s Health Defense Military Chapter
Long noted that Senator Julie Gonzalez withdrew her assault weapons ban last session partly because Democratic leadership remembered that 2013 recalls ousted two lawmakers over gun control votes. Fear of electoral consequences remains a powerful deterrent.
Paul Lundeen, Senate Minority Leader, unveiled a legislative package to return $4,500 per family by repealing hidden taxes and cutting regulations. He displayed a three-foot column of dollar bills to visualize the impact.
“The second conversation that’s going on in Colorado more broadly is among the people of Colorado. And it is a conversation that says over the last number of years, all these policies, all these hidden taxes, all these fees have brought us to, we can’t afford to live in Colorado.”
Paul Lundeen, Senate Minority Leader
Key bills target Senate Bill 260’s 29-cent delivery fee and four transportation enterprises pushing trains nobody rides, nuclear energy that could save $700-900 per family, and construction defects reform worth $2,900 in housing savings. Lundeen pledged to publicly shred fake dollar bills to show voters exactly how much Democrat opposition costs them.
“The people that put all these regulations in place that are choking the lifeblood of Colorado out, in fact, will oppose what we have to do. They’re there for the government. We’re there for the people.”
Paul Lundeen, Senate Minority Leader
Episode from The Kim Monson Show
On August 23, 2024, Allen Thomas, Paula Sarlls, Lorne Levy, Karen Levine, and Jim May joined the show. Exposed how the Kamala Harris campaign...
Episode from The Kim Monson Show