Protecting TABOR, Fighting Government Overreach, and Standing Firm on Trump’s Agenda

On the April 14, 2025 broadcast, Kim Monson welcomed former Congressman Greg Lopez for a wide-ranging discussion on Colorado’s fiscal future and his 2026 gubernatorial campaign, citizen watchdog Mike Rawluk with a legislative update on surveillance and land-use bills, insurance expert Roger Mangan on protecting against uninsured motorists, and American Thinker columnist Brian Joondeph on staying the course behind the Trump administration’s disruptive reforms.

TABOR Under Siege and the 2026 Governor’s Race

Start listening at 4:05 – Hour 1

Greg Lopez opened with reflections on his time in Congress, calling the experience a privilege rooted in humble beginnings. The conversation turned to Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, where Lopez warned that the legislature’s push to question TABOR’s constitutionality after 33 years is driven by a $1.2 billion budget shortfall, not genuine legal concern. He argued that TABOR remains the only mechanism ensuring taxpayers receive refunds when the state overcollects revenue, and that removing it would strip citizens of their voice in government spending.

Lopez then announced his candidacy for the 2026 Republican gubernatorial race, framing his campaign around the motto “People Over Politics.” He emphasized his Hispanic heritage, noting that 22 percent of Colorado’s population is Hispanic and that 48 percent of eligible Hispanic voters remain unregistered because neither party has delivered for their communities. Lopez pledged a listening tour and vowed to address public safety, affordable starter homes, and rolling back the legislature’s aggressive social agenda on firearms, parental rights, and transgender policies.

“The only way government can help people is for government to get out of the way, remove all these unnecessary regulations and restrictions, so that people can not only prosper, but they can improve their own quality of life.”

Greg Lopez, Former Congressman and 2026 Gubernatorial Candidate

Legislative Threats to Local Control and Privacy

Start listening at 15:04 – Hour 1

Mike Rawluk delivered a rapid-fire update on several bills moving through the Colorado Statehouse. He reported that Senate Bill 25-011, which would authorize AI wildfire detection cameras across the state, appears stalled after passing through committees with no floor vote scheduled. Rawluk urged continued citizen engagement to prevent the bill from advancing, noting that third-party companies like Pano AI would collect the data and sell it to government agencies without transparency or citizen oversight portals.

Rawluk also sounded the alarm on HB 25-1169, commonly called the “YIGBY” (Yes In God’s Backyard) bill, which would permit high-density development on church and school-owned land while stripping local building height restrictions, density limits, and transferring approval authority from elected officials to administrative case managers. Combined with last year’s HB 24-1107, which forces citizens to pay government attorney fees if they lose a land-use appeal, Rawluk warned that Colorado residents face a growing wall of barriers to challenging development decisions. He closed with a note on HB 25-1214, where citizen pressure successfully removed a provision for automatic parole, though concerns remain about compelling courts to apply a softer standard to Class 5 and Class 6 felonies, including human trafficking.

“It’s a third-party company that will make the government a customer of the information. So they have the information, and then a government or fire protection district, what have you, would subscribe to that information.”

Mike Rawluk, Citizen Legislative Watchdog

Navigating Colorado’s Uninsured Motorist Crisis

Start listening at 60:58 – Hour 2

Roger Mangan of the State Farm Insurance team broke down the financial risk Colorado drivers face from uninsured motorists, estimating that 20 to 25 percent of vehicles on the road carry no insurance depending on the area. He explained that uninsured motorist coverage in Colorado does not cover physical damage to your vehicle; that protection comes through collision coverage. The real exposure, Mangan stressed, is lost income and wrongful death, scenarios where a driver with no insurance causes catastrophic harm and the victim has no recourse without adequate UM coverage.

Mangan walked listeners through a practical strategy: raise collision and comprehensive deductibles to free up $80 to $100 a year, then redirect those savings into higher UM limits of $250,000 or $500,000. He noted that most policyholders sign their premium checks every six months without reviewing their coverage and urged everyone to call their agent for a 10-minute review. Approaching his 49th year in the business, Mangan emphasized that having a personal agent rather than an 800 number makes a critical difference when a claim arises.

“You spend a lot of money with your insurance companies, and my company included. Probably five percent to seven percent of your income goes to some form of insurance. So if, if you don’t know what it is, you sign that check every six months and you send it in, you don’t even know what you have, that’s problematic, because the agent is going to accept that check.”

Roger Mangan, State Farm Insurance

Standing Firm Behind the Trump Agenda

Start listening at 68:15 – Hour 2

Brian Joondeph, writing for American Thinker, channeled Margaret Thatcher’s famous admonition to George H.W. Bush: “Don’t go wobbly.” Joondeph argued that Trump was elected as a disruptor to break up a century of bureaucratic inertia, and that Republicans who catastrophize over the pace of tariffs, deportations, and executive orders are undermining the mandate voters delivered. He pointed to $36 to $37 trillion in national debt with debt service now exceeding defense spending as evidence that conventional approaches have failed.

Joondeph took aim at congressional inaction, noting that the last proper budget was passed at least 15 to 20 years ago and that Republican majorities have historically failed to cut spending. He urged the DOJ and FBI to move faster on accountability for Russiagate and COVID-era malfeasance, warning that if Democrats recapture the House in the midterms, impeachment proceedings will consume the remainder of Trump’s term. Joondeph also defended Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative as essential for exposing the U.S. Treasury’s role as a global “ATM machine” and previewed his new American Thinker piece on declining trust in the medical establishment.

“We elected Trump as a disruptor to break up a failing system that’s headed toward the cliff, to break it up in a big way and do things differently and support him.”

Brian Joondeph, American Thinker Columnist