Kim Monson’s November 1, 2023 broadcast tackled the hidden costs of Federal Reserve policy, the troubling direction of industrial food production, and the urgent need for education reform as school board candidates from Poudre and Holyoke school districts laid out their vision for returning schools to academic fundamentals.
Jay Davidson, founder and CEO of First American State Bank, traces the decline of the U.S. dollar directly to Federal Reserve policy. Since the Fed began quantitative easing in 2008, its balance sheet ballooned from $850 billion to $9 trillion, effectively printing over $8 trillion and dumping it into the economy. Davidson explains the closed-loop mechanism: the Fed prints dollars, buys Treasury bonds, and the Treasury Department spends according to congressional direction. The result hits lower and middle-class Americans hardest, as they spend a larger proportion of income on essentials like fuel and groceries.
Davidson warns that inflation is not caused by supply and demand this time but by excess money supply. He draws a chilling parallel to post-war Germany, where citizens needed wheelbarrows of Deutsche Marks to buy bread. The conversation turns to American identity and values, with Davidson calling for a return to constitutional principles and individual responsibility. He notes that younger generations are searching for meaning beyond social media, and that religious and moral foundations provide the guideposts for a meaningful life.
“Every dollar that the government spends now in excess of our tax revenues, every dollar they spend is debt. All of it is debt.”
Jay Davidson, Founder and CEO, First American State Bank
Trent Loos, sixth-generation farmer and rancher, sounds the alarm on Tyson Foods’ partnership with Protix, a global insect ingredients company. Loos points out the absurdity: insects are what chickens eat, and then humans eat the chickens. Cutting out that link disrupts the natural food chain. He contrasts Tyson’s ESG-driven approach with JBS Swift, headquartered in Greeley, which remains committed to traditional meat production without ideological games.
The conversation broadens to food sovereignty and the consolidation of retail. Loos notes that one retailer controls 33% of all grocery sales, which drives consolidation back up the supply chain. He urges consumers to seek out regional and local food producers. On nitrogen fertilizer, Loos explains that 78% of Earth’s atmosphere is nitrous oxide, and demonizing nitrogen as a pollutant is actually demonizing plant food. He draws direct connections between government-engineered famine and the ten largest genocides of the past century, warning that today’s policies echo those historical disasters.
“I’m not going to eat bugs. They’re not made to be human consumed. They’re made to be eaten by turkeys and chickens. And then we eat the turkeys or the chickens. It’s pretty simple.”
Trent Loos, Sixth-Generation Farmer and Rancher
Scott Schoenbauer and Kurt Kastein are running for Poudre School District board seats in Northern Colorado. The district serves 30,000 students with a budget of $350 to $400 million, yet only about 50% of students read at grade level and 40% meet math standards. Schoenbauer, a small business owner and father of three, sees the decline firsthand in job applicants who lack basic skills.
Kastein, a former Fort Collins city councilman and Intel engineering director, reports unanimous feedback from door-knocking: parents want schools to focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic rather than politics and ideology. He emphasizes that families are leaving the district, and the goal must be making public education work for everyone. Schoenbauer notes that he is running unopposed after his opponent failed to file paperwork on time, urging conservative voters to support the full slate including Andrea Booth and Caleb Larson.
“With unanimity, folks say, man, let’s just focus on the basics, reading, writing, arithmetic. Let’s get away from some of the other politics and ideology that are occurring in the classroom.”
Kurt Kastein, Poudre School District Board Candidate
A five-member slate running for Holyoke School Board joined the broadcast: Cherrie Brown, Mike Brown, Jimmie D. Bailey, and Gary Herr, with Julie Kenner unable to attend. The district has about 570 students and an $8 million budget, yet test scores have plummeted even as revenues reached record highs. Mike Brown, currently serving on the board by appointment, notes that at some point schools must stop sexualizing children and pretending that is education.
Bailey, the hospital’s chief compliance officer and former attorney, runs because he wants his eight-month-old daughter to have opportunities for excellence in public education. Cherrie Brown, a 28-year childcare provider, recalls when Holyoke was known as the Cherry Creek of northeastern Colorado and expresses concern about gender-neutral signage in schools. Gary Herr, a three-year resident bringing fresh perspective, emphasizes that declining scores are a complex problem that did not happen overnight and requires getting to the root causes. The candidates make a collective plea for voters to support their full slate.
“Our revenues have never been higher, but our test scores have never been lower.”
Mike Brown, Holyoke School Board Member
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