Property Rights Under Assault and Legislative Fraud Exposed

On January 26, 2023, Kim examines multiple threats to constitutional principles in Colorado. State Representative Ty Winter analyzes HB23-1115 and the assault on private property rights through rent control. CEO Bob Boswell of Laramie Energy explains how misguided energy policies are driving skyrocketing utility costs. Boulder County GOP Chair Theresa Watson reveals the extensive investigation that exposed Democrat State Representative Tracy Burnett’s residency fraud and subsequent resignation.

Colorado Legislature’s Assault on Property Rights

Start listening at 16:34 – Hour 1

In this segment, Ty Winter joins Kim to discuss his first weeks in the Colorado House of Representatives and the flood of legislation attacking fundamental freedoms. Winter represents House District 47, covering nine counties in southeastern Colorado, and immediately faced over 115 bills introduced in just the first few weeks of the 2023 legislative session.

Winter explains HB23-1115, which repeals statutory protections preventing local governments from enacting rent control on private residential property. The bill specifically targets private residential housing units, threatening property owners who depend on rental income for retirement. Winter emphasizes that private property rights were foundational to America’s founding, noting that the Founding Fathers understood property ownership as the cornerstone of true freedom.

“This country was founded on private property rights. The founding fathers knew that owning private property was the cornerstone to true freedom in this nation, and when we start stepping on those rights laid forth by the founders, then we’re not living the American dream anymore.”

— Ty Winter, Colorado State Representative HD47

Winter also discusses his sponsorship of HB23-1050, extending Colorado’s Make My Day law to businesses through a castle doctrine for commercial properties. With armed robberies plaguing Colorado Springs and businesses across the state, Winter argues business owners should have legal clarity to defend themselves, their employees, and customers without fear of prosecution. He criticizes the shift from “innocent until proven guilty” to requiring self-defense cases to prove innocence.

Winter champions Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), urging conservatives to stop using the acronym and instead emphasize “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” to help citizens understand that this 30-year-old constitutional amendment simply requires government to ask permission before raising taxes, incurring debt, or keeping excess revenue. He warns Democrats will attempt to undermine TABOR through education funding bills this session.

Energy Policy and the Cost of Climate Ideology

Start listening at 35:32 – Hour 1

Continuing the conversation, Bob Boswell examines how energy policy directly impacts Colorado families facing doubled and tripled utility bills this winter. As CEO of Laramie Energy, Boswell explains the fundamental economic principle: the more you tax and regulate something, the less you get of it. Colorado’s aggressive regulation of oil and gas development, combined with federal hostility toward fossil fuels, has created artificial scarcity driving higher prices.

Boswell dismantles the renewable energy narrative, explaining that wind and solar require fossil fuel backup systems (typically single-cycle natural gas turbines), effectively doubling capital expenditures. Without sufficient battery storage technology, renewables cannot meet baseline grid demand, much less handle winter storms or extended cold periods. Texas’s winter storm crisis demonstrated this vulnerability dramatically.

“The more you tax and regulate something, the less you get of it. And that’s what’s happened in the energy industry, the policies that are related towards driving us into renewables, which aren’t as effective or efficiency or have the energy density of fossil fuels, have created these different policies in favor and incentivizing these, and they’ve continued to regulate oil and gas in Colorado to the point that it’s made it more expensive to develop.”

— Bob Boswell, CEO Laramie Energy

Boswell addresses the debunked study claiming natural gas stoves cause childhood asthma, calling it another unwarranted attack justified by fraudulent science. He notes the absurdity of mandating electrification when 80 percent of electricity comes from fossil fuels, with natural gas conversion at only 60 percent efficiency—meaning electrification actually requires burning more fossil fuels than direct natural gas use.

Boswell criticizes the World Economic Forum’s Davos conference and the “Great Reset” agenda, which promotes wealth redistribution and centralized government control. He notes the hypocrisy of elites flying private jets while advocating policies that restrict ordinary citizens’ mobility and energy access. Boswell emphasizes America’s success in reducing emissions by 20 percent since 2000 while the federal government subsidizes coal plant construction in China and India.

Exposing Legislative Fraud in Boulder County

Start listening at 71:48 – Hour 2

In a remarkable investigative segment, Theresa Watson details her discovery and documentation of residency fraud by Democrat State Representative Tracy Burnett. As Boulder County GOP Chair, Watson learned in summer 2022 that Burnett no longer lived in House District 12 following redistricting. Initial skepticism gave way to thorough investigation revealing Burnett changed her voter registration to a small Louisville apartment five days before the one-year residency requirement deadline, but never actually lived there.

Watson’s investigation uncovered multiple fraud indicators: Burnett never changed her vehicle registration or driver’s license; the apartment had blinds perpetually drawn; Facebook posts showed Burnett’s family life unchanged in her actual Longmont home. Watson photographed the apartment, reviewed public records, and compiled an extensive complaint as an HD12 resident.

“You lie on this what else are you lying about what else are you deceiving us on what other fraud is there she’s a very, she did a lot of bills, she’s presented a lot of bills and had a lot of bills get through the house her first term, all on energy and housing. Yet she just spent a year deceiving us and deceiving the people and the voters of this district.”

— Theresa Watson, Boulder County GOP Chair

The Boulder County District Attorney’s investigation confirmed Watson’s findings, discovering cobwebs in the apartment proving non-occupancy. Burnett faces three felonies and two misdemeanors for violating Colorado’s residency requirements, voting illegally in the June primary, and providing false information to police during a traffic stop. Watson also discovered Burnett fraudulently claimed mileage reimbursement using her actual Longmont address (24 miles farther than the Louisville apartment), defrauding taxpayers of approximately $1,000.

Burnett resigned January 8, 2023, the night before being seated with legitimately elected representatives. Watson criticizes the vacancy committee process, noting 53 Democrats will select Burnett’s replacement rather than the district’s 64,000 voters. Watson has demanded Burnett repay the fraudulent mileage reimbursement and raises concerns about who else in Democratic leadership knew about the fraud, suggesting this was coordinated strategy rather than lone misconduct.