Government Debt, Eminent Domain, and the Fight for Vaccine Transparency

On the June 19, 2025 broadcast, Kim Monson tackled government overreach on three fronts: Jason Bailey of Citizens for No New Debt warned about Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed $800 million ballot question, Carrie Giblets of the Elbert County Environmental Alliance fought Xcel Energy’s use of eminent domain for transmission lines, and Pam Long of Children’s Health Defense exposed conflicts of interest in the vaccine advisory system.

Denver’s Spiraling Government Debt Crisis

Start listening at 16:59 – Hour 1

Jason Bailey, founder of Citizens for No New Debt, warns that government borrowing at every level has reached a breaking point. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston plans to put an $800 million bond question before voters this November, adding to a city already drowning in obligations. Bailey points to Denver International Airport as a cautionary tale: with $10 billion in debt against just $1.5 billion in revenue, the airport operates at an 800 percent debt-to-revenue ratio. Executive payroll for the finance department, executive office, and chief of staff alone totals $8 million, and the facility’s chronic train problems underscore the operational failures that accompany fiscal mismanagement.

Bailey argues that government debt siphons money from working families and funnels it to the banking system. At the federal level, the true debt including Social Security and pension obligations runs four to five times the official $37-38 trillion figure. Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young recently secured legislation creating a new financial bureaucracy to pursue what he calls “global capital,” which Bailey identifies as simply more debt. From RTD’s empty trains to the airport’s overcrowded ones, Bailey sees the same pattern: government bureaucracies that never improve because they lack the continuous improvement culture found in private enterprise.

“They’re doing labor, and our government takes our money and gives it to the banking system in large amounts.”

Jason Bailey, Founder, Citizens for No New Debt

Xcel Energy’s Eminent Domain Assault on Elbert County Property Rights

Start listening at 32:50 – Hour 1

Carrie Giblets, a concerned citizen and member of the Elbert County Environmental Alliance, details a three-and-a-half-year battle against Xcel Energy’s plan to run high-voltage transmission lines through the heart of Elbert County. The Colorado Power Pathway project would carry electricity from the Comanche Creek facility in Pueblo to Harvest Mile north of Aurora, but its real purpose, according to Xcel’s own website, is to open the eastern plains for wind and solar development. Giblets explains that the proposed route cuts through residential areas with five-acre to 200-acre properties and the northern tip of the Black Forest, requiring 150-foot-wide clear-cut swaths and placing 150-foot transmission towers within 80 feet of some homes, even directly over a children’s summer camp.

Viable alternatives exist to the east where larger acreages, existing utility easements, and willing property owners could accommodate the lines with far less impact. Yet Xcel Colorado President Robert Kenney told residents flatly that the route will not change. The company has already begun condemnation proceedings against landowners before receiving county approval and submitted an application that the Elbert County Planning Commission deemed incomplete. The Planning Commission voted to recommend denial, and a critical public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled for June 24 at the Elbert County Fairgrounds. Even if commissioners deny the application, Xcel has signaled it will appeal to the Colorado PUC, an unelected body with the authority to overturn local government decisions.

“I have not heard one person in this area of the county be in favor of this route, and that’s over three and a half years, with lots and lots of meetings.”

Carrie Giblets, Elbert County Environmental Alliance

Mortgage Market Holds Steady as Fed Stays the Course

Start listening at 61:38 – Hour 2

Lorne Levy, mortgage specialist with Polygon Financial Group, analyzes the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady at its latest meeting. While inflation numbers came in favorably, Levy reports that the committee saw little consensus for a cut, with some members even considering a rate increase. Former Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn suggested a path where no cuts happen at all in 2025, setting up a potential showdown between the president and the Fed. Levy explains that the committee fears lowering rates prematurely could reignite inflation, particularly with tariff uncertainty and a July 2nd negotiation deadline looming.

“I was watching, they did an interview with Gary Cohen, who was the chief economic advisor during the first Trump administration. And he said that he could see a path where there’s no cuts this year at all, just because of the way the economy is performing.”

Lorne Levy, Mortgage Specialist, Polygon Financial Group

Vaccine Advisory Conflicts and the Fight for Informed Consent

Start listening at 70:37 – Hour 2

Pam Long, West Point graduate, former Army Medical Service Corps captain, and director of the military chapter at Children’s Health Defense, breaks down HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to remove all members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Long explains that this 17-member committee has been plagued by conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical companies for decades, with members either previously employed by or later rewarded with executive positions at the companies whose products they approve. Kennedy’s move aims to restore public trust by replacing conflicted members with independent voices.

Colorado’s response alarmed Long even further. Legislators amended HB 25-1027 to shift vaccine recommendation authority away from the reformed federal ACIP and toward professional medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, organizations Long says are equally captured by pharmaceutical industry incentives. Long exposes the financial architecture driving vaccine uptake: doctors receive $400 per fully vaccinated child and must maintain over 60 percent compliance in their practices, creating powerful disincentives against signing exemption forms. She urges parents to understand the difference between recommended and required vaccines, noting that options such as COVID-19, influenza, and HPV vaccines do not require exemptions to decline. Long also highlights titers testing as an overlooked alternative for adults facing booster requirements.

“We need people saying like, look, you can’t burn down our economy and our children’s mental health and futures, you know, to sell your vaccine product.”

Pam Long, Director, Military Chapter, Children’s Health Defense