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Mon - Fri: 08:26 AM - 08:30 AM
Dive into a thought-provoking episode of the Kim Monson Show as we analyze today’s political scene through the lens of freedom vs force. Join us as we discuss recent legislative moves at the Statehouse and unpack the implications for the future of personal liberties. Learn about the Kim Monson Community’s efforts to foster engaging conversations and educational platforms that empower citizens to take informed stands on crucial issues.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 04 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 11 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 04 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 11 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 04 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 11 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 04 :
The conversation and welcome to the Kim Monson show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured. You’re valued. You have purpose. Today’s drive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team. That’s producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Amanda and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. and we’ve got a great show planned for you, so fasten your seatbelt. Take a look at our website. We have revamped it. We did this last Sunday. We’ve been working for three years on the Kim Monson community, and we are rolling that out. We’d love to have you join us. It’s going to be interactive. We will have great online town halls, in-person town halls, classes, conversation, community, And there’s three different levels. There’s the Montpelier at $50 a year. There is the Monticello at $100 a year. And then at $200 a year is our Mount Vernon level. And so we would love to have you join us. And with that, we also rolled out the Kim Monson newsroom. And I think that you will be so impressed on that as well. So go to the website, make sure that you are signed up for our weekly email newsletter. And then also we are starting a daily digest, which we will be sending out probably late afternoon, early evening, five days a week. And you need to sign up for that. We are not going to automatically sign you up for that if you are already getting the newsletter because we want to honor your inbox. But take a look at it and also take a look at the news pieces that we’ve done and the articles. And we did a really great piece regarding the conversation that we had with Tom Montalioni and Jason McBride. I think that you’ll find that really interesting and that’s under the articles tab. So make sure that you check all that out. You can email me at Kim at Kim Monson.com. And the text line is 720-605-0647. And I thank all of you who support us. I thank all of you as we are creating this community and we’re doing this together. And as you know, we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And it’s never compassionate nor altruistic to take other people’s stuff, whether or not it’s their rights, their property, their freedom, their livelihood or opportunity, childhoods or their lives via force. And force can be a weapon, but it can be policy, unpredictable and excessive taxation, fear, coercion, government induced inflation. the agenda of the World Economic Forum and globalist elites, that the tools they use are the United Nations, but pushing it to countries, pushing it to the Colorado State Legislature, this Colorado governor, and all the way down to county, local, school district, and special district levels. And we are working to reclaim this Colorado that we love, to reclaim our American idea and We are focused on engaging in this battle of ideas. Remember, if something’s a good idea, you should not have to use force to implement it. And on the show, we focus on the issues. We’ll mention the people around those issues, but we really work to stay out of all the personality, passion, emotion, all of that that can be used to truly make poor decisions. So with that, I want to say thank you to the Harris family for their goal sponsorship of the show. The text line is 720-605-0647. And our word of the day is inauspicious. It’s spelled I-N-A-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-U-S. And I’ve been reading the farewell address by George Washington, and this was one of the words. I’ve gotten a whole bunch of words of the day out of the farewell address. And We are doing our children a disservice in not being honest with them on just how well educated these guys are. And they many times educated themselves. They read extensively. But this word inauspicious means not favorable, ill-omened, unfortunate, unlucky, unfavorable. When I voting ill, when I and our team at CUT are going through all of these different bills that are being proposed down at the statehouse right now, many of them by the radical activist Democrats are. They’re inauspicious. And we need to understand that this Democrat Party, those that are controlling this Democrat Party, are not the Democrats of JFK or your grandpa or your grandma. These are radical activists, and many of them… Many of them do not love America. They do not love Americans. They don’t want the best for America or Americans. And it’s crazy that we’ve got somehow they’ve gotten elected into office. And then what’s happened, though, in Colorado is this Democrat Party. It’s a strategy. Then they may have someone that might be getting close to term limited. And that person will then resign from the state legislature, be hired by some, I have this in air quotes, nonprofit at probably a pretty nice salary. And then someone new will be chosen by these Democrats. So they’re not elected and put into that office. then they appear as an incumbent, and when it comes to election time, people say, oh, they’re already in office, and they’re not paying attention, and then they get elected. So that has been a bit of the strategy on what’s worked out. at the State House here in Colorado. Our quote of the day, I went over to Lou Holtz, and he just passed on. He was a legendary football coach, a beloved member of the Notre Dame family. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. Notre Dame President, the Reverend Robert A. Dowd said in a statement, and he said, He passed away, his son said in a post on X that his father had passed away as he was resting peacefully at home. And I always found Lou Holtz very funny. I think you either really liked him or you didn’t. He was one of those kinds of guys. But he said this, he said, Remember, every day some ordinary person does something extraordinary. Today, it’s your turn. And I love that. And so we continue to have all of these discussions because of our sponsors did want to mention Hooters restaurants. They have locations in Loveland, Westminster, and in Aurora. And they’ve got their great neighborhood wing joint. They’re home of the world-famous Hooters girls and the craveable wings that make game day legendary. So whether you’re catching the basketball game, UFC, or just meeting up with your crew, Hooters is where the energy is high, the beer is cold, and the wings are always saucy. And I really do appreciate their sponsorship, how I got to know them. It’s an important story about freedom and free markets and capitalism. And PBIs, politicians, bureaucrats, and interest parties that are trying to control almost every aspect of our lives. And so it’s important that we… understand the proper role of government, and get government back into its proper role. I would like to talk with Karen Gorday. You know her. She’s a great sponsor of the show. She has Radiant Painting and Lighting. She’s also very involved with this whole team of grassroots people that are working. They’ve actually got a special election. out in Lakewood regarding this huge rezoning ordinance, and that election is right around the corner. Karen Gorday, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good morning, Kim. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 04 :
So let’s jump in and give us an update on this special election and set it up. If people don’t know what’s going on out there in Lakewood, explain to them how historical this is, what you and many of your grassroots citizens are doing out there.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, so last August, the Lakewood City Council split their one zoning ordinance into four zoning ordinances. We thought we were going to have to run one referendum to try to force this to a special election, and we had to run four referendums all at the same time. And all four were successful and had enough signatures. And late January, city council said, we’re going to send this to a special election. That special election is on April 7th. Ballots get mailed out on March 16th. So just over a week away where ballots will start being in people’s mailboxes. And it’s a mail-in process. voting only there is no in-person voting um and this is super important because these are radical zoning changes that will allow high density in every neighborhood of the city including if you have an hoa because zoning rules and zoning ordinances over uh overrule basically HOA covenants and you have to follow city laws. So super important election. It’s a very, as you can imagine, Kim, it’s a very hot topic in Lakewood right now. And we’re at the heat of the political season right now and it’s starting to feel like it.
SPEAKER 04 :
First of all, I think it’s, the word I want to use, I think it’s really stinky of the mayor and the council and the city manager that once they realized that the citizens wanted to run a referendum on this huge zoning issue, uh change that ordinance was that was um was being passed and they then split it up into four different packages basically to make it more difficult and you’d have to quadruple your efforts your expenses your time to get these petitions done and i i look at that as uh as really trying to tap down the the people’s voice
SPEAKER 07 :
A hundred percent. But the people prevailed. And that’s that’s the message here is that you have a couple of citizens that stood up and said, we’re concerned and we need to try to stop this. And right now, the efforts across all political parties, we need to save our city because this is the wrong solution. And it’s under the guise of needing more middle housing. And there is middle housing in Lakewood. Middle housing being condos, townhomes, et cetera, duplexes. We have all of those in Lakewood. But that’s the guise. We need to have middle housing. And it already exists. And so let’s come up, you know, it’s not that these citizens are NIMBYs. It’s we want responsible growth. It’s… And this is not responsible. And then we don’t know that we have the infrastructure in place to support, you know, high density in the entire city. The Green Mountain Water Board is suing the city of Lakewood. And the question I keep getting is why is Green Mountain the only water company suing the city? So like another company… There’s numerous water companies in Lakewood. A Green Mountain water board handles the water and sewer, and a lot of the other water companies only handle the water. And Green Mountain handling both, they are at near capacity, and you add unchanneled growth, They don’t have the capacity. It’s extremely expensive to add new sewer lines, et cetera. And so that’s why they are suing the city.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, the other thing is, is on this, if you want to, the way it’s worded, you need to vote yes on this if you don’t want this big zoning change, right?
SPEAKER 07 :
That is correct. So they did some funny business with the language. The city charter says you should vote on… the actual ordinance and instead of voting on the actual ordinance we they put the um referendum language which is to repeal the ordinance on the ballot so they did not follow the charter and so you have to vote yes to repeal um no if means that you get to keep the the radical zoning in place so we are vote yes to repeal the radical rezoning
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. And we got to clarify that. And the other thing, this is nonpartisan. You’ve got people across the spectrum that are working with you on this, correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
A hundred percent. And that’s what’s amazing. The community is unified on the yes side. It’s Republicans, Democrats, unaffiliated, everything, everything across the political spectrum on the yes side. It doesn’t matter. Politics are aside here. It’s how do we prevent this from happening in our city?
SPEAKER 04 :
And then your day job, you are an entrepreneur and owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting. And I know that you’re spending a lot of time on this right now. This is so important. But spring, it feels like spring’s here, although it’s supposed to snow tomorrow. But spring’s right around the corner. And I’d recommend that people reach out to you. You are still doing a special, though, in March for Inside, right? Interior?
SPEAKER 07 :
That is correct. Yes, 20% off of jobs over $2,500 through the end of March. And March is the snowiest month. So we haven’t had much snow this winter. Traditionally, March is our snowiest month. So maybe this weekend or the snow we’re supposed to get tomorrow is a start. Although the political side of me hopes it stays warm because we’re starting canvassing this weekend. But we are running a special on interior painting through the end of the month. Yes.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’ll find you. What’s your website?
SPEAKER 07 :
www.paintwithradiant.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Karen Gorday, thank you so much. We’ll talk with you next week. And this is so important to have voices heard out there. Oh, is there a website for the referendum?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, it’s LakewoodCitizensAlliance.org. That’s .org, LakewoodCitizensAlliance.org. You can get all the information about this radical rezoning there.
SPEAKER 04 :
And Karen Gorday, thanks. We’ll talk with you next week then.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right, sounds good. Thank you, Kim.
SPEAKER 04 :
And these important discussions come to you because we are independent journalism here, and you’ve got to check out the newsroom at the website. We are doing these news articles and these articles with great journalistic integrity, so be sure and check that out. All of this happens because of all of you, your support, and our sponsors. And, of course, the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Team. Roger’s been in business for over 50 years. And right now, you might be able to save some money on your auto insurance because State Farm has lowered their rates for auto insurance in Colorado for both existing customers and new customers. The only way to find out is to give them a call. That number is 303-795-8855. Like your good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
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SPEAKER 12 :
April 26, 1777. Colonel, the British are raiding Danbury and burning the town. I’ll go tell them. Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington mounted her horse and rode 40 miles through night and pouring rain. That’s twice the distance of Paul Revere to sound the alarm.
SPEAKER 01 :
Quickly.
SPEAKER 12 :
assemble at my father’s house the kim monson show is our modern day sybil luddington bringing us the latest breaking news in the battle for truth and freedom ben’s plumbing heating and cooling is proud to stand with kim will you stand with us get engaged with the issue that keeps you up at night so that you can influence your school and community with truth and justice And for quality craftsmanship at a fair price, call or text Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling at 303-995-1636. That number again is 303-995-1636.
SPEAKER 13 :
To learn more, reach out to Kim at Kim would love to talk with you. Again, that’s Kim at KimMonson.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
to the Kim Monson Show, be sure and check out our website. That is kimmonson.com. And sign up if you are a girl for the Women and Wealth event that Jody Henze is hosting tomorrow evening, Friday, March 6th, 5 p.m. at the Lone Tree Hub in Lone Tree, Colorado. Food and drinks will be provided and they’re going to have a creative activity. It’s a hands-on stenciling of tea towels and the segues great into their educational spotlight which is reading the tea leaves making retirement more predictable through planning and you can rsvp by going to jody at mintfs.com so that’s mint like financialstrategies.com and that is tomorrow evening and it’s just a great way to connect with people so be sure and check that out and on the line with me is my fellow board member at colorado union of taxpayers and that is dave evans dave welcome to the show Well, good. It’s good to have you. And Dave, we are in it. I do want to say thank you to our team members, Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, Wendy Warner, Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson, Mary Jansen, you, Dave Evans, Corey Onozorg, Paula Beard, and Ray Beard. This team is doing amazing work. analysis of all these bills. And we really are so pleased to have you, I want to say recently joined the board, but it’s been a little while and you’ve been just a great addition. And so we thank you. Well, thanks.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I’ve got a rather inauspicious bill to talk about this morning.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well done on the word of the day. So which one is it?
SPEAKER 10 :
It is House Bill 1203, Modifications of County Commissioner Elections. And CUT is unanimously opposed to this bill. A little summary of the bill. The bill mandates that counties with a population of 70,000 or more must elect five county commissioners, eliminating the previous option for such counties to have three commissioners or to choose between various election methods. Instead, these counties must adopt one of two specific methods, either electing county commissioners who reside in five separate districts and are voted on only by the residents of those districts or electing commissioners at large using a ranked choice voting method. where voters rank their preferences for candidates. The county board of commissioners must pass a resolution by 2027 or upon reaching the population threshold, designating these two options, and then voters decide which method to implement at the next election. Home rule counties already elect more than half their commissioners by district or through ranked voting are exempt from these requirements. So CUT’s response is that this bill seeks to mandate that all these counties have a new method for electing. The bill never identifies any problem to be solved or any issue being improved. CUT is very concerned with the state legislature’s insatiable appetite to control and or regulate every living thing in Colorado. plus the inclusion of ranked voting system alternative sneaks in the possibility of transparent, non-audible, and undemocratic ranked choice voting, which is abbreviated RCV. An application here, currently there are 10 Colorado counties with population greater than 70,000 people. not including Denver and Broomfield, which are already consolidated cities and counties, so they don’t fall under this. Of the 10 remaining counties, Adams, Arapahoe, El Paso, and Weld County already have five commissioners. However, Adams County uses at-large elections to elect their commissioners. Weld County also has some at-large commissioner positions, but is a home rule county and meets the requirements for home rule exemption under the bill. The bill impacts the remaining six counties that have only three commissioners, which are Boulder, Douglas, Jefferson, Mesa, Larimer, and Pueblo. The commissioners would have to host an election to determine whether to reorganize around five commissioners or institute ranked choice voting. There are certainly costs with this. The six counties will incur costs for the election and for the offices and added staff for the new commissioners. If they choose RCV, they will incur costs for running and determining the RCV election results. As I mentioned before, the proposal does not appear to be addressing any issues, at least none mentioned in the sponsor’s summary, nor anything that I’ve heard. Rather, I conclude that the bill’s real purpose is to enact RCV, ranked choice voting. Amendments are out there. They’re difficult to follow, but they only appear to be edits. Well, the reason that they’re hard to follow is that you only see the edits. You don’t see the entire revised text. But they appear to leave RCV provisions in place. The bill does not define a way for the electorate to undo ranked choice voting after it’s implemented if the electorate decides that it was no longer liked. If there’s time, I’d like to talk a little bit about ranked choice voting. Please do. It’s a complicated system that appears to be simple on the surface but can be gained to advantage for the less popular candidates. From Ballot Media, I found a good description. It says, a ranked choice voting system is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. There are multiple forms of ranked choice voting, and the most popular one is described here. In an instant runoff voting, if a candidate wins a majority of first preference votes, they are the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of the first preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated. Ballots that ranked a failed candidate as their first or highest choice, depending on the round, are then reevaluated and counted as first preference ballots for the next highest ranked candidate in that round. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of ballots. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority. And notice that there’s no re-voting here. It’s done by software. Elements of this process, the number of candidates eliminated in each round may vary by jurisdiction. So there’s some arguments for doing this. Number one, it’s often less expensive. because you don’t have to do runoff elections. Number two, it may offer a greater pool of candidates in an election. And number three, it could possibly increase turnout because of more interest, more candidates. The arguments against RCV can eliminate the candidate with the most first place votes. Voters whose first choice is eliminated but don’t have lesser choices will have no voice. The system, therefore, can create a fake majority. It complicates voting, delays voting, and is more vulnerable to corruption. Just as a clarification, Hans von Spakowsky and Jay Adams of Heritage put together a little parable. Imagine a rank-choice supermarket. At checkout, the cashier swaps out your bottle of Heinz 57 with the cheap generic you ranked dead last. Why? Well, the majority of shoppers also downvoted it, but there was no clear front runner in second place. So the generic really snuck up from behind with enough down ballot picks to win. In fact, in this rank choice supermarket, you might have even helped the generic brand to win. And so, you know, I think you can understand my opinion on this. I think it’s a terrible way to go, although I think some jurisdictions in Colorado have adopted it. I think Fort Collins adopted it. I’m not sure how extensively.
SPEAKER 04 :
And what has happened then is Fort Collins, from a political standpoint, is is is really leaning towards more and more control of, you know, of their citizens. And one of the things that they did was they selected and I haven’t had updates on this just for a few months, but they had selected one trash hauler. And then if people did not use that trash hauler but used the competitor, they still had to pay for the trash hauler that they are not going to use. And that’s not the way government is supposed to work, and that’s not the proper role of government. And the other thing is, is there’s I don’t see how you can really audit these elections whatsoever with this computer software. And so I think ranked choice voting really takes away people’s voices. And the people of Colorado defeated it. It was there a whole bunch of money. Kent Theory put a bunch of money and others to for Proposition 131 in January. 2024 it was a statewide question and it was defeated but now what we see is if it gets defeated over here you can see that they’re coming back and trying to affect it into either local or county elections and and and i think each of these counties we we want to be able to to say keep this as close to the people as possible and instead of having the state of Colorado mandate what happens in our county commissioner races in our elections. We’d like to decide that ourselves. So this is a very bad, this is an inauspicious piece of legislation, Dave Evans.
SPEAKER 10 :
It sure is. And, you know, I neglected to mention that in a previous recent election, I think one or two elections ago, There was one jurisdiction in California that used it. And weeks after the election was concluded and the election victors were seated in their offices, they discovered that the results were incorrect, that they put the wrong person in office. Yeah. Yeah, it’s tricky.
SPEAKER 04 :
College students had done it and figured out a way to go through and audit that. So and again, so this is House Bill 26, 1203. And the sponsors on this are, let’s see, Representative Jennifer Bacon, Democrat and Representative Bob Marshall, Democrat. And so, Dave Evans, thank you for your analysis on House Bill 26-1203 and cut. The Colorado Union taxpayers is an emphatic no on that. So, Dave Evans, thank you so much. We’ll talk to you soon.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you, Kim. Bye.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we’ll talk with Karen Levine in the next hour. But for everything residential real estate, you’ll want to have her on your side of the table.
SPEAKER 14 :
The metro real estate market is ever-changing. If you are looking to buy a new home, there are opportunities that the metro real estate market has not experienced for a while. Award-winning realtor Karen Levine with REMAX Alliance has over 30 years’ experience as a Colorado realtor, and she can help you buy that. That’s 303-877-7516. You want Karen Levine on your side of the table.
SPEAKER 02 :
Entrepreneur and owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting, Karen Gorday knows that your home is one of your most important assets. That’s why Karen Gorday and her team at Radiant Painting and Lighting use only high quality paint for your interior and exterior projects. At the heart of Radiant Painting and Lighting are values that guide everything they do. Integrity, transparency, respect, and care. Radiant Painting and Lighting goes above and beyond to ensure your satisfaction and comfort throughout your project. Make your appointment now by going to paintwithradiant.com That’s paintwithradiant.com
SPEAKER 16 :
John Bozen and the attorneys at Bozen Law know how overwhelmingly life can feel after an accident or injury. That’s why Bozen Law can help guide you, support you, and fight for the full compensation you’re owed. Whether you were hurt on the road, at work, or in a hospital, the Bozen Law team is ready to stand by your side and help you move forward. Backed by decades of combined legal experience, Bozen Law can help you pursue justice and compensation Call Bozen Law at 303-999-9999 for a complimentary consultation. That number is 303-999-9999. Call Bozen Law now.
SPEAKER 01 :
All Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 04 :
The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And it is Paula Searle’s birthday this month. And she turned 77 years old. She is the president of the USMC Memorial Foundation. She’s also a Gold Star wife. And the number seven is playing out in her life big time. And so she has a seven challenge. And she will be standing for seven hours out at the memorial on the 14th. And reading the names of heroes and telling stories and would welcome everybody to come by. But you can go to the website usmcmemorialfoundation.org and make a contribution with the number seven in it. And it’s so important that we support the memorial foundation. and you can do that by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. On the line with me is an entrepreneur and owner of 88 Drive-In Theater, and that is Susan Kochevar. Susan, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good morning, Kim. It’s almost spring.
SPEAKER 04 :
And what does that mean for 88 Drive-In Theater?
SPEAKER 05 :
That means we’re going to be looking to open pretty soon. We’ve had a pretty mild winter. I’m going to be watching the weather and making sure that it’s a pretty settled pattern. And I think we may open early this spring. The pictures look better this year. I think Hollywood has recovered from COVID. 20 from the shutdown, you know, and the COVID shutdown and from the writer’s strike. And there seems to be a lot more product stuck in the barrel there, which is good. And with some new some new competitors, too. We have Amazon with their A24 pictures, which look good. And then Angel Studios is really producing some stellar product. So looking forward to the season.
SPEAKER 04 :
Karen Gorday earlier in the show said that March is our snowiest month. I’m excited for 88 Drive-In Theater to get open, but I would really like to have a snowy March, Susan Kochvar.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, that’s fine. I’m not looking to open until about April because you’re right. If I opened in March, it would definitely snow a lot.
SPEAKER 04 :
We need to do that because we need the moisture on that. And I also, you’re a great sponsor of the show, and I want to say thank you for that as well. But Tina Peters, you and I have watched what has happened with her former Mesa County clerk and recorder that was convicted of, and as I’m looking, I know exactly what she was convicted of, but many of the news articles don’t have it correct, and I don’t have it right here in front of me, but several counts on trying to influence a public official. I think that was one of the things that she was convicted of. And she was then sentenced to nine years in prison. We don’t have minimum security prisons in Colorado for women. And so she’s in a maximum security facility with hardened criminals. I don’t think she had even had a traffic ticket before this. And President Trump has pardoned her. Jared Polis, the understanding is that she was convicted of it in a state court that this is the argument anyway, that the federal pardon doesn’t count. And as you know, right around Christmastime, we put together a petition, and I took it down to Jared Polis’ office, where 4,201 people from all over the country, every state and the District of Columbia, asked him to show some compassion and mercy and release her. And I never heard back from him. But he said on Tuesday he might consider that. So what do you think about all this? And give me more details if there’s something that I missed.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes. Well, to understand it, Tina Peters was convicted of something that a state legislator was recently convicted of. And that lady, the state legislator, just received, you know, probation. So that is very unfair. And I think that is one of the things that has put a hotter spotlight on Tina’s situation besides the fact that the whole trial was really a sham and Tina wasn’t even allowed to present her side. So I find it very interesting that we’re starting to see some movement there. We’re also starting to see some interesting movement around the Secretary of State who has released tons of passwords someone in the office did. And, um, she was not prosecuted, which is a far worse crime. Um, I don’t actually think Tina committed a crime. There is no way for you to prove that, um, there was no fraud in the elections unless you make a copy of the voter rolls before anything is done to the, uh, hard drives or information such as the trusted bill that, um, I find it really interesting, was called to us to build that the Secretary of State was conducting. So, in fact, it should be law that those voter rolls are copied before anything is done so that you can compare and make sure nothing nefarious happened. And that should be welcomed on either side, Democrat or Republican. So anyway, so I find it very interesting that we’re starting to see some movement. I see Trump is posting more about releasing Tina Peters. Something is afoot. I just don’t know what.
SPEAKER 04 :
To your point is this legislator, Sonia, now I can’t remember her name exactly, but she, as you mentioned, she was, and I think the crime was trying to influence a public official. I think that was something on that. And she has basically received community service for the same crime that Tina Peters is in. Prison for for nine years and the other thing that is so crazy about the the thing with Tina is that she has appealed her conviction and Instead of letting her be out on Bond while she has appealing this conviction the judge put her in this maximum security prison and that’s That is just crazy to me Susan coach of our
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, the legislator was accused of mistreating her staff, and apparently when they went to investigate that, she forged some letters that apparently said she didn’t do it or in support of her, and she was convicted of forging those letters to try to prove her innocence. So that’s very serious, I think. Yeah, you’re right. Tina got a very harsh sentence and she’s been in this maximum security prison where she’s been mistreated and she’s been attacked by a woman. And interestingly, the woman who attacked Tina on a camera in the prison has been released. And meanwhile, Tina is still sitting in the maximum security prison. There’s so many injustices here. It’s fascinating. Really disheartening to see the amount of injustice in our legal system.
SPEAKER 04 :
Realized that the person that had attacked her had been released. But my understanding is, is that person was in prison because she had stabbed her boyfriend in the back. And so, again, this it just does not make sense. And again, this was Sonia. Well, Kez Lewis, a Longmont Democrat, and she was convicted of attempting to influence a public servant, and they call that a Class 4 felony. It’s punishable by up to six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. And… Yeah, there just seems something about this that just is not fair whatsoever. You mentioned the Secretary of State, but what I have found so interesting, Susan Kochavar, is there are people on both sides of the aisle that have just been adamant to keep Tina in prison, which I find that so curious. And one of the top people on that is Matt Crane, Republican… At least last I knew it was a Republican, former, I think, Arapahoe County clerk and recorder and head of the county clerk association, state association. So it’s so interesting that there’s people on both sides of the aisle that are adamant that she remain in prison. I just find that so curious.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, including some of the political consultant class and some people in a well-known think tank in Colorado have come out and said that they thought Tina should be in prison. I find it kind of alarming, actually. You know, it’s so sad there’s no clarity in justice. It’s
SPEAKER 04 :
I don’t know what to say about that. Yeah, we’ve got to reclaim that. And so it’ll be very interesting to see what happens with Jared Polis. I think he’s getting pressure from all sides on this. But we would really call on him, as we did in December, to show mercy and compassion and release Tina Peters. And so I hope that he will do that. We’re going to continue the discussion with Susan Kochevar. She’s an entrepreneur. She’s a small business owner. And it seems like the state legislature is trying to wring every dime out of everyday Coloradans as possible. Instead of reducing government spending, they are trying to figure out how to just, I think, tax us to the max. And Susan has a question. A perspective on that, which I think is important that we hear, and we have these discussions because of our sponsors and for everything mortgages. Talk to Lorne Levy. There’s a lot happening in our world, and that can affect mortgage rates. If you are thinking about refinancing or buying a new home, be ready and reach out to Lorne Levy.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force. Force versus freedom. Tune in to The Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m. with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at kimmonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Monson Show, check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Also check out the website for the Center for American Values and the great podcast of Drew Dix and Brad Padula. Just a great perspective on things that are happening in our world. They have season number one is complete. They’re starting season number two soon. And that website is AmericanValueCenter.org. We’re talking with entrepreneur and owner of 88 Drive-In Theaters, Susan Kochevar. And taxes are just out of control here in Colorado. In fact, you have had an experience with property taxes that is unbelievable. But you are not alone. I’ve talked with other people about that as well. And then it seems like this state legislature does not want to. Let people benefit from the tax cuts from the Trump administration. And in fact, you’re writing a piece that’s probably going to be in the Wall Street Journal soon. So walk us through this, Susan Kochavar.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I’ve kind of walked, kind of talking, the article’s talking about what, how Colorado is doing everything it can to thwart President Trump’s big, beautiful bill. You know, passing legislation that says that, you know, tips, overtime, and Social Security will continue to be taxed. what happens is state law, Colorado state law follows federal law in terms of the tax policy, but that’s not going to happen. And there’s a bill going through the legislature now to you know, make people add back whatever amount they would have saved from the federal government into their taxes so that Colorado can then tax them on that amount. That is absolutely infuriating. What a terrible thing to do to your citizens. That’s just unfathomable to me. the lengths they will go to to thwart the president and hurt the citizens.
SPEAKER 04 :
And you’re talking about… Go ahead. Go ahead. Well, it’s House Bill 26. Well, there’s a number of bills, but this one, I think it’s House Bill 26-1289, modification of certain tax expenditures. It’ll be heard next week. And so CUT will be… They’re delving into it now. It’s 70 pages long. And the sponsors on it are all Democrats, Representative Lorena Garcia, Representative Kyle Brown, and Senator Mike Weissman. And… It’s 70 pages long also. Anything that long, and it’s difficult for legislators to get through all this legislation, and that’s why what we’re doing at CUT is so important. But you’re right. Oh, the other thing I was going to say is they opine that they’re concerned about affordability. They’re concerned about everyday people. What they say and what they do are two different things, Susan Kochvar.
SPEAKER 05 :
They’re doing everything they can to destroy Colorado. So we got rid of the Gallagher Amendment and made taxes evenly, property taxes supposedly fair. So what has happened is in the last four years, property taxes have skyrocketed. My property taxes were $13,000 on about almost seven acres four years ago. Then they jumped to $40,000. two years ago, and this year they jumped another $20,000. So I am paying $60,000 just to keep my property and my business, and I am a small seasonal business. They are eating us alive, and they don’t care. You also have Xcel Energy, who is being allowed to flip on and off the power. Colorado is just becoming unaffordable and unlivable.
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, that is the first time I’ve thought of the word unlivable. And what’s going to happen? The other thing, though, on the property taxes, where is all that money going, Susan Kochvar?
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s a really good question, isn’t it? I don’t know. You know, I imagine it wouldn’t be beyond our state to have some of the fraud issues that we have seen in Minnesota and California and some other states. Blue run cities, blue run states are very poorly managed. I don’t know how else to say it. They’re the most expensive states in the nation. And, um, You know, it’s not going to be long. There will not be any more small businesses in Colorado. It’s just too hard to start them and manage them. Often I hear people say, you’ll see on Facebook posts and things, oh, it’s the greedy businesses. But people never take into account the property taxes, the utility costs, which are higher on businesses than they are on residences. They never take into account all these exorbitant expenses that businesses must meet just to keep their business going. In addition, you have all the increases in minimum wage, which causes all the other wages to go up as well. You can’t pay someone the same wage as a new person. You just have… of those wages. And then, of course, all of the taxes, the payroll taxes are a percentage of payroll. So, you know, if we’ll make it simple, if, you know, the taxes are 10 percent and the wages go up a dollar, that means, you know, you have 10 cents more of every dollar going to taxes. You can see how quickly that adds up. It’s insane.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, bigger companies actually, in a way, have more mobility. This was from the Colorado Sun on February 17th. Palantir, which is a big AI firm, it’s the largest publicly traded company in Colorado. They are moving to the headquarters to Miami. And The company had left Palo Alto in 2020 to move to Denver, and I’m wondering if they had possibly gotten incentives to come to Colorado, because that happens also is they will many times get incentives to move to a certain state, and then once those incentives run out, they will go to another state. In this case, it may be that the business climate is becoming… untenable here in colorado but so the big guys can have in a way more mobility than you with your property here uh and uh you know these exorbitant um property taxes and that’s the other thing is some of these big companies get breaks on these property taxes so um your final thought on all this susan coachvar
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, all of that really unlevels the playing field for small businesses. You know, those big companies have more political power is one issue. And when you have, say, there was another theater that came into my town and they received economic incentives, they pay less in taxes. I am the steady Eddie that’s been there for 50 years, by the way. shown to provide jobs and stability for 50 years, I am still paying the same level of taxes and my competitors getting a discount. That is what is wrong with those economic incentives and the small, independent, unique businesses lose out.
SPEAKER 04 :
That changes the fabric of our communities as well. And all of these things are connected. And so we’ve got to get government back into its proper role. And the other thing about it, Susan, is that each business An individual needs to be treated the same, fairly. That’s the vision of our declaration, that we’re all created equal. We should all be treated equally. But under this guise of economic development, then government picks winners and losers, and then we get to the spot where we’re at right now. So as always, Susan Kochavar, the conversation is important. It goes way too quickly, but I greatly appreciate these conversations. And let us know when that piece is published in the Wall Street Journal. Will do. okay and our quote for the end of the show i went to lou holtz because he just passed on he was a famous notre dame coach football coach and always i’ve always found him very entertaining and he said this he said everybody is looking for instant success but it doesn’t work that way you build a successful life one day at a time so my friends today be grateful read great books think good thoughts listen to beautiful music communicate and listen well live honestly and authentically strive for high ideals And like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 15 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show. Analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 04 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 11 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 04 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 11 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 04 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 11 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 04 :
Let’s have a conversation and welcome to our number two of the Kim Monson show. Thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you’re valued, you have purpose. Today’s strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you to the team. That’s producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Amanda and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And I was listening to Helen Creeble in between the hours, and it was basically the conversation that we had with Susan Kochevar in hour number one regarding this economic development. We all like the term economic development, but what it is is it’s really… picking winners and losers. And quite frankly, if enticing a business to come to a community, the way they do that is they have lower taxes, well then maybe what should happen instead of giving one entity lower taxes at the expense of other entities is lower taxes across the board. And that was always the argument that I made when when economic development packages were kicked around when I was on city council. And I’m pretty sure on my four years on city council that we did not offer any special deals for one business over another. There were some that were already in place, but we did not create any new ones. So at least that was a step in the right direction. But Helen Creeble is right. She has since passed on. I met her a number of years ago, and she is just a gem with this lens of liberty. She is so spot on on that. And so it’s always fun to hear her in between hour number one and hour number two. If you missed that interview with Susan Kochavar yesterday, The show is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon for hour 1, and then this hour is rebroadcast 10 to 11 at night. We did roll out our new revamped website. It is amazing. We’ve been working on this whole membership community for three years. It has now come to fruition. We would love to have you join the community. It’s going to be interactive. We’ll have in-person town halls. We will have virtual town halls, classes, and a community, which is what we need to kick around these ideas. It’s going to be a modern salon. And it’s really great. So we’d love to have you join us. That is at KimMunza.com. And also check out the newsroom. These are articles that we are creating with great journalistic integrity. And so take a look at that. And then over on articles, be sure and check out the one that we did on Tom Montalioni. He was a guest. He and Jason McBride are guests on this. uh… on tuesday and he’s been canceled by his industry and uh… this is a it’s a beautiful piece that was written so be sure to check that out as well and uh… all this happens because of our sponsors and i wanted to mention uh… meant financial strategies jody hensley and her team are going to have a great event women in wealth this friday march sixth and one of our listeners said if i if i identify as a girl can i attend and the answer is no And it’s 5 p.m. at the Lone Tree Hub in Lone Tree, Colorado. Food and drinks will be provided. It has a creative activity. It’s always great to do an activity. You get to talk with people and connect. And it’s going to be making tea towels. And, of course, then that segues beautifully into the educational spotlight, which is reading the tea leaves, making retirement plans. more predictable through planning. You can RSVP by going to Jody at mintfs.com. So that’s mint, like financialstrategies.com. And that is their Women and Wealth event. here in March. Our word of the day is inauspicious. It’s I-N-A-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-U-S. It is not favorable, ill-omened, unfortunate, unlucky, unfavorable, boating ill. This House Bill 1289, this big tax bill, 70 pages long, is definitely inauspicious. So it should be easy for you to use that word in a sentence today. Our quote of the day is from Lou Holtz. notre dame coach a great record and he was also a sports commentator very entertaining but he said this he said remember every day some ordinary person does something extraordinary today it’s your turn and i love that quote by lou holtz and on the line with us is karen levine for everything residential real estate here in the metro area karen welcome to the show
SPEAKER 06 :
Good morning, Kim.
SPEAKER 04 :
Inauspicious? Yeah. This legislature, there’s a lot of inauspicious legislation down there. There’s this continual assault, it seems like, Karen, on single-family home ownership. And a lot of this has been under the guise of needing more housing, more affordable housing. What I’m realizing now is we have housing here in the metro area. The vacancy rate for apartments is at a 16-year high. So we have housing. Yeah, but keep going. OK, but what what we really need is houses that people can create wealth with, which they have done over so many years with single family home ownership. And I really feel that’s under attack, Karen.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, I think we’ve seen it sort of. through our journey year after year, that the rhetoric is that we need housing nationwide. And then when we look locally statewide, um, and then in the front range, uh, we have not brought product to the market for that first time home buyer, that entry level. And when, from a federal perspective, we held interest rates down to, um, really below market rates, we created a frenzy in the buying market and caused great appreciation for people, which built them great wealth. But it also created a situation where the entry-level home is hovering around that $500,000 price range, which makes it difficult for people to get into housing. And then You roll the clock back 15, almost 20 years with construction defect legislation, which kept the multifamily ownership unit, condominium ownership unit at bay, not bringing really what that entry-level house had been back in the 80s and 90s. So, yes, it continues to get acerbated, and then they want to add requirements to housing that as far as what builders are required to do to put in houses. And that just jacks the prices up. So the fact that there is a higher vacancy rate that’s actually healthy from the standpoint there creates a little more competition in the rental market. And, you know, they continue to tell us that we don’t have enough of that housing as well. But every time I turn around, there’s another apartment complex being built. So maybe they should put their resources towards using that land for ownership units.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think so. And when we talked with Karen Gorday in the first hour, I don’t think that people have thought about just all the resources that an apartment building, all the water and the power that that requires and the people in those those buildings, services for fire and police and school districts. And so this you mentioned the word rhetoric. We had all listened to this rhetoric. We need more affordable housing. They say that. But then what we’ve seen is government subsidized housing. And the only way that we’re talking about economic development over here, the only way that you can give something to somebody subsidized housing is you take it from somebody else. And that’s not the way it’s supposed to be in America. And
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and I’m going to push back a little bit on that because it’s that comments very absolute. And the reality is, as Americans, we have always given a hand up to those who are less fortunate to give them opportunity. And so there is a place. for assistance. The problem is we have created an environment that people have become dependent on the government at the cost of you and I, the middle class citizen. And that was not the intent of government. So there’s got to be a balance. And when, yes, when you rob Peter to pay Paul, that is not appropriate. And when you have vacant luxury apartments, vacant luxury apartments, and the government comes in and subsidizes those to put people in those homes that, yes, don’t have housing, but that would not be the appropriate type of housing at the cost of that luxury tenant, that luxury tenant should have been afforded less rent. to then create more demand to fill those spots so we’ve gone to the extreme when you know there was good intent what decades ago and we did help our you know our neighbor um now i think the neighbor expects everyone to help them and that’s not how the american dream was built
SPEAKER 04 :
I know we’ll have more discussions on this. You and Lauren are going to be in the studio soon. And you and I agree that we want to help people less fortunate than ourselves. But what we’re seeing now is government… is really these policies are taking away from the middle class and the middle class is really struggling. So forced charity by government, we’ll probably keep that as a cliffhanger for when you guys are in studio, is forced charity is not really charity. But Karen Levine, you are helping, you’ve helped people for so many years buy and sell their homes. How can people reach you if they’re interested in changing their address?
SPEAKER 06 :
I would love to start that conversation, and they can give me a call at 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 04 :
I love about this, Karen. You and I have been friends for so many years that you push back on things that I say, and I appreciate that. And I appreciate these conversations because we’ve got to have these conversations, and that’s what we’re all about here at the Kim Monson Show.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. And starting the conversation and then sorting it out to figure out what’s the best solutions, not the absolutes, but how do we manage what we have and utilize all those resources, people, product, et cetera, for the benefit of the people in Colorado.
SPEAKER 04 :
Karen Levine for Everything Residential Real Estate, 303-877-7516. Karen, we’ll talk with you next week. Great. Thank you. Have a great day. And I’m blessed to work with amazing people. We don’t always agree on everything, and that’s good to have these conversations. But another great sponsor of the show is the Roger Mangin State Farm Insurance Team. If you bundle your insurance together, you might be able to save some real money. And the only way to find out is to give them a call. That number is 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangin Team is there.
SPEAKER 03 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
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SPEAKER 13 :
Do you strive for excellence as you work with your clients and customers? Does it make sense for you to add a unique and focused branding opportunity to your marketing portfolio? Would you like to access a broad customer base that loves our country and wants to make life better for ourselves, our neighbors, our colleagues, our children and our grandchildren? Then you may be a perfect fit as a sponsor or partner of The Kim Monson Show. To learn more, reach out to Kim at Kim would love to talk with you. Again, that’s Kim at KimMonson.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
Check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And sign up for our weekly email newsletter. And also, we have just started our new newsroom. And we will be publishing or doing the Daily Digest at the end of the day, Monday through Friday. And if you would like to receive that, be sure and sign up. You can go to the website, look at the newsletter, and then just put all your information in there. And be sure and check out the website for Center for American Values. The website is AmericanValuesCenter.org. And check out the podcast of Drew Dix and Brad Padula. It’s, I think, a great thing to add to your repertoire as you’re trying to figure out what’s going on in our world, and they’ve got great perspective. And they finished season number one, and they’re working on season number two. I have on the line with me a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, Scott Powell, and he writes really important pieces. And welcome, Scott Powell.
SPEAKER 17 :
Kim, it’s great to be with you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s good to have you as well. And you recently published a piece at American Thinker, The Epstein Saga, How God Can Use It for Good. And Scott, I haven’t really talked a whole lot about the Epstein files. I haven’t really read them. I hear there’s some just… unbelievable, nasty stuff in these Epstein files.
SPEAKER 17 :
So somebody like me… It’s utter moral depravity, really. It doesn’t get much worse than what the Epstein saga, all the people associated with it. Of course, it’s going to vary from the newcomers to the people that have been really initiated. It’s just… a sad case of moral depravity. And, um, you know, um, but I did say in the, actually it’s in the title of the article, I said how, you know, the Epstein saga, how God can use it for good. And we know in scripture that God uses all things for good, uh, even bad things can be used for his purposes and for good. So I decided that, uh, that, um, I’d get back to basics and think about what that really, you know, how God could use us for good. And it all boiled really down to repentance as a nation. And repentance is that condition that we have. that allows us to have a relationship with God. For God to begin a new thing in our lives, we need to repent for the wrongs that we did, the sin, and so forth. In fact, all spiritual revivals generally have come out of repentance. So that’s really my hope, is that the Epstein saga can really invoke in people, you know… a repentance that, you know, that can cover the nation, if you will, because, you know, the bad actors are not going to repent because they have no beliefs. But we, as believing people, Christians, Jews, and others, we understand the role that repentance has in our relationship with God and, you know, The reality of our country is that we really do need spiritual revival in order for our Constitution to function properly.
SPEAKER 04 :
Over all these years, I’m thinking about Harvey Weinstein, who was… Supposedly, he was a respected filmmaker. But many of the movies that he did and many of the things that had come out of Hollywood was holding up depravity as art. And if you question it, people would say, oh, you’re square, or you’re just an intolerant Christian. And we would, I think, get to a point where we started to self-censor. This has been going on for a long time, and even questioning things sometimes in our society. But as I take a look back now… at what occurred with Weinstein and Hollywood is they were really celebrating depravity instead of celebrating higher things. And I think that you’re right. I think that people, everyday people, are looking at this thing, wait a minute. This is unbelievable where we have gotten to in our society. And we do really need to repent as a society for what we’re doing to children across the spectrum. People again have told me that there’s just terrible things that are in these Epstein files regarding children, which I can’t even get my brain around. And I really don’t want to get my brain around it. Scott Powell.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, I’m right with you, Kim. I don’t want to get my brain around this either. And I have not looked at the Epstein files and really won’t look at them. Because it’s really the images, perhaps more than anything else, that’s so shocking, if you will. But I guess we could also think about our place as a country a bit like… you know, a bit like what can happen in the individual life. And that is that when people, you know, when people bottom out, if you will, and it may be a case of a drug addiction or alcoholism, oftentimes when people bottom out and they can’t They’re just at the end of their, you know, sort of the end. They have nowhere to turn. They can’t correct their behavior that’s destroying them because that’s really kind of where we are. What do they, you know, what often happens is, is a turning to God, which starts from repentance. It means acknowledging where you are. You know, God, I can’t help myself. I need you. A repentance begins the course back to what is good. It opens the door to God. And, you know, when we think of our history, America was really born out of spiritual revival. Yes, we had, you know, when we… When we decided that it was time for independence from Great Britain, the colonies, of course, were 13 different colonies, really didn’t have much connection with each other. And so how were they going to take on the greatest military power in the world, which was Great Britain, when they really had no navy, they had no standing army, but all they had were patriots that lived in different parts of the country and really didn’t have any connection with each other. Well, You know, God knew that, and he brought a spiritual revival to America. He called the Great Awakening, and the Great Awakening was very powerful, and it brought the colonies together. It invoked a sense that we’re all here together, and that we’re called to be free, and we have to fight for our freedom, and therefore we have to band together. So there was a transformation of… these 13 separate disparate colonies into a people that had identity and freedom and that they were willing to fight for it. So our nation was really born in spiritual revival. And then there was a second great awakening before the Civil War, which was probably… Until now, it was the most divisive issue and period in our history. And that had a huge impact. So I think we’re at a place now in America where many people are very frustrated. The political system just seems to be broken and can’t correct itself. Our culture seems to be captured by depravity, as you pointed out, Kim. You know, or it’s, you know, the culture, the music culture and so forth. So this is a wonderful time. And the Epstein depravity, if you will, is sort of the bottoming out, I’d say. We’ve bottomed out. It can’t get worse than this. So there’s only one direction we can go in, and that’s, you know, through repentance back to God. And hopefully that can bring about a spiritual revival in our country that really is powerful and can be this corrective to our downward slide.
SPEAKER 04 :
Connecting all of that, these moments in history, I do think that we’re at our third founding in our country. And so we’re going to continue the discussion with Scott Powell. He is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute. And this particular piece that we’re talking about right now is published at American Thinker. And just put in American Thinker, Scott Powell, and it’ll come up. And it is the Epstein saga. how God can use it for good. And these discussions happen because of all of our sponsors. And we had talked with Karen Gorday in our number one. She is an entrepreneur and owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting.
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SPEAKER 01 :
All Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 04 :
For the Kim Monson Show, check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And Little Richie’s is your local neighborhood spot where you can get authentic New York-style pizza and pasta. They are locally owned and have been serving Parker and Golden for over 20 years. And if you’re wanting to find them, it’s Little L-I-L. And then Richie’s is R-I-C-C-I apostrophe S. And they have great specials. Tuesdays are for families. Kids eat free after 4 p.m. Monday is their best kept secret. You buy one pizza, you get the second pizza half off. And on Saturdays, it’s Calzone Day. And that is you buy one calzone, you get the second calzone half off. And they have the best calzones I’ve ever had. So I’d highly recommend that you check that out. We’re talking with Scott Powell. He is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute regarding his piece, The Epstein Saga, How God Can Use It for Good. And I do really think that we are in the third founding of our country at this 250th birthday. uh on whether or not this american idea will continue this idea that all men are created equal with these rights from god of life liberty and pursuit of happiness or if we’re going to continue down this road of totalitarianism and towards socialism and communism where it’s basically the elites and then all of the other little um peons i guess it would be instead of this big this big middle class of everyday people being able to go after their hopes and dreams. But with that, Scott, there is a responsibility. And I had said one time, I’m wondering if we are living on the fumes of freedom, this freedom that was established 250 years ago. is what has played out to where everyday people in America have been thriving and prospering. But we’re seeing government getting out of its lane, losing its way, getting so big it seems like we’re up against the British Empire again. If we can get government back into its proper role and that every day people can thrive and flourish. And we see more and more reports of young people coming back to their Christian faith. So there’s some very encouraging things. Your title, The Epstein Saga, How God Can Use It for Good, when I’ve just heard these stories about what’s happened in Epstein, these Epstein files, is there has been tremendous human suffering. And so that question is, is why the suffering over here, and then God will use it for good? I think that’s a question people ask on a regular basis.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, remember that God’s time is not our time. So the pain and suffering that have been inflicted on the victims, if you will, of Epstein, all we can do is pray for them, pray for healing from the trauma that they’ve been through. But I made this point sort of in a bigger way in that, as I said, God’s time is not our time. So This horror that is Jeffrey Epstein’s saga can be used for good in the sense of, you know, Romans 8.28 that assures us that, quote, all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So, you know… That bad could be used for good does not apply to – it’s not isolated. Bad doesn’t generate good. Bad people hang out with bad people. They’re not going to be participating in this movement towards the good. But society in general – and that’s where repentance comes in. If we as a people, as a nation, are willing to, you know, cry out to God and repent for the sins that have happened in our country in this particular regard, I believe that God can use that for good. And, you know, we We don’t always know how spiritual revival takes place. We know historically the role that revivals have taken place. You believe, and you said, Kim, you think that we’re now at a time of a rebirth, which is to say a reawakening, which is to say a revival. They’re all related. Rebirth, awakening, revival. We could just group them all together. It’s a change. It’s a fundamental change. And so how do we catalyze that? Well, that’s why I think, you know, the other thing I said about the Epstein saga was that, you know, people were demanding that these, you know, this file that was being withheld by the government didn’t want to, you know, It was being held up from disclosure to the public. And I think it was, you know, it was Trump who promised. One of his smaller promises, I think, was just full disclosure of everything, whether it was the assassination of JFK or we have all these files that needed to come to light, including the Epstein files. Well, they didn’t they didn’t come to light during that. his first year in office, which he was elected in 24 and started his first term in January of 2025. 2025 went by and no Epstein disclosures, really. Just little dribs and drabs. Well, it could be that they were meant to come out this year, which is, of course, the year of our celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, you know, a rebirth. This is the year of rebirth. So I made the point that sometimes, you know, we’re demanding things now, but God’s time is different. So it could well be that these files coming out this year as they have, will play a role in a spiritual revival that happens to coincide with the 250th anniversary of our birth as a nation. So this is rebirth, right? So we’re living in just amazing times, really. And sometimes it can be very discouraging before, it’s like a storm, you know, it gets, you know, the storm gets worse and worse and it’s, But, you know, the clearing of the skies and, you know, the sun or the moon, it breaks through the clouds and the storm clears up. And I hope that we’re at that place now where we’re going to have a revival in our country. Because our country is so, you know, really our country was, we’re not a Christian nation. And the founders would not, who were all, 95% of the founders, you know, were Christians. were devoted Christians. They believed in the Trinity. They believed in the absolute truths of Scripture. And so they understood that God intended people to live freely, to live in freedom was God’s ideal. So they set about creating a government unlike any government in human history that would accomplish that. And that is, you know, the brilliance. I mean, it. We get the outline of it and the inspiration of it from the Declaration of Independence, but the real hard work was codifying it in a government. And that was where, you know, the Constitutional Convention put together this amazing Constitution. And an important part of getting the Constitution passed was the addition of the Bill of Rights. You know, the Constitutional Convention did not come up with a Bill of Rights. That came afterwards. And the Bill of Rights, of course, articulate the most important rights that we have and that the government’s primary purpose is to protect those rights, to protect our unalienable rights given to us by God. And they’re not given to us by the state, but they are unalienable, given by God. And the primary role of government is to protect those rights. And we have strayed so far from that. The government is abusing our rights at every turn almost. You know that with Tina Peters there in Colorado. Now, here’s Tina Peters in charge of elections in Mesa County. That was her job to make sure that the elections were conducted with integrity, fairness, and so forth. And she tried to carry – she carried out her job by – monitoring the Dominion voting system machines, tracking the data before and after. And when she found irregularities, and as she examined this, you know the details better than I, she met with opposition, and she was arrested. She was arrested for doing her job, and she’s in jail today. this is, you know, this is a, it’s almost unbelievable that this could happen because she’s carrying out her duty to the American citizens and she gets arrested for it. And meanwhile, of course, when Trump heard about this, you know, he pardoned her. Well, pardons come from the federal government. And my understanding of federal law is that they, they Trump state law. So what, what is Tina Peters still doing in jail? You know, it’s, It’s crazy, but it illustrates how our system has been corrupted and become disfigured where there’s not even an understanding of the relationship between federal and state law. But anyway, that’s another story.
SPEAKER 04 :
We did talk about that in the first hour because it appears that Governor Polis is entertaining clemency for Tina Peters, and he just said something on Tuesday, so let’s… I heard that, yes. Yeah, let’s continue to pray on that. And, of course, we had done the petition right around Christmastime, and I took it down to Governor Polis’s office where we had over 4,200 people from all over the country saying, sign a petition calling on Jared Polis to exhibit mercy and compassion and release her. And let’s continue to pray that that will happen. I think we’re getting very close to that. So we’re going to go to break. We’re talking with Scott Powell. When we come back, he’s written another very important piece, which has been published in Town Hall, and that is regarding what’s going on with Iran. And of course, that’s on everybody’s minds as well. And these discussions happen because of our sponsors. And if you have been injured, give John Bozen and his team at Bozen Law a call.
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SPEAKER 13 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force. Force vs. Freedom. Tune in to the Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m. with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at KimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 04 :
Check out our website. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. And check out our community. We have started a Kim Monson community, which I think you’re going to really love. And you can join that by going to Kim Monson dot com. And then also we have just started our newsroom. And if you would like to receive our daily digest on news articles, you need to sign up for that as well. You can do that by going to the website newsletters at the top. also check out the website for usmc memorial foundation there’s two things going on one is the birthday challenge for the president paula sarles and that event is going to be on march 14th and you can support that there’s a ribbon at the top that you can click on and then also you can sign up for their golf tournament which is in may right now there is early bird pricing and you can take advantage of that that website is usmcmemorialfoundation.org we’re talking with Scott Powell, he’s a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and Iran. People, I’ve talked to people and they’ve said this, we’re in World War III. And then the people on, I’ve heard people on the left are um just going after trump pete hegsteth uh american people we don’t like war that’s for sure but you said in this piece in town hall it’s titled ultimate success in iran is not as elusive as critics charge but the critics are really really on fire right now scott powell well we’re a very divided nation and um you know i think the critics see this as a
SPEAKER 17 :
as an opportunity to really not just weaken the Trump presidency, but maybe to try to even destroy it and bring about the, well, of course, the midterm election might go against his party, the Republican Party, in which case, the Trump agenda, if you will, could be really stalled in its tracks. But getting back to the issue of this conflict, everyone knows that Iran has been a thorn not only in our side, but really probably the central part of the division, the conflict, and the ongoing wars, battles in that part of the world. Islam is divided into two main camps, the Shiite camp, the Shia camp, and the Sunni camp. And the Shias are primarily located in Iran. And it is an extreme intolerant type of Islam. It’s very different than the Sunni variety, which is a little bit less so. But in any case, the history, our history with this, with Iran goes back many years, 47 years, but really was It was in 1983, the embassy bombing in Beirut killed 63. Six months later, the U.S. Marines’ Beirut barracks, that bombing killed 241 Marine service members. And then all the conflicts that we’ve had, you know, deaths from Iranians were higher than those over the years, but it was really the you know, the Iraqi engagement and the Afghani engagement that illustrated the far-reaching destructive power that Iran had through their improvised explosive devices that took many more American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan than in prior conflicts. It was about 4,200 deaths, and that was about 46% of all U.S. war deaths Between 2006 and 2019, these two central conflicts happened in those years. So that’s our history with Iran. I mean, it’s a personal history. Many American families have loved ones lost and people disfigured. facial disfiguring and loss of limbs from the Iranian IEDs. But, you know, there sometimes comes an opportunity to bring about a change. And I think that we shouldn’t look at, you know, at the engagement in Iran as we would, as we did in the with the engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq. These are very different. We’ve learned from those prior engagements. I mean, Trump ran on a policy of no more war, you know, no more regime change overseas. And here we are doing that very thing in Iran. So I can understand people’s feeling that, you know, that Trump has walked away from, you know, his promises. it’s the so-called America first agenda where we put America first and we wouldn’t be engaged overseas. But I think this, this, the opportunity arose to, to, you know, to get this, uh, this cancer removed from the middle East and, uh, and together with, with the Israeli IDF forces, you know, this campaign has just been unbelievably, um, powerful and effective in a very short period of time. I think the big challenge is going to be disengagement and not just rebuilding Iran, but creating a political system that enables the Iranians to chart their own course and live in a relatively free society. Because we’re obviously displacing the old, destroying the old regime of the mullahs, and we’re going to hopefully leave it in the hands of the Iranian patriots, which are the majority of the population, by the way. You know, only 30% of Iran is Muslim. Did you know that? And Iran has the fastest growing Christian population in the world. Iran does. Can you believe that? So there’s reason for a lot of hope. And I think I think Trump knew all these things. I mean, he he has more intelligence than anyone else. So I think he saw the opportunity to really bring fundamental change and liberation, not only to Iran, but, you know, less conflict and tension there. in the Middle East, which has just been an ongoing tumultuous part of the world. It’s not that this is going to solve all the problems, but it’s removing the chief cancer. And I think we’re almost, you know, the engagement is now in its fifth day, I think, fifth or sixth day. And I think that we’re ahead of schedule in getting the job done.
SPEAKER 04 :
kinds of danger. I’d seen a headline that there are sleeper cells of Iranian terrorists in America, and I’m pretty sure that’s probably true.
SPEAKER 17 :
Absolutely, they are. And guess what? Better we root them out now than let them remain sleeper cells for some future time. I mean, there’s never a good time to have it, you know, terrorist attacks are terrible. But if we can, we obviously have a heightened awareness now. I mean, this whole thing has not only transformed Iran and the Middle East, but it serves as a catalyst for a heightened awareness for all Americans to be vigilant because we are the eyes and the ears of um, you know, for law enforcement, you know, law enforcement only works when people are engaged. So, uh, we all have to be aware when we see things that are irregular, uh, we need to be involved in, in reporting them immediately to authorities. Um, but the fact is that these people, that these cells are already here, Kim, and, um, The critics would say, well, now we’re going to catalyze. Well, you know, if not now, when? I mean, there’s never a good time for this.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we need to continue to pray for wisdom and discernment and forgiveness for our country as well. We’ve got a minute left. Scott Powell, what’s your final thought you’d like to leave with our listeners?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, I think the most important thing, and it was articulated very clearly in… at the founding of the country by many, but the first president, George Washington, and the second president, John Adams, both said very clearly that our constitutional system was suited only for a moral and religious people. In other words, if we lose our moral foundation, our so-called religious and moral foundation. At that time, you know, we were, you know, the religion of America was clearly Christianity. I mean, the Jewish population was, you know, was between one and two percent of the total population of the colonies when the Constitution was established. So we were a Christian nation in not in our governmental form, but in our culture, in our people. And that is the key thing that needs to be revived because when people have a fear of God and recognize that God is watching their activity, there’s a tendency, you know, to do what is right. There’s a tendency to, you know, to, you know… you know, to obey the law because, you know, we’re called to do that. We feel compelled by our relationship with the Lord, you know, to do right and do good. And you could, you know, that manifests itself in many ways. Certainly the golden rule is one of the things that we always need to remember that we want to do to others as we would like them to do unto us.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Scott Powell, as always, great wisdom. We’re out of time. Our quote of the show for the end of the show is Lou Holtz. He said, everybody is looking for instant success, but it doesn’t work that way. You build a successful life one day at a time. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER 15 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
