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Join Kim Monson as she tackles the most pressing political issues affecting our everyday lives. In this episode, we delve into the concept of freedom versus force, a crucial lens through which important legislative decisions are analyzed. From the intricacies of taxation policies and state legislation to the importance of personal rights and liberties, Kim and her guests unravel complex topics with clarity and depth.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 08 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 12 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 08 :
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.
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Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 08 :
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.
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Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 08 :
Indeed. Let’s have a conversation. And welcome to the Kim Monson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You eat your treasure, your value, 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. Thank you to the team. That’s Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And in studio with me is my good friend, Marshall Dawson. It’s good to have you here. He is the president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver. And we’re going to be talking with our fellow Liberty Toastmasters today. I always love to get their perspective on things.
SPEAKER 19 :
These are fun days. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I think it’s been a good break from the news, you know, which is always stressful. It is stressful. We’re going to be talking about capitalism.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes, the news, you know, I watch headlines. It is stressful right now, what’s happening, not only nationally, but right here in Colorado. But we’ve got to be informed, but it’s also nice to take a little respite from some of the stuff that’s going on out there. And think about the big ideas. I think sometimes we get to a point where we just become so news-focused that we don’t think about these big ideas, these big principles, Marshall. Right.
SPEAKER 19 :
Some of the big principles are things like individual and natural rights, the proper role of government. And if you get to a point where you can discuss any issue coming from a point of view of how does it relate to that particular principle, then you’re equipped to be able to discuss anything, anything that comes along in the news or any policy topic or something like that that’s going to come up with the government.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. And that’s why we do the show is focused on these foundational principles and looking at these issues through this lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. And if something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And it’s not compassionate or altruistic to take other people’s stuff. their rights, property, freedom, livelihood, opportunity, childhoods, or lives via force. We know force can obviously be a weapon, but we also see it in policy and unpredictable and excessive taxation, fees, fear, coercion, government-induced inflation, and the agenda of the World Economic Forum and globalist elites. And the World Economic Forum is meeting right now. Donald Trump’s over there. Have you seen any of those headlines?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, OK, now we’re getting back to the news, aren’t we? It has just been amazing. Yeah, I’ve watched Donald Trump, Scott Besant, Volcker just, you know, speaking truth to the power. It’s been amazing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I was out at the National Western all day, so I didn’t get all of the sound bites on everything. I had a good friend that her husband gave her Girls’ Day at the National Western because otherwise I’m like, I don’t think I can really spend a whole day doing that, but I’m really glad that I did. and i ran into a number of people i hadn’t seen for years which was also pretty cool but i didn’t get to see all these headlines but i saw i i saw a little bit of trump and he was really it seemed like he was speaking truth into this you will really enjoy it i you won’t want to miss it okay it’s you know they’re saying things that need to be said have needed to be said for a long long time and you know i i think it’s going to bring about good things Good, because we are in a dangerous time right now. And so speaking truth into these issues is so important, and that’s what we do. And also on the show, we focus on the issues, try to stay out of the personality, emotion stuff. We’ll mention people behind those issues, but that is our goal. And I want to say thank you to the Harris family for their gold sponsorship of the show. And I do want to hear from you. The text line is 720-605-0647, 720-605-0647. And our word of the day, I went to Francis Bacon for our quote of the day. And he was born in 1561. Died in 1626, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of natural philosophy guided by the scientific method, and his works remained influential throughout the scientific world. He said this, we rise to great heights by a winding staircase of small steps, which goes to the quote that Mary Janssen had said, inch by inch, life’s a cinch, yard by yard, life is hard. So Francis Bacon said kind of the same thing all those years ago, Marshall.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, that’s a good quote, but I think it’s very indicative of, you know, you never really reach high places by, I’m going to mix metaphors here, by swinging for the fences. Most of us gain our accomplishments by simply putting one step right in front of the other and doing that repeatedly and assuredly, and eventually we accomplish things.
SPEAKER 08 :
And yes, so every day. And that’s why we say on the show to strive for excellence. It’s step by step. Each day it builds upon itself. So I went to the word empirical for our word of the day, E-M-P-I-R-I-C-A-L. It could be relying on or derived from observation or experiment. Number two, verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment. And lastly, guided by practical experience and not theory, especially in medicine. And so that is our word of the day. Your challenge is to use that in a sentence. And we brought on the word of the day, Marshall, in the spirit of Liberty Toastmasters, because we always have a word of the day. We’re challenged to try to use that, and it helps us expand our vocabulary.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, that’s right. If you get to a point where you’re so comfortable speaking that you can just kind of off the cuff throw in the word of the day, then you know you’re pretty close to arriving.
SPEAKER 08 :
We’re getting there. Next thing, as you know, we’ve added in a bill of the day. The Colorado State Legislature is in session. And, oh man, hold on to your hats. Governor Polis and company… introduced three housing bills. I think the word affordable housing is the new word for communism because – and we’re seeing this throughout the country under the guise of affordable housing. I don’t know where all the people are coming from that are going into these big box apartment buildings. From my – observation on this. It just doesn’t make sense. But what we’re seeing is, is government picking winners and losers. And that’s exactly, the bill that I highlighted here was, let me get to it, is House Bill 26-1066, tax exemptions for low-income rental property. And And the prime sponsors on this are Representative Rebecca Stewart and Representative Katie Stewart and Senator Matt Ball. And as I have looked at this, it certainly picks winners and losers. And hold on here. Here we go. They change things on the screen. It says, okay, it says the bill summary, current law provides an exemption for taxation on property acquired and developed for low income housing by nonprofit housing providers, community land trusts, and nonprofit affordable home ownership developers. The bill expands the exemption to also include property intended for low income residential rental property. This is bad across the board because it’s picking winners and losers. And when you start to take these properties off tax rolls, then the other taxpayers have to make up the difference because we don’t see government that’s really reducing their spending, Marshall.
SPEAKER 19 :
You don’t think that government will reduce their spending to accommodate? Is that what you’re telling me?
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s exactly what I’m saying. So that tax burden is going to be pushed off on other homeowners because there is a real assault upon homeownership. But I want to jump over here. We’ve got Karen Gorday on the line. She is an entrepreneur. She is the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting and also very involved in some political issues as well. Karen Gorday, welcome to the show. Good morning, Kim. Glad to be here. Good to have you. And let’s talk your business first. And we’re going to be coming into a cold snap, it sounds like, but you’re doing interior painting. What preparation do you recommend, do you help with regarding interior painting, moving furniture, floors, pictures, all that kind of stuff?
SPEAKER 05 :
What we recommend is that our customers move the furniture about four feet from the wall. Nothing has to be completely in the center, just about four feet from the wall so that we can walk back there, put ladders up, things like that. Take pictures off the walls, TVs off the walls if they don’t have a… A way to move them easily. Some people have brackets and you can move TV so we can paint around them. But if there’s no brackets and they stay in place, we’ll want you to remove the TV. You know, essentially anything breakable. What we’ll help with, though, sometimes people have like vaulted ceilings and there’s pictures or artworks. you know 10 15 feet up we’ll get the ladders out and we’ll get those down and hand them to you and you can put those safely into a another room and um we will cover all the furniture and cover the floors um with our plastic drop cloths etc depending on um what the floor is if it’s you know hardwood floors we’ll even put what’s called ram board which is Very, very, very thick cardboard down to protect those. We don’t want to scratch it with the ladders. But for the most part, pictures that are normal height and furniture away from the walls will ask you to build.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. And now’s a good time to make appointments for bids for outside as well. Spring is right around the corner, even though they’re predicting, finally, we can use some more snow. I hope we get some snow on Saturday. But what’s the best way for people to reach you? What’s your website?
SPEAKER 05 :
Website is www.paintwithradiant.com. That’s the best way. There’s a form and you can fill that out very quick and that’ll reach us.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Let’s move over to Lakewood and the petitions for this special election. What’s the update on that?
SPEAKER 05 :
So the update is very similar to last week. Monday the 26th at 7 p.m. City Council is meeting for their regular meeting and they will make a decision whether they will repeal the four zoning ordinances or send it to the ballot for a special election. I can tell you that Next door in the Lakewood area is full of commentary about whether or not there should be a special election. Both sides battling it out. And so it’s a heated conversation in Lakewood right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
So what do you think is going to happen?
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, up until a day or two ago, I thought they would go to special election. I am not so sure. And even though the other side’s campaigning and says it’s on the ballot, I don’t know if you’ve heard the news in Lakewood, but we now have a $49 million bill due because they lost a case at the fees towards cell phone providers and they in this meeting as well want to transfer a 49 million from the tabor fund to pay for this lawsuit um so you’ve got the we now have a 49 million dollar budget deficit um and can we afford a special election i don’t know It’s going to be interesting to see which way they go. I would not want to be on city council right now because they’re really in a rock and a hard place. Do you listen to the people and send it to election, or do you save the money and not go to special elections? I don’t have an answer.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, and I saw a headline on that Supreme Court case, that ruling, and… It was regarding a taper issue. So am I hearing you say that they are going to have to pay back forty nine point five million dollars because of an infraction upon taper? But then they want to use taper money to pay for this.
SPEAKER 05 :
Is that what I heard you say? That is what you heard me say. And and it’s frustrating because the voters in Lakewood are. agreed in 2024 to let the city keep the Tabor funds at the same time the voters in Jeffco voted that Jeffco could keep the Tabor funds and it was in the names of you know parks and open space and all the things not their personal you know checking account. And now the bill’s coming due, and they want to transfer the money from the Tabor Fund to pay for this.
SPEAKER 08 :
And the Tabor Fund, what that is, is that is an over-collection by Lakewood or Jefferson County, whatever entity, of our tax money above a formula of population plus inflation growth. And that is that excess money that’s supposed to be returned back to the people. And so that’s what they want to keep. Boy, Karen Gorday, it’s the Wild West out there in Lakewood.
SPEAKER 05 :
It really is. You add the Tabor, and then you had the whole Emory Elementary, where they were like a pass-through from Jeffco Schools to the Action Center, and they lost several million dollars there. This court case was decided in September or October, so why it’s just now coming up versus during the budget season, I don’t know. But when you add all these things together… I don’t know if we’re going to have a special election or not. I’m hopeful we are, but I just don’t know what they’re going to do.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, boy. Okay, Karen Gorday, and thank you for keeping us informed on all of this. I really appreciate it, and thank you to your team out there, all of you. I know you’re all working really hard. You’re all volunteers, so thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you. And that is Karen Gorday with Radiant Painting and Lighting. And the website is paintwithradiant.com. And Marshall Dawson is in studio with me. And these are important discussions. We have them because of our sponsors. And the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team is there for you. They’ve been in business for over 50 years. And if you give them a call and go over your insurance coverage, bundle things together, you might be able to save money. That’s real money in your pocket. The only way to find out is to give them a call. That number is 303-795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there.
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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 08 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. And check out the website for the U.S. MC Memorial Foundation. The foundation is taking great care of the Marine Memorial out at 6th and Colfax and raising the money for the remodel. And so it’s a great organization to support, to remember and honor those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for our freedom and And again, that website is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. My friend Marshall Dawson is in studio. He is the president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver. And we’re going to talk with our buddies here in a little bit.
SPEAKER 19 :
That’s going to be fun.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. About capitalism. But on the line with me right now is Wendy Warner. And she is the board secretary for the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. Wendy Warner, welcome to the show. thank you kim very much and how long have you been on the board for cut oh boy that’s hard to remember eight ten years something like that it’s been a while it’s been a while and boy we’ve uh it’s really important work that this all volunteer group does watching legislation and we will be kicking everything off really this weekend as bills have been introduced and they’re being scheduled for hearing. And I want to say thank you to our team. And that’s Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, Wendy Warner, Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson, Mary Jansen, Dave Evans, Corey Onazorg, Paula Beard, and Ray Beard. And we will be… Going to work on watching this legislation, and we invite everyone to join us on the 29th of January at the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association for our legislative kickoff. And tickets are $20, and you’ll get to meet many of the legislators, as well as we’re going to have libations and great food. So with that, Wendy Warner, let’s jump in here. You… There’s always unintended consequences with this legislation. And you are working on caucuses, I guess, right now for Denver. You’re in Denver County. And there was a bill back in 2024 that is creating challenges, yes? Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER 06 :
This bill, HB 24-1067, is entitled Ballot Access for Candidates with Disabilities, which is totally misleading because it has nothing to do with candidates. The bill specifies that any person upon request must be able to participate in a precinct caucus or party assembly with the use of a video conferencing platform. Well, it sounds good. I think we would all want everybody to be able to participate. But think about what it takes to do that. In order to make people be able to participate is the reason we moved caucuses out of individual homes into ADA-compliant facilities. I started hosting caucuses back when we had them in our living room with homemade cookies available, etc. And now we’re in schools and churches and whatever. But think about what this entails just to do what sounds so simple. In Denver, we have over 300 precincts. Each precinct does its own election for precinct leader and delegates to the county assembly, which is how we nominate candidates. And they can submit resolutions for the county and the state assembly. Now we have to set up video links for each of these caucuses. And we’ve got to make sure there’s a person there with a device on which to run something like Zoom and the knowledge of how to do it. And we have to make sure the building has and will let us use internet access or else we have to set up hot spots for each and every one of these caucuses. That’s quite a lot of stuff to do on top of the mechanics of the caucus itself. We need to sort of We need to identify who’s going to be calling in and make sure that they, in fact, are qualified to participate in the caucus and that they have Zoom capabilities and know how to use Zoom. In Denver, we have trouble staffing every single precinct for caucus as Republicans. I’m in the Republican Party. But even the Democrats have trouble staffing each of the precinct caucuses. Think for a minute about what happens if we have a remote participant who wants to come on by Zoom and we don’t have anybody to even receive and participate on the call at the actual caucus. So it’s a real challenge right now. And you add to that the fact that a a major focus of this bill is that failure of a political party to comply constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability and is subject to legal relief in the courts or through the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Regulatory Agencies. I really think the way that’s worded in the bill, it sounds like the bill was written by trial lawyers, just Just lick them their lips for new cases to bring.
SPEAKER 08 :
Goodness. And this is just Denver with 305 precincts. So think about this throughout the state.
SPEAKER 06 :
It does say that if there isn’t broadband available, like in some of the rural areas, they don’t have to do it by video conferencing, but they still have to do it by telephone conferencing. So it’s a real challenge to try to implement. And yet caucus and assembly are so important because this is how we select our candidates. And we need a lot of change in the legislature. We need a change in the governorship because we’ve seen the kinds of bills that have been passed and the damage that they’ve done. But this makes it very hard for a person to come up through the caucus and assembly process.
SPEAKER 08 :
As a candidate or just to become a delegate?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it’s hard to continue to hold caucuses like this. In my mind, this is one step towards trying to get rid of caucuses and assemblies and to make it so that people only get on the ballot through petition, which means you have to have a lot of money behind you. You’ve got to have big donors. behind you to be able to get on through the petition process. Your ordinary citizens going to have time, have more trouble doing that. And that’s how we start people in the political process, candidates in the political process. They come through the neighborhood organizations and they come up through the legislature. But this is going to make it harder if we can’t have caucuses for somebody to do that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wendy, don’t you remember a few years ago, there is someone that is a candidate for governor on the Republican side, and she ran a or sponsored a bill to get rid of caucuses and assembly. Do you remember that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, yeah. It’s been attempted a number of times, I think. On both sides of the aisle? Yeah, there’s been interest on both sides of the aisle in doing that. It is a costly process. It’s not easy to raise money to do these things at a local level. In Denver, we have… eight different, I think nine different locations for caucuses, and we have to rent those locations.
SPEAKER 08 :
They don’t come free of charge. I had heard that the state party wasn’t paying for the insurance for the caucus locations on the GOP side this year. Did you hear anything like that?
SPEAKER 06 :
They had some problems getting research, getting, excuse me, insurance after The Charlie Kirk situation. But they now have it, and we’re going forward. We still don’t have all of our locations in Denver nailed down, but we will shortly. They have just gotten the insurance.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, good.
SPEAKER 06 :
But it was a problem of not being able to get it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Well, thanks for that clarification on that, Wendy. And, again, we’re very excited about our event next week. thursday the 29th and invite people to join us and join cut as well and that way you will get the weekly email that we send to the governor and the legislature regarding bills for hearing for that week and so it’ll be a really great event wendy
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, it certainly will. I hope everybody that can will come, and I encourage people to join CUT so that they get our notification about bills.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. Wendy Warner, thank you so much. You can buy your tickets by going to coloradotaxpayer.org. There’s a red ribbon at the top. Click on that, and that will get you to the places that you need to go. And we have these discussions because of our sponsors. And for everything residential real estate, and we’ll talk with her in the next hour, is Karen Levine.
SPEAKER 21 :
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SPEAKER 22 :
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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 08 :
The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And do you want more freedom and confidence with your money? Well, Mint Financial Strategies is here to help. They’re an independent firm with over 25 years of experience. And as an accredited investment fiduciary, they put your best interests first always. With a strategy-first approach, they’ll help you build a plan that fits your life. Give them a call. That number is 303-285-3080. 303-285-3080. And Marshall Dawson is in studio with me. He is the president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver. And it’s great to have you here.
SPEAKER 19 :
Great to be here, Kim. Been looking forward to this Toastmasters Day for quite a while now.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, it’s always great to have you. And I always learn something. We’re going to talk about capitalism, which it’s really the socioeconomic system that has brought more people out of poverty than anything else ever in human history.
SPEAKER 19 :
It really does have a remarkable track record, which, if you think about it, it boggles the mind at how it can get such a bad name among the other side, the socialists. There’s nothing but a failed track record for socialism.
SPEAKER 08 :
I know. And so this is why it’s important to have this conversation, Marshall. So where should we start?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, it’ll be interesting, Kim, because we’ve suggested that people can throw some personal stories in here. So I’m interested to see where this goes. And first up out of the gate is Rick Rome from the Denver Club. Welcome to the show, Rick.
SPEAKER 18 :
Great. Thanks, Marshall. Thanks, Kim. According to the Google machine… John F. Kennedy is credited with the statement, a rising tide raises all boats. And there’s a lot of truth to that as it was then, as it is today. When we have abundance, when we have success, when we have those blessings that come to us in one of the most prosperous nations on earth, everyone, including the poorest of the poor and the wealthiest of the wealthy, succeeds and is prosperous. The corollary to that is when that tide recedes, the poorest among us suffer the most. And that’s the reality of that situation. And that’s where I think a lot of the socialist ideas come into play in terms of feeling really bad. It’s a virtue signal or a way to try and ease your conscience when you see someone who’s struggling. And the idea is they blame the bigs, big pharma, big tech, big media, all complicit in it. But they never seem to mention big government as well. It’s one of those things that I’ve always thought was a little curious that the loony left would leave that idea out and instead promote big government, which has basically failed most times in history. Look, we’re all conditioned to believe that that kind of success is bad. It’s through jealousy, through envy. It’s easy to sell that story because it’s easy to tear stuff down. But it’s harder to celebrate that success when we look at guys like, for instance, Bill Gates. fabulously wealthy, had a brilliant idea back in the day in the 70s and 80s and made a vast fortune. And what he’s chosen to do with that fortune is make people eat bugs and take vaccines that they don’t need and are untested and sterilize populations in the process. Contrast that with a guy like Elon Musk, who’s using his ideas, his brilliance, his vast wealth to expand the human condition and promote space travel so that we can be a multi planetary species and really celebrate that great thing that is the human experience. Look, the harsh reality is there are people among us who will lie, they will cheat, they will steal. And it doesn’t matter what the socioeconomic system is, so we can’t really, you know, we should be taking that off the table altogether. It’s not about who’s going to steal from you in what system, because they’re going to do it regardless, whether it’s capitalist or socialist. What I’d like to talk about is the merits of the system. What is it that makes capitalism great? And I can relate that with kind of a story. I mean, imagine a young man who dies and is sitting at St. Peter’s Gate. St. Peter says, yeah, you had an untimely death. And in compensation for that, we’re going to give you a chance at another life. But to do that, you have to come back as the poorest of the poor. Catch is you get to choose which country you come back in. And ask yourself the question, which country would you come back in as the poorest of the poor in that country? I mean, I myself know the answer is obvious. I would pick the country with abundance and an opportunity for people to be generous with that wealth. Look, the difference here is we all have God-given talents. In a capitalist system, those talents are not cast into a hive mind mentality where you’re a cog in the machine doing what you’re told. They’re celebrated. They’re encouraged. And the greatest among us, the best ideas will rise to the top. I guess the easiest way for me to describe it, it’s kind of like having a fly trying to convince a bee The crap tastes better than honey.
SPEAKER 09 :
You never know what Rick’s going to get. Thank you, Rick Rome. Always a little bit of humor. Thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
You never know how Rick is going to finish a speech either. No, you don’t. There you go. It’s always a surprise. Thanks, Rick. Thanks so much. Well, Kim, next up to the show is Fred Clifford. He’s also one of our teammates in the Denver Club. Welcome to the show, Fred. Hello, Marshall. Good morning. What are your thoughts on capitalism?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, you know, can I begin by telling, I want to explain how I became interested in capitalism. So when I was a young man, a couple years after high school, I started going to college full time. And I had two different classes where at times they taught straight out of the Communist Manifesto. And this is back then, so it’s probably worse now. I was so young and so naive at the time that I actually, you know, I sort of bought some of it. Not all of it, but I bought some of it. I thought communism had some good ideas. And then two years later, about two years later, I was in New Orleans, and I was working at a motel. I was driving a courtesy van. I would pick people up from the airport, take them to the motel, and I would also take people from the motel to the airport. One day I had a passenger coming from the airport to our motel, and he had just flown in from a foreign country. And he was extremely excited to be back on American soil. And he started voicing his enthusiasm to me. Now, let me go back a little bit. At that time, for some reason, my main objection to capitalism was competition. And for some reason, I thought competition was a hindrance to productivity. I don’t know. I’m not sure exactly how I got that idea, but it’s kind of a wrong idea. Well, he started talking about the outstanding benefits of competition. And like I said, he was so happy, so excited to be back on American soil. He was talking about competition. I remember we drove by a gas station. He pointed to the gas station, and he said, see how clean that gas station is? He said, see how well kept it is? He said, that’s because of competition. Competition makes things better, he said. And he explained that he had just come from a country. He didn’t say what country it was. He had just come from a country that didn’t have competition, and everything was run down. so i would say a miraculous thing happened to me that day his enthusiasm started rubbing off on me i was given an amazing gift that day and it kind of started me on a journey to learn more about freedom the more i learned about economic freedom civil liberties the declaration of independence the u.s constitution and a few other things like that the more i absolutely fell in love with this country and its founding principles and i i really came to realize that free people are better off in every way possible free people are more prosperous free people are healthier free people are better at at solving problems three people are more willing and more capable of helping others you know rick mentioned something about generosity free people are more capable of being generous because they have more be generous with not every three person is generous if you’re free you’re more likely to be generous Marshall, Kim, thanks for letting me sound off like this random passenger I had about 50 years ago sounded off to me.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Fred.
SPEAKER 19 :
Great, Fred. And let me pay Fred a compliment, not just on what he said, but how he told the story. One of the things that can make a speech so powerful is storytelling. And the most powerful stories are not about how smart you are and, you know, I did this and I accomplished that. It’s providing an opportunity for someone else to teach you a lesson. And that’s exactly how Fred told the story with this person who told him about competition and taught him a lesson about capitalism. Great job, Fred. Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I will remember this story for sure about the clean gas station because of competition. And that’s why when we start to have government programs for fill-in-the-blank, I remember when I was on city council. It was 2012 to 2016. And a couple of different things. There was a subject of zip cars, which I don’t know if you saw the headline. cars that you could rent and I’m not quite I can’t quite remember how you got to them if they were supposed to come to you or what it was exactly but it was regarding trying to get cars off the road under the guise of congestion And I just saw a headline and talked about it the other day. There are 650,000 people in the UK that were ZipCard members. There’s no longer ZipCard there, so now they no longer have that mobility. I’ve seen this whole thing as an assault upon mobility. But the other thing was, was these scooters that you see that were living off of government grants, nonprofits with government grants, providing these scooters so that people get people out of their cars. And I thought about it, or bicycles as well, I thought. If it’s not your scooter or if it’s not your bicycle, who’s going to take care of it? Who’s going to take pride in it? Who’s going to pay for it? And then a few years later, you’ll see them just laying by the side of the road. That’s communism. That’s government programs. That’s not having competition on things. And so, you know, you can connect these dots in lots of different ways, Marshall.
SPEAKER 19 :
Right. Now, Kim, look, I’m not the experienced broadcaster that you are. Were you trying to kill time there to go into a break, or should we bring Dave on?
SPEAKER 08 :
Let’s go to a break, okay? All right. Let’s do that. And so we have these important discussions because of our sponsors, and Lorne Levy can help you with your mortgages in 49 of 50 states, just not New York.
SPEAKER 17 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 22 :
Quickly.
SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson.com. And I want to say thank you to Hooters Restaurants for their sponsorship of the show. They have locations in Westminster and Loveland and in Aurora. And great specials Monday through Friday for lunch and for happy hour. And sponsors of the show because… I got to know them because when I was on city council, there was this issue between freedom, free markets, and capitalism, and those PBIs, politicians, bureaucrats, and interested parties that are interested in control. And so that’s how I got to know them, and they’ve been great sponsors of both the Kim Monson Show and America’s Veterans Stories for many years now. And again, I think they have some of the best nachos in town, so be sure and check that out. In studio with me is Marshall Dawson. He is the president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver, and it’s great to have you here.
SPEAKER 19 :
Good morning, Kim. Glad to be here. We should probably remind people of how they can find Toastmasters.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 19 :
You can always go to toastmasters.org, and we’d love to have you come to Liberty Toastmasters or Liberty Toastmasters North up in Longmont. If that doesn’t work for you, that’s just fine. We believe in freedom versus force. You can find a club that’s close to you, look at their menu up there, and punch in your address, and you’ll see any number of clubs that are close by.
SPEAKER 08 :
And communication is not just about speaking, but it’s about listening. The evaluation component is important as well. And then also table topics, which is what we’re doing, is speaking about a specific issue. And so who is our next guest?
SPEAKER 19 :
Our next guest is Dave Walden. Dave, I believe you are still a member in Liberty Testmasters North. And Dave comes and visits in Denver as well. Welcome to the show, Dave.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, good morning. Good morning, Marshall, Kim. You know, Kim, this is right in my wheelhouse. I talk about this eight ways from Sunday. I’m going to come at it from a little different perspective. Marshall can fill in the blanks. He’s entirely capable of doing it if you’re interested. But ask yourself a question. If capitalism is so obviously superior in providing material abundance… of unprecedented amounts and technology and invention, and it’s raised standards of living, even in China now in the last 30 or 40 years, to unprecedented levels, how come capitalism hasn’t won in the competition between, quote, isms, unquote, hands down? Now, I’m going to answer it, but I only have three minutes, so I can’t ramble on about this. I have to be somewhat succinct, which tends to go against my nature. An economy is not just an economic system. Absent coercion, it represents a moral system. Why is that? Because it’s voluntary and involves choice. And choice is the very precondition… for the concept of morality. You ask Rick Rome, and for example, he’ll tell you that the reason Judeo-Christianity is thought to be moral is because each of us accepts the idea that we have free will, the freedom to choose. And morality is when in the absence of compulsion, you choose the right thing. That’s why capitalism is virtuous, and all the other systems are not, because Capitalism is what you get when you simply leave people alone to live their lives and pursue their happiness. All that you need in addition to that is a few basic necessities such as the rule of law and property rights. There are minor other things, but basically that’s it. And if you do that, leave them alone to lead their lives, you get capitalism. All the other isms. Socialism, fascism, whatever is, I mean, whatever, however, whatever the prescriptive adjective you want to put in front of that word, like democratic socialism, they are evil because they replace moral virtue and the rewards that arise from choice and replaces them with endless prescriptions for punishments and incentives. made possible by compulsion. The bottom line, therefore, is socialism and fascism, irrespective of however you wish to describe them, they’re simply different pews of the same church, the church of compulsion. Capitalism is the only system, the only moral system, and its results speak, hell, they don’t speak, they scream for themselves. That’s all I’ve got to say in three minutes.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, Dave, well said. And, you know, when you talked about China, you reminded me, I was just looking for, there’s a phrase by which it was known. I think it was called the Chinese capitalist revolt. But it was a story in a tiny village. This is back in Mao’s time when everyone was starving. And this village called Xiaogang, I think, I mean, forgive me, my Chinese pronunciation is not going to be the best. But among the villagers there, they came to an agreement where they decided that they were going to provide what they were required to to the state. But among themselves, they would keep what was left over. And this went so counter to communism there. They had to keep it a secret. It was a secret pact. But it was so successful that the people there weren’t starving. The Chinese authorities realized that something was wrong because the people weren’t as skinny as they should be. And it was found out, it was discovered, But there was simply no way that the authorities couldn’t allow it not to continue. I hope I got all my negatives in the right order there. So it did continue, and they even still have memoirs of that in a museum in China. So, Dave, I was glad that you mentioned that. Dave, by the way, has so many stories. Go ahead, Dave.
SPEAKER 15 :
Go on. Am I still on the air? Yes, you are. We got you, Dave. One final thing. The bottom line ought to be obvious to everyone. If you are going to have a political system in which compulsory altruism is featured and repeatedly demonstrated by your leaders, you are not going to have capitalism. You’re going to destroy it. So if you’re going to save capitalism, the first thing you have to get rid of is the idea of compulsory altruism. If I’m going to be virtuous, you’ve got to leave me alone to make the choice to be so. And if you don’t leave me alone and you make me, you cannot be said to be making me in the name of morality, because you’ve destroyed morality with the idea of compulsion. That’s all.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, Dave. So this brings me back to this bill that I talked about as our bill of the day, which was, I think it was House Bill 1066. And this is for affordable housing for low-income people, it says. And so I’m thinking about Dave and his word of compulsion. So current law provides an exemption for taxation on property acquired and developed for low-income housing by nonprofit housing providers. First of all, nonprofit, it’s really not fair because they don’t pay taxes. It doesn’t mean they don’t make money. It’s just they don’t pay taxes. Community land trust, which, again, we shouldn’t have community land trust. That’s an assault upon property rights. and nonprofit affordable home ownership developers. So here’s all that, those kind of altruistic stuff that Dave is talking about. And it says the bill expands the exemption to include property intended for low-income residential rental property. But the compulsion then is they’re getting a tax break. Those taxes are going to remain there. Somebody’s going to be compelled to have to pay those, right?
SPEAKER 19 :
And taxes are coercion at the end of the day. You can take the libertarian phrase of taxation as theft, OK, but it is coercion. If you don’t pay your taxes, they are going to show up with guns and take your stuff to cover that. But one thing that I do want to say, Kim, You could throw out the results of capitalism. You could ignore the fact, if it’s not important to you, that it has brought more people out of poverty. It has raised standards of living. It has extended people’s lifespans. if that, let’s say that that is not important to you, capitalism is still the only moral system because it is based on choice. It is based on voluntarily engaging in commerce, just like what Dave said. That’s really the reason why it’s the most moral. People who engage in capitalism, and by the way, I throw entrepreneurship and free enterprise kind of in the same bucket as capitalism. People who engage in that are voluntarily interacting with each other. And they’re doing so in a way that brings additional value to each of those sides who are transacting. It’s voluntary, and that’s why it’s the most moral, because it is not compulsive. It is not guilt-based. It’s not coercive.
SPEAKER 08 :
And so as we are looking at these issues that are in front of us, or as we are looking at this legislation that’s proposed down at the State House, it’s important to realize with CUT, Colorado Union of Taxpayers, what we look at is how it affects the taxpayer. Taxes are force. As you say, if you don’t pay them, then you’ll find out what happens. Protecting Tabor, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. We hear right out here in Lakewood that there’s a real problem with that. Property rights and parental rights. Whenever you look at these things through this lens of compulsion or force, that’s where we really need to be having these conversations. And my gosh, there’s so much force everywhere we look right now, Marshall. So we’re just about out of time on this point. You’re going to stay in?
SPEAKER 19 :
I’m going to stay.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, that’ll be great. Kurt Gerwitz is in the studio as well. And thank you for being here, Marshall.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, thanks for the opportunity, Kim. It’s always a pleasure, and it’s exciting to be down here in the studio with you.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s good to have you. And our quote for the end of the show, I was over with Francis Bacon from, what, the 1500s, 1600s. He said this, though. He said, I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am. So 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 23 :
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 12 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 08 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 12 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 08 :
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 12 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 08 :
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 12 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 08 :
Indeed, let’s have a conversation. 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. Thank you to the team. That’s Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, Amanda, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy Thursday, Kim. And, yeah, we’ve got another great hour planned for you. Marshall Dawson is staying in studio. He is the president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thrilled to be here, yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
And, again, let’s tell people how they can find Liberty Toastmasters.
SPEAKER 19 :
Great idea. Go to toastmasters.org. That’s the easiest way. Look right there on their menu. You’ll see Find a Club, and you can punch in your address. You know, I even tried it this morning from my phone, and it recognized my location. It showed me places that are here near the studio. So that’s the easiest way. You’ll be able to find us there. We have Liberty Toastmasters North in Longmont and the original Liberty Toastmasters here in Denver. We meet at the Independence Institute. Liberty Toastmasters meets the first and third Saturday here in Denver. The North Club is the second and fourth Saturday, 10 a.m.
SPEAKER 08 :
to 12 p.m. As you were saying that, as convenient as this is, it’s also a little scary that they can find your location on your phone with a restaurant or whatever it is and give you the locations right near where you are. It’s cool and it’s scary.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, I’m sure that they were picking up on, you know, the cell tower must have a certain area, you know, that they can check on a map or something like that. I don’t think I have location services turned on on my phone, so it’s not going to be that precise.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 19 :
And I always decline that type thing on my browser, on my computers. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
I try to. I try to. Also in studio with us is Kurt Gerwitz. And I’m not quite sure where we’re going to have the discussion go today. We’re winging it today, huh?
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, you know, we end up just deviating from our plans every time anyway. So why even make plans today? That’s true.
SPEAKER 08 :
So, but let’s get in here. The website is kimmonson.com. Make sure you are signed up for our weekly email newsletter that goes out on Sundays. You’ll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. You can email me at kim at kimmonson.com. The text line is 720-605-0647. And we do want to hear from you. And as you know, we look at these issues through this lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to use force to implement it. Our word of the day is empirical. It’s E-M-P-I-R-I-C-A-L. It’s an adjective. It could be number one, relying on or derived from observation or experiment. Number two, verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment. Number three, guided by practical experience and not theory, especially in medicine. And I chose that because Francis Bacon, what used, I think, empirical thought as regarding the scientific method. Francis Bacon was born in 1561. He died in 1626. He was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. and he argued for the importance of natural philosophy guided by scientific method, and his works remain influential throughout the scientific revolution. And his quote is this, we rise to great heights by a winding staircase of small steps. And that’s, I referred to the quote that Mary Janssen had sent over to me, inch by inch, life’s a cinch, yard by yard, life is hard. So these are great little tidbits of things to think about, Marshall. Thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Little pieces of wisdom. And Kim, I have to admit, you remind me, you know how it is that we all have certain words that we, you know, year in and year out misspell. We just can’t help it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 19 :
Apparently for me, empirical is one of those. So I’m so glad that you spelled it out. I haven’t had to sit here and look it up to see whether you’re doing it correctly or not. But that’s one of them for me.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay. Yeah. Yes, I know how that can happen.
SPEAKER 25 :
It has two I’s. It does. Just like me. Okay. Well done, Kurt Gerwitz. You know what you call a fish with two eyes? What? Fish.
SPEAKER 09 :
Ba-da-boom.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. Okay, I’ll be right back. We’re off to the races. I’m sorry.
SPEAKER 25 :
I apologize to the audience.
SPEAKER 08 :
We’ll ask Karen Levine. I think she’s on the line. We’ll get her in just a second what she thinks about all of this as well. Our bill of the day, House Bill 26-1066, tax exemptions. for low-income rental property development. Whenever you see the word exemption, that is government that’s outside of its proper role. What that means is it’s picking winners and losers. It’s saying to one person, you don’t have to pay this tax. It’s saying to another person, you do. That’s the bottom line. And it is antithetical to the American idea. We’ve got Karen Levine on the line. Karen Levine, welcome to the show. Good morning, Kim. How are we? We are good. And first of all, for everything residential real estate, what’s the number for people to call you?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, if you’re looking for residential real estate, whether to buy or sell, give me a call at 303-877-7516. And you’ve got a really cool property that you have listed, yes?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes. I do.
SPEAKER 04 :
I do. It’s a beautiful, kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s located at 9000 West Jewell Avenue in Lakewood. It’s 1.8 acres. It has a beautiful 1800 Victorian home on it that’s a little under 3,500 square feet. And then it has an outbuilding that is currently used as a photography studio and office. And then it has a two-bed, one-bath rental. So it is a multi-use property and currently used by someone who lives on the property and runs their business outside of this, you know, inside, I guess, the studio. And it is priced at $2.3 million, which is a bargain for getting land and being able to work from home if that’s something you’re looking to do.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I’ve seen the property. It is a beautiful property. I’ve not been in the house, but I know it’s a beautiful property. And it is, as you say, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for sure. And so if people would like more information about that, what’s that number, Karen Levine? Give me a call at 303-877-7516. Okay, Karen. Next thing, you and Lauren and I, Lauren Levy, have back and forth on some of these bills that are being introduced down at the Statehouse. And there’s some stuff that I’m already really concerned about. And we talked about it yesterday. And it’s this bill that would tax, that would let local governments determine what is a
SPEAKER 04 :
vacant property and could put an additional property tax on it karen this just stops me in my tracks well and the question that i have is why and as you would say why are we picking winners and losers and i’m trying i am trying to wrap my head around the rationale of why you’re looking at vacant property and going to penalize somebody. At least that’s how it feels.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and so this could be in some of the mountain communities. I’ve looked at some of the different articles on this, and some of the legislators are saying we have, again, an affordable housing crisis. I don’t know how we can have an affordable housing crisis. Those have been the words that we’ve had for years now. But it seems to me like it’s government picking winners and losers, and it seems to me like it’s also – an assault upon private property rights. So, for example, say this is a mountain community. You have a second home. Some of the language in this bill says that they want to have affordable housing for people in these mountain communities so that people should be putting people in their second home. This is the way I’m reading it. And if they don’t… Well, I don’t want to. I mean, good grief. Okay. Sorry. I’m with you. But if you don’t do that, then they can put… Then they’re going to tax you. They’re going to tax you even more than the property taxes you’re already paying.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s… So my first comment would be, adding tax does not make things affordable. Government involvement does not make things affordable. And because of public policy, that is why… building a home in the state of Colorado is not affordable. And so you roll back government policy, you roll back public policy, and you let the free market determine the fair market value of things, and then things become more affordable. But we’ve allowed government to go in and do things like tax short-term rentals, Tax landlords, tax now vacant property, and none of that creates affordability in the marketplace. And what is so, so sad is people who have lived here their whole lives are leaving because things have gotten so expensive, not because of the market, but because of government issues. So that’s my rantings on a Thursday morning.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, my goodness. Well, you and I, this has been a journey as we’ve watched what’s happening here. And there’s other bills that are coming down the pike here that we’ll talk about. But again, Karen Levine, you’ve got this beautiful property on Jewel. uh out west nine thousand yep nine thousand west jewel so that’s in lakewood okay and asking price is 2.3 million and it is an incredible property there is no doubt about it and so it is a once in a lifetime opportunity and and again your number karen levine Give me a call at 303-877-7516. And again, that is Karen Levine, 303-877-7516. And the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance Team can create personalized insurance plans to cover all your needs from protection for your cars to your home, condo, boat, motorcycle, business, and renter’s coverage. Contact the Roger Mangan Team now. That number is 303-795-8855 for a complimentary appointment. Like a good neighbor, Roger Mangan’s team is there.
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SPEAKER 20 :
There was a time in America when a man’s handshake cemented his word. At Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, we are old school and believe in doing a job well. If there is ever an issue with the service that we have provided, we will make it right. Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling is proud to partner with The Kim Monson Show to bring truth and clarity to the issues we face in Colorado, America, and our world. Call or text Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling at 303-995-1636 for all of your plumbing, heating, and cooling needs. That number is 303-995-1636.
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 08 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMonson.com as well. In studio with me is Marshall Dawson, and he is the president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver.
SPEAKER 19 :
That’s right. We had some of our club members call in in the first hour and do a little bit of what we call table topics. Have a topic and the opportunity then to respond. We usually do one to two minutes inside the club setting. We give a little bit more grace when we’re doing it on the radio.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. We really stipulate that at the timing is so important. And timing is important because and I look at table topics as a way to prepare for making public comments at, say, a city council meeting, a school board meeting, going down to the state house, because you need to get your thoughts together. And again, ideally, if in that you can get a story in there, just like Fred Clifford did, it is really important because that way people can remember what you’re talking about.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, the timing is especially important for that. And I think I told you this once, Kim, when I was running for office, that table topics is great preparation for taking Q&A from an audience. Because you kind of want it to be within that same time frame as well, you know, one to two minutes if you’re doing it efficiently. And so during, say, the first 30 seconds, you’re sort of, you know, responding and, you know, relaying what it is you might know about a topic. And what you’re really doing there is you’re giving your brain the opportunity to formulate the answer. And then in the last, let’s say, 60 seconds, could be 90 seconds, you deliver the answer and the response. You answer the question that was asked. And I will say, this is funny, you would never think this. Taking audience Q&A is much easier than walking up in front of the room and doing table topics, in my humble opinion.
SPEAKER 08 :
I think that’s true. I think that’s true because you have something that you’re already answering instead of coming up with how you’re going to address that particular table topic. You’re pretty good at table topics, though, Kurt Gerwitz.
SPEAKER 25 :
I like crowd work, yeah. You mentioned all these institutions where it’s good to have prepared your timed speech. But if you come from a big family, it helps, too, to be prepared. You want to be heard. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
That is true as well. I neglected to mention the Center for American Values in the first hour, and so I want to mention them. And they are located in Pueblo on the Riverwalk. And now more than ever, it is so important that we have these different organizations that are teaching our foundational principles, such as honor, integrity, and patriotism. And they are doing great work. So I’d highly recommend that. that you support the center. And that website is AmericanValueCenter.org. It’s AmericanValueCenter.org. Lots of headlines out there. And we talked a little bit about this one. And this was from Colorado Politics that Governor Polis and the legislature has introduced a trio of housing affordability bills. So a trio. And this is ultimately, this is an assault upon the opportunity, I think, for people to own their own homes. And it’s putting people into government housing. And when we talk to Karen, on a regular basis, people have been able to create wealth by owning their own homes. And putting people into government housing is just government housing. What do you think about this, Kurt Gerwitz?
SPEAKER 25 :
You know, I worked extensively with an affordable housing institution, a nonprofit, when I was living in New Orleans. And I met with all these, you know, it was a room full of do-gooders, and I’m in that group. We were all trying to lower the cost of housing for, in particular, this was post-Katrina housing. New Orleans was rebuilding, and a lot of people could not afford houses. And so this government money came in, this insurance money came in, and it was a big boom to the city. And I remember this one conversation, and I said, you know, the problem with affordable housing is supply and demand. And why is the supply suppressed for affordable housing? And Carol Levine says it differently. She says it kind of quickly, and I just wanted to pounce on her phrase that, you know, ask a builder. Why is it so expensive? Why are houses so expensive? And they’ll tell you. And it’s this these regulations. And I had proposed like, well, we need you know, I’m also you know, we spent this the first hour when you’re talking to the Liberty Toastmasters about capitalism and which country would you want to be born poor in? I love that. What a great thought experiment. And the answer is the one with the most social mobility, the one where I can go from being poor to being rich. And America needs to be that. And we have, like, if you’re going from homeless to your first place that you live to, like, eventually the American dream is owning your own home, getting that white picket fence, 2.3 children. But there has to be a smooth path to that. And so to go from homeless or to go from poverty into, like, having your own apartment where you have, you know, your own bedroom and your own bathroom and your own kitchen and To me, that’s a big step, and there should be housing in between those two, where it’s like dormitory style housing, like a lot of us did when we lived in college, where you have a shared bathroom, it’s a shared resource, and it just becomes more affordable that way. And the lady I was talking to had a pushback. She was like, well, everybody should have their own bathroom. And I was like, wait, do we want to house people? Do we want affordable housing? Or do you want your ideology that everyone should have these impossibly high standards to create a tremendous barrier to the solution we all want? We all want the same thing. We want people to flourish in freedom.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. But governments – so I love this, ask a builder, why is everything so expensive? And let’s just think about this, Marshall. The bill that we had talked about is that – let’s see which one I’ve got. Now I’ve got all of these here – is tax exemptions on low-income rental property development. So this tax exemption over here for a nonprofit that is not paying taxes, And then the rest of the community is going to have to make up those taxes because government will not reduce their spending. We’ve got to get to a point where we are reducing spending at the local, the county, the state, and the federal level. For some reason, we end up voting ourselves more taxes here in Colorado, which we’re supposed to be able to vote on taxes. But the workaround on fees has been a real problem as well. But picking winners and losers, I think that’s one of the bottom, the foundational questions we have to ask is, is government looking at people differently and treating them differently? And the founders knew that that’s not where we wanted to be.
SPEAKER 19 :
I’m not yet convinced that they’re trying to pick winners and losers with affordable housing. You’re not convinced? No, I think that it’s more sinister, and they are trying to get to where it’s more government-controlled and government-owned housing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 19 :
I mean, maybe after another cup of coffee, I’ll change my mind yet again. But no, I kind of feel that’s where we are. And I also don’t think that they’re looking at spending either. They’re not seeing a spending problem. You know, as you say, it’s going to be the rest of the community that picks up the tab on this. And what does that come in the form of? Well, it comes in the form of our taper refunds get smaller, if you think about it. But I think it’s so important that we underline something that Kurt said. A lot of the reason that housing becomes unaffordable is regulation. A great example of the number of bathrooms, for example. I just used the example twice in one sentence. I hate that. But no, it was a very good example. And we do have this vision, but we fail to recognize what it is that’s really driving cost. We have so many rules and things like that that simply go into the cost of building a house. Tap fees, for example. You know, your example also of New Orleans, that city was probably thinking, oh my gosh, we have this boondoggle. Think of all the taxes and money that we can collect because it’s coming in from the federal government.
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, I mean, there’s a dirty little secret in disasters that the towns after a disaster do very well.
SPEAKER 19 :
I’m not surprised.
SPEAKER 25 :
It’s insurance money. It’s FEMA money. I’d like to say that it’s the positive energy of a community that comes together and holds hands and says, let’s rebuild. And they have a purpose. They have a vision. I do love some of the work I do. I do finance work. But I get excited to see my entrepreneur clients, when they have a vision and it gets clear and they get motivated… It would be nice if it were that, but it’s mostly this money flowing in from the outside.
SPEAKER 19 :
I suspect they weren’t incentivized to help people get back into their homes at an affordable price. They were incentivized to over-regulate, over-tax because of all the, I’m doing air quotes here, all the quote-unquote free money coming in from the federal government.
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, I mean, I always thought New Orleans was successful because the government was so incompetent. I remember one day I thought, this town is really not going to go anywhere because they tried to ban citizens from filling their own potholes. Because the city can’t do it. Every mayor goes to jail. The last two mayors have gone to jail. It’s like two out of every three governors goes to jail in that state. They’re doing the best they can. Bless their hearts. But Yeah, no, there’s so much incompetence in government that it’s the only thing that protects us from their desire to control. It came to mind when Karen Levine said, you got to let the free market set the price and trust that it will go down. And that does work. But that trust word is terrifying. It’s like freedom is terrifying. Like to these people who want, they want nice things. You know, the road to hell is paved with bad. good intentions they want affordable housing and they think the way to do that is to grip the steering wheel with white knuckles and force it to happen and that’s not the way it’s going to work but it’s terrifying for them they just they don’t want to let go
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I think to Marshall’s point, I think it’s more sinister. I think it’s about control of our lives. And so we’ll continue the discussion on this. Text line is 720-605-0647. And we have these discussions because of our sponsors. And Karen Gorday is truly an entrepreneur. She is the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting and a great sponsor of the show.
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SPEAKER 01 :
All Kim’s sponsors are in 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 08 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And are you ready for financial freedom? Then call our friends at Mint Financial Strategies. As an independent firm and an accredited investment fiduciary, they always put your interests first. Mint means more than money. It stands for meaningful relationship, information sharing, a network of smart strategies, and a thoughtful advisor who puts you in control. No cookie cutter plans. Everything is tailored to you. Call Mint Financial Strategies today. That number is 303-285-3080. 303-285-3080. And again, that is Mint Financial Strategies. And in studio with me is Marshall Dawson, president of Liberty Toastmasters Denver, and Kurt Gerwitz. Let’s go over another headline here. And I find this quite interesting. This is, let’s see, who did we get this from? This is from, gosh, it’s not giving me, well, I guess it’s Yahoo Entertainment. It says, And it says they’re facing new scrutiny as the federal regulators tighten rules on political appearances in broadcast television. The FCC’s latest guidance puts late-night talk shows at the center of a growing debate over political access and long-standing broadcast policies. It says the LA Times reports that the FCC has issued new guidance regarding this for talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel and Late Night with Stephen Colbert. And it says that the broadcast stations must offer equal time to an opposing political candidate when a politician appears on a show unless the appearance qualifies as bona fide news event. says this changes previous practice which had exempted such programs from the rule. My understanding is that Jimmy Kimmel, his show is losing money. We’ve been talking about capitalism, and I’d like to certainly… Let capitalism make this determination instead of the FCC. I understand the idea about equal time on the airwaves, but I get very uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Kurt, what do you think about this?
SPEAKER 25 :
I think it’s probably great publicity for Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. Colbert’s already been canceled. Colbert’s already been canceled. Jimmy Kimmel is a symbol now of this – This boundary between satire, comedy, what’s a political appearance. And I think the whole thing is, it’s interesting. It’s always going to be interesting to me. There’s always going to be a debate there. We’re always going to ask what is fair. But I think it’s a little late to the show. This last presidential election, Trump got a bunch of constituents by going on podcasts. And so, which are not regulated at all. And so, if you want a free market of ideas, you go to the internet. You know, you go to a place that hasn’t gotten regulated out of its freedom yet. And so, you know, I don’t have much of an opinion about, like, if, you know, Jimmy, I remember Jimmy Fallon, you know, rubbing Donald Trump’s hair. Do you remember that? He was testing to see if it was real or not. Yeah. And and that so that counts as a, you know, a political appearance. You have to count these and you have to measure them. And what a hassle if if if podcasts and they have so much more reach than they just these guys are not as relevant as they certainly were in the past. And they’re getting more and more irrelevant every day.
SPEAKER 08 :
You mean these late night guys. And I remember that the left really went after Jimmy Fallon regarding rubbing Donald Trump’s hair.
SPEAKER 25 :
You humanized him.
SPEAKER 08 :
Because it humanized him. And that is the last thing that the left wants. And I’ve heard that there are many stories of Donald Trump doing very charitable things for individuals, and those stories never come out at all.
SPEAKER 25 :
I think the left was surprised that Jimmy Kimmel didn’t cut his hand on Trump’s horns. Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
But the other thing, Marshall, is that these late night shows, and I don’t watch them, but I was reading this article on it, and it seems to me that it’s gone past being funny. It’s really down to mean stuff. And I remember Johnny Carson would make fun of both sides of the aisle, just with funny stuff. We’re way beyond funny. This is stoking really this division and hatred from what I can see. But I still don’t like to have government coming in and dictating things either. I like the free market.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, not just Johnny Carson, but Jay Leno as well. One of my personal heroes for other reasons.
SPEAKER 08 :
He’s a car guy. You’re a car guy.
SPEAKER 19 :
Right. But I do still watch Johnny Carson on TV, believe it or not. I have to. I love the old reruns. They’re just hilarious. I think, you know, when Kirk says that Kimmel has become a symbol, I think that’s extremely insightful. Yeah. And Kim, you also make a good point that it’s kind of devolving into hatred and negativity, and it’s not really accommodating anymore. But I think that their ratings and their earnings reflect that. And earnings being kind of a key indicator with capitalism, like what we were talking about earlier. Yeah. And I do agree that they are sort of becoming irrelevant and obsolete because the world is always changing. Kurt mentioned podcasts. Absolutely correct. That’s where so many people went to discover what their opinion was on certain things, not listen to some talk show host rant and rave. But let me end with this. I haven’t read what the new rules are going to be, so I’m just simply going by what’s in this article here. The fact that it would have the words equal time in there is extremely troubling to me. You know, it’s… One of those things of government control and something that can be misused and abused. You know, we’re old enough to recall the fairness doctrine that we used to have. And how that would squelch communication. How it would cut down on people willing to engage. I think we need more engagement and, you know, not somebody coming in like the government and saying, no, we’re going to impose all of these rules to… which will actually have the effect of cutting down on conversation.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I hadn’t quite thought about that on that equal time because I was thinking, okay, that may make sense. To your point, that starts to move us down, I think, towards the DEI. When I say that, meaning that you have to offer this equal time. Yeah, that’s a good point. Kurt, your thoughts?
SPEAKER 25 :
You know, I just wanted to share this story about Jimmy Kimmel. You know, he was getting canceled by the FTC who had said openly that they were coming after him because of his political views. And I thought that was a terrible precedent for an overstep of our government. And it sounded like, you know, like how you would run a New York mob. And the head of the FCC said things out loud in public that were – obviously everything’s being recorded. And it was just a huge black mark on the administration and overreach of government. And then Jimmy Kimmel – so they canceled him for a few hours. And then I saw that headline. And then he came back and he gave a – And I sent it to you. I know you get more information than you could possibly consume. But it was the monologue that Jimmy Kimmel gave when he came back. And it brought me to tears because it was about freedom of speech and it was about living in a country where you’re allowed to make fun of your politicians and you’re allowed to have political opinions on TV. And I really stood by Kimmel for a moment. And then he opens his mouth and continues the conversation. And I disagree with everything he says. But I thought that’s a good thing.
SPEAKER 19 :
Kurt, it was reported, though, that it was the downstream affiliates who refused to run Kimmel. And that’s why he got pulled.
SPEAKER 08 :
In my opinion, it was… And they should have that right, too, yes? Yes.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, they just said, we’re not going to run him. And I think that the network said, well, we need to take a step back and think about this. So in my mind, and I don’t know who’s right or wrong, but in my mind, it was kind of an overstatement on the part of the FCC and poorly timed as well, which I guess that would also go into why he’s become such a symbol. So I don’t know how much credence you give to that reporting or if that changes any opinions or how you think of it.
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, I mean, obviously there’s some facts of the case that we would have to look at before I deliberate.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and I think that if I remember right now, I’m trying to pull this out of memory, is that he had made a misstatement, I’ll say a misstatement, regarding something on the Charlie Kirk shooting. And I can’t remember exactly what it was, but I think that that’s what this was initially based on.
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, that’s right. And if you go back and listen to what he said, it doesn’t sound at all like a misstatement. It’s not a negative thing. He makes a joke. He’s a comedian. And it was not – I listened to it with being able to put on my – if I was oversensitive, how would I find this statement? And it just didn’t send up any red flags at all. It felt like a political move from the right – to try to make Jimmy Kimmel look like he was insensitive to Charlie Kirk, which was not the case.
SPEAKER 08 :
There was a lot of insensitivity going on, though. I believe it. On social media. I heard those statements and they could not offend. Okay. I have not looked that up. So this came in on the text line 720-605-0647 says, Greg Gutfield makes jokes about both sides and he has opposing people on his show. And I think he’s being very successful. So that seems like that’s a recipe for success. We’re going to continue the discussions with… Marshall Dawson and Kurt Gerwitz. But I did want to mention Little Richie’s Pizza from Parker to Golden. They are your go-to for real New York style pizza, hearty pastas, and that unbeatable local vibe. Little Richie’s is serving up daily specials, quick and tasty weekday lunch deals, and a happy hour the locals actually build their plans around. So whether you’re bringing the crew, catching up with friends, or flying solo for a hot slice, Little Richie’s in Parker and Golden is your neighborhood hangout. And we’ll continue the discussion after this next break. And if you’ve been injured, reach out to John Bozen and Bozen Law.
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SPEAKER 08 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. And do check out the website for the USMC Memorial Foundation as they are doing such amazing work to remember and honor those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for our freedom. That website is USMCMemorialFoundation.org. Let’s see here. Okay, this… This came in from one of our listeners said, oh, my gosh, getting shot in the neck is not being oversensitive. Good point. Very good point on that. Making fun of that, I think probably. You know what? There’s nothing funny about that at all. So anyway. So let’s see. Next thing. Colbert and Kimmel are part of the mainstream industrial complex, social engineering and lessons of propaganda and espionage. I do think there’s a lot of propaganda that’s been coming out of the mainstream media, Kurt. What do you think?
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, I mean, there’s selection of which stories to tell. It’s probably the biggest area for editorial control, and that’s the one we don’t even notice. It’s when they’re telling a story and you’re like, it smells fishy, you can kind of catch it there. But when they’re not telling a story, that’s when it really is… That’s when you don’t even know the other side that you’re not hearing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, and we saw that during COVID, that voices were being shut down on social media. With Elon Musk buying Twitter, that was a big deal because Twitter, Facebook, they were shutting down voices. And I know people said there were private companies that they could do that. Freedom can be messy, Marshall. It can be very messy. Yeah.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, they weren’t entirely private, though, because they were working in such close concert with the federal government. It was really the feds who were telling them, okay, we need you to silence this guy. And oh, by the way, don’t tell him he’s being silenced.
SPEAKER 08 :
I think the feds had an office at Twitter. And this was during the old Biden-Harris administration. Right. Yeah. They had an office there. Problem with that. Let’s change subjects here. And this is from the Colorado Sun. And it says that Colorado public school enrollment has dropped by more than 10,000 students this year. And it says that enrollments are shrinking in the state’s larger districts on the front range and its smaller rural districts as well. And I would say that… Education, capitalism, school choice. Why is it that public education, that there are so many that do not want to have school choice in education, Marshall?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, you mentioned capitalism and one might think, what in the world does capitalism have to do with a public school? Well, I think there’s a really good analogy that can be drawn, which is this. How does a capitalist know that he or she is doing a good job? How does a capitalist measure themselves against a competitor? It’s by the number of customers who are choosing to do business with them. If they… If they choose to offer a product in a certain way or a certain mode which doesn’t fit the customer’s needs, that customer is going to go someplace else. And I think that’s precisely what we’re seeing with the public schools right now. There are so many parents, and granted, there’s still plenty who are sending their students to public school, but there are plenty of parents who are seeing the product be really bad and who are seeing teachers teaching things that they don’t want taught and who are choosing to take different options, choosing to take different routes.
SPEAKER 08 :
I think that’s true. And that’s why school choice is so important, is that parents can make these choices. It will make public education even better. And there are many great teachers in public education. However, there’s so much force regarding different curriculums, different things that have to be taught, such as the transgender ideology instead of having kids learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic, and have these great tools to be successful for life. What do you think about that, Kurt?
SPEAKER 25 :
So I wanted to mention that schools are, or public schools are a Government reaction to what is labeled a market failure. And libertarians will tell you there’s no such thing as a market failure. But this particular circumstance, this market failure, if you will, is described as like we don’t value… an individual does not value having a educated population enough to pay for their neighbor to go to school. And so we have to do it through force to, of the collection of, of taxes. And so the whole system is, is wrapped in this unfortunate circumstance where the government is involved at the top. And then, and then all of a sudden everything’s terrible and we don’t, and we, I don’t, most of us don’t wonder why.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and we did have a little technical difficulty there. I think we might have been off the air for just a little bit. We’re talking about enrollment in Colorado schools is down. And we need to make sure that people have choice. And the choice will make public education better, ultimately. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, once again, people might wonder, how can that be? How can that possibly be? But if we draw another analogy to capitalism, what does a capitalist do when they discover that customers are not flocking to them? They’re going to their competitor. Well, they figure out a way to shift gears. They adapt their products. They make innovative changes. And I hope and I’m optimistic that the public schools will do that as well. I don’t know if they will. They might be stuck in their ideology. They might be thinking that the only option forward, the only way to go forward is to double down on What has been causing these people to leave their systems?
SPEAKER 08 :
This came in from Jenny. She said, Kim, remember, they are government schools, not public schools, and government never wants competition. And she’s absolutely right. As I was looking for quotes, and now I can’t remember who I saw this, and so I’m going to do my best to explain this, regarding education. And when I see these terms, we want to educate for the workforce, it’s like, no, we don’t. So to say to a kid that, oh, this is what you are going to need to be in our workforce of our society. So educating to the workforce. Then there are those that say that they want to educate so that we can have workers for, example, IBM. Or do we want to educate so that we have kids that come out that will be able to compete with IBM? That ultimately is what we want to have is that kids can read and write and do arithmetic and be able to go after their hopes and dreams. That’s what we want. That’s what we educate towards, I think, Kurt.
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, I mean, I want citizens. I want big souls of people who will not litter or will actually improve everything. I want character standards to be met. I want people to feel psychologically safe and heal from their childhood trauma. I want a lot more out of our schools.
SPEAKER 08 :
I don’t know if that’s the school’s role.
SPEAKER 25 :
I want critical thinking. I think you should not be able to vote if you can’t explain how that supply and demand set prices.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. Marshall, we’ve got just a couple of minutes left.
SPEAKER 19 :
Your thoughts? We need more than 30 voters in the city, though, so I don’t think that’s going to work.
SPEAKER 08 :
And Jenny said this, 53% of our property taxes go to the schools. And you just think about that. We’re taxing people again out of their property for a product that is not delivering kids that can read and write and do arithmetic. So we’ve got to change that. So Kurt Gerwitz, it’s always great to have you in studio. Thanks for being here. Your final thought? Thanks for having me, Kim.
SPEAKER 25 :
It’s always great to be here. We all found each other in this room through Liberty Toastmasters. So there’s Toastmasters and then there’s Liberty Toastmasters and they’re both wonderful.
SPEAKER 08 :
And Marshall, great to have you here too.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thanks, Kim. Great to be here. Listen out there. Come see us at Toastmasters. Come visit. We’ll be nice. We don’t bite. We might even take you out to lunch.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, we might go to lunch together, right? And Liberty Toastmasters Denver meets the first and third Saturdays of each month at the Independence Institute. And Liberty Toastmasters North meets the second and fourth Saturdays of each month in Longmont. And… It’s a great way to make some new friends to connect. And I really, like you say, we all got to know each other because of Liberty Toastmasters. So great having you guys here.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thanks.
SPEAKER 08 :
and our show um for our quote for the end of the show is from francis bacon and he said i will never be an old man to me old age is always 15 years older than i am and for some reason i thought that was very applicable and i’ve actually i’ve actually thought that on a regular basis So, my friends, today be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, and strive for high ideals like Superman, such as truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. Make sure that you are signed up. for our email newsletter that goes out on Sundays so that you can see all of our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. You can do that at kimmonson.com. And then also buy your tickets for the Colorado Union of Taxpayers legislative kickoff event, which is a week from today. And you can do that by going to coloradotaxpayer.org and click on that red ribbon at the top of the website there. So we will talk to you tomorrow. Have a great day.
SPEAKER 24 :
Talking about.
SPEAKER 23 :
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.
