Speaker 1: This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
Speaker 1: edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
Speaker 1: give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
Speaker 1: and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
Speaker 1: single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2: A lot of parents with kids in school worried about
Speaker 2: what their kids are getting a hold of, and a
Speaker 2: lot of people across the state just know someone who's
Speaker 2: been affected by fentanyl or a fentanyl death. And if
Speaker 2: you talk to the law enforcement officials, they'll tell you
Speaker 2: every single drug in Colorado right now, including marijuana, is
Speaker 2: being laced with fentanyl. And so that's why I'm very
Speaker 2: happy to have Senator Byron Pelton on the show with
Speaker 2: me today. He is sponsoring a very important bill this
Speaker 2: next legislative session, which starts on Wednesday already to help
Speaker 2: solve the drug crisis in our state. Welcome Senator Pelton
Speaker 2: to the Dan Kapla Show.
Speaker 3: Christy, thanks for having me. And I have to tell
Speaker 3: you that introduction for Dan Caplis. Boy, if I could
Speaker 3: walk into the session with that introduction, that would be awesome.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: It feels like is a fight every time.
Speaker 2: So true, So try to like pump you up for
Speaker 2: the fight that's about to come.
Speaker 3: Exactly. That's correct.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Well, I think our listeners would love to
Speaker 2: hear about your bill, and I know I'll also ask
Speaker 2: you about if you have any bipartisan support or how
Speaker 2: you're seeing you to pass the potential passage of this bill.
Speaker 2: But first, I guess let's talk about what's in it.
Speaker 2: What is in your fentanyl bill?
Speaker 3: Well, basically, what I'm doing is I am going to
Speaker 3: take back We're going to make it to zero grams
Speaker 3: possession and distribution of anyanyl drug, any petanyl at all,
Speaker 3: which means I'm going after the drug dealers specifically on
Speaker 3: this bill. If you sell the if you sell any
Speaker 3: drug at all, that or that if you sell a
Speaker 3: fetanyl and it kills somebody, it's going to give you
Speaker 3: a Class one felony drug felony. And then if you
Speaker 3: have any possession and trying to distribute that possession of
Speaker 3: that drug, it's going to be a class four felony.
Speaker 3: So I'm making it all felony again, and I'm bringing
Speaker 3: down the amount that you can actually possess on yourself
Speaker 3: as zero grams a sentinel. So that's what I'm trying
Speaker 3: to do with this bill.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's great, and so what would the bill do
Speaker 2: for someone who possesses any amount, let's say a small amount,
Speaker 2: but has no intent to distribute. How would they be
Speaker 2: affected by the bill?
Speaker 3: Well, they would still be affected by the bill because
Speaker 3: what they've had it where they're possessing the drug. But
Speaker 3: the thing about it is that that they would be
Speaker 3: able to if the DA if on the DA's job
Speaker 3: to prove that. Yeah, if you can't prove it, then
Speaker 3: they then they're still going to be able to, uh,
Speaker 3: still end up with the misdemeanor. But for the most part,
Speaker 3: I'm trying to go after the drug dealers with still
Speaker 3: that's what that's my.
Speaker 2: Intent, well, in including the low lever low level drug dealers,
Speaker 2: because I think that's an issue I've heard from some
Speaker 2: of the sheriffs is a lot of people want to
Speaker 2: target the big drug dealers, and of course we need to,
Speaker 2: we want to break up these rings, but it's also
Speaker 2: the low level dealers who are the ones that a
Speaker 2: lot of addicts deal with and get their drugs from,
Speaker 2: and those are at least from my understanding, they're often
Speaker 2: people who are addicted to the drugs themselves, but sell
Speaker 2: it to pay for their habit and so are also
Speaker 2: involved in the rings, but often carry maybe a less
Speaker 2: amount than the big drug dealers, So sometimes they slip
Speaker 2: through the cracks in the laws and you can't really
Speaker 2: go after them, right.
Speaker 3: And the thing about it is is that when they
Speaker 3: made everything a this demeanor, they really took away the
Speaker 3: DA and the law enforcement's power right and negotiate with
Speaker 3: these low level drug dealers to get the bigger drugs exactly.
Speaker 3: That's the whole point of this bill is to really
Speaker 3: focus on getting those low level drug dealers to turn
Speaker 3: in their suppliers. But then the DA and the law
Speaker 3: enforcement can go after them, and then these guys will
Speaker 3: end up with more of a we're going to send
Speaker 3: you over to We're going to send you over to
Speaker 3: getting treatments or that sort of thing, instead of making
Speaker 3: you go to jail. If you've hand over the people
Speaker 3: that are selling you.
Speaker 4: This drug, that's key.
Speaker 3: It's really given the tools to the das and to
Speaker 3: the DAS into law enforcement to really go after the
Speaker 3: drug dealers, the big time drug dealers, right.
Speaker 2: Which is so important because some of them take forever
Speaker 2: to uncover and if they can have a key piece
Speaker 2: of evidence in these low level dealers and give them
Speaker 2: so many more options to stop the spread here in Colorado.
Speaker 2: And we're talking to Senator Byron Pelton, who's sponsoring a
Speaker 2: very important bill on fentanyl and drugs here in Colorado,
Speaker 2: increasing the penalty specifically for drug dealers. Senator Pelton, what
Speaker 2: does it look like as far as bipartisans support on
Speaker 2: this bill? What are you expecting to happen in the
Speaker 2: Senate in particular?
Speaker 3: Well, I am looking. I'm looking to see if we
Speaker 3: can get somebody on the bill with me that will
Speaker 3: be bipartisan. However, right now I don't have anybody. I
Speaker 3: have corded a few people across the aisle, none of
Speaker 3: them are very interested in bringing the level down to zero.
Speaker 3: So apparently the thing that I'm getting is that they
Speaker 3: don't want to be caught up and they don't want
Speaker 3: people getting caught up in the system, which that is
Speaker 3: not what my intent is. My intent is to strictly
Speaker 3: go after drug dealers with this bill to stop the
Speaker 3: flow of drugs into our communities and the one who's
Speaker 3: killing our kids, basically is what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 2: Right Well, and do you know so if they're objecting
Speaker 2: to your version of the bill, we should obviously make
Speaker 2: our communities safer and stop a lot of the drugs.
Speaker 2: Do they have a different version they're bringing or are
Speaker 2: they ignoring the issue? To your at least to your knowledge,
Speaker 2: to my.
Speaker 3: Knowledge, what they feel like is the Fitanel bill that
Speaker 3: has passed in the past has is doing its job.
Speaker 3: And I will I have DA's in my district that disagree.
Speaker 4: Right absolutely.
Speaker 3: I'll give you a great example here in Logan County
Speaker 3: in twenty nineteen, when I was a county commissioner, we
Speaker 3: had to take all the courts took sixty eight children
Speaker 3: from their home due to meth antetamy. Oh my, the
Speaker 3: laws aren't the laws aren't working. And even I know
Speaker 3: that that bill was passed in twenty one, but it
Speaker 3: still wouldn't be working. Still today, we had a huge
Speaker 3: issue with drugs in the state of Colorado and we
Speaker 3: got to do something to stop it.
Speaker 2: Well, right, I totally agree with you, And I mean
Speaker 2: I was looking recently at fentanyl overdose deaths in Colorado
Speaker 2: and in twenty twenty three, which is the latest year,
Speaker 2: I believe, we have numbers for it was still increasing,
Speaker 2: and it's been like a four hundred and forty percent
Speaker 2: increase in the last five years of fentanyl overdose deaths
Speaker 2: nearly two thousand people in twenty three, So no signs
Speaker 2: at all that it's being reduced after the bill that
Speaker 2: was passed in twenty one. So it's pretty clear to me,
Speaker 2: I think in anyone who looks at the numbers that
Speaker 2: we have to do more, like your bill would offer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is correct. I mean, we do have to
Speaker 3: do more. And right now there are a lot of
Speaker 3: families out there that are dealing with deaths of their children,
Speaker 3: death of a loved one. Here in Logan County not
Speaker 3: too long ago, we actually had a mom and a
Speaker 3: dad overdose on overdose and leave three children as wards
Speaker 3: of the state. So wow, these are things that communities
Speaker 3: have to pay for. It hits our pocketbooks. But the
Speaker 3: most the thing that I'm really, really really searching for
Speaker 3: is holding somebody accountable for selling those drugs to that
Speaker 3: injured that individual or victimize that family. And that is
Speaker 3: really what I'm trying to focus on with this bill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think to your point, Senator Pelton, also
Speaker 2: having an effective means to turn the low level drug
Speaker 2: dealers on the big drug dealer, and to do that
Speaker 2: you often do have to charge them with a heavier penalty.
Speaker 2: So they're motivated to cooperate with DA's and law enforcement
Speaker 2: and go get the big guys. That it seems like
Speaker 2: a very effective thing to do that we're not doing
Speaker 2: in Colorado right now.
Speaker 4: So I'm glad to hear your bill would do that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's exactly what we're for. That's exactly what
Speaker 3: we're trying to do here with this bill. I have
Speaker 3: a great sponsor in the House by Representative Armags. Yes,
Speaker 3: he's a great sponsor in the House. He's a big
Speaker 3: help on the drug issue down there and over there
Speaker 3: in his district, and I do appreciate all of his work.
Speaker 3: But so far we can't get anybody across the aisle
Speaker 3: on the bill with us well, and.
Speaker 2: I think that says a lot about them and where
Speaker 2: they are and not being willing to solve the drug crisis.
Speaker 4: You know, if they want to bring their own bills.
Speaker 2: I guess we'll see what happens in a couple of
Speaker 2: days when the session starts. But what's very clear, I
Speaker 2: think is that in Colorado, if the politicians aren't going
Speaker 2: to fix it. We can go to the people on
Speaker 2: the ballot and get it fixed. So we do have
Speaker 2: to take a break. Senator Byron Pelton, I'm so happy
Speaker 2: to have you on the show. Thanks for joining us
Speaker 2: and running this bill.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: All right, we'll talk to you later. I'm Christy Burton Brown.
Speaker 2: You're on the Dan Capla Show.
Speaker 5: You're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2: News today including Phil Weiser announcing he's running for governor
Speaker 2: on the Democrat side in a shock to almost no one,
Speaker 2: and most people in Colorado still don't actually even know
Speaker 2: who he is. Probably why he's announcing so soon, has
Speaker 2: a lot of work to do and name ID to
Speaker 2: catch up on. Also been talking about the news from
Speaker 2: Jefferson County School District where the chief of schools was
Speaker 2: let go from his position about a month ago by
Speaker 2: Jefferson County Public Schools not providing a lot of information
Speaker 2: to parents, many of whom were questioning exactly what was
Speaker 2: going on. And then today Washington County in Maryland reported
Speaker 2: that he had committed suicide in Maryland while he was
Speaker 2: with family over the holidays, and Jefferson County Sheriffs also
Speaker 2: released that he was under investigation for possession of child
Speaker 2: sexual assault material also called child pornography, but I think
Speaker 2: that term for it is much better that the Jefferson
Speaker 2: County sheriffs are using. So what exactly does the chief
Speaker 2: of public schools chief of schools do in Jefferson County.
Speaker 2: He supervises a lot of the positions a lot of
Speaker 2: this staff. They also have some things to do with
Speaker 2: the test the kids take and positions like that. But
Speaker 2: David Weiss was his name, and he also was a
Speaker 2: former elementary school teacher before he came over as chief
Speaker 2: of schools in Jefferson County, and very concerning in Jefferson
Speaker 2: County when you look at what he was charged with
Speaker 2: in many parents asking whether or not their kids were
Speaker 2: involved in his crimes and whether or not they were
Speaker 2: victims of anything he was participating in. Those answers haven't
Speaker 2: been disclosed yet. Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, to my knowledge,
Speaker 2: is still investigating exactly what was going on.
Speaker 4: But as we talked about earlier.
Speaker 2: In the show, is the concerning pattern going on in
Speaker 2: Jefferson County public schools where para professionals counselors, social workers,
Speaker 2: and other people who are working with the children in
Speaker 2: the schools are being arrested time and again. This was
Speaker 2: the fifth time last year for sexual assault on children
Speaker 2: by person in place of trust or possession of child
Speaker 2: sexual assault material. So a very concerning pattern in Jefferson
Speaker 2: County public schools, and I think one of the ways
Speaker 2: that some of the details have been uncovered and released
Speaker 2: in Jefferson County public schools is the work of parents'
Speaker 2: rights groups in the area. This is why if you're
Speaker 2: a parent who sends your kid to a neighborhood public school,
Speaker 2: it's very important to be involved, to know what goes on,
Speaker 2: to talk to other parents, and to not accept no
Speaker 2: for an answer when they say you can't access to
Speaker 2: the material that your kids are being shown in the classroom,
Speaker 2: or the speakers that are coming to the assembly, or
Speaker 2: the books that are in the library. I've had parents
Speaker 2: ask me that what do you do when they just
Speaker 2: tell you no, and they say they don't have the
Speaker 2: book list for you, and they act like it's difficult
Speaker 2: for them to provide information to you. And basically my
Speaker 2: answer is that you don't take no for an answer.
Speaker 4: You're a parent.
Speaker 2: You have the right to demand access to the information
Speaker 2: that your child is being given, and you have the
Speaker 2: right to pull your kid out of a class if
Speaker 2: you don't like that they're being taught particular material, and
Speaker 2: you have the right to object. You have the right
Speaker 2: to ask for your child to be assigned a different book.
Speaker 2: I think it's very important for parents to know how
Speaker 2: exactly they can exercise their rights if you do choose
Speaker 2: to send your child to a neighborhood public school. Personally,
Speaker 2: if I live in Jefferson County, I would definitely question
Speaker 2: whether or not my child should go to the neighborhood
Speaker 2: public schools in that county and school district in particular,
Speaker 2: when they're having this many issues with children being preyed
Speaker 2: upon by adults in positions of trust. That's deeply, deeply concerning,
Speaker 2: And if I were a parent in Jefferson County, I
Speaker 2: would definitely be looking into charter schools, homeschooling, private schools,
Speaker 2: whatever I could do to get my child out of
Speaker 2: the neighborhood public schools right now until these situations are resolved.
Speaker 4: Thankfully, I don't live in Jefferson County.
Speaker 2: I live in Douglas County, which I think is proof
Speaker 2: that some neighborhood public schools can be very well done
Speaker 2: and can look out for children. So, you know, I
Speaker 2: think it's important as conservative when we're talking about school
Speaker 2: choice and education, that we have a balanced approach and
Speaker 2: say that, you know, public education is how most children
Speaker 2: are going to get educated in our country. We need solid, good,
Speaker 2: accountable neighborhood public schools. But when we see issues, and
Speaker 2: when we see problems, whether it is with kids reading
Speaker 2: scores and math scores, or whether it is with them
Speaker 2: literally being preyed upon by adults and positions of trust,
Speaker 2: we need to consider taking our kids out of those
Speaker 2: school and putting them into better schools that actually take
Speaker 2: care of our children, produce better results, and accomplish the
Speaker 2: goal that we all should be here for, which is
Speaker 2: educating our children and setting them up for success. I
Speaker 2: just got elected to the state Board of Education in
Speaker 2: Colorado in November and will be sworn in next Wednesday. Actually,
Speaker 2: so I'm very interested to see and learn all the
Speaker 2: things that we talk about on the state Board of Education,
Speaker 2: all the things we hear about from schools across the state.
Speaker 2: But I think most people across the state don't even
Speaker 2: know there is a state Board of Education. Colorado is
Speaker 2: one of a handful of states across the nation that
Speaker 2: elect their members on the state board. In many many
Speaker 2: states they're appointed by the governor. But here in Colorado
Speaker 2: you actually get someone who represents your particular congressional district.
Speaker 2: We'll certainly hear some charter school appeals, accountability issues, also
Speaker 2: license your issues. When teachers licenses are suspended or pulled.
Speaker 2: It is the state Board of Education that actually here's
Speaker 2: that situation and approves the license to be poled.
Speaker 4: Or suspended or not.
Speaker 2: And from the information I have gathered, you would be
Speaker 2: very surprised to know how just how many people working
Speaker 2: in schools have their licenses under consideration of suspension or
Speaker 2: removal for what they're doing in the classroom or what
Speaker 2: they're doing on official school time. A lot of times
Speaker 2: it's involved substance abuse, not always as dire of a
Speaker 2: situation as Jefferson County is encountering right now. If you
Speaker 2: have thoughts or information, I've had someone message me while
Speaker 2: I've been on the radio giving me more information about
Speaker 2: the Jefferson County situation. If you know more want to
Speaker 2: talk about it, you can call eight five five four
Speaker 2: zero five eight two five five or text Dan to
Speaker 2: five seven seven thirty nine.
Speaker 4: Let's also play this clip.
Speaker 2: I just want to remind you of exactly who Phil
Speaker 2: Wiser is if you missed an earlier segment. This is
Speaker 2: one of the main reasons I don't think Phil Wiser
Speaker 2: a has any chance to be governor in Colorado. But
Speaker 2: b why we should absolutely make sure he's not governor
Speaker 2: is due to his position on crime. This is a
Speaker 2: clip from him back in twenty twenty two talking about
Speaker 2: how we should deal with auto theft.
Speaker 6: So after someone commits a third or fourth car theft
Speaker 6: in say three months, they should be kept in with
Speaker 6: a really high bond, because you got a sense they're
Speaker 6: gonna get out, they're gonna commit more crimes.
Speaker 2: Okay, So let's Pilwiser, Attorney General at the time running
Speaker 2: for reelection, acting like he's been very, very strong and
Speaker 2: bold on crime to say, let's keep these guys in
Speaker 2: jail after they've stolen three or four cars.
Speaker 4: I mean, they don't deserve bail or bond at all
Speaker 4: at that point.
Speaker 2: With in reality, anyone who knows anything about the situation
Speaker 2: of auto theft or crime in Colorado understands that people
Speaker 2: who steal cars when they're released on pr bonds, the
Speaker 2: first time they steal a car, they get back out
Speaker 2: and they steal a car again the same exact day.
Speaker 2: What law enforcement officials have shared with me in my
Speaker 2: position at Advanced Colorado when we talk about future ballot
Speaker 2: initiatives to deal with crime here in our state, they
Speaker 2: say that, in fact, people who steal cars are some
Speaker 2: of the most dangerous criminals to law enforcement officers. They
Speaker 2: are willing to run them over with cars, They're willing
Speaker 2: to assault them, They're willing to do anything it takes
Speaker 2: to get away to get back associated with their car
Speaker 2: theft ring and steal more cars.
Speaker 4: So for anyone who wants to dismiss it as.
Speaker 2: Well, auto theft is just a property crime. We've lowered
Speaker 2: the rates in Colorado. Well a lot about you, but
Speaker 2: I don't think lowering from number one state in auto
Speaker 2: theft to number four state in auto theft is a
Speaker 2: position we should be proud of at all in Colorado.
Speaker 2: But it really goes far beyond property crimes because they
Speaker 2: extend it to assaulting the police officers violently who are
Speaker 2: trying to detain them, trying to arrest them, and then
Speaker 2: what a lot of the judges in Colorado do let
Speaker 2: them out on personal recognizance bonds, their word that they'll
Speaker 2: show up in court. That's what we're dealing with, still
Speaker 2: with auto theft in Colorado, and Phil Weiser has no
Speaker 2: concept of how dangerous of a situation. This actually is
Speaker 2: what law enforcement are actually saying on the ground. You
Speaker 2: should definitely not be governor. I'm Christy Burton Brown. You're
Speaker 2: on the Dan Kapla Show. You can call in over
Speaker 2: the break eight five five four zero five eight two
Speaker 2: five five or text Dan to five seven seven three nine.
Speaker 5: And now back to the Dan Kaplas Show podcast.
Speaker 2: Text your thoughts to Dan at five seven seven three nine.
Speaker 2: The Louisiana Attorney General had suggested that the Sugar Bowl
Speaker 2: should be postponed until Friday. Was originally scheduled to be
Speaker 2: played on Wednesday, between Notre Dame and Georgia. Louisiana did
Speaker 2: postpone it until today, but it's actually just about to end.
Speaker 2: It looks like the score is Notre Dame twenty three,
Speaker 2: Georgia ten. There's a few seconds for remaining in the game.
Speaker 2: But the Louisiana Attorney General did clarify and say the
Speaker 2: reason she thought it should be postponed until Friday was
Speaker 2: because people in New Orleans needed more time to grieve
Speaker 2: and deal with the attack that left fifteen people dead
Speaker 2: and at least thirty five injured, and she said that
Speaker 2: they were still actually, at least at some point today,
Speaker 2: still cleaning up bodies off the street. Hours after that,
Speaker 2: I think before the Sugar Bowl, Bourbon Street did open
Speaker 2: again in New Orleans, and obviously the majority of people
Speaker 2: in the state, or those making decisions anyways, decided to
Speaker 2: keep the Sugar Bowl and keep it on going. And
Speaker 2: I think that's always the American debate when we talk
Speaker 2: about terrorist attacks on our nation, is keeping our country
Speaker 2: going how we're used to doing things, and not closing
Speaker 2: down everything and not letting terrorists think that they can
Speaker 2: control what we do and what we celebrate and where
Speaker 2: we go and how we live our lives. I think
Speaker 2: that commonly becomes the American position is to say, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe for twenty four hours, we'll shut something down. We're
Speaker 2: definitely going to investigate, we're definitely going to catch you
Speaker 2: and take you down, but we're not going to let
Speaker 2: you stop our way of life. You know, I think
Speaker 2: the attorney Chantal had a perfectly reasonable position to say that,
Speaker 2: you know, give give Louise, give the state, give the
Speaker 2: people twenty four more hours, and postponed by two days.
Speaker 2: But that's not what they ended up doing, and so
Speaker 2: the Sugar Bowl is probably ending as we speak right now,
Speaker 2: with Notre Dame winning.
Speaker 4: When we talk.
Speaker 2: About sports, everyone who ever listens to me knows that
Speaker 2: Dan is far more an expert on sports than I am.
Speaker 2: But on New Year's I've actually got to go to
Speaker 2: an Avalanche game with my husband. He got some tickets
Speaker 2: from someone he works with, which was really really great
Speaker 2: because actually the guy who had the tickets has had
Speaker 2: thirty year season tickets with four seats down the ice
Speaker 2: actually well I mean literally on the ice, but right
Speaker 2: behind the goaltender. And my brothers actually grew up playing hockey,
Speaker 2: so I grew up watching a ton of hockey games.
Speaker 4: Love the Carudal Avalanche.
Speaker 2: I mean, if you have listened to me for a while,
Speaker 2: you know that my family actually drove into Colorado and
Speaker 2: moved here to the state in nineteen ninety six on
Speaker 2: the night the Avalanche won the Cup for the very
Speaker 2: first time.
Speaker 4: So I am a big Avalanche fan, even though I.
Speaker 2: Don't follow all their games, but it's pretty great to
Speaker 2: watch them on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 4: They won five to two.
Speaker 2: But what was particularly interesting is they were playing the
Speaker 2: Winnipeg Jets, which was the top ranked team in the
Speaker 2: NHL at the time in the division. If you follow hockey,
Speaker 2: Winnipig Jets were number one in the division and the
Speaker 2: Abs were a third, So winning this game was actually
Speaker 2: really big deal. What I thought was really strange about
Speaker 2: the game is with two minutes left, the Avalanche were
Speaker 2: up three to two, but the Jets decided to pull
Speaker 2: their goaltender. And again, if you're familiar with hockey, that
Speaker 2: usually doesn't happen until maybe the last minute or the
Speaker 2: last thirty seconds. If you can try and get one
Speaker 2: more goal and tie up the game, you will. You'll
Speaker 2: pull your goaltender and bring bring another person on the ice.
Speaker 2: But they did it with two minutes left, and so
Speaker 2: the Abs actually scored twice on an open net because
Speaker 2: even after they scored once, they still pulled out their goalie.
Speaker 2: And yeah, the Jets clearly weren't having a great night.
Speaker 2: They had two different people on their team break sticks.
Speaker 2: One was an accident. This is how the Abs actually.
Speaker 4: Scored their third goal.
Speaker 2: One of the Jets players his stick was snapped in
Speaker 2: half laying on the ice and so he could only
Speaker 2: like skate around but couldn't do too much. And then
Speaker 2: the other one who broke his stick actually purposely broke
Speaker 2: it at the end of the game and he whacked
Speaker 2: it against the goalposts. Because you know, the Apps one
Speaker 2: five to two, beating the top ranked team in the NHL.
Speaker 4: So I don't do sports, not much, but when I.
Speaker 2: Do, apparently I get to go to really great games.
Speaker 2: That was a really fun one to end twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: And then in ball Arena they actually did indoor fireworks,
Speaker 2: which I have never seen before, but they did like
Speaker 2: a five minute firework show at the end, and it
Speaker 2: was really like literally just a bunch of fire coming
Speaker 2: up from the ice and then what I would say,
Speaker 2: our giants sparklers lighting up, but the music was very,
Speaker 2: very loud.
Speaker 4: It was a good five minute show to end the year.
Speaker 2: So hopefully you had a similarly great end to your
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four and are all ready for this year.
Speaker 2: In every new year, what I've done for the last
Speaker 2: couple of years is I have a goal to read
Speaker 2: a certain number of books.
Speaker 4: I don't know what kind of goals you guys have.
Speaker 2: But one of the books that I started this year
Speaker 2: started listening to you today, as a book by Neil Gorsich.
Speaker 2: His new book called Overruled, And as everyone knows, he
Speaker 2: is a Supreme Court justice, happens to be my favorite
Speaker 2: justice on the US Supreme Court, and also, of course
Speaker 2: a justice from here in Colorado used to serve on
Speaker 2: the Tenth Circuit.
Speaker 4: But his book Overruled, I think a lot of you
Speaker 4: would find.
Speaker 2: Very interesting because it actually talks about all the ways
Speaker 2: that laws, too many laws, burden individual people's lives.
Speaker 4: He talks about.
Speaker 2: His theory that law should not only be crafted to
Speaker 2: serve the general public, but specifically to defend individual rights.
Speaker 2: If you are an individual and the law is trampling
Speaker 2: all over your rights in the name of protecting or
Speaker 2: I guess, giving something in particular and really protecting them,
Speaker 2: but giving something in particular to the general public, we
Speaker 2: should really look at a law like that and say,
Speaker 2: why is it trampling all over the rights of the individual.
Speaker 2: So I appreciate his perspective that he's very centered on
Speaker 2: the rights of individual people.
Speaker 4: That's what our nation is founded on.
Speaker 2: So it makes America unique that we don't just look
Speaker 2: at everyone as a big monolith, but we look at
Speaker 2: individuals and at protecting every person's equal protection under the laws.
Speaker 2: He's very big on the equal protection clause, actually written
Speaker 2: a whole book on that, which I also recommend. But
Speaker 2: one reason that the book overruled is particularly interesting by
Speaker 2: Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorstich is in light of the
Speaker 2: fact that the Chevron doctrine was overturned last year. In
Speaker 2: my work at Advanced Colorado, we submitted in a Meekas
Speaker 2: brief in that case on the right side, and the
Speaker 2: court did overturn the Chevron doctrine. After decades of that
Speaker 2: doctrine being used by regulatory agencies executive power, both in
Speaker 2: the federal governments and in states.
Speaker 4: It really hasn't been corrected in states yet.
Speaker 2: But to create all these regulations that trample small businesses
Speaker 2: and corporations at large, and with every new president, the
Speaker 2: regulations change, and so expectations and pressures on businesses become different,
Speaker 2: requirements change up. You can't even expect what the law
Speaker 2: requires you to do. One of the big problems with
Speaker 2: the Chevron doctrine, and there were a lot, but the US
Speaker 2: Supreme Court, with Neil Gorstich on it, overturned that doctrine
Speaker 2: last year. His book over Rule specifically brings a lot
Speaker 2: of stories to light where people were trampled on in
Speaker 2: their small individual lives by an overwhelming body of law,
Speaker 2: where often government officials weren't even aware of all the
Speaker 2: laws they had. So if you're not necessarily looking for
Speaker 2: a super scholarly read, which you might think you would
Speaker 2: find from a US Supreme Court justice is only like
Speaker 2: super in the clouds highly intellectual treatises, And I'm sure
Speaker 2: he writes those two, but I think he's really good
Speaker 2: in his books about bringing it down to earth and
Speaker 2: actually sharing the stories of people fishermen, foster parents, people
Speaker 2: like that who were deeply affected by a law. On rogue,
Speaker 2: I would say law being misused by regulatory agencies, volumes
Speaker 2: of laws being created when a couple of pages are
Speaker 2: all that were all that was required. So if you
Speaker 2: also like to hear about stories of how law has
Speaker 2: taken over people's lives and damaged it but then was corrected,
Speaker 2: and what the solutions are are going forward for course
Speaker 2: for lawmakers for average citizens to fight against this. I
Speaker 2: think the book Overruled by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorstich.
Speaker 4: Is a great read.
Speaker 2: That's how I'm starting off my new year, and hopefully
Speaker 2: you have some great goals too. Welcome to share them
Speaker 2: with us if you want to text in Dan to
Speaker 2: five seven, seven three nine, or you want to call
Speaker 2: eight five five four zero five eight two five five.
Speaker 2: We're about to take a break on the Dan Kaplis Show,
Speaker 2: but I'm actually going to be back tomorrow too.
Speaker 4: After this hour is over.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow, I have a lot of guests coming on the show,
Speaker 2: so I hope you'll tune in then as well. We're
Speaker 2: going to talk to a new state representative who's bringing
Speaker 2: I think one of the most critical pieces of criminal
Speaker 2: justice legislation this session. I think he already has some
Speaker 2: bipartisan support on it. We're going to talk to Barb Kirkmeyer,
Speaker 2: who many people think might run for governor on the
Speaker 2: Republican side. But don't worry, she's not making an announcement.
Speaker 2: She's actually on the JBC Joint Budget Commitee. I'm going
Speaker 2: to talk about the big, big problem in the budget
Speaker 2: for the state and the legislature to contend with this year.
Speaker 2: And then we'll also have on Michael Fields, who's the
Speaker 2: president of Advanced Colorado. We are releasing on Monday legislative
Speaker 2: policy agenda for twenty twenty five with some critical issues
Speaker 2: we think the state should deal with, So he'll be
Speaker 2: here tomorrow to talk about that as well. Keep it
Speaker 2: right here on the Dan Kapla Show.
Speaker 5: You're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2: To accomplish more things, get good things done, and hopefully
Speaker 2: learn a lot more. One of the potentially not so
Speaker 2: great things about this year is there doesn't seem to
Speaker 2: be a change yet in affordability in Colorado. I was
Speaker 2: just talking to a friend of mine, oh, and bowling
Speaker 2: with our friends on New Year's Day, or really the
Speaker 2: kids old and the parents talked. But one of my
Speaker 2: friends was sharing that they were evaluating their budget over
Speaker 2: the year and comparing kind of year to year estimates
Speaker 2: and that groceries had cost them seven hundred dollars more
Speaker 2: a month in twenty twenty four. And actually, if you
Speaker 2: read some really good reports done by the Common Sense
Speaker 2: Institute here in Colorado, it actually matches up. In case
Speaker 2: people are like, oh, my goodness, that's an outlier. It's
Speaker 2: actually not. The Common Sense Institute showed that in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four, the average Colorado family was paying twelve hundred
Speaker 2: dollars more a month in basic expenses, whether you're talking
Speaker 2: about groceries, transportation, which of course includes gas, housing or
Speaker 2: healthcare was the other one, and so obviously it's going
Speaker 2: to look a little different for different families.
Speaker 4: Some were going to end up spending more at the
Speaker 4: grocery store.
Speaker 2: Some in gas, and some certainly in healthcare or housing.
Speaker 2: I do think there's some relief, obviously with housing when
Speaker 2: it relates to property taxes on the way, due to
Speaker 2: the deal that was reached in the special session in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four, which caps property tax increases for people
Speaker 2: and prevents the giant spikes that we saw. But those
Speaker 2: kind of inflationary prices and increase in costs lack of
Speaker 2: affordability in Colorado don't really show that they're going to
Speaker 2: be coming down. So that's going to be a hard
Speaker 2: thing to confront in twenty twenty five. I'll be very
Speaker 2: interested when we talk to Senator Barb Kirkmeyer tomorrow how
Speaker 2: she is going to explain how the state is going
Speaker 2: to deal with it.
Speaker 4: It has too much debt.
Speaker 2: Basically, it can't well, let's see, they can't fund everything
Speaker 2: they're supposed.
Speaker 4: To pay for.
Speaker 2: She could explain it a lot better than I can.
Speaker 2: She's on the Joint Budget Committee, and we'll talk about
Speaker 2: all of that. But the Klora budget is in trouble.
Speaker 2: The legislature has to figure out ways to cut basically
Speaker 2: because they don't have the money they claim they need
Speaker 2: to pay for things. And Colorado actually prevented from going
Speaker 2: into debt as a state because we have certain limits,
Speaker 2: and so the state's gonna have to cut.
Speaker 4: Of course they like to.
Speaker 2: Claim they can't, but I think Senator Kirkmeyer will have
Speaker 2: some good answers on how the state is going to
Speaker 2: have to do what families in Colorado are doing, which
Speaker 2: is looking at budgets and cutting non essential things because
Speaker 2: you have to pay for food on your tables and
Speaker 2: essential things to pay for for your kids. I think
Speaker 2: one of the other interesting things coming into this new
Speaker 2: year will be to see how much influence someone like
Speaker 2: Elon Musk actually has when Trump gets into office. He's
Speaker 2: obviously had a fairly outsized influence spending some political money.
Speaker 4: He claims he's going to keep doing that.
Speaker 2: Also pretty in with the Make America a Great Again team.
Speaker 2: But it'll be interesting to see a difference in Trump
Speaker 2: on the campaign trail with Elon Musk. Does it stay
Speaker 2: the same in the White House? Does it become different?
Speaker 2: Obviously he put him, along with Vek roam Oswami, in
Speaker 2: charge of Dodge and so we'll see how many of
Speaker 2: those suggestions and recommendations to get the United States in
Speaker 2: a good budget actually happens, and how many cuts happen
Speaker 2: to bad spending. I hope a lot of them happen,
Speaker 2: but we'll see. I think one of the good things
Speaker 2: about how vocal Elon Musk has decided to be after
Speaker 2: he bought Twitter or x is that he's bringing attention
Speaker 2: to a lot of things that governments would rather cover up.
Speaker 2: I think we need people with a loud voice and
Speaker 2: outsized influence to expose what's going on in government that
Speaker 2: people should be aware of. He's actually doing that right now.
Speaker 2: In the UK, there were a lot of actually this
Speaker 2: is gonna sound horrible because it is, but child rape
Speaker 2: gangs led by people from Pakistan who are over in
Speaker 2: the UK, and there was.
Speaker 4: A failure of investigation.
Speaker 2: And Elon Musk is talking about this on Twitter, as
Speaker 2: are a number of other people right now. But Dude,
Speaker 2: in their criminal justice system in Britain, you actually have
Speaker 2: a person in a certain position who has to agree
Speaker 2: to prosecutions for serious crimes like rape. Well, their current
Speaker 2: prime minister used to be in that position. He used
Speaker 2: to be the person who had to approve these prosecutions.
Speaker 2: He failed to approve these prosecutions for people in these
Speaker 2: child rape gangs. And now all this is coming out,
Speaker 2: and so the person in that position right now is saying, no,
Speaker 2: we're not going to do an audit. We're not going
Speaker 2: to do an investigation, which a lot of people are
Speaker 2: pushing for in Britain right now, but they don't want
Speaker 2: to do it because it would likely implicate their current
Speaker 2: prime minister with his failure to investigate. And it goes
Speaker 2: even deeper than this, because not only did they fail
Speaker 2: to investigate, arrest.
Speaker 4: And charge the people who were involved in these.
Speaker 2: Child rape gangs, usually young girls actually who were kidnapped
Speaker 2: and taken by these gangs made up mostly or if
Speaker 2: not solely, by Pakistanis who were in Britain at the time,
Speaker 2: but They also actually arrested parents. When dads would come
Speaker 2: to the house where they found that their daughters were
Speaker 2: being held, police would show up and arrest the dads
Speaker 2: for coming to get their daughters. And if all this
Speaker 2: sounds like highly unbelievable when I first heard about it,
Speaker 2: I was like, there's no way that can actually be true.
Speaker 4: But it is.
Speaker 2: There's all this documentation. You can find it for yourself
Speaker 2: indicating exactly what is happening and did happen in particular
Speaker 2: with no consequences compared to what should have happened in
Speaker 2: Britain for these child rape gangs, and how parents were
Speaker 2: targeted for defending their own children and trying to rescue them,
Speaker 2: and the Prime Minister in his former position was involved
Speaker 2: in failing to solve this problem and get it under
Speaker 2: control and prosecute the people who were committing these absolutely
Speaker 2: horrible crimes. I think these were the kind of things
Speaker 2: that we need people like Elon Musk on Twitter, on
Speaker 2: x bringing to light and talking about the corruption in
Speaker 2: so many governments, because I think often when things are
Speaker 2: brought to light, then people can do things about them,
Speaker 2: bring them to an end, and figure out a way
Speaker 2: to prevent them. From happening ever again, I'm gonna go
Speaker 2: to the text line. In our last few minutes, I
Speaker 2: know a number of people gave some ideas. I talked
Speaker 2: about reading Overruled by Neil Gorsich. Another person says, I'm
Speaker 2: reading the blueprint looking for ways to undo the Democrat
Speaker 2: hold and execute a retaking of Colorado. And they also
Speaker 2: think we need John Oway to run for governor. He'd
Speaker 2: be a lot better than Phil Wiser. Someone else says
Speaker 2: we should search Gorsic PBS firing line interview he did
Speaker 2: about three months ago, where he talked about his book
Speaker 2: and other things. He was very charismatic and engaging. Seems
Speaker 2: like a great guy and a great justice. I'd agree
Speaker 2: with that. He's my favorite justice on the US Supreme Court.
Speaker 2: I don't agree, of course, with every single opinion he's written,
Speaker 2: but he's written some really really great opinions focus on
Speaker 2: equal protection and individual rights for the individual, which I
Speaker 2: think there's too many jurists who lose that perspective a
Speaker 2: little bit and sometimes really do think of the greater good.
Speaker 2: And I understand that, but I think sometimes when you
Speaker 2: focus on the greater good in the.
Speaker 4: Law, you lose sight of the individual rights. That's very,
Speaker 4: very important.
Speaker 2: Someone else writing in about the insane cost of eggs
Speaker 2: and the store at Walmart. I am feeling that too.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for being on the Dan Capitalists Show today.
Speaker 2: I'm Christy Burton Brown. I'll be with you tomorrow. A
Speaker 2: lot of great interviews coming up tomorrow, talk about the
Speaker 2: legislative session that is already upon us next Wednesday. Enjoy
Speaker 2: your new year. I'll be here on the Dan Caplis
Speaker 2: Show tomorrow. I hope you will be too.