Colorado is failing

All the tax-paying citizens of Colorado are now witnessing the true damage the Democrats have done to our once great state of Colorado. The budget deficit started at a billion dollars, now the honest story is a billion five hundred million dollars in the HOLE. What is the real number? As of late, fraud and abuse have been discovered in the Colorado Medicaid program (Big Surprise). The fraud has been going on for a long time. The answer the democrats have is to fire the director. Any 8th grader can do the math and see that the Medicaid costs have exploded.

The democrats running our state and local governments are totally responsible for all the damage. They have over spent taxpayer’s monies for many years.

As far as people being held accountable in our State and local government, it is nonexistent. Polis and his people didn’t see these Medicaid numbers. Sure, they did. The very people who caused all the problems blame the director. Who is responsible for directing the director? The legislators are responsible.

They haven’t done their job for many years.

The Gazette reports daily on all the failures self-induced by the people running our State and local governments. As the legislators try to balance the budget, they can’t. They want to keep spending more money on the illegals and free stuff for everyone except the taxpayers. The tax cuts they are proposing are like emptying Lake Dillon with a teacup!

The elected officials have tried blaming Trump for all the budget deficits. Obviously, that hasn’t worked. As the Gazette has reported over and over again, the State doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a SPENDING problem. There is a quick fix, quit spending taxpayer dollars wastefully and get on track.

Trig Travis

Aurora

Taxpayers left holding the bag

The Colorado legislature should use all of the powers available to investigate the disgraceful performance of Kim Bimester, the state’s top Medicaid official. The recent articles on exploding costs and hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments are beyond belief.

Taxpayers are now left holding the bag while she escapes with her state pension. It is wrong. When Democrats in the state Senate support her removal, one can only imagine how ugly things are. She should be held accountable!

Peter Scanlon

Woodland Park

Colorado is becoming less affordable

The Sunday Perspective on Colorado’s Prosperity on the Brink had some important insights on Colorado becoming less affordable, as we now rank 48th in the nation for affordability. Since 2019, Colorado has lost or missed out on at least 73 Colorado relocations or expansion opportunities to other states, resulting in over 11,600 jobs lost.

The Perspective authors agreed about the affordability challenges for hardworking Coloradans including rising energy prices and rising costs for businesses. Here in Colorado Springs, the publicly-owned Utilities should not be tripling the Energy Wise rates during the 5 pm to 9 pm peak hours for working class customers, families with children, and other residential customers who cannot shift their electricity usage to non-peak hours.

It was particularly disturbing to learn this week that the tripled peak rates are also being applied to the commercial and industrial customers. The Utilities Board/City Council must consider that those high Energy Wise rates will be an important affordability factor in whether an existing business will close or leave, or a new business will come to Colorado Springs.

Russell Elsberry

Colorado Springs

Poor excuse for Secretary of Defense

Pete Hegseth couldn’t carry Gen. Randy George’s boots! Compare Hegseth’s dismal military record with Gen. George’s, and the difference is like night and day.

Hegseth is a poor excuse for Secretary of Defense. He’s recently terminated LTC Douglas A. Sims and Gen. Jim Mingus, both intelligent, dedicated Army officers who gave most of their lives to serving. All three of them were distinguished. Gen George has been an exemplary Chief of Staff, intelligent, soldier-oriented, and combat-tested. Hegseth? None of the above.

Don Addy

Colorado Springs

Whitewashing American history

On nearly any given day, we are confronted with multiple reasons for vexation generated by the ongoing barrage of executive orders emanating from the White House, making it a challenge to decide which merits one’s immediate attention and response.

Of particular malevolence is the ongoing attempt to whitewash American history by reviewing all interpretative signage in our national parks and monuments for “inappropriate content” which casts US history in a “negative light.”  This impacts our own national parks in Colorado and should provoke every Coloradan to protest – after all, these parks belong to us – that is all of us. Hundreds of signs targeted for modification or removal contain “offensive” verbiage such as “Indigenous tribal land was reduced through treaty violations” (fact); archaeological sites were damaged “by the detrimental effects of the search for artifacts by early explorers” (fact); and “high-Alpine tundra and species are threatened by rising temperatures” (fact).

These interpretive and informational exhibits have been crafted over the years by scientists and historians who devote thorough research and study to these topics and strive to provide a balanced and objective reading of history and scientific facts.  Those now in charge of ordering the removal of language they find offensive are lacking in education and knowledge in the subjects of which they are critical and are reacting recklessly to the edict of an individual who is unlikely to have opened a history book in years.

This campaign is a flagrant suppression of historical facts and truth and an attempt to rewrite our historical narrative from the narrow viewpoint of an extreme partisan ideology.

Who gets to decide what is included in the account of our collective history and how our stories are told? Whose perspective(s) will be included when events have impacted various groups of people very differently?  And why is the government policing and censoring language in our public parks and historical spaces; is this a responsibility that should be bestowed to partisan politicians? Shouldn’t this role be left to historians and scientists?

An accurate telling of history includes both the accomplishments of which we are proud and the darker chapters of our history that evoke shame and regret.  One does not cancel the other and we must embrace both in order to learn and speak the truth.  You can erase words from a sign in a national park, but you’ll never change historical facts and truth.

Dave Seyfert

Colorado Springs