Join John Rush on this thought-provoking episode of Rush to Reason, as he delves into the national economic divide between blue and red states. Rush explores a provocative statement made by Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who suggests a novel approach to combating inflation: relocating to a red state. The episode dissects why affordability is becoming a crucial issue leading up to the 2026 elections, examining the impact of state politics on economic conditions and discussing the missteps of using political slogans in Colorado.
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush. My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir.
SPEAKER 05 :
You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 10 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, Hour 2, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Thank you for joining us today. I appreciate it greatly. Don’t forget the website, Rush to Reason. And that’s T-O, not the number 2, RushToReason.com. You can go there and look at our past episodes and even forward things along to others and so on. And we appreciate it. And you can also do email inquiries. You can always use the text line, of course, 307. 282 22 307 282 22 but you can send me an email right from the website as well works out very well for you doing it that way and a lot of you do which i appreciate you doing uh as well so Again, I don’t read a lot while I’m on vacation, purposely, because I try to check out a little bit. Although over the Thanksgiving week, there’s just things going on that you catch a few things here or there. One of the things that I did happen to see was that Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, he has a novel solution for reducing consumer inflation. And he’s actually getting some criticism for this. Quote, you know the best way to bring your inflation rate down? Move from a blue state to a red state. He told NBC News, Meet the Press, this was last Sunday, not this past Sunday, but a Sunday ago. So the Sunday before Thanksgiving is when he said this. And it was referencing analysis he said had been conducted by the Council of Economic Advisors. Blue state inflation is half a percent higher, and that’s because they don’t deregulate. They keep prices up. Energy is higher. And he’s right. He can take all sorts of flack for this, and others can give him flack, but at the end of the day, he’s right. He’s dead on. He’s spot on. Where this is, let me continue before I give you my comments. Affordability has emerged as a general central issue in the U.S. for 2025. It’s taken on significance due to its perceived role in the off-year electoral victories. Now, I think, by the way, some of that was the economy stupid, but I think some of that was just the way it was. And the real gauge, use the right word here, will be 2026 in those elections, the midterms. I don’t put a lot of stake in what we just went through. Yes, there were some things that changed even in some city councils and so on. But I think those would have happened regardless of the economy. It’s just the way things are. It was a blue wave in effect or, you know, in essence, I guess I should say, in that regard, although it didn’t have significant changes when it comes to what’s going on in D.C. It will affect us. Folks in Aurora, for example, they’ve got a lot more liberal city council than what they had prior. Changes. Which, this is funny because Andy and I talk about this a lot. This goes against all of the people that keep talking about how Colorado’s ready to be red. And I take out the word again because they use that term over and over and over again. As I remind everybody, I don’t know where that term comes from because we haven’t really been read, deep read, like some of these folks think we have been in my lifetime. Yes, we’ve had red moments here in Colorado. We’ve had some red moments even at the Capitol. And yes, we’ve had some governors. But we haven’t been read. Far from it, folks. We are a very liberal-minded state, have been for a very long time, and maybe that will shift back the other direction. Maybe some of the up-and-coming generations want to see some of that shift. Time will tell. But I can tell you right now that here in Colorado especially, there is a lot of folks out there that think that we can turn Colorado back red again. Dumbest phrase ever, by the way. Stop using it because it’s a lie. And I hate things that aren’t true. When you start talking in phrases like that, you know, let’s make Colorado red again. Number one, you’re kind of tagging into the make America great again. You’re kind of using the MAGA line, which in Colorado is very offensive to Americans. a lot of voters, including those that are in the middle, that you need to vote for you. So my suggestion to a lot of you that are in places, in positions of power as far as the GOP is concerned and getting people elected and so on, don’t use any phrases that can be related back to MAGA. Don’t do it. The temptation is there, but don’t do it. And some of you would say, well, Donald Trump, he’s it. He’s the man. Yeah, he is. He is. You’re right. Not in Colorado, though. He performs poorly in Colorado. So while some of you would think that he is the man, and he is, and I think he’s been one of the greatest presidents that we’ve ever had, and I say that all the time, but no, he doesn’t perform well in Colorado. The MAGA movement in Colorado doesn’t do well. You’d be best to distance yourself from that as a candidate in Colorado. And I mean that sincerely. As you head down this path into 2026, which is a month away— If you’re a candidate, you’d be better off to distance yourself from that. Some of you are going to be mad at me or argue with me or think that I’m incorrect in what I’m saying. I’m not. I’m spot on, folks. Because I know the climate of Colorado. In fact, I know it better than most of you do. Yes, there are a few internal hardcore GOP folk running around that are Colorado natives, although there’s not many. In fact, this is a challenge. I’ve never said this before, but I challenge… Those of you that at times question what goes on inside of the GOP, ask those that are leading if they’re natives or not. Ask when they came to Colorado. Maybe that’s a better question. When did you actually come to Colorado? Because there’s a lot of folks right now that are handling the internal politics of the GOP here in Colorado that are newbies. They’re here with under a decade under their belt. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that. They’ve been here less than a decade. But yet, they’re going to tell all of us how to do politics in Colorado. It doesn’t work that way. And again, I call these people what they are, knuckleheads. They really have no idea what goes on in Colorado. They have no clue. They’re grifters. They’ve come here because they could see that they could hop onto a caucus system and get involved in Colorado politics in a way that they couldn’t do in a lot of other states because it was an easy entry for them, and they realized that they could gain some power and some notoriety, maybe even enough that they could even take to another state after being here. And believe me, it is the goal of these individuals to do nothing but gain for themselves, not the state. And, folks, I’m not wrong in what I’m saying there. I could roll through the names and tell you which ones I’m talking about. It is not their goal to help out Colorado. It’s their goal to help themselves under the guise of being a ultra-conservative MAGA politician or contributor or individual in Colorado. And, folks, they’re not. So anyways, affordability matters, yes. I do believe it’s going to be a big deal in 2026. Andy and I have talked over and over again. It’s why the Fed won’t cut rates like they should, because they know in doing so that it would have a positive effect upon the economy, and they don’t want that. So the Fed is in this case, you know, and Besant, by the way, knows this. He knows the Fed is not his friend. He knows Jerome Powell is his enemy, basically. So does Donald Trump. Donald Trump’s already talking about who the next, you know, Fed chair may be. He’s already getting that ball rolling, which is good because that needs to be talked about over the next 90 days. Because that decision will get made and passed and handled and the switch out will be next May. Which, by the way, sounds like a long way off. For me, the older I get, the faster the days click by. It will be here before you know it. So, yes, affordability matters. And so this was, you know, Bessent’s way of basically saying, hey, you know what? Yeah, I know affordability matters. If you really want to fight inflation, if you really want to do something different that really, at the end of the day, has a significant impact, move. Go from a bleeding heart, you know, liberal blue state to a red state. And you’ll see a big difference. And there is that happening as we speak. A lot of people have migrated out of places like Colorado and gone to red states. My prediction is you’re going to see more of that. How much of that all depends on what happens in that particular state they’re coming from. If there can be some things turned around, you may very well see some people hang on. But if it doesn’t, you’re going to see people leave, and it’s already happening. I talked last, before Thanksgiving, the week before Thanksgiving, talked about how Denver has completely fallen off the map for a place to actually come to, you know, high on the list it used to be as a place to come and live. Not anymore. It’s fallen off the list completely. And will continue to do so, by the way. So, at the end of the day, Besant is right. One of the best things to do to fight inflation is move. Move to a red state. Veteran windows and doors. We heard from Dave earlier in the 3 o’clock hour. He cuts out the middleman, saving a lot of money. Still time, by the way, to get windows and doors in by probably the end of the year if you operate quickly. If you get going quickly, I should say. KLZradio.com is where you find Dave.
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SPEAKER 09 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive. This is John Rush.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Joe, you’re next. Go ahead, sir.
SPEAKER 14 :
John, just a comment on the comparing rates of inflation by blue state versus red state. One of the things they typically leave out when they announce, like, the Consumer Price Index, and even they do it by state, they leave out food and energy. And energy is a huge variable.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes, it is.
SPEAKER 14 :
And I was just doing some research. Now, just as a reference point, if you opt out of time of use in Colorado and just go with the fleet, you want the same rate 24 hours a day.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 14 :
You’re looking at 10.4 cents a kilowatt hour in the summer months and 8.6 in the winter months. Actually pretty good.
SPEAKER 04 :
Not bad.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah. You go to Nebraska, Omaha, Lincoln, you’re down around $0.06 to $0.07 a kilowatt hour. And there’s a $40 monthly flat fee for having the meter and whatnot. So maybe if you add the $40 in, maybe you’re up at $0.08 a kilowatt. You know what the Pacific Gas and Electric current electric rate is per kilowatt hour?
SPEAKER 04 :
Double that?
SPEAKER 14 :
Triple, John. Triple, geez. $0.28 a kilowatt hour.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow, Joe. That’s unreal.
SPEAKER 14 :
I’m in New Jersey, John, and my rate with the fees, I’m at 18 cents. I’m double, I’m more than double what you are in Colorado in New Jersey. Three years ago, New Jersey was a net energy exporter. Today, we are a net energy importer. All because they keep shutting down, well, they keep building wind, which they want, which they, every time they authorize a power company to put up wind and solar, they keep incorporate that cost into the bill, you’ve got to pay for it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right, you’re paying for it whether you want it or not.
SPEAKER 14 :
And they keep shutting down the fossil fuel plants and the nuclear plants. So, again, that’s how you go from being a net energy exporter to a net energy importer. So, again, when people look at these, you know, side by side, you’ve got to make sure you’re looking at energy because $0.28 a kilowatt for electricity, John, whatever your electric bill is right now in Colorado, increase it by 250 percent and that’s what you’d be paying in uh in but my electric bill in the summer uh with running central ac john i was getting a 650 a month electric bill in july and august wow to run the run the central ac in my house if i was in colorado it would have been half of that wow if i was in lincoln nebraska it would have been like 250 bucks
SPEAKER 04 :
All that adds up, and that’s what Besant is basically referring to. And again, he is – I don’t think he gets near enough credit, by the way, Joe. Guy is extremely, extremely bright. Even though he’s gay, I don’t understand why the left won’t give him more credit. It’s because they’re a bunch of hypocrites, Joe. They’ll talk out of both sides of their mouth. The fact is he fits basically every stereotype they’d like for an individual like him, but since he’s a conservative, they hate him.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yep, he checks all the boxes. Yep, but they hate him. One more thing, going back to flying, have you ever seen the videos of people of Walmart?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, yes, very many times.
SPEAKER 14 :
You know, and for those not familiar, you can just Google people of Walmart, and they’re 60- and 90-second videos. People send them in from all over the country, and they update it. They have a new one about every three to four weeks, and it’s just people taking videos of people they see in Walmart. Pajamas, 300-pound people wearing… thongs and tube tops and whatnot.
SPEAKER 04 :
Joe, you’re giving me images I don’t need.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, things you can’t unsee.
SPEAKER 04 :
Exactly. Yeah, it’s just… And what’s sad is those aren’t made up. That’s not AI, Joe. Those are real videos.
SPEAKER 14 :
Those are real videos of real people. Yeah. You know, people coming in wearing, like, animal costumes, like with tiger tails and whatnot. Furries. And, you know, cosplay. Yeah. some of them are bordering on obscene.
SPEAKER 04 :
I know, it’s just out there, Joe. I mean, it really, it’s, well, like I was saying earlier, and I kind of opened up the show in regards to, and I’ll get to this next hour, traveling and flying and so on. And, you know, this is right up your alley. You know exactly what I’m talking about. I mean, we have literally become, and I’m trying to be nice when I say this, but we’ve become a country of slobs.
SPEAKER 14 :
We really have, John, which is about You know, I used to fly, you know, for business. I used to fill up a passport every two years. And I was, you know, a platinum flyer with United and whatnot. But then, John, I finally broke down and got my own plane.
SPEAKER 04 :
Makes it easier.
SPEAKER 14 :
But even then, John, you know, going in and out of these FBOs and whatnot, fixed-based operators where, you know, you bring a plane in. Always dress nice and, you know, particularly if you’re going to eat in an airport restaurant.
SPEAKER 04 :
You want to look nice.
SPEAKER 14 :
You want to look nice. And, you know, the front desk people are going to treat you differently. I mean, if I’m showing up in a ripped T-shirt that’s got Hard Rock Cafe or something across it and a three-day beard, they’re not going to treat me as nice as if I’m wearing, say, even just a nice golf shirt, you know, and a pair of khaki pants.
SPEAKER 04 :
So here’s a question. Am I often thinking that, you know, my comparison to, you know, Marxism, where it’s gotten us from, where we’re at today, the fact that, you know, there’s no respecter of anyone, everybody’s equal, everybody in this case is a slob. I mean, Joe, I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that this is the result of the Marxist movement in America. Or am I wrong in thinking that?
SPEAKER 14 :
John, I think you’re completely right, because, you know, there’s no incentive… To do better. …to try to be better, because there’s no reward. You know, there’s no punishment… There’s no – when I say punishment, there’s no downside to being a slob, and there’s no upside. If you’re a fan of Marxism, you expect equal treatment regardless of how you look and how you act. You don’t want to come with a three-day beard, you haven’t showered in three days, and you’re wearing pajama bottoms. Why should anyone care? You don’t care.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right.
SPEAKER 14 :
You expect to be treated equally.
SPEAKER 04 :
And I think, and again, purposely, it’s the degradation of society. In other words, if you get people all the way down, Joe, to that lowest level to where really they are, in fact, slobs at that point in time, well, then you can then start treating them differently. as slobs, which basically is, by the way, what the left does. I mean, they want you on Snap and every other program out there, Joe. At the end of the day, and I’m sorry to use this comparison, it’s no different than pigs in slop at the end of the day. Am I wrong?
SPEAKER 14 :
No, John, you’re spot on. You’re 100% correct. John, one more comment on wearing logos. It’s funny when you said that for 40 years, John, I’ve refused to pay extra to wear like a shirt with a polo or alligator. Right. Was it Izod?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 14 :
And here’s a little trick I learned. Every article of clothing that’s manufactured has to have on the tag an RN number, which identifies the factory where it was made. Well, I would look at a polo or an Izod golf shirt, and I would look at the RN number, and then I would go to a place like – do they have Burlington coat factories in Colorado?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, sure do.
SPEAKER 14 :
You go to a Burlington coat factory – which has a lot of no-name stuff. John, you would look at their golf shirt. John, it’s made in the same. You look at the RN number. It’s made in the same.
SPEAKER 04 :
Just no logo that you’re paying for.
SPEAKER 14 :
And the $8 difference is for the logo. It’s the same shirt, same weave, same quality, same stitching. You’re saving $8 because it doesn’t have the logo. I take great pride in that. I don’t think other than maybe a Penn State logo that I get for my daughter that I don’t have any. designer logos on any piece of clothing I own.
SPEAKER 04 :
And Joe, like I said earlier, I’m not against people if they want to own, you know, jerseys and articles of clothing and so on. If they want to support their team that way, you know, more power to them. You know, again, I don’t have any issues that way. I don’t own a lot of garb along those lines because of everything that I’m talking about. Now, once I get out of the sports arena end of things, Joe, I’m an absolute, I am not advertising for you unless you’re paying me, period.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, the one exception might be if I find a really nice, like, say, winter coat that has all the bells and whistles that are functional that I want. and it happens to say North Face somewhere on it. Yeah, I’ll buy it.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ll buy it. Yeah, that’s different. Yeah, that one, Joe, I’m looking more at the functionality of something than I am. Unfortunately for North Face, it’s not huge across the back because I would never wear anything with any kind of a logo that big, no matter how functional it is. At least at that point in time, it’s a little bit more tasteful when it’s all said and done. That I don’t have an issue with. But I guess for me, Joe, I don’t wear ball caps with, you know, big – letters from other big corporate entities and so on, I won’t do it, Joe.
SPEAKER 14 :
You and me both, John. That’s why I smiled when I heard you say that. We think so much alike.
SPEAKER 04 :
I guess, Joe, fortunately for all of those entities, you and I are not their buyer. We’re not the target audience.
SPEAKER 14 :
No, we’re not.
SPEAKER 04 :
Or they would go broke.
SPEAKER 14 :
They would absolutely go broke, John. They would absolutely go broke if you and I were the target audience because we refuse to spend the extra money to advertise the company that we don’t work for.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. Absolutely. Joe, you’re the man. Appreciate you very much. Thanks for all that. And, yeah, again, folks, I’m not trying to poke at anybody that wears anything that is a designer and you want to advertise for them or do whatever. Just remember what I said at the beginning of the show in the first hour. I mean this. Remember, you’re paying people. to advertise for them. Now, I understand there are certain items of whatever whereby if you like it and it works and it fits and it works for you, be my guest. I’m not going to criticize anybody for wearing or buying a particular item of any kind, car, clothing, you name it. I think what I’m getting at, though, is to get people to open their eyes a little bit to, okay, wait a minute, do I really have to have… said item with said logo? Or can I buy something that performs, works, looks exactly the same, but I’m not paying the extra markup because it’s got something else on it? You know, some other branding on it. And there’s a lot of that. And I get it. And by the way, I coach businesses. I’m not against people branding their business and having t-shirts and hats and so on. That’s not my point. My point is me personally, I won’t wear any of that because I’m not advertising for you unless I’m paid. Now, maybe somebody texted in earlier and said, well, John, in a way, you’re right, because what you do with your show and the advertisers that are with you and so on, you’ve got the right outlook on it, you know, given all of that. And even for me, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t want to wear a brand, by the way, that even offends one of my advertisers, because in some cases it might. so i’m very careful as far as that goes as well because i don’t want to be going against what some of our advertisers actually might be doing because i don’t want to be wearing something that competes with them and advertising something against them so for me i just sort of take that generic approach whereby a i’m saving money and you guys all know me i don’t have a problem spending money on something that i like that’s not the point the point is Do I really need to spend extra money on something just so I can advertise for said company and give them basically all the credit for it when they didn’t pay me? In fact, I paid them. It’s opposite at the end of the day. And by the way, a lot of these advertisers, a lot of these manufacturers, they have done a great job. Whoever came up with some of the marketing ideas behind all of this years ago, fantastic job on their part. They enabled people to pay them to advertise for them. What a concept, by the way. I mean, that is a huge success when it’s all said and done. All right. Up next, we have got Golden Eagle Financial. Speaking of money and finances and all of that, make sure you’re dialed in when it comes to your retirement. How are you planning that? How are you going to get there? When do you take Social Security? Are you handling everything correctly with your IRA as we head down this stretch, I should say, to the end of 2025? Talk to Al Smith today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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KLZ’s relational financial advisor Al Smith of Golden Eagle Financial can make a big difference in the success of your retirement. Al looks at your entire picture, your goals, your lifestyle, the time you want for volunteering, and even potential long-term care needs because it all matters. We’ll be right back. He takes the time to truly understand how you want to live in retirement, what matters most, your life insurance plans, living arrangements, and any unique circumstances that could impact your long-term retirement success. Discover the difference a relational financial advisor can make for you. Reach Al with Golden Eagle Financial today at klzradio.com to get started.
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SPEAKER 07 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Debra’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Richard joining us now, Richard Rush, and talk to us about the Broncos, which, man, live, we squeaked one out last night.
SPEAKER 16 :
You know, that seems to be the theme of the year this year, Dad, right? But at the same time, you know, we’ve been talking about this for several weeks now, which is, I guess, you know, a win is a win, right? It doesn’t matter if you win by 50 or if you win by one point, as happened last night, and you win on a, you know, a last-second knockdown two-point conversion by one of your best players. And if he doesn’t make that play, it’s like, excuse me, it’s likely a walk-in. Conversion and the commanders are celebrating and the Broncos are 9-3 instead of 10-2.
SPEAKER 04 :
Really quick along those lines, bad call on the part of the commander or is that the right thing to do at that point in time?
SPEAKER 16 :
You know, they talked about it after the game in that Sean Payton said they called a timeout right before the play because they kind of showed a zone look and then they sort of switched it up to bringing a pressure, right? And they essentially were going to say, we’re going to pressure you and force you Marcus Mariota to make a quick decision. He actually made the right decision. And for the commanders, as far as the decision itself, we’ll go back and get to the back of the play in a second. I think it was the right call. They were 3-8. They’re now 3-9. They were out of the playoff race before. Jaden Daniels, they’re kind of their star quarterback. He may come back for the rest of the year. He may not. To me, yeah. When you have a team like that, because honestly, the way that the Broncos move down with ease, even if you were playing for that you i bet you the broncos were going to go down and you’ll play for a game-winning field goal anyways and you probably would have lost so you might as well you know kind of gotcha you make the decision at that point in time as far as the play call itself i actually think it was the right play call they they motioned the back in the backfield they kind of send them out the guy they were broncos were playing man and and he had to fight through a bunch of guys to get to the guy. And honestly, like I said, if Benito doesn’t knock the ball down, it’s literally a walk-in. And the crazy part is if Mariota just kind of floats it up there, right, like he just kind of tosses it up in the air and lets the guy sort of run underneath it, it’s a walk-in. So maybe a bad play by him or just a really good play by one of your better players. And again, back to the Broncos. they they sort of i’ve talked about this with andy and and we kind of get into many debates i know andy’s thoughts you know the rams are really good which we’ll have to talk about on friday because the ramps do look really really good um but they lost yesterday the panthers and the broncos they just seem to play to their level of competition and for to me that’s good and bad right because the commanders they were a 28th ranked run defense They’re not a very good team. Yes, they were coming off of a bye. But ultimately, I thought that the Broncos should have handled them a lot more easily than they did. But it’s the NFL, and you’ve said it many times. they get paid to play too. Yep. And they’re going to, you know, kind of give their, their very best effort. And obviously they did. And that’s a credit to them and their coach and their organization.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s funny. I was watching the game last night with some other folk, you know, cause I don’t have the same channels everybody else has. So go down to a local place near us where I can watch it. And it’s fun because you get to, you get to listen to everybody else, you know, chime in. And this was a question I was going to have for you in a moment anyways, which, you know, Everybody’s an armchair quarterback. So you listen to all these people and everybody talk about, well, they should have done this. They should have done that. That wasn’t the right play call, blah, blah, blah. It’s funny, Richard, as a lot of armchair quarterbacks, it’s like, okay, do you realize this is a lot bigger than just you? And no offense, you’re probably really smart, but you realize you probably couldn’t even be the guy getting the ball on and off the field.
SPEAKER 16 :
Am I wrong? No, you’re not. It’s a high-level operation. But that’s what makes sports so great, right? Because all of us do have opinions on it. Whether we’ve played, we’ve watched it, or a combination, right? We’ve played and watched it. We have our opinions on it, right? It’s like we have our opinions on politics and life in general. But even more so with sports, Dad, there’s something about sports where… Everyone has an opinion. And it’s easy, right? Because we’re sitting here and we do have the eyes in the sky, right? We have it. He’s like, why didn’t you throw that pass? Why did Bo Nix throw that pass straight to the linebacker? It’s like, well, obviously you didn’t see him. Now, you can say that was his fault, but yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s always funny, too. As you say that, Richard, side note, it’s always funny. It’s like, hey, why did so-and-so just do that? Okay, timeout, timeout. First of all, you’re probably 100 pounds overweight sitting on the couch drinking a beer talking about how the guy made a bad pass. Mind you, you’ve probably never played a down-to-football in your entire life. Not only that, you’ve never played at a professional level where everybody out there is running at you at absolute top speed, and you’ve got to make a nanosecond decision as quickly as you possibly can, which I get. That’s what separates the really great quarterbacks like Tom Brady from everybody else. But the reality, Richard, is that’s the NFL.
SPEAKER 16 :
It’s the NFL. And last night was sort of a – well, it was a microcosm of a lot of things that happens in the league. And what I mean by that is on the commander’s side, you have Marcus Mariota, former number – I think he was the number two overall pick. I think Jameis Winston was number one in that draft. And he’s now kind of a career backup, right? And I think he’s a really high-level backup. He’s a guy he can – understand defense he can play but he has his limitations right mainly in processing last night the commanders in order to mitigate the broncos pass rush which the broncos are still i think still on pace for setting the single season sack record of all time um you have as a team or not single season but yeah you know the team sack record right in the season But in order to mitigate that, they did a lot of quick passes, right? A lot of kind of picks and kind of running rub routes, which are technically illegal. But I digress. So they sort of knew they didn’t want him to sit back there and have to make a play, right? Granted, he still can make a play with his feet and he can still do a lot of different things. But ultimately… it was a difficult decision. It was difficult for the Broncos to reach him, right? But you have this situation of this guy. He kind of knows his limits. He understands. He’s been in the league for 11 years now. Has played really well. Played at a high level at Oregon when he was there. He did I went to the AFC Championship game with the Titans, so obviously he wasn’t too terrible at certain points in his career. And on the other side, you have Bo Nix, right? Second-year guy. He is an older guy. But we have really high hopes here in Denver, right? Because our standard for quarterback play, even though it’s been degraded over a number of years, is still really high, right? We still do have John Elway that we go back to. We still have Peyton Manning we go back to, right? And even guys in between, you know, Jake Plummer still played well at first time. Same with Jake Cutler, right? And you have Bo, who has some really good moments and some really bad moments, right? Again, last night, really good moments. That touchdown at the end of the first half where he’s literally horizontal to the ground, which is what Mahomes seemingly does on every single week or week, whatever. And he makes the throw, right? Courtland Sutton touchdown. It’s an amazing play. And honestly, and yes, I’ll say this, if that’s Patrick Mahomes, that’s probably on every highlight reel on every sports show imaginable. And I only saw it a few times. And at the other time, again, we talked about it earlier, he throws an interception straight to a linebacker. And so to your point, it’s hard. It is hard to play quarterback in the NFL. And honestly, for the Broncos, you can argue all you want about what they are or whatever it is. Winning in the NFL is hard. It is a hard thing. Winning in any professional sport is hard to do. Look at the Rockies. They’re terrible. But we are spoiled here in Denver because… I think in Denver, Dad, we literally just had in the month of November, we literally had the highest winning percentage of essentially available points, wins, whatever you want to have between the Nuggets, Avalanche, and Broncos that has ever happened in history. Basically, our teams won more between those three combined sports than has ever happened before. So we’re kind of living the high life, and they’re kind of making it look easy. Granted, the Broncos didn’t make it look easy last night, but still, Dad, 10 wins is 10 wins. It doesn’t matter how you’ve gotten there. You’re figuring out when to make a play. The defense is making a play. Bo Nix, whether you like him or not, is making a play. He’s kind of coming back and doing what he needs to do. There’s a lot of things that are going on that I think are, I guess I don’t know how to say this, Uh, there’s, there’s a lot of things going on that you, like you said, we don’t necessarily know about, and we don’t necessarily know the intricacies. I can just say, I’m happy. I’m happy to be on for a ride. And the other thing that is, and I’ll go back to it. It was nice on Thanksgiving day to watch the chiefs lose a game. Always nice to watch that. It’s always nice. And again, for the Broncos, they are picking a great time to have a good season. Because I don’t know if the Chiefs and some of the other teams are going to be down like they are this year. I don’t know if they’re going to be down next year. And so I look at what’s going on with the Broncos, and what I would say to fans, Dad, is enjoy it. And just honestly, Dad, there’s a very good chance when the Broncos get to the playoffs, because that’s the likely path that they’re on, folks. Now it’s just kind of a matter of seeding where we’re seeded. we may lose in the first round. We, we, or we may get the one seed and we may lose in the divisional round. I don’t know. Crazy things happen in the playoffs, but in order to have that happen, dad, you have to make it to the playoffs. And it was, I believe our playoff drought was 10 years, right up until last year.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 16 :
It was 10 years. And so go to, go to the playoffs back to back years. And, and, and you and I’ve talked about it many times. Sometimes you just got to give yourself a chance, right? Like that’s all you can ask. And for the Broncos, there’s kind of, and this last thing I’ll say, Dad, and I know we’ve got to run some breaks here in a second, but there’s four states of kind of building a franchise. There’s four stages that franchises move through, and it really doesn’t matter the sport, right? And we’ve talked about this. There’s kind of the losing big, you’re being embarrassed, you’re just kind of laughing stock, right? That’s kind of stage one. Stage two, you get better, you get more mature, start getting better players, but you’re still losing. But you’re losing close, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
That was us last year, by the way.
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, that was sort of us. We were kind of in between stage two and three last year, right? Stage three is you start to win those close games, right? So you’re winning close. It’s still a really, you know, you’re quenching those bum cheeks, you know, a little bit tighter, but you’re starting to pull out some wins that maybe you hadn’t been in the past. And then stage four is where teams like the Chiefs have been for the past number of years. You’re winning consistently, not necessarily big, but you’re just winning consistently, right? You’re not necessarily clenching your teeth every single game. And the Broncos are kind of right there. Last year, like you said, they were between two and three. This year, obviously, they’re very solidly in stage three, right? Winning close games because we are literally eight, I think, eight and two in one score games this year. So they’re really winning close games. But that kind of next step, and believe it or not, so the Broncos still have another step to take, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, winning big all the time.
SPEAKER 16 :
Correct, yeah. And mind you, Dad, big in the NFL, most games in the NFL are decided by six points or less. I know it’s crazy because we kind of don’t view it that way, but most of them are. They’re within a touchdown on any given week. Even though you don’t see it that way, it looks weird, whatever it is, but go back and look at the scores. That’s the average of victory. So the last thing I’ll say is this for the Broncos fans. Enjoy it while you can. Because there’s a lot of other teams that are in a lot worse positions than the Broncos are. And at this point in time, I’m just kind of excited to go along with it. And when my watch yells at me for having an elevated heart rate and it’s not sensing activity, my wife gets mad at me and she thinks I’m going to have a heart attack. No, I’m just watching the Broncos, you know, win another close game.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
All right, we are back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Same time of the week where we talk about Rush to Reason and Drive Radio. We combine it because we replay this particular segment on Saturdays during Drive Radio as well, and that is our new car review segment. Richard, and what have you driven lately?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, Dad, so I drove a really fun car lately, or I guess I should say a fun SUV, and that is the 2025 Lexus LX, and this was the 700H variety of it. And basically, folks, what that is is that this is, you know, we talked about the sister of this vehicle a while, which is the outgoing Land Cruiser. This is sort of the… I guess, Lexus replacement version of it, right, of kind of the original Land Cruiser that we talked about, you know, that sort of became a fan favorite for all the things that it was. So they’ve now introduced a hybrid powertrain, which all they’ve really done, Dad, is they’ve basically added the, you know, a little bit of a battery pack and the electric system, really to help out with some performance aspects of it, because it’s still got the same V6 engine. engine that’s kind of on the non-hybrid models, but a really enjoyable car, or I should say an SUV in that sense. And I will say the hybrid piece of it is something I would highly consider because it does, especially at our altitude, dad, whether you’re going off-roading or not, it gives you the capability and it just kind of gives you a little bit added performance, right? A little bit more pep in your step, especially up here at our altitude, again, whether you’re in the mountains or just up here, you know, in a mile above sea level. With that said, this is the Overtrail model, which is a little bit more tuned for off-road. It’s got bigger tires on it, front and rear locking differentials. I guess the 33-inch all-terrain tires on it, those sorts of things, which is nice. It’s got leather-trimmed, heated and ventilated front seats with massaging functions. That’s the front seats. Heated and ventilated second-row seats. It’s got illumination, some power outlets, the 10-speed automatic transmission, all sorts of things, folks. This is, Dad, the… I guess one of the better luxury off-roaders on the market today. Now, it did say that there is a third row in this vehicle, and I guess I may have missed that in this Overtrail model, so I apologize. And so Lexus, it was there. It is. And no, actually, I take that back. This one was equipped at… with just a five passenger model, but you can get this with a seven passenger with the folding third row. So I want to make sure I clarify that. The one that we had was just a five passenger. Was able to fit two kids in the second row and they had ample room, although this is shorter than some of the competitors on the market, Dad. And while you have quite a bit of room behind the second row seats, I’ll be honest, I was a little bit underwhelmed by the room in the second row. It just wasn’t quite as roomy, again, as some of the competitors and some of the vehicles that we’ve driven and actually in fact own, definitely roomier second rows out there. However, in terms of bringing together dad luxury as far as on-road as well as off-road capability i’m not sure you can necessarily get a better combination you might get similar but you would have to be the judge and what i mean by that folks is it’s got all of the different functionality and capability you want it’s got two touch screens you can kind of change all the different aspects of the suspension and The high speed, low speed, those sorts of things. I encourage folks to look at the pictures because it’s kind of hard to describe what I’m talking about, Dad. Obviously, it’s got the in-tune system that they’ve become more and more synonymous with. The only downside to this vehicle, Dad, I will say, and you and I kind of talked about this, Lexus, you guys are fantastic, and your safety is second to none. However, I would love to have the ability, and some people are going to yell at me for this, to change or adjust the driver assistance. And, Dad, I know you’ll say it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, it’s a nanny car.
SPEAKER 16 :
It’s a nanny system.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a nanny car.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah. It is so frustrating. And, folks, again, you may or may not matter. The way I drive, I kind of sit more towards the middle of the car rather than upright. And I’m not even looking at my phone or anything, but it feels like if you look away.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s on you all the time.
SPEAKER 16 :
For a half a second, Dad. Yeah. And it’s yelling at you. And, like, it’s really. Don’t get me wrong.
SPEAKER 04 :
I always say it’s barking at you.
SPEAKER 16 :
It is barking at you. I will say this. I think for team drivers and stuff, and I know a lot of these cars are now having the ability to kind of add different profiles and kind of set it up for your team driver, your kids, whatever it might be. And granted, this is a really expensive car to let your team drive. Right. depending on what you decide to do. I think it’s a great functionality, a great tool for those things. But for me, as an everyday, I want to be able to turn the bloody thing off and I could not figure out how to do it. And so some of you are going to say, Richard, well, that is a very silly thing. You know what? You’re probably right. It probably is a silly thing to be worried about. It was just something that was a preference to me. Outside of that, though, I really enjoyed this car. Some of your listeners are going to say, okay, how much is this, Richard? As it was tested, Dad, 116,760. And I know some of you maybe just fell out of your chair.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s what you’re going to pay for an Escalade or a full-end Denali or things along those lines. So it’s right in line with its competition.
SPEAKER 16 :
exactly for for for some of the other you know european counterparts right that’s exactly you’re actually going to pay a little bit more right probably for some of those options there and again this is in that class that of i just don’t know if there’s a better you’re kind of off-road capable vehicle that gives you that functionality to combine it with the on-road and i will say this this vehicle was quiet it didn’t necessarily you know you didn’t feel every bump in the road those sorts of things fuel economy 19 and 22 dad so even though it is a hybrid Don’t get confused. You’re not buying this car to buy it for autonomy purposes.
SPEAKER 04 :
But, you know, just to stop there, compared to what it used to do, that’s a huge improvement.
SPEAKER 16 :
It is a huge improvement, yeah, because it was down in the, I think, 14 to 16 range, if I’m not mistaken.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER 16 :
and and and like you said that and and for up here in our altitude dad whether you’re going off-roading or not that it was really it was just nice to have that extra little bit an extra torque instantaneous torque because we don’t necessarily need the top speed right i’m not carrying i’m not worried about 0 to 60 but when i’m getting out in traffic i want to be able to do so without fear of having to turn the flashers on that or i’m going to get run over by you know whoever it is coming down the road so Absolutely. I would encourage folks to check this out, Dad. And again, some of you are going to say, well, I would. Well, you know, again, Dad, we always talk about this. These reviews aren’t necessarily for just new vehicles, right? Because these go up on the website and they’re able to be viewed later on. And so when this vehicle becomes several years old, mind you, I think it’s going to hold its value really, really well. it may be in that price range that you’re able to afford. And I would highly encourage folks to check it out. I think it’s something they’ll be truly impressed with. But as we always say, get your friends and your family in it, because what we like, you may like, and what we like, you may not like, or whatever it might be. So when you do that, let them know that John and Richard Rush from Rush to Reason and Drive Radio sent you.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, and along those lines, keep this in mind also, there’s going to be a lot of deals by the end of the month. I’ll talk more about that probably in one of our upcoming Drive Radio Extra Miles. I talked a little bit about buying new cars here recently, but let me tell you what, because of just the news, the fact that car sales are down right now, if you’re looking to buy a new car, don’t buy it now. Wait until the latter part of the month because, Richard, you and I both know the deals are coming because they’re not selling like they were.
SPEAKER 16 :
They’re not selling that always at the end of the year. They do the red tag, you know, Christmas events. You’re starting to see some of those right now. They’ll continue. And, like, yes, you and I have been talking about it, that used cars, I think, are going to start becoming more and more popular. And then, again, new cars, they’re going to have to start getting more aggressive, Dad, because a lot of these vehicles are sitting on lots for longer. And that’s, again, probably for a conversation for later. But I think folks are seeing it. You’re just seeing them sit on lots longer than what they would like.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. All right, with that, we’ll let you go, Richard. Up next, we have got Cub Creek Heat and Air Conditioning. Any problems at all staying warm, give Cub Creek a call. They’ll be Johnny on the spot. You can make an appointment online. Just go to klzradio.com and look for Cub Creek there.
SPEAKER 08 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, that is it for hour number two. And, yeah, it’s almost pitch dark outside. Somebody sent a text message in a moment ago reminding me of that. And, yeah, I know. I don’t like it any more than you do. And, by the way, people don’t send that to me to be antagonistic. They’re on my page. They hate it as much as I do. It just is what it is. So, all right, we’ll be back. Hour number three is next. Rush to Reason, Debra’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
Join John Rush on this thought-provoking episode of Rush to Reason, as he delves into the national economic divide between blue and red states. Rush explores a provocative statement made by Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who suggests a novel approach to combating inflation: relocating to a red state. The episode dissects why affordability is becoming a crucial issue leading up to the 2026 elections, examining the impact of state politics on economic conditions and discussing the missteps of using political slogans in Colorado.
Why Inflation Hurts More in Blue States. From Political Confusion to Luxury Off-Roading.
Join John Rush on this thought-provoking episode of Rush to Reason, as he delves into the national economic divide between blue and red states. Rush explores a provocative statement made by Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, who suggests a novel approach to combating inflation: relocating to a red state. The episode dissects why affordability is becoming a crucial issue leading up to the 2026 elections, examining the impact of state politics on economic conditions and discussing the missteps of using political slogans in Colorado.
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