- Posted May 9, 2025
Welcome to the Kim Monson Show podcast. Kim Monson is your host. Postmodernism and relativism ideologies discount women and…
In this episode, The Kim Munson Show delivers a profound exploration of current events from local legislature activities to global economic dynamics. Take an analytical ride with Kim and special guest John Carson as they traverse through the intricacies of political discourse and address pressing matters concerning the Colorado State Legislature. Discover how these developments impact your rights, responsibilities, and opportunities in the new year.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 15 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 09 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 15 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
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Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 15 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
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Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 15 :
Indeed. Let’s have a conversation. And welcome to the Kim Munson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You are each treasured, you’re valued, you have purpose today. Strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And here we are in 2025. Happy New Year to all of you. I wish each of you a joyful, healthy and prosperous 2025. We have much work to do. And the great team that I get to work with, that’s Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy New Year and Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy New Year, Kim. Did you have a good New Year’s Day? I did. It was quite relaxing, actually. Well, that’s good because fasten our seatbelts. We’ve got work to do here in 2025, Producer Joe.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m ready for it.
SPEAKER 15 :
And so check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You’ll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays that comes out on Sundays. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com. The text line is 720-605-0647. And thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And it’s never compassionate to take other people’s stuff, whether or not it’s their rights, their property, freedom, livelihood, opportunities, or lives via force. force can be a weapon but it’s also policy unpredictable and excessive taxation fear coercion government-induced inflation with all this printing of money the agenda of the world economic forum which goes into the globalist elites the united nations what we’re seeing it here with the colorado state legislature this governor of colorado world health organization land use codes zoning regulations force fees conservation easements We need to walk this back for more freedom, my friends. And on the show, we focus on the issues and we’ll talk about the people pushing those issues. We’re trying to stay out of all the personality eighth grade girl fighting. We want to focus on issues and solutions on the show as we are moving into. 2025, the Colorado State Legislature will convene next week and it’s going to be very interesting to see what they will be proposing. And if you want to be really informed, join the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. It’s also known as CUT, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. And that board is Steve Dorman, Greg Golianski, Russ Haas, Bill Hamill, Rob Knuth, John Nelson, Wendy Warner, Marty Nielsen, Ramey Johnson, Mary Jansen. And we’re pleased to welcome Dave Evans, who is a listener. And if you would like to be on the board to look at these different bills, please text me at 720-605-0647 so that we can have a conversation about that. But if you want to be prepared and to know what is going on, you will receive hundreds of hours of volunteer work of these volunteers that are going through the legislation. that is being scheduled for hearings down at the State House. And it’s only $25. Go to coloradotaxpayer.org and join us so that you are ready because we will be starting to rate those bills very, very soon as they are being scheduled for hearing. And again, you will receive… hours and hours of research by volunteers that are looking out for you, the taxpayer, which that is all of us. Now, the show is broadcast live 6 to 8 a.m. every Monday through Friday. on all KLZ 560 platforms. The first hour is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon, second hour 10 to 11 at night. And those platforms are KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM, the KLZ website, so you could listen anywhere in the world, as well as the KLZ app. And then the shows are also then, once we have those posted on the website, and you can go in and see the show summaries by just clicking on the image of each show. You click on that and it’ll bring up a podcast, but those podcasts also can be heard on Spotify and iTunes as well. So let’s get to our quote of the day. And we have great sponsors and did want to mention Laramie Energy. We thank them for their goal sponsorship of the show because it is reliable, efficient, affordable, and abundant energy from oil, natural gas, and coal that powers our lives and fuels our hopes and dreams. This whole industry is under regulatory and legislative attack, also cultural attack, And that’s why the movie Climate Conversation is so important. This is the project of Walt Johnson. You can watch it for free at aclimateconversation.com. And there is a great podcast series that we have created with a number of different guests that are scientists and experts regarding this particular issue. And so be sure and check that out because it is this reliable energy that allows us to control our personal climates, to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And we take that for granted, and that is all under attack right now. And the green and the green new deal, my friends, is what that’s all about is it’s cronyism. And it’s the green that is going into the PBI’s pockets, those politics or politicians, bureaucrats and interested parties. And they are under this Biden administration on his way out. He is giving. Billions of dollars to this industry and that’s going right into the pockets of cronies there. So let’s go to our word of the day is edify. It’s a transitive verb and it could be number one to instruct, especially so to encourage intellectual, moral or spiritual improvement. So again, edify is spelled E-D-I-F-Y. Number two, it could be to build or to construct. And number three, to instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge, and to teach. And so our challenge is to use the word edify in a sentence today. And I think as parents and grandparents, our work is to edify in our children moral values, moral values, as well as resiliency. And so that is our challenge as parents and grandparents and community members to edify and build up our children. Our quote of the day, I went to Francis of Assisi. And he was born in 1181, died in 1226. He was an Italian mystic poet and Catholic, a mystic poet and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. And it’s inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty. He became a beggar and he was a preacher. And he said this, start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible. And suddenly you are doing the impossible. And I think those are is a great quote of the day as we start into 2025. Just a few this day in history. In 1900, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay announces the open door policy, to promote trade with China. It was back in 1900. 1903, U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt shuts down the post office in Indianola, Mississippi, for refusing to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black. So good for him on that. 1906, this is our personal climates. Willis Carrier receives a U.S. patent for the world’s first air conditioner. And that really has changed things. We really wouldn’t have Phoenix, Las Vegas, these very… Cities that get so hot in the summer, they would not be the cities that they are. And again, that was in 1906. 1910, again, we’re getting into the progressive era, and the first junior high schools in the U.S. opens in Berkeley, California. Connect that dot. Another climate event, 1961, Hawaii’s then all-time low temperature was 14 degrees Fahrenheit. And then in 1974, Richard Nixon, he instituted the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. That didn’t work out very well. So those are all of this day in history. Our headlines, I think that as we were having some of the bowl games on yesterday, we were shocked to see this headline in New Orleans. And that, whoops, I just, I had that up for you guys and I just deleted it. This is from ABC News and it says this New Orleans attack down in the French Quarter. Apparently a guy that is ISIS sympathizer went around a police barricade and killed at least 15 people yesterday. Just think about it. They got up that morning. They’re excited to be down in New Orleans, excited probably about the Sugar Bowl and And then they are killed because of this. So this is from ABC News. It says law enforcement agencies are expanding their investigation into the New Year’s ramming attack on New Orleans Bourbon Street, which killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more in the early hours of Wednesday. Now, again, those that are wanting to control firearms, prevent everyday people from having firearms, we see that this bad guy did have firearms, but also he used a vehicle to kill people. And so should we be outlawing vehicles? And so just connect that dot. But we go on to say the city and federal officials said an Army veteran identified as Shamsa Din Jabbar, 42, was helping on killing as many people as possible. The suspect drove a pickup truck around a parked police car serving as a barricade and plowed into crowds of revelers. It says New Orleans Police Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick said during a Wednesday news conference that security bollards were not working at the time because they were in the process of being replaced for the upcoming Super Bowl. One would think that they might have that done before the Sugar Bowl, but I’m just commenting. uh she’s confirmed that the suspect drove on the sidewalk to get around a police car blocking the intersection i was talking to someone yesterday that said um congratulations to new orleans police officers for what they did this guy mowed down dozens of people it was a three block stretch of this world famous thoroughfare and then he was firing into the crowd So officers then returned fire. They killed him. And I think that they acted very valiantly. And then also what had happened is one is dead after a cyber truck explodes outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. And this goes a lot. Now, granted, this attacker in New Orleans says he was U.S. born. Be interested to see how his parents got here and just what that status is. But this open border down at the southern border, we don’t know who’s come across this border. We we don’t know their health status yet. As well, I was talking to a friend yesterday who has a colleague that is trying to immigrate to the United States legally from South Africa. And she was flagged as having a health issue. And so apparently they’re working that out. But just think about this. All these people coming across the southern border, we don’t even know about that. So there’s something really wrong with this picture. It’s important that we have these discussions, though, and we have them because of great sponsors. And one of those is the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team. 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Focused and wise marketing is essential for your success, especially during tough economic times. If you love The Kim Munson Show, strive for excellence and understand the importance of engaging in the battle of ideas that is raging in America. Then talk with Kim about partnership, sponsorship opportunities. Email Kim at kimmunson.com. Kim focuses on creating relationships with individuals and businesses that are tops in their fields. So they are the trusted experts listeners turn to when looking for products or services. Kim personally endorses each of her sponsors. Again, reach out to Kim at KimMunson.com.
SPEAKER 15 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. And you can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. Pleased to have on the line with me John Carson. He is a former CU Board of Regents director, and he is sitting for the Vacancy Committee to fill the vacancy that has been created when Senator Kevin Van Winkle was elected as a Douglas County Commissioner, and that is for Colorado Senate District 30. John Carson, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good morning, Kim. Happy New Year. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 15 :
Happy New Year to you as well. And the Colorado State Legislature will be convening next week. So set this up. These vacancy committees are kind of a unique thing. So this happened because Kevin Van Winkle vacated the seat when he was elected Douglas County Commissioner. So what’s this process, John?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so the folks who can vote in these vacancy committees are basically the precinct people, district captains, some of the elected officials who live in that particular Senate district, Senate District 30, which is the northern third of Douglas County, basically Highlands Ranch, Roxborough, Lone Tree, Castle Pines North, that area, Sterling Ranch. And they will be meeting about 160 people. and are eligible and they’ll be meeting on saturday it’s open to the public saturday afternoon at southridge recreation center and highlands ranch and the candidates for the vacancy will get to make their pitch and and then they’ll vote and you got to get a majority so you know if there’s Multiple folks running, you can’t win on a plurality. You’ve got to get 50 plus one. So there could be several ballots, and whoever gets to that point will be elected as the Republican to fill the remaining two years. Senator Van Winkle resigned in December, so it’s fairly recently he resigned when that vacancy happened. opened for the county commissioners. One of the sitting commissioners resigned in December, and so he took that seat a little bit early. But the resignation didn’t get official until mid-December. So we’re just trying to fill it right now real quickly before we start the legislative session on January 8th. You’ve got to have a senator in there.
SPEAKER 15 :
That is very, very important. So the question is why, John Carson, why are you stepping forward to sit for the vacancy committee to complete this process? So why would you want to be a senator? Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
well i think i’ve got the background experience as you said i was on the board of regents fighting for conservative faculty and free speech and was also president of the school board in douglas county when we ended the teachers union contract put a whole host of school choice policies in place we need strong dynamic leadership aggressive leadership at this point we’re down to 12 seats in a 35 member state senate for the republicans So we’ve got to have fighters in there. I’ve got a good track record of fighting for good conservative principles. My main priorities is, you know, the state government, as you know, Kim, has more than doubled. in the last couple of decades governor polis has added 6 000 employees they’ve got themselves in a situation where there’s going to be a budget deficit of almost a billion dollars and we have to balance that budget so that i want to put a government cost efficiency commission in place like they’re talking about with president trump and elon musk let’s do that on the state level this year figure out where the efficiencies are and we’re going to have to cut that budget number two I want to phase out the state income tax. We should make Colorado the 10th state in America without a state income tax. They’ve got all this property tax revenue and other things coming in. We could do that, I believe, by the year 2030. We’ve been reducing it steadily, but we should get rid of it entirely. And third, you were earlier talking about this illegal immigration issue. We’ve got to require localities to comply with federal immigration law, get everybody working together to make sure we keep our state safe, our community safe. This illegal immigration problem is out of control. I’m glad President Trump and his people are going to address it. We’ve got to address it aggressively on the state level. So those are some of my priorities. I’m a solid pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, constitutional conservative, and I believe I’m a great fit for this district.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, John Carson, you mentioned this big deficit here in Colorado. I thought we had to have a balanced budget in Colorado.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, we do. Fortunately, it’s good for us taxpayers that they do have to balance the budget. And they do have to abide by Tabor, too, which under Tabor says the revenues can’t grow faster than inflation and population growth. And so they’re going to have to refund those Tabor dollars to us. The Democrats are always trying to play around with that and find sneaky ways to reduce the amount, but they are going to have to refund a significant amount of money and they’re going to have to balance that budget. And that’s good for all of us because it forces Colorado government to live within its means. And, you know, a lot of this spending came from this COVID ARPA money, they call it, that came into the states and they spent it all. And now it’s gone. And so we got a budget. We got a balance. It’s going to be a tough year in the legislature. People are going to have to make tough decisions. And I think I’ve got the background and experience to do that.
SPEAKER 15 :
It is going to be a tough year. I just did get this from a text message from one of our listeners. She said, oh, no, we can’t balance the budget on property taxes. And I know that she personally, she has a business, and her property taxes tripled. So probably I love getting rid of the income tax, but I think the other thing is to reduce spending. Yes, John?
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, yeah, we’ve got to reduce spending. Like I said, if you look at the state budget, it’s out of control in real inflation adjusted terms just in the last 15 years or so. The appropriations per Coloradan have gone from just over 5000 to almost 7000 a person in the state government. So they’re spending at a tremendous rate. They’re not disciplining, showing the discipline we need in the state government. And they’ve gotten themselves in this situation with these huge Democratic majorities and a Democratic governor. And now Republicans need to step in and lead the way, as we often do, to restore some fiscal discipline to the situation. And so I’m eager to do that. You know, I worked in D.C. on Capitol Hill for U.S. Senator Wayne Allard, our conservative senator for 10 years, legal counsel. I understand the legislative process, committee work, floor work, and I’m ready to take on the challenge.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. So that will be, you said this vacancy committee will be this Saturday at the South Ridge Recreation Center. What time on that, John Carson?
SPEAKER 05 :
One o’clock. The meeting starts at one o’clock and probably take up most of the afternoon there before we have a result. And this is all under state law, the way these vacancies are filled, because it’s too late to have an election. And this is just to fill the Senate’s is a four-year term normally. There’s a remaining two years left on this. So we’re just filling this two years, and then whoever is selected will have to run again in 2026 for a full term.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. And one other thing, John Carson, we have just a couple of minutes, and that is our children. I’ve seen this state legislature has really been – many of these bills have been focused on this whole – transgender agenda. And I am super concerned about that. We have a number of guests that we have talked about this, and I’m just really concerned about our children. And so you have been so involved with being a regent at CU and then also the president of the Douglas County School Board. That’s another big issue down there at the statehouse that we need to roll our sleeves up on, I think. What’s your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 05 :
You bet. I agree with you completely on that. This Stuff has gotten out of control. It’s ridiculous. You know, we’ve got rules now that names can be changed, references can be changed without even parents knowing. You know, I’m strongly opposed. I want to protect girls in women’s sports, not have males. I mean, it’s ridiculous we’re having this conversation. I know. That males are… being talked about participating in girls’ sports and locker rooms and other things. I mean, it’s not safe. It’s ridiculous. Rolling back the protections we put in place for girls and women under Title IX, all of this. So I am a huge proponent of sticking to traditional values on these type of things, making sure we have parents involved in these discussions, 100%.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. So John Carson, who is sitting for the Vacancy Committee this Saturday for Senate District 30, what’s your final thoughts you’d like to leave with our listeners?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, my final thought is we need strong leadership in there, someone who can hit the and is going to get in there and discipline the state government, balance the budget, reduce taxes, keep those property taxes coming down, and see what we can do about things like the state income tax, get it cut, and make sure we enforce illegal immigration laws across the state. We’ve got to protect our citizens.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, John Carson, thank you so much, and thank you for stepping forward to sit for this vacancy committee, and I wish you all kinds of luck.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, Kim, and Happy New Year again. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. Happy New Year. And these are important discussions, and we have them because of our sponsors. And one of those is Karen Levine for Everything Residential Real Estate.
SPEAKER 10 :
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Again, that’s lavacameat.com. You’d like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Munson Show, but you can’t remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim’s website, kimmunson.com. That’s Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 15 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And I get to work with a lot of great sponsors. One of those is Hooters Restaurants. And they’ve been sponsors of the show, both this show and America’s Veterans Stories for all of these years. I’m starting my seventh year of solo broadcasting. And they have been with me since before then. and how I got to know them. It’s a very important story about freedom and free markets and capitalism and PBIs, those politicians and bureaucrats and interested parties that try to control our lives, try to control our opportunities. That’s not their proper role and that’s how I got to know the owners of Hooters restaurants. They have five locations, Loveland, Aurora, Lone Tree, Westminster and Colorado Springs and great specials Monday through Friday for lunch and happy hour and of course a great place to get together to watch all of these sporting games and events. Another great sponsor of the show is Susan Kochivar with 88 Drive-In Theater. She’s an entrepreneur and owner of the historic 88 Drive-In Theater. And 2025 has just started. Spring’s right around the corner. Susan Kochivar, welcome. Good morning. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. And spring will be here before we know it. And the 88 Drive-In Theater will be open again. But right now, you’re on the winter hiatus. And so I wanted to, you really have your ear to the ground on so many different issues, and particularly as an entrepreneur. And I wanted to talk with you about Trump, your perspective on 2025. What’s your thoughts about all of that, Susan Kochemar?
SPEAKER 16 :
I really think that 2025 is going to be an amazing year. I see a lot of really good indicators on the horizon. So, you know, for Colorado, I think it will head in a better direction. But for the country, I think we’re going to get a lot of stuff straightened out and move forward.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I think Colorado, Susan, is at the tip of the spear of all of the radical activist extreme things that they want to push. And so that’s why we’re here holding the line and really working to then push back on this. And that’s why these vacancy committees are so important. We’re going to be talking with several different people that will be sitting for this vacancy committee for Senate District 30. but we have to hold the line and we’ve got to start to reclaim Colorado because I think that we really are at the tip of the spear for all of this stuff that they want to, they want to float it here and see if they can get it past here and then push it out to the rest of the country. Susan.
SPEAKER 16 :
I think so too. And I think a lot of the things that happen nationally will trickle into Colorado. I think that with the secretary of state, um, releasing all of those passwords. I think everybody now finally has figured out that Colorado elections are compromised. And I see former gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl talking about it. The Libertarian Party is really stepped forward in a big way, filing that lawsuit against the Secretary of State and putting together some other steps that people can take to to reclaim Colorado. So I think that there’s a lot of opportunity there, and I think we could see significant pushback in 2025 for Colorado.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and also, Susan, we got those two lawsuits filed with the Colorado 2024 Election Project, and they’re now back and forth in the legal ping pong. And one of those is that Colorado is not meeting the minimum standards as set forth by Congress for our elections, which is a civil rights issue. And so that is filed. And then the other one, and that’s through the United Sovereign Americans, their legal team. And then with Peter Berneger with the Wisconsin Center for Election Justice, that particular lawsuit is that our voter rolls are not clean. And so we’re looking forward to some other things to do in 2025. But I’m very pleased that so many people stepped forward here, all of you, thank you, here in Colorado to get those lawsuits filed. I had hoped that we’d had more immediate action on that, but I’m learning that the legal system is pretty slow and laborious. Susan Kochavar, and so that was kind of my big lesson that I’ve learned in all of this.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, part of that’s by design, I think, but I think we might need some reform. abuses that we’ve watched happen. And those are the things I think that will help trickle down into Colorado. Those lawsuits are super important. And I think they will tie into the national conversation because I know that Trump has talked about sorting out the issues in our election systems. And there is talk of him implementing or trying to implement federally paper hand counted ballots. And I know that we have people like Mike Lindell and others who are really pushing for that. And, you know, you have Catherine Engelbrecht and that whole group pushing to sort out the election. So I think a lot more is going to get down there. And I think that will trickle into all the state. which will make a very big difference. I don’t actually think Colorado is blue or even purple. It’s very hard to tell. I know in the third race that I ran for state house quite a few years ago, my number popped up, you know, at, was it 720? The election results 720 and never changed. And that should not happen. The election had, the polls had just closed at seven. So at that point I knew something was wrong.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and also, wasn’t there in one of your elections as you were running for state house that some ballots or a truck disappeared for a week or something with some ballots and then it magically showed up? What happened there?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, that’s exactly right. That was the same election in Adams County. A truckload of ballots went missing for a week. It was coming from the printer to the post office. And they said that there were three trucks. The third truck did not have proper documentation and just went away, wound up disappearing for a whole week. And with some of the shenanigans we saw happen with the elections around the country, you know, where different paper was used and some other things, what was going on with that truckload of ballots? They found it, um, But, you know, it was never, I don’t think, fully investigated. So there are some very big problems. Those things need to be corrected. That cannot happen.
SPEAKER 15 :
No, it cannot happen. And you mentioned the BIOS passwords, the security breach on that, that they were actually on the Secretary of State’s website behind a hidden tab, but you could easily access that hidden tab. And those were out there for four months or so. And that is a significant security breach. Of course, what we’re seeing, and from both sides of the aisle, we’re seeing… and I have this in air quotes, experts say that, oh, there’s nothing to worry about, nothing to see here, move along, everything is okay. And I think that we really need to address this more. So that’s one of the things that’s on my list of things to do here in 2025. And I’ve been having some conversations about that. And then the other thing is, is I really want to go through the election laws and regulations here in Colorado and really understand them because there are things that have been passed by this legislature or rules that have been passed by the Secretary of State regarding our elections that now they’re legal, But they’re not right. And in fact, one of those and a lot of people don’t even realize this is that prior to 2024, 16 year olds could be pre-registered to vote so that when they turned 18, a ballot would be generated and sent to the address that they registered to vote when they were in high school. And last year, that age was changed from 16 to 15. And if you go on the Secretary of State’s website, you can see where they’ve had pre-registration drives in different high schools. And many of those high schools, I would say, would be in… communities that probably would be considered much more favorable to the radical activist extreme Democrats. But when I tell people that 15-year-olds compete, pre-register to vote, their jaws drop.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes. Yeah, that needs to be changed also. A lot of those people probably in four years, a lot can happen.
SPEAKER 15 :
Think about 15-year-olds. They don’t understand the issues. Now, many of them might be in that indoctrination pipeline that is happening with many of our public education institutions. So you can see that radical activists, they play long ball. Susan, and many times I feel like conservatives, Republicans, libertarians, we’re playing tiddlywinks and they are really playing long ball. And we’ve got to stay engaged in this.
SPEAKER 16 :
We seem to seem to act like, oh, they wouldn’t do that. Yeah, they are doing that. And, you know, I mean, well, gosh, those kids can move in that time between they’re 15 and 18. You know, some of those people live in apartments. Such, so many problems. And the other thing we need to… work on is getting the post office to stop delivering mail to mailboxes where people do not live no longer live they’re not supposed to deliver mail where that person is not on the mailbox anymore i guess they they were never supposed to but they do they just drop them off at that address and that’s another thing we have to get shored up that has to stop
SPEAKER 15 :
And I really thought after the last election that I take just a little bit of time off. But the other side never sleeps. And I had gone, this was shortly after the November 2024 election. And I’d seen this headline, I’ve talked about it on the show before, that Biden said that he was going to try to do something regarding the Colorado River before he left office. And I thought, huh, that is super interesting. And then I was in downtown Littleton, and I was walking in between a business and a restaurant, and there were two young girls that were out with an iPad and very friendly. You know they’re up to something when they’re super friendly. Hi, how are you doing? They were with the Nature Conservancy, and they said that they were raising money and having people sign a petition regarding… helping the Colorado River. And I thought, is that not interesting? You can see how this is all connected. This was maybe within a week or so after the election. And I thought, oh, we can’t stop at all. We’ve got to get focused on this. And so I know that you are, and I as well, we’re working on this.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes. Well, I don’t think there isn’t a person that doesn’t realize not Biden is trying to trash as many things as they can on their way out the door. And, you know, even putting in things like new, trying to put in new oil and gas regulations and stuff like that. And Trump will just roll them back. That’s I think a given, but it’s, it’s really disgusting what these people are doing, what they have done at, which kind of rolls me into another topic that, You know, we’re talking about looking hopeful, and I don’t know if you have managed to catch the new show on Paramount Plus called Landman with Billy Bob Thornton.
SPEAKER 15 :
I have not. So let’s leave that as a cliffhanger because I don’t watch much TV, Susan. But I want to hear what you have to say about that. We do all of this because of our sponsors. I did want to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation, which is a nonprofit that we really support here on the show. And the official Marine Memorial is here in Golden, Colorado. And, of course, I’ve gotten to know all of them through all of the work that we have done with America’s Veterans Stories. And so they’re raising money for the remodel. We want to make that a reality. And it is so important to honor those that have given their lives or been willing to give their lives for our freedom. So go over to USMCMemorialFoundation.org. and make a contribution. And then for everything mortgages, whether or not it’s a new mortgage, second mortgage, or a reverse mortgage, reach out to Lorne Levy and he can help you in 49 of the 50 states, just not New York.
SPEAKER 01 :
The rise in interest rates is causing challenges and creating opportunities. For nearly 20 years, mortgage specialist with Polygon Financial Group, Lauren Levy, has helped individuals realize their hopes and dreams of home ownership, fund kids’ educations through second mortgages, and access capital by utilizing reverse mortgages. Lauren is not constrained to work with just one lender. He works with many different lenders. Licensed in 49 states, Lauren offers choices for your individual mortgage needs. Preparation leads to success. Call Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881 so that you are prepared for opportunity in the mortgage market. That’s Lauren Levy at 303-880-8881.
SPEAKER 11 :
All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That’s kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMunson.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And do check out the Center for American Values located in Pueblo, Colorado, on the beautiful Riverwalk. I’ve not been down to Pueblo now for several months, and I need to get down there. But the Center for American Values is doing great work honoring our Medal of Honor recipients. These are men that took action when danger presented itself. They took action to protect those around them. And we can take great heart from that because we are in an ideological battle right now where we need to step forward and protect those around us. And so be inspired. Check out the Center for American Values. That website is AmericanValueCenter.org. AmericanValueCenter.org. On the line with me is entrepreneur and owner of 88 Drive-In Theater, Susan Kochavar. And we had a cliffhanger, and that was this new television show, I guess you said, Landman. So tell us about this, Susan Kochavar.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yes, I think it’s a very important piece because I think that it indicates a major shift in Hollywood. I think we might see the dam break in terms of what topics they can portray without killing their career. So Landman is a program put together by Taylor Sheridan. And there are some significant monologues in the program, at least three, that explain to people that, you know, there’s no way we can just go with the green energy and the windmills because the transmission lines aren’t there to get the power to the homes, even if it were a sustainable energy, even if those green energy sources production forms made enough energy for us to heat and cool our homes and everything else. It also talks about the importance of oil and how it’s in just about everything, you know, from medical equipment to your cell phone. So there are three really good monologues so far. One other monologue in the program takes place between two young people And the girl likes the boy, and the boy grew up in Texas because the whole thing takes place in Odessa, Texas, where a lot of oil production is done. And he talks about how, you know, all the propaganda that’s out there about what’s destroying the environment. And at one point, the kid ends his monologue with, well, you know, these people think that the end of – what’s destroying the environment are humans, and they have a plan for that too. So it goes through a lot of this propaganda that has been put out by the left, and it shows the other perspective. And it’s quite refreshing and shocking. So I highly recommend people go and watch that. It also depicts the hard work that all these people in oil and gas do. And, of course, we have Chris Wright from Liberty Oil, who will now be taking the helm of our energy in the country. And, you know, we do a lot of oil production in Colorado. And I think that will also change the face of the country in the next four years.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and I saw another headline, though. New regulations were passed against, really, our oil and natural gas industry. And, of course, they’re trying to shut down our coal-fired plants here in Colorado. And so this is going to be a real interesting… rub, if you will, having Chris Wright where he’s at in the Trump administration and then what Polis is attempting to do here in Colorado. Susan, what about Polis? Polis has tried to portray himself as a libertarian. But when you look at the onerous, and you know, because you’re in business here, rules and regulations and taxes and fees, and Colorado’s economy has moved down to like 41st in GDP in the country when we typically had been. And I think the top 10. And it’s because of these terrible policies. With Polis wanting to run for president in 2028, do you think that he’ll take his foot off the pedal of all of this rules and regulations? Or do you have a perspective on that?
SPEAKER 16 :
I’m not sure he can take his foot off the pedal because we have the whole legislature in Colorado controlled by Democrats. And that is his party. So he has some very big issues there. And they’re getting more and more radicals into the state legislature. You know, they get the people to run for state legislature and then they they win and then they resign. And then some more radical person gets elected. appointed to that position. And we have a lot of that going on. So it’s going to be tough for him to do that. And currently he has egg on his face. Literally, you cannot buy eggs in Colorado. And as much as they try to say that’s not because of that HB 1343 that was passed. It is. You can’t just suddenly tell egg producers or any sort of producers, oh, you have to completely change your business model. Nothing works that way. And they just have no comprehension of how business works. So I see that Representative Ryan Gonzalez has introduced a repeal bill of So it’s going to put that in. So we need more repeal bills, and I’m so happy to see that.
SPEAKER 15 :
That is really exciting, and I agree. Repeal bills are a good idea. And the other day, eggs had moved up to $8.99 a dozen from the producers that I purchased my eggs from. And I remember when they were $2.99 a dozen. And it’s a great protein source. You look at our young families that are trying to put food on the table. And because of these policies, they are getting squeezed because of government-induced inflation. They’re getting squeezed. I did see also I think the minimum wage moved up. in Colorado on January 1. And you’ve explained that really well, how that affects employers and employees. But quickly explain that again for people that may not have heard you in the past on that, Susan.
SPEAKER 16 :
It does. That minimum wage really hurts businesses, and especially small businesses. One of the things people forget is that you have payroll taxes that are a percentage of your payroll. So when your minimum wage goes up and you have to pay all of your employees more, and I mean all of your employees because you can’t just – if you have someone that’s making a little bit more and you hire somebody new at the new – employment minimum wage then you have to give that other person a little more money because you can’t just pay all the people that’s experienced and who’ve shown they can you know do the job and come to work on time you can’t pay them all the same so it increases all of your payroll and then you have payroll taxes which are a percentage of your payroll so all of that goes up and you know Gosh, then what happens is employers start to look around to see, um, I’m going to need to, I can’t pay all these people this much. So what can I, um, figure out what service can I either completely drop or can I find a way to automate that? Um, You know, like, I don’t know, in my case, maybe bring in a butter machine so that I don’t have kids buttering popcorn. You know, or maybe I go from a soda fountain to soda bottles because, you know, it doesn’t take somebody to serve that soda. These are the kinds of things that happen. So what happens is you lose jobs and eventually you lose businesses, which is great. Denver is really seeing that problem because the legislature in Colorado also passed a law that said municipalities can set minimum wage. And I think I saw Boulder was talking about a $25 an hour minimum wage. And Denver, of course, raised theirs as well. And that’s why so many restaurants are closing in Denver. I think that Governor Polis will have a terrible time trying to run for president. He’d be the same thing as Governor Newsom in California. You know, sliding that way is… is really bad and it’s getting very expensive to live in Colorado and very dangerous because we have all these Venezuelan gangs and illegals that are coming in. And Colorado has said they’re not going to stand behind President Trump and they think they’re not going to anyway and help deport these people that should not be here.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, Susan Kochavar, we’re out of time. I agree. I’m looking forward with great hope and optimism for our country for 2025. We’ve got work to do here in Colorado, and I so thank you for rolling up your sleeves and working with me on all this. I greatly appreciate you, and thank you.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thanks, Kim. It’s going to be an exciting year. It’ll all trickle down into good things for Colorado, too, I think. It’ll put pressure on the legislature to make changes.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. And so again, Susan Kochavar, entrepreneur and owner of 88 Drive and Theater. Our quote for the end of the show is from St. Francis of Assisi. He said, Lord, help me to live this day quietly and easily, to lean upon my great strength trustfully and restfully, to wait for the unfolding of thy will patiently and serenely. to meet others peacefully and joyously, to face tomorrow confidently and courageously. So today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. And stay tuned for our number two.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s the Kim Munson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 15 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 09 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 15 :
With what is happening down at the statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 09 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 15 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 09 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 15 :
indeed let’s have a conversation and welcome to our number two of the kim munson show thank you so much for joining us you’re each treasured you’re valued you have purpose today strive for excellence take care of your heart your soul your mind and your body my friends we were made for this moment in history and wishing you all a very joyful healthy and prosperous 2025 we’ve got much work to do and yes we were made for this moment Thank you to the team. That’s Producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Mike, Teresa, and all the people here at Crawford Broadcasting. Happy New Year and Happy Thursday, Producer Joe. Happy New Year, Kim. And we’ve got much work to do, my friend, and I know that you are fastening your seatbelt and we’re ready to do that. So thank you, Joe. It’s my pleasure, Kim. It’s going to be a fun year and I’m excited to see what happens this year. Me too. And we’re in it. We’re right on the front lines here. And I take great heart in that. And we all need to be doing something, my friends. We can’t just be just doing things online and getting frustrated. Let’s look for solutions and let’s get active. So whatever it is that keeps you up at night, choose one thing, become an expert on it, get involved in it, whether or not it’s education or… Whatever it is, just make sure that you choose one thing. We have a civic duty to at least do one thing to reclaim our state and reclaim our country. So check out the website. That’s Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You’ll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. That goes out on Sundays. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com. I guess a New Year’s resolution for me is to… stay on top of my emails. I need a few more hours in the day, but I think I’m going to get more organized on that. So that’s my New Year’s resolution. So email me at kim at kimmunson.com. And also text line is 720-605-0647. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to use force to implement it. And the show comes to you Monday through Friday, 6 to 8 a.m. The first hour is rebroadcast 1 to 2 in the afternoon, second hour 10 to 11 at night. And that is on all KLZ 560 platforms. So KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM, the website, the KLZ website and the KLZ app. So you can listen anywhere in the world. Our word of the day is edify. And it is E-D-I-F-Y. Your challenge is to use that in a sentence today. And it could be to instruct, especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral or spiritual improvement. So that’s the first definition. Number two, to build or to construct. And number three, to instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge, to teach. I think that when we look at… I was so surprised. I was talking with someone over the holiday period. About everyone, not everyone, I think almost all of the public school bond questions or mill levy overrides were passed by the voters this last November 2024. And I think the reason is, is because people still have the perception that public education is edifying our children. So instructing and improving them in moral and religious knowledge and spiritual improvement, all those things. And. Those of us that are really watching what’s happening with this Colorado State Legislature and what they are pushing, and then also many of those in the education arena, what they’re pushing as far as DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion, or SEL, social emotional learning, these are not edifying our children. These are not teaching them how to read and write and do arithmetic and think critically. And so I think that what we really need to be doing is edifying our children in our education system. So your challenge is to use the word edify in a sentence today. Our quote of the day is from St. Francis of Assisi. And he was born in 1181. He died in 1226. And he was an Italian mystic and poet and Catholic friar. And he said this. He said, start by doing what’s necessary. Then do what’s possible. And suddenly you are doing the impossible. So I think those are great words of advice as we’re moving into 2020. 25. I think the big, one big headline, two big headlines, and that is these attacks yesterday. One at Bourbon Street in New Orleans where many were injured, 15 were killed. And then also there was an explosive, a truck filled with explosives that apparently blew up outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. And these attacks I think they’re inconscionable that they’re happening, and we need to get to the bottom of this. On the one in New Orleans, authorities say that they think that this person did not act alone. So let’s find out what’s going on with this, and let’s let the American people know. And again, these are really important discussions. And I am blessed with great sponsors. I am starting my seventh year in solo broadcasting and a sponsor that’s been with me since before then. And a good friend of mine is Karen Levine. Karen Levine, Happy New Year and welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, Happy New Year to you, Kim. And it’s a pleasure to be here. Get our year started off well, I hope.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, absolutely. And I just had Susan Kochevar on, and she’s looking to 2025 with great optimism. I am as well. What about people that want to buy or sell their home? What’s that going to look like in 2025?
SPEAKER 18 :
We’re feeling incredibly optimistic about that as well. When you look at the history of interest rates over 30 years, and you look at the journey we’ve been on, and Loren talks about this on his call with you, but the average over the last 30 years has been around 7.5, 7.75. And so I think that the American people have realized that that’s the normal cost of money, and now it’s time to… make things right for their families, whether that’s a larger home, getting home ownership started so that they can build personal wealth, or that move down home because the family has grown up and started their own families and you want a simpler life. And so I love navigating all of those things. And what’s exciting to see is the last week of the year, there were over 500 price reductions, which means sellers, are motivated and they want to get their homes sold. And there were new homes that came on the market even the last week of the year. So I’m optimistic. I have clients reaching out to me who are ready to make some changes in their real estate portfolios, and I am happy to help and excited to do so.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and Karen, I know some people recently that you helped buy and sell their home, and I hadn’t really realized there are a lot of different things that happen in buying and selling homes, and having a professional, you, on their side of the table, I know that they really appreciated that.
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, that is so good to hear, and I appreciated getting the opportunity to work with them, and I think… It looks very simple, the process of buying and selling a home, and it isn’t because there’s many, many steps. And I share a sheet. It’s called Potential Turbulence in a Transaction. And we’ve identified 86 things that potentially can happen. And that’s, one, we’re dealing with people, and two, we’re dealing with stuff. And when you combine all that, it can be complicated. Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and Karen, I have a really smart listener that reached out and said that he’d actually done his real estate transactions on his own. And that certainly is possible. But you really need to know what you’re doing. You need to have time, business acumen. all of those things and most people don’t have the time to really get to that point and that is why the expertise that you bring to the table is so important because for example young families they’re just trying to keep it together maybe they they want to get a bigger house and they are not the experts on that and that is why I’ve learned over the years is that doing things right working with good people up front right off the bat ultimately saves you money saves you time saves you energy and saves you headache and that is why you with all of these years of experience and also your resources to get a house ready for sale all of those things i hadn’t really thought about all that well and it is the the beauty of um being an american is we have choice and so you certainly can choose
SPEAKER 18 :
to navigate a real estate transaction on your own. But the National Association of Realtors has done research and we know that typically a buyer will not be afforded the best terms and conditions and run into obstacles that they can’t navigate. And the seller generally will net less money without the expertise of a realtor. And I think that you have seen it through the listeners that have chosen to use me, that they have gotten what they paid for and felt that it was a great value. And I love what I do. I love helping people achieve that American dream. And the average homeowner only is in their home only, you say only, 10 to 15 years. Well, a lot has happened over the 35 years I’ve been in the business. And each transaction can be unique in itself as far as the things that we run into.
SPEAKER 15 :
Good and bad. Yes, and then also one other thing. I’ve seen different areas where they’re moving dirt, which looks like there’s going to be some new communities, which I’m also very excited about. And so if somebody wants to look at a new build, it’s just important that they reach out to you and have you on their side of the table as they’re looking at these new builds as well, right?
SPEAKER 18 :
Most definitely. What a lot of people don’t understand is they see a new community go up. They see either the sales trailer or the model home complex opens and they pop in and check it out. And they’re not aware that the person that they interact with is working for the builder, is looking out for the best interest of the builder. and that individual is hired to sell houses for the builder. Which is good. I’m happy with that. Yes, very good. But builders are very receptive to allowing a buyer to have representation and to bring in their own agent to help navigate that transaction. And all the builder asks is that you have me accompany you on your first visit. And a lot of times I’m going to accompany you on several of those visits, and make sure that we have all the information we need to make a good buying decision, and what is it that the builder is offering that we can take advantage of.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. Well, how can people reach you, Karen Levine, to buy a home, sell a home, look at a new build? What’s that number?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, the number is 303-877-7516. And that’s Karen Levine. Again, 303-877-7516. We will talk to you next week.
SPEAKER 13 :
and very pleased through the month of december finishing up here at the end of the week to promote the book a swift sword by doyle glass eyes peeled and moving quickly lance corporal jack swan led 164 of his fellow u.s marines from mike company third battalion fifth marines over the face of a bear rocky knoll to rescue an isolated company of fellow leathernecks besieged by the communist north vietnamese army Then, all hell broke loose. Instead of rescuing their fellow comrades, the Marines now faced complete annihilation. Author Doyle Glass tells their story in Swift Sword, a true Vietnam War story of epic courage and brotherhood in the face of insurmountable odds. Order Swift Sword by Doyle Glass now. They never gave up. We should never forget.
SPEAKER 10 :
With the limited number of homes in the Colorado Front Range market, Karen Levine can help you achieve your home buying or selling vision. Karen has the right connections, technology, and strategies to help you buy or sell your home or to purchase a new build. Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed or want someone to take the wheel, or you just need a second opinion, you can rest assured that RE-MAX Realtor Karen Levine Call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516. Karen is the trusted professional who strives for excellence. That number is 303-877-7516.
SPEAKER 08 :
You’d like to get in touch with one of the sponsors of The Kim Munson Show, but you can’t remember their phone contact or website information. Find a full list of advertising partners on Kim’s website, kimmunson.com. That’s Kim, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 15 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com. And thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you shouldn’t have to force people to do it. And there are things that can keep us up at night, but your insurance coverage should not be one of those. And the Roger Mangan State Farm Insurance team wants you to feel safe and well-served and to understand your coverage and know that their office will respond to your call or text 24 hours a day. So for that 24-hour peace of mind, call Roger Mangan at 303-3255. 795-8855. Like a good neighbor, the Roger Mangan team is there. And on the line with me is Laurie Gimmelstein. She is a co-founder of the Colorado Parents Advocacy Network, also known as CPAN, and doing amazing work. And again, when I talk about the Center for American Values, where the Medal of Honor recipients, they saw that there was danger and they took action to protect those around them and save lives. And I take such great heart from them. And the center is located in Pueblo on the Riverwalk. And be sure and check out their website, AmericanValueCenter.org. And I really would recommend that you put it on your bucket list. Get this done in 2025 to visit the Center for American Values. But we’re in an ideological time. battle now. And it’s a battle of ideas. And our children are really, and their childhoods are under attack. And so when she realized this, she took action and became a co-founder of the Colorado Parents Advocacy Network. Lori Gilmelstein, welcome to the show. Good morning, Kim. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. And I wanted to just go down memory lane a little bit on CPAN and then look at what you are hoping to get accomplished here in 2025, what you see the challenges are. So looking back, what has it been, two or three years since you co-founded CPAN, right? Yes.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, we launched in November of 2022. So we recently celebrated our second birthday. And we have really just accomplished an amazing amount in the last two years. And quite honestly, prior to our launch event in November of 2022, many of us were very actively involved in trying to raise awareness and accountability for our public schools. And the work has really been ongoing since about 2020, when many of us really came to the realization that our school systems were not providing the education that we expected. And as much as I hate to use the word assumed, that’s really where we were prior to 2020. There was an assumption that our public school systems was providing our children with an excellent education to equip them for a successful future. And it was in 2020 when we started to realize that education was really has gone off the rails. And there was a tremendous amount of focus on what you were talking about in the last hour on diversity, equity, and inclusion, you know, which, you know, when you first hear those words, and when I first heard those words back in 2020, I thought that they were well, there was good intention behind it. But really what we’ve uncovered over the last four years, not only here in Colorado, but across the nation, is that this is a direct attempt to undermine the future of our country. And quite honestly, it is one of the most detrimental programs that we’re seeing in school systems. And what is so exciting as we roll into 2025, I mean, just this huge sense of hope and expectation that there will be accountability for schools that are implementing these really horrific programs.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and I was talking with some people the last few days regarding school districts, and you really got involved there in the Cherry Creek School District. And Cherry Creek used to have this reputation as one of the best in the state and best in the country. But with this particular school board and administration, they have really changed, I would say. Yes?
SPEAKER 17 :
Oh, absolutely. Any parent that has a child enrolled in Cherry Creek School District really needs to become aware of what their actual intent is. And back the class of 2026, so next year’s seniors, they have lost the honor of valedictorian. They took the merit of valedictorian away because of this concept of equity. And that valedictorian somehow inflicts harm. So this school district that claims to be the district of excellence and historically has been, it’s a destination district. People, when I talk to people that live in the Cherry Creek School District, the number one reason they chose to live in a particular area was for the school district. And what’s so sad is that this current Board of Education, which is teacher union controlled. I mean, all of the school board members in Cherry Creek and most of the school districts across the state of Colorado are controlled by the teachers union. And I don’t think people realize the corruption in the teachers union that has occurred and the amount of control that they have over what our schools do. do and what they teach our children. So I think it’s really important because 2025 is a school board election year in the state of Colorado. We have off-year elections for school boards and municipalities, and we have an opportunity to bring common sense back into public education. And I think that’s really important because we need to restore the trust. The truth of the matter, as much as I would love to say to everybody, get your kids out of these government-run schools, The reality is that there’s just not enough availability of other choice options. And Colorado is a school choice state. We’re so excited and grateful for that. I just got the Colorado proclamation supporting school choice yesterday in my email. We’ve got a huge celebration coming up January 28th on the west steps of the Capitol celebrating school choice. And we’re inviting… every type of school to join us in that celebration. But the truth of the matter is we need to restore the trust in public education for families that have their children enrolled in these schools. And the key thing with that in 2025 is we need to spread the word that the teacher union candidates for school board are not serving the best interest of our children, the future of our country.
SPEAKER 15 :
So, Lori Gimmelstein, I think we all know public school teachers who I don’t think would push this DEI and SEL and that they really got into the profession to teach children. What’s happening to those teachers in these public school districts?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, I’ll tell you, Kim, it’s just heartbreaking. We have an incident reporting tool on our website at coloradoparents.org. And we receive incident reports every week from parents and from teachers really focusing on the DEI, the LGBTQIA plus agendas that are moving into classrooms. And I will be the first to tell you that the majority of teachers in public education want nothing to do with this. I mean, these are great teachers. We know that they have the best interest of our children. They want to teach. They’re wasting precious classroom minutes because It’s not because they want to teach this. It’s because they’re being forced to teach this. It has become a part of their performance reviews. In the Cherry Creek School District, for example, they actually put an equity officer into every school to monitor teachers to ensure that they are doing this work. Oh, yeah. And we uncovered in a Quora request that that in 2018, the current office, it’s so funny because they always rebrand their name when things are getting too tough. So originally it was, I think it was called the Office of Inclusive Excellence. And then it transitioned to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. And currently it’s the, oh goodness, there’s so many different names, but I think it’s like the Office of Community Engagement. And So they in 2018, they actually put together a working document and they highlighted what was currently happening. why it was happening and what they needed to do to change it. And what was currently happening in 2018 is that teachers were not doing the work of the Office of Equity and Community Engagement or of Inclusive Excellence back at that time. And so what they wanted to do, the reason for that was because there was nothing in place to ensure that they were doing it. So they said what their plan was, was they were going to ensure that there was an equity officer in every school to monitor and do the performance reviews of these teachers.
SPEAKER 15 :
And these officers are being paid salaries with our tax dollars, and they’re probably also going to be getting pensions, right? Yes. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 17 :
I mean, the administrative budget lines in public school districts far exceed what we see in terms of student and staff increases. And so, you know, there’s numbers out there that administrations have You know, just 80 percent growth compared to about 7 percent growth of students. And so they were looking at six figure incomes. And when you look at the Biden-Harris administration and the incentives, the grants that they gave to schools since 2020 to implement these policies and these programs, I mean, the money alone is… That’s all you have to do is really follow the dollars. But what is shocking to me and what is so upsetting and I have no forgiveness for is for these district administrators that knowingly took this money, knowingly are implementing these very harmful programs that are divisive and causing severe issues. They’re doing this to kids knowingly. And when it comes to our children… Don’t mess with our kids. And anyone that is doing that, 2025, this is a pivotal year. I would not want to be a district administrator that has done any of this in 2025. I would not want to be a school board member that has been a part of this in implementing this. We know that they will be held accountable.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and the accountability will be through the legal system, correct? Absolutely. And then also we’ll be shedding light on this. Lori, first of all, the work that you’re doing is so important. I want to continue the discussion with Lori Gimmelstein, who is a co-founder of CPAN, the Colorado Parents Advocacy Network. That’s easy for me to say. We have all these discussions because of our great sponsors. And a great… protein source for your diet and a real treat for that steakhouse experience at home is Lavaca Meat Company.
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SPEAKER 15 :
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Check out our website. That is KimMunson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You’ll get first look at our upcoming guests as well as our most recent essays. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com. That’s my New Year’s resolution is to stay on top of my emails a little bit better. The text line is 720-605-0647. And do check out the USMC Memorial Foundation website. That is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. This is the year that we should really step forward and make sure that this becomes a reality for this remodel of the Marine Memorial. And you can see what they’re going to do and help them by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That’s usmcmemorialfoundation.org. Text line is busy, 720-605-0647. And I did just want to mention this from one of our listeners. We talked with Karen Levine, Remax Realtor and sponsor of the show a little earlier. And our listener said, I would never buy a home without a good realtor, even a new home. They are well worth the money. And Lori Gimmelstein, co-founder of CPAN, Colorado Parents Advocacy Network, this listener also said, meanwhile, our kids cannot read and write and do math while we’re doing all this DEI and SEL. So you’re working on this. You mentioned that we’re going to hold these school board directors and administrators accountable. So how are you going to do that, Lori Gimmelstein?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, excitingly, we’ve been able to facilitate three lawsuits in the last 10 months directly focusing on accountability and transparency. When we started our organization, our goal was to partner with schools to help them to be accountable and transparent, to be the voice of parents, to advocate for parents. And we quickly realized that the school districts were not going to be willing to do that. And they wanted to continue to push divisive narratives into education. So we’ve been very, very fortunate through our incident reporting tool to help parents, to help teachers, to help students advocate for better outcomes. And thankfully, we’ve also been very fortunate and blessed to partner with several national law firms and some local attorneys here in the state of Colorado to really help families when they get in a situation where we have followed all of the policies, all of the steps, and the school district is continuing to disregard the parents’ right to direct the education of their child and the upbringing of their child. And then for teachers as well. So, for example, we were able to facilitate a lawsuit with the America First Legal with a dean in Cherry Creek who was wrongfully terminated for stating that he was a proud American during training. This national law firm is taking a look at our incident reports that we put together. They’re very comprehensive. And working with us, it takes months to bring a lawsuit to fruition. But it’s really happening. And with these national supporters, we’re going to be holding school districts accountable. We’re going to be holding superintendents, boards of education, principals, anyone that is pushing divisive ideology into the school accountable. Another lawsuit that we were able to successfully help facilitate is against the 27 J school district. And that is with the Center for American Liberty on behalf of the does whose child was transitioned at school behind her parents back. And we’re hopeful that through these lawsuits, we’re raising awareness. We’re going to be changing policy. We’re going to be finding legislation that’s unconstitutional and eliminating it. And then most recently, through our incident reporting tool, we received an incident report from a dad who has a 13-year-old son, and he is a divorced dad, and his ex-wife would like to transition their child. And part of their divorce agreement is an arbitrator to help with decisions that are difficult for them to make. And the arbitrator actually found with a mother that this child should start on hormone blockers and began transition. And the dad was at a loss. He had no – his rights just completely stripped from him on his child’s medical care and mental health care. And so we they only had about 30 days to file in the Boulder District Court for an appeal on this decision. With all of the evidence that is available regarding the harm caused by these gender affirming treatments, we just could not believe that an arbitrator would would find that I’m going to, yeah, approve harming a child. And so thankfully, with the help of an attorney, Ann Gill and attorney Scott Gessler, we were able to work with our partners at Do No Harm and put an appeal into Boulder District Court. And we’re really hopeful for this dad that there will be a stay on and they’ll reverse the decision and protect his son. So You know, we’ve been very fortunate to partner with all these great attorneys and law firms and national organizations like Do No Harm, as I said. There’s other organizations like the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism and Parents Defending Education. And all of these networks, all of these organizations, what’s so awesome is that we’re all coming together together. And we’re all making change happen. And I am so hopeful. I’ve just seen such a strong cultural shift over the last four years. You know, to go from going into my first Board of Education meeting to speak in front of the Board of Education, you know, during my limited, you know, two minutes. to present my issue and being called a racist and a militia leader and an anti-LGB and a book banner and all of these different things, which was so hurtful. And it’s no wonder why people were uncomfortable standing up You know, a couple years ago in speaking out because nobody wants to be called those words. But now so many people have been called those words and labeled incorrectly that the population, the general population is like, this can’t possibly be true. Not everybody I know could possibly be these things. And we’re not. We’re here to protect children. And I’m just encouraged by this cultural shift. I’m encouraged for the new administration coming in. And I think that we’re going to see a huge movement to protecting a parent’s right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. And these lawsuits are just one great avenue for us to do that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, you’re doing amazing work. Going back here, you mentioned School District 27J. What school district is that?
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s Brighton. That’s Brighton. Brighton School District.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay. And when people think it’s not happening in their school, I was talking, this was somebody from a different state, and she goes, well, I’m sure that’s not happening at my school. It is happening at many, many schools, not only in the urban area, but also in rural school districts as well.
SPEAKER 17 :
Oh, absolutely. We actually just recently were alerted through our incident reporting tool that D70 down in El Paso County, El Paso might be Pueblo. I apologize. But they there’s an organization called Trails, and this is a social emotional learning company. And social emotional learning is really originally, you know, I think the intent was was kind, like anti-bullying, teaching kindness. But it’s really transitioned and it’s really designed to. to disrupt the morals and values that you’ve instilled in your child. And what this group, this company is doing, they started in Michigan, at the University of Michigan, and tons of money is funneled into it, like through the Tithes Foundation and just organizations that we know have very left-leaning ideology. And what they did was they came into the school district, they negotiated with the superintendent, and said, we’re going to give you a $700,000 gift. to implement this SEL program. And we’ve uncovered documents where they say we’re going to go into rural school districts in the state of Colorado that have very limited means and resources, and we’re going to provide them this gift, I would call it a bribe, to implement SEL. this curriculum and teachers and parents were not notified. They were just, teachers were just given an hour training. They said, begin the implementation. And it had lots of really controversial material, including links to organizations like the Trevor project, which is, you know, touted as a LGBTQ support resource center, but it is, Such an alarming place to visit. And it even provided children with what’s called a quick exit. So they’re giving children tools to quickly exit on their school-based issued computers out of these controversial websites if their parent comes into the room. And, you know, so we were alerted to that. And, you know, thankfully, Moms for Liberty down in El Paso County, that’s headed up by Christy Davis and several other groups were able to come together. We were able to put a petition together together. And thankfully, the school did put a pause on it. But unfortunately, Weld, RE3, and Strattsburg and other rural districts have already started implementing this SEL program. So, you know, a call to action for your listeners is just go on to our website at coloradoparents.org and go to the parents tab. And there is an opt-out form that you can use to opt your child out of any of this controversial curriculum. And what we encourage parents to do is to talk to their children and say, you know, these are concepts that we do not want you engaging in at school. If somebody asks you about your gender or your sexuality or for your pronouns or your parents’ politics, Those are not things for school. And if your teacher is asking you for that, you have the right to leave that classroom. And so this opt-out form, we encourage you to send it to your principal, to all of your child’s teachers, and to put a copy in your child’s backpack. So when undoubtedly when this happens and your child is in a situation, they’re going to be geared with the knowledge that you do not want them participating in that. And then they have a copy of the opt-out form that you sent to the principal and to the teachers. So, you know, we just have to really get people engaged. I encourage all of your listeners to subscribe and become a member of CPN. Our stay updated form is on every page on our website. Just scroll down to the bottom and sign up and get our emails. We’re doing great, great things. You know, in addition to the lawsuits holding all these school districts accountable, you know, we’re hosting incredibly powerful events. Like I said earlier, on January 28th, we have Colorado’s Celebration of School Choice event. on the west steps of the Colorado Capitol with our partners at Independence Institute and Grandparents for Kids, Constituting America, the Foundation for Economic Education. And we also have coming up in April, on April 6th, tickets will go on sale at the end of January, the second part of our Rocky Mountain series on safeguarding children from gender-affirming treatment. And we have some really phenomenal panelists. We have a a clinical and legal panel talking about the ethical implications of these treatments. And then we have a family impact panel. And last year at our first part of the Rocky Mountain series, we had just about 300 people in attendance. And it’s really the cultural shift that we’re looking for in accountability in the harm that’s happening to children. And then also on May 9th, please put it in your calendar, we’ll have our first benefit gala to benefit CPAN and help support our mission.
SPEAKER 15 :
Oh, my gosh. Lori Gemmelstein, co-founder of CPAN, the Colorado Parents Advocacy Network. Amazing what you’re doing here in 2025. What’s that website one more time?
SPEAKER 17 :
ColoradoParents.org.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, ColoradoParents.org. Let’s stay in touch, keep up the great work, and love what you’re doing for our children.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, Kim. I hope you have a blessed year ahead.
SPEAKER 15 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter. You can email me at Kim at KimMunson.com as well. And thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice. We search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. I wanted to say thank you to Laramie Energy for their gold sponsorship of the show because it is reliable, efficient, and affordable energy from oil and natural gas and coal that powers our lives and fuels our hopes and dreams. And that whole industry is under control. legislative, regulatory, mainstream media attack, and that’s why we need to speak truth into these issues, and that’s what we work to do every Monday through Friday. Before we get to our next guest, one of our listeners, I’d asked the question what District 27J included, and Laurie Gimmelstein said that’s Brighton. Our listener said it also includes portions of Thornton. So thank you for that clarification. There is a vacancy committee that will be convening this Saturday here in Douglas County to determine who will fill Senator Kevin Van Winkle, who has now been elected county commissioner here in Douglas County. He’s vacating that seat. And so there will be a decision made for that seat. And on the line with me is Kim Ransom, a former state representative, and she is sitting for that vacancy committee. Kim, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Kim, and Happy New Year. Well, Happy New Year. And so this is for Colorado Senate District 30, which is primarily much of northern Douglas County. And you’ve been down at the state legislature. You know what’s happening down there. Why are you sitting for this vacancy committee to complete this term?
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, well, first of all, because I was approached by people that live in the district that wanted to make sure that Senate District 30 would be represented by somebody who was absolutely ready to start on day one and understand the flow of the bills, know the people that were down there already. Because I served in the House for eight years until I was term-limited, I know so many of the players down there. As a matter of fact, quite a few of the people that serve in the Senate now were in the House before that. And that’s on both sides of the aisle. So I have friends and connections on both sides of the aisle in the Senate. And so I’ve also watched bills go through the process. Not watched, also put bills through the process. You may remember that I… passed some pretty hefty legislation, some of which people said I wouldn’t be able to get through. But because I was able to find common ground with someone on the other side of the aisle, I was able to get bills passed that kind of weren’t expected to be passed. And I would like to continue that. Because of the timing of this, the vacancy committee is this Saturday. Session starts Wednesday. They have already done the orientation and training for new members that were elected on November 5th. And so that means that bills will start to be introduced this coming up Wednesday, less than a week from now, which means that they will hit the committee process and then be hitting the floor at mock speed. And so people that have not actually served and not have the chance to go through the mock debates and the orientation where they kind of show you the way fiscal notes work, for example, how to determine the financial impact of legislation that you’re looking at. they can literally be steamrolled, you know, as bills just start flying through on a multitude of different topics, some of which you may be expert at and some of which you may not be. And you still have to do a lot of reading very fast. I’m a fast reader. I think we’ve discussed this before that I read the bills. I was kind of a bill nerd with carrying around my JBC, that is Joint Budget Committee documents. folders and really following the money piece. And I’m good at coming up with amendments on the fly. And sometimes those were actually adopted. Sometimes they weren’t, but sometimes they were. And they at least led to a conversation. And so because of that background and experience, I can start next week, right when session starts, there will not be that steep learning curve that anybody else would have to conquer.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, what a novel idea, Kim Ransom, for our representatives to actually read the legislation that they vote on and pass. That seems like that should be a no-brainer. But when I look at, as the president of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, the volume of pages in some of these bills, these representatives don’t know what they’re voting on. And I think it’s irresponsible for anybody to vote on anything that they haven’t read.
SPEAKER 03 :
And thank you so much for what you do in cut, i.e., the Colorado Union of Taxpayers. Your work and help backing up legislators, I think, can be invaluable. And I know I appreciated it when I was serving in the House. I liked reading your analyses, especially on the budget work. I remember that budget is so complicated. Very few people truly, truly understand the way Colorado budgets dollars. And, you know, then when you have the Tabor overlay and restrictions, which, by the way, are wonderful restrictions that we need to maintain because they protect taxpayers to the best extent that we can. That budget is very, very complicated. Well, as you know, Kim, I worked on it for four years. Well, excuse me, I wrote, I was one of the six people that wrote that budget. That being said, I was always in the minority, but there were things I was able to do. There were things I was able to keep out of that budget at times to save taxpayers money.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, and so I took over as, and we’re just about out of time, as CUT president. I think just as you were termed out, one of our listeners wanted to know how you scored with CUT. Okay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Boy, I would have to take a look. Because it varied from year to year. One year I was actually named one of the cut champions. Oh, that’s a big deal. I proudly have that plaque. It hung in my office, you know, the rest of the time I served in the House. And I was very happy about that. I believe I was in probably in the 80s. OK. And that that puts that possibly the high 70s. You know, I was not down in the apps. I can tell you that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah. And we do have even Republican legislators that are challenged on that. Kim Ransom, we are just about out of time, about 40 seconds. How would you like to wrap this up as you’re sitting for this vacancy committee this Saturday?
SPEAKER 03 :
Vacancy committees are very different from regular district-wide elections that happen through the county clerk offices. This is a very specific group of people. They are activists. They are people that have been active in the party. And just because of the timing, that is who needs to make this decision. And I am – I’ve been making phone calls. I’ve been, you know, trying hard to let people know that I am, you know, the candidate that can do the job right from the beginning. And I’ll continue to say that. That being said, I think everybody running loves Douglas County, loves Colorado, and – is motivated to do well, but you need to have the skills to back that up. And so I’m excited for the opportunity and we’ll see what the voters in the vacancy committee decide to do this Saturday.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, Kim Ransom, wish you all kinds of good luck. Thank you so much. Okay, our quote for the end of the show is St. Francis of Assisi. He said, Lord, help me to live this day quietly and easily, to lean upon thy strength trustfully and restfully, to wait for the unfolding of thy will patiently and serenely, to meet others peacefully and joyously, and to face tomorrow confidently and courageously. And so, my friends, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate, listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. You are not alone. God bless you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.