State Senator Mark Baisley joins John Rush in-studio for the full hour to discuss his run for Colorado Governor and the broken systems he’s determined to fix. Author Scott Walter also calls in to expose the shadowy Arabella Advisors network, a multi-billion-dollar machine funding hundreds of fake grassroots nonprofits across the country. Together, they unravel how this dark money operation quietly influences state politics—including Colorado’s—and how conservative lawmakers can fight back. Mark explains his innovative proposal to fix Colorado’s broken property tax formula and shares why the current political power imbalance is failing families. If you’re ready to hear
SPEAKER 17 :
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 first. You haven’t made everybody equal.
SPEAKER 09 :
You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 12 :
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 15 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, welcome back. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Hour number two now upon us. We’ve got a couple of special guests, one on the phone, but one in studio. What’s going to be with us this whole hour? Mark Baisley, who is no, how should I say, has been a friend of mine for years and years. He used to come in and fill in for the show before he did other things. And he’s now one of our state senators, which, Mark, I appreciate you very much. And thanks for joining us during this hour.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, how fun is this is to come back and visit where, yeah, I filled in for I think there are four of you. Yeah. So, yeah, one time that that I filled in as a host and I never enjoyed it. You what you do stresses me out.
SPEAKER 07 :
And for me, it’s just second nature. But anyways, we will have marked the whole hour. We’ll get into some things that you guys can even call in on here in a little bit if you’d like to. Scott Walter joining us now as well. Scott, welcome. How are you, sir? Great to be with you. I appreciate you joining us very much. You’re the author of Arabella, The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America. We’ve had you before, and Scott, thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I’ll say, I really enjoyed being back.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, okay, so talk to us. And again, every time somebody’s on, different listeners, different people tuning in that may have not been with us the last time, so if you feel like you’ve repeated something, that’s fine. There’ll be folks listening maybe even for the first time that haven’t heard this before. So one thing I always ask is, why the book?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, because the network that is run by Arabella Advisors is a multi-billion dollar operation, and you may not know about it, but it is trying very hard to influence you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep, and again, Mark Bazley, who’s with me today, would understand that fully as well. So, Scott, you are 100% correct in what you’re saying there. Okay, so this really is a book designed to educate people, is my guess. Am I right in saying it that way?
SPEAKER 09 :
Exactly. People vaguely hear about dark money and shadowy networks and all this, but the biggest… The shadowiest that there is on either side is run by this company called Arabella, and it gets billions a year, and it also works with virtually every left-wing billionaire in the country, including a whole bunch of them with the same last name, Foundations.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Okay. So in other words, this is a organization that is, I hate to say front, but it’s basically a front. The money can come in. They decide where they want to disperse the money back out to. So let me ask you this. Is this done in a way where they can hide money? They get tax advantages for the money? Talk to us about that end of things.
SPEAKER 09 :
Sure. I should do the 20-second explanation of the arrangement of the network. Perfect. Let’s do it. So imagine a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid, you have Arabella Advisors, which is a for-profit consulting PR company. It creates and runs the things below it in the pyramid. Now, the middle level of the pyramid is half a dozen nonprofits of different legal types—charities, political nonprofits, and whatnot— And that’s where the money goes in, right? If you’re Bill Gates or you’re Zuckerberg or you’re Soros, that’s where you’re going to write the checks into those nonprofits. And then at the base of the pyramid, you have hundreds and hundreds of fake groups with wonderful names like, you know, Floridians for a Fair Shake, Secure Michigan Elections, Keep Iowa Healthy, etc. And they want you to think that those are groups of your neighbors who are, you know, all upset about something. Right. When, in fact, it’s just a logo on a website some dude in a D.C. office created.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. And by the way, their headline, for all of you listening, if you go to ArabellaAdvisors.com, the headline right on the top of the website, Scott, as you would know, but people listening don’t, we help changemakers create a better world. Sounds great, by the way.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, isn’t it swell? Well, who’s opposed to secure Michigan elections or keeping Iowa healthy?
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. Sure. Right. And it goes on to say, where others see challenge, we see change. Again, sounds great, Scott.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, yes, indeed. And if you were a left-wing billionaire, you’d probably think they were just the place for you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, why would I not want to put my money with these people knowing that, A, I don’t have time to watch over all these different things. I want to be, how should I say this? I want to give back. So I’m a billionaire. I want to give back to society. They help me get to where I’m at. And a lot of them, I think, get into even some of these guilt traps, Scott, where they feel like, well, I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to put this money someplace. I can’t spend all of this in my lifetime. My kids won’t spend it in their lifetime. My grandkids won’t spend it in their lifetime. So I might as well donate some of this away, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
Exactly. Go ahead, Mark. Hey, Scott. So this is State Senator Mark Baisley. So I serve at Colorado State Senate. And while we’re sitting in the hearing rooms when bills first get introduced, most of the time there will be some witnesses come in and testifying in favor or oppose. And a lot of the time it’s some organization, just as you described, you know, left-wing hammer holders for Jesus or whatever it is. And I’m like, what? Who are these people? They come in with such authority, and they’re really influencing my friends on the other side of the aisle. They’re all shaking their heads. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so I’ll Google them. I’ll look them up on a browser, and it looks like they’ve got 20 full-time people on staff, and they’re all well-funded, and I’m thinking… It’s a job. Yeah. After you see the 20th one of those, you go, where is all this money coming from? And I’ve since discovered that it’s coming from us. It’s coming from the voters. These are bills that are funded, that grants are given to these organizations that apply for them, and they get steered towards the left-wing organizations. Does your book address that, Scott? Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
The book does in places and then also our websites. We have capitalresearch.org and also influencewatch.org. That’s our online Wikipedia of the left. And you can look up literally thousands of groups there and activists and movements like the Green New Deal and the rest. And… Ah, because you’re totally right that, and I’ve been testifying recently, I testified three times in six weeks to Congress this last month or so, and all of them really were about federal tax dollars going to left-wing groups. that are trying to advocate and harass and the rest.
SPEAKER 04 :
I’ve been looking for you. Seriously, so some single source where I can look up all those organizations and to trace back to see what what grant pools of money coming out of Colorado’s Treasury is supplying to these people so that we can either slow that down, cut it off or get the money redirected to a worthy organizations instead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and just so you both know, and this was on purpose, by the way. So, Scott, I knew you were going to be my guest today. This was before Mark had reached out and said, hey, do you have any time this week? I’d love to come on air and talk about a few things, so on and so forth. And I said, yeah, I’ve got these particular slots. One of those happened to be when I knew you would be here. And Mark’s like, well, can I come on after Scott? I’m like, why don’t you just come on air today?
SPEAKER 09 :
at the top of the hour when scott is here knowing you two could actually probably connect because i figured mark would be uh you know you scott would be a good resource for mark is what i meant to say sure we we love to do that uh i i’ve testified and other colleagues of mine have testified in oh goodness a dozen state legislatures or not or more So we’re always happy to, or just provided research, either way. You’re right, a lot of stuff you’ll already find on influencewatch.org. And if it’s something that’s not on there that we should be looking into, we love to do that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, God bless you, John Rush, for making this connection.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I wanted to do this on purpose because I had a feeling this would work out really well. So, again, because of you, Scott, knowing what you guys do, your organization, the book, what you’re trying to get people’s – you’re trying to raise people’s awareness. The average Joe voter, you’re trying to raise their awareness to what’s going on here because in a lot of cases, Scott, you know this, and I know Mark does as well, the average person has no idea, to your point earlier, Scott, they look at these headlines or they read that it’s this organization, and it looks really great and grander, and what could be wrong with that? Well, there’s all sorts of things wrong with it because they don’t know what’s underlying.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. Sure, and the other thing is that, you know, the federal money’s, end up in state and local grant-making programs and still are funding the left. One of the examples I gave in my testimony was the Centers for Disease Control, Federal Bureaucracy, is giving out grants on AIDS education, and they gave it to Philadelphia School District, and then the Philadelphia School District hired the wonderful folks at Planned Parenthood, who of course just came and taught their gender ideology nonsense, You know, to poor kids in Philly schools. You know, we don’t even think that way on our side of the world view.
SPEAKER 04 :
We don’t. No, we don’t.
SPEAKER 07 :
We do not. No, you are exactly right, Mark. Our side, and I’ve said this for years, A, Scott, most of the people on the conservative right, not all, but most, are hardworking individuals. They’re irking out a living. They’re doing what they can. They need to do the raise their family, the little bit of spare time that they have. They might do a few things and volunteer here and there. But the reality is they’re busy. They’re trying their best to just survive. They don’t have time like the other side has because, frankly, we’re not being funded in the same way that the other side is. Am I right in saying it that way, guys?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, no kidding. I mean, just look at the fundraising in my own race for governor now and how we’re at tens of thousands of dollars each, you know, in the Republican side and the two candidates on the Democrat side, a million plus each. And it just dumps on them. That’s exactly right. It’s a whole different world.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, no, you guys are spot on. So again, it was on purpose that I had both of you here together. Scott, one more time, let’s go through. How do folks find you? A, how do they get the book? B, how do they find the website where they can do their own investigative work?
SPEAKER 09 :
Sure, the book is Arabella, A-R-A-B-E-L-L-A, and that’s at Amazon in the revised paperback edition just out this week. And then capitalresearch.org is my think tank’s website, but honestly, you’d probably like even better influencewatch.org, which, as I said, is a Wikipedia of the left.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep, I went there.
SPEAKER 09 :
I warned you, you’ll lose hours the first time you start going down the rabbit hole.
SPEAKER 07 :
I was just going to say, I’ve been looking at it even as you guys have been talking, and I could see how that could easily happen. Scott, again, thank you. You’re welcome back anytime. Anytime you’ve got an update that you think our listeners would benefit from, you’re always welcome to come back. Just reach out to AJ. He knows how to get you in touch with me. I appreciate your time today, Scott, very much. Well, it’s great to be with you and the folks in Denver. Thank you, Scott. Have a great rest of your day. We’ve got more with Mark in a moment as we come back. Golden Eagle Financial up next. Al Smith did a great interview here of late, I should say. Hang tight. We’ll come back right after that. Find Al at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 03 :
TJ here with KLZ Radio, and I’ve got Al Smith with me once again. How are you, Al? I’m doing great. How are you, TJ? Doing pretty good. We’ve been talking about retirement and all that kind of stuff, and I was just curious, what do you usually talk about with the folks that come in for retirement planning? What does that mean?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, if somebody’s close to that transition where they’re thinking about their 401k and where do you want to allocate that, where’s the best place to have that invested? And some people who were fortunate enough to have a pension will have a conversation about that, especially if it comes to selecting a survivorship option.
SPEAKER 03 :
And how does that fit with life insurance and that kind of thing, with pensions and life insurance?
SPEAKER 15 :
If someone takes a big reduction in their pension, that’s what they need to do in order to have a spouse collect part of their pension should they pass on. But that reduction in their pension will only benefit them if the primary worker dies before the spouse. Sometimes people choose life insurance instead. which may not provide quite as much financial benefit, but there’s a certainty that the money will stay in their family.
SPEAKER 03 :
And is that always a good idea to do, or how do you help folks make that decision?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, it’s kind of a long conversation to some degree, because if someone has health concerns, then selecting that survivorship option is always a good idea, because it makes it much more likely that your spouse will collect that survivor benefit. On the other hand, sometimes the other spouse may be anticipating an inheritance.
SPEAKER 03 :
That is amazing and complicated, and that’s why I lean on you to learn all about the retirement process. Al, thanks so much for joining us today. Well, you’re welcome. Tell folks how to get in touch with you.
SPEAKER 15 :
You can reach me at my office, 303-744-1128. If you get voicemail, I return those very quickly.
SPEAKER 06 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, we are back now, and we’ll spend the rest of our time this hour with Mark Baisley. Again, he is one of our state senators, also running for governor of the state of Colorado. So if you have questions for Mark, by the way, I’m sure he’s more than willing to answer some questions. So those of you that are listening, feel free to do that. Lines are open, 303-477-5600. You can text us as well. The text line, as you all know, 307-477-5600. 200 82 22 307 200 82 22 and i i hope i did a good enough job of introducing mark early on i feel like mark and i’ve known each other for about a decade or so so the reality is i’ve known mark for a very long time and has at times sat in for me and filled him when i wasn’t able to be here years ago and known mark for a long long time mark’s a great guy by the way i cannot say that enough i’m not saying that just because he’s sitting here i’ve said that openly on the show before mark’s a great guy and and i enjoy uh mark greatly so give us an update where are we at with things how’s the campaign going all those you know what does colorado need let’s throw it back to you mark thanks for having me john i know you had extended the uh the offer hey come on um but i’m not going to invite you you have to call me up that’s how i do it that’s the way and that’s always been and you know that’s been yeah and i’ll talk about that for just a moment because i think that’s really for me personally uh that’s a key thing it’s what i’ve done on this show you know i’ve been on air now for about 11 almost 12 years now yeah and even on my weekend shows i’ve never once ever made a phone call to say hey i want you on my show and that’s not an ego thing or anything like that i’ve just always felt like you know if you want on my show enough then you know what you’ll reach out and we’ll make it happen on the same token if you don’t want to then i’m not going to chase you down because no offense i got plenty of things to talk about whether you come on air or not and i may even talk about you in particular but you know if you’re a candidate or you’re somebody like that and you want to come on air then that’s great. Just reach out, and Mark knows it’s very easy. One little email, and voila, here you are. It’s not that complicated.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s simple. That was it. I just sent a text to my good old pal, John, and here I am.
SPEAKER 07 :
And it’s that easy. So for those of you that are out there listening, if there’s ever something that you’d like to cover or talk about, or you’re a politician, you’re running for office, whatever, I don’t know that I’ve ever said no to anybody running for office. In fact, there’s a law… that I can’t say no. So the reality is, yes, I have to give you airtime if you reach out to me. And that’s partially, by the way, when it comes to candidates especially. So Mark’s now, not only is he a senator, but he’s running for governor as well. Partly why, and most of you don’t know this, but I might as well do a little bit of… of explanation here. The reason why I don’t reach out is because when I do, by law, I have to give every other candidate equal rights. So Mark’s going to be with us for an hour today. Anybody else running for governor of the state of Colorado, including Weiser or anyone, I now have to, by law, give an hour to. Got it. Makes sense.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s how that works.
SPEAKER 07 :
And it’s why I personally don’t reach out because I feel like it’s, you guys, no offense, and I don’t know your time and your schedule and so on. It’s up to you to do that. Yeah. That’s how I look at it. And I want to be fair with everybody as well. And that way, if I’m not chasing someone, it makes it easier to be fair as well. So anyways, but tell us about the campaign and how things are going.
SPEAKER 04 :
Sure. So it’s, you know, as you know, I spent four years in the state house prior to moving over to the Senate three years ago. And, you know, it was early on that – and by the way, I have never served in the majority, right? We have been in the super minority for 10 years now. Yes, we have. We’ve had single-party rule in Colorado.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, we have.
SPEAKER 04 :
Which is a shame. It used to be the other way around, right? And I have thought about that. I’ve thought – because I see the number of bills that just pour through. We set a record last year, 705 bills. Unbelievable, Mark. And you just go, my goodness.
SPEAKER 07 :
Especially now, because to your point, we really, and I feel bad for you guys, and I say this openly on air all the time, and I mean this sincerely, we just don’t have enough representation there to make a whole lot of difference. Yeah, you guys are going to talk about the things you need to and try to go against some of those as much as you possibly can, but we’re in the minority.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. So whatever they want to pass, they will. And this is… This is their life. The government is their life.
SPEAKER 07 :
They eat, sleep, and drink it.
SPEAKER 04 :
They do. It’s their church. It’s their family. It’s their business. It’s how they think. It’s that whole worldview mindset and so on. That’s right. So that’s why when they control all three legs of the stool, the House and the Senate and the governor’s office—that’s how ideas become law— Then they exercise it. And that’s why we get so much. And I’m looking at it thinking, my goodness, they’re managing the people. And my goal is to manage the government as governor. And I’m asking myself, wow, with all of this stuff pouring in and they’re taking control of people’s families and sexuality, things that you go, there is no place for a government in this. Right. What did we do when we controlled everything? Did we press through big things? I could think of just one shining example, and that’s taxpayers’ Bill of Rights. Tabor. Tabor, which has stood tall for us and saved the state.
SPEAKER 07 :
Which is on the chopping block as well right now.
SPEAKER 04 :
All the time, every year, constantly. But that – if we could have reached back in time and told the Republicans in control of the House and the Senate and the governor’s office and everything else 20 years ago, 15 years ago, and say, hey, you’re going to lose this all one day. So – gear up, get some guardrails in place in the state constitution to prevent this steamrolling. And anyway, so I say that, by the way, I’m… Our minds don’t think that way, though, Mark. No, we don’t, because you don’t anticipate that that’s what it’s going to be. But I’ve been preaching this to other state senators and representatives across the U.S. I belong to a nationwide organization called the American Legislative Exchange Council. Just went to… the annual conference just last week in Indianapolis. And I say that to them. I go, okay, those of you in red states, Just get things in place to prevent, because guess what controls the topics that people can pass a law on? Nothing. Isn’t that true? You’re right. We have the limitation of the Constitution, but they blow right past that, too.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s right. I was saying, I want a law. If we ever could get back to where we have some control, and this is something that the red states need to think. I’m going to throw this at you, and I don’t know if this is able to be done.
SPEAKER 08 :
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER 07 :
But I feel like – and it might not be constitutional in and of itself – but I think every state should pass a law that if lawmakers bring an unconstitutional bill that then becomes law and then it gets fought, legally speaking, I want someone legislatively – in the legislature, I should say, maybe even the person bringing the bill initially – to be on the hook, financially speaking, for that. Because my biggest complaint as a taxpayer is I’m now spending tax dollars on that twice. Right. And that’s that’s a huge complaint that I as a taxpayer have, because in a lot of cases like some of the gun bills we’ve got right now. Yeah, I’m now paying as a taxpayer to defend a law that I didn’t agree with in the first place. And yet I’m now outside of my tax dollars going to donate money to the organizations that are now going to fight my tax dollars to bring that thing all the way to the Supreme Court to hopefully defeat said law.
SPEAKER 04 :
Not only did you not agree with it, but neither did the founders when they put together the Bill of Rights.
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct, because it’s unconstitutional in the first place. And my point is that that type of a bill in particular, I want some accountability for those because they’re unconstitutional from day one.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, and where that’s coming from in you and in me is that there’s no downside for the Democrats to introduce an unconstitutional bill.
SPEAKER 07 :
None. Zero. There is no accountability for that whatsoever.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. So I’ve been thinking this through quite a bit, too, John. And I’m thinking we need to put a measure on the ballot that would be a constitutional change that says that if that anyone of standing. So that would be any resident of Colorado could challenge a law as to its constitutionality. And loser pays. But loser pays like, I don’t know, double or triple or something. So you get an attorney to go at risk to speculate and challenge an unconstitutional Second Amendment challenge right. And yeah, let it go all the way to the Supreme Court. Rack up a big bill that they’re going to get get a big payout for. Why not? And at the same time… I would agree with that one. Yeah. And another one we could add into that is, you know, fiscal notes, where when we introduce a bill, we always cringe if our bill has a fiscal note on it, because it makes it less possible, possibility that it will pass. And that is that there are the fiscal analysts that look at our bills and say, oh, this is going to cost the state or the people this amount of money. Well, I would also like to see if someone is introducing a bill that’s likely to get challenged as to its constitutionality, that it gets a fiscal note that says, we’ve got to put $5 million aside to defend that piece of garbage you’re going to put in.
SPEAKER 07 :
I’m okay with that one as well.
SPEAKER 04 :
I get that. We need to fix this because if they wanted to mandate that everyone has to have Samsung instead of iPhones.
SPEAKER 07 :
They’re best to drive a white car. Right. There’s a great example. Every new car that sells in Colorado from now on is going to be white.
SPEAKER 04 :
There’s nothing preventing a legislator from introducing that bill and a governor to sign into law. This is crazy to me. And I’ve wondered, did the founders not think about that? Maybe they couldn’t imagine that people would behave the way they did.
SPEAKER 07 :
I think it’s that, Mark. I really feel like what you just said is correct. I think… A, I don’t think the founders thought that we’d ever get this large. That’s one thing I don’t think they ever thought of. At that time, cars didn’t exist. Travel across the ocean was a big deal. I just don’t think that they thought industrial revolution hadn’t happened yet. I just don’t think they felt like – I mean, keep in mind that when we fought the Revolutionary War, part of what enabled us to win is because – We had rifled barrels and the other side didn’t. I mean, that’s about as technologically advanced at that time as we were, as we started to play with rifling of barrels, which made the shot more accurate that the other side didn’t even had. So I don’t think they had any idea we’d ever get to the place that we are today. So I don’t think they ever thought there’d be anything as a career politician, for example. In their world, you volunteered and you gave up a lot to even go do that volunteering while you were doing it. And little did they know, they never thought in their mind you’d make a career out of being a politician. I don’t think those things, Mark, ever crossed the founder’s mind. So there were some things that I don’t want to say slipped through the crack. I just don’t think that they didn’t think about being intentional in those areas because it wasn’t something to them would ever be a problem.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think you’re validated in the closing remark of the founding document that they pledged to each other their lives, their fortune, their sacred honor. They didn’t say, and we pledged each other a nice career and a good-paying job.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine, and we’ll be here forever, which unfortunately for some politicians is – How it works. All right. We’re going to be back more with Mark Baisley. Don’t go anywhere. My coin is next. And folks, you may be sitting on a treasure trove of things that you have collected over the years. You may not even know that there’s a value there. Gold is now thirty four hundred dollars an ounce or so. And that continues to climb. So you may have a real good, solid next nest egg of things sitting around, might even be in your closet, might not even in the safe. Drag all that out. Get it appraised for free at Mile High Coin. And if you want to turn that into cash, David will help you with that. It’s coinbuyers.co or call 720-370-3400.
SPEAKER 18 :
David Gonzalez here, owner of Mile High Coin. I understand how intimidating it can be to value or liquidate a collection, especially if it was inherited. Maybe you’re just downsizing and trying to clear out some space. I’ve been in the precious metals industry for over 36 years, and in that time I’ve worked with just about every kind of person and situation you can imagine. At Mile High Coin, our goal is to educate and guide you so you walk away feeling confident and satisfied with the outcome. We help you understand the real value of what you own. We make the whole process simple and stress-free. Whether it’s jewelry, coins, high-end watches, we’re your local accredited resource for accurate evaluations and honest appraisals. For KLZ listeners, we offer a no charge, no obligation appraisal. Just go to milehighcoin.com or call 720-370-3400 to schedule an appointment. That’s 720-370-3400. I look forward to serving you.
SPEAKER 07 :
And Michael Bailey, he is our mobile estate planner. And don’t forget that your estate needs to be taken care of. We talked to Michael yesterday about that. And when you least expect it is when you need these things done. Talk to Michael today. Go to klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 14 :
Michael Bailey, the mobile estate planner, has the key to wisely protecting your college-aged kids. Think about it. If your kiddo goes off to college and gets hurt, the hospital won’t let you make decisions for them because at age 18 and above, they are technically an adult. What if they’re unconscious? Will a doctor let you make healthcare decisions for an adult and stay informed about their medical condition? No. Before they’re 18, it’s a given. You can make those decisions. But after 18, there is typically no spouse or someone already approved to legally make those crucial decisions. Michael Bailey can help make short work of a general medical or financial power of attorney for your college goer in one easy appointment. He’s got the experience and knowledge to ensure that whatever happens, you can still be a dedicated parent to your kids. Find him on the klzradio.com advertisers page and protect your kids by getting your power of attorney appointment set up today.
SPEAKER 13 :
Is your office ready for a new copier? Business Equipment Service has you covered. Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, Business Equipment Service has current model Konica Minolta and Canon copiers on sale right now. Our models have very minimal usage at a fraction of the cost of buying new. We stand behind our equipment with a 90-day parts and labor warranty, as well as a one-year or 100,000-page performance warranty. giving you the reliability you need to keep things running smoothly. Right now, get free delivery and installation when you mention this ad. Why choose us? Aside from saving thousands on high-performance copiers, we have lease options starting at $100 per month, we service and supply what we sell, we offer full service maintenance plans, fast on-site service, and remote support. For over 20 years, Business Equipment Service has helped hundreds of Colorado businesses find affordable, reliable office solutions. Visit us at besofcolorado.com or call 303-825-5664. Live and local, back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 07 :
And we are back. Rush to Reason, Debra’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. One of our candidates running for governor of Colorado, Mark Baisley, with me today. He’s also a state senator here in Colorado. And again, you guys heard early, I’ve known Mark for a very long time, have the utmost respect for Mark. We go back a long ways, and I appreciate Mark greatly. And I’m not saying that just because he’s sitting here. I mean that sincerely, and I’ve said that openly on my program. So Mark, tell us, what’s the difference between you being a candidate for governor, and I think… And I should know this, and I apologize, guys, that I don’t. I haven’t counted here of late. How many candidates on our side of the aisle do we have now? Is it eight? It is double that. It’s double that.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, so it turns out it’s free to sign up to run for governor. Okay. So people have a whim and they go, doggone it, you know. I’ll put my name on the list. Yeah, so they just sign on to the Secretary of State’s website. Okay. So I just heard – I’ve not looked it up myself, but I just heard – this morning that it’s 17.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, wow. It is double.
SPEAKER 1 :
17.
SPEAKER 07 :
More than double.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think that’s true. There’s only a couple of viables, but yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So tell us what’s different. And again, I don’t expect you to roll through all 17 names. Oh, I don’t know them. Yeah, I don’t either. But on the major scene, what separates you from the rest of the running mark?
SPEAKER 04 :
This is an enormous job. This is… Not something to do on a whim, which some of the signups certainly are. It’s kind of a whim. This is a $44 billion annual operation.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, it’s huge.
SPEAKER 04 :
It is absolutely huge. So it’s not just the philosophy. So philosophy is important, right? We want someone who has the conservative values. Patriotic, dyed in the wool. That’s what we always want. And the other folks that are running for this position that I know, that I deeply respect, hold those values. Can they run a $44 billion operation? So that’s obviously bigger than anything I’ve run, but I have run two companies. I’ve worked for Fortune 500 companies. I live in Colorado because Lockheed Martin, back when it was Martin Marietta, moved me here as an aerospace engineer and so worked in leadership there. Raytheon and so yeah you have the qualification but bigger than that for the job itself What’s been an emphasis for me in the state legislature is the economy, is trying to build economic opportunity for Coloradans. So I worked initially, my first foray into really doing that was working on the CHIPS Act, which is an attempt to bring semiconductor manufacturing out of China where we can’t trust it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Back here. Back here, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
So we got Colorado, we got it qualified for that. So we have government grants from the federal side coming into companies and to encourage them to manufacture semiconductors and even in the quantum computing, the quantum computing components as well. Yes, all that. Okay. That really put me on the radar in Governor Polis’s mind. He says, oh, a techie here, and he’s pretty technical himself and a business guy, so we’ve worked together quite a bit. So we’ve aligned, and he asked me to be the Senate sponsor for the Tech Hub for Quantum application. And so we – I did that. I sponsored that bill. And we went into big competition. There’s a big bank off between multiple states all trying to get that designation, Tech Hub designation, because it means over a billion dollars to the state. And we won that. We won that about 18 months ago. It was a big deal. I even worked with – With both our U.S. senators. I was back in D.C. along with others working with.
SPEAKER 07 :
Both Ben and Hickenlooper, both.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes. Because we were trying to train up their staff to go fight for us on site there to give us that designation. And it all worked. It all came together in a really nice way. So we won that. And so now the Silicon Valley of quantum computing is Broomfield in Boulder. It’s really centered around the physics lab of Boulder. So then, speaking of Boulder, moving on from there, then Polis says, hey, how about you jump on the board and try to bring your party over to win the Sundance Festival for Colorado? And I’m thinking, well, why would I do that? You know, I thought you’re into economic development. You’re right. It just wasn’t something I related to much. But we got to work on that together. And I pulled my side kind of, you know, kicking and screaming a little bit at first. And then they realized, wow, that’s like $2 billion of economic value to us.
SPEAKER 07 :
Like it or not, there’s still dollars going in the merchant’s pockets.
SPEAKER 04 :
John is like bringing the Super Bowl to Colorado for 10 years in a row. It really is a huge win. And we won that. We won that earlier this year. So I was all over that. Well, anyway, these things, the things that I emphasize are economics. Education that follows that, supports that. Safety, which comes in three flavors, three components. And then I want to fix our property tax problem. That can’s been kicked down the road, but I have the solution. I have introduced it as a bill, and the Democrats have rejected that. Of course. But as my good friend, former Minority Leader Paul Lundin told me, he called me up and he says, hey – That bill of yours, which I didn’t fully appreciate, he says, I just found myself – he says, I’m driving away from a meeting with one of my fire chiefs right now. He says, and I found myself arguing your idea. He says, so I’m appreciating it. You need to keep running that until you win it. And I’ll tell you what that one is. I’ll just start with that. And that is we have – A formula for calculating our property taxes, and that is a tax rate, six point some odd, I don’t remember what, but it’s set by the legislature, times the mills, the mills that represent all the special districts where your house is, your library, hospital, and so on.
SPEAKER 07 :
And those all change from county to county, city to city.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 04 :
And then times the value of your property as assessed.
SPEAKER 07 :
Is what the assessor says.
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. That last component makes no sense. And you think about this. If your property value increases 45%, which was the average a couple of years ago, that your property value would increase that much, does that mean that the library district needs 45% more money? No. No. No.
SPEAKER 07 :
In some cases, they might need less depending upon what’s going on, the trends and so on.
SPEAKER 04 :
Certainly. But what if your property value is dropped by, say, 20%, 25%? Would the fire district need 25% less revenue to run?
SPEAKER 07 :
No.
SPEAKER 04 :
No. So where’s the cause and effect? Why are those tied together? So my proposal is to remove property valuation out of that formula and replace the whole thing. And it turns out this would be a constitutional law, so it was a referred measure as a bill. Right. So we would be rewriting our state constitution. But so what? Let’s do that. And my idea is that we baseline all those special district and the counties, baseline their budgets, just like Tabor says. And you say, here’s what you had last year. You’ll get that again next year, increased by inflation and population.
SPEAKER 07 :
So in other words, if your area goes down in population, yeah, you might actually have a decrease because you’re not servicing as many people anyway, so why not? That’s right. Right? That’s right. But…
SPEAKER 04 :
But it has nothing to do with the value of your property. So why would that influence how much money you’re coughing up for them? Anyway, every time I pose this idea at a town hall, I get a line of people, you know, 10, 12 people want to talk to me about that.
SPEAKER 07 :
So I’m going to keep – We’re punishing a commercial property owners, which are the tenants of which are the customers of, by the way, because everything gets passed down to the customer that eventually buys from that particular person that’s even renting, if it would be. And then we’re also penalizing those that have more valuable homes. So we’re basically taxing the rich, quote unquote, in a way that’s not fair, if you ask me.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Am I right?
SPEAKER 04 :
No. Yes, you are right. You are right. So, yeah, we got ourselves in a mess a few years ago with another ballot measure that got rid of the governor on that. And so now and what we did last year. Gallagher went away is what you’re saying. That’s exactly right. Gallagher went away. And that was the governor.
SPEAKER 07 :
Which everybody thought was going to be a great idea. And it was awful.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it would have been okay if the legislature had followed up with putting new guardrails in there, which they never did because they never do. I can give you more and more examples. So that gets us in the mess that we’re in now. But that’s what I believe is the fix to it. What happened last year during special session, we kicked that can down the road, made an agreement that I voted against because I thought it was just poorly done, and it does not solve the problem. It just says, okay, we’re not going to have any raises for five years. Well, five years from now, four years from now. We’re right back there again.
SPEAKER 07 :
So we’re not going to gain anything at that point in time. Dan, you’re next. Go ahead. You got a question for Mark?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah. Hey, Mark. You were talking about the assessments, and I agree with that because my house sold last year. It was sold through a divorce. I was able to keep the house. So when I got my assessment this year, it was $2,000.
SPEAKER 07 :
We lost that last part. Say that again, Dan.
SPEAKER 10 :
So my house, I sold my house last year. Did you catch that?
SPEAKER 07 :
I got that part.
SPEAKER 10 :
So, yeah, so they assessed it at $210,000 more than what it was sold for, and the house is not, I don’t know how they’re coming up with their assessments, but to me it’s wrong with them wanting to increase the value of the house so that they can get more tax revenue. And to me that just doesn’t, that does not make sense because they’re, I don’t know what they base their assessments off of, but it’s, it’s, it’s not correct. That’s all I can say. And the fact is, I mean, I had it appraised. I had several appraisals. They did other appraisals and they, you know, they, I don’t know how they came up with that 210,000 based on all the appraisals that I had.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, Dan, this is Mark. So, um, That is done independent of any government entity, really, that’s doing the assessing of what the value of your property is. But my contention is that should not affect how much you’re paying in property taxes for that. It has nothing to do with that. We shouldn’t be rewarding all of the special districts directly. because our value of our property went up. It just, you know, they- Doesn’t make sense.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, they- So question I have, and Dan, you’re here listening as well. Mark, where would your baseline be? So, I mean, would everybody pay the same baseline no matter whether they live in a $200,000 house or $2 million house? How does that work?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that is a great question. So in the proposal that I made, it would be effectively means tested in that we would still use the assessed values of the properties, but only for deciding how much of the share, what is our share of that property. of that bill, that tax bill for that, for that area. So, or for that district that, that we’re sitting in. So yeah, it’s, it’s the, the person in, in the, in the condo is going to pay proportionately less than someone in, in the $10,000 or 10,000 square foot house. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah. Is that, and would that base be based upon acreage of the home that it’s on to or not? I mean, that probably goes into the, Valuation 2, right?
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s right. It would just be the valuation. So the valuation would not determine how much money is being paid to all of those special districts, only how much is your share of the bill.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, and then is the mill levy, is that decided by legislature?
SPEAKER 04 :
Nope.
SPEAKER 10 :
Or is that decided by the county? Well, it depends.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s a combination of.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s local votes. So if you live in your special districts, you live in your library district, and that will come up on the ballot as one of those 2A, 2B kind of things. Or the police will, or the fire will, or the school will, or whatever. So the people vote to tax themselves for those.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay, so then, so just… I imagine people have questions. So how is that? So your mill levy, so the state sets a percentage, correct? You said it was like currently at 6%.
SPEAKER 07 :
A percentage for what percentage of the assessment goes towards the mill. Yeah. It’s a, it’s a multiplier, but he has six point something percent. They set that. Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
So for example, let’s just use a hundred thousand dollar assessed value to make it easy.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right.
SPEAKER 10 :
So you’re saying it’s 6%. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s right around that. Yes. It’s,
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, so we’d say $6,000, right? Is that correct?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s a six.
SPEAKER 10 :
And I think…
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it’s a six… It’s what? It is a six point something percent times, not times your property value directly, but times the mills for your property. So it’s a little more complex in the formula, but a $100,000 property does not get a $6,000 property tax bill.
SPEAKER 10 :
Right, it’s based off the mills. So you’re proposing that… What you’re proposing is take away the assessed value and base it upon the mean of what houses are being sold at or the value of the houses in the district?
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. No, just take – and I had to pick a date, so I picked, I think – 2022, whatever the the budget was for your fire district, for your hospital district and so on, whatever the budget was that they lived on then. And then that’s the baseline. And then each year we we advance that by or take away by what the population is for that in that for that district. Times, well, times nothing. So that would be it. Oh, and inflation. I’m sorry. We consider both the population and inflation to increase their budget. But it would be the budget that they had the previous year plus whatever they need to compensate for inflation or new people that they’re servicing that have moved in the area. But that’s it. Don’t consider your property value. Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
So, John, you and Andy discussed this on Tuesday about compromise. So, Mark, how do you think, and I’m going to ask you, how do you think you can work with the legislature in order to get this process in place? Because you know you’re going to have people that are going to oppose it and people that probably won’t be quite on board. So how do you think you can get this pushed through as one of your priorities? Is it one of your key items you’re going to try to run on, or is it just one of the items?
SPEAKER 04 :
No, it is one of my four key items and how we do it. So there was an article written about me by Colorado Politics, which is, of course, one of the local – uh journalists groups um that a couple years ago they they wrote an article on me they they said hey we’re doing a post-mortem and i think that was uh three years ago and they said we’re doing a post post-mortem on the the session it turns out You passed more bills than just about any other legislator, and you voted no on more bills than just about any other legislator. How did you do that? And really it comes down to working respectfully with people on the other side of the aisle, not attacking their bills for – well, attacking their bills when they’re horrible, but don’t attack them. And then – um make friends with them because these are there’s a lot of really great people of course on the other side of the aisle and i have some some really great friends there well friends i’ll go to a ball game with and have and and i will ask them to to cope prime sponsor my bill so that’s what i need to do is convince one of them to take up my bill so that someone from the majority party will be a sponsor on that bill the only other way i’ll be able to do it is to have a um get petitions gathered and put it on the ballot without the legislature involved.
SPEAKER 07 :
Dan, with that, I got to run. I apologize. We got to let Mark have the last word here. We got about a minute left or so. Mark, I want to give you plenty of time to, you know, wind things up, finish things up here.
SPEAKER 04 :
I appreciate it. Well, this is a big job. I’ve been kind of doing this work already. And to the point where… I’ve got folks from the agencies, from the health department, from the IT department coming and saying, hey, I want to help you make this place better. Let’s doge my department, that sort of thing. And so it’s quite a network. It’s a quiet network of people that don’t want their names out there, of course. But I even have one that’s not quiet, one of the former chiefs of staff to Governor Polis, who has offered to help me set up my administration. Nice. So… I’m ready to go. This is important. We need to start here. We need to start with a Republican win of the governor’s office. Then we can work on in the in 2028. Then let’s work on trying to get the majority in the House and the majority in the Senate, because we’re going to need all three of those legs of the stool to reverse the damage the Democrats have done.
SPEAKER 07 :
Can’t argue that. How do folks help you out, Mark?
SPEAKER 04 :
MarkBaisley.com. And of course, you can sign up to volunteer, sign up to contribute, of course, but MarkBaisley.com.
SPEAKER 07 :
Mark, as always, I appreciate you very much. Great to see you, John. Thanks for taking time out of your day for us. I mean that sincerely. Thank you. Appreciate it very much. All right, up next, Cup Creek Heating and Air Conditioning. And, yes, if you have any problems at all with your air conditioning system, give Cup Creek a call today. Call Hunter today. KLZradio.com is where you find him.
SPEAKER 01 :
You should have Cub Creek Heating and AC on speed dial by now. We hit a heat wave every summer, and their phones are already ringing off the hook. So if you’re noticing a weird noise, a strange smell, or your system just isn’t keeping up, call Cub Creek today. They’ll come check it out with no trip charge. And it’s much better to know now than to deal with a meltdown later. Emergency calls always jump to the front, which means non-urgent appointments are already booking a week out. Summer means backyard barbecues and house guests. Don’t risk turning your next get-together into a sweat session. Schedule now and know for sure your system’s good to go. Cup Creek is different. They don’t work on commissions, so there’s zero pressure to buy something you don’t need. If it can be fixed, Hunter and his crew will fix it. Honest, reliable service every time. Don’t wait. Lock in your appointment with Rheem-certified pro partner Cub Creek Heating and AC now and stay cool all summer. Go to klzradio.com slash HVAC.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, looking for a new used car. We’ve got you covered there as well. Ridgeline Auto Brokers. And they’ve got plenty of inventory right now. And still, if there’s something that you want they don’t have, they’ll do their very best to find you that vehicle as well. Give them a call today. Go to RidgelineAutoBrokers.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
Are you in the market for a reliable car that won’t break the bank? DriveRadio’s sponsor, Ridgeline Auto Brokers, specializes in quality used cars that cost between $15,000 to $25,000, making them a great option for first-time drivers or anyone looking for a good deal. They pride themselves on providing a transparent and hassle-free car buying experience. that’s why at ridgeline they never charge a dealer fee plus all vehicles are inspected by legacy automotive a colorado select member and sponsor of drive radio for a limited time they are offering first-time customers the first oil change for only one dollar every car comes with a 30-day warranty with the option to purchase a service contract And at Ridgeline Auto Brokers, there are competitive financing options to fit your budget. If you cannot make it to the dealership in person, there are videos of all Ridgeline cars for sale on their website at RidgelineAutoBrokers.com. Call today at 303-442-4141 to schedule a test drive or visit RidgelineAutoBrokers.com. Ridgeline Auto Brokers, the smartest way to buy a car.
SPEAKER 07 :
And Roof Savers of Colorado, extend the life of your current roof, might help you out on the insurance sides of things as well. Talk to Dave today, find out exactly how that works, 303-710-6916.
SPEAKER 02 :
Think you need a new roof? Think again. With a RoofMax rejuvenation treatment, you can add up to 15 years of life to your existing roof and avoid spending thousands on a replacement. Hi, I’m Elizabeth Hart. And I’m Madison Hart. At RoofSafers Colorado, we strive to provide a high-quality roofing experience for every customer, helping you make the best decision for your roof and finances.
SPEAKER 11 :
If you’re a homeowner who has received notice of an insurance policy cancellation or are worried about the condition of your roof, we want to help. RoofMax is a 100% plant-based, bio-friendly product that rehydrates dry and minorly damaged shingles, putting new life back into your roof and helping it hold up against the Colorado elements.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let us maximize the life of your existing roof. Call us for a free assessment before filing your insurance claim.
SPEAKER 11 :
Call us today at 303-710-6916 or go to roofsaversco.com. That’s 303-710-6916 or go to roofsaversco.com to set up your free inspection and rejuvenate your roof.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, and we are back. Got a minute left. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Again, I want to say a special thanks to Mark Baisley for coming in and spending time with me. And, again, I go back a long way with Mark. And a great gentleman. He is a stand-up guy. I mean that sincerely. You will not find anybody that is more true to his word than Mark. And, again, I mean that sincerely, folks. Not that other politicians running are not that way, but I will tell you straight up, Mark is one of the good guys, and I mean that sincerely. Now, somebody else said that unless we fix all of our Democrat cheating and the voting machines and everything else in Colorado, there’s not a chance we’ll ever win another election. And while I wish not denying that totally, but I wish it were that simple, folks, it’s not. And I think Mark, if he were still here, would agree with me. This really comes down to campaigns, how they run the candidate and so on. There’s a lot bigger thing going on there. than just making sure that we have the right voting machines and that we’re not having Democrats cheat. I wish it were that simple, folks. But the reality is, and you hear me talk about this all the time, it’s not that simple. We have to run the right candidates to win elections. We have to reach into the middle, get those voters to vote for us. If we’re not doing that, we don’t have a chance of winning, period, period, period. We’ll be back. Another flower coming your way. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you. The Rich Guy.
