(Last) Week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, Governor Jared Polis joined us for his second appearance, and what a fun conversation it was! We talked about the 2023 legislative session and the many, many accomplishments of the Democratic trifecta from free community college for healthcare fields, construction, law enforcement and firefighting, new flexible scholarship programs for workforce readiness, making higher education more affordable, the Governor’s preschool program that will save families $6,000 (right in time for Davis!), buying down the negative factor i.e. fully funding K-12 education in Colorado (for the first time, ever), Special Education increases, conservation laws like renaming the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission to the Energy Management Commission because they oversee all the “underground stuff,” (not, like, MF DOOM b-sides), rapidly transitioning to a clean energy economy, why Ian is to blame for the Governor’s land use bill not making it across the finish line this session, how a lack of housing policy is bad for the environment, workforce, the economy, transportation, fairness, helping families build equity and wealth, starter/intro homes, more housing and more housing choices, transit oriented communities, what great legislators state Reps. Steve Woodrow, Iman Jodeh and Ruby Dickson are, starting fresh on the housing issue in 2024, rents in Denver skyrocketing, how housing is relatively easy (and bipartisan) from a public policy perspective (increasing supply!) but hard from a political perspective. What’s to come in 2024? More transit options, front range rail, and how to make RTD work better.
Jason aged us ALL by asking the Governor about what happened to the Colorado GOP over the past 20 years or so. They used to run “fairly normal people” and actually win some elections here and there in Colorado.
We talked about Proposition HH and II (aye-aye!), property taxes, the gaps the Gallagher Amendment left in its wake, The Colorado Option health pricing data coming in the fall, reimporting prescription drugs from Canada, the Colorado GOP’s weird agreement with the Colorado Libertarian Party, how the Governor enjoys “trolling edgelords,” which party is REALLY the party of freedom (hint, it’s not the GOP or the Libertarians), how Polis deserves a lot of credit for making “freedom” cool again for the left, how Republicans want to make the most personal medical decisions for you, from whether you’re having kids to what you’re wearing to how you express your gender.
We asked the Governor the question we’ve asked all of our other guests recently, “how would you fix the Colorado Republican Party?” The Governor told us he was “lucky it’s not [his] job to figure that out,” but how the Republican Party is now a “cult of charisma and nationalism,” and how they’re attacking staunch conservatives like Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer.
This was one of the most fun interviews we’ve had recently, and despite the fact that this newsletter is like a week late, you should listen to the episode by clicking the link above, or by finding it on your favorite podcast app here.
Besides the great interview with the Governor, Jason and I discuss how our 8th favorite member of congress from Colorado took a safe Republican district and made it a tossup all by herself! How friend of the show Dr. Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo has gotten herself an opponent in Colorado’s newest congressional race, and let’s just say...they’re not sending their best. We discuss Denver officially having a new Mayor -- with one Mike leaving and one Mike taking over. And how our own Senator Michael Bennet is out there fighting for the troops while Republican Senators are out there fighting culture wars and using our service members as pawns in their weird little game.
As always thanks for listening, thanks for reading, and thanks for telling all of your friends and family members about Colorado’s BEST and ONLY weekly political podcast. We’ll see you next time.
Episode 159: Governor Jared Polis Gets More Smarter...Again!