"We the people" newsletter - New Leadership edition - |
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From Your ARAPAHOE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY Volume 2, Issue 1 May, 2023 Share this with a Friend! |
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IN THIS ISSUE Message from the New Arapahoe County Chair "We're Reaching Out" from the Vice Chair Colorado Legislative Updates - What happened? We the People Roared and Won! Wins and Losses - Links to New Laws and Legislative Reviews The Rise and Fall of Empires - Where is America? Assessed Property Values and Taxes Increasing - How to Protest Yours Who are the "Real Stooges"? "Gender Affirming Care"? - Let Kids be Kids Grandparents4Kids - Home-grown! Get Involved! We Love Music! Check it Out! "Connect - Engage - Strengthen" Our Website Supports You
IN UPCOMING ISSUES |
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I am so honored to have been elected as your new Arapahoe County Republican Party Chair in February. My new team has been carrying out plans to help stop the incremental loss of our freedoms and erosion of our conservative values. I’ve spent time meeting with many groups and listening to concerns and suggestions. This has led to some guiding principles for my administration and our goals of strengthening our position as Republicans. First, we must Unite the Right. We all recognize that as a Party we are divided here in our county, our state and across our nation. We may not agree on everything, but we must support one another if we are to have a chance to get our candidates elected and have a voice in our government. Let’s re-adopt Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment and not speak ill of another Republican. Second, we must Persuade the Center. In terms of registered voters, as Republicans – we are out-manned and outgunned. If we are to win elections, we need to better persuade Unaffiliated voters and reasonable Democrats. Third, we must connect with our Communities. In our current culture, often Republicans are seen through a negative lens. If we are to change that perception, we must be more engaged with the communities we want to lead. Ron Redden, our Arapahoe County Republican Party Vice Chair, and I will continue to meet with community leaders to engage and involve them. We’ll continue to work with our Party’s leaders to equip, empower and energize them. We’re planning strategies on several fronts. If you haven't already, I hope you will consider joining our "big tent" team to help bring common sense and liberty back to our communities and to our state. |
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Warm regards, Anne Anne Rowland Chair Arapahoe County Republican Party |
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"We're Reaching Out" From the Vice Chair |
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What a ride! That sums up my first few months of experience as the newly elected AC-GOP Vice Chair. Anne and I have taken on the challenge of innovating many new strategies and related tasks in the Arapahoe County Republican Party and I must say that the extensive amount of intensive work is paying off. "Outreach" and "Inclusion" are the way of the future for this county's party. Together, Anne and I, along with an ever growing number of volunteers of all ages, from multiple cultures, many races and diverse backgrounds, are diligently working to dispel any idea that we are the party of irrelevant old white males. It's no secret that the political landscape has changed significantly in recent years. Messaging that worked only a few years ago doesn't work in today's environment. That does not mean that we are changing our principles, rather we must update our way of communicating them and doing business in a digital world. We have to work together to preserve the core American principles of Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness - the three things that are antithetical to the socialism/communism of the left. I believe we all have two debts to pay. The first debt is to those that came before us and sacrificed so much and sometimes all, to give us freedom. The second debt is to those who come after us - to ensure their freedom. The yoke of freedom falls squarely on our shoulders. Whether we choose to carry that yoke or not is irrelevant. It's still our yoke. In Liberty, Ron Ron Redden Vice Chair Arapahoe County Republican Party |
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What Happened to Coloradans Under the Golden Dome? Colorado's 74th General Assembly Legislative Session From Rod Bockenfeld Colorado Republican State Representative House District 56 |
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Finally, the end of session has occurred and none to soon. The House Republicans walked out in the final hours of the session. The Democrat's bully tactics were on full display. Since the beginning of session the Democrats had their sights on destroying the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. They and a handful of Republicans caused a property tax crisis by tricking the voters into getting rid of the Gallagher Amendment. This amendment protected taxpayers from excessive property value increases. Now they are placing a new scheme on the ballot to trick people into getting rid of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. This scheme will be called Proposition HH. Proposition HH will take away citizen's Taxpayer Bill of Right's Refunds into the future. The re-directed refunds will be called property tax relief. Typical Gov. Polis, taking money out of one of your pockets and handing back to you and calling it property tax relief. The Democrats also took away protections that gun manufacturers and dealers had to prevent frivolous lawsuits. Their aim is to break this industry with lawsuits that will financially ruin the industry. Protections were put into place to protect the abortion industry in this state. The Democrats passed a law to prevent pro-life groups from advertising other alternatives. Of my five (5) years in the legislature, this was the most toxic one I have ever experienced. The Democrat super majorities have placed themselves on a power trip beyond belief. An error was discovered in a conference report on the state budget. A proper path to fix the error was laid out by the state's revisor. The Democrats decided to use a work around in order to partially fix the error for now. They can fully fix it in 9 months. This was done because fixing the budget the proper way would of given the Republican's to much say. So, even though the Colorado State Constitution says we must have a BALANCED BUDGET, we found out that it only needs to be balanced by June 30, 2024. The rules keep changing, and they keep getting away with it. Oh, by the way, the complicit media calls this error a TYPO, SCRIBNER'S ERROR, and a BLEMISH. Even though a more serious numerical mis-calculation was based on the error. I want everyone to know, I am tired and beaten down. However, I have plenty of fight left. We continue this fight for our children and grandchildren. The future we are leaving them is not pretty. God Bless! Let's ramp up and defeat Proposition HH. Let's protect our Taxpayer Bill of Rights which served us well for 30 years. LET'S PUT THIS PITIFUL LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEHIND US AND HAVE A GREAT SUMMER WITH OUR FAMILIES. I'll see you at the parades and community picnics. Rod Bockenfeld State Representative HD # 56 |
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison |
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Authored by Karen Tallentire Advocacy Volunteer - Arapahoe County Republican Party |
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Take a deep breath, and realize WE THE PEOPLE ROARED, AND WON! If you ever despaired that all-blue Colorado is lost, that your vote doesn’t count, and there is nothing you can do - think again! Our representatives are supposed to fear us voting them out of office. But even when they don’t, they still fear universal scorn, so a truly overwhelming outraged response works. Your passionate involvement in government is the most effective thing you can do. HB23-1230 - The “assault weapons” ban, earned a strong backlash in April, and was supposedly killed. But the zombie undead bill came back a couple weeks later, and had to be re-killed. SB23-213 - Likewise, Polis's pet bill aimed at "densifying" Colorado by usurping local city and county land authority and giving the state unprecedented (and probably unconstitutional) control over municipal and county jurisdictions, died when outraged citizens realized it could quintuple the number of people (and cars, and traffic) in neighborhoods, and local officials (look how many) realized the state was grabbing land decisions away from them. Your Centennial City Council and County Commissioners aggressively fought to kill this atrocity. This bill was so unpopular all round, and was so Bad that it couldn’t even sneak through the chaos of the final days of the legislative session. It expired, to only the Governor's regret. We the people CAN take our country back but it is a tough fight. It requires that we find leaders that will be wise and willing to stand against corruption. |
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"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." - Thomas Jefferson |
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Links to New Laws and Reviews |
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THE CYCLE OF EMPIRES Where is America in the Cycle? |
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Sir Alexander Fraser Tytler was an eighteenth-century Scottish lawyer, judge and historian. He is credited with creating the “Eight Stages of a Democracy” which describes the natural rise and fall of democratic societies, now known as the “Tytler Cycle.” He felt that, due to human nature, these democracies or democratic republics have proven unsustainable and eventually crumble. History repeats itself because human nature does not change. Tytler was a realist and looked at history free from wishful thinking. He observed that all great nations eventually implode from internal depravity and corruption: "It is a law of nature to which no experience has ever furnished an exception, that the rising grandeur and opulence of a nation must be balanced by the decline of its heroic virtues." Most historians agree that the average longevity of the world’s great civilizations since the beginning of recorded history has been about 200 years. America is now in her 247th year of existence since her official birth in 1776. Our country’s downward spiral is all too apparent. The list of injuries to “the shining city on a hill” as President Reagan called America, grows longer daily. You can enumerate the list as well as I; lawlessness, disrespect for all forms of authority including religious, unequal application of our justice system, out of control inflation, relentless attacks on the nuclear family, misinformation and outright lies from government, distrust in all of our institutions, loss of national sovereignty including erasure of borders, radical socialism and communism masquerading as public education, the neutering of US foreign policy and military power, and the list goes on. We have pawned our future, are living on borrowed time and the bill is coming due. America now finds itself somewhere amidst the "apathy" and "dependence" phases of the Tytler Cycle. Are we about to start the cycle all over again or can spiritually anchored, courageous, and knowledgeable individuals rapidly stop the decline, redeem the American ethos and keep our nation from going into a new period of bondage ...or worse? Gary Houser Editor Credit to J.B. Shurk at American Thinker for inspiration and information for this article. |
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"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
- Abraham Lincoln |
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The Ruination of Colorado by P0LIS and his STOOGES |
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Last year Governor Jared Polis said... "We will Make Colorado a TOP 10 SAFEST STATE in the nation." |
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Our Democrat Governor is funny isn't he? Colorado hasn't become a TOP 10 SAFEST STATE ... just the opposite Polis has made Colorado one of our Nation's MOST DANGEROUS STATES! |
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Colorado Ranks at the TOP IN THE NATION FOR CRIME! #1 Auto Theft in the Nation #1 Violent Crime Victimization among 22 most populous states #2 Property Crime Victimizations #2 Fentanyl Death Rate Increase in last 2 years (up 382%) #3 Fastest Increasing Crime Rate in the Nation #4 Recidivism Rate (repeat offenses) in the Nation THANKS JARED and your fellow STOOGES! |
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“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.” - Thomas Jefferson |
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Attention Arapahoe County Property Owners Property Valuations have Dramatically Increased - Here's How to Protest Your Increase - From PK Kaiser Arapahoe County Assessor |
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Our office has mailed out the 2023 Notices of Valuation to property owners informing them of the assessed value of their property for the tax year 2023. If any property owner disagrees with the actual value, they may file a real property protest during the protest period, which runs from May 1st to June 8th, 2023. We have developed a simple and efficient online appeal system to further streamline the process, including a QR code on the Notice of Valuation for quick property record access. In addition to our pioneer online appeal system, the property owners will have options of walk-in (on a limited basis), mail, drop-box, fax, phone, and video protests. Additionally, we will set up mobile assessor camps at Heather Gardens, Heritage Eagle Bend, and Byers to make it easy for our senior citizens and remote residents of these communities. The QR code on the notice you receive will provide easy access to the online appeal system. The online appeal system is secure and easy to use, and it also offers a paperless option for those who prefer digital communication. This system will save time and resources for everyone involved, ensuring a faster resolution of protests. Protests and all assessor office related documents can also be placed in drop boxes at our office locations. See the Arapahoe County, CO - Official Website (arapahoegov.com) for these locations. Click here. We also accept property tax exemption applications from senior citizens (65 + years living at the primary residence for 10+ years) and 100% disabled veterans. Forms and instructions are here. Or go to: arapahoegov.com website, click on Departments, Assessor and scroll to: Senior/Veteran Tax Exemptions. Sincerely, PK Kaiser, MBA, MS Arapahoe County Assessor 5334 S. Prince Street, Littleton, CO |
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"We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." - Thomas Jefferson |
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‘Gender affirming care'? Let kids be kids! - OPINION - By Clayton Crouch |
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The most recent trenches in the culture wars have centered around medical gender transitions of minors. Our progressive counterparts call this “gender affirming care” and in some cases accuse those who oppose providing these medical procedures to children of being guilty of “transgender genocide.” The Senate in the Colorado legislature just submitted SB23-188, Protections For Accessing Reproductive Health Care. Don’t let the name fool you, the bill applies to “gender affirming care” procedures in addition to abortion procedures. Provisions in this bill would require insurance companies to pay for child sex reassignment surgeries as well as make Colorado a safe haven for an out-of-state parent who wants to obtain one of these procedures for their child against the will of the other parent. Let’s get one thing straight, no pun intended: We do not reject folks from the transgender experience. We also do not care what medical decisions adults make regarding their gender affirmation. We, more than anyone, can empathize with someone who grows up with the gnawing feeling that there is something that sets them apart from the majority of other children. What we cannot do is sit idly by as progressives force upon society the idea that children are inherently “transgendered.” Childhood is a confusing time for all of us, especially those of us who are different. Children are not capable of making permanent life-altering decisions with the repercussions of a gender-reassignment surgery. We don’t let children consent to sex, get tattoos or enter into a marriage contract; these decisions all have lifelong consequences — like a medical transition. Little boys who play with dolls and little girls who play with snakes might just be homosexual, if anything. Consider the cases of Chloe Cole and Layla Jane. These biological girls were given puberty blockers at 12 years old and underwent mastectomies at the respective ages of 15 and 13. Both girls are suing the doctors who counseled them to transition and are members of the growing chorus of voices called “detransitioners.” Detransitioners are folks who underwent medical gender-transition procedures who later determined that gender reassignment did not provide the affirmation they desired in life. These procedures often render the child sterile. Hormone therapy can lead to higher rates of cancer. Google “phalloplasty” and ask yourself how “natural” this procedure is? Will SB23-188 absolve Colorado medical professionals of liability if the children they transition later regret undergoing these procedures? There is very little evidence medical gender transition reduces a patient’s risk of suicide. What is the harm in waiting for the patient to reach adulthood before making such a drastic decision? Why must our political counterparts accuse us of “genocide” for opposing these procedures for children? This rhetoric is dishonest, and harmful to the goal of establishing a dialogue with the common purpose of providing needed support to these troubled children. Patients of gender transition will likely pay in excess of $1 million for medical procedures and hormone therapy in their lifetime. Given the financial windfall of transition for the medical industry, it should be no surprise that between 2009 and 2019 the United Kingdom saw a 1,000% increase in transitions for patients born male and a 4,400% increase in transitions for patients born female. At the end of 2022 the British NHS reissued guidance to enormously scale back recommendations that children experience medical transitions. At some point common sense will overcome the growing trend of medically transitioning children. But how many children will be scarred for life before our society learns the lessons from those who have already been harmed? In Washington state a bill was just passed to cover these procedures without parental consent. How far will Colorado follow the Left Coast? SB23-188 has passed the Colorado state House and is now in the Senate. We appeal to Gov. Jared Polis to veto this legislation if it makes it to his desk in this legislative session. Don’t trans away the gay. Let kids be kids. [Legislative Update - SB-188 has been signed into law by Governor Polis since the original publication of this article in ColoradoPolitics.com. We urge all concerned parents, teachers, and other community members to push their state representatives and senators for a repeal of this legislation in the next legislative session.] Clayton Crouch Clayton Crouch is interim treasurer and fundraising chair for the Log Cabin Republicans of Colorado. Log Cabin Republicans is the nation’s original and largest organization representing LGBT conservatives. Clayton lives in rural Arapahoe County and is a volunteer outreach coordinator for the Arapahoe County Republican Party. Article first appeared in ColoradoPolitics.com. Reprinted here with the author's permission. |
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"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." - Benjamin Franklin |
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Grandparents4kids is a new organization, an action group with you in mind - that is if you are a grandparent or know a grandparent. Our goal is to motivate, educate and activate grandparents to help our grandkids in their schools on a variety of fronts. Here are some important questions for you to consider. Should kids be learning sexual acts in second grade? Do their parents, our own children know about the anti-American indoctrination and sexualization that is being forced on their kids, our grandchildren? Many of our grandkids are not learning basic skills and far too many are being exposed to adult topics even in the early grades. Did you know that in the Cherry Creek School District less than half of all students are performing at grade level according to state assessments? Have you heard of the after-school program in Poudre School District in Fort Collins, that exposed 12-year-olds to the “Genderbread Person” and told if they weren’t 100% comfortable in their bodies, they might be transgender? Have you heard about the program for kindergarteners in Boulder Valley Schools that presented videos from “Queer Kid Stuff”? Do you know what books are being recommended in your grandchildren’s classrooms or what is in their school library? Do you know how to become engaged in your grandchild’s local public school? Do you want to help? |
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Our Plan To find out what is being taught at schools your grandchildren are attending To attend and speak at school board meetings To serve on school advisory committees to help form appropriate policies To join the fight against legislation harmful to our grandchildren To help elect Conservative School Board members to be the firewall of protection against the indoctrination of our kids
We all have time, wisdom and boundless love for our grand-kids. WE WANT YOU! |
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Imagine a fierce army using its heart, mind, and determination to save our grandchildren, schools and ultimately our nation. Grandparents4kids is looking for courageous enlistees who can serve as generals who will lead, officers who will speak and foot soldiers who will support the effort in any way they can and as they are needed. This is no small task. If this interests you as a grandparent, as an adult child of a willing grandparent or if you know someone who fits our descriptions and is ready to join the fray, please contact us. Grandparents, let this be part of your legacy of love to your grandchildren, a legacy which says we want our grandchildren to have the same opportunities we have had for a rich education and a love for our country which has provided us and them so much. Please heed the call and email us at; info@grandparents4kids.org and coming soon at our new website: grandparents4kids.org. Linda White CEO and Founder Grandparents4kids |
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"I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty." - James Madison |
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Join us in appreciating the music and messages of these timeless performances that may be new to you. Enjoy. B.B. King, Joan Baez and her sister Mimi Farina at Sing Sing Prison B.B. King, Joan Baez and other great artists came to New York's Maximum Security Prison, Sing Sing, on Thanksgiving Day 1972 and gave one of the best shows of their lives. B.B. called it one of his greatest performances. Joan Baez performs with her sister in one of the only recordings made of them together on stage. A filmmaker named David Hoffman was teaching filmmaking at Sing Sing and had the idea of bringing entertainers in to perform a Thanksgiving Day concert. He produced a documentary of the event from which these clips of the King of the Blues and the top folksinger of her day were taken. Click here for B.B. King Click here for Joan Baez The Mighty O'Jays - Live from Daryl's House The O'Jays helped popularize the R&B sound shortly after they formed in 1958 in Canton, Ohio. Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams and William Powell. comprised the O'Jays when they hit it big with songs like "Back Stabbers," "Love Train," "I Love Music" and "Used To Be My Girl." In 1972 the O’Jays would begin a remarkable streak of 10 number 1 singles and became music icons. The O’Jays were also groundbreaking change-agents becoming the first black R&B touring act to headline arenas setting the bar for other African-American talent to follow. "Live from Daryl's House" Daryl Hall is the first part of the famous Hall and Oates rock duo formed in 1972. The Philadelphia soul man is still achieving career milestones more than four decades later, continuing to perform with his band to sold out venues everywhere. In 2007 he started "Live from Daryl's House" in a restored large house and barn in Pawling, N.Y. which he turned into a performance and recording studio. He invites famous musicians of all genres to come and play their own songs with him and his band. He has hosted over 100 legendary and new artists including Smokey Robinson and the Mighty O'Jay's. All sessions are recorded and available on Daryl's site. Plenty of others there you might like as well. Click here for the O'Jays Live from Daryl's House (See the "Playlist" on the bottom right of the screen for all O'Jay's songs. Click on these plus click on Episodes and "Choose an Episode" to listen to all of Daryl's guest artists.) |
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"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin |
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Connect - Engage - Strengthen |
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Our Arapahoe County Republicans Website Supports You! Our website to supports all conservatives and offers resources to help you fulfill the website's motto; Connect - Engage - Strengthen The Website includes the following sections: About Us - Features our mission, beliefs and leadership profiles Newsletter - Contains all issues of this "We the People" newsletter Calendar and Connections - Identifies groups to join and their events Resources for Conservatives - Informs, motivates, and prepares you to engage Volunteers for Liberty - That's You! We invite you to share your passion for freedom via a multitude of volunteer opportunities Contact Us - Please offer your comments and get friends to sign-up for the newsletter The website is multi-platform friendly, including; mobile phones, tablets and computers. We strive to keep it updated, fresh and helpful. We hope you will visit it and find it useful. Click the button at the bottom of this newsletter to go there. |
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A Publication of the Arapahoe County Republicans Organization. All Rights Reserved.© 2023 |
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