Jon Caldara

05/29/2026

Really? This much hullabaloo over Tina Peters?

We enjoy being distracted by the silliest things, don’t we? Our governor’s commutation of Peters’ sentence is just that — a silly thing.

Just as it was nonsensical for the “Free Tina Peters” crowd to act like she was Martin Luther King Jr. in a Birmingham jail, the temper-tantrum against Gov. Jared Polis’ reasonable action is equally puerile.

Tina Peters is guilty of serious crimes, and for those crimes she should be seriously punished. She is not a hero. She is not a truth teller. She did not prove elections were stolen.

In fact, her actions were an insult to the sanctity of our elections. And unlike what we do with most crime in Colorado, we actually wanted her punishment to deter others from doing it.

In trying to prove the system was rigged, she unwittingly provided evidence in the other direction. She tried to tamper with an election. She got caught. She paid a price.

But the punishment simply did not fit the crime.

No election outcome changed. No office changed hands. No voter was disenfranchised. Hell, kids shoplifting candy cause greater real-world injury than Tina did.

This is her first conviction of any crime, and it’s a nonviolent offense at that.

Meanwhile, there have been car thieves, fentanyl dealers, rapists, attackers and even killers who served less time than Ms. Peters. Yet the very people under the Gold Dome who passed laws making sure those criminals served less time than Peters are now squawking loudest about her early release.

‘Deeply’ disappointed
The entertaining part is they see no contradiction in passing laws treating real criminals one way while censuring Polis for basically following the logic they themselves created.

Not only has the Democratic Central Committee officially denounced Jared, dropping down on him all the weight of a feather, but the Colorado County Clerks Association wrote a…wait for dramatic effect…strongly worded letter expressing they were “deeply” disappointed. One has to do something truly evil to earn the “deeply.”

Shall we be honest? What Democrats are truly disappointed in is losing crazed MAGA mascot Tina Peters as a daily reminder to voters that Republicans can still out-crazy Walmart shoppers on Black Friday.

But what they forget is Colorado’s GOP will continue playing Three Stooges long after Tina is released. Maybe even more so.

It makes no sense the left’s wacko wing is piling on Polis. Tina Peters in the news only helps progressive candidates. And Polis’ commutation guarantees Tina gets nothing but airtime.

Forget Nelson Mandela’s release. The coming “Tina is finally free” celebrations will keep the Tina-palooza raging through election season. The media will breathlessly cover every irrelevant rally, interview and Tina sighting.

And voters will be continually reminded there are Trump supporters and election deniers walking among us. Maybe walking by our kids in the park or even sitting next to grandma at church.

Selective outrage
And if Democrats truly believed Polis’ commutation represented some moral collapse, you’d expect similar outrage over his other commutations.

Curiously, not so much.

As Cory Gaines pointed out in his must-read Substack, “Colorado Accountability Project,” the media might be too busy going Tina 24/7 to mention Polis also commuted the sentence of police shooter Brandin Kreuzer.

Polis commuted Kreuzer’s sentence on National Law Enforcement Memorial Day because, you know, poetry.

During a crime spree, Kreuzer fired at two Douglas County deputies from his car, hitting one.

Polis justified the commutation by citing a law that didn’t exist at the time of sentencing but now would allow a judge to impose less prison time. According to Polis, the judge surely would have reduced the sentence. Apparently our governor is now clairvoyant.

Besides that, Kreuzer helped people while in prison.

Polis didn’t speak to the victim, Deputy Todd Tucker, who had the perfectly reasonable reaction:

“I’m glad he’s helped people while he was in prison. Good for him, but it shouldn’t weigh on getting out of prison after trying to kill two police officers,” Tucker said. “I mean, I’ve been helping people for 30 years.”

Odd Democrats didn’t censure Polis for freeing a cop-shooter (Um, that was sarcasm, by the way).

Enjoy Tina Time.

If Dems truly believe Polis’ commutation represents some moral collapse, you’d expect similar outrage over his others.

05/28/2026

The Colorado Department of Revenue released 152 pages worth of fi****ms regulated under Senate Bill 003.

05/27/2026

There’s nothing stopping people on food stamps from spending their own money on whatever they want.

05/27/2026

Colorado’s expansive progressive policy agenda and practical governing constraints are on a collision course.

05/20/2026

Under SB-135, after the initial decade, the money becomes available to spend as lawmakers see fit in perpetuity

05/15/2026

Another week, another column about Colorado’s ruling class treating democracy like a state trooper treats the speed limit. It’s for other people.

I swear, I want to write about literally anything else — aliens, sports, lab-grown meat, Bigfoot opening a v**e shop in Pueblo.

But Colorado’s legislature has never been more abusive to the citizenry, or hypocritical.

The kings of Colorado
To save time, I won’t rehash the endless “No Kings,” “Trump is destroying democracy,” “our sacred duty is protecting democracy, so be happy you have us” self-promotion constantly ej******ed by Colorado’s ruling class.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s pretend every word of it is true. Let’s assume President Donald Trump wakes every morning and convenes a joint special-forces meeting to steal democracy in Colorado.

If democracy is truly hanging by a thread, then surely Colorado’s Democrat majority is heroically defending it. I mean, they say that’s their job one, next to banning ketchup packets (Senate Bill 146, seriously).

Which leaves me confused.

Because from my tiny little “just-a-citizen” brain perspective, they seem to spend an awful lot of time removing voters’ power, hiding meetings, dodging taxpayer consent and nullifying ballot initiatives.

Maybe I’m missing the advanced theory of democracy taught only in elite government seminars and overpriced Aspen retreats.

Take Senate Bill 150. It strips away two-thirds of RTD’s publicly elected board seats and replaces them with appointees.

Silly me. I thought democracy involved electing people.

But apparently true democracy is when insiders choose insiders to protect the public from the dangerous unpredictability of… the public.

Then there’s House Bill 1326, which exempts the all-powerful Public Utilities Commission from open meetings laws.

Again, I’m sure there’s a sophisticated democracy-enhancing explanation for this.

Perhaps democracy works best when the public cannot actually watch government decisions being made. Sort of a “trust us you peasants” model of self-government.

House Bill 1418 puts a “fee” on games young people play online.

Now, if it walks like a tax, quacks like a tax and drains your wallet like a tax, a normal person might call it a tax. But by labeling it a “fee,” lawmakers can dodge asking voters for permission.

Which is convenient. Because asking permission from citizens can really slow down democracy.

Even more amazing, this fee appears large enough that under existing law it should require voter approval anyway. Yet lawmakers are still trying to skip the vote.

Apparently democracy is strongest when elections are treated as optional.

Truth is optional
Then there’s Senate Bill 135, which takes your TABOR refunds. At least this one goes to the ballot. But the ballot language will say the money goes to education.

In reality, only a small fraction actually does.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but using misleading ballot language to convince voters to surrender their money feels less like defending democracy and more like a used car salesman turning back the odometer on a lemon.

Now comes the cherry on top, House Bill 1430, filed in the final chaotic moments of the session. Its purpose is beautifully simple: invalidate a citizen initiative that might appear on the ballot this fall. Kill what voters might vote for before they vote on it.

I always believed democracy meant if voters approve something at the ballot box, government respects the outcome. Isn’t that what the anger against Trump and Tina Peters is all about?

Here’s the backstory: Colorado used to dedicate sales tax revenue from automobile parts and accessories to roads. Which honestly seems reasonable, given roads are where cars generally go (Man, if I could still get away with a drunk driving joke, this would be a perfect spot).

But the legislature ended that sensible funding stream. We don’t really do road funding anymore. I don’t need to convince you of that. Instead, we currently do incentives for front-end alignment shops.

Now there’s a potential citizen initiative that might restore that road-funding mechanism. Maybe it makes the ballot. Maybe voters approve it. Maybe they don’t.

That’s how democracy is supposed to work.

But HB-1430 essentially says, “That’s cute. Your vote still won’t matter.”

If voters approve returning the road funding, with 1430 lawmakers will reduce road funding by the exact same amount.

Thankfully, Colorado is governed by people who understand democracy far better than voters do.

Thank God Colorado’s one-party rulers are here to save democracy from the voters.

Perhaps democracy works best when the public cannot actually watch government decisions being made.

05/08/2026

Democrats have introduced a bill kneecapping a road funding initiative planned to go before Colorado voters.

05/06/2026

It seems to be the notion of voter consent that keeps really keeps Colorado lawmakers up at night.

04/24/2026

Vote yes this fall if you like the idea of kissing your TABOR refunds goodbye, forever.