For the last four years, the Colorado State Senate, with its one-seat Republican majority, has acted as a backstop against radical Democrat proposals that passed through the lower chamber, many of which would have been signed by Governor Hickenlooper.  Starting in January, that backstop is gone, and the only question that remains is how far will Democrats go?

While reporters and television cameras are not at the state capitol these days – make no mistake – there is a lot going on.  We saw new leadership elected last week, and during the coming weeks lawmakers will be drafting bills for the new session.  While we do not know just what kind of hell Democrats will unleash, the Colorado Sun recently speculated that we could see a number of bills that passed the House in recent years, just to be killed by various Senate committees.

If past is prologue, here is some of what you can expect:

• Forced family medical leave (we thought we were trying to attract employers to Colorado?)
• Prohibit seeking salary information from job applicant (see above)
• Opening Medicaid to all (and who is going to pay for that?)
• Licensing freestanding ERs (will make things more expensive for the consumer)
• Increased setbacks for oil and gas drilling (who will compensate those mineral owners?)
• Special card to give illegal immigrants the ability to work in Colorado (what citizens will lose their jobs to cheap labor?)
• Bills to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions (pushing manufacturing out of the state)

In all, 74 bills were killed by a party line vote in the Senate “kill committee” this year.  With Democrats running unchecked next time around, look for these, and many more damaging measures to pass.

Hang on to your wallets and freedoms, Colorado, it’s about to get crazy in here.

It’s not just newly-elected Democrat Jason Crow who is rejecting Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the U.S. House. Democrat U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter also is voicing his opposition to Pelosi, which is awfully convenient since Pelosi has no real opposition at this point.

Nonetheless, Perlmutter’s opposition can signal only one thing. No, not that he’s suddenly politically courageous, that he’s running for U.S. Senate in 2020 and believes this will position him as an independent thinker.

This new development isn’t terribly surprising. If you recall, PeakNation, last year Perlmutter pulled out of the governor’s race and took back his U.S. House seat, crushing the hopes and dreams of state Sen. Andy Kerr, then-state Rep. Brittany Pettersen, and state Sen. Dominick Moreno, all of whom had jumped into the primary to follow in Perlmutter’s footsteps.

Perlmutter likely will face a crowded primary as he did in the Governor’s race, with rumors of former state Sen. Mike Johnston and Governor John Hickenlooper considering a run. Of course, that’s assuming that he could make it through an entire primary. Remember, Perlmutter got out of the Governor’s race citing a “lack of fire in the belly.”

Perhaps he will find some for U.S. Senate.

In a desperate grab for power, U.S. Rep. Diane DeGette is blatantly violating federal law by discriminating against congressional leaders.

DeGette is running for House whip and says all of the current leaders are too old.

Adding insult to injury, she incorrectly stated their ages at 79, when they are all a spry 78.

“But Nancy, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, the assistant leader, are all 79 years old. We need to have some transition planning.”

By “transition planning,” DeGette means, fire them.

Pelosi supporters argue that detractors fuel GOP talking points when hitting Pelosi’s age and that now is not the time to oust the only female at the leadership table with President Trump.

DeGette is no spring chicken herself, having celebrated her 61st birthday in July. President Trump is 72.

We’d like to remind DeGette, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, or discharge.

DeGette is technically an employer of leadership, as she holds a vote to hire or fire, so withholding her vote on the basis of age is flat-out age discrimination under federal law.

It’s important to note that Washington, D.C. is not Silicon Valley, where technology workers are snatched up fresh out of grade school.

The median age of a congressperson is 57, because running the country actually requires some serious life experience.

Meanwhile, media reports indicate DeGette’s run for the whip seat is “doomed to fail.”

Enough about 2018, let’s talk abut 2020.

How can U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, the soon-to-be lone Republican holding an office elected statewide, get reelected?

Last time we checked (Tuesday night), Coloradans still like to keep the money they earn, and that plays to Gardner’s strength.

“You saw tax increases were defeated, you saw anti-energy legislation was defeated so I feel confident the people of Colorado are going to want balance,” Garnder told KDVR.

Gardner also said Coloradans want bipartisanship, and he’s right.

One need look no further than U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s reelection campaign, when he relentlessly rode Gardner’s coattails by cosponsoring every major bill Gardner authored and adding his name to Gardner’s press releases.

See? Even Democrats want bipartisanship.

It’s also worth noting in this week’s election, Democrats won with percentages in the 50s. It’s not like Democrats ran away with the state with 60 or 70 percent of the vote.

The market corrects itself every now and again with a downturn, and the political landscape has its own version of correction by switching parties.

But just like the stock market, we expect Coloradans will rally by 2020.

After tiring of paying Gov. Polis’s tax bills, they’ll view Republicans more fondly.

Has Colorado completely shifted to the bizarro world of leftist Boulder politics of tax and ban, or were motivated voters struck with a severe case of anti-Trump fever?

We would argue the latter, and the Boulderization of Colorado is what we got in return.

Not only will we have Jared Polis, king of the Boulder liberals, as governor, but a string of leaders will follow him out of the mother ship and dominate our lives, and wallets.

Polis is the first governor ever elected from Boulder, and he will be joined in the statehouse and other leadership offices by fellow Boulder-area politicians, the Boulder Camera boldly and proudly reports.

Dianne Primavera, the lieutenant-governor-elect, is from Broomfield.

Speaker of the House KC Becker is from Boulder.

Steve Fenberg of Boulder is the new state Senate majority leader.

Boulder native Alex Garnett is the state House majority leader.

Jena Griswold of Louisville was elected secretary of state.

Lesley Smith of Boulder has a seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents.

Incoming Attorney General Phil Weiser is the former dean of the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder.

But wait, there’s more.

Stan Garnett, former district attorney in Boulder, is now being touted to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020.

Eric Sondermann, a political analyst from Denver, summed up the new Boulder World Order this way:

“The epicenter of the Democratic Party these days is on its activist fringe. It’s not the 17th Street (Denver) party that it used to be. This is a party that’s as likely to hold its meetings at the local environmental group’s headquarters as it is to hold them at the local union hall. I think Polis certainly signifies that.”

The only silver lining is, we won’t have to contend with the activist fringe protesting every perceived slight, and constant rallies that signify and accomplish nothing.

The downfall — and it’s a long drop — is the activist fringe will actually have to govern and show leadership instead of constant rage and temper tantrums.

Good luck with that.

Rational folks might think a decisive defeat of a ballot measure by the voters rejecting setbacks on oil and gas is a pretty solid message.

But not for Governor-elect Jared Polis. In his eyes, the voters’ answer equals indecisiveness and therefore his government should do something about it.

If only the same could be said for the governor’s race.

Polis told 9News that decisive victory for the energy industry has actually created uncertainty for them, because he means to bleed the companies dry by forcing them to keep holding that election over and over every cycle, or do what Polis wants.

And Polis wants 2,000-foot setbacks, not the 2,500-foot setback that was put to voters in Proposition 112.

“So yes, we want to find a way where we empower local communities to have a seat at that table, that we have larger setbacks, unless, you know, everybody agrees, meaning the landowner wants them closer, and I think that we can do that. And that will be really the challenge, to show that we can solve that, and it’s not just the environmental community and neighborhoods that are affected. I think the oil and gas industry will be at the table to help solve this too.”

Polis thinks the gas industry might be invited to his table, which will consist of environmentalists, to change the will of the voter.

So that’s how Polis intends to govern. Do what he says, or he will bankrupt you.

But don’t worry energy workers, there will be plenty of state jobs available soon for kindergarten teachers.

After Tuesday’s election, the House and Senate picked leadership for the 2019 legislative session this afternoon. Here is a complete list, in case you’re into that sort of palace intrigue.

House Republicans

House Minority Leader: Patrick Neville (Castle Rock)

Assistant Minority Leader: Kevin Van Winkle (Highlands Ranch)

Caucus Whip: Perry Buck (Windsor)

Caucus Chairwoman: Lori Saine (Firestone)

Joint Budget Committee: Bob Rankin (Carbondale)

House Democrats

Speaker of the House: K.C. Becker (Boulder)

Majority Leader: Alec Garnett (Denver)

Assistant Majority Leader: Chris Kennedy (Lakewood)

Co-Whips: James Coleman (Denver) and Jeff Bridges (Greenwood Village)

Caucus Chair: Edie Hooten (Denver)

Senate Republicans

Minority Leader: Chris Holbert (Parker)

Assistant Minority Leader: John Cooke (Greeley)

Caucus Chair: Vicki Marble (Fort Collins)

Minority Whip: Ray Scott (Grand Junction)

Senate Democrats

President: Leroy Garcia (Pueblo)

Majority Leader: Steve Fenberg (Boulder)

Assistant Majority Leader: Rhonda Fields (Denver)

President Pro Tempore: Lois Court (for now – it must be voted on by the Senate) (Denver)

Caucus Chair: Faith Winter (Westminster)

Whip: Kerry Donovan (Vail)

Well, that didn’t take long. According to Colorado Politics, Jared Polis’ company, Jovian Holdings, has registered the domain name JaredPolisforPresident.com. In case you’re not following along at home, PeakNation™, Polis hasn’t even taken office yet and was elected two days ago.

To put it mildly, this seems premature. That said, we have always said that Polis has his eye on the White House and his overly generous donations to left-leaning organizations have less to do with ideology and more to do with paving a path for himself.

His campaign shrugged off their purchase of the URL by saying it was a way to keep trolls at bay. Sure, ok. We believe that he isn’t running for President in 2020 as his staff claims. But, 2028? Get ready America, for the first openly-gay President.

What’s funny about this entire bizarre episode is that they didn’t hide the owner of the URL, which is a standard option when buying a URL. So, either the tech wunderkind’s employees failed or they purposely left it out there for people to find.

Make of that what you will.

Now that Election Day 2018 is behind us, we can move on to the presidential races of 2020 and how Gov. Hickenlooper nearly killed his White House chances before he officially announced, again, his campaign.

This Democrat who has built a political career by catering to the whims and politically correct fancies of the mainstream media committed hari kari last week.

What could be so offensive to scribes everywhere that would cause them to turn their back on a, gasp, Democrat?

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday signed a proclamation celebrating a Denver-based law firm with ties to Saudi Arabia, weeks after suggesting the kingdom should be held accountable for their alleged involvement in the death of a prominent journalist.
It gets worse.

The “law firm” is also the lobbying powerhouse Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck where Hick’s former chief of staff works. The same lobbying firm that advises Hick on matters of great importance.

According to 9News, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has a $125,000 monthly contract with the Saudi Arabia embassy in Washington, D.C., to lobby on the government’s behalf.

This would be the same government accused of ordering the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who is believed to have been dismembered and dissolved in acid.

So on the one hand, Hick goes on CNN to condemn the killing and demand Saudi Arabia be held accountable. With the other hand, Hick writes a special proclamation hailing the Saudi government’s lobbyists.

It’s unlikely the media will forgive Hick for this sin.

But will they forget all about it once Hick’s presidential campaign finally takes flight?

Ha! Like we’re going to let that happen!

The problem with knee-jerk campaign promises, they usually come back to bite the candidate on the proverbial butt once they’re elected.

And so begins our welcome to Jason Crow, congressman-elect to the 6th Congressional District.

Crow broke his promise not to accept money from corporations about 60 seconds after making the pledge during his campaign.

And now another broken promise looms on the horizon — will he vote for Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker?

Crow promised he would not, and we suspect that promise came after Pelosi’s second-in-command paid a visit to one of Crow’s Democratic primary challenger telling him to hand the crown to Crow.

That man was Steny Hoyer, who by all accounts will not challenge Pelosi for the top position.

As a matter of fact, no feasible opponent has come forward to challenge the wealthy San Fransisco Democrat who delivered on House control, including the $4 million she funneled into Crow’s campaign.

So what are Crow’s options?

“Either Jason Crow breaks his word with his first vote in Congress, or he incurs the wrath of the likely Speaker, and becomes a pariah to not only his base, but to House leadership. Not the best way to start out a congressional term,” said Kyle Kohli, Colorado’s Republican National Committee spokesperson.

If he keeps his promise, it will certainly hurt his district when they need a favor from the leader Crow spurred.

So will he break another promise? Stay tuned.