Author: By Miller Hudson

Miller Hudson Former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart emerged from his home on Troublesome Gulch the week before last to make an appearance at the Denver Press Club. The occasion was a signing for his latest book, “The American Republic Can Save American Democracy.” The author of a dozen previous tomes assessing the state of political…

https://denvergazette.com/opinion/hudson-hold-your-nose-vote-yes-for-affordable-housing/article_ca00570f-1df4-50b5-bb1d-f126f8adeee7.html

Miller Hudson Each time I think our politics can’t get any weirder, something comes along to dash my fervent hope we’ve hit bottom. The governor of Florida and 2024 Presidential aspirant, Ron DeSantis, dispatches anonymous operatives to San Antonio, Texas, where they recruit asylum-seeking immigrants with promises of jobs and housing in Massachusetts. Instead, he…

Miller Hudson Finding the news behind the news can demand arduous treks into the policy weeds to unveil dysfunction. It’s not uncommon to then discover idiosyncratic legislative histories that prompt bizarre behaviors within public bureaucracies. Recent reports that public defender offices across Colorado are toying with forming a union to petition for better working conditions…

Miller Hudson As we’ve become aware three alcohol initiatives will appear on Colorado’s November ballot, it’s not unreasonable to wonder why. Is there any persuasive evidence that the state’s beer and liquor regulations smother public access to alcoholic beverages? Not as far as I can see. In fact, there’s virtually no discussion of alcohol policy…

Miller Hudson On Aug. 18 my bride and I boarded a plane for the first time in three years. Over the next twelve days we visited all the New England states, encompassing a three-day reunion in Bar Harbor, Maine, and visits to high school and college friends across four states. Five days eating lobsters and…

Miller Hudson There is a waggish take on bureaucracies and bureaucrats that observes they resist reform because a powerful bureaucrat would rather see his or her agency fail as long as they can retain control. Any fix that threatens to eliminate or replace incompetent managers, however dreadful their performance, is resisted with the ferocity of…

Miller Hudson If you feel you’ve watched this movie before and if you were of voting age in Colorado at the turn of the century, then you probably did. Marilyn Musgrave was a conservative Republican from Colorado’s eastern plains who served for a decade in the state legislature, elected in 1992 — first to the House…

Miller Hudson The week before last, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which is headquartered in Colorado, held its annual summer meeting In Denver for the first time in many years. Several thousand legislators from every state, together with several thousand camp followers including legislative staff, lobbyists and vendors, joined in the tumult. Perhaps…

Miller Hudson It’s been 17 years since Thomas Frank’s book, “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” proved a political sensation. Frank, a Kansan by birth, argued that Kansans harbored a puzzling propensity for voting against their own economic interests. His jeremiad was penned before a grassroots Republican revolt against Gov. Sam Brownback’s embrace of draconian tax…