Marianne Goodland at Colorado Politics lays out five takeaways from the six-day circus otherwise known as Colorado’s 2025 special session. Democrats framed the gathering as a response to a $1.2 billion revenue shortfall, blaming Trump’s tax law changes. Republicans countered that Democrats were warned about this hole for years and spent like drunken sailors anyway. In the end, lawmakers raised taxes on businesses, tapped reserves, and left the governor to swing the axe on cuts. Artificial intelligence regulation got punted, property tax fixes went nowhere, and Jesse Paul of the Colorado Sun summed it up best: Maybe the whole thing could have been an email.
Goodland’s analysis is crisp, professional, and accurate. But as always, she’s far too disciplined to say what an opinion hack like me will. This was Governor Gaslight’s (I am tired of calling him Governor Polis. Let’s address him with the title he has earned.) stage play from curtain rise to final bow.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Democrats cried “Trump broke our budget,” as if Mar-a-Lago was secretly writing Colorado’s balance sheet.
- Polis said legislators decide the bills and “the specifics,” while somehow pulling every string like a discount Broadway producer.
- Republicans were props, nothing more, trotted out so Polis could pretend the debate wasn’t already scripted.
- The “solutions” were predictable: hike taxes, raid reserves, cut students and providers. Virtue-signal programs remain untouched.
- Even journalists joked the whole six-day slog “could have been an email.” Translation: the theatre was bad, the ticket was expensive, and taxpayers got stuck with the bill.
My Bottom Line
Let’s cut the polite analysis. This was political theatre, and Polis was the puppet master. His quote, “The legislators decide what bills to pass and what to do, and the specifics,” is a masterclass in gaslighting. The deal was locked before lawmakers even showed up. Republicans and the people they represent were props in the production, nothing more than background actors for the governor’s stage-managed blame game.
The goals were clear: blame Trump and Republicans, hike taxes and fees, and walk away claiming responsibility while leaving the mess to the people who actually live in Colorado. It’s a sham, and worse, it’s deliberate chaos. Because chaos is useful – it lets politicians cover their tracks and shift blame while the Great Suburban Normie thinks the pain in their wallet and the crime on their street are just “bad luck.”
Wake up, Normie. When you can afford nothing and your streets aren’t safe, that’s not fate – it’s policy. And Governor Gaslight wants you to believe it’s anything but.
