Taxation, Trust, and the American Idea of Freedom

It was Dream Team Friday on June 26, 2026, as Kim Monson welcomed Allen Thomas, Teddy Collins, Ben Williams, and Cain into the studio for a wide-ranging conversation about excessive taxation, the erosion of public trust, and Colorado’s affordability crisis. Phone guest Jay Conley shared news of a traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial bound for western Wyoming.

The Federalist Papers and the Necessity of Trust

Start listening at 46:52 – Hour 1

Allen Thomas, who teaches the show’s class on the Federalist Papers, tied the founders’ fear of an overreaching, over-taxing federal government to Colorado’s modern fiscal fights. He recalled that the latest class covered taxation and state sovereignty, and that Alexander Hamilton answered colonial anxieties by insisting the new government would not tax citizens out of their property. Monson opened the morning around the founders’ warning that excessive taxation can be used to abolish private property, a theme she has been tracing through The Communist Manifesto in the show’s book-review series.

Thomas previewed an essay he planned to publish that week, built around three experiences that convinced him how much a functioning society depends on trust. A College World Series umpire whose inconsistent calls bred suspicion, a hospital resident who gave his wife a blood thinner without consulting her surgeon, and Hamilton’s argument that citizens should trust their neighbor-soldiers all pointed to the same lesson. People cross bridges, buy groceries, and hire tradesmen on the faith that others did their jobs well. Thomas argued that the founders built government on healthy skepticism while warning against corrosive distrust, and that restoring a reasonable confidence in fellow citizens is essential to self-government. He pointed to Next Gen Marxism by Mike Gonzalez and Katharine Cornell Gorka as a map of how the country’s political thought is fracturing along oppressor-and-oppressed lines.

“We have this inherent trust in our society that is very institutional, but is also very necessary because we don’t have the time to test everything.”

Allen Thomas, Federalist Papers Instructor

Affordability, Crime, and the Second Amendment

Start listening at 59:55 – Hour 2

Teddy Collins, owner of Spartan Defense and a candidate for Colorado Senate District 4, said affordability tops the concerns he hears on the campaign trail. He called Colorado the 48th least affordable state for homes and argued that overregulation drives the cost of living while Democrats reach for price controls. Collins said the state lost 12,000 high-paying jobs last year along with the corporate headquarters of Palantir and RE/MAX, and he linked rising store prices to a crime climate that forces businesses to absorb the cost of theft.

Monson devoted part of the hour to the Colorado Union of Taxpayers and its 50th anniversary, walking through the volunteer group’s scorecard for a session that produced 714 bills and resolutions and a state budget of $46.8 billion. She and Collins warned that Proposition NN on the November ballot would loosen the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, and that a separate progressive income tax measure is gathering signatures. Collins also urged buyers to act before a new Colorado law takes effect August 1, when residents will need a permit to purchase a magazine-fed semi-automatic firearm.

“Colorado is unique, and it’s because of how overregulated we are and how soft on crime we are.”

Teddy Collins, Owner of Spartan Defense and Colorado Senate Candidate

Conserving Water and a Mother’s Enduring Faith

Start listening at 16:36 – Hour 1

Ben Williams of Benz Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling offered practical advice for a state still climbing out of drought. He explained that a silently leaking toilet flapper can waste gallons of water, that misaimed sprinkler heads and high water pressure quietly run up bills, and that failing capacitors strain air conditioners in extreme heat. A simple dye test in the toilet tank, he noted, reveals a leak within minutes.

Williams also paid tribute to his mother, who died the previous Sunday on Father’s Day. He recalled how she used scripture to raise seven children and to help him overcome a childhood struggle with reading, and how a Bible passage briefly restored her recognition during a recent visit as her memory failed. To honor her, Williams offered listeners a free quick scripture-reference guide, with a version written for women, that organizes Bible passages by everyday topics. Listeners can request a copy by calling or texting him at 303-995-1636.

“One easy way that people can find out is there a problem with my toilet, just put some food coloring or dye in the tank, check about five minutes later, and if you’ve got color in the bowl of the toilet, then you have a leak.”

Ben Williams, Benz Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling

Government Schools, Public Safety, and the Call to Vote

Start listening at 80:42 – Hour 2

Cain, founder of Task Force Freedom Northern Colorado, urged parents to take their children out of government schools, which he argued leave students unprepared in reading and arithmetic while pushing ideology. He connected public safety to the same theme, recounting how a small number of juvenile offenders cycle back onto the streets because Colorado holds only about 150 juvenile detention beds.

Cain cast the November election as the remedy, calling on listeners to study the issues, encourage friends and family to vote, and replace officials he believes have failed to protect basic rights. He returned repeatedly to the founders’ design, arguing that citizens hold the power to change the state’s direction through the ballot box.

“And so the solution is to fight these folks that go against our freedom of speech, our freedom of expression, our second amendment right, is to vote them out of office.”

Cain, Task Force Freedom Northern Colorado

A Traveling Vietnam Memorial Comes to Western Wyoming

Start listening at 100:34 – Hour 2

Jay Conley of Wyoming Welcomes The Wall That Heals called in to describe a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial coming to Star Valley in July. The wall arrives in Alpine on Tuesday, July 7, with a motorcade escort through the valley, followed by an opening ceremony on Thursday with Governor Mark Gordon and round-the-clock public tours through Sunday afternoon.

Conley said his team has spent thousands of hours organizing volunteers and raising money so that veterans who cannot travel to Washington, D.C., for reasons of health or cost can visit the memorial close to home. He invited listeners to donate through the project’s website or by mail to its Afton, Wyoming, post office box.

“So, yes, it was on our heart, and we have added additional fundraising funds to make sure that we can get that money put together to get those veterans here.”

Jay Conley, Wyoming Welcomes The Wall That Heals