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Sickened by the president’s post on the Reiners

Re: “Trump comments on Reiner garner outcry,” Dec. 15 news story

I was shocked and saddened to learn the news about Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. I was totally disheartened and sickened by the president’s vile posts about their deaths. Are there no lows he will dip to as he spews his hatred, only hours after the family learned of their passing? Where are the guardrails on his behavior after sundown?

This constant hateful, vile, disrespectful rhetoric oozes night after night. He reached a new bottom-feeder low with his tweets about the Reiners. Does he not think about their adult children and how they might be devastated about the loss and even more about the cruel words?

Who is not taking the phone at night or monitoring what he’s sending? The First Amendment says you have the right to say things, but what about the kindergarten rule — “Is it true? Is it kind? Will it make someone feel better?”

He wants the Nobel Peace Prize … well, he should start acting like someone deserving of it, not like a spoiled teenager mad at the rules.

Cheryl Brungardt, Wheat Ridge

Please, GOP, get that monstrous lunatic out of our White House. His pernicious desecration of the Reiners after their tragic murder is a bridge too far. Get him out.

Jim Chaney, Denver

White-collar criminals cause significant harm

Re: “Take it easy on white-collar criminals,” Dec. 13 letter to the editor

One day in 1980, as a young staff accountant, when I asked our small company’s VP of finance about a wooden box on his desk that said “The Secret to Success,” he lifted the lid, and inside it said “Hard Work.” During an audit the following year, my co-worker and I discovered that the same gentleman had embezzled a hefty amount from our company.

So I take a little different view about white-collar crime in our country: throw the book at these criminals. The opportunity for harm is much more significant. Whether the victim is a person, business, church, non-profit, etc., has no bearing on the type of restitution.

The freedoms allowed by a democratic society naturally also create greater opportunities for fraud. I am not talking about the fake “frauds” we saw chased down by President Trump’s DOGE unit headed by Elon Musk (which, by the way, has silently closed down), and are of a whole different discussion. I refer to real crimes against real members of American society and the pilfering of hard-earned assets or savings.

Financial penalties and community service, in some instances, certainly are appropriate. However, to impose this type of punishment across the board over more harsh treatment, even at a higher cost to taxpayers, in the long run represents a detriment to how we enforce our laws.

It is an outrage that many such criminals still go free, receive a slap on the wrist, or are pardoned. Tina Peters and Rod Blagojevich set out to enrich themselves, in my view, and justice was fairly handed out; unfortunately, one was let off the hook.

Gary Rauchenecker, Golden

CPR listeners: It is time for a new old tune

Every year, I participate in the Colorado Public Radio Classical Carol Countdown.  This year, for the umpteenth time, “Carol of the Bells” was the winning song. For the life of me, I cannot understand why this carol has won so many times.

It’s a carol that basically takes one refrain and repeats it over and over and over and over AND OVER again.  It’s so boring!  It’s so repetitive!  Can’t the voters who participate in this countdown pick something more interesting or majestic?

Even the second-place carol in the countdown, “Silent Night, is a way more interesting and heartwarming holiday carol than “Carol of the Boring.”  Or how about “O Holy Night, a past champion, which is a way more majestic Christmas song than “Carol of the Snooze.”  In fact, it’s one of the most majestic songs of all time.

C’mon, Countdown voters, let’s vote with a little more imagination and music appreciation.  Dare to not be boring!

Jim Ciha, Grand Junction

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Energy consumption — balance what consumers can afford vs. what the planet can afford

Re: “War on natural gas is unfair to people like me who work hard for efficiency,” Dec. 14 commentary

Krista Kafer’s column on the war on natural gas is spot on. The increase in utility costs is outrageous. This is the icing on the cake from the Polis administration, which continues to enact regulatory costs that make living in Colorado outrageously expensive.

Gov. Jared Polis and the Democratic legislators need to rein in the Public Utilities Commission and eliminate this increase on our utility bills. The governor took on the president in telling him to focus on reducing costs during the holidays.

Well, governor, Krista’s column offers you an opportunity to do just that and eliminate this costly and unnecessary utility increase.

Jeff Jasper, Westminster

In response to Krista Kafer’s opinion on natural gas prices in Colorado, the most important issue was not considered. But first I want to commend her on all of her efficiency upgrades; all Coloradans should be implementing these logical steps.

The underlying reason for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the fact that we cannot continue to burn fossil fuels and live on a planet that can support 8 billion people. Or, closer to home, Coloradans are already experiencing the various impacts of the climate crisis. More intense wildfires, devastating drought, floods, temperature extremes, and detrimental impacts on industries such as winter sports and agriculture are becoming more impactful and will continue worsen.

Colorado cannot continue to be Colorado with a carbon-based energy supply. The Colorado General Assembly has correctly endorsed a goal to limit warming to under 1.5°C. Our transition from fossil fuels will happen, will be painful, and must happen sooner rather than later.

Tom Yeager, Broomfield

Thanks to Krista Kafer for her column. Like Kafer, I invested significant money and time to make my home more efficient. I chose to electrify because it made sense for my situation. She chose other efficiency measures that made sense for her situation. We should be cheering her on, not raising her utility bills.

It worries me to read that the state agencies tasked with managing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan recommended a more affordable 2035 goal, yet the Public Utilities Commission chose to go well beyond the state’s recommendation at the urging of Sierra Club and other advocacy organizations.

This is a time of political and economic upheaval, with sharply rising energy demand. In this moment, wouldn’t it be better to offer people a little bit of stability and economic breathing room?

I want lower-emissions energy. I want to mitigate human-caused warming. But I want our elected and appointed leaders to wisely manage that process, balancing future benefits and current impacts. I want to know that they’re willing to adjust schedules and methods where necessary as conditions change.

Climate change is big risk. So is climate policy that pushes too hard and too fast. It risks breaking the energy system, the budgets of ratepayers, and political support for cleaner energy systems.

Kathy Fackler, Durango

How does the PUC, which is not elected, make a decision that helps Xcel and hurts so many of the homeowners in Colorado? Anyone with half a brain knows that heating your house and water is cheaper with gas than with electricity. The PUC pretends that it is a regulatory body every time Xcel wants a rate increase. Xcel will ask for say a $60 million rate increase to pay for power that is inefficient and the PUC, acts tough and gives them only $59 million. That does not seem like much regulation to me.

After posting a record-breaking profit in Colorado last year, maybe it is time to stop the monopoly that has been going on for way to long and costing Colorado homeowners so much extra money for their utilities. The pretense that it is a regulated monopoly is crazy since the PUC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Xcel, at least in reality if not on paper.

Dennis Lubbers, Littleton

Grateful for a plan to right the wrongs of Citizens United

Re: “A Citizens United fix for Colorado,” Dec. 14 commentary

I was happy to see that state Attorney General Phil Weiser and state Rep. Javier Mabrey are working toward a Colorado solution to the gigantic crisis that was created by the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United that opened the floodgates for unlimited financial influence in our elections.

It is clear that the current Supreme Court is not inclined to objectively alter the current direction of our national swing to the right.  If we are going to try to drag our country back towards the democracy that was originally envisioned and intended by the Founders, the effort will likely need to start at the grassroots level.

David Thomas, Denver

Welcome technology in public safety

Re: “Using drones on 911 calls triggers privacy concerns,” Dec. 14 news story

I was delighted to see the front-page Post article about using drones for 911 calls. It’s about time the Denver Police Department increases its use of technology to provide better service for the citizens of Denver.

Whether it’s Skydio for drones, Flock for license-plate readers, Axon for body cameras, or some additional technologies on the horizon, I welcome DPD’s use of any and all of these technologies for a more efficient police force and safer Denver. I would love to see more red-light cameras downtown as traffic violations seem never-ending, especially on the newly redeveloped 16th Street.

I applaud Mayor Mike Johnston and Chief Ron Thomas for standing up to the naysayers, and I personally have zero concerns about privacy.  Why would anyone want to handcuff the police from doing a better job? Welcome, everyone, to the modern world!

Don Ku, Denver

Deadly strikes on boats can’t be justified

Re: “Bleeding heart liberals prove weak on American safety,” Dec. 14 commentary

The writer alleges that “bleeding heart liberals” are “perfectly fine” with drug smuggling.  Nobody is perfectly fine with it except those profiting from it.

He fails to appreciate or acknowledge the important legal and moral distinctions between those who attempt to kill or injure us using force and violence, and those who supply us with the means to do so to ourselves.  The former are combatants, the latter, criminals.

Contrary to the writer’s assertion, there was considerable outcry over the horrible and unforgivable missile attack on the Yemen wedding party.  The extent of US involvement, if any, is disputed.  Regardless, such tragic errors must not be used to condone the deliberate murder of civilians today.  Sins of the past cannot justify those of the present.

Efforts to dissuade drug smuggling cannot be used to legitimize cold-blooded executions.  Our system of justice, and basic morality, dictate that those suspected of criminal activity be tried and convicted before being punished. Further, drug dealing is not a capital crime in our country.

Anyone alleging that President Trump seeks to protect American lives from illicit drugs must realize that it is impossible to reconcile that position with his pardon of the ex-president of Honduras, tried and convicted of enabling and profiting from smuggling literal tons of cocaine and other drugs into our country.

Stop the killing now.

Gene Westhafer, Highlands Ranch

Solutions ‘must reflect the full financial realities facing hospitals’

Re: “Colorado hospitals have the profits to help more patients,” Dec. 14 editorial

Your editorial on health care affordability raises real concerns, but it oversimplifies hospital finances and draws misleading conclusions that undermine access to care. The report cited relies on total margin figures that mask serious financial distress at many Colorado hospitals.

Colorado Hospital Association’s Q2 2025 Colorado Hospital Update shows that nearly 70% of hospitals have unsustainable margins, meaning most cannot absorb additional financial burdens without cutting services or staff. Rural hospitals face even greater strain, with more than 80% operating with minimal or no margins.

The editorial overlooks ways hospitals work together to support patients statewide. Health systems partner with rural hospitals to provide specialty and acute care while keeping care local whenever possible – and in some cases, collaboration is the only way to preserve access. Parkview Health System and Estes Park Health asked to join UCHealth after financial losses left them with few options to sustain care in their communities.

Hospitals also funded millions of dollars for a safety-net provider stabilization fund and continue to provide significantly more charity care, with 30% increases annually since 2021, as more Coloradans go uninsured. Calls for greater “transparency” ignore the 500 pages of financial information per hospital reported yearly to the state.

We share the goal of supporting patients, but solutions must reflect the full financial realities facing hospitals, or we risk reducing access to care for the very communities we aim to protect.

Jeff Tieman, Denver

Editor’s note: Tieman is president and CEO of the Colorado Hospital Association.

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