Republican Values on Display – Western Conservative Summit 2017  

The 2017 Western Conservative Summit (WCS) was held at the Denver Convention Center on July 21 -23 and attracted several hundred attendees to what many consider the foremost conservative political event west of the Mississippi.  I particularly enjoyed the Friday evening program that included journalist Katie Pavlich, “Freedom (for citizens) is the basis of good government. More freedom results in less government.”  and 23 year old Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, “Two questions that refute socialism – Do you trust government to spend your money wisely?  Then why would you be in favor of more government?”  The highlight of the evening was US Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke.  He shared that “The war on energy is over!”  Revenue from offshore drilling is down from $18 B/year 8 years ago to $2.4 B today.  He said “We should produce energy on our land for the benefit of everyone."  "Our great land belongs to us!”  “I work for you.”    US Senator Cory Gardner spoke and defended his position on health care.  He mentioned that we need to “Reel in overregulation" and that “We don’t need more regulations to empower the government, but more regulations to empower the people.”      More Freedom, Less Government … core Republican values.  I encourage all to attend the WCS next year and get connected with the Centennial Institute.     

P.S.  On a side note, The Denver Post and the main stream media (CBS, NBC, ABC) covered the event and the headline news was not the policy issues but the 5 or 6 protesters (rumored to be paid) that collectively had 120 seconds of stardom.  Inaccurate, misleading, and biased – Fake News at its finest (or worst). 

Tom Peterson
Chairman, Elbert County Republicans