Patronage Boards, Politicized Science, and the Fight for Farm Labor

On June 18, 2025, Kim Monson tackled government accountability, scientific integrity, and agricultural labor policy with Colorado Union of Taxpayers board member Dave Evans, scientist and IPAC-EDU founder James Lyons-Weiler, and sixth-generation Nebraska farmer and rancher Trent Loos, examining how unelected boards, corrupted peer review, and misguided immigration enforcement threaten American liberty. Unelected Boards Draining Colorado Taxpayers Start listening at 17:27 – Hour 1 Dave Evans, a volunteer board member of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, reveals the alarming growth of unelected patronage boards across Colorado state government. Of the 733 bills or resolutions introduced during the legislative session, CUT took positions on 261. Evans identified 18 bills specifically targeting boards, councils, or enterprises, with 11 creating entirely new boards and 12 ultimately passing into law. The estimated budgetary impact of the enacted board legislation reaches $27 million per year, with a $5 million negative impact to TABOR refunds. Evans zeroed in on House Bill 1198, the Regional Planning Roundtable Commission, which establishes a 15-member board in the Department of Local Affairs. Appointed by state agencies rather than elected by citizens, this board relies on gifts, grants, and donations for funding, opening the door to special-interest influence. Evans warned that the board’s objectives align with progressive priorities like 15-minute cities, public transit expansion, and subsidized housing. “Citizens need to be alert to this stuff and raise issues with this. And then after these boards are enacted, keep tabs on what they’re doing and make sure that people are aware of that stuff outside of your area of influence.” Dave Evans, Colorado Union of Taxpayers Board Member Reclaiming Science from Political Capture Start listening at 30:29 – Hour 1 James Lyons-Weiler, founder of IPAC-EDU and author of the Popular Rationalism Substack, dismantles the anonymous Bethesda Declaration that accuses NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of undermining science. Lyons-Weiler argues that what the declaration’s authors actually fear is the disruption of revenue streams and the end of a culture where shortcuts on ethics went unchallenged. He pointed to the precedent set by former NIH Director Francis Collins, who advocated combining phase two and phase three vaccine trials, then denied taking shortcuts. The peer review process, Lyons-Weiler explained, has devolved from a rigorous system of independent assessment into a network of backscratching and cronyism. Drawing on his experience founding the journal Cancer Informatics, he contrasted genuine independent peer review with the rubber-stamping that characterized agencies like the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), whose 17 dismissed members each carried conflicts of interest with multiple vaccine manufacturers. Lyons-Weiler also highlighted Kennedy’s unreported declaration of an epidemic of immune dysregulation in the United States, a statement the scientist called stunning in its implications. “The problem with HHS is they, as far as we can tell, conducted zero peer review whatsoever, certainly not independent, on things that were published by the scientists that worked for the government.” James Lyons-Weiler, Founder of IPAC-EDU Immigration Enforcement and the Agricultural Labor Crisis Start listening at 72:16 – Hour 2