Colorado's Graduated Income Tax and Housing Crisis | Jarvis Caldwell

Jarvis Caldwell is the House Minority Leader in the Colorado House of Representatives, and he got there in his first term. He grew up in a trailer, went into the medical field the day after high school, then joined the Air Force and kept fighter jets flying out of Bagram. In 2010, in a bunker during a rocket attack, two airmen next to him argued over whether it was the Taliban or Al-Qaeda firing at them. Jarvis realized he didn't know the answer, and decided he had better start paying attention.

Dan opens with a confession: lots of people assume he's a Republican. He isn't. From there, the two find more common ground than either party's loudest voices would predict. Jarvis's case against the graduated income tax runs through Deion Sanders: a top recruit choosing between Texas, with no state income tax, and a higher bracket in Colorado has an easy decision. Dan's addition is that pro sports has a salary cap and business doesn't, so every great founder can go play for Texas. Site selectors, Jarvis says, find Colorado the easy sell. It's the policy and the rhetoric that scare them off.

They agree housing is a supply problem, and that faster permitting isn't a Republican idea or a Democrat idea. They don't agree on everything. When Jarvis describes the view he grew up with, that government mostly shows up with its hand out, Dan makes the case for safety nets. Plus, why young voters are drawn to democratic socialism, how to get college students into a real conversation, and how a freshman legislator who says he isn't overly ambitious ended up leading his caucus.

Learn more about Representative Caldwell and his work in the Colorado House: https://leg.colorado.gov/legislators/jarvis-caldwell

Order Dan's book — Bandwidth: The Untold Story of Ambition, Deception, and Innovation that Shaped the Internet Age and Dot-Com Boom: dan-caruso.com/book

Listen to Dan’s song Stretch: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/dancaruso/stretch

Check out music by Jason Mendelson (Jace Allen): https://www.youtube.com/@jaceallen

To nominate a founder or yourself as a future guest speaker, email: contact@loudbearproductions.com