PUEBLO — I awoke in a cold sweat one night last week. I’d had a terrible dream about federal spending cuts vs. tax increases on millionaires.

What made the dream terrible and brought on the cold sweat, however, wasn’t the still-rotten state of the economy or the trench warfare each party has adopted with regard to how to make things right. Nor was it the “occupy” protestors across the nation, or all the millionaires and corporations that pay no income taxes.

Rather, it was that, in the dream, I found myself agreeing with Bill O’Reilly. Yes, that’s right. I was agreeing the often-obnoxious Bill O’Reilly, the guy who tells other people to shut up rather than acknowledge that their opinions are equal to or in any way superior to his own.

PUEBLO – If you own a combat helmet, you might want to dust it off and keep it nearby. It won’t save your life, but it may make you feel more secure when the refrigerator falls from the sky late this month or in early October.

Now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination, I think he has to be the odds-on favorite.

Conservative Christians and Tea Party Republicans alike have expressed support for him, and if he wins the nomination, he’ll likely pull most, if not all, the votes from independents who identify with those labels.

PUEBLO – Score one for Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (R) Minn. – maybe. On the heels of the New York Legislature’s historic June 23 vote to recognize gay marriage in that state, she became the first presidential candidate to sign the FAMiLY LEADER pledge, titled “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family,” a.k.a. the “Marriage Vow” pledge.

PUEBLO – I spent a good portion of Friday, June 10, driving from Pueblo to Denver and back. It’s not my favorite journey on Colorado’s roads. I’d much rather use those hours exploring the places few vehicles and people go.

PUEBLO – As I write this, the entire nation is breathing a sigh of relief.

That’s because Republicans and Democrats have hammered out a compromise funding a budget extension that will keep the government running for another week – until April 15.