We Voted!

We went and participated in early voting Thursday evening. With the longest Colorado ballot since 1904 and what is certain to be a contentious, high turnout election, we decided to beat the lines and vote early. Here is my recap, especially for those who are still going to vote here in Colorado.

Candidates: Although it goes against my independent streak, straight ticket Republican this year. The deception, scare tactics and voter fraud on the part of the Democrats has been terrible. Obama the Communist terrifies me. I just wish I could have voted Palin-McCain rather than McCain-Palin.

Ballot Measures: (Take a cheat sheet with you when you vote - you'll never have time to read all of them in the booth!) Since there's so many of these, I'll try and keep it short.

Colorado Amendments

46 - Yes - Colorado Civil Rights Initiative - No preferential treatment based on race, sex, or ethnicity for state hiring, education, or contracts. Well, duh!

47 - Yes - Right to Work - Outlaws agreement requiring union workers to pay union fees for union representation. Workers cannot be forced to join a union in order to get a job. You should see the scare tactics the labor unions have been using on this one... Liberty!

48 - YES - Definition of Person - Defines human life as beginning at fertilization. Let's have our policies line up with what science has been telling us for the last 20 years. At the moment of conception it is a unique human life. It's a baby!

49 - Yes - Public Payroll Standards - Ban governments from taking deductions directly from employee paychecks for any nongovernmental special interest group. See number 47, above.

50 - No - Expanded Gaming - Allow casino towns to vote on whether to increase bet limits to $100 from $5, expand hours of operation and add games. Doesn't anybody see the damage gambling does to families and neighborhoods where casinos operate?

51 - No - Sales Tax for disabled services - Increase the state sales tax (by 2 cents on every $10) to fund services for those with developmental disabilities. Either I'm a heartless monster or I think that the state already has funds for this - tied up in various pork projects and wasteful spending.

53 - Yes - Severance Tax Reallocation for Transportation - Improvements to I-70 in the mountains, which improves roads without increasing taxes. Although I think this is part of a government shell game, they're not increasing taxes to do it, and I-70 definitely needs the work.

54 - Yes - Campaign Finance Curbs - Bar sole-source government contractors and unions with exclusive bargaining powers from making contributions to political candidates. This is a "no" to graft and corruption. See 47 and 49, above.

58 - Hell No - Severance Tax - Governor Ritter's huge tax energy tax increase. And the Democrats say they don't want to tax the middle class. What the heck is this? Tax and Spend Liberalism at its finest.

59 - No - K-12 Schools Funding - Increased taxes, but the legislature spent the money this is replacing elsewhere. This is a classic tax and spend shell game. We won't vote to raise taxes for the projects they shifted the funds to, but they cry about the suffering children in the schools and everyone's heart breaks. Put the money back where it belongs and fund your pork out of your own pockets!

Referendums

L - No - Reduce the age of a Colorado legislator from 25 to 21. These knuckleheads are already inexperienced enough.

M - Yes - eliminate obsolete provisions in the state constitution about land value increases. I read the provisions. They don't make sense, so remove them. Now, keep going and keep removing laws that don't make sense or are offensive to rational citizens...

N - Yes - eliminate obsolete provisions in the constitution about intoxicating liquor. Ditto for M.

O - No - Increases the number of people required to sign petitions for constitutional amendments. Let's see, government doesn't want the people interfering with its business, so make it harder for the people to submit constitutional amendments for the rest of the people to decide on. Oh NO!

El Paso County Issues

1A. Hell NO! - 1% Sales Tax Increase - The largest tax increase in county history - *doubles* the county sales tax from 1% to 2%. They claim it's for essential and emergency services, but they're asking for way too much. Clean out the government waste and your pet projects and come back with a more reasonable request and we'll talk about it.

Colorado Springs City Ballot Issues

#200 - Yes - Rescinding Stormwater Fees - The stormwater fees aren't much, but they were an end-around of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR). If you need the money, show us your budget and convince us a tax increase is necessary. Don't try to pull a fast one and call a tax a "fee."

#201 - Yes - Rescind Non-Voter Approved Taxes - The title is pretty self-explanatory.