Wednesday, November 06, 2013
My Faith Is Restored in My Fellow Coloradoan
The Billion dollar tax hike "for the children," Amendment 66, didn't just get defeated, it was politically beaten to death. For the one or two readers outside the state, let me give some background. We voted in 1992 to require that every proposed tax hike be voted on by the public. That way, Democrats in power can't just hike taxes ever higher willy nilly. I can't tell the exact amount of money the supporters of this tax hike poured into the effort but the TV was awash in pro Amendment 66 ads for months here. All the papers supported it. They dressed it up as help for the school districts, a wonderful re-blooming of all the good things in K-12 education. Actually it was designed, because tax revenue is fungible, to bulk up the state government pension plan, called PERA, which, like most state employee plans, is woefully underfunded (or over promised depending on one's point of view). Oh, and it was a constitutional amendment. I always oppose those on the sound principal that a constitution ought not to be written seriatim by the people. Colorado's constitution is the longest in the nation and some of the recent additions contradict earlier ones. It's a huge mess. Even if it's a good amendment I vote against it. Just do laws that can be easily fixed when they cause problems.
So it went down 66 to 34. That's such a drubbing, I doubt the Democrats will try again this decade.
Oh and all the fracing bans in the 4 blue counties passed (Booo!) and the majority of the 11 red counties voted to secede from the state (Booo! but I'm laughing too) and the reform Republican School Board members two counties away survived a ton of money being spent to defeat them. (Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!). In your face, dissolute teacher's union!
UPDATE: I went with early returns regarding seceding from Colorado. Only 6 of the 11 finally voted for it.
Also, hydraulic fracturing, fracing, is safe when done competently, which is 99% of the time. If there was not several thousand feet of absolutely impermeable rock above the gas or oil formation, then the gas and oil would have seeped out completely millions of years ago. Every study conducted has said fracing is safe and there are no cases of groundwater contamination from drilling per se. There was a bad casing case and plenty of tiny spills here and there but that happens with regular drilling which was not banned by the idiot sheeple of the green counties. But the frac fluid is 95% to 98% sand and water and only a little is chemicals, most of which are as dangerous as what you store beneath your sink. This is the truth and the lefty propaganda pieces that act as if fracing was proved to be bad are not. So who, actually are the Luddites here? It's not the supporters of actual energy production through improved technology.
UPDATE 2: The tax hike failed 65-35 and the fracing ban failed in Boulder wannabe, the City and County of Broomfield. So there is some commons sense still between the Platte and the Big Thompson.
So it went down 66 to 34. That's such a drubbing, I doubt the Democrats will try again this decade.
Oh and all the fracing bans in the 4 blue counties passed (Booo!) and the majority of the 11 red counties voted to secede from the state (Booo! but I'm laughing too) and the reform Republican School Board members two counties away survived a ton of money being spent to defeat them. (Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!). In your face, dissolute teacher's union!
UPDATE: I went with early returns regarding seceding from Colorado. Only 6 of the 11 finally voted for it.
Also, hydraulic fracturing, fracing, is safe when done competently, which is 99% of the time. If there was not several thousand feet of absolutely impermeable rock above the gas or oil formation, then the gas and oil would have seeped out completely millions of years ago. Every study conducted has said fracing is safe and there are no cases of groundwater contamination from drilling per se. There was a bad casing case and plenty of tiny spills here and there but that happens with regular drilling which was not banned by the idiot sheeple of the green counties. But the frac fluid is 95% to 98% sand and water and only a little is chemicals, most of which are as dangerous as what you store beneath your sink. This is the truth and the lefty propaganda pieces that act as if fracing was proved to be bad are not. So who, actually are the Luddites here? It's not the supporters of actual energy production through improved technology.
UPDATE 2: The tax hike failed 65-35 and the fracing ban failed in Boulder wannabe, the City and County of Broomfield. So there is some commons sense still between the Platte and the Big Thompson.
Labels: Colorado Election Results 2013; More Smooth Than Rough
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:43 AM 
