The Bad Three: In Plain English

Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 and big and ugly and complicated. But have no fear, the Bell Policy Center and ProgressNow Colorado have teamed up to explain how they would work and what they would do -- in plain English.

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[Will Miller]

These measures are so unreasonable that even conservative stalwarts like Bill Owens and Mike Rosen are strongly opposed to all three. Any rational citizen of Colorado should vote no on the Bad Three!

[coolaxer22]

These measures were put on the ballot because someone (likely Douglas Bruce) gathered the requisite number of signatures. Their mere presence on the ballot is not a statement of their quality. Perhaps a better indicator is the current polling, where each measure has around 10% in favor -- sounds like Colorado is pretty one sided in opposition.

[plusplusplusplusp]

Well, the propositions were overwhelmingly defeated. Colorado made its choice obviously.

[Dee Smith]

thank you for putting this in"plain english"... VOTE NO!!!!

[meatwad4201]

now you're missing the facts, cut the state general fund....you mean cutting stuff that required voters approval, yet loopholes allowed them to bypass that. Maybe you haven't noticed the unnecessary spending on new schools, but around Alamosa there's money being spent on new schools, rather than improving our education. I don't know where you keep getting these figures from, but 95%?! HA! You're too much. Also, it is about golf courses champ, and other tax funded businesses. Profits are king...

[coolaxer22]

In the process of calling me a narrow minded bigot, you forgot to look at the warranted evidence from respected sources that I provided supporting my position. If you had, you would have learned that the bad three would cut state general fund revenue by 25% (not pocket change) while simultaneously requiring them to backfill local education spending. Experts estimate that this would necessitate a 95% cut in all other state-provided services! This is not about your golf course, champ.

[meatwad4201]

@coolaxer22, I don't know who said 'lies' but you're obviously quoting someone you narrow minded bigot. Yes, they receive a cut of about 1.5% of their budget, which = pocket change to them. This also prevents tax funded programs, like a golf course, from being exempt from property taxes.....right now they're charging fees that are ridiculously high so most tax payers can't afford it. Our own golf course and rec center are doing this right now. I think you look more into this for you own sake.

[tonytonytee]

i will definately be voting yes on all 3 of these issues. it made me sick how many taxes that bill ritter and the democrats raised in the past 4 years. government is too corrupt to give more money. people built this great state, not government,.

[Icyglare]

OMFG, still not understanding my question. Flat out, tell me why these were put on the ballot for voting (I don't care about how many signatures, the method they used to put it on there or what nots) I want to know what are the benefits of these amendments and propositions, by knowing that I would be better able to understand why politicians think we need them

[coolaxer22]

Right, and it was exactly that logic that I am questioning. The reason they are on the ballot is because around 140,000 people signed petitions circulated by Mr. Bruce (this is less than 3% of Coloradans). I think we can both agree that it is, quite frankly, ludicrous to assume that more than a very small minority of those signers had any in-depth understanding of what they were signing. The number of signatures speaks to the external appeal of these measures, not their true value.

[Will Miller]

Reining government in is a noble goal, but I question whether these measures are the best way to put that goal into action. These measures would decimate state revenues, and make solving our current budget crisis almost impossible. In a world where state revenue decreases by billions of dollars, I think you could expect more cuts to vital social services that you and I depend on.

As I said before, these measures are simply too extreme for Colorado.