Election 2013: Here's My Voter Guide

Colorado's election season is here. Self-government stood a better chance of proceeding thoughtfully and responsibly, in my opinion, when most or all of our voting was done on one day, not over a three-week period. But this is the reality we have to live with now - made worse by the recent HB-1303 with its same-day registration at polling places and its scattergun distribution of mail ballots - so let's pool our best judgment as conservatives and fight on. Since friends often ask how I will be voting, or how I would vote if residing in another part of the state, I am glad to provide the following rundown on ballot questions and candidates seeking the citizens' approval when results are tallied on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013.

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Amendment 66: Would increase state income taxes about $1 billion annually, go back to a progressive tax rate instead of a flat tax, dedicate the new revenues to "improvements" in K-12 education, and lock in a fixed percentage of state revenues for school funding.

I VOTE NO: Better schools will only come from competition and choice, not from funneling more dollars to pay and pensions for teachers and educrats. America has tripled its real per-student funding to government schools since 1970 with zero improvement in test scores. State and local government in Colorado already costs too much, partly because of the very unions that are pushing this tax hike.

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Proposition AA: Would respond to last year's vote of the people to legalize recreational marijuana (RMJ) by levying upon RMJ an excise tax of 15% at the wholesale level and a sales surtax of 10% (above the existing 2.9%) at the retail level, dedicating $40 million a year from the excise tax to school construction.

I VOTE NO: New money for state and local regulation of the RMJ industry is arguably necessary, but the existing 2.9% sales tax will arguably cover that. Piling on an additional 25% tax rate is merely a revenue grab by the Democratic legislature, with much of the revenue going to unrelated purposes. Sin taxes for behavior modification aren't good policy. And the whopping take for government will only encourage black markets.

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Counties Seeking to Separate from Colorado: Commissioners in Weld, Elbert, Moffatt, and 8 other counties have asked voters to instruct them on applying to the General Assembly for permission to leave the governmental structure of Colorado and form themselves into a new state of North Colorado (or in Moffatt's case, to apply to join the state of Wyoming.

I WOULD VOTE YES: Would the legislature approve any county's motion to secede? Not as presently constituted, and probably not ever. Would the US Congress, if secession did occur, grant statehood to a new territory with vast expanse, sparse population, and two Republican senators? Again, it's scarcely imaginable. But I strongly favor the symbolic impact of numerous counties seeking to do this. I like the "vote of no confidence" message it would send an out-of-touch, liberal-dominated legislative and executive branch in Denver. I like the inversion of public debate whereby ever-bigger, ever-more-centralized government is challenged to justify itself for a change, instead of limited-government advocates always being on the defensive.

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School Board Elections

As indicated in the discussion of Amendment 66, above, government schools tend to perform poorly because teacher unions ensure they are run more for the benefit of the employees than of the customer (kids and families), by the clever strategem of packing school boards with union-picked directors. Here are the school board candidates NOT beholden to unions in several of the districts I have been watching.

Douglas County Doug Benevento Meghann Silverthorn Jim Geddes Judith Reynolds

Jefferson County John Newkirk Julie Williams Ken Witt

Denver Barbara O'Brien Mike Johnson Rosemary Rodriguez Landri Taylor

Adams 12 Rico Figueroa Debbie Christianson

Mapleton Martin Mendez Jen Raiffie

Municipal Elections

Centennial I like Kathy Turley in District 1, Brian Olson in District 3, and Cathy Noon for Mayor.

Lakewood I like Dan Smith in Ward 3 and Ramey Johnson in Ward 2.

Arapahoe County Races

Arapahoe GOP website has a complete listing of registered Republicans who are candidates in every "nonpartisan" school board or municipal race within the county. Click to their website and scroll down.

http://www.arapahoerepublicans.org

Grassroots Radio touts 'vote of no confidence'

Thanks, Ken Clark and Jason Worley, for a good discussion of the winning story line for Colorado conservatives in 2013-2014 on today's edition of Grassroots Radio, 560 KLZ. They endorsed the thesis in my recent column, "Vote of No Confidence," that the right can ride the Morse-Giron recalls to a winning streak in elections this year and next. I'll be talking about the column again on Backbone Radio, 710 KNUS, this Sunday at 530pm with Matt Dunn and Krista Kafer. Read the column here.

Clashing freedoms can coexist

Did you hear about the Jewish festival selling an exhibit table to the Christian proselytizers? Or the Catholic conference where opponents, after pitching a fit, were allowed a poster saying the Pope is the anti-Christ? Of course not. But how about the Planned Parenthood seminar where pro-lifers insisted on displaying gruesome photos of aborted babies? Or the Log Cabin Republicans gay advocacy group letting Fred Phelps advertise at their convention?

Why didn’t you hear about any of those incompatible matchups? Because the American way is freedom, fairness, tolerance as a two-way street. The American way is live and let live. Private organizations, whether religious or secular, get to choose their partners and presenters in keeping with the organization’s core values.

What you have heard about this week, though, is the Log Cabin Republicans laying on a national campaign of shaming and bullying against Colorado Christian University for asserting that same First Amendment protection – the right to choose our partners and presenters at an upcoming conference in keeping with our own core values.

Annually since 2010, CCU has hosted the Western Conservative Summit. We’re expecting 4000 delegates, 50 speakers, and 100 exhibitors this coming June 26-28. But the Summit is not about parties. It’s a freedom rally with a Christian biblical worldview.

Participants needn’t endorse that worldview, but if a group opposes it, we can’t endorse them. So the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans, with their advocacy of same-sex marriage, were turned down after applying to be an exhibit partner and making provisional payment.

We encouraged them to attend as individuals instead, then refunded the payment and explained our tenet of faith that marriage is one man and one woman. Anti-gay? No. We’ve had Tammy Bruce speak at the Summit and Mark Ferrandino speak on campus. We love everyone, gay or straight, as Jesus commands us.

To have had Log Cabin supporters from across the country calling us haters, bigots, and the Taliban in return, trying to shut down our conference, didn’t feel like the American way. We wanted to say: get a “Coexist” bumper sticker, people. We respect your sexual freedom. Please respect our religious freedom.

It makes sense for the state Republican Party to include Log Cabin as an official GOP affiliate group at their Summit exhibit booth, along with other affiliate groups for women, blacks, Hispanics, etc. That’s the party’s call, not CCU’s call – a win-win for friends of liberty and limited government. Everyone’s welcome at the Summit. See you there. ------------------- This first appeared in the Denver Post on April 18, 2015. John Andrews (AndrewsJK76@gmail.com) is a former president of the Colorado Senate and currently director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University.

School tax hike would waste your money

Referendum C set TABOR’s tax baseline at the highest amount collected between 2005 to 2010. Ref C’s big-spending advocates promised that its tax burden would last only five years. But Coloradans still pay $1 billion each year. Now our state wants Amendment 66, an additional $1 billion annually. Rather than its ever-expanding bloated budget, the state should eliminate inefficiencies and consolidate or privatize government functions.

Education consumes 37 percent of the budget, roughly $10,000 per pupil. Still, despite billions of tax dollars spent on education, pupil achievement remains essentially flat. Moreover, the state will impose more regulations, taking yet more control of their children’s schooling away from parents.

High taxes stifle the economy, reduce the amount individuals have to spend, and limit the ability of businesses to expand or to maintain employee benefits.

Amendment 66 carries a $1 billion price tag that will grow every year. Its goals cannot be measured. Colorado taxpayers deserve better.

Will Coloradans fire two legislators?

The recall elections facing Colorado state senators John Morse and Angela Giron are worth doing,says John Andrews in the July round of <em>Head On TV</em> debates. Susan Barnes-Gelt disagrees, branding the recalls an NRA-driven waste of money. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month<!--more--> over Obamacare's troubles, Liz Cheney's US Senate bid, NSA leaker Edward Snowden, and the Zimmerman verdict. <em>Head On</em> has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for July: 1. Recall Giron & Morse?

Susan: Dem. State senators Angie Giron - Pueblo & John Morse – Colorado Springs face recall elections because of their responsible votes on gun safety. Election day is September 10 – turnout will be low. Recalls are a waste of taxpayer money. National NRA’ers should foot the bill.

John: Never since 1876 have Coloradans tossed out a legislator in mid-term for breaking faith with the people they’re supposed to represent. Morse and Giron brought this on themselves by signing up with the New York gun-grabbers in disregard of grassroots 2nd Amendment values. Let the people decide.

Susan: Every elected must balance the diversity of opinion of those he or she represents with the dictates of her (or his) personal values. The ideologue luddites who control our elections, ignore that balance, imperiling democracy in the process.

John: Owning firearms for self-defense is paramount in our constitution, which Morse and Giron swore to uphold. Arguably the didn’t. Having a vote on whether they’re now fit to continue in office – which is all the recall election is – you call “imperiling democracy”? That is democracy.

2. Snowden: Patriot or Traitor?

Susan: Is Edward Snowden, the American who leaked confidential information about the US government’s domestic spying – a patriot or a traitor? Both, I’d say. He exposed serious NSA violations of the 4th Amendment – privacy, potentially risking American lives. Global espionage is dirty business.

John: Point one, the NSA is not about domestic spying. Its anti-terrorist data mining looks for impersonal patterns in the public domain, not private information. Google does the same. Point two, Edward Snowden is no patriot. He wants to bring America down. Look at where he seeks asylum.

Susan: You’re giving him too much credit. Snowden is a young, naïve fool, who did something stupid. The American public is split about his guilt or innocence, reflecting anxiety about the erosion of personal privacy resulting from the internet, social media and the workplace. Government sanctioned spying is unacceptable.

John: Edward Snowden is an accomplice of our enemies and a traitor to his country. His hollow talk of free expression is belied by the repressive regimes he went running to. Brutal Beijing. Murderous Moscow. Tinpot dictators in Latin America. Even they won’t have him. What a scum.

3. Zimmerman Verdict

John: Two young men, confused and scared, got into a fight. The one on the bottom, fearing for his life, pulled a gun and killed the other one.. After a fair trial with the whole nation watching, the jury said self-defense. That’s the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin story. Period.

Susan: Wish that it were so simple. Obama got it right – it’s about race – not self-defense. A white guy vigilante armed with a gun is threatened by a black youngster in a hoody, armed with Skittles? And the jury of peers? Six white women from the south? The prosecutor should have asked for a change of venue. Justice was not served.

John: Yes, a lot of people want Travon Martin’s death to be about race. It caters to the white guilt syndrome, the black victim industry, and those who enjoy believing America is sick. But there was zero evidence for that. Zero. The prosecution admitted it. Black-on-black crime is the real tragedy.

Susan: Your Backbone Colorado puts Lake Woebegone to shame. In Backbone, not only is every kid above average and one day sunnier than the next, but the hard cold reality of human prejudice – sanctified by ignorant elected’s – like Florida’s Rick Scott and the Fox News boys – does not exist.

4. Obamacare in Trouble

John: Obama’s health care law is a bigger and bigger mess. Its very name is an Orwellian lie. Affordable care? Costs are rising. Patient protection? Quality’s going down. Democratic Senator Max Baucus, who helped write the law, calls it a train wreck. The White House is panicked. America deserves better.

Susan: Costs are rising because private insurance companies and for-profit hospitals conspire in gouging the public. Quality healthcare and ‘for profit’ make about as much sense as organic spam or homemade twinkies. There’s a reason why conservative states like Arizona are opting into Obamacare – it makes sense.

John: Nice try, but most states have opted out. Millions of individuals eligible for Obama’s supposed free health care have not signed up either. Thousands of companies have cut back hiring. This thing is a job killer. The president delayed his own corporate mandate. In defiance of law. Stop the madness.

Susan: The 14 states opting out of Obamacare are leaving $9 billion on the table and 3.6 Americans without insurance. All tolled, those states will spend more than $1-billion more taxpayer dollars, on uncompensated care than they would by accepting the federal expansion. Now that’s madness!

5. Liz Cheney Seeks Wyoming Senate Seat

Susan: Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz packed up her carpetbag and moved to Wyoming – though she hales from Dallas & DC – to mount a primary challenge against 3-term Republican Mike Enzi. Young Liz makes up her own rules. We’ll see if her DC arrogance plays in Wyoming.

John: You Democrats are bossy. You’re already the governing party. Now you tell Republicans how to be the opposition party. We’ll manage that ourselves, thank you. It’s a free country. Conservative Wyoming can make up its own mind whether Liz Cheney or Mike Enzi can best stand up to Harry Reid.

Susan: C’mon John, Enzi’s voting record is down-the-line conservative. It’s his congenial, western personality that’s motivating Ms. Liz. Harry Reid isn’t the problem. The problem is the crude, strident tone that dominates your party. Wyoming voters won’t buy it.

John: Naturally the White House and the liberal media prefer GOP senators who politely compromise and cave. But most of us Republicans want fighters, Ted Cruz types. Hence the Wyoming shootout. If cowgirl Liz can show more testerone than cowboy Mike, into the Senate with her.