Swear to God I was just wondering today when these would be finalized so I could see what they were. Here are Colorado's ballot issues (and my immediate thoughts on them):
Amendment 67 – Personhood — Oh, look, yet another Personhood amendment. No, I don't want to back-door abortion and birth control bans, not to mention in vitro fertilization. No, sorry, I don't believe a fetus from the moment of conception is the moral (or actual) equivalent of a person, and that therefore all laws that refer to "person: and "child" in the criminal code should include "unborn human beings." This is the fourth time this has been in the proposal stage in six years, including two amendments that actually made it onto the ballot, and I wish you folk would just go away.
Amendment 68 – GMO Labeling — Sorry, you're going to have to do a lot of convincing for me to feel that a GMO label on food will actually provide meaningful information to consumers.
Proposition 104 – Casino Games at Race Tracks — In general I don't see a reason not to let "tax on stupidity" establishments expand their offerings. The only reason I see to vote against this is what it would do to the casino towns in the close-in Rockies (e.g., Central City and Blackhawk). Another reason might be the "let's make this look really attractive" 34% tax on the proceeds of said games to to K-12 education, which (a) gives the state an interest in people doing stupid things, and (b) makes school funding dependent on the gambling industry, neither of which seems like a good idea.
Proposition 105 – School Board Open Meetings — I'd have to read more as to the whys and wherefores. In principle, open meetings are good, so I'm inclined toward it. In reality, it would depend on what sorts of meetings we're talking about. Not everything can or should be done in front of the public.
So two big noes and a couple of ponderings. Regardless, I have no doubt that in the next 1-2 weeks I'll be dead sick of the commercials for these, since none will address any actual issues but depend on music and voice tones and pictures to create a mood of dread (or joy). Which is a hell of a way to run a democracy.
Colorado ballot decisions include personhood, GMO food, horse racing
The Colorado Secretary of State’s office on Monday finalized the items on the ballots that will be mailed out on Oct. 14. The four include defining a pers
The only thing you can do to stay sane is do nothing but Netflix until the election is over.
+Paula Moore Or the DVR, where at least I can FF through the "IN A WORLD … WHERE OUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS WANT TO BITE OFF THE HEADS OF LIVE PUPPIES …" ads.
Or cancel cable. As well as, no longer checking your mail, answering your phone/door or stepping out into public. November 5th can't come soon enough.
re GMO labeling, I am in favor of transparency, and in principle I want to know what I'm eating. On the other hand, I have the unjustified feeling that GMO labeling will only result in lots of frothing at the mouth and pointless shrillness. I'm torn on that one.
re casino games at racetracks, I've already seen one ad against that one, and I'm about ready to vote for it just to spite the nasty SOB who wrote that ad. Otherwise, I agree with what you've said about it.
I agree with you on the personhood and the school meetings amendments, but I dread the campaigning for and against the personhood amendment. I'd like to be able to charge money for campaign calls to my land-line. $1000 per call. I'd either get lots of money, or far fewer calls. It's a win-win situation. Since I can't do that, I won't be answering my phone until the election is over.
From what I understand, "racinos" generally do more harm to local "full" casinos than one would think. Casinos make most their money off slot players and usually "racinos" only offer slots in addition to the races. So, if they are more convenient, they end up siphoning off more revenue from full service casinos than the general traffic/attendance projections would imply.
+The Bruce, Mile High Interesting. I was already aware that slots represent the worst odds in the house. The question is, do folk really travel all the way to Central City to play slots? How much of that traffic would actually be diverted by the race tracks, vs simply being an additional / separate audience?
+David Newman On principle I agree about transparency in knowing what I eat — but only to the extent that it is meaningful. If someone said, "If there have been any Muslims handling this food, I want it labeled," I'd laugh in their face, because it's not data that's worth anything to know except for an emotional reaction, and it encourage irrational behavior. Concerns about "Frankenfood" strike me much the same way.
Blackhawk and Central City don't have a large population on their own. The customers primarily come from the Denver/Boulder area. When I walk along the main street, there are large buses picking up or disembarking passengers. Signs in the front windows say things like Walmart Aurora, Downtown, Lakewood, etc. So, yes, a "racino" closer to Denver would divert a part of those.
+The Bruce, Mile High I suspect you are right, if what people are going for is the slot machine experience. (Are there plans for the "racinos" to offer more than just slots?)
I haven't paid any more attention to the proposal than skipping the commercial with my TiVo. In other locations, "racinos" have just added slots to the existing racing facilities. I don't know if there are other plans here or not.
I'm a bit torn on GMO labeling – I broadly agree with the companies that putting that label on foods is just going to lose them customers without any rational basis; but I also agree with the activists that a lot of the reason there is no rational basis is that the companies are resisting studies. Some of the things they do with our food now, shaping it so it's more convenient for shipping over, say, having any nutritional value whatsoever, is pretty scary — so while I'm rabidly against the, "Science Is Bad!" fearmongering crowd, I have to admit I don't exactly trust agribiz to have our best interests at heart, either.
My biggest issue with the gambling taxes is that ultimately, they really pan out to be another way to shift the burden onto poor people. And if 34% is going to schools, that means 60% is going to one already-rich white guy, and I'm not really For that. I think the thing that really, really turned me off of it was the flyer we got for Amendment68, which notes that they'll give a *One Time Gift of 25 MILLION DOLLARS to schools right now!!*
…That right there tells me this is far more about making a small handful of people a whole lot of money than it is about helping fund schools.
+Kingsley Lintz Yeah, I trust agribusiness about as much as I trust the financial services industry, and I am fully in favor of imposing more stringent testinging regimes. That said, so many of the anti-GMO crowd revulse me with their arguments (and, frankly, seem to have a large overlap with the anti-vaxxers).
Agreed on the Amendment 68 thing. If they;re offering to give away a lot of money, it means they think they're going to earn a heck of a lot more.