By now I’m sure you’ve seen the popular Amendment 49 – the Ivory Tower Explanation YouTube video, so you are familiar with the 3 stars of that video: Susie the State Worker, Bernie the Bureaucrat, and Larry the Lobbyist. In order to raise a little dough, we have put them up for sale on Ebay! Which means this is your opportunity to own the sock puppets that captured the hearts of the YouTube community. To help raise awareness of the auction, we made another video. Help spread the word – the popular, and friendly puppets, are up for sale!

No Friday Funny today, but I’ve got a Friday quote for ya that’s pretty amusing and in the spirit of election season. From the late, great H.L. Mencken:

Every election is a sort of advance auction of stolen goods.

Amendment 50: Yes or No?  The limited gaming ballot measure would allow local voters to extend casino hours, add additional games of chance and increase the maximum bet limit.  Is this really local control or is it casino control?  According to the ballot language, Colorado’s community colleges will benefit from the increased state revenue but is this just a ploy to get voters to approve the gaming measure? How will Amendment 50 affect all Coloradans?   I will discuss those questions and more with supporter Katy Atkinson from the Say Yes on 50 campaign and opponent former State Representative Jerry Kopel.  That’s tonight at 7:30 p.m. on KBDI Channel 12; repeated the following Tuesday evening at 5 p.m.

Big things have been going down in the world of Amendment 49 lately. First, there is a hysterical new site someone created called Lobbyists Against Amendment 49. The (hopefully) sarcastic website states why lobbyists hate Amendment 49 so much,

The state government does us a BIG favor—they collect our dues money for us—straight out of our members’ paychecks. The government then bundles that money for us and writes us a check. It saves us gobs of cash and hassle to just have the taxpayers handle all of that expensive accounting.

Go take a look and laugh out loud at the outlandish case against 49.

Secondly, one of 49’s biggest and most well-known proponents, former Senator Hank Brown, has been quite vocal in his support of 49 lately. He recently recorded a 30 second radio spot outlining the broad array of support 49 has, that I just heard on 99.5 the Mountain earlier today.

Senator Brown also went on the Mike Rosen show to discuss 49. Here is some of the audio, courtesy of Mike Rosen and 850 KOA.

To me, the Wall Street Journal is the Holy Grail of newspapers. It’s got more clout than most papers, and often times prints articles 3 or 4 grades above my reading ability. So imagine how pleased I was when I saw this endorsement yesterday morning.

…many liberals understand that workers shouldn’t be coerced into subsidizing political causes they don’t agree with. In particular, income should not be intercepted by a third party — in this case withheld by the government — before it gets to the worker’s bank account.

In other words, the Wall Street Journal gets it — it’s simply a good government measure.

No matter how much time you’ve got or your level of reading comprehension, the Independence Institute has got you covered when it comes to learning about Amendment 49, Ethical Standards. For instance, if you’ve only got 2 minutes, take a look at our quick, academic explanation involving me and a few of my friends. (Keep a dictionary handy while trying to digest that video).

If you have 30 minutes, and want to go a bit more in depth and a little less sophisticated, check out the Independent Thinking episode, “What is Amendment 49?”

Finally, for those college types that can read, we’ve got Ben DeGrow’s Issue Backgrounder, “Amendment 49 and Government Payroll Reform.”

Brian Schwartz of Patient Power fame has taken Boulder’s Issue 1B, the extension of the so called “worthy cause” tax, to task in the pages of the Daily Camera. Aside from the obvious quip of, “do we really want bureaucrats defining what is “worthy” and what is not,” Brian rightly points out in his article that if these causes were truly worthy, you wouldn’t need the strong arm of the government and the threat of jail time to force people into donating. Former Boulder city councilman and mayor Bob Greenlee decided to respond to Brian’s article in an attempt to justify compulsory charity. Needless to say, he did not help his cause by these sorts of admissions,

There’s little doubt that many of the concerns Schwartz expressed are both heartfelt and valid. Imposing the will of the majority, however, is certainly not without precedent in Progressive Boulder…

And towards the end,

It’s difficult to dispute many of the arguments Schwartz makes.

Mr. Greenlee’s argument essentially ends up along the lines of, “we need to keep these worthy causes afloat.” Of which the obvious response is, he is more than welcome to do that — with his own money. But forcing others to donate to causes they otherwise would not support is as Brian states, immoral.

Amendment 58 — Yes or No?  Also known as the severance tax initiative championed by Governor Bill Ritter, Amendment 58 will increase the severance tax $321 million on the oil and gas extraction in Colorado.  With a struggling economy, serious questions surround what type of impact the tax increase will have in Colorado. How will this tax increase affect the state’s oil and gas industry that already contributes roughly $23 billion to the economy?  How will the tax increase affect Colorado residents and their energy bills?  What areas of state spending will benefit from the tax increase?  Those are just a few of the questions that I will ask guests George Merritt, spokesman for A Smarter Colorado, and State Senator Bill Cadman from Coloradans for a Stable Economy on Independent Thinking. That’s this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on KBDI Channel 12; repeated the following Tuesday evening at 5 p.m.

I was offered a fair amount to pull Amendment 49 off this fall’s ballot by its opposition. I was tempted. But I just couldn’t do it. The offer did spur me to make an ask to help our educational effort on Amendment 49:

October 3, 2008

Dear Friend of the Independence Institute,

Just yesterday, I received an offer the union goons thought I couldn’t refuse!

A backroom deal was struck between unions, leading political figures and business coalitions. The unions would pull their four anti-business measures, if the business coalitions would chip in $3 million to defeat three initiatives (47, 49, and 54) considered “anti-union.”

Knowing that Amendment 49 has received every major newspaper’s endorsement, I was offered a “gift” of $800,000 to pull Amendment 49 off the ballot. As tempting as the promise of cash was, I could not in good conscience accept their buy-off.

It’s a matter of principle AND ethics.

Last week I made an offer to pull Amendment 49. In return, I asked Governor Ritter to simply rescind his executive order allowing unions to represent state workers in contract negotiations.

My offer was called a “stunt.”

If you aren’t familiar with Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative, it’s quite simple. Amendment 49 prohibits state and local government agencies from bundling money from public employees’ paychecks and delivering the cash to special interests that use it to lobby politicians.

Ethical Standards is a good-government issue that has earned the endorsement of several community leaders (including former U.S. Senator Hank Brown), many community and business groups, AND nearly every major newspaper in Colorado. I’ve enclosed copies of a few for you!

You’ve probably seen the television ads attacking Amendment 49 and two unrelated amendments. And you may have received one of the multiple mailings that assert these initiatives will somehow harm teachers, nurses, firefighters and the police.

Amendment 49 just puts the burden of dues collections where it belongs, on the backs of the unions and special interests.

The Independence Institute believes that government should be using our tax dollars and our civil servants’ time to provide crucial public services, not to funnel money to political organizations.

As you know, the Independence Institute is a free market think tank that researches alternatives to increased government, higher taxes and promotes individual liberties. In the course of our 24-year history, we’ve hit a lot of well-funded roadblocks that profit from more government.

The Independence Institute doesn’t have the deep pockets to fight back with mass advertising, but what we do have are grounded principles.

Unfortunately, the unions have an additional $3 million (thanks to the business coalitions) to defeat Ethical Standards. The National Education Association and Service Employees International Union each has contributed over a million dollars to the effort, with other unions not far behind.

Amendment 49 was an idea generated at the Independence Institute in 2006. We started at the local level. Since 2007, a dozen county governments—as well as a handful of cities and judicial districts—have enacted the policy. This year we intensified our educational efforts to inform citizens across Colorado about Ethical Standards.

These endorsements, have reassured us that government should be using our tax dollars and civil servants’ time to provide crucial public services, not to funnel money to political organizations.

Contrary to what the opponents say, the Ethical Standards project has not been heavily funded by “multi-national corporations.” That is why I’m writing you today.

The Independence Institute needs your support! Won’t you consider making a contribution to assist us in our efforts to educate Coloradans about this important good-government measure?

Every dollar counts! Your gift of $100 will allow us to buy a 30-second educational radio spot. A gift of $375 will buy another 12’ X 24’ educational billboard. $500 pays for a 60-second drive time educational radio spot. And $1,000 will allow us to put up a 14’ X 48’ educational billboard.

The detractors have $9 million to spend to defeat Amendment 49. And much of this money has been funneled through public payrolls using your tax money.

Help us educate other Coloradans about Ethical Standards. It’s not about unions, but it will as the Denver Post states, “stop the blatant conflict of interest that now allows politicians to collect dues that are used to elect and re-elect those very same politicians.”

With the election just one month away, we don’t have much time to educate citizens about this important measure. Sending your gift today will help make a difference! I’ve enclosed a reply form and envelope for your convenience.

Thank you in advance for your support of the Independence Institute and our work to promote good government measures.

Most sincerely,

Jon Caldara
President

P.S. Your gift, no matter what the size, will help us stand up to the special interests that influence our elected officials and increased government spending.

Apparently, Amendment 49 has been taking after a certain someone who runs a think tank and relishes the spotlight. Channel 7 decided that 49 is getting a lot of attention and I agree with them. It’s been at the forefront of debate recently and with that comes frequent mischaracterizations. Take for example the argument in the Channel 7 piece. Firefighter Joel Heinemann states,

I have control of my paycheck currently. It actually takes away control of my paycheck. I can no longer have things that are taken out currently taken out if that amend were to pass.

Now if he were to make this argument, say during Civil War times, or even 50 years ago, he might have a case. But making that argument in the 21st century, with automatic deductions and online banking is absurd. 49 does not take any control away whatsoever. If he wants to make payments to his favorite political group and lobbyists, he can — in the same manner he pays all his bills online; or he can simply write a check! Either way, it is unethical for any political group to use the governmental payroll system as their collection agency.