The lady called from a mobile phone, so apparently a phone bank operation. That's OK, Lori does the same for the Obama campaign. The lady said "we're polling today with three just questions regarding ballot measures 47, 56 and 57."
"On any such political measure do you discuss the matter with no one outside your home, with two or three others, or with 20 or more?" "Does support or opposition by labor and teacher unions affect your likely voting on such measures?" "Amendment 47 only benefits out of state businesses, and hurts Colorado workers, while 56 and 57 support workers rights. Can we count on you to vode against 47 and for 56 and 57?" I told her "there's a chance, but you only hurt that chance by calling me up claiming to ask me questions rather than just getting straight to your point." Then I hung up. For the record, On amendment 47, I dislike mandatory union membership, but this is a matter for legislation, not constitution. I plan to vote no. On 56 and 57, these are even more flagrantly short on constitutional gravity, and I'd probably even oppose them in legislation . Quality of provided health care should be a matter of competition among employers, and the law provides plenty of requirement for safety, and plenty of sanction for willfully dangerous conditions. I plan to vote no on both.
Of course I'm amazed there hasn't been much more calls and shenanigans on ballot measures. "Colorado voters haven’t faced a ballot this long since 1912, the first year citizens were able to initiate laws in the state." Our state motto, "Nil sine numine" (nothing without divine will) seems rather un-Coloradan, and we'd have more properly cribbed "Consule cunctis" (do what you deem benefits all the people) or something like that. We're fiercely independent, so we enjoy building fences of demotic law around our neighbors. As you can probably tell, my default position on ballot measures is "no" because I dislike their inequitable tendencies. They tend to be promoted or opposed by narrow interests, and thus have effects that do not represent the majority of voters (and so are not very democratic in re), and even in the best case, direct democracy is a dangerous thing. Having a body of professional legislators does provide some screening against impulse and prejudice. The barrier to the sledgehammer of constitutional amendment should be very high, considering how dramatically they can bind the hands of legislators. Even though I think the government should be very careful to raise taxes, I think the TABOR amendment is an unmitigated disaster. It can make it near impossible for a government to govern its way through difficulty. If the people are so against taxes, they should elect legislators who are unlikely to raise them. I'll write up my personal, informal analysis of ballot measures a bit later on.