The Big Cheese Stands Alone

One thing clear in the Wisconsin budget kerfuffle is that it's not about the budget.

If it were about the budget, when the unions and Democrats offered to accept all of the proposed financial concessions the Republicans would have jumped on the opportunity.

If it were about the budget, those concessions would have included all public unions, not just the ones that supported the Democrats in the most recent election.

If it were about the budget, the Governor's plan wouldn't include the ability for the state to sell off its power, heating, and cooling plants to whomever they chose, for as much or as little as they choose, without so much as a competitive bid.

If it were about the budget, it would not have followed on the heels of major corporate tax cuts.

No, the proposal to disempower public unions is a political move, a way to leverage Wisconsin's budget problems to accomplish long-term Republican goals.


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How Did I Do? Better than the County Clerk!

Every year after the election I compare how I recommended and voted with how all of the ballot issues actually fared at the ballot box. This time, it took three days for the county to finish counting votes in Boulder County, the slowest in the entire state.

What went wrong? Well, apparently the folks doing the counting were paying attention and noticed some anomalies in the optical scanning that was picking up votes that weren't made. It took hand checking each ballot for paper dust and ink smudges, a very slow process. I guess no other jurisdictions were doing the same type of check, so they were able to finish faster. Please, nobody tell them that their vote counts may not be accurate.

Anyway, back to my own report card. First, I got 100% on the City of Boulder issues. That's right, the city voted with my recommendations on all seven of the questions on the ballot. Are that many people reading and agreeing with my blog, or are the people here just that much smarter? Basically, people agreed to continue funding the city at the current level, but not to give council more powers.

At the county level, I got one out of two. I recommended a NO vote on extending the Worthy Cause tax, and it passed with flying colors (which I could have predicted.) Oh, well. I don't think the money from this sales tax will go to any group that doesn't deserve it. I just wish people were trusted to make their own decisions on who to give to.

We did pass, in line with my recommendation, the new clean energy district, a novel way to fund, with no public expense, small renewable energy and efficiency projects. Boulder folks are smart AND generous.

On the state level, I didn't do as well. State voters ignored my recommendations on nine out of fourteen issues.

My successes: Luckily, Amendment 48, which redefines "person" in parts of the state bill of rights went down narrowly. Amendment 52 also failed -- it would have taken money from water projects, pine beetle mitigation, and other priorities that will be getting more urgent with global warming, and spent it on getting more people in their cars to ski resorts. Two out of three of the attempts by business to cripple unions also failed. Less critically, voters agreed with me that 21-year-olds are not old enough to run for state legislature.

Big losses: Referendum O would have protected our state constitution against the continued onslaught of amendments, but failed because too many people were convinced (incorrectly) that it would decrease their ability to write initiatives. Amendment 50 won, giving state casinos the right to not only stay open all night and increase bet limits, but also prevent their own taxes from going up. Two measures that would have helped with education funding went down -- Amendments 58 and 59. Amendment 51, a sales tax to help people with developmental disabilities failed; I guess Coloradans as a whole are not as generous with their sales tax dollars as Boulderites. Amendment 54 passed. Like Amendment 41 in a previous election, it takes a semi-reasonable idea (in this case preventing undue influence by government contractors) and pushes it way beyond reasonable, probably way beyond constitutional.

Mixed blessings: Also failing was Amendment 46, which would have ended affirmative action in the state. No doubt it is still useful, but symbolically it still grates. And Referenda M and N also passed contrary to my recommendation. These remove so-called obsolete clauses from the state constitution, although I wasn't convince in either case that we had the whole story.

Yes, this Insomniac is out of touch with the Colorado voter, and proudly so!

Seven at One Blow -- Colorado 2008 Amendments 47, 49, 53, 54, 55, 56, and 57

I can't believe my good fortune today. Business and labor leaders, who were publicly feuding via the ballot box, have reached an agreement which means that I don't have to read seven Colorado ballot initiatives!

It all started when business leaders put one, two, then three measures on the ballot this year. Amendment 47 would have prevented unions from collecting mandatory dues. Amendment 49 would have prevented public employers from using payroll deductions to fund private organizations. And Amendment 54 would have banned some unions from making campaign contributions.

In retaliation, labor leaders came up with no less than four measures to use as leverage against the business measures. Amendment 53 would have allowed corporate executives to be prosecuted for corporate crimes. Amendment 55 would have required companies to show cause when firing employees. Amendment 56 would have required most employers to provide health insurance. Amendment 57 would have allowed employees to sue their employers in workers comp cases.

I say "would have", because now all of these measures are irrelevant. Business and labor were using the ballot as part of their negotiations, playing a big game of chicken, using all of us as pawns in that game. And now the two sides have reached an agreement and we are once more irrelevant.

At the eleventh hour, literally hours before the state deadline, the two sides blinked. Neither side was willing to risk the chance that the opposition's measures would pass. So, in exchange for labor withdrawing all four of its measures, business has agreed to campaign against its own measures.

Kind of makes you sick, doesn't it?

So, the four labor measures will be pulled from the ballot. Since ballots are already printed, they will still appear, but the results won't be counted. And business leaders have committed to spending $3 million to the campaign against their own measures.

If there ever was a tiny chance that I would vote for any of these, it is surely gone now. If you resent being played with this way as much as I do:

Vote NO on Amendment 47
Vote NO on Amendment 49
Vote NO on Amendment 53
Vote NO on Amendment 54
Vote NO on Amendment 55
Vote NO on Amendment 56
Vote NO on Amendment 57

Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How!

A group of CU students has been on hunger strike for about two weeks, protesting how the administration allows CU-branded apparel to be manufactured. Apparently, according to these students, although the university has policies to prevent the use of sweatshops, these policies are not good enough for the workers. The strikers want the administration to adopt a new set of rules that would allow the sweatshirtshop workers to unionize and earn a living wage. The administration has apparently been listening to them, and has made some counterproposals, but is concerned about the legality of adopting the students' proposal in its entirety.

My first response is that I think I know what a hunger strike is, and this just doesn't seem like one. At a minimum, the striking students are drinking a yummy-sounding concoction consisting of:

• 10-14 oz. (distilled) water


• 2 tbsp. lemon or lime juice


• 2 tbsp. organic maple syrup, grade B (I guess they can't afford grade A)


• 1/10 tsp. cayenne pepper to taste

So, they may be hungry, but these students are in no immediate danger. This is on top of the rumors of eating fruit and protein drinks. (But I don't repeat rumors.)

Also, seems like every time I read about this story, another group of students has joined or left the protest. Well, to my thinking, you can't just drop in and out of a hunger strike. Who will take you seriously unless you are willing to take it to the end?

My message to the strikers: Read up on your Thoreau. There is a message in there to help you with your cause.

To the CU administration. I'm impressed that you have already worked so well with the strikers. Continue to listen to them, hear their arguments. Then, make the right decision, independent of the fact that they are on a hunger strike. You should not make policy decisions based on the demands of protesters, for the same reason that you don't negotiate with terrorists.