No on 71
Corporate interests led by oil and gas promote Initiative 71, asserting “special interests” pollute Colorado’s Constitution. Banking several million dollars, corporate special interests that control our statehouse target the last vestige of Democracy — the citizen ballot initiative — having spent almost $5 a signature alone (almost $1 million).
“71” proponents cite Nebraska’s “higher signature requirements,” belying the fact that Nebraskans have four times longer (almost two years) for signature gathering, making Colorado’s ratio of signatures to time much more stringent.
Requiring geographic signature distribution — 2 percent of registered voters in each of 35 senate districts — is like requiring statewide candidates to obtain votes/signatures of 2 percent of registered voters in each senate district. Geographic signature distribution requirements were overturned in 2014 by a Nebraska District Court as a violation of the Constitutional Equal Protection and Due Process clauses, denying equality among citizens. Under pretense of serving people, “71” serves only the wealthy.
Michele Swenson/Boulder
Democrats for Danish
I’m a lifelong Democrat and I’ll be voting for Paul Danish for Boulder County Commissioner.
The current commissioners clearly have no intention of meeting their primary responsibility to maintain county roads, instead seeing a new tax as the only way forward. (The courts ruled against the commissioners’ earlier attempt to place a special tax on subdivision residents and ordered refunds!) Danish will prioritize the road repairs and accomplish them without a new tax.
The current commissioners have just illustrated the ultimate group-think in issuing their foregone conclusion about locating affordable housing in Twin Lakes, showing a total disregard for other options put forward by the community and glossing over the fact that some of the land in question is a legally “dedicated” parcel that can only have certain specific uses to benefit the existing community (a fact that members of the community, not the commissioners, uncovered!). Danish sees the numerous flaws in the commissioners’ Twin Lakes agenda and proposes other ways to increase affordable housing.
There are more issues… but these two convince me that the current commissioners have become skewed toward a narrow predetermined perspective. We desperately need some balance so that County governance better reflects the residents of Boulder County.
Paul Danish has a long history of making great things happen in Boulder County, including his work in promoting open space and a plan for responsible growth that bore his name. He’s an extraordinary problem solver and communicator, and he’s told us exactly what he thinks and how he’ll do the job (danishforcommissioner.com). With Danish, we will get clear thinking, fairness, and transparency in government, not the foregone conclusions of the current commissioners.
I urge all voters, regardless of affiliation, to vote for Paul Danish for Boulder County Commissioner. Email [email protected] to help.
Chris Ennis/Longmont
Voting third party and not voting
A “meaningful” third party vote, or a refusal to engage in the system, may seem attractive when we largely disagree with the two major candidates, but please consider what’s at stake. America has its problems, but also many good things; a relatively clean environment, a recovering economy, some social security, access to abortion, not terrible international relations, not to mention a potentially progressive leaning Supreme Court which has huge implications in all areas for decades to come. These things are not a right but a privilege, gained through the election of competent individuals.
Hillary may represent the status quo, but Trump represents a wanton destruction of so many of this country’s goods. If we stand idly by, if we allow destructive forces to take hold when we could have helped prevent them, we are complicit. Who do we want running our country, centrist Democrats or right-wing Republicans? The last 16 years have provided two strong examples of these types of governments, and one ran our country into the ground while the other has slowly worked to rebuild it. Is Hillary perfect? No! But the choice between her and Trump is day and night.
Either Trump or Hillary will be president in November, and the American voters will decide this. A vote for Hillary is a vote to keep our country intact, while voting third party or refusing to vote is tantamount to standing by while the rest of the country elects President Trump.
Tim Christensen/Boulder
in response of “Voting Third Party or Not Voting”, I am not buying the logic that I should vote for the lesser of two evils, rather than fight for the greater good. Where I may have been guilty of this thinking in past elections, at least I could say the candidate (Obama for example) had some redeeming qualities. Both Trump and Hillary are the two worst, most corrupt candidates in US history. People are being herded like sheep to vote against the one they like the least.
Jill Stein of the Green Party has very Progressive ideas. A Stein-Baracka administration would: A. Create an emergency green jobs program to reverse the effects of climate change, spur economic growth & end foreign wars for oil. B. End all student debt & create tuition free college. C. Create a foreign policy based on human rights & international law, that would implement a weapons embargo in the Middle East. D. End unconstitutional surveillance programs. E. End the War On Drugs. F. Demilitarize the police G. Ban Fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling & new gas pipelines. There is much more. These are policies of a Progressive candidate with true integrity.
Regarding Hillary being better than Trump. America is being hoodwinked here. Trump says vulgar things & has done bad things, too. Hillary is the choice of not just Democrats & desperate Progressives, but Neoconservatives & increasing numbers of Republicans. Hillary is the more effective evil, & has never seen a war she didn’t like. Her idea of a No Fly Zone over Syria will start World War III with Russia. When confronted with all the damning truth thanks to leaked emails from Wikileaks, she diverts the blame to Russia. She won’t take responsibility for her own actions, but instead blames Russia for everything.
A Clinton presidency will likely involve more military interventions, more Fracking, more favors to Big Wall Street banks, a heightening surveillance police state & NeoMacCarthyism. She is the candidate of the corporate mafia, not environmentalists & Progressives. The candidate of the 1%, not the poor & middle class.
I refuse to be cowed by the politics of fear. I’m proudly voting for Jill Stein for president. With two terrible major party candidates, we have nothing to lose for voting for the Green Party candidate & everything to gain by building this people’s party.