2023 Ballot Measures

[eddiememphis]

I only have three big ones this year.

Prop HH- Fuck No
Not gonna keep more of the money they confiscate to grow the government in a direction I disagree with.

Prop II- No
Keep excessive taxes from tobacco sales and spend it on "free preschool" instead of refunding it to taxpayers.


Aurora 3A- Double Fuck No
For those smart enough to not live in Aurora, ballot question 3A is to amend the city charger to replace gender specific terms with gender neutral nouns.

Another year, another straight NO ballot. This is getting too easy. May as well stop educating myself about the issues since everything up for a vote seems to be a horrible idea.

[BladesNBarrels]

Prop II- No
Keep excessive taxes from tobacco sales and spend it on "free preschool" instead of refunding it to taxpayers.

This is a tough one for me.
A NO vote means the refund does not go to the buyer and it is not included in Tabor refunds to all taxpayers.
The refund goes to the wholesalers and distributors. The tobacco users who paid the tax do not benefit from the refund.
The tax will be reduced by 11.53 percent, but you know the wholesalers and distributors will not lower their prices.
More money for them.
The legislature really greased the stick - we either exempt the excess above that approved by Proposition EE (In 2020) from refunds in the future with a YES vote, or we tell them to give the refund to the dealers of the nicotine products.
Both bad choices.
Time to fire the legislators and start getting some people who are not just funding their own pet projects.

[eddiememphis]

This is a tough one for me.

I think it's pretty simple.

https://coloradosun.com/2023/10/10/p...lorado-ballot/

If voters reject the ballot measure, the state will have to return nearly $24 million to cigarette and nicotine wholesalers and distributors through direct refunds and temporary tax breaks.

The state would also cut nicotine and tobacco taxes by 11.53% to avoid collecting excess taxes in the future.

Reducing taxes is never a bad idea.

[eddiememphis]

https://i2i.org/voter-guide-2023/

Like Proposition HH, Proposition II undermines TABOR—this time in order to dump more cash into Governor Polis’s Universal Preschool (UPK) Program. The actual amount of tax collected under 2020’s Prop EE, which raised taxes on nicotine products to pay for UPK, came in $23.65 million higher than originally estimated. Normally, those taxes would be refunded to the wholesalers and distributors of the taxed products. This question would allow the state to retain that additional money for UPK.

[TFOGGER]

I voted this morning. My operating principle: ANY measure placed on the ballot by the Leftistlature is 99% probably a bad idea, and will cost a shitload of money to the people who actually pay taxes, while benefitting almost nobody. Thus, not only NO, but HELL NO on HH and II.

[TEAMRICO]

My son got his first ballot for voting and I used this thread to explain to him what he was voting or what they were trying to trick him to voting for and his response was ?Oh, heck no! Those questions were tryin to trick me!?
I told them that is why you have to do research and try to figure out what they are trying to fool you in to doing.

[rondog]

Ya - no, no, fuck no, fuck no, and fuck y'all HELL no.

[eddiememphis]

My son got his first ballot for voting and I used this thread to explain to him what he was voting or what they were trying to trick him to voting for and his response was ?Oh, heck no! Those questions were tryin to trick me!?
I told them that is why you have to do research and try to figure out what they are trying to fool you in to doing.

Good for you.

I never had any parental guidance in voting, but as a dirt biker* and firearm enthusiast, I voted based on those issues.

It was more difficult researching candidates before the internet but the ballot initiatives aren't too difficult to figure out if you read the actual proposal rather than the wording on the ballot.

Almost 30 years after my first votes were cast I have a better grasp on politics in general but my initial feelings about issues haven't changed much.

If you remove all the bluster and claimed good intentions by focusing on the likely outcome of the majority of proposals, most of them are an expansion of government.

More government is very rarely good.

*Edit to add-
Not just a dirt biker but a public land enthusiast. Exploring, hunting, camping etc. Reading Dirt Bike Magazine as a kid was my first exposure to land closures, specifically Barbara Boxer and the BLM closing millions of acres to multi-use because of "environmental concerns".

[Eric P]

One would think with inflation and rising property values, the increase in taxes collected would be enough for the governments.

It's just mismanagement of the stolen funds from captive tax payers.

Imagine if TABOR never allowed overrides...

[def90]

In general with most ballot initiatives you can't go wrong voting no.