For those of you that don’t live in Colorado, know that Coloradans are whiny little bitches. If the weather is the same for more than 10 minutes they will bithc about it. If it changes they bitch about it. They also bitch about the same thing other Americans do: healthcare, roads and schools. But when given the opportunity to change things they vote it down because most Coloradans are too fucking lazy to get off their fat asses and reach for their wallet.
Take Prop 69, the single-payer system. It only got 30% of the vote because the mouth-breathers of the state would rather pay $3000 a year in insurance premiums, deductables, co-pays, medication, etc. than $1000 a year in increased taxes. But taxes are evil in the Centennial State and they’d rather the government pay for it because the voters were too busy jacking off in class rather than learning how governments pay for shit.
Traffic is a nightmare. Whether it is “New L.A.” along the Front Range or a parking lot of I70 on the weekends. Yesterday we had TWO choices - bonds or taxes. The mental midgets voted it down because it would cost money. Sorry to ruin your holiday season jackholes but there is no “Traffic Santa” that builds and maintains roads for free. But of course I’ve already heard people bitch about how the guv’mint needs to do something about transportation.
But the worst for me is that school-funding got voted down. Understand, people love teachers and tell me I’m awesome for being a teacher and they supported our statewide protest to get the Legislature to contribute more money to education.
Pop Quiz: How do states pay for things? Hint: Taxes
Colorado is 48th in per-pupil spending despite our great economy so yes there is money to spend. But the residents of Fucktardia don’t want to spend** their**, money to reduce that teacher gap, buy supplies for the schools, improve infrastructure, etc. I could try to guess why. The standard Varuca Saltesque attitude of this state of wanting everything without paying for it. The disrespect that most Americans have for teachers in that we don’t work hard enough and we should spend MORE of our personal money to educate YOUR kids while you sit back and do nothing to help. And heaven forbid you actually treat us like professionals or think we should make a living wage yet wonder why nore people don’t go into teaching. After Prop 73 failed last night I have decided I will no longer be a teacher in Colorado. I’m tired of being abused by a state government and voters that only pays lip-service for their children’s education.
So fuck ya all and from here on out when I hear you bitch about how shitty things are in this state I’m going to ask you how you voted on the propositions and how you expect all of these improvements to be paid for.
No no, you’re misunderstanding. They’d rather pay $3000 a year on their OWN healthcare than pay $1000 a year on it, because that money would also pay for some low life, unemployed, worthless piece of shit’s health care. Don’t you dare even think about taking any of THEIR hard earned money to pay for someone else’s care. They want medical insurance? They can pay for it themselves. Fuck them.
I have never lived in Colorado…but I grew up in New Mexico and Arizona, spent half a decade in Utah, a full decade in Eastern Washington, and am into my second decade in Oregon. I feel I have a reasonable understanding of the West, and its people.
And what you have to remember is that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the New West.
This post is hilarious coming from a Republican and, I believe, a Trump supporter.
I’m trying to remember which party has demonized teachers and taxes, and education in general…hmmm, I’m sure it will come to me. One of the parties, I can’t remember which, has a much lower opinion of higher education as well. That party also wants to defund public education and transfer that funding to private schools through school vouchers. Also, that party is letting fraudulent for-profit colleges off the hook.
Hmmm. I’m sure I could Google it, but I’d rather try and remember.
I also live in Colorado. But not in the front range. I am a avid despiser of all and anything Trump. I have no kids but vote for taxes for schools. I vote for dam near anything to increase the little counties budget that I live in. But NOOOOOOO, it’s a fucking republican county, so it doesn’t happen.
If, Saint Cad, you are a Trump supporter, YOU got what you bought into. If you are not a Trump supporter, I commiserate.
But on the plus side, they did start taking steps to end gerrymandering, by creating a BI-partisan independent redistricting commission.
And other things…
All voters receive mail-in ballots for all elections.
Unaffiliated voters can vote in primary elections.
Online voter registration for most voters.
Same day voter registration.
I support some of Trump policies but I am not a Trump supporter. There is a difference.
RitterSport, you are correct that Republican Colorado politicians think that public education for the masses is the worst thing ever and the state should subsidize private schools for rich white folk. But then explain this: 44% of the electorate is Republican but 55.5% of the voters voted against Prop 73. Can’t put that all on the Pubs.
Oh, I can put it on the lies that the ‘Pubs’ sell. And I will lay it at the feet of ANY person that did not educate themselves and vote.
Saint Cad, supporting any policies of a man as unhinged as Trump just cannot be defended. He has been a lying piece of shit crook ALL OF HIS LIFE. Republicans support that thing in the White House. How do you explain that?
The BEST that can be said about Trump is he’s an addled moron, but that’s hardly an excuse for the people that support him, or ANY of his so called policies.
Any vote at this point for any Republican will get more of the same that you saw with Amendment 73. It won’t stop until the people stop them. I gladly await the day when the republicans reinvent themselves. Until then, they need to be voted against. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. It’s the only way they will listen.
You didn’t really address the rest of my post – it’s the Republicans who demonize taxes and who demonize public education. When it comes to higher education, they demonize all of it. Those are some of the major platforms of the Republican party. What parts do you like? Higher deficit spending? Cutting social programs (yes! Do that, but don’t touch public education!)? Demonizing immigrants? What’s not to love? Is it the anti-union stance? Maybe you’re not in the teacher’s union or something, you’re just enjoying the benefits they fought for.
To hear a Republican bitching about insufficient tax receipts and lower funding for public education is just too much.
Is there such a thing as a good Trump policy? I would have thought if a policy was good and Trump was aligned with it, it was at best a random coincidence.
Doesn’t Colorado also have some weird-ass amendment that all tax surpluses must be returned to the taxpayers? My sister in law lives in Denver and I’ve heard her bitch about “TABOR” but I’m not really familiar with the details. But whatever it is sure sounds like a clusterfuck.
I’m not sure about Colorado but Oregon has this, we call it our kicker. And while I’m not entirely sure it’s a good idea in a big picture, economical sense, I definitely do like getting that bit of extra money.
It’s actually pretty much the Republican/libertarian dogma. Anyone who doesn’t agree with it is deemed a “tax-and-spend liberal”, where “liberal” here should be understood to mean the same as “communist”. :rolleyes:
It’s not your state, it’s the value set of your Republican compatriots in your entire fucking country, with the exception of a few places like New York and California and parts of New England.
This is where the priorities of those who run the state come into play. There are lots of worthy, important things competing for the same dollars. Giving more money to X comes from one of two avenues: a re-apportioning of available funs or additional funds. Personally, I think that increasing taxes—for anything—should be very difficult. If it weren’t, Every need/desire could simply tap the residents.
I’m pretty conservative on most things, but I would be more in favor of single-payer system than I am of dumb solutions that won’t work (not sustainable), like Obamacare. What I think should be passed is a single-payer system that is designed to cover just basic services. People should still be incentivized to take control of their own health. I see the sense in a large risk pool, but it doesn’t sit right with me to have a system where the careful and the careless both get the same benefits. It helps us all to bring the cost of health care down, and people being incentivized to do that helps.
I believe that good education is important, but I don’t see any study that supports the idea that greater spending per pupil in our public schools drives better outcomes.
That’s just as laughably ridiculous as saying, on a personal level, “if you spent money on everything you wanted or thought was cool, you’d soon be bankrupt, so therefore spending money on anything should be very difficult.” Like maybe, having to keep your checkbook and credit cards locked up in a bank vault and being allowed access to them only with six signatures from approved personal advisors.
This is nothing but the old canard about “fear of government” in a different form. No, the government deciding on new program spending should not be “difficult” per se, it should be justifiable and accountable. Just as in personal life, some things are really needed. If you try to make it “difficult” and subject to the approval of imbeciles, as we just saw in the OP, imbeciles will always vote “no” to taxes as a knee-jerk reaction. There was a radio program a little while ago about some new tax proposal here, and one of the callers said “I don’t mind new taxes, as long they have a useful and productive purpose”. How often do you hear that, especially from right-wing imbeciles?
That’s a recipe for disaster. WTF is a “basic service”? A flu shot? Unless single-payer covers ALL medically necessary services, this right-wing mantra of “personal responsibility” means a major role for private insurers, with all the attendant problems, including inability to control costs and claims denials. It just doesn’t work. Your deep concern about “the careless” (a new twist, I assume, on the old “the undeserving”) getting benefits runs smack up against the reality that an unconditional system for all necessary health care ultimately costs less for everyone while delivering the guaranteed universal access necessary to be able to lay claim to being a civilized society.
There isn’t always a direct correlation between per-capita expenditures on public education and outcomes within a narrow range, although obviously providing adequate resources and attracting and keeping good teachers takes money, so a correlation exists across a large enough range. But spending a little more money doesn’t necessarily guarantee a little bit better outcomes because many other factors are at play. On average, for instance, Canada spends a little less than the US on public education per capita, but gets among the best outcomes in the world. This is partly due to demographics – a relatively high immigrant population in many areas, often the kids of well-educated parents – and most importantly due to a cultural emphasis on “a strong sense of fairness and equal access”.
I herby incentivize you to not get cancer. But if you’re stupid enough to get cancer, you better be able to pay for it. Hey! That’s fucking EASY! Trump is WRONG! It’s not complicated at all!
Republicans fought the ACA on every front for 7 years. They claimed that they had a much, much better plan. And NOW republicans are saying that democrats want to get rid of pre-existing condition coverage. They claim they are the hero’s that want to keep it. Liars, every fucking one of them. And of course, they haven’t a fucking clue or a plan. Surprise, surprise.
