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Right-wing wins plague ballot
By Matthew Quane
mquane@mscd.edu

Election season simultaneously brings out the worst in politicians and voters.

Though the Democrats may have taken the House and Senate, it was only a result of a show of no confidence in the Republicans by voters. It serves as a small step toward a slightly more rational society, but much more must be done.

The outcome of the ballot initiatives shows the true mood of the country, and across the board the conservative platform was the day’s winner.

Gay-rights issues get the shaft
The election struck a major blow to gay-rights advocates across Colorado. Referendum I, which would have allowed for civil unions between gay couples, suffered a sound defeat, while Amendment 43, which defines marriage as being solely between a man and a woman, passed with little protest.

A constitutional amendment defining marriage is wholly unnecessary. State law already limits marriage to one man and one woman.

Elevating the statutory ban on gay marriage to a constitutional provision diminishes the state’s fundamental governing document. The constitution should serve as a place to impose limits upon the government and establish the rights of individuals. It should never be a means of withholding rights from certain groups of citizens.

In the minds of other Americans, the citizens of Colorado are viewed as cowboys. I’ve had plenty of out-of-state friends ask me whether or not I take a horse to work – and not in a joking manner. This image will be hard to shake as long as these forgot-to-touch-the-Monolith voters keep making their way to the polls.

Legislators and lobbyists
When Colorado’s lawmakers assemble each year under the golden dome of the Capitol, more than 1,000 lobbyists are there to whisper sweet nothings into their ears.

In the past, lobbyists have lavished officials with gifts – valued at approximately $1.6 million a year, ranging from Broncos tickets to golf outings to overseas trips, according to their filings with the secretary of state’s office.

However, when state lawmakers and Gov. Bill Owens reported the gifts they received last year, the total came to $200,000 – an average $1,170 for each state senator and $1,500 for each representative – almost $1.4 million off from the numbers given by the secretary of state’s office.

That is because statutes are flaky about what the lobbyists must report and what the lawmakers must report.

Amendment 41 has now set a limit upon the expense of gifts that lobbyists may give to lawmakers. Gone are the days of all-expenses-paid vacations and free Broncos tickets.

Colorado has the fourth-highest number of lobbyists per legislator in the country, with nearly 11 for each legislator, according to Coloradans for Clean Government.

This is largely because Colorado was one of 24 states with no bans or limits on lobbyists’ gifts to public officials. It took until this year for state legislators to finally vote to prohibit themselves from accepting unlimited amounts of cash.

Marijuana amendment goes to pot
Amendment 44 was a noble, if doomed,

effort. If passed, it would have legalized the act of carrying an ounce of marijuana or less for adults – equating the use of the drug to that of alcohol.

While the youth vote was insufficient to provide the support the measure needed, the amendment itself was flawed.

Note to future amendment-makers: Don’t ever rely on the youth vote.

I am a supporter of marijuana legalization, and I believe 44 would have been a step in the right direction, but the debate over marijuana and the drug war as a whole is full of shades of gray.

Marijuana is not a drug created in a lab; it must be grown, and from those growers it must be distributed to users. Amendment 44 made no attempt to address this issue – even if it had passed, growing and distributing pot would still have been illegal.

The debate can’t be ended by a couple of states voting on ballot measures.

If marijuana use is to be legalized, declared a medical problem and not a crime problem, or otherwise redefined, the decision should be made nationally. Congress could allow marijuana use to be regulated by states – that precedent was set with alcohol when Prohibition ended.

Voters will – and should – consistently deride any system that would legalize possession, yet allow growing and distribution to remain against the law.