More Lies Attacking Colorado’s Amendment 47, Amendment 54

Face The State has a great story on a forum hosted by Lefty non-profit groups to “educate” about various initiatives on Colorado’s fall ballot.

As reported, a spokesman for the well-heeled group Protect Colorado’s Future lied directly to the audience about two initiatives his group opposes. First, he deceived attendees about the effects of Amendment 47, the Right-to-Work initiative:

“In places where they’ve been successful in passing these laws in other states, there is data that has shown workers make about $5,000 less per year and infant mortality is actually 21 percent higher,” said [spokesman Daniel] Klawitter on Amendment 47, the right-to-work measure.

But Kelley Harp, spokesman for the Amendment 47 campaign, questioned those statistics. “The facts are this: Amendment 47 will guarantee a fundamental freedom for all workers in Colorado, and there is strong evidence that right-to-work states perform better economically than non-right-to-work states.”

According to Harp, states that have adopted right-to-work laws have seen an increase in economic development and jobs. From 2001 to 2006, right-to-work states increased payrolls by 6.4 percent, vs. 2.9 percent in non- right to work states. These states have also seen lower unemployment rates.

Kelley Harp happens to be correct about the economic effects of Right-to-Work, as I documented before (here and here).

But Protect Colorado’s Future wasn’t finished with the lies:

Klawitter later answered questions about the impact of Amendment 54, but members of the campaign say some answers were factually inaccurate. The proposal, if passed by voters, would prohibit government contractors holding no-bid contracts from making campaign contributions to political parties and candidates. It would not, however, restrict individual contributions. A handout from the event read,”Amendment 54 would prohibit any person, or family member, or anyone who works on a government contract from contributing to a candidate and/or advocating for an issue at any level.”

One audience member wanted clarification on this point and asked, “Will Amendment 54 prevent individuals from contributing to candidates and campaigns? Since I’m in a union, I wouldn’t be able to give my money candidates I want to represent me?”

“Yes and yes,” Klawitter responded. Officials from the Amendment 54 campaign say Klawitter and his handout are wrong.

This is patently false – all one has to do is read the non-partisan Legislative Council’s blue book analysis of Amendment 54. The restrictions don’t affect “anyone who works on a government contract.” They affect:

‚the contracting entity’s officers, directors, or trustees; any individual who controls at least 10 percent of the shares of or interest in the entity; and in the case of a collective bargaining agreement, a labor organization and any political committees it creates to make campaign contributions.

We already knew that Protect Colorado’s Future is wedded to deception and more deception in its television advertising.

Now it seems they are also willing to lie straight to people’s faces.