Protect Colorado Future’s Deception Starting to Get Monotonous

Protect Colorado’s Culture of Corruption Future, opponents of the good government reforms Colorado Amendment 49 and Amendment 54, must be going after the world record for most deceptive campaign. They’re certainly making a run for it, as their latest effort may take the cake. In today’s Rocky Mountain News, CBS4 reporter Raj Chohan dissects their latest out-of-this-world fable:

A new political commercial suggests that a trio of Colorado ballot measures would give special breaks to multinational corporations such as Halliburton. The 30-second spot comes from a union-backed group called Protect Colorado’s Future.

Ad: This is a voter alert. Colorado ballot amendments have built-in loopholes. Amendments 49 and 54 would not apply to multinational corporations.

The claim is misleading. Neither of the amendments addresses multinational corporations….

But obviously it’s true: these amendments are about the operation of Colorado government. Before Protect Colorado’s Culture of Corruption Future gets any other absurd advertising ideas, let’s be clear what else these amendments don’t apply to: international terrorism, global warming, Lyme disease, and male pattern baldness, to name a few.

Special interest opponents are throwing their millions of dollars wildly into the air, hoping that some charge or another will stick that will scare voters from supporting ethical reforms that would hurt lobbyists’ bottom line. Here perhaps is my favorite part:

Ad: Multinational corporations are pushing Amendments 47, 49 and 54.

It is true that Amendment 47, the right-to-work measure, has received funding from CoorsTek, a multinational corporation, as well as national business groups. The backers of Amendment 47 have raised nearly $1.2 million. However, Amendment 49 is operating on a shoestring budget of a little more than $100,000, most of it coming from the Independence Institute, a Colorado- based free-market think tank….

Or as Face The State observed:

While recent opposition ads proclaim that “evil” multinational corporations support Amendment 49, [Jon] Caldara laughs, jokingly wanting to know when those evil corporate checks will start rolling in.

Here’s the laundry list of Protect Colorado’s Culture of Corruption Future deception:

• First sleazy, deceptive TV ads
• More sleazy, deceptive TV ads
• First sleazy, deceptive mailer
• Another sleazy, deceptive mailer
• Purely dishonest fabrications at an “educational” forum

And now this. Honesty, truth, and credibility must not count for much when you have raked in nearly $7 million from labor unions across North America to throw around your political weight.