Common Sense about Seat Belts
The legislature went at it again, doing its best to make the world a better place. This time, they were going to improve the existing seatbelt law by making failure to buckle up a primary offense. (Right now, you can be cited only if you are first pulled over for another violation.) Although the measure is dead for this year, it will probably be resurrected one day. If this day comes, we would be better served if our lawmakers would consider a different approach to this matter.
Creating a Colorado Health Care Task Force
Synopsis: This bill allows a state task force to receive private funding. It is a trojan horse to allow the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to push for socialized medicine and various nanny state schemes. The bill is antithetical to the principle that government activities should be paid for (and therefore controlled by) the legislature.
What the Bill Does: This bill creates the Colorado Health Care Task Force consisting of 9 members of the general assembly, 5 from the House of Representatives, and 4 from the Senate. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate make the appointments. Members may serve for 2 consecutive terms of 1 year. The task force must meet at least 4 times per year.
APPENDIX ANALYTICAL TABLES
Table 1 Traffic Count: I-25 at Hampden – August 1996 (3 lanes each direction)
Table 2 Configuration possibilities
Table 3 Capital construction cost of all configurations
Table 3A Capital construction cost of all configurations
RTD vs. Reality
The problem with any all-or-nothing approach is the very real possibility of getting nothing. There is no better example than RTDs attempt to build out rapid transit in all directions all at once. Heres the simple story: RTD has within its own means the ability, without a tax increase, to build one rapid transit line at a time. In order to do this RTD must decide which corridor goes first, which goes second, etc. Sounds like what we all have to do with our own major investments.
