Fellow citizens, Do you know how much your total state and local debt burden is? Neither does anyone else. Governments don't publish those figures. They also vary the names of their many forms of debt. They have general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, leases, lease-purchases, lease-options, certificates of participation (COPs), contracts, notes, and other types, mainly without the voter approval the state constitution requires now. Taxpayers must repay with interest every dollar the politicians squander. If someone stole your wallet, you'd yell, "Stop, thief!" If he ran up credit card debts, you would cancel the cards. Theft of credit is what politicians are doing to you now. You must act to stop them. Amendment 61 ends their unlimited access to your credit card. Refuse to be a victim any longer; vote for Amendment 61. The total of payments over the life of these debts is BILLIONS of dollars. The original constitution from 1876 says the state shall be debt-free and “shall not contract any debt by loan in any form.” Politicians and judges have evaded that clear ban by saying borrowed money they repay that same fiscal year, or incur from another government or through another government agency, or call by another name, or may choose to default on, is “not debt.” Really! Amendment 61 re-affirms the plain meaning of that 1876 ban on state debt, and deletes all obsolete exceptions. No debt, no borrowing, no loans— require a balanced state budget that protects all citizens from repaying future overspending by irresponsible state politicians. Living within one's means is a matter of morality. Amendment 61 allows local bonded debt only, but only for strictly limited periods and amounts, and only after voter approval in November elections. Borrowing $100 million at 7% interest for 30 years costs $239 million to repay. Borrowing that amount for 10 years costs $139 million. We would save $100 million in interest, which builds nothing. That savings can buy the next $100 million project in cash, saving us even more in interest. All existing debt will be paid, even if illegally imposed. When any borrowing is fully repaid after 2010, annual current taxes are thereafter reduced an amount equal to its annual debt payments. They no longer need the money since their payments ended. The current economic crisis was caused by borrowed money that could not be repaid—huge debts by Wall Street, federal agencies, banks, corporations, and home buyers. Americans are in a deep hole; doesn't it make sense to stop digging? As Thomas Jefferson said, "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." Jefferson also said, "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude." Then there are these words of wisdom: "No pecuniary consideration is more urgent, than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt: on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of time more valuable." --President George Washington, Message to the House of Representatives, 1793 Help pass this vital and common sense reform in November. Commit to reducing the debt burden on Colorado children. Thank you. Some people think our state constitution is too long. Their "solution" is to vote against any constitutional amendment, no matter how good it is. But certain reforms belong in the constitution. An effective limit on government debt is one of them. You can't rely on politicians restraining themselves when they have an easy alternative of spending money now and making the next generation pay it back. That tactic is politically appealing, but immoral. It happens, but it shouldn't. Also, Amendment 61 REDUCES the number of words in the constitution. It adds 309 words to achieve its purpose, and repeals 664 words of obsolete language. Read the excess wording at the Research link, under Article XI, sections 3-6. That's a net reduction of 355 words! So those who want to streamline the constitution should also vote YES on Amendment 61.