There's an initiative on the Colorado ballot this year that would do major harm to our initiative process under the guise of "enhancing" it.

Amendment 38 would change Colorado's initiative process for the worse. It would lower the bar for submission of new amendments to Colorado's constitution unacceptably. It would turn our constitution, even more than it already is, into a "charm bracelet for special interests," as Bill Ritter recently put it. It would also provide for tinpot Doug Bruce-style initiatives at the local level, further undermining already weak municipal and county representative governments.

Gail Schoettler, a member of ProgressNowAction's Board of Directors, discussed last weekend in the Denver Post the responsibility that hasn't adequately accompanied some recent Colorado initiatives:

The [Colorado Economic Futures] panel found that the long stream of fiscal initiatives had created "conflicting policies and unintended consequences" based on too little analysis and too much 30-second hype. They believe that the purpose of electing representatives to legislatures, county commissions and city councils is to have people who will take the time to thoroughly analyze the content and consequences of policies before enacting them. Without this thoughtful scrutiny, we end up with systems and governments that are neither accountable nor functional...

To succeed, Coloradans must understand why the current system doesn't work, why that matters to them, and how a different system will make their daily lives better. They must be persuaded that a more flexible government will serve them better as times change, and that strategic investments, rather than constitutionally mandated spending, will improve opportunities for their families.

There will be fierce opposition to any attempts to tamper with the fiscal and legislative constraints in the Constitution. But, as we have seen in the financial crises of the last few years, when the Constitution limits elected officials' ability to solve problems, they get worse. Given the array of initiatives facing Coloradans this fall, voters may well agree with the Economic Futures Panel that more rigorous standards for initiatives would improve both the ballot and our government.

Naturally, both Bob Beauprez and Marc Holtzman signed an unequivocal statement of support for Amendment 38. But that's not the end of the story:

Amendment 38 is rapidly turning into a nightmare for the public figures who hastily signed on to it. With Colorado's business community already alienated by some Republicans' ongoing don't-know-the-war-is-over opposition to Referendum C, there's a strong push inside the Colorado GOP to squelch Jon Caldara and these self-immolating proposals before the voters send their whole crew packing in disgust.

We hear that Bob Beauprez is about to flip-flop -- he's preparing to rescind his support for Amendment 38. If he does, it will demonstrate two things:

1) Beauprez stands for whatever his handlers tell him to stand for.
2) Why we call the man "Both Ways Bob."

All the same, good on Beauprez for realizing what a bad idea he signed up to support. The initiative process in Colorado is a precious gift: one that should be used responsibly. Give Amendment 38 the same time on the books as TABOR had and watch it self-destruct. Better yet, just vote NO on 38 this November and spare Colorado the damage done learning that lesson.