Opponents of Prop 121 take satirical swipe at billionaires backing Colorado income tax cut

“Cut roads! I literally look down on you and your roads,” says a woman as she steps into a private jet, depicted in an online advertisement against Proposition 121, a ballot measure that would lower Colorado’s single-rate income tax from 4.55% to 4.4%, threatening funding for health care, education, human services, and … roads. 

People with high incomes and private jets will cash in if Proposition 121 passes, while the middle-class people below them on the income scale — and literally underneath the rich people flying in private jets — would pay the price, say opponents of Proposition 121.

The ad with the woman in the private jet is one of a satirical series called “Billionaires Back Proposition 121,” released today by the progressive Bell Policy Center. 

The ads make the point that rich people don’t care as much about cuts to government programs that the passage of Proposition 121 could trigger.

For example, in the ad, a man seated on a couch is poured a glass of champagne as he says, “We’ll cut health care if we’re in a pinch. My private doctor won’t mind.”

“We’ve put together a shoestring effort to defeat proposition 121 because we know it’s terrible for Colorado,” said Scott Wasserman, President of The Bell Policy Center. “Proposition 121 would hollow out the state’s ability to pay for the things that Coloradans want and need, including education, healthcare, and transportation. It’s a bait and switch that will benefit the wealthiest Coloradans, and increase local taxes and fees for the rest of us.”

View the ad here on Facebook and here on Twitter.

Backers of Proposition 121 say the measure allows all Coloradans to keep more money, and it would boost the economy.

“The dynamic impact of tax savings in 2023 would be an estimated additional 9,110 jobs,” wroteproponent Michael Fields of Advance Colorado. “It would also reduce the size of the state government by increasing private-sector employment and decreasing government employment in the long run.”

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on the Colorado Times Recorder website.