Their betters from both coasts spent big to enlighten the people of Colorado which, east of the Hudson, is considered one of those square states full of primitives who don’t know what is good for them.

So Michael Bloomberg, who makes a habit of sticking his money in that state’s business, spent a million to push a referendum that would have increased taxes in Colorado by a billion dollars with the money going to “improve education.” Which is to say, to raise the salaries of teachers and educrats and hire more of them. Bloomberg was joined by Bill and Melinda Gates, among others, to include, of course, the teachers’ union. With that kind of backing, the forces of progress and goodness amassed a war chest of some $10 million. Enough, surely, to prevail over the rubes and provincials who managed to scratch together barely $40 thousand. Yes, thousand.