AguilarIf someone asked the majority of our readers if they wanted to get rid of Obamacare, most would emphatically respond “Yes”.

That’s why the line of questioning from some petition gatherers getting signatures for a single-payer ballot initiative in Douglas County is so deceptive. According to reports from PeakNation™, petition signature gatherers are asking shoppers in the deep red county whether they want to get rid of Obamacare, but fail to mention that getting rid of Obamacare means ushering in government-run healthcare, an $25 billion proposition pushed by Democrat state Sen. Irene Aguilar.

Initiative 20, as it’s currently dubbed, would scrap Colorado’s health exchange and replace it with a government-run system. Coloradans would pay another 10% in “premium taxes” to cover the massive price tag. To add context to this number, the $25 billion in premium taxes is currently the size as the entire Colorado state budget.

Here is what the legislative chair for the Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters, Tammy Neiderman, told the Denver Post:

“I can’t imagine scrapping that and starting all over again with something that’s going to be this unknown … that’s a massive tax increase.

“Private insurers doubt the 10 percent premium tax is a reliable figure to cover the costs and that it could force locally elected ColoradoCare boards to raise premiums, she said, adding it would be costly and difficult to switch back to the old system if ColoradoCare failed.”

The moral of the story is to read what you sign, PeakNation™. This ballot measure does not get rid of the government control that irritates people about Obamacare, it expands it.