Colorado is attempting to entice more people to get vaccinated with a $1 million payout, along with $50,000 in scholarship money for high school students to go to college.

Also read: POINT | Reward vax takers for protecting others

The scholarship lottery is particularly problematic since there is growing evidence that some number of young men in the lottery’s target age range are experiencing heart inflammation as a result of the vaccine. While this number is small, the CDC called an emergency meeting this week to address the issue.

The only reason to spend fabricated or borrowed dollars on stimulus projects is if those projects are needed anyway and fall within the scope of a government’s responsibilities and jurisdiction. Otherwise, the dollars are being taken out of the economy, which deprives the private sector of the ability to invest and use them more beneficially. The economy would rebound much faster if the heavy hand of government were lifted.

The COVID lottery spending does not meet those criteria, both because it’s unnecessary and because it’s not the state government’s responsibility to ensure citizens are vaccinated.

Infection rates are falling across the state. More and more counties are being declared “all clear.” Those who had COVID-19 are already immune and don’t need to get vaccinated. If one counts those who have had COVID-19, have already been vaccinated or are otherwise at extremely low risk, Colorado’s “herd immunity” has probably already been achieved. Therefore, the lottery isn’t necessary.

Furthermore, the lottery represents a misuse of funds, which are supposed to help us recover from the government-induced economic disaster of the last year. Rewarding a lucky few for getting the vaccine does nothing to fix the economy.

Injecting a massive number of federal dollars into the economy is a bad idea for other reasons as well. Much of this money is simply being printed or borrowed against the future. Our country has never seen this level of artificial spending. We are taking out a long-term debt that our great grandchildren’s great grandchildren will be paying off. The country simply cannot afford such fiscal extravagance and irresponsibility.

The present generation also will feel the effects of this spending. Runaway inflation is already kicking in with rapidly escalating prices for energy, food, construction materials, and more. Government-caused inflation is an insidious, hidden tax that hits everyone but those on fixed incomes, the middle class, and the economically disadvantaged most severely.

The intent of the vaccine lottery is to increase the number of people getting the vaccine. After the first giveaway, the rate of inoculations didn’t increase, and actually decreased over the holiday weekend following the lottery’s announcement. So as an enticement, the lottery has already failed.

Colorado is now opening up and devastated businesses, which represent the life savings and dreams of countless small business owners and their employees, are beginning to recover. Sadly, many businesses did not survive this last year. The lottery is more salt in the wounds as the lucky few get an extra handout, paid for by everyone else, including generations yet to be born. It is a gimmick and amounts to Gov. Polis buying your votes with your own money and papering over his own culpability for the economic disaster.

Make no mistake, the government’s freezing the economy with overreaching mandates and measures devastated businesses, jobs, and lives. Now that Polis has destroyed the economy, he wants to bribe you with future generations’ money to forget what he did.

These funds should not be printed, should not be borrowed and should not be spent, especially in such a wasteful manner. Let’s end the lottery, lift the remaining restrictions and governmental economic controls, and let people get back to work. That’s the best antidote today.

Andres Pico, R-Colorado Springs, represents House District 16 in the Colorado General Assembly.