In 1992, Republican and Libertarian economic principles won the day in Colorado. No longer would Big Gummint be able to spend money whenever it thought it needed to and raise taxes to pay for it. The cause of Liberty was served and was poised to become the freest and happiest state in all the land. According to Wikipedia, "[T]he voters of the state amended Article X of the Colorado Constitution to the effect that any tax increase resulting in the increase of governmental revenues at a rate faster than the combined rate of population increase and inflation as measured by either the cost of living index at the state level, or growth in property values at the local level, would be subjected to a popular vote in a referendum." In other words, any tax increase -- except in circumstances so rare as to be nonexistent -- would have to survive a referendum. Called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights or TABOR, this was clearly what the founders intended. Now that more than a decade has passed, let's see how things are going with this triumph of fiscal sanity, shall we?
Denver Post Editorial Board:
We have abdicated our responsibility to manage our elected officials by resorting to the referendum and forsaken our role in a representative democracy. The founders did not establish a direct democracy for a reason. We tamper with this at our peril.
We have foolishly allowed political charlatans to convince us that government in and of itself is evil and should be shrunken to the point that, as famously put by Grover Norquist, the government can be drowned in a bathtub...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
