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Home Archives for Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

4/25/2009 By Ben 4 Comments

A ‘Nonpartisan’ Reason to Challenge California Anti-Taxpayer Media Bias

It's quite often the subtle bias in the dominant liberal media that can make a significant difference. Witness yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle piece on a California ballot initiative to impose tax-and-spending limitations on state government. Writer John Wildermuth quotes from two Colorado sources to establish views on our own state's experience with the stronger Taxpayer's Bill of Rights limit (emphases added):"Nobody disagrees that (the cap) kept government spending lower," said Carol Hedges, a senior fiscal analyst for the nonpartisan Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, which opposes the state's budget cap. "But supporters don't like to talk about the human cost of keeping government smaller."... Across the nation, anti-tax … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, media bias, PPC, Random and Miscellaneous Tagged With: accurate, adjective, anti-tax advocates, argue, ballot initiative, budget cap, California, Carol Hedges, Colorado, Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, conclusion, credibility, degree, Democratic, descriptor, difference, dominant liberal media, downhill, establish, experience, fiscal analyst, fiscal conservatives, free market, full disclosure, Independence Institute, John Wildermuth, Jon Caldara, machine, misleading, newspapers, nonpartisan, objective, out of business, outsourced arm, predetermined, President, primary source, progressive, quotes, rolls, San Francisco Chronicle, significant, sources, story, subtle bias, tax-and-spending limit, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, technical sense, think tank, undeserved, views, writer

3/17/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Jon Caldara Comments on Colorado Supremes’ Anti-Taxpayer Ruling

My thoughts are here. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, Judiciary, liberty Tagged With: Colorado Supreme Court, Jon Caldara, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, video, YouTube

3/16/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Undeterred by Plain Reading of Constitution, State Supremes Stick It to Colorado Taxpayers

Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for "outrage". A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, Judiciary, PPC, property rights Tagged With: 49 states, Allison Eid, arbitrary rule, Ari Armstrong, boss, campaign issue, Cary Kennedy, clairvoyance, Colorado Supreme Court, common sense, compelling case, conservatives, constitutional sanity, constitutionality, Cory Gardner, Democrat, Denver Post, dissenting voice, downgrading, faith, fiscal restraint, forthcoming, full retreat, government, Governor, Grand Junction Jon Caldara, higher threshold, inescapable, Josh Penry, just, justice system, kudos, law, legal arena, libertarian, life support, local elections, local tax revenues, loyalist, most partisan, observation, offense, other ideas, partisan interests, plain reading, realization, reasonable, Republicans, SB 07-199, school districts, senate minority leader, simpler, state constitution, state house, state legal system, state of Colorado, state representative, state senate, state treasurer, tactical idea, tax dollars, tax policy change, tax revenue gain, taxpayer protections, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, The Colorado Index, violated, voter permission, weigh in, writer

2/24/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrats and Marostica: “Forget the Constitution, California, Here We Come”

When talking politics or economics, it's usually a powerful rhetorical tactic to compare our own Colorado to California - especially these days. In that light, here's a fitting and timely reminder from state senator Ted Harvey:The lesson Colorado’s legislators must learn from this recession is clear: fiscal responsibility works. Even though the legislature collectively fell short of creating a rainy day fund, TABOR and the Arveschoug-Bird 6% spending cap forced Colorado legislators to keep spending low. Had the government enjoyed free rein in ramping up spending – which is a great temptation to many lawmakers tasked with spending other people’s money – Colorado’s budget crisis would be as serious as California’s. [emphasis … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, PPC, transportation Tagged With: 1992, 6 percent cap, Al Jolson, Arveschoug-Bird, best case, budget crisis, California, cap, Colorado, committee, conclude, court, Democrats, Don Marostica, economics, entitlement programs, Face the State, fiscal responsibility, fitting, good idea, government, government growth, legal advisers, legislative prerogative, legislators, lesson, memo, override, politics, recession, reminder, rhetorical tactic, Senate Bill 228, state constitution, state legislature, state senator, TABOR, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Ted Harvey, temptation, timely, transportation, voter approval, voters

12/23/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Rollie Heath Wants to Use Economic Downturn to Kill TABOR

It only took seven weeks after the voters of Colorado said no to a statewide proposal that would have gutted the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) - a proposal pushed by a campaign that heavily outspent the opposition - for the Democrats to be back at it again. From today's Denver Post:Rollie Heath, a Boulder Democrat elected to the Senate, said that as lawmakers grapple in the coming session with cutting as much as $600 million from the budget because of declining revenues, they should also look at TABOR, a revenue-capping provision of the state's constitution. The state is in a timeout from TABOR's tax-revenue limits, but that timeout expires in 2010, when Colorado will have to begin refunding to taxpayers any revenue it collects … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: Amendment 59, Boulder, budget-cutting, campaign, Colorado, Democrats, Denver Post, eventuality, flexibility, foresight, lawmakers, limit, opposition, Referendum C, revenue, Rollie Heath, shortfall, state constitution, state government, state senate, statewide proposal, TABOR, tax limits, taxes, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers, timeout, voters

12/21/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Democrat Cary Kennedy: Protecting Coloradans from Open Government

In an editorial today that could herald the great advance of Colorado's upcoming legislative session, the Denver Post lauds a proposal by Rep. Don Marostica (R-Loveland) and Sen. Mike Kopp (R-Littleton) that would place the state government's check register online. Marostica made a similar legislative proposal in 2007, but was shot down with a ridiculous $2 million fiscal note from legislative staff. (Cost money? It's much more likely to save taxpayer money.) One line from the Post editorial jumped off the page when I read it:Marostica again plans to sponsor a bill to create just such a site, and treasurer Cary Kennedy has supported the plan in theory, but wants some citizen protections in place. [emphasis added\ Uh, what? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Cary Kennedy, check register, Colorado, Democrat, Denver Post, Don Marostica, drive a stake in the heart, editorial, election, fiscal note, great advance, in theory, lauds, legislative session, legislative staff, Mike Kopp, online, open government, proposal, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Transparency, treasurer, YouTube video

12/5/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Questions Linger as Colorado Supremes Sit on Ritter Tax Hike Decision

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Governor Bill Ritter are defendants in a case filed by the Independence Institute (disclosure: where I work) and numerous aggrieved taxpayers over a 2007 law that raised property taxes without a proper vote of the people, as required by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Denver District Court Judge Christine Habas came down on the side of the people nearly seven months ago, but the Colorado Supreme Court has been silent since - despite reasonable expectations that critical tax revenue issues be addressed in a timely manner. As Face The State reports, CDE needs the Supreme Court to "hurry up":In June, Ritter, a defendant alongside CDE, appealed the decision to the state's highest court. Oral … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, property rights Tagged With: aggrieved taxpayers, attorney, Bill Ritter, CASE, chaos, Christine Habas, cockiness, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Supreme Court, decision, defendants, Denver, Denver District Court, Evan Gluckman, exact science, Face the State, gamble, Governor, hurry up, Independence Institute, Jason Dunn, judge, landmine, Main Street Cafe, oral arguments, owner, plaintiffs, political insiders, property taxes, questions, reasonable expectations, revenue, Richard Westfall, Rocky Mountain Right, taxpayer dollars, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, timely manner

9/24/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Romanoff & Kennedy: Saving TABOR’s Heart by Driving a Stake through It

I think Colorado's Democratic powerhouses behind Amendment 59 need to get on the same page. It was only last month that State Treasurer Cary Kennedy was overheard saying that Amendment 59 will "drive a stake in the heart" of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. In yesterday's Denver Post, however, outgoing House Speaker Andrew Romanoff sought to argue that under Amendment 59 "'the heart' of TABOR — that all tax increases must have voter approval — would be preserved." Uncle Charley came to the valid conclusion:Romanoff and Kennedy need to talk to each other: How do you preserve TABOR’s heart after a stake has been driven through it? Exactly. Someone needs to cartoon this... If you're going to take away all future TABOR refunds … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Amendment 59, Andrew Romanoff, cartoon, Cary Kennedy, Colorado, contradictions, Democrats, Denver Post, drive a stake in the heart, House Speaker, state treasurer, TABOR refunds, tax increases, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Uncle Charley

9/12/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter’s Judicial Hubris Continues As Anti-Taxpayer Case Proceeds

Three months ago I asked the question: "What does Bill Ritter know about the Supreme Court to gamble taxpayer dollars?" Yesterday, the same sort of hubris was on display, following the oral arguments that were held before the state's highest court to hear Gov. Ritter's appeal in defense of his unconstitutional property tax hike. The Denver Post reports:Ritter's office has downplayed the need for any contingency plans in the event the high court throws out the mill-levy freeze. Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Ritter, gave a low-key response. "This is a complex case, and it is now in the hands of the court," Dreyer said. "We appreciate that the court heard oral arguments so quickly, and we look forward to the court's decision so we can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor Tagged With: Bill Ritter, Colorado Supreme Court, contingency plans, Denver Post, dreaming, Evan Dreyer, hubris, mill levy "freeze", partisanship, property tax hike, state constitution, statehouse, taxpayer dollars, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights

9/10/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Democrat Cary Kennedy Admits Amendment 59 is Anti-Taxpayer

In case you had any doubts about the intentions of leading Colorado Democrats in bringing forward Amendment 59, Education Week brings you the straight skinny (H/T Rocky Mountain Right):Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff praised the [National Education Association]’s state chapter as one of the “most aggressive and successful” groups assisting Democrats in their takeover Colorado’s Statehouse and governor’s mansion. State Treasurer Cary Kennedy (no relation to RFK Jr.) said that Democrats would win a ballot initiative to “drive a stake in the heart” of the state’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights [TABOR]--a conservative cost-cutting measure. Yes, the Democrats behind Amendment 59 - Andrew Romanoff and Cary Kennedy - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 59, Andrew Romanoff, ballot initiative, Cary Kennedy, Colorado, Colorado Education Association, Democrats, Education Week, Governor, liberal interest groups, motivations, National Education Association, Rocky Mountain Right, Speaker of the House, statehouse, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers, teachers union, unguarded opinions

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Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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