Pennywise, Pound foolish

Time for C&D Proponents to Show Guts

By Howard Rothman, 9-07-05

The Denver Post reported today that referendum "C&D camps start TV campaigns" and noted that proponents have raised $1.2 million in August to give them a $3 million advertising war chest going into the fall election season. The Vote Yes camp accordingly rolled out its biggest gun with an opening commercial spot featuring Colorado Gov. Bill Owens touting the importance of the dual ballot issues. But here's a suggestion for them: If you really want to win, take off the gloves -- right now -- and explain why fiscal policies that aim to achieve the same results as the TABOR measure you're trying to override are, at the core, responsible for the devastating calamity we are witnessing all along the Gulf Coast.

For the uninitiated, according to the Post's Chris Frates, "Referendum C asks voters (in Colorado) to give up an estimated $3.6 billion in refunds over five years that would otherwise be refunded to them under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR. Its companion measure, Referendum D, asks voters to allow government to take out $2.1 billion in loans to pay largely for road and school improvements." Those opposed, led by Jon Caldera and the Independence Institute, say passage of the referenda is tantamount to a tax increase. And that, in their view, must never, ever be allowed.

Most of the pro and con arguments we're going to hear over the next two months have been advanced for years, but the Gulf Coast tragedy points up the danger of continually shrinking our governments -- which is TABOR's main goal. And, by all accounts, this race is still way too close to call. It's therefore up to proponents to show some courage and vision and point out, over and over, exactly what the downsized fiscal policies we've been adopting over the past few years are doing to the fabric of our cities.

As Thomas Friedman writes in today's New York Times, "And then there are the president's standard lines: 'It's not the government's money; it's your money,' and, 'One of the last things that we need to do to this economy is to take money out of your pocket and fuel government.' Maybe Mr. Bush will now also tell us: 'It's not the government's hurricane - it's your hurricane.'"

One could say exactly the same here during the upcoming C&D campaign. Will anyone have the courage to do so?

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