SquareState - TABOR

Doug "TABOR" Bruce to perform study on relation of tax revenue to prison food and accommodations

Zappatero — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:31:10 GMT

Proving he's always had the Colorado taxpayer at heart, Doug Bruce will be performing a first-person study into the effects of tax revenues on prison food, accommodations, and the societal effects of hypocrites in jail:

Small-government rabble-rouser and convicted tax evader Douglas Bruce received a sentence Monday of 180 days in jail followed by strict probation, and on the same day, prosecutors announced that the IRS requested copies of the evidence against him.
First Assistant Attorney General Robert Shapiro said he handed over the case file Monday but doesn't know whether federal authorities will launch their own investigation into Bruce and his now-defunct charity, Active Citizens Together (ACT).
Bruce's sentencing drew the curtain on a rare criminal tax-evasion case at the state level, and one Bruce could have potentially avoided had he cooperated with the Department of Revenue.
Denver District Judge Anne Mansfield commented on Bruce's "reprehensible" behavior during the trial and wondered aloud whether he could last six years on a strict form of probation that will lay bare for authorities every last detail of Bruce's finances.
"It was apparent during the trial itself, the defendant had absolutely no regard for the rule of law," Mansfield said. "His behavior is used to gauge his likelihood of success on probation. It requires abiding by strict rules. I have serious reservations Bruce can be successful."

Let's not forget Bruce is a hero among Coloradan who hate government and want to starve it of revenues. And Colorado Springs Republicans chose the lying, tax-evading, anti-social Doug Bruce as the best representative to replace another Republican a*hole in the House, Bill Cadman.

As they say among the civilized, "it couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

Hick tells America why he must eviscerate our schools and damage our childrens' future

Zappatero — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:39:23 GMT

UPDATE: Video from ABC's This Week is below.

Governor John Hickenlooper will be on a roundtable discussion this morning with 3 other governors to discuss the issues:

ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper hosts a very special roundtable discussion with exclusive appearances by Governor Jan Brewer, R-Ariz., Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Gov. Nikki Haley, R-SC, to discuss the federal and state budget crises and constituent responses to the shortages.

Bless his soul, Deval Patrick is a true Democrat. But I'm guessing Hick will be hard to distinguish between the Tea Party/Republican governors in the discussion:

He'll probably defend his disgusting and destructive plans to raid education so we can continue giving big tax breaks to big business.
It's doubtful he'll have a decent word to say about Colorado's workers, unions, or dedicated civil servants even as they showed their determination and support for Wisconsin's workers outside his office yesterday.
I'm sure he won't talk TABOR, it's destructive legacy and how even an economic boom won't be able to fix the damage it has done to our state budget or the fact that businesses keep pushing for more tax breaks.
And it is impossible he would ever have the guts or principle to urge us to unite for a future where our schools are as shiny as our missiles, like this guy:

Those things are obvious. What I am afraid of is Hick will be another in a long line of Colorado Democratic Leaders (I almost put "Democrat" cuz I'm so tired of their wimpiness) that would be ashamed to run as Republicans yet can't find the principle to stand up for truly democratic - and Democratic! values - even as those who live and represent those values knock on the door and stare them in the face.
Here's the governor's roundtable from ABC video:

He had the frickin' nerve to say "we need to invest in Education" which Tapper immediately questioned. Hick elucidated on that by saying we should "raise our kids up" good. Then he said when you're in business you might have to retrench, but the you come up with new ideas.

Jesus........I couldn't stand to watch anymore of our fair Governor under the bright lights of national TV.

Memo to Hick: Even business has spoken against TABOR

Zappatero — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:40:08 GMT

So the latest talking point about Governor Hickenlooper's horrible budget proposal is that "he got the conversation going" and "even he knows TABOR is bad". Almost every other caller to Mario's show on the subject contains those points, yet none of those callers have picked up on the obvious point that Mario keeps making: the Governor has shown no leadership on the issue, is doing no heavy lifting and has done few of the things he could unilaterally do to help the situation.

The biggest problem in this is that Hick won't even address the virulence of TABOR, when "everyone" knows it's a problem. Well, everyone knows this but the Governor.

But guess what? Even Colorado businesses, whom Hick is trying to tepidly placate, know it's a problem:

Colorado Business and Community Leaders View TABOR as Deeply Flawed
A wide range of Coloradans -- business leaders, higher education officials, children's advocates, legislators of both parties, and Former Governor Bill Owens (R), among others -- recognize that TABOR has limited the state's ability to fund critical services:
"Coloradans were told in 1992 . . . that [TABOR] guaranteed them a right to vote on any and all tax increases. . . . What the public didn't realize was that it would contain the strictest tax and spending limitation of any state in the country, and long-term would hobble us economically." -- Tom Clark, Executive Vice President, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation

I can't find the link now, but Colorado businesses went so far as to write a letter in opposition to TABOR to a state that was considering its passage. (I think it was Maine.)

So: Everyone "knows" TABOR is bad. Everyone says Hickenlooper "knows" this. And everyone "knows" Hickenlooper just wanted to start a budget conversation by dumping on Colorado's schools and students.

So how come Hick doesn't know what business knows in Colorado: that we need to eliminate TABOR and start fairly* taxing the rich to put our entire house, not just business, in order for the next generation of Coloradans.

(* - so they can't call me a Commie.)

Republican Doug Bruce: just another lying tax cheat

Zappatero — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:06:15 GMT

Doug Bruce's long anti-veteran, anti-government, anti-tax slumlord history is pretty well documented.

When the geniuses who run the El Paso County Republicans needed someone to fill an empty seat in the Colorado State House they chose Doug Bruce. Thank God for their congenital obtuseness.

So while Bruce loves being in the spotlight and loves having his name associated with laws and such, if there's one that's a little inconvenient for him to follow, like campaign finance and disclosure laws, he'll ignore them:

Douglas Bruce, a candidate for the Colorado Springs City Council, has spent more than 20 years in Colorado politics as an activist, a candidate and an office holder. He even founded a nonprofit charity in 2001 that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on various campaigns.
But in at least three years that Bruce operated the charity, called Active Citizens Together, he did not report the group's political involvement and expenditures to the Internal Revenue Service, as charities are required to do. From 2005 to 2008, ACT spent money on at least eight political campaigns.
The Gazette reported in October that Bruce failed to report ACT's 2008 political expenditures to the IRS, checking a box on a tax form saying ACT didn't lobby that year, while ACT in 2008 fiercely campaigned against a pair of statewide ballot questions.

So Bruce calls himself a Republican. He does represent them well: any laws he doesn't care for he ignores, he doesn't want to pay taxes and will use legal and illegal means to evade them. And Colorado's Republicans can't seem to get enough of him no matter how low on the food chain he descends. They know he will always do their anti-tax dirty work.

And to that I say Hear ye hear ye! Long Live Doug Bruce - Republican role-model and tax cheat!

Amendment 63 - The Health Care TABOR Amendmenet

Just Anita — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:07:29 GMT

Amendment 63 - as marketed by reactionaries from the Jon Caldara camp at the Independence Institute is misleading; asserting it promotes choice for Colorado's concerned citizens. Let's really look at what Amendment 63 will do in light of the federal coverage mandate by 2014.

Insurance coverage vs Health Care?

The US adopted a federal insurance based system in 1973, ratcheting the controls of the insurance industry to write, regulate, and request federal funding to support their industry. As such, a private system of health care management organizations - HMO's and PPO's - and insurance coverage products were created. The feds would pay a share to the insurance industry, employers would pay additional funds to the insurance industry, the taxpayer would pay a share to the insurance industry. That's a lot of shares - to the tune of 17% GDP - that kept a lot of shareholders and insurance executives happy for decades. Further, the industry was self-regulating doing what's best for the taxpayers.

Health Care transitions

HCR is transitioning the nation from an insurance industry controlled system to a care based system with options that will range from private insurance to State and federal care based opportunities. Reforms are creating a variety of choices for citizens to choose from, based on an individual's socio-economic situation. In otherwords options to fit within a budget - no freebies outside qualifying benchmarks.

Amendment 63 is misleading

Amendment 63 convolutes the intentions of HCR. HCR is effectively rolling back insurance industry controls to federal tax dollars - incrementally - and returns those funds to the State through the Department of Health and Human Services. The Act - as written - is essentially State's rights' legislation. Each State has opportunity to secure - and expand - programs for health care, such as Medicare/Medicaid/Chip programs, and create new ones as more federal funding becomes available in this transition for it's citizens. By the time the federal mandate for "coverage" takes affect in 2014, the majority of State's - the smart ones - will have programs in place that will negate the affects of any federal mandate. A Federal mandate becomes moot, if a State has programs available for all citizens to access care and/or coverage.

Colorado is moving forward with real choice

Colorado is effectively working toward it's goals of being a care based system with qualifying programs for those who are currently without insurance or care based opportunities. This could mean a variety of options, such as stand alone private insurance coverage, and public options within an insurance pool, and/or State care single-payer programs. That's a lot of choices. If Amendment 63 passes, Colorado will essentially opt itself out of opportunities to move from an insurance based system, and reduce our choices to insurance coverage only options. Essentially, Amendment 63 protects the insurance industry's stronghold at the State level, keeping choices within the industry, instead of creating care based opportunities. It's a layer of State initiative attacks designed to protect the insurance industry's right to our tax dollars.

Amendment 63 another TABOR

Amendment 63 - and it's proponents can be thanked for TABOR, and we all know what that's done for Colorado taxpayers and our budget. Add Amendment 60, Amendment 61, and Amendment 101 to the ballot, and it's clear what proponents are trying to do to our State. It's a disastrous proposal created by a tunnel-visioned group of reactionaries with Jon Caldara waving his "I hate taxes" pom- poms, and rallying around anything Anti-Obama. There's nothing informational about the Independence Institute's take on HCR - just a group of pedigreed progenies proned to tantrums; claiming they represent taxpayers rights. Save it! For those of us who understand our taxes pay for services, infrastructure, sanitation, education opportunities, quality medicines, and care when we're sick, we're more inclined to watchdog accountability - instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Amendment 63 - another reactionary TABOR style proposal. VOTE NO on Amendment 63.

TABOR: too extreme for Colorado Springs

StrykerK2 — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:51:23 GMT

Colorado Springs, home of groups such as Focus on the Family, apparently has had enough with their Ayn Rand experiment. Their Mayor is calling for a time out from their own version of the Orwellian named "Tax Payer Bill of Rights"

Rivera wants the change because the city's budget has been shrinking dramatically during the nation's economic plunge. TABOR sets a revenue cap for the city government that's based on what have been declining collections of sales and use taxes, meaning it could be years before the city could spend at pre-recession levels. Rivera said such a TABOR timeout would be the only way city government can recover from the economic recession.

More after the jump...(including a poll!)
Wait...you mean TABOR doesn't work? I mean the rest of the state figured that out a few years ago when we passed Ref C...

Here's the link to the full story

More Signs of The End Times: Sugar Tax Edition

Fong — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:35:43 GMT

Another piece of the sky fell today as those slinging snack foods to the masses brace for the burden of charging their loyal customers a 2.9% sales tax-- one of the lowest in the nation. Curiously, (if you're that kind of person) the price of their already subsidized goods didn't go up 2.9%, but almost 10%. The reason for increasing hike by a factor of nearly four?

From DP whose acronym you just can't get enough of:

Michael Roth, owner of A Better Vending Co. in Broomfield, said his firm has increased prices "10 cents if not at least a quarter across the board" on soda.
He said the new tax put additional inventory-tracking demands on his company.
But, like Langdon, he said wholesaler price increases in prior years factored in to the price hikes as well.
"We get increases every year from our major suppliers," Roth said. "We don't go around every single year and raise prices, even though we should."

So when you hear the Right squeal about how big government is strangling the babies, remember that the real price of soda and candy is held artificially low by both subsidies and retailers who have lagged in passing on years wholesalers' price hikes. And kids, NEVER forget we have a really, really low state sales tax.

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