I imagine there are a million “provisional” ballots out there someplace that will push this tax increase over the top after all of the real votes are counted and they start counting the “provisional” ballots.
It failed big here in Colorado because voters are just not in the mood to spend in a sour economy. The message to our state government is to live within your means. CO voters did loosen the TABOR corset in the past. But that didn’t mean they wanted to take it completely off! We’re facing a recession and Americans know we have massive debt and worry about how to repay that and even here people just don’t want to take on new debt. Its a wake-up call for the country.
Not only can we the citizens ill afford to pay more in taxes, the government itself is too large, too bloated, too over-reaching. Our elected officials will just have to learn to live within their means, just as the rest of us do. The bigger lesson here is that governments cannot go running to the citizens for more money anytime they want. This is a bad, bad precedent and strategy. Where does it end government? What happens in the future when the taxation rate is already 100% and you need more money? Seriously. Increasing taxes to deal with your failings as a leader, budgeter, and decision maker is not a viable long-term strategy. Fix it now, period.
Keep this bumped for some REAL news, not opinion. This is the pulse of the voters.
Well done, Coloradans!