Posted on 11/02/2005 6:05:50 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
DENVER - Referendum C won in the court of public opinion Tuesday as Colorado voters approved the measure to allow the state to keep $3.7 billion that otherwise would have been returned to taxpayers.
The election was marked by a healthy turnout and marred by ballot shortages at many El Paso County precincts. After precincts ran out of ballots, the county’s results were delayed before being added to state totals, adding to the suspense early in the night.
The measure appeared to be winning by about a 53-47 percent margin statewide. El Paso County voters were rejecting Referendum C by about the same margin.
The outcome of a companion measure, Referendum D, remained too close to call. The measure would allow the state to issue $2 billion in bonds for highway projects, school building repairs and pensions funds.
Republican Gov. Bill Owens, who bucked many in his own party by backing Referendum C, said, “I think this is a victory for fiscal responsibility. Once again, Colorado voters have shown they are the ones in charge, and they voted for the future of Colorado.”
Referendum C mandates a five-year timeout from constitutional spending limits imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a 1992 measure authored by El Paso County Commissioner Douglas Bruce.
State economists estimate that the measure will let government keep $3.7 billion in surplus tax money that would otherwise have been refunded to taxpayers. The money is earmarked for education, transportation and health care.
Referendum C also changes the way TABOR’s spending and revenue caps are calculated to ease the impact of economic downturns on the state budget.
Owens has called TABOR’s “ratchet effect” — meaning TABOR ratchets down spending limits during recessions — a flaw in the amendment that needed to be fixed.
Bruce, who campaigned against Referendum C, said he was surprised that voters believed “lies” from people such as Owens that failure to pass Referendum C would result in severe cuts to state services.
“That’s what this election is about,” Bruce said. “Do you want to be free, or do you want Big Brother to take care of you?”
Bruce has vowed to file a lawsuit if Referendum C passed. In response to the threat, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, quipped, “There is an old Arabic saying: The dog barks, but the caravan moves on.”
Jon Caldara, the Denver radio talk show host who is director of the Goldenbased Independence Institute, predicted Referendum D will fail and said, “I’ll take that half-loaf rather than no loaf at all.”
Caldara praised political leaders who opposed the measure including U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, saying they did so at significant political risk. Beauprez is running for the GOP nomination for governor.
“The entire political infrastructure was against the taxpayer tonight,” Caldara said. “We stood up to them, and we ought to be damn proud of that.”
Another reason for the passage of Referendum C was strong support from Denver media, including the city’s two daily newspapers, Caldara said. The Denver Post on Sunday published a rare frontpage editorial endorsing “yes” votes on the measures.
Bruce’s lawsuit threat has a familiar ring. He has frequently sued government over alleged violations of the constitution, but most of his lawsuits have failed.
The Referendum C & D campaign was expensive. Bruce Benson, co-chair of the Vote Yes on C and D, said supporters raised $7.5 million. Millions more were spent by the opponents.
But when the General Assembly convenes in January, there will be more room in the budget.
How much room depends on whether Referendum D also passes, but it was so close late Tuesday that some officials were predicting the outcome would result in an automatic recount.
As the evening wound down at the Referendum C victory party, Benson mused that the issue had created strange political bedfellows.
Republicans and Democrats who don’t often cross paths on election nights mingled over cocktails awaiting the results.
“Some of the folks here I don’t spend a lot of time with, and I never thought I would,” he said, pointing to a row of Democrats.
The major political rift is within the GOP ranks. Bruce and other El Paso County politicians had said that Republicans who supported Referendum C were RINOS — Republicans in Name Only.
How long it will take for bruised egos to heal remains to be seen.
For Democrats, the outcome is plainly a victory because virtually every elected Democrat in the state supported the measure.
For Democrats, the outcome is plainly a victory because virtually every elected Democrat in the state supported the measure.
Looks like the liberals of this state pulled out all the stops. The financing to ensure passage and support from the liberal press was the nail in the coffin.
What a sad day in Colorado. Let this serve as a reminder that just because they are Republicans doesn't mean they are conservative. For everyone who voted for Owens this should be a wake up call.
The ignorant citizens of Colorado have given the tax and spend pols a blank check and they are to dumb to realize that it is they who have to deposit their money to cover it.
This just blows my mind. I guess Colorado is ripe for the taking by Dems in '08.
C passed in both Jefferson and Arapahoe counties so it appears there is more to it. I'm guessing too many Republicans decided to pass it and get the budget funding problem over with. To our own peril, but that's what happened, IMHO.
The support for Ref C and D was wrapped up in a slick marketing campaign. People were too stupid to see through it. Three times as much advertising money was spent on supporting it rather than opposing it.
Yeah, it is ripe for a takeover by the Dems, no help from that RINO Gov. Owens. Another good example of why ALL politicians should be term limited. He has been in office too long.
A world turned upside down. What can you say? How do argue with insanity? Looks like Churhill is going to get another raise.
Two Republican, but not politically aware, coworkers voted for C & D. One because she believed college tuition would skyrocket by the time her 16 year old gets to college. The other because Owens was for it, so it must have been good.
The Conservatives' first order of business is to defeat Owens in the primary. A Republican In Name Only in power is much more dangerous in the long run than a Democrat governor. When high taxes predictably make a state weak, I'd rather the electorate sees a Democrat in power than a Republican.
The dumbing down of America.....I live in Denver..and all the "more money for government" passed...its scarey...in 3 years we will be in bad shape...in debt...private jobs leaving...economy dying...all because of the high taxes..and inefficent government workers...remember you can't fire them or lay them off..they just keep expanding...and a 7% increase is a cut in funding.... if it was supposed to be 7.3%
Whatever happened to the state that was once solidly conservative?
Just what I was talking about. Thanks. I can't wait for a fellow GOPer to complain about high taxes now.
Amazing.
My chin hit the desk when I read this. I am literally speechless. America is no longer the Land of Liberty and opportunity at least not all of it. When people start encouraging centralized big Government so transparently, we have lost our way.
We already have "term limits". They are called "elections".
Idiots...
They could have funded the budget with the miney they spent getting this passed.
Next time have a ballot initiative that allows the individual to choose whether they want to keep their OWN rebate check or give it back to the government. Just send out a form that says, "If you would like for the government to keep your rebate, then sign the enclosed form and return it within 10 days."
Sickening...
The last sentence is deceptive, it implies that "millions more than 7.5 million" were spent by opponents, but that's false; the opponents spent only ~2 million. Although it isn't a lie, because 2 million is "millions more". It's just deceptive.
So much for taxpayer's rights, and so much for campaign finance reform, too.
I have yet to meet the government that tells its subjects "We have enough money, we have enough power, and we have enough laws."
As for the "ratchet down" effect - recessions are real. When a recession hits a family, their income drops and they must cut spending. When a business is hit, it must scale back - or go out of business. But somehow "conservative" Owens claims that it's a flaw in TABOR that the government should somehow be subject to the same force; no matter how bad the economy is, no matter how little money people have to pay taxes, government spending must never, ever go down.
In all seriousness, it's become a hotbed of illegals. There was a post here on FR a couple of weeks ago that said that CO had the highest percentage of illegal mothers giving birth in the country -- even higher than CA or TX.
I was in Denver about a month ago. In some ways it was indeed showing the signs of a place that is completely overrun with illegals -- a guy selling tamales out of the back of his truck in a strip-mall parking lot, geez I thought that that was extreme even for San Jose.
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