An interesting question posed by the Colorado Springs Independent’s Chet Hardin:
Since last week’s conviction on three felony counts, Douglas Bruce has gone radio silent.
In an e-mail, the typically vocal conservative advocate had only this to say of his tax evasion trial: “I am innocent. I will appeal. I will prevail.”
According to the office of Attorney General John Suthers, Bruce is facing up to 12 years in prison and $700,000 in fines when he is sentenced in February. And no matter what the sentence, the conviction will surely impact the way Bruce is viewed at large.
But will it do the same to his signature accomplishment, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights?
State Senate Majority Leader John Morse, a Colorado Springs Democrat and one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging TABOR’s constitutionality, sees the two as linked: “Douglas Bruce has never been about good government. He’s always been about paying the least amount of tax possible. And he resorted to unconstitutional means by passing TABOR, and now he’s resorted to criminal means.
“He is so anti-government,” Morse adds, “he doesn’t want to pay a dime in tax, and he doesn’t want anybody [else] to do it, either.”
A poll follows.
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It is not on your list, but the answer is just plain no.
I guess we’re looking for the “How DARE you” one. It’s just kind of a stupid question.
But this one has more than its share of humor. And for once I seem to be on the bandwagon. Now, if I’d only voted for Bachman.
but the tide is starting to turn on the “all government is incompetent and evil” narrative that has been around since Reagan.
Anti-government proponents have had the run of the place for the last thirty years and the result has been a big disaster for the country.
how was that vote not proper?
“And he resorted to unconstitutional means by passing TABOR”
John Morse is a jerk.
not the passage. The complaint is that TABOR undercuts the guaranteed republican form of representative government by removing legislative control of the budget. Morse worded it awkwardly.
how about gaining some knowledge? As Tom says above, John Morse is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against TABOR and has been outspoken on that issue for some time. He has not questioned the vote, as you imply, but rather the constitutionality of what the amendment does. If you still want to call Sen. Morse a jerk, you need to come up with a new rationalization. And show your work.
Just how is holding the author’s actions in this case is different than the GOP hating anything the oh-so-evil Obama supports? Crap laws are crap laws, if is it is in fact found to be crap in a legal sense. It doesn’t really matter if the nicest person, or most heinous, supports it.
I’m glad the state proved its case and Bruce was convicted. But anyone who saw this reported and suddenly had the epiphany that Doug is a jerk who hates government is painfully slow. As such, I’m not sure I even want to know what they now think of a complicated amendment. It probably goes something like this: “Uh-duh, duh, heyuck, I don’ na like them people in suits none. Law bad. Did ya’ll know that that thar Urkel is a good lookin’ fella?” <–This realization is seriously that old.
the problems caused by TABOR and the long plummeting, now below rock bottom, credibility of its author, more might come around to seeing it for the piece of crap it is. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The only Dark Lord that today’s GOPers would have any difficulty supporting would be one with a dark complexion.
That makes him a flip-flopper! How can we be sure that he’s really evil and not just faking it to get on Republicans’ good side, for Pete’s sake!?
The average voter is clueless about how TABOR came to be. Those who love it, love it because it means taxes can never be raised. Those who hate it, hate it because it is turning Colorado into a state that is on the brink of financial ruin.
just realists. The realistic view isn’t always the darkest but sometimes it just is what it is, at least for the time being.
Bruce has been supremely ineffective since TABOR passed. Their respective fortunes are not tied in any way. No one has ever called for a law’s repeal because its author was caught up in a scandal, even one that led to jail time.
One need only read the University of Denver’s report about the future of Colorado’s finances to see that something needs to be done about TABOR or we are flirting with a failed state.
the meme from the right will be that the failure was caused by liberalism, not by the inability of the state due to TABOR, to adequately fund transportation, education,etc.
It was liberalism run a muck and those icky gays and lesbians that brought down the civilized world.
They will also claim that “Trickle on me” economics really works. We just have to give it more time.
Most people think they want a direct say-so about taxes.
However, if an ammendment were to address the “ratchet” effect of TABOR, it might go.
and it passed with considerable support from Main street Republicans who saw the pro-business value of things like decent t roads and middle class access to universities.
Need to ratchet up my attention span.
For some reason I don’t sometimes pay sufficient attention to who/what wins/loses. Sometimes it’ll be a day or two before I tune back into politics after an election, hardly noticing the outcome. Politics fatigue? So sometimes I just go on thinking, Somethiang has to be done about this, when lo and behold, Something was done about it. Good grief.
Thanks for reminding.
Ref. C was a 5-year “fix,” and it has ended. Something needs to be done about it again, and it needs to be done permanently.
I should be embarrassed about so many type-os and hitting send without even glancing at what I wrote! And regardless of the success of the campaign for a 5 year fix, I agree that a long term solution, like getting rid of the damn thing, is needed and isn’t likely on the horizon any time soon.
I remember this particular fix because I went door to door for it in my Republican and, at that time, Republican leaning independent heavy precinct and was very gratified at how many registered Rs were on board.
Over time, many of those registered Rs became so disgusted with where their party was going they switched to U (unaffiliated) and many more of our Us started supporting Dem candidates from 2004 through 2008.
My precinct has always leaned toward voting R, pretty much automatic for congress what with our being in CD6 and Dems never running any D candidates most voters have ever heard of, but they really haven’t been mainly extreme righties. More the nearly extinct brand of Main Street Rs who used to dominate back in Eisenhower’s day.
Anyway, that’s why it stands out in my memory. Referendum D also passed in my precinct, as does pretty much every request for more funding for our library/museum, local schools, open space, you name it. We also went for stopping Walmart on the South Platte Park border in a big way with lots of Republican support. It’s been a pretty civilized precinct, even though not blue.