23 thoughts on “New Year’s 2020 Open Thread”

1. For the first time, TABOR triggers an income tax rate cut. Here’s how much you can save on 2019 taxes.

   But, the political lede is buried:

   The governor, however, is cheering the income tax cut, despite concerns from within his party — and conflicts with his prior stances on TABOR. 

   In an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Colorado Sun, Polis touts the savings people will receive from the temporary income tax rate cut but he never mentions that it’s caused by TABOR and prescribed by a long-standing law.

   “As governor, I hope to deliver an economy next year and the years beyond that produces tax cut refunds more regularly,” Polis wrote.

   The omission is glaring given the Democrat’s support for Proposition CC, a failed November ballot measure that would have eliminated TABOR refunds after the 2019 tax year.

   Moving forward, Polis wrote in the opinion piece, a permanent reduction in the state’s income taxes remains a priority, even though a related proposal he put forward in the 2019 session did not win the support of his own party.

   “Gov. Polis is committed to saving Coloradans money and producing a cut to the income tax  rate permanently,” said Maria De Cambra, a spokeswoman. 

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   1. Christ, Jared's op-ed is a trash fire.

      I would like to save Coloradans more money on taxes too. Happily, this year every Coloradan will receive real tax relief as of Jan. 1: Our Colorado income tax rate is going down to a historic low of 4.5% for 2020.

      Why is that Jared?  Sounds like you're taking some well-deserved cred…oh yeah, the draconian revenue measure so reviled that it can't pass in the reddest states in the nation.  So, you had nothing to do with it, but you would like to take a moment to praise TABOR.

      Last year, thanks to the leadership of the legislature, we further lowered the tax burden for every small retailer in Colorado and we also lowered the residential assessment rate for property taxes.

      The assessment rate reduction is mandated by law, liar.

      Even President Trump tried to cut taxes, but while the Tax Reform of 2017 contains some positive aspects including some rate reductions and the creation of Opportunity Zones, which I worked with Sen. Michael Bennet on and are an important part of our blueprint for rural economic growth, it also had two cardinal flaws. First, it wasn’t paid for, thus leading to record budget deficits and ballooning debt. Second, it was so convoluted that it actually raised taxes for many middle-class families.

      Shout out to my homie, Trump!

      Weak vaccine stance and now this– already regretting my vote. My fault voting for a libertarian, though. Not a surprise, but really disappointing.

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      1. Perhaps you would have preferred Walker Stapleton as governor?

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         1. That's inane.  I can regret my vote even if I believed at the time it was appropriate to cast it.

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            1. Deleted.

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               1. Probably the same reason you bore us with your persistant delusions and suspension of disbelief.  Like that.😉

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                  1. I misunderstood Sudafed's claim to have voted Libertarian.  He meant it sarcastically, meaning Polis.  In that sense, it was a reasonable comment.

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                     1. ….and I was just teasing you, V.                   

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   2. Our Boulder liberal governor cuts taxes! I love it!

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      1. Like Hick, Polis is taking credit for things that happened while he was in the Governor's chair — no major surprise there.

         Cutting tax rates while we bemoan the lack of funding for physical infrastructure, high speed internet access, school renovations, school operations, university financing, and a host of other possible priorities is irritating.

         Mandating a cut by percentage means the biggest dollar benefits go to the most affluent — those who ALREADY have tax advantages on their AGI by deductions, tax credits, and compensation strategies which minimize present taxes.

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         1. So what? If not Jared, someone else will take the credit. I just as soon see Polis take the credit than Patrick Neville.

             

            Reminds me of when Nixon was claiming credit for setting up the EPA in the early ’70’s. He saw the legislation coming through the Democratic-controlled Congress, really couldn’t stop it (although he would have liked to), so he claimed credit.

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2. #TweetForEverything

   

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3. Kansas Cop Lies About Discrimination
   https://www.gq.com/story/police-coffee-mcdonalds-pig

   This happened in Junction City, Kansas, but it feels like the sort of thing that a cop from somewhere in Weld County might have done. Small city/large towns often end up with “interesting” recruits.

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   1. It's a cautionary tale  and a good reminder.
      Douche weasels are real and they are everywhere.

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4. If those drones over CO cannot be identified can we count on the good flks of Otis and Yuma to shoot 'em down?
   I saw Red Dawn and that didn't go well.

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   1. I was following a thread on this last night from someone who lives near Holyoke. Gov’t conspiracy theories abound. Some appear to be nearing the Red-Dawn-tipping point!

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      1. Ukrainians and Joe Biden, huh?

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         1. That, and you’ll remember our esteemed Congressman outed the Julesburg Jihad not all-that-long ago. Woke people are connecting the dots. 

            Don’t forget, a recent poll of Trump supporters revealed that 41% of them support the bombing of Agrabah. A mythical country in Disney’s Aladdin; it’s also appears to be significant agricultural region over the Ogallala aquifer.

            Be careful for what you wish.

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            1. Can’t believe I forgot all about “those people” (i.e., with skin pigmentation) . . . 

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5. As we round out the decade and head into the Roaring 20’s (thanks Obama) let’s remember the words of a founding father, the owner of our nation’s first hemp paper mill, an (apparently) wild-eyed socialist who thought the Post Office was a good idea … and fire trucks. Don’t forget fire trucks. 
    

   Best to all of you! 
    

   "Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."
   ~Benjamin Franklin

    

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6. Happy New Year. 

   Coulda sworn one rationale offered to me for Hickenlooper to become a 68 year old freshman Senator was that he would have oodles of name recognition and money filling his treasury to be able to take on Gardner, his name recognition and money.

   Somehow, the eight additional emails since Saturday afternoon (adding to the ones I mentioned before which went into my email trash) all saying he needed help to get to his goal for the quarter ($500,000) do not inspire confidence.  Even less when I reviewed the past quarter's filing (October 2019) from Cory Gardner, which reported raising $1,888,309.04 in the 3rd quarter.  And Hickenlooper's first report Covering Period 08/22/2019 Through 09/30/2019, reporting donations of $2,132,427.41.

   Double digits of emails to someone who has not donated to the campaign before. Showing a strain to reach a quarter of what was given in the initial report of the campaign. I'm certain it is someone's tested idea of a swell approach, but it raises my skepticism level and did NOT inspire me to re-consider my giving strategy.

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   1. Like JID, I also trashed those appeals from the Hick campaign as I had already given in 2019. 

      I also admit to being an outlier. I never reply to appeals for year end giving, appeals for Colorado Gives Day, etc. My charities are identified in early January, with amounts I intend/hope to give, and then I donate on my own schedule. I give a bit to non-.501(c)3 entities, like the Hick campaign, but again on my own schedule.

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      1. I gave to Amy, Elizabeth and Kamala in 2019.  Am now down to Amy as my main squeeze.

         Please don't tell me we have to settle for Biden after all these years.  And Bernie would be a catastrophe ensuring four more years of Stinky Boy.

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