Threats against TABOR are also threats to our democracy.

By Jon Caldara

TABOR simply means voter consent. TABOR is democracy. Weakening TABOR is weakening democracy.

Every couple of years the spending lobby orchestrates an assault on our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. They are testing another onslaught likely for next year.

I was around for the fights to pass TABOR in the early 1990s. Then- Gov.Roy Romer famously declared if it passed, it will put a “going out of business” sign on the entrance to Colorado.

Oddly, our population has nearly doubled since then, and state spending has ballooned from just more than $6 billion to roughly $44 billion.

Read that headline again. Since TABOR, our population grew one-fold, state spending grew 7-fold. Predictable tax and spending policy helped create a boom.

The opposite of Romer’s scare is true. If we mess with our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, then we might as well put a “going out of business” sign on the entrance to Colorado.

Like telling tales of the boogeyman around the campfire to frighten children, those who feed on unconstrained spending want to scare the kids, too. The young in this case are those who weren’t in Colorado before we demanded simple voter consent over our own money.

Get ready for a new batch of stories on how this Chupacabra of fiscal restraint is somehow making our lives worse, and the only way to slay the monster is to attack democracy and take away our right of consent.

Look no further than U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s announcement of gubernatorial aspiration. The first thing he said was he needs to be governor of Colorado to protect us from the current, unprecedented threat to democracy, being President Donald Trump. The second thing he said was we need to attack democracy to get rid of TABOR. I’m sorry, “reform” TABOR.

He will save our democratic right to vote by taking away our democratic right to vote.

He and the rest of the taking coalition find it nauseating to ask voters for consent to commandeer and spend even more of their livelihoods. They never mention with TABOR they can still grow the size of government as large as they like! All they have to do is — wait for it, because it is so very terrifying — ask us first. 

They can raise the taxes to 100% of what we earn. All they must do is ask us first. Increase debt so much our great-great-great grandchildren will still be paying it off. Just ask our consent.

They refuse to accept that no means no. So, they need to find a way where they no longer must ask at all.

Our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is the very expression of direct democracy. We need to be absolutely clear on what this coming assault against our right to say no is. This is an attack on democracy itself.

They will cleverly find a way to use democracy to kill democracy. To find a way for us to vote against TABOR just once to take away our right to vote forevermore.

Throughout history that is how democracies step aside for tyranny. Tyrants from Hitler to Putin were legitimately voted into power, only to pervert democracy so they were never threatened by voter consent again.

When power is concentrated, democracy constricts.

The history of TABOR proves it as well. Seven black-shirts have weakened TABOR, not voters. The Colorado Supreme Court have ripped holes through this protection for direct democracy.

TABOR says we get to vote on taxes. The black-shirts ruled calling a “tax” by a different name, “fee,” means we lose our vote. Without a single public vote now nearly three-fourths of what the state spends is “fees.”

TABOR says we get to vote on debt. The black-shirts ruled calling “debt” by a different name, “Certificates of Participation (COPS),” means we don’t get to vote.

TABOR says government can ask us to keep excess tax revenue, but only for four years. The black-shirts ruled “four years” will be interpreted as “forever,” meaning if they can con voters out of their refunds only once, they never need ask again.

And that’s why every couple of years they put something on the statewide ballot to end TABOR refunds forever.

Like a child nagging for a treat, they want to wear us down.

But unlike a child, if we give into this tantrum once, they get all the candy they want, forever.