State Representative Andy Kerr (D-Lakewood) thinks Colorado voters are stupid. In leading the lawsuit to get rid of TABOR, the voter approved constitutional amendment that requires a vote of the people to raise taxes, Kerr is signalling that he thinks Colorado voters can't be trusted with deciding how much of their money the government deserves.

Tim Hoover of The Denver Post reports:

Inside a federal courtroom today, enemies of Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights will be poised to attempt the constitutional-law equivalent of a Hail Mary pass.  

Backers of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of TABOR will be at a hearing, trying to survive the state's motion to dismiss their suit.  

The hearing, all observers agree, marks the first hurdle in what could be a historic moment in constitutional law.  

Most observers also say the lawsuit is a long shot.

Kerr's lawsuit states "TABOR represents delegation to the voters run amok."

Let's just say that's not a smart position to take heading into a competitive state Senate race against state Representative Ken Summers (R-Lakewood).

Voters didn't seem to have a problem voting down the $3 billion tax increase known as Prop 103 at a rate of 2:1 across Colorado. That election seemed like an orderly rejection of higher taxes to us, not anarchy. 

In Jefferson County, home of Kerr and Summers, the ballot initiative was shot down 62-37. 

Those are not numbers we'd want to be suing against if we were Andy Kerr.

What makes this all an exercise in both legal and electoral futility is that the case has very little to no chance of succeeding. All it does it set up Andy Kerr and the host of other liberals (and perennial GOP malcontent Norma Anderson) in a battle of trial lawyers vs. the people. 

We'll take the people.

It's a typical liberal approach to take it to the courts when they can't get what they want from the people.

“Andy Kerr’s deliberate attack on Colorado’s constitution is a slap in the face to the voters who approved the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights,” said Compass Colorado President Tyler Q. Houlton. “Andy Kerr is so committed to raising taxes, he’s willing to subvert democracy here in Colorado to do it.”

And the TABOR lawsuit is only part of the wider liberal strategy to get courts to do their dirty work.

Liberals are also using the Lobato case to get billions more in funding for education that Colorado voters have soundly and repeatedly rejected. In the Lobato case, a student now at the University of Denver, Taylor Lobato, is the lead plaintiff claiming Colorado vastly underfunds education, to the tune of billions a year, and must be court-ordered to jack up funding. 

If the Lobato lawsuit succeeded it would lobotomize spending in everything but education (see what we did there?). We'd practically have to close the state prison system, and let out all the prisoners, just to find the money to add billions more in education.

Andy Kerr, do you think Colorado voters are smart enough to figure out that wouldn't be in their best interest? 

Should unelected judges determine how much of Coloradans' money should be spent or taken from the government?

Or should you just do a better job of trying to convince Coloradans to cough up more of it?

(Photo Credit: Colorado News Agency)