Hang on one second, Democrats. Over the past week, Democrats across Colorado have all taken turns railing against TABOR, also known as the taxpayer bill of rights. It is the reason, they pout, that Colorado can’t do anything. Read: spend money recklessly.
But, is repealing TABOR a bad idea for liberals? We think so. Hear us out.
We assert that Democratic politicians have been getting a free ride (typical) thanks to TABOR when it comes to their drunken sailor spending ways. Because a key component of TABOR requires politicians to get taxpayer permission in order to raise taxes, Democrats never have to really face the music for their unwise spending decisions. They just shrug, grandstand, and blame TABOR.
Imagine an electoral world in which Democrats had to vote to raise taxes…and, then, answer for it. Republican candidates could actually hold Democrats accountable for bad spending, like Medicaid expansion, in a way that is actually meaningful to voters.
It is far different to say State Rep. So-and-So voted to raise taxes by a billion dollars rather than saying Rep. So-and-So voted to ask voters to raise their own taxes to cover So-and-So’s spending. In many ways TABOR takes taxation, Democrats’ Achilles heel, off the table and removes their responsibility. Without TABOR, we predict that there would be fewer Democratic electeds.
Don’t get us wrong, we love TABOR because, ultimately, it keeps our taxes low, but it sure would be nice to hold Democrats clearly accountable for their unwise spending.
Think about it, Democrats.