Referendums C and D
The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, like many laws, is a poor implementation of a good idea. The idea is to cap the state budget in order to maintain a strong economy. The authors of TABOR were far-sighted enough to adjust the cap each year based on inflation and population, but they were too near-sighted to allow it to recover from a recession, like the one we had in 2001 as a result of the one-two punch of the bursting of the tech bubble and the Sept. 11 attack.
The problem is that TABOR adjusts the cap based on that of the previous year. As a result, the state has been operating with an insufficient budget since 2001, which is why, among other things, our roads aren’t being improved and our public buildings aren’t being repaired. Referendums C and D are not a correction to TABOR, but a temporary, albeit important, fix to this error.
M. Joel, Calhan
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While reading and watching the fierce debate between opponents and proponents of Referendums C and D, one thing has become apparent: The citizens of this great state must demand our elected politicians begin to make decisions that benefit our common good and not their individual special interests.
We could debate forever the merits or demerits of the referendums, but what seems quite clear is that it’s time for Centennial State citizens to educate themselves on the issues and then elect men and women who are passionate about serving as public servants, not politicians.
To vote against better roads, schools and pensions for public safety workers because we don’t trust the money will be spent wisely is a worrisome indictment upon our ability and skills to identify, then elect, effective leaders.
Whatever the outcome of C and D, perhaps the lesson for all Coloradans is this: Educate yourself on the issues, always vote, then be a dutiful watchdog of those we entrust with our future.
Mark McIntosh, Denver
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If our people in state government can’t control the budget they have, get rid of them and put people in office who can. I have a surefire cure to please everyone: Vote “no” on Referendums C and D. Use the money from the tobacco settlement on health care. Use the money from the Colorado Lottery for schools and education (looking at state parks, where the money is going now, I don’t see any improvements). Here’s the cure, people: “no” on C and D. Quit being like a herd of sheep being led to slaughter. Stand up straight and tall and do what’s right.
Frank Sandoval, Thornton
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Harriet Miers and the Supreme Court
Re: “Miers’ faith shouldn’t be
issue,” Oct. 14 editorial.
Is the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers by President
Bush really about judicial philosophy or religious right issues such
as Roe vs. Wade, school prayer,etc.? Or is this about absolute, unquestioned
personal loyalty?
What if, for instance, Bush or any of his closest associates come
to need help in getting out of legal jams in connection with possible
indictments in the Plame affair? What about appeals all the way up
to the Supreme Court?
If anything other than personal loyalty were a consideration here,
would Harriet Miers, accomplished and hardworking as she
may be, ever have made it onto anyone’s serious list of possible nominees
to the highest court in the land? Would Bush be pushing so
hard for someone causing him so much trouble with his base?
Maybe Bush just wants to have his biggest, most loyal and adoring
fan where she can do him and his inner circle the most good. That
would at least make sense.
Felice Sage, Littleton
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Cuts in programs for lower-income Americans
Congress plans to add to the misery of the increasing number of
our country’s poorest citizens by cutting $35 billion from Medicaid,
food stamps and other programs for low-income people, and add to
the disposable income of its wealthiest by giving them an additional
$70 billion in tax cuts. This is an unconscionable set of priorities.
Even before Hurricane Katrina, new data showed in 2004 that the
poverty rate increased to 12.7 percent and 37 million Americans
lived in poverty, 4 million more than in 2001, when the economy hit
bottom.
Poverty is not caused by people being lazy or stupid; it is a result of
bad government policies. Americans must insist on changes from
Congress. Our country is rotting from within from being run for the
benefit of the wealthiest, and we cannot be strong nor last long unless
our government’s policies change. Call your representative
and senators now!
Martha Karnopp, Aurora
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GOP and evolution
It’s amazingly incongruous that conservative Republicans who
hide from the fact of biological evolution find common ground (their
political party) with many people who seem to espouse and adhere
to the discredited theories of social Darwinism think of those who
don’t support entitlements yet favor tax breaks for the rich.
Evolution happens; that’s why we’re now concerned with a potential
bird flu epidemic. But the nonbelievers find themselves in the Republican
Party with folks who take evolutionary “survival of the fittest”
to its illogical extreme and apply survival tenets to human populations.
To these conservatives, government shouldn’t reform society
or redistribute wealth, because it interferes with natural processes.
The rich are successful; the poor are unfit and shouldn’t be helped.
Mike Throckmorton, Littleton
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Lakewood sales tax
Campaigns usually boil down to who has the most money to buy, or convince, the voter. Money has poured into Lakewood’s “Yes on 2A” campaign to increase sales taxes by 40 percent. Most city council members have pleaded for this tax increase to save our parks, police and streets.
Yet their pleas lack the support of the average Lakewood voter. Instead, the people who will benefit most from this tax increase have their snouts at the public trough yet again. Thousands of dollars in contributions have poured in from Milestone Apartment Developers, Colorado Mills and Belmar, plus their banking and real estate partners. Is there any wonder that average voters just shake their heads and think, “Politics as usual in Lakewood”? I urge voters to defeat this measure and vote “no” on 2A.
Tom Carllon, Lakewood
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Autistic student
Re: “Autistic student wins 2nd
ruling,” Oct. 13 Denver & The West.
What could Judge Michelle Norcross have been thinking? I can understand
a parent wanting the best for their child, but this could be provided for locally for a more reasonable
cost than the $353,000-plus at the Boston Higashi School.
There are other autistic children whose parents could also file suit
against their school district. This could bankrupt many school districts
and severely hamper the education of other students.
I hope the Thompson School District can find a way to appeal the
ruling. This is not justice for others in the school district.
Kay Rowe, Golden
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