Don’t uncork that champagne just yet, Jon Caldara. The president of the Independence Institute last week celebrated the end of Referendum C’s five-year timeout from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights’ revenue limits. “Welcome back TABOR. We missed you,” he crowed. Yet when the economy begins to recover (whenever that may be), it will be time to start talking about bigger changes to TABOR. Ideally, a coalition of leaders will put something on the ballot, possibly in 2011, to ask voters to take a permanent timeout from TABOR — and Amendment 23 and other budget-crunchers — and allow state government to recover from this recession and massive budget cuts.
The state hasn’t even met, let alone exceeded, TABOR’s revenue limits for two years. Fortunately, voters partially, but permanently, de-fanged TABOR in 2005 by eliminating the “ratchet effect,” which permanently reduced Colorado’s revenue base after tax revenues fell during previous downturns.
McInnis’ hometown paper: Don’t let the door hit ya … The Post wasn’t the only newspaper last week to call for Scott McInnis to drop out of the governor’s race after revelations he claimed plagiarized work as his own. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel wrote: “[We] had every expectation that he would be our choice for governor this year. But, based on the information that has become public over the past few days, we can no longer support him. He should withdraw from the campaign. . . . McInnis’ credibility is so shredded that he can no longer be a viable candidate, much less governor. He should step aside.”
And The Coloradoan in Fort Collins wrote: “Colorado needs an honest, responsible leader who understands that the truth and personal integrity matter. McInnis, as seen through his actions, is not that person.”
No shoes, no pants, no testifying . . . Only in Boulder is it necessary for the city council to consider rules that forbid citizens from attending council meetings in their underwear. The council is expected to vote on new decorum rules in the fall and if approved, residents would not be allowed to strip, shield their faces with masks, clap or stomp their feet at meetings, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. How will the council know if they’ve done a good job if clapping is no longer allowed?
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
