Posted on 11/02/2005 6:05:50 AM PST by RockyMtnMan
DENVER - Referendum C won in the court of public opinion Tuesday as Colorado voters approved the measure to allow the state to keep $3.7 billion that otherwise would have been returned to taxpayers.
The election was marked by a healthy turnout and marred by ballot shortages at many El Paso County precincts. After precincts ran out of ballots, the county’s results were delayed before being added to state totals, adding to the suspense early in the night.
The measure appeared to be winning by about a 53-47 percent margin statewide. El Paso County voters were rejecting Referendum C by about the same margin.
The outcome of a companion measure, Referendum D, remained too close to call. The measure would allow the state to issue $2 billion in bonds for highway projects, school building repairs and pensions funds.
Republican Gov. Bill Owens, who bucked many in his own party by backing Referendum C, said, “I think this is a victory for fiscal responsibility. Once again, Colorado voters have shown they are the ones in charge, and they voted for the future of Colorado.”
Referendum C mandates a five-year timeout from constitutional spending limits imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, a 1992 measure authored by El Paso County Commissioner Douglas Bruce.
State economists estimate that the measure will let government keep $3.7 billion in surplus tax money that would otherwise have been refunded to taxpayers. The money is earmarked for education, transportation and health care.
Referendum C also changes the way TABOR’s spending and revenue caps are calculated to ease the impact of economic downturns on the state budget.
Owens has called TABOR’s “ratchet effect” — meaning TABOR ratchets down spending limits during recessions — a flaw in the amendment that needed to be fixed.
Bruce, who campaigned against Referendum C, said he was surprised that voters believed “lies” from people such as Owens that failure to pass Referendum C would result in severe cuts to state services.
“That’s what this election is about,” Bruce said. “Do you want to be free, or do you want Big Brother to take care of you?”
Bruce has vowed to file a lawsuit if Referendum C passed. In response to the threat, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, quipped, “There is an old Arabic saying: The dog barks, but the caravan moves on.”
Jon Caldara, the Denver radio talk show host who is director of the Goldenbased Independence Institute, predicted Referendum D will fail and said, “I’ll take that half-loaf rather than no loaf at all.”
Caldara praised political leaders who opposed the measure including U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, saying they did so at significant political risk. Beauprez is running for the GOP nomination for governor.
“The entire political infrastructure was against the taxpayer tonight,” Caldara said. “We stood up to them, and we ought to be damn proud of that.”
Another reason for the passage of Referendum C was strong support from Denver media, including the city’s two daily newspapers, Caldara said. The Denver Post on Sunday published a rare frontpage editorial endorsing “yes” votes on the measures.
Bruce’s lawsuit threat has a familiar ring. He has frequently sued government over alleged violations of the constitution, but most of his lawsuits have failed.
The Referendum C & D campaign was expensive. Bruce Benson, co-chair of the Vote Yes on C and D, said supporters raised $7.5 million. Millions more were spent by the opponents.
But when the General Assembly convenes in January, there will be more room in the budget.
How much room depends on whether Referendum D also passes, but it was so close late Tuesday that some officials were predicting the outcome would result in an automatic recount.
As the evening wound down at the Referendum C victory party, Benson mused that the issue had created strange political bedfellows.
Republicans and Democrats who don’t often cross paths on election nights mingled over cocktails awaiting the results.
“Some of the folks here I don’t spend a lot of time with, and I never thought I would,” he said, pointing to a row of Democrats.
The major political rift is within the GOP ranks. Bruce and other El Paso County politicians had said that Republicans who supported Referendum C were RINOS — Republicans in Name Only.
How long it will take for bruised egos to heal remains to be seen.
For Democrats, the outcome is plainly a victory because virtually every elected Democrat in the state supported the measure.
Stupid CO voters fell for the old "Washington Monument" lie...
I wish the anti-C people would have simply said the percentage tax hike 'C' represented. Thanks to all the liberals from Kali and Texas who voted for this POS bill.
Republican Governor Bill Ownes is another lying sack of s*** RINO.
Romanoff could be an Islamist in disguise.
The Calipornia libs moved in, along with Eastern Blue Staters. They brought along their commie ideals and it's goodbye to CO!
This whole thing makes me sick. I hope Doug Bruce is successful in his case against the state. Afterall they are suspending TABOR for 5 years without an amendment to the state constitution. There is a reason amendments are hard to change and this is one of them.
People in California have been voting themselves tax increases every election for years. It amazes me. Look where California is now.
I hope so, too. These Kalifornia liberals are killing this state, not to mention, the RINO Republican Governor Bill Owens, who campaigned against 'C' and is now all for it.
I am happy to see that El Paso county voted it down (that is where I live). That is the only good news on this. Owens once had presidential aspirations. Fat chance. Following the Columbine incident he immediately caved in to the leftists when they started screaming for more "gun control". He gave his full backing to both C and D in this current election. Colorado was one of the few bright spots for the leftists in 2004 and now this vote last night looks like it may become a blue island surrounded by solid red. What a shame.
However, I prefer to place the blame exactly where it belongs: on the governor.
Owens not only struck a Faustian deal with the tax-lovin' Democrats and campaigned for "C" and "D", he signed into law the bill authorizing the vote to suspend the Constitution for five years, minimum.
Had he not given away the farm last spring, there would never have been a referendum for Democrats (and a minority of Republicans) to vote their approval on.
There should be nothing surprising about this outcome. It is a clear indication that in Colorado, as in the rest of our country, the TAKERS now outnumber - and outvote - the MAKERS. Simple as that. The socialists have won.
I believe Referendum D failed. So the message is keep the current money but don't spend any more? I doubt the politicians will take that to heart.
I would not argue Owens not being a large part of the problem. I still fault those Republicans who either bought into the Owens argument, or those who stood to gain from it. Either way, CO Republicans did not live up to our values of keeping taxes low.
How do you know that guy selling food was an illegal? It sounds like he was a good entrepreneur. Just because you saw a lot of Hispanics doesn't mean they're illegals! Illegals don't vote anyway.
This tax increase was voted in by blue-staters trying to escape their failed utopias. But they are bringing their politics with them. If they keep it up they will turn Colorado into the place they tried to escape from.
And these same Republicans wonder why conservatives stay home or vote Libertarian.
First, it never was solidly conservative as a state. I'm sure you wold not classify Gary Hart, Richard Lamm and Tim Wirth (less) even moderately conservative. They are all flaming liberals, along with Roy "Roamin" Romer, who left the state and his girlfriend to take over California's largest government school district.
True, there are some conservatives that have been elected statewide, and Bill Owens was once considered that. There is no doubt Tom Tancredo is a conservative, but his district is overwhelmingly Republican so it can be expected.
Your recent observation of "illegals" overrunning the state may or may not square with reality; however, it's almost certain that the number of non-citizens and non-Colorado residents casting ballots in yesterday's election was so small as to be insignificant. The bigger problem, from news reports I've seen, was legally registered voters not getting their mail-in ballots and being turned away at the polls.
Mark my words, they will not stop at this and at the end of five years they will want to make it permanent or extend it even further. We used to be a fiscally responsible state, envied by many others, that has ended starting now.
When I saw election results this morning, I was wondering the same thing about people voting themselves tax increases. Denver had a measure where taxes were increased to cover merit raises for teachers. And it passed. These are the same people who bitch about how expensive gas prices are. Well, when you keep giving more of your money to the government, you have less to spend on the rising cost of everything else around you.
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