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November 02, 2005

BIG WIN! Grover Norquist Loses Big in Colorado

Yesterday, the voters of Colorado loosed the straightjacket of a previously enacted Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), the nice name for putting tax limits on autopilot and imposing crippling budget cuts on social services in the state. This was the flagship anti-tax measure that conservatives were trying to shop around the country as a successor to Proposition 13, so losing here is a gigantic loss for the rightwing nationwide.

The idiocy of the rule was not only that it limited tax revenue to inflation and growth of the population-- irrespective of any additional needs such as health costs rising faster than inflation-- it also meant that if there was a recession and falling tax revenues, the "benchmark" was ratched downward and future budget limits were permanently decreased.

So yesterday, the voters enacted Measure C, which largely suspends TABOR for five years and eliminates the "ratchet" downwards during recessions after those five years. The result is an additional $3.7 billion in revenue for the state over the next five years-- money badly needed for education and other needs in the state.

You can read more about Measure C here and listen to Morning Edition about the victory.

Posted by Nathan at November 2, 2005 12:22 PM