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[tinnyguy1777]

Guest Commentary: TABOR is for people not against




The spending lobby is getting desperate.

It’s a given: the closer one side in a political debate comes to losing, the more misinformation they’ll try to use.

That’s what the Wausau Daily Herald did in a recent editorial opposing the Taxpayer Bill of Rights: repeat whatever makes your side looks good, while ignoring anything that doesn’t. (The editorial was reprinted in the HTR on April 10.)

At issue is whether or not Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, has “changed his tune” and now opposes Colorado’s TABOR.

He has not, but that doesn’t stop the Daily Herald from repeating the claim.

Colorado’s TABOR requires that any surplus revenue – taxes and fees collected that exceed the spending limits – must be returned to the taxpayers.

This differs from the TABOR I introduced to the Assembly last week. In my version, excess revenues must be either returned, or placed into a Rainy Day Fund. Oddly, the Daily Herald ignores this important difference, instead implying that Wisconsin’s TABOR doesn’t have a Rainy Day Fund.

The Daily Herald writes that Owens will “spend the summer trying to persuade voters to approve a $3 billion spending measure.” He’s going to ask the voters for permission to keep the surplus revenue, instead of giving it back.

This isn’t “changing his tune on TABOR,” this is the essence of TABOR: whatever happens, the voters have the final say. The voters, whom government is supposed to serve, have the power to decide how much their government can tax them, and how much their government can spend.

No matter how many facts the Wausau Daily Herald decides to ignore, TABOR has worked in Colorado. Spending per student has grown every year, and class sizes have shrunk. Their fourth- and eighth-grade students surpass Wisconsin’s on standardized reading tests. Crime is down. Their university system is highly regarded and charges 25 percent less in tuition and fees than UW. Their economy skyrocketed in the last half of the 1990s, and a recent report shows Colorado ranking 10th nationally in new job growth today.

The Daily Herald isn’t alone in their blind opposition to TABOR; the Associated Press story that ran on April 15 claimed TABOR will “severely” limit government spending.

Actually, it won’t. The city of Manitowoc would have been able to increase spending by 4.25 percent annually the last four years, if TABOR had already been law. That’s unless they got their voters’ permission to spend more. Manitowoc County spending could have increased by a similar annual amount.

If those are “severe” limits, I’d hate to see generous ones.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights is another step in Wisconsin’s progressive tradition of placing power where it belongs, with the people whom government is supposed to serve. TABOR lets us decide how much we’re willing to pay for our government, and how far government can reach into our pockets without asking.

I urge everyone to visit my Web site, www.franklasee.net, to get the facts about TABOR.


Frank Lasee is a Republican state representative from Bellevue, and author of TABOR legislation. He is responding to an editorial, from the Wausau Herald, which appeared in the April 10 Herald Times Reporter.

[CatholicEdHead]

1. TABOR is a bad idea no matter what state it is in

It is a cowards way out. It is a rewrite of our representation system. Don't like how they vote? Well the system we have is to vote out reps we do not like.

Here in MN, the "Taxpayer's League" (anti-tax guys) new thing is this property tax referendum. If like 20-25% or so of property taxpayers send in a complaint postcard, they can spur a referendum in the next election period on the matter.

Of course, only direct property taxpayers have any say. If you rent and pay property taxes indrectly you are out of luck.

[politicat]

2. Send me an address PM and I'll send you scholarly analysis on 10 years

of TABOR.

The math is easy: Tabor is killing us.

I have the documents at Dem HQ. I'd be glad to mail photocopies.

[BrainRants]

3. TABOR is another Republican "starve the beast" initiative.

Instead of using creative acronyms or bumper sticker slogans to further your policies (under the guise of "being good for people") how about getting busy doing the hard work part of the job you were elected to do?

This includes but is not limited to working with your fellow representatives across the aisle to arrive at compromise solutions to our state budget problems, which I might point out are directly related to the fiscal mess your fellow Republican party members have created at the federal level.

The current trickle down economic and tax policy theory of the Republican party means that problems trickle down to the state level, and from there they trickle down to the local level. The theory was a failure in the 80's when the Republican party tried it, but apparently learning from mistakes is not a Republican trait.

So spare us the smoke and mirrors Mr. Lassee. The mess we're in is a result of fiscal policy failures of the members of YOUR party at the Federal level. Fix that first, and demonstrate ANY success (something you've been unable to do to date) then you can come back with your lame TABOR idea. Until then, Republicans deservedly wear the label "economic failures who cannot be trusted with taxpayer money" searching for votes with catchy bumper sticker slogans.

TABOR can KMA.