It's no secret to those who follow this site and/or who know the publisher where this reporter stands on the TABOR II ballot item.
We have worked hard to avoid having this site become a partisan destination.
That said, there is an issue before us that demands comment.
The opposition to TABOR II is focusing, as it did when opposing TABOR I, on reputed disasters in Colorado, which has had Taxpayer Bill of Rights in force since the 90's, as a Constitutional Amendment.
Ads decry the elders lying dead in the gutters, the schools shut down for lack of heat and staff, and the hospitals and doctors shunning patients for no good reason. And then they go on about serious problems.
Balderdash, hogwash, and poppycock.
This reporter has been to Colorado visiting friends in the last two years, and has read extensively on the subject in recent months.
Simply put, the negative press being pushed upon us are lies, plain and simple. You got that--lies!!
In recent years, Colorado has built the largest commercial airport in the nation. It has built two new stadiums for its professional sports teams. It has massively improved infrastructure with light rail and other impressive developments.
Driving around the state will reveal a vibrant economic climate. New schools, new housing, new commercial development, new community colleges. And so much more.
Everywhere you look, growth in jobs, growth in the economy. Growth in employment and major firms moving in.
And all this in a state supposedly devastated by TABOR.
Spare us the negative propaganda, please, opponents. You may want Maine to remain a backwater economy that young people can't wait to get away from. And employers run away from.
The least you could do is tell us why that's what you want.
After all, honesty is "the Maine way."
How do the other States that do not have TABOR but are doing well do so? Neither side should quote Colorado as a credible comparison. Maine is not Colorado in any way.
ReplyDeleteGood question.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a matter of whether you have TABOR or not, it's a matter of whether you have your tax burden under control.
There is a direct correlation between lower tax burden and higher economic vitality. I have seen this data in the past, and will track it down and post a link for you.
To the extent that TABOR is a means to keep tax burden under control, it correlates with economic vitality. Other states have lower tax burdens than Colorado because that's what they choose to do.
New Hampshire doesn't have TABOR. Yet it's tax burden is amongst the lowest in the nation, and it's average incomes and business friendliness (meaning job creation, etc) are far superior to Maine's.
The point is don't focus on TABOR...it is only a means to a larger end, which is keeping spending and taxes under control so that the economic engine can run freely.