Thursday, November 03, 2005

TABOR, Meet Reality

I couldn't pass up the defeat dealt to Colorado's TABOR. Tuesday (yeah, I know) Colorado voters passed Referendum C, which suspends the revenue caps imposed by TABOR over the next five years. Referendum C advocates put together a bipartisan coalition with heavy hitters from both sides.

Reaction among the TABOR faithful has varied. Some are declaring TABOR dead, some are threatening to sue, some are just going bonkers:

"It's disappointing," said Douglas Bruce, the author of the TABOR amendment. "We gave the people of Colorado 13 years of freedom and the ability to hold politicians accountable. They'll have to accept the consequences of voting themselves back into slavery."

So what next for Ohio TABOR and its drum major J. Kenneth Blackwell? He is in a pickle. On the one hand, he put off the campaign because it looked like loser. On the other hand, if he bails, it will infuriate his base. When he put it off, Ohio Taxpayers Association made with the crazy on their website.

His one hope is First Class Education's 65% Solution. He could conceivably lead that effort and say it's somehow more important than TABOR. I don't think any of this works, but weighing these options has to be keeping him up nights.



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