How Colorado Has Raised $300 Million in Debt Without Asking Its Citizens: The Colorado Bridge Enterprise
Colorado’s citizens are supposed to have a final say before our state can borrow money. But the 2009 FASTER law subverted citizens’ rights to vote on tax and debt issues. The law allows an unelected group of bureaucrats to appoint an unelected administrator and together borrow whatever amounts of debt can be backed by FASTER funds. On December 1, 2010, they did just that. And now Colorado’s citizens are burdened with $300 million of newly issued debt—with the promise of more to come. Because of the borrowed money, it is unlikely a future legislature can ever repeal the FASTER tax. All this, and we weren’t asked!
How Much Does Government Cost You?
Thanks to our friends at the Independent Institute out in Oakland, California, regular folks like us can figure out just how much the government is costing us in direct payments and in lost earnings over our lifetime. From the About Page on the MyGovCost website, The Government Cost Calculator is a unique service from The […]
Spending Revolt Bus Tour – Denver
The Independence Institute will be participating in the Spending Revolt National Bus Tour and will tentatively be making its first stop in Colorado on Thursday, August 12 in Grand Junction. The red and blue emblazoned Spending Revolt Bus is bringing speakers, events, and a mobile activist hub to hundreds of locations nationwide to demonstrate how the […]
Spending Revolt Bus Tour – Grand Junction, Dillon, and Idaho Springs
The Independence Institute will be participating in the Spending Revolt National Bus Tour and will tentatively be making its first stop in Colorado on Thursday, August 12 in Grand Junction. The red and blue emblazoned Spending Revolt Bus is bringing speakers, events, and a mobile activist hub to hundreds of locations nationwide to demonstrate how the […]
Spending Revolt Bus Tour – Colorado Springs
The Independence Institute will be participating in the Spending Revolt National Bus Tour and will tentatively be making its first stop in Colorado on Thursday, August 12 in Grand Junction. The red and blue emblazoned Spending Revolt Bus is bringing speakers, events, and a mobile activist hub to hundreds of locations nationwide to demonstrate how the […]
Washington Should Reform Itself First
By Barry W. Poulson In a May 12 Denver Post editorial, “Reforming Wall Street is Essential,” President Barack Obama makes the case for Senator Chris Dodd’s financial reform bill (what the president calls “Wall Street reforms”). The president argues that the financial crisis was caused by irresponsible practices on Wall Street, that the Dodd bill […]
Levels of Long-Term Debt Within Colorado’s Local Government
The world is seeing levels of unprecedented government debt. However, the media focuses mostly on debt levels of national and state governments. For the most part, the general public has ignored the subject of local government debt. The root cause of this ignorance lies in the difficulty associated with uncovering information on local debt.
Debt Detective
Our research found that information on local government debt is available to the public … on two conditions. First, citizens must have Sherlock Holmes-like instincts. Information about local debt can be found, but plan on digging for it. And, second, the results of your search may yield information that is considerably outdated.
State Budget Scrutiny Reveals Ref C Shuffle
Two years ago, lawmakers asked for a “timeout” from the spending restrictions of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) in order to allow the state budget to rebound from the recession of 2001-2002. Referendum C, approved by a narrow 52 percent to 48 percent margin, erased the tABOR spending limits for five years and permanently increased the spending caps thereafter. Voters were assured by Ref C proponents that K-12 education, colleges and universities, and health care would split the lion’s share of the resources if the measure passed. But a funny thing happened after Ref C passed. Spending on programs that rarely were identified with Ref C has grown at more than twice the rate of spending on education and health care. Now, some of the key players in convincing voters to pass Ref C are dissatisfied, and voters have cause to believe they were sold a bill of goods.
