Good news out of Colorado

The wise people of Colorado have decided to effectively stop the spending limits imposed by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights for at least the next five years. This should be good news for the people of Colorado as well as those of us in Wisconsin and other states currently considering TABOR amendments.

Colorado is consistently held up as the example of a good TABOR policy but proponents of spending limits. The problem with that is that Colorado has become financially strapped as a result of the amendment and has been forced to make some very difficult decisions regarding spending cuts. You see, the point of such spending limits are to essentially destroy the ability of state governments to provide services. This is the starving the beast idea. These policies usually allow for an annual inflation adjustment to state spending. This sounds reasonable until several factors are considered. The primary expenditures of states are on salaries. Salaries rise at a rate faster than inflation in most professional industries, particularly education. The costs of providing benefits to state employees rise at a rate faster than inflation. The only things that may rise at a level consistent with inflation are non-labor inputs such as office supplies. These are certainly not the bulk of state spending. Those that argue otherwise are either lying or ignorant. Either way, they shouldn't be elected public officials.

Citizens of Colorado, your Governor said quite recently that TABOR is having the unintended consequence of reducing the ability of the state to provide services. The entire point of TABOR is to reduce the ability of the state to provide services. It is supposedd to shrink government. Government provides services based on the preferences of the voters.

That's another problem with TABOR, it is incredibly undemocratic. It does not allow for changes in preference over time. It does not have faith in voters to make rational decisions about a bundle of goods. It implies that the preferences of those that don't support the policy are somehow not valid. If TABOR can gain legislative support, then those supporters should be able to cut spending without a constitutional amendment. The fact that they have to lower spending through misleading rhetoric indicates that the limits they propose are not nearly as popular with voters as they may suggest. Legislators should have faith in the voters to make preferences and to establish those preferences with their votes.