Jon Caldara
With the concepts of systematic racism and critical race theory stuffed down our throats across Hollywood, public schools, and the media, it is time to teach true racism in Colorado – systemic racism against taxpayers.
The concept of systemic oppression is, of course, that the privileged white man created the laws, courts and culture to always favor him at the expense of colored people without their consent.
The concept of systemic oppression of taxpayers is the same. The progressive left in Colorado has perverted the laws, courts and media culture in order to encourage the government to generate ever increasing revenues at the expense of taxpayers against their consent.
I hope we all know by now that the Colorado Supreme Court mimicked the “Dred Scott” ruling that institutionalized bigotry against taxpayers. This is their statement, twisting the plain language of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, saying that any tax increase can be enforced as a “fee” without voter approval.
This ruling is based on the court’s earlier statement that an increase in the national debt does not require voter approval if it is referred to only as a “certificate of attendance”.
Just because the bigoted court opened this legal gate for lawmakers to take away from others without their permission doesn’t mean they have to go through it. But they stormed through the gate.
The mill tax lock (an increase in property tax), the “Schneller” fee (a tax increase for every car, truck and trailer) and the “hospital provider” fee (a tax increase for your hospital stay) were quickly dispatched to taxpayers without a vote from the only reason lawmakers knew you would say no.
Remember that, knowing full well that voters would say no to these plans, the Colorado government did so anyway. What the hell does that say about the people who represent and supposedly respect us?
Try this thought experiment. A slave is forced against his will to leave 100% of his work and production to his master. If a person is forced to give 50%, is they a half-slave? For this reason, direct consent from taxpayers is vital. (Incidentally, the average American pays 30% of their income in federal taxes alone before the state and municipalities bring it closer to 50%.)
Coloradans were so upset with the institutionalized “fees” workaround that they passed Prop 117 last year. It requires that any major tax disguised as a “fee” go to them for approval.
For example, the systematic racists in the legislature this year passed a gas tax by dividing it into four different “fees” to keep it below the upper limit required for voter approval.
Ben Murrey, financial analyst at the Independence Institute, summed up the new “revenue” increases from the laws passed at that 2021 session. It amounts to over $ 600 million a year. That’s over $ 430 for a family of four. It’s enough to give any public school teacher an $ 11,000 raise. All without asking you beforehand.
In order to get back what the legislature has just taken from us in this session alone, we would have to lower the state income tax by around 6%.
But even the attempt to cut taxes in order to return the money raised shows the systemic oppression of taxpayers.
The state can vote each year to request a tax increase. But they passed a law that says that we citizens can only carry out a tax cut initiative for just years.
Two-to-one advantage for the racists. Oh, and we have to collect about 125,000 valid signatures, and they don’t.
As if that weren’t enough systemic prejudice, the newly passed HB-1321 requires a long, frightening preamble on the ballot paper before any tax cut to deter voters from saying “no”.
She falsely claims that voting for tax breaks would cripple education, health care and kill old women. Like the warning on a pack of cigarettes, it basically says: “Voting for this tax cut causes cancer and deformities in infants”.
Such warnings are not required if they call for a tax increase. In fact, lawmakers are allowed to write their own flowery ballot language. We citizens have to go to the government’s “title board” and they write our ballots.
We cannot stop systemic oppression until YOU see it. #TPM (taxpayer issue)
Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts “The Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara” on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears on Sundays in Colorado Politics.