The Colorado State Open Thread provides a rootin’, tootin’ roundup of the bestest, westest of the Pecos-est stories ever to be put out on the pixels on this here website. Yes, siree Bobster and Billee and Brandy-Mae. I’ma gonna tell ya a story or two.
By mah reckoning, this-a-here state had gatherings in no fewer than twenty-five cities and towns and localities for keeping Washington’s Hands-Off. Pretty darn impressive and by what I’ve heard, some of the people attending were attending their first-ever political protest rally. They just were not going to sit by and let politicians, billionaires and doge boys in Washington steal billions of dollars in tax revenue, close down agencies we’ve come to rely upon like Social Security, the Department of Education, US AID, NOAA, the Post Office and who knows what else? They also were protesting the illegal firing of friends, neighbors, taxpayers, tenants and customers of our local shops and businesses.
I don’t get the feeling that this will be the last rally, even for the people who were new to the game. Many have been to the rallies up at Rocky Mountain National Park, many went to the protests down in Greeley or Denver to see AOC and Bernie and the pot is simmering, waiting for summer and warmer weather and democratic leadership to provide direction. I hope that it won’t be protest rallies spurred on by violence against fake foes of ANTIFA or the 99%, but I think that will be the only way Trump will think he can be able to keep power. I don’t expect Colorado to be an ignition spark, but I would not be surprised if it happens elsewhere this summer. I think the Republicans are looking desperately for an excuse to declare martial law.
I’ve Looked At Law, From Both Sides Now…
With apologies to Joni Mitchell. This next story comes from the Colorado Sun.
Colorado taxpayers may have to pay for lawyers on both sides of Democrats’ lawsuit to dismantle TABOR
Colorado taxpayers may foot the bill twice if Democratic lawmakers manage to pass a resolution directing the legislature to sue the state in an attempt to invalidate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
That’s because not only will taxpayers likely be responsible for paying the lawyers hired by the legislature to bring the case, but they’ll also be on the hook for the costs incurred by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to defend against the legal challenge to TABOR, a constitutional amendment voters approved in 1992.
If House Joint Resolution 1023 passes as expected, the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Legal Services would likely hire a group of attorneys to file the lawsuit. In the past, the legislature’s third-party legal bills in much smaller cases have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
The story looks at whether or not now is the time to bring up, yet again, the issue of trying to get rid of TABOR (TAxpayer Bill Of Rights) on the grounds of being against the US Constitution. This has had problems twice before here in Colorado and, for similar reasons, in Arizona, but it may be coming back here in Colorado to test the court system. I hate TABOR, a 30 year old law that was the brain child of Douglas Bruce who I’m sure went to the grave laughing quite loudly at his confounding creation.
For those who might not know what this does, it provides in the Colorado constitution a braking mechanism so when times are bad, and income slows down, the money from taxes slows down. When times are good, instead of full speed ahead lets collect tax money again, TABOR says “No, you can only increase tax increases by a slower amount”. For a more complete description, take two pain killers and click here (*No, I am not a medical professional). This is so that gradually, taxes paid will grow more slowly than the revenue taken in by the state.
A group of Colorado communities were awarded $25.6M for water projects. Then Trump took office.
Yet another from the Colorado Sun (yes, I do think it deserves some coin in its subscription box).
This is about southwestern Colorado efforts to get money for the Colorado River and fighting against drought in the Colorado River basin. And just days after the Bureau of Reclamation awards 25 million dollars, suddenly the money and the projects are put on hold and no information can be found anywhere.
“Under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, the Department is working to cut bureaucratic waste and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently,” an unnamed Interior spokesperson said in an emailed response from the Bureau of Reclamation. “Projects are being individually assessed by period of performance, criticality and other criteria.”
The uncertainty has impacted a slew of environmental projects across the Upper Colorado River Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Under the Biden administration, the Bureau of Reclamation awarded $388.5 million for water and drought-related projects across the Upper Basin on Jan. 17. Of that, Coloradans secured $177 million.
Coloradans wanted to use that money to help fish find shelter when the state’s rivers are at their lowest. They wanted to help farmers and ranchers have a more reliable water supply by fixing decades-old irrigation ditches. Some projects planned to remove dams or turn wastewater lagoons into wetlands.
As with many Colorado Sun articles, this is longer than many regular newspaper articles and it has in-depth information. I encourage you to give it the 5-7 minutes it will take. It’s worth it.
I hope you enjoyed your weekend and you’re going to find many good things to do this upcoming week. I think the weather will be good as spring begins to take hold. As always, let me know of any ideas for places for Kosack get-togethers and volunteers for coverage for Open Threads while I’m away the 28th of April to 26th of May. I’d love to read your writing. Until then, the floor is yours...