Bridges? We don't need to show you no shiny new bridges!

Our infrastructure is crumbling. Repblicans don't want to invest in our nation or communities, and Democrats need to figure out how to justify taxes in a greedy new gilded age.

Death to TABOR

Steve, stating the obvious:

Have you looked around Colorado Springs lately? Did you know there are Web sites listing the latest home sales in your neighborhood due to foreclosure and bankruptcy? Have you seen the empty commercial properties along large sections of Academy Boulevard?

When did you get your last TABOR refund? How much? Did the tax cuts enacted by the Colorado Legislature (when controlled by Republicans) give us better roads, better schools, higher-paying jobs or health care for all?

If you have lived in Colorado for 10 years or more, be honest: Have low, low taxes and the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights brought health, wealth and peace of mind to this beautiful state?

TABOR has only one positive feature: It empowers citizens to say "no" to unwanted tax increases. It also allows citizens to say "yes" when tax increases are needed to keep up with population growth and the people's needs and desires. This provision should be retained. The rest should be gutted.

Our lawmakers must balance the budget every year. The give and take, push and pull of the process, not to mention the independent spirit of our people, pressures our elected officials to abstain from fiscal foolishness. Anti-tax militants have had their chance. Their experiment in improving our quality of life by starving the public sector has been a failure.

I hope TABOR and the political philosophy that feeds it will soon become a distant memory.

I had a poster on my bedroom wall in college that read, "Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out." The shell game is over. It's time to admit we bought into a political ideology that did not deliver as promised. We have to move slow and steady. But we can no longer afford to "stay the course."

— Steve Bell
Colorado Springs

Thanks, Steve. We hear you.....

Denver Post: Doug Bruce "cynical, hypocritical"

I report, you decide:

Political gadfly Douglas Bruce is a caustic critic of the abuse of government power — except, of course, for the abuses he commits to perpetuate his own power.

Welcome to our world, Denver Post.

But instead of filling Cadman's seat immediately, Bruce then announced he would delay serving until Jan. 14. However, the legislative session begins on Jan. 9, so Bruce's tardiness will deny his constituents any voice in the House for a week.

I'm going to say that's a good thing.

By stiffing his constituents for the first week of his unelected term, Bruce hopes to fill the seat for a total of nine years.

The Peter Principle does have limits, even within the Republican Party. I say he's out in 4.

Bruce is cynically gaming the system. We hope Colorado Springs voters will remember his hypocrisy when he actually does have to seek their support in the 2008 Republican primary.

Oh, we will remember. And if someone forgets - or wants or even tries to forget - Doug's antics as a Republican legislator, I'll be here to remind them plenty.

Doug Bruce still trying to destroy local government in Colorado

Another stupid Bruce proposal:

County Commissioner Douglas Bruce's struggle to get an initiative on the 2008 ballot hit yet another wall earlier this week.

A district judge threw out the measure, which aims to stifle the ability of Colorado Springs' Stormwater Enterprise to collect fees. (Bruce calls the fees an illegal tax.)

The measure has other implications. It would make all fees for city enterprises voluntary, and eventually eliminate the exchange of money between the city and its enterprises.

Judge David Gilbert ruled the initiative violated the single-subject rule and used language that could confuse voters. The Title Board has rejected the measure twice, and an appeal to City Council failed.

In response to the latest ruling, Bruce is planning to ask for a rehearing and may split his initiative into two separate measures.