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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-07-14

On Referenda C and D

I would like to recommend to you this morning David Harsanyi's column in the Denver Post. He takes his rhetorical skewer to the arguments for C and D, with a few wide-ranging pokes to keep it lively.

First, from the latter category: If fiscal conservatives were forced to travel on dirt roads and send their teenage kids to roofless schools where compulsory algebra lessons were given on an abacus, they would still press for tax cuts and fiscal responsibility.

I'm conservative enough to admit it.

Liberals, on the other hand, should admit that if the Messiah arrived tomorrow - I'll project the first sighting in Colorado Springs, just in case - and produced manna from heaven, they'd levy a sales tax on it.

And then, to the meat of the matter:

Language is everything. Democrats realize persuading Coloradans to raise taxes is a historical loser. With a recovery underway, this may be their last chance to dismantle TABOR. They can't allow their referendums to be defined as a tax boost.

Yet the argument they utilize for this task doesn't pass the laugh test. A clever marketing strategy has to make sense.

A question worth asking: If a product costs 80 bucks and you pay with a $100 bill but receive no change, are you paying more? Is it an increase in price? Of course it is. That is exactly what Referendum C offers - you get no change.

Not to mention that the pro-C-ers have told you that the product they're selling costs $3 billion, when you know for a fact that it's only worth $800 million.
Posted by: Michael / 7/14/2005 08:57:00 AM

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