On Tuesday, November 5 the good citizens of Colorado voted 65% to 35% to defeat a ballot measure that would have replaced the present 4.63% flat rate income tax with a higher rate of 5% for those earning up to $75,0000 and a 5.9% rate for those earning more than $75,000. This measure, if enacted, would have increased taxes by $1 billion a year with promises that it would be spent “on education.”
When issues are placed on the ballot by initiative petition or legislative referral we can learn a great deal from election results. Candidates can win for a many different reasons. Was the winner popular? Or was the loser unpopular? Did voters agree with the candidate they cast a vote for on his entire agenda? Or just one key issue? Or was the vote based on personal issues of character or experience rather than any particular policy question?
But a vote on an income tax increase to spend more money “on education” losing two to one in Colorado sends some stark, clear, undiluted messages. Initiatives do not flub debates or misspeak or drive under the influence or have bad hair days. We can be fairly certain what message voters intended to send in Colorado when they said “no” to an income tax hike for more education spending.
And this loud and clear message of opposition to higher income taxes even with the promises that the revenue would flow to a “popular” cause of education spending undermines the Left’s narrative on taxes, Obama, and Colorado.
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