Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold discussed the hot topic of Congressional Redistricting and state legislative district Reapportionment in Colorado - explaining the process and highlighting the differences in the process of drawing boundaries for Congressional and state legislative districts - on Backbone Radio (710 AM KNUS) Sunday evening, 8 May 2011.

Listen to the Backbone Radio podcast here (note: the discussion was interrupted briefly by an off-topic phone call referring back to another segment during which I was drawn into a discussion on the recent “Amycare” bill, SB 11-200 Healthcare Benefit Exchanges - and the subsequent El Paso County GOP “gag order” resolution to suppress criticism of the bill)

Clear The Bench Colorado will, with your support, continue to promote transparency and accountability in the Colorado judiciary, informing the public to increase awareness of the substantial public policy implications of an unrestrained activism and political agendas in the courts.  We will continue to work to educate voters and provide information of relevance related to the judicial branch, and to provide useful and substantive evaluations of judicial performance.

However, we can’t do it alone -  we need your continued support; via your comments (Sound Off!) and, yes, your contributions.  Freedom isn’t free -nor is it always easy to be a Citizen, not a subject.

Ultimately, though - it’s worth the effort.

The hotly contested Wisconsin Supreme Court elections - pitting incumbent and self-described “judicial conservative” David Prosser against union-backed challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg - put Wisconsin back into the political spotlight as “Ground Zero” in the ongoing fight to control an increasingly powerful and unchecked one-third of state governments.

At stake in Wisconsin  was (and remains) more than the single state supreme court seat up for a vote.  The election was not only “seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s efforts to curb union power in Wisconsin” - hence the massive infusion of union resources (people, advocacy efforts, and money - reportedly some $5 million) supporting Kloppenburg - but also a clear and blatant example of the “progressive” Left’s attempts to advance policy by taking over state courts.

The ongoing “progressive” takeover of the courts is the greatest single threat to individual liberty and our system of government that exists today.

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold discussed the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court elections - and the implications for other states and nationwide - on last Sunday’s Backbone Radio broadcast (710 AM KNUS) filling in as guest host for Ross Kaminsky.

Listen to the podcast of the show - Segment One (recording cuts in a bit late) and Segment Two - of the 10 April 2011 Backbone Radio broadcast.

Clear The Bench Colorado will, with your support, continue to promote transparency and accountability in the Colorado (and, working with allied groups, nationwide) judiciary, informing the public to increase awareness of the substantial public policy implications of an unrestrained activism and political agendas in the courts.  We will continue to work with legislators and others interested in reforming the systemic shortcomings of Colorado’s “merit selection & retention” system to increase transparency and accountability to the public, and to provide useful evaluations of judicial performance.

However, we can’t do it alone -  we need your continued support; via your comments (Sound Off!) and, yes, your contributions.  Freedom isn’t free -nor is it always easy to be a Citizen, not a subject.

Ultimately, though - it’s worth the effort.

Recovering from all the excitement of Monday’s front-page Denver Post story profiling the “tough vote” facing four Colorado Supreme Court justices in the upcoming statewide retention elections this November and scanning the internet for other items of interest (such as this article on the Supreme Court of Colorado and these news items about judicial performance evaluations and Clear The Bench Colorado picking up steam), I came across an interesting article with the intriguing title “A Billion Reasons Colorado Taxpayers Don’t Trust State Government” on the “A Line of Sight” blog.

The article recounts the accelerating erosion of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights during the last three years of one-party rule in Colorado:

Gov. Bill Ritter and the Democrat-controlled legislature have increased property taxes by more than $234 million a year, raised vehicle licensing “fees” by $250 million a year, instituted new hospital patient “fees” that will cost $600 million a year, and imposed some $180 million in new sales and use taxes.

All told, Ritter and the legislature have managed to increase the cost of taxes and fees by more than $1.1 billion a year and, incredibly, not once triggered Colorado’s constitutional requirement that taxes can be raised only by a vote of the people.

Taxpayer protections - even when written into the state constitution - are targets for continual political and legal assault by forces in and near government. 

It’s a good analysis, although it downplays the role of previous Republican administrations (Ref. C?) and legislative majorities in starting Colorado down the slippery slope (the parallels to the national level are striking) - but most importantly, the article does not go nearly far enough in laying the blame where it most appropriately belongs: squarely at the feet of those who should have been the guardians of our Constitution (and our constitutional rights), the Colorado Supreme Court.

The article does do a pretty good job of listing the issues:

In 2007, Democrats changed the school finance act to allow local school districts to collect more property tax revenues and reduce the state’s share of K-12 education funding.  Previously, even many Democrats acknowledged that such a change must be presented to the voters.

This time, however, Democrats commandeered the political will to pass such a law and constructed a legal argument which, although rejected by a lower court, ultimately prevailed in the Colorado Supreme Court.  As a result, Coloradans will pay an extra $234 million this year in property taxes - and nearly $3.8 billion extra over 10 years.

This law - the notorious “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” - did not merely “prevail” in the Colorado Supreme Court; it’s passage was aided and abetted by the Mullarkey Court’s demonstrated hostility to TABOR and willingness to shred the Constitution wherever an excuse could be found (the possibility of executive-legislative-judicial collusion before the fact cannot be ruled out).

Thus emboldened, the 2009 legislature smashed another of TABOR’s prohibitions by eliminating the general fund spending limit without a public vote. Although Colorado Revised Statutes specifically referred to this provision as a “limitation” on the general fund, Democrats and their attorneys argued that it was instead an “allocation strategy” and, therefore, not subject to TABOR’s prohibition against weakening existing spending limits.

Last year’s unconstitutional repeal of the Arveschoug-Bird 6% limit on the growth of state spending in the 2009 legislative session (SB 228) likewise would never have been even proposed, much less passed, but for the Colorado Supreme Court “case that never was” - a legal challenge did NOT emerge because it was apparent that “the fix was in” following the Colorado Supreme Court’s blatantly unconstitutional ruling in the “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” case.  The Mullarkey Majority thus “aided and abetted”  the commission of a crime against the Colorado Constitution without even having to lift the proverbial pen to paper - and has clearly emboldened a legislature (and governor) in pursuit of every last dime they can squeeze out of Colorado citizens to spend according to their priorities.

Speaking of squeezing every last dime out of Colorado citizens - everything from the “Candy Tax” and the “Doggy Bag Tax” to a whole host of other taxes impacting Colorado consumers and businesses (oh, and farmers & ranchers, too) was only made possible by the judicial activism of the Mullarkey Majority on the Colorado Supreme Court:

In its ruling on the 2007 property tax increase, the supreme court also went out of its way to tip off lawmakers that they could also raise other taxes so long as they didn’t raise revenue above the TABOR spending limit.

The Colorado Supreme Court also aided and abetted perhaps the most unpopular  new tax in Colorado history: the deeply regressive and punitive “FASTER” Colorado Car Tax (er, registration “fee” increase) along with a veritable explosion in new and increased “fees” designed to evade the TABOR requirement for prior voter approval of tax increases:

An even greater subterfuge, however, is the onslaught of taxes masquerading as fees.  Generally, taxes - which are subject to TABOR and therefore subject to voter approval - are collected broadly and can be spent for any purpose.  Fees, however, have long been understood to cover the cost of a regulatory function or of administration (e.g., licensing or registration) upon which the fee is assessed.

The article notes that the Colorado Car Tax (including the punitive “late fee”) is expected to take an additional $250M/year out of the pockets of Colorado drivers, and an additional “fee” charged on hospital services will likewise gouge the sick for $600M/year.

Together these two fees when fully implemented are projected to raise a combined $850 million a year.  All other previously-existing state fees were projected to generate about $1.6 billion in 2009-10, illustrating how this new, expansive definition of “fee” threatens to become the exception that swallows the rule.  With fees of this magnitude, voters may never be asked to approve another genuine tax.

(The article’s author is stealing my “good news, bad news” line - that, thanks to the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Legislature won’t be increasing or passing new taxes this year, they’ll just eliminate existing tax credits/exemptions or call it a “fee” - a line that has proven uncomfortably prophetic).

If you don’t like all of these new and higher taxes (or “fees”, or “rate freezes”, or whatever) - blaming the Legislature who passed them, and the Governor who signed them into law, only tells half the story, because neither one could have done it without help - from the Mullarkey Majority on the Colorado Supreme Court.

Defend your right to have a vote before being taxed- and exercise YOUR right to vote “NO” on the four ‘unjust justices’ of the Mullarkey Majority (Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your constitutional rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your homes and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, instead of rule by an oligarchy of activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Help toSupport Clear The Bench Colorado with your comments (Sound Off!), your contributions, and your “NO” vote on retaining these unjust justices!

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold appeared on Backbone Radio (710AM KNUS) Sunday evening at 6:30 to discuss the role of the Colorado Supreme Court in enabling the “Dirty Dozen” tax increase bills pending final approval in the Colorado Legislature.

ALL of these bills are seeking to exploit an apparent loophole ripped into the Colorado Constitution by last year’s notorious “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” ruling (which didn’t only blindside voters to unconstitutionally increase property taxes, but further undermined TABOR protections) by the Colorado Supreme Court.

Despite the apparent loophole created by the Mullarkey Court’s ruling last year, many (if not most) of the “Dirty Dozen” tax increases are STILL unconstitutional, as they either impose an entirely new tax (requiring prior voter approval) or violate other constitutional provisions (both of TABOR and, in one case, the  U.S. Constitution’s 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable searches & seizures).  Many (if not most) of these bills will be challenged in court - and (especially if the worst current justices are cleared from the bench in the November 2010 retention elections) the challenges will likely succeed.

Listen to the podcast to hear more about how the Colorado Supreme Court has aided and abetted another assault on your rights - and your wallet.

Become an informed citizen; conduct your own evaluation of the performance of these justices, based on how (and whether) they follow the Constitution and uphold the rule of law.  Armed with information, Yes, you can exercise your right to vote “NO” on the four ‘unjust justices’ of the Mullarkey Majority (Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your constitutional rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your home and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, instead of suffering under rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your comments (Sound Off!) and your contributions - and vote “NO” on retaining these unjust justices in the upcoming November retention elections!

The Clear The Bench Colorado message - ‘vote “NO” on the unjust justices of the Colorado Supreme Court in November 2010 to restore accountability to the judiciary and bring back balance to the bench’ -  is being picked up by an increasing number of astute observers of the state of affairs in Colorado.

Thanks to an attentive observer, the Clear The Bench Colorado team was alerted to Mike Rosen’s comments on the Colorado Supreme Court during his Tuesday (17 November) show.  Speaking of the current occupants of Colorado’s highest court, Mike stated that the

“5-member judicial activist liberal bloc on the state Supreme Court is an unelected judicial activist outpost… and this would be a great time for Colorado to try and balance the scales in Nov. 2010.”

(Listen to the podcast of the 17 November Mike Rosen show here - comments at 20:00 minutes in)

Learn more about the most recent Colorado Supreme Court power grab, the Mullarkey Court’s repeated assaults on the Colorado Constitution, the resulting impact to your wallet, the degradation or outright elimination of YOUR constitutional rights, and what you can do about it at Clear The Bench Colorado.

Exercise YOUR right to vote “NO” on retaining the four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to have policy decided by elected, accountable legislators (not unelected judges); your right to vote on tax increases; your right to have a say in how you are represented; and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and your “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold joins Backbone Radio on 710 KNUS (1460 KZNT in Colorado Springs) at 7PM tonight (Sunday) to discuss the most recent outrageous and unconstitutional Colorado Supreme Court ruling, which asserted the authority of the courts (vs. elected representatives) to decide on school funding levels, along with other examples of the Mullarkey Court’s repeated assaults on the Colorado Constitution and taxpayer’s rights, such as the “Mill Levy Tax Freeze“ case (which not only effectively raised property taxes, but also opened the door to millions in new taxes by removing constitutional protections on existing tax credits and exemptions) and the November Surprise ruling, which allowed several new taxes (i.e. Colorado Car Tax, Ritter Gun Tax) to avoid a vote of the people by being disguised as “fees” imposed by executive and legislative fiat.

Listen to the show on-line or on-air (710AM Denver, 1460 AM Colorado Springs) at 7PM tonight to learn more about the most recent Colorado Supreme Court power grab, the Mullarkey Court’s repeated assaults on the Colorado Constitution, the resulting impact to your wallet, the degradation or outright elimination of YOUR constitutional rights, and what you can do about it.

Exercise YOUR right to vote “NO” on retaining the four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to have policy decided by elected, accountable legislators (not unelected judges); your right to vote on tax increases; your right to have a say in how you are represented; and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and your “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!