Get taxpayers off the PERA-go-round

When President Bush and Congress first proposed a financial bail out for Wall Street investors last September, a grassroots chorus — from the Left and the Right — decried using public taxpayer funds to pay off the debts of private investors.

In Colorado, the state’s largest pension fund has lost 25 percent of its investment assets — $11 billion — in the past year, jeopardizing its long-term ability to pay retirement benefits promised to some 413,000 current and former government employees. (more…)

TABOR for Dummies

Here they go again.

Faced with a budget that’s hemorrhaging dollars, it was only a matter of time before one of our spendthrift legislators made headlines by erroneously pointing the finger of blame at Colorado’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR).

Never mind that last spring Governor Ritter and the Democrat-controlled legislature ignored numerous warning signals of a looming recession.

Never mind that they ignored the consensus lesson of the last “budget crisis” — when times are good, save a little money for when times aren’t so good. (more…)

Ritter’s day late, dollar short budgeting

Colorado faces a $630 million budget shortfall and stark options now that half of the fiscal year is past and so much money is already spent.

Balancing a budget during a recession is a difficult, thankless job.  But balancing this year’s budget didn’t need to be this hard if only the leaders at the Capitol had learned from the last recession — or listened to those who experienced it.

Last spring as the economic storm clouds gathered, Gov. Bill Ritter and legislative leaders had opportunities to take precautions. (more…)