A Denver lawyer sues to overturn TABOR

Basically, the Gazette says that the Preamble says "We, the people" - not "We, the politicians" and the people have every right to restrict the legislature from taxing the people.

Furthermore, they say,

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"Citizens in Colorado, “we the people,” took to the voting booths in 1992 and approved a plan to impose restrictions on government. By approving TABOR, citizens said they would determine the scope of taxing and spending by the governments they pay for. In doing so, the people made Colorado a textbook example of a republican form of government, in which citizens control government but not individuals."

"If Fenster sees this as a move in the direction of direct democracy, he is confused. In a direct democracy, majorities would be empowered to impose their will on individuals. Majorities would have the power to elect dictators and to empower government to violate the fundamental rights of citizens. Direct democracy is mob rule that inevitably leads to more government, not less. Republican government, by contrast, involves public participation in decisions that regulate the size and scope of government. TABOR epitomizes the essence of republican governance. The Legislature has no rights. The “public,” as spelled out in the word “republic,” has rights to constrain the Legislature. That is what Fenster, a seasoned and highly educated legal scholar, will learn if he files this unwinnable lawsuit."

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http://www.gazette.com/opinion/taxpayer-59583-most-favors.html


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A Denver lawyer plans to sue Colorado in federal court, in the latest and most colorful attempt yet to undo the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and uphold the “rights” of government over the people.

Lawyer Herbert Fenster told the state’s Long-term Fiscal Stability Commission last week that TABOR may violate Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution.

“It is our view that, if the state legislature is deprived of the power to tax, it is not an effective legislative branch,” said Fenster, who worked as litigation counsel for the Reagan-Bush Campaign committee. He says TABOR has moved Colorado in the direction of direct democracy, a tyrannical form of government in which majorities are allowed to greatly empower government and violate even the most fundamental rights of individuals.

Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution states: “The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”


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