NOW WHO'S THE BAD GUY?

Now who's the bad guy? There's a funny little fist fight taking place on
the television and radio airwaves as various manifestations of government
take on the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank, over
Referendums C and D, ballot issues coming our way this fall. Referendum C,
which would allow the state to keep tax money raised beyond TABOR limits,
and Referendum D, which would allow it to borrow a ton of money to build
roads, are both facing loud opposition from the Independent Institute,
which seems to oppose all taxes for all reasons. The state government,
strained to its fiscal limits by the unfortunate collision of TABOR with
economic hard times, is doing all it can to promote the two referenda.

Unfortunately, this includes using the Independence Institute's opposition
to the so-called war on drugs to discredit the Institute. By making it
sound like the Independence Institute is all about letting bad guys out of
prison, government spokesfolk are hoping to make people think the Institute
is run by fringe lunatics so the public will dismiss its arguments against
the referenda and vote more money to the state.

Far be it from us to defend the Independence Institute-except that, when it
comes to the War on Some Drugs, those libertarian-conservative
pseudo-intellectual nerds in Golden are right. As they-and a great many
others, including this paper-have stated time and again, the drug war is a
waste of dollars, and imprisoning large numbers of people for using and
possessing drugs is costing the state dearly. If the state is having money
troubles, it could help balance its budget by decreasing drug felonies to
misdemeanors and saving the more than $30,000 it spends per inmate each
year to lock them up.

You can't discredit people by pointing out where they're right and you're
wrong, but you can hurt yourself trying. So here's a clue from B-dub for
the government dudes: If you want to fight over C and D, do it, but stick
to telling us why TABOR sucks. You make yourselves sound like idiots when
you plead for money-by flagrantly overlooking one very significant way to
save it.