Colorado

ObamaCare gimmicks won’t secure more young enrollees

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
03/19/2014
A recent flurry of ObamaCare marketing gimmicks aimed at young Americans reeks of desperation on the part of the administration and Illinois state officials. Recent examples coming from the White House include a “Funny or Die” spoof interview featuring President Barack Obama with comedian Zach Galifianakis to a series of health care-themed GIFs on the...

Colorado voters defeat a progressive income tax hike

By Benjamin VanMetre
11/06/2013
On Nov. 5, Colorado voters defeated a progressive income tax increase by a two-to-one margin — more than 66 percent of the voters said no to higher taxes. Colorado’s Amendment 66 was a ballot initiative to swap out the state’s competitive flat rate income tax for a progressive income tax increase. Specifically, lawmakers wanted to...

TAGS: fair tax, flat tax, graduated income tax, income tax, progressive income tax

Shrinking the Illinois Senate

By Brian Costin
10/08/2013
With 42,336 elected officials as of 1992, Illinois has nearly 12,000 more state and local elected politicians than any other state. Amazingly, with this unprecedented wealth of legislators Illinois hasn’t been able to adequately address some of its most dire problems. Illinois still ranks near the bottom of the nation in numerous key economic indicators,...

TAGS: term limits

Good Ideas from Other States: #1 Reduce Spending

By Chris Andriesen
11/30/2010
by Wesley Fox Over the last two years, many states have faced large budget shortfalls due to declines in revenue and continued spending at unaffordable rates. Some have dramatically cutback spending to balance their budgets, while others have raised taxes. The CATO Institute’s Fiscal Policy Report Card provides an excellent assessment of the responses of U.S. governors...

Health Care Freedom on CO Ballot

08/27/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen Following in Missouri’s footsteps, a new citizens amendment has qualified for the Colorado ballot this fall. Colorado’s “Right to Health Care Choice” amendment — also known as Amendment 63 — would: Write into the Colorado Constitution that the State of Colorado cannot force its citizens to purchase a public or private health insurance product, either...

Public Education 2.0

08/19/2010
by Collin Hitt A new national group has formed to advance online and technology-driven learning in public schools, the Digital Learning Council. I’ve been asked to serve on the council, an honor considering the accomplished careers of those who’ll also be joining the group – for starters, the council is co-chaired by former governors Bob Wise and Jeb Bush. It looks...

Spotlight on Spending #9: The State Un-Fair

By Chris Andriesen
07/29/2010
The Problem Around this time each year, Illinois residents start making plans to attend the DuQuoin and Illinois State Fairs. But these state fairs are costing taxpayers much more than their ticket prices suggest. These two state fairs have a long record of their expenditures far outweighing their revenues. Between fiscal years 2001 and 2009,...