Jon Caldara’s Warning on Colorado Power

The Denver Gazette publishes a column from Jon Caldara arguing that Colorado’s political climate has shifted from governing to raw power, where the majority party increasingly ignores voter intent, sidesteps constitutional guardrails like TABOR, and pushes policy based on what it can do rather than what it should do. fileciteturn16file0

Caldara leans hard into the idea that this is not just policy disagreement, but a pattern. From ballot measures being overridden, to tax policy being reshaped after voters weigh in, to what he describes as manipulative ballot language and consolidation of power, the column paints a picture of a legislature growing more comfortable flexing authority and less concerned with consent.

The Bullet Point Brief

• Caldara’s thesis is simple. Power unchecked becomes power abused. Colorado, in his view, is Exhibit A.
• He points to TABOR workarounds and repeated attempts to redirect refunds as evidence lawmakers are dodging voter intent.
• Voter-approved policies, like tax cuts or ballot outcomes, get “fixed” later by the legislature when they do not like the result.
• He calls out structural moves like changing boards, tweaking districts, and rewriting rules as ways to consolidate control.
• The throughline is blunt. It is not about policy anymore. It is about “because we can.”

My Bottom Line

If I could just cut and paste Jon Caldara’s column here, I would.

I like Jon. And more and more, I find myself nodding along to just about everything he writes.

So rather than try to outdo it, spin it, or add my own flavor, I am going to do something rare.

I am just going to leave this here.

Read it. Think about it. Decide for yourself.

Because sometimes the best commentary is knowing when someone else already said it exactly right.

Source: The Denver Gazette