New Democrat Update - April 2000
THE GREAT TAX DEBATE
The Colorado legislature will soon begin seriously debating how the state's surplus revenue should be refunded to taxpayers. Unfortunately, the many proposals still being considered represent a hodgepodge of special interest loopholes that are not in the public interest, drag on the economy and unfairly shift the tax burden to others. In addition, many of the breaks are targeted to people who are doing quite well without them.
To keep economic prosperity going while ensuring the benefits are more broadly shared, the state's tax refund package should promote productivity and work. For example, the current Earned Income Tax Credit proposal should be doubled, lifting thousands of working families into true self-sufficiency. We should make a fair and simple commitment - no matter how little you make, you shouldn't live in poverty if you're working full-time and you've got kids in the house.
For the long term, State Sen. Mike Feeley's repeated efforts to reform the state's tax system and State Rep. Dan Grossman's proposal this session to close special-interest loopholes may be paying off. It looks like the legislature will finally approve its first comprehensive review of the tax system in four decades.
The newly created Colorado Commission on Taxation - 15 people appointed by the governor and legislative leaders - would scrutinize the existing tax structure and make recommendations to redesign and eliminate policies that are not working or no longer needed. The significant changes in Colorado's economy over the last 40 years have made the current system incredibly obsolete and counterproductive.
One glaring problem is the granting of numerous sales tax exemptions that have no valid public purpose - many give breaks to traditional industries but still tax high technology companies, the true generator of high-paying jobs.
This effort presents a significant opportunity to make Colorado's tax system fair and simple, as well as economically and socially rational. In addition to being pro-family, the final product should promote productivity, work and savings.
Hopefully, all will go smooth in the final stages of this legislation, high-caliber commissioners will be appointed, and the legislature will take their recommendations seriously. Comprehensive reform is long overdue.
“F” ON SMART GROWTH
Strong public support to implement meaningful growth management measures apparently means nothing to the Republican legislature. Despite a number of good proposals backed by both environmentalists and the business community, the special interests prevailed at maintaining the unacceptable status quo.
That inaction has prompted environmental groups to go out on their own, filing a proposed ballot initiative that will stifle smart growth management efforts and encourage unnecessary litigation. One part of the proposal that is particularly troubling - a single resident will be allowed to delay or even stop any proposed development in court.
Environmentalists should drop these unworkable, draconian measures and reach out to the business community. The revamped initiative should emphasize requiring local communities to adopt enforceable comprehensive plans that achieve a healthy balance between job growth and housing.
Otherwise, the initiative will go down to defeat and we will, once again, be stuck with the terrible status quo.
OPENING UP CHINA
Today's strong and stable economy depends on expanding markets around the world for the goods and services our communities produce. Expanded trade has been a critical component of the unprecedented economic prosperity of the past six years - a key element of the Clinton Administration's successful strategy that has kept growth strong, created 20 million new jobs, and held inflation at bay.
A proposed trade agreement with China will soon be before Congress. As a condition for Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), this pact will unilaterally open vast areas of the Chinese market to US exports and investment. In the long run, and maybe most important of all, the United States will benefit from China's verifiable and enforceable commitment to play by the world's rules.
US farmers, bankers, insurers, and manufacturers of microchips, chemicals, cars, computers, and software will also immediately benefit from a whole new level of access to what is potentially the world's largest consumer market. As the top emerging market for the American electronics industry, China’s personal computer market is expected to double in the next five years.
While admitting that no major problems have been found in the details of the agreement, opponents in the US maintain that the deal rewards a rogue nation that routinely violates human rights. They could not be more wrong.
Don't take our word for it - ask China’s security agencies and the People's Liberation Army. They oppose joining the World Trade Organization out of fears that more privatization of China’s economy and an influx of Western ideas about management and civil society will weaken the monopolistic Communist Party's tight hold over the country. All of the above should sound good to every American.
US Representatives Diana Degette (D-Denver) and Mark Udall (D-Boulder) should support permanent Normal Trade Relations with China - nothing more or less than we have granted China on an annual basis for 19 years. It is the same status we provide to all 134 other WTO members, and to all but a handful of other countries.
The deal will provide American companies and workers with new economic opportunities and push China toward rule-based markets and democracy. Congress, to paraphrase Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, must not blow this historic opportunity.