Once upon a time

there was a guy named Douglas Bruce who lived in Colorado Springs, CO. Now being an astute sort, and having lived in a state that was known for its boom and bust cycles, he observed that what happened during the fat years was that the legislature would start all kinds of new programs with the extra tax dollars, and then demand tax increases during the lean years to fund the "essential programs." The result being a never ending cycle of tax increases. (Sound familar?)

He became kind of a gadfly, flirting about pushing the simple concept that the state could not spend more than it's budget and that any surplus had to be refunded to the tax payer prorated based on the amount the tax payer had paid in the previous year.

What a country!

He was, of course, not well liked by the politicans, by the media and the special interest groups. In fact it seemed that his property was always getting inspected and fined...among other things. Now Colorado is an initative state. The citizens can change the constitution and add/remove laws by ballott. So after some years he got his idea on the ballot, and it passed. And it remained passed until Colorado got enough Californiaians moving in to change it back.

I thought of all this when I happened to see the linked story. I hope he did no permanent damge to the photographer..

and I glad to see he is still kicking around.