Home > Political Notebook > Archives > 2008 > June > 06 > Entry
GOP seizing, freezing the limelight with tax lawsuit
If Thursday’s letter from GOP leaders at the state Capitol is any indication, Colorado Republicans plan to use the time between the district court opinion on Gov. Bill Ritter’s mill levy freeze and the Colorado Supreme Court’s looming action to their advantage.
We’ve written before, when the county first started pursuing the lawsuit, that Republicans have to be aware of the political rewards they can reap by pushing a tax message in the state courts and court of public opinion ahead of the 2008 election.
However, the district court’s opinion combined with Attorney General John Suthers’ 2007 opinion on the mill levy freeze also gives the GOP political cover should the Colorado Supreme Court rule the law constitutional later this year.
Indeed, just as conservatives lambasted the court for its ruling on the anti-illegal immigration ballot measure of 2006, which prompted a special session of the Legislature, so, too, can the right-leaning bloc accuse the court of “judicial activism” ahead of the 2008 election.
While a nebulous, populist political catchphrase, outcry over “judicial activism” certainly can’t hurt GOP pols and candidates this year.
*Ritter photo shot by Political Notebook. Suthers photo from The Daily Sentinel archives.
Comments