Nathan Newman wrote:
>Apparently, since a google search reveals not a single mention of the
>Colorado struggle over TABOR, arguably the largest progressive victory of
>2005. So LBO mental powers appear to be quite limited to lambasting
>Colorado union leaders for their supposed failings, rather than their
>victories.
-Oh please. If it was such a great victory - "arguably" the greatest -of the year! - how come you didn't tout it earlier? That's what we -rely on you for... Googling "Colorado TABOR" doesn't show a heckuva lot of interest from left-liberal sources
Well, my time on LBO is pretty intermittend and to be fair it happened a couple of days before my wedding, but I blogged it as exactly that important: http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/003523.shtml
As for others covering it, almost every major labor or progressive budget outlet saw the Colorado victory as crucial. As the Nation said: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051128/nichols "The most encouraging referendum result of all came from Colorado, where voters endorsed a five-year suspension of the state's Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, a "starve government" gimmick that placed severe limits on the ability of the state to raise and spend the resources needed to maintain quality schools and public services. Denver's Rocky Mountain News got it right in a postelection editorial that declared the big losers in the vote were "(anti-tax firebrands) Grover Norquist, Dick Armey and other national leaders in the 'drown government in a bathtub' movement who focused their efforts on making Colorado's TABOR a model of fiscal restraint."
So I'm hardly alone in seeing it as one of the most significant victories for progressives in 2005. That you think the story is "obscure" reflects how detached LBO is from social movements with any base in real politics. Go to any meeting of groups doing state politics and TABOR is one of the number one topics of discussion.
See other coverage as well: http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1297115 http://www.oraflcio.unions-america.com/2005_WU/7-44.htm http://www.afscme.org/press/2005/pr051102b.htm http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/2005/110205a.htm http://www.ohiosfuture.org/