Letters - Sunday

TABOR RATTLING
Read Gov. Riter's lips - TABOR a target for Legislature

Those seeking repeal of our city TABOR say we really don't need it, because our state TABOR is there, solid as a rock, to control the growth of government and secure the right to vote on tax increases and public debt. Then along comes Gov. Bill Ritter, with Thursday's State of the State Address, to blow another hole in that argument.

Here is a quote from the speech, which clearly indicates that Ritter, and the Democrats who control the Legislature he was addressing, will be gunning for TABOR is 2009.

"There is also an opportunity here - a chance to address TABOR and the constitutional and statutory straitjacket that makes modern, sensible and value-based budgeting an impossibility. Last year, former House Speaker Romanoff started the conversation, and we need to keep it alive. We need to talk about life after Ref C - whether and when to extend it. We have a chance to find a better way forward, a Colorado way forward."

Does anyone believe that Ritter, when he says he wants to "address" TABOR, means that he wants to preserve and protect it?

Clearly, he and other Democrats want to free themselves from "the constitutional and statutory straitjacket that makes modern, sensible and value-based budgeting an impossibility" - which is how he describes TABOR.

He wants to address TABOR the way Barry Bonds addresses baseballs.

Our state TABOR is under siege. The Colorado Supreme Court, packed as it is with statists, chips away at it every chance it gets. Many TABOR supporters believe the passage of Ref. C - which falsely promised to address the state's fiscal woes - constituted an assault on TABOR. Andrew Romanoff's ballot measure, which Ritter referenced, was another attack on TABOR (albeit an unsuccessful one). And Ritter on Thursday confirmed that the attacks will continue, until the free-spenders who are on the ascent in Colorado have escaped from the "straitjacket" called TABOR.

Our city TABOR isn't "duplicative" or "redundant" to the state TABOR, as its enemies suggest. It's an insurance policy against the day when the state TABOR goes away.

Sean Paige, Local Liberty Action Colorado Springs

DARE TO FIND FUNDING
Surcharge on traffic tickets could pay for drug-abuse education

As a member of the DARE Advisory Committee and a very concerned parent, I sat down with my two children and watched the TV special, "Crystal Darkness." This television program only emphasized the need for DARE in our schools even more. The DARE Committee has been working nonstop to raise the money to continue this program without interruption and has made ample attempts to contact our state representatives, senators and our county commissioners, and we have gotten nowhere.

The committee has made many attempts to put forth a surcharge on moving violations in our county of $10-$50 to help fund the DARE program. We have not received any backing; one of the answers we have received is "Voters will accuse elected officials of circumventing the will of the people's vote on 1A. Mandate a $10 surcharge or a fee and the bill would probably fail in committee."

Ticketed drivers have chosen to break the law. The taxpayers should have no say over fines imposed for breaking the law.

I hope one of our elected officials will come forward with something that will be beneficial in helping our committee to save this program. We need DARE in our schools. The DARE graduations will be coming up in the next couple of weeks and we as a committee invite any or all of you to attend one. We need to come together as a community.

Kimberly Miller, Fundraising chair DARE Advisory Board Colorado Springs

FOCUSING ON ARTS
da Vinci Academy has sights set on continuing arts education

This letter is a response to "D-20 should return da Vinci to its original education mission," in The Gazette's Jan. 7 Letters section.

The mission of The da Vinci Academy has not changed. The new principal, vice-principal and the majority of the parents at the school continue to support the arts-integrated component of the curriculum. The arts component is one of the pieces that makes the school such a special place.

There is much evidence demonstrating arts integration at the academy is recognized and appreciated by the school's administration. This evidence includes the budget priority list presented by the School Advisory Council to the District Advisory Council. The list places teacher training in arts integration as one of the school's top priorities. Also, a new position at the school begins this semester, the focus of which is to ensure the adherence of arts integrated principles at the school.

High student achievement is a goal appreciated by most parents at the school. Performing well on CSAPs and other standardized tests is one of many indicators that a school is operating within the bounds of the school, district and state missions. As the parent of four district students - one has graduated from da Vinci, two who are currently attending the school, and a fourth who will attend the school - I appreciate the hard work of the staff and administrators who use an arts-integrated curriculum to teach standards leading to high student achievement.

Classroom teachers and support staff have worked to provide my children with individualized assignments which highlight differences in learning styles.

While I understand every family may not be happy at da Vinci, I truly believe most families are happy with the school. Ultimately, the focus should be on providing children with a safe and creative environment that fosters a love of learning using a standards-based curriculum. I believe that is exactly what is occurring at the school.

Joel Miller, Colorado Springs

STRINGS ATTACHED
Access to medical procedures must be available to women

I agree that no health care provider should be compelled to perform procedures that violate his or her religious or moral beliefs, as long as the refusal doesn't result in a patient being unable to obtain service they have a legal right to ("Abortion is not an entitlement," Our View, Jan. 6). I often wonder if such refusal is purely religious/moral conviction or more about power and making someone else live according to another's beliefs. Colorado and many other states already allow individual health care providers to refuse to provide abortion and birth control services. Since birth control, many forms of abortion, and in vitro fertilization are legal, an adult has the right to seek and to obtain such services.

An entitlement is a government program such as Social Security and Medicaid. Colorado Medicaid will pay for family planning/birth control services for qualifying women. It will pay for an abortion in the case of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is endangered by the pregnancy.

Perhaps President-elect Barack Obama will overturn this edict when he takes office. I hope he will modify it to require that all medical institutions receiving federal funds have providers on staff who will make all legal medical services available. Private organizations that do not receive federal funding may do as they wish.

Susan McDowell, Colorado Springs

PAYING THE BILLS
Obama should use leftover funds to pay for inauguration

Just a thought as President-elect Barack Obama is to be sworn into office as the next president. From the news I have heard, there are two things that would help cancel out each other and set an example of leadership from the top. They would help out the economy and put some merit behind what our new president hopes to stand for in the eyes of the American people - that change is coming to the way Washington does business.

First, there is some $30 million left over from Obama's campaign. Second, it is going to be about the same amount to pay for the presidential inauguration.

Step up Mr. President and Congress. Start out the new year with a first-ever economical swearing in.

John Haralson, Colorado Springs