As there may not be another pocket in the state budget from which to find $450 million, this can’t be a debate about trade-offs between programs – we all know that this is about the fact that the STATE DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH REVENUE to provide the type of services that we, as Democrats, value.    Past legislatures and the citizens of Colorado have voted again and again to reduce the revenue that the State has to work with.  As a result, we in Colorado pay less state taxes per capita than all but 5 other states.  We can debate forever about whether this is good or bad, while the fact remains that we have limited revenue to provide critical services.   And now, with nearly a half billion dollar cut to higher education imminent, isn’t it time that we draw a much closer link between the taxes we pay, the revenue generated and the services that we can provide?  How do we plan to implore of our Democratic majority and Democratic Governor to provide the leadership and political will to speak to the citizens of Colorado about raising revenue for the State?  How do we galvanize at least the Dems across the state to “work for change” in our state and to put Colorado back on the right path -  a path fiscally aligned with our values!