Coolidge’s Economic Legacy and Colorado’s Property Tax Crisis

On August 22, 2024, Steve Yurash, Lawrence Reed, and Toby Damisch joined the show. Discusses his candidacy for House District 52 as a centrist alternative, advocating for TABOR, limited government, and rational energy policy while drawing on his Silicon Valley background Examines Calvin Coolidge’s centennial as a model of fiscal restraint, then critiques Kamala Harris’s price control proposals using 40 centuries of economic history. Centrist Vision for Colorado Politics Start listening at 21:21 – Hour 1 Steve Yurash, a 38-year semiconductor industry veteran running for House District 52, argues that Colorado needs moderate voices to counter one-party dominance at the state capitol. The former Intel executive, who left the Republican Party in 2019 to found the Colorado Center Party, brings a Silicon Valley perspective to Front Range politics. Yurash draws on his experience watching California’s political transformation to warn Colorado voters about the dangers of unchecked progressive governance. He supports TABOR protections and property tax relief while advocating for rational energy policy that balances renewable expansion with reliable baseload power, including nuclear energy. “The Democrat legislature would skyrocket all of our taxes if we didn’t have Tabor.” Steve Yurash, Colorado Center Party Candidate for HD-52 Calvin Coolidge’s Fiscal Lessons for Modern America Start listening at 31:57 – Hour 1 Lawrence Reed marks the centennial of Calvin Coolidge’s 1924 presidential election by examining lessons from the only president to leave the federal government smaller than he found it. Reed, who has spent decades advocating for free market principles, traces how Coolidge and Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon reduced income tax rates from the 70s to the 20s while cutting the national debt by a third. The conversation pivots from 1920s fiscal policy to present-day concerns about Kamala Harris’s endorsement of price controls. Reed argues that 40 centuries of economic history demonstrate the failure of government price-fixing, from ancient Babylon to Nixon’s wage and price controls. He connects these historical lessons to Harris’s proposals for federal grocery price interventions, warning that such policies inevitably produce shortages and black markets. Reed expresses cautious optimism for America’s long-term trajectory while acknowledging concerning trends. He emphasizes the essential connection between personal character and political liberty, noting that citizens who abandon virtues like humility, honesty, and gratitude cannot long sustain free institutions. “But people like Kamala Harris seem to think that they can make something that has never worked suddenly work for them.” Lawrence Reed, Foundation for Economic Education President Emeritus Property Tax Battle Heads to Special Session Start listening at 59:00 – Hour 2 Toby Damisch breaks down the chaos surrounding Colorado’s property tax crisis as Governor Polis calls legislators back for another special session starting Monday. The Douglas County Assessor explains how the combination of Gallagher Amendment repeal and the 2023 reappraisal cycle created a perfect storm that sent property tax bills soaring 30 to 60 percent in a single year. Damisch details the complex negotiations between Advanced Colorado’s ballot measures, Initiatives 50 and 108, and the legislature’s counterproposals. He warns that legislative leadershi...