Real life having intervened, I’ve not been as capable as I would like to have been of chortling, giggling, and guffawing about this subject.
Douglas Bruce, a Colorado Springs slumlord, parleyed his indignation at having the government tell him what to do with his own property into hitting a sweet spot of of anti-government hysteria in Colorado and managed, on the third try, in 1992, to get the TABOR amendment passed. The rachet-down effect of this destroyed Colorado governmental income at the first recession following its passage, just as was predicted by the sane and desired by the insane, such as Douglas Bruce. The restrictions of TABOR were, to some extent, loosened by Referendum C in 2005.
Bruce was elected to the El Paso County Commission in 2004, where he immediately engaged in contention and conflict with pretty much everyone. Partly as the result of a desire to get Bruce the hell out of Dodge and into a place where he could do less damage, a candidate’s commission selected Bruce to fill a vacancy in the Colorado House.
Following his selection, he delayed his swearing-in so that he would be eligible to be elected to four terms rather than three under Colorado term limit. This led to legislation requiring replacement legislators to be sworn in within 14 days of their selection. Bruce was the only dissenting vote.
Prior to being sworn in, however, Bruce on the morning of his swearing-in, kicked a Rocky Mountain News photographer on the floor of the House. He then became the first Colorado House member ever to be formally censured by the House. He did not win election to even the first of the four terms he had hoped for.
Bruce was recently tied and convicted of various fraud and tax charges related to converting the interest on political contributions to his personal use.
Bruce, as of Friday, resides in the Denver County Jail.
Executive Summary: Haw! Haw!