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June 02, 2010 07:48 PM UTC

Making a Joke of More Than the Law

  • 41 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

From the Colorado Independent:

Doug Bruce remains for now one step ahead of the law. The controversial father of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights is apparently running from the law by staying at home and refusing to answer the door. In a high profile campaign finance trial taking place in Denver, Bruce has been fingered as the not-so-secret “Mr X” who authored three tax-slashing ballot initiatives, tampered with witnesses and illegally paid petition gatherers to secure signatures. The court has reportedly attempted to serve Bruce with subpoenas 29 times over the past weeks, only to see the court notes disappear without effect from the screen door of Bruce’s Colorado Springs home along with the newspapers from his stoop. He says he’s the target of a witch hunt, that he’s been on vacation, that he doesn’t know what anybody’s talking about.

Now Bruce may be sought in contempt of court proceedings and pursued by El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, a longtime acquaintance. “It wouldn’t be a thing where we’d call out SWAT or anything,” Maketa told the Denver Post Friday, “but he’s got to leave the house eventually.”

…Mark Grueskin, the high-powered attorney representing Coloradans for Responsible Reform, the group that brought the campaign-finance complaint, told the Denver Post that compelling Bruce to testify sets a much-needed precedent. Unless Bruce is on some level held accountable, he said, “every political wiseguy that wants to avoid responsibilities under the law will do exactly what we’ve seen here.” [Pols emphasis]

…Watching the courtroom drama unfold, Colorado Ethics Watch Director Luis Toro told the Colorado Independent that Bruce’s actions are somewhat baffling.

“Fortunately for Mr. Bruce, there is an easy way for him to clear the air,” Toro wrote in an email. “All he has to do is accept the deposition subpoena… and truthfully and completely answer under oath all questions about his apparent involvement with these ballot issues. The campaign finance enforcement system is a key part of our ballot initiative process, and it deserves no less respect than any other part of the process. The people deserve to understand exactly how these measures were developed and qualified for the ballot.”

What we’re seeing here could be one of the most ridiculous election spectacles in recent history–Doug Bruce, champion of Colorado conservatives for his authorship of 1992’s landmark Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), hiding from process servers to avoid admitting what everyone paying attention already knows. And there’s a reason: linking Bruce to the three “Dr. Evil” initiatives–Referendum 60, 61 and Proposition 101–would create an untenable political situation for many Republicans. It would put them in a position of simultaneously defending Bruce and TABOR while condemning these three initiatives as most “mainstream” Republicans in Colorado have done (see: Penry, Josh and McInnis, Scott). And how do you package that in a way conservative voters will find plausible? How to you explain, in an election year where ‘radical’ is a selling point to conservative voters, that their hero Doug Bruce just went a little too far this time?

As bad as these initiatives would be for Democrats and the things they value, we’d say Republicans should be the ones most nervous about how this standoff with Bruce will resolve. In addition to offending everyone who believes that no person is above the law (in other words, most people), actual passage of these initiatives would force Republicans to confront the results of their “drown government in a bathtub” rhetoric. And that, folks, would cost them many more elections.

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41 thoughts on “Making a Joke of More Than the Law”

  1. juicy!

    Possibly a bench Warrant???

    (we can all dream)

    Douggy bruce under a self imposed House arrest is better than him roaming the streets gathering signatures for yet another stupid unnecessary law.

    He does deserve a bright Orange Jumpsuit with a extended stay as a guest of the a State he hates so much.

  2. is his absolute contempt for the law.  Yet he has written the laws that have most endagered the children of Colorado.

    If he were admitted to the Bar he could be disbarred for avoiding service. Fortunately for him he is not admitted, but he may be practicing law without a license by giving legal advice to the people who are the figureheads of the bad 3.  

      1. just suggest your unprincipled backup approach of throwing the opposition in jail.

        Its no wonder Americans refer to this mentailty as some kind of weird socialist-facist-neo nazi confab.

        2. if he were to tell the truth he admits to breaking the law.

          if he lies he faces even stiffer penalties for breaking yet more laws.

          Ok I concede (to you) it is A-ok for a republican to break the law. Commit felonies. blow off subpoenas. Etc. Etc.

          but just a rumor of a Dem being offered a job… OFF with their heads!

          Fairness under the law is reserved for the privileged few (R’s) eh?  

            1. it would stop playing around with a simple subpoena to appear for a deposition. It would issue a bench warrant For bruces wrinkled ass to appear and give that deposition.

              you know as well as I that if Bruce were a Dem in that county he would have already been shackled and “encouraged” to give that Deposition.

              2. Fortunately you’re not my legal sherpa, but if you’re correct then you should be blasting the wasteful Springs government for pissing away thousands when your solution could have been prescribed.

            2. I’m sure if it came to it, the sheriff could find a battering ram and a few officers with weapons, but normally the law starts off nice and works its way up through “insistent” to “f-ing P-O’d”.  It’s best if you answer the door before they get to that stage…

              As the sheriff says, he’s got to come out some time.

            1. but we are talking about Douggie Bruce here. He applies guilt to anyone using the fifth. so it follows he sees invoking his fifth amendment right is akin to admitting guilt himself.  

        3. who love the crack down in Arizona get all sweaty and uncomfortable about a rich old white conservative having to do the perp walk.  It just makes your skin crawl how creepy these people are about protecting one of their own from an ACORN like election fraud scandal.  Talk about slimy traitors to our nation of laws.  But hey I guess breaking the law is OK if you aren’t an illegal immigrant and you hate the government institutions that maintain the roads you drive on.

    2. (I just can’t remember, maybe the Colorado Springs Independent) that the court may count 29 attempts with the results (the paperwork disappearing from the door) as “good faith” service.  If the court decides that, and Bruce doesn’t show up, then the bench warrant for Contempt could be issued.

      I used to do process service way back when as a private investigator, I absolutely HATED that part of the job.

  3. Why not just print out a bunch of copies of the summons and complaint and issue them to volunteers to sit in front of Bruce’s house in shifts. As soon as he pokes his head out the door or backs his car out the driveway: blammo, he’s served!

    He’s gotta come outta there sometime. The coward.

    PS: Libertad – it’s not a case of “government ineffectiveness.” It’s a case of following the rules WE CREATED regarding service of process. The alternative is “sewer service” like back in the old days. Do you want that?

    2. so we can watch the ROV robots work on the riser and watch for Bruce to get served.  Any bets on which task gets done first?

      FYI: http://www.theoildrum.com has some fanatical drillheads watching the video feeds 24/7 and commenting on the action.  Some of the commenters want posts using Avatar analogies on what the ROV drivers are saying.

  4. Not all Republicans supported TABOR (there is a prominent former legislature right here in River City who came out against it at the time).

    Republican’s and Republican leaning independents have voted to deBruce on any number of ballot issues around the state or they simply would not have passed.

    Not all Republicans agree with “drown government in a bathtub” rhetoric as you so loosely charge.

    And I would hazard a guess that most knowledgeable Republicans would love to see Doug Bruce hauled away in handcuffs.

    Lumping all Republicans into a mindset is as flawed as saying all Catholics agree with the Church or all Democrats are pro choice.

    Is it possible on Pols to acknowledge that diverse opinion can exist under one political affiliation?

    2. I’ve talked to a large number of Republicans and most (not all) have no love lost for Doug Bruce and view TABOR as, at best, a very blunt instrument that has major disadvantages. (Can’t speak specifically for Scooter as I’ve never talked with him.)

    3. (I know this because I went door to door through the whole thing at the time) supported both referenda C and D.  

      Many had kids a few years away from college and kind of wanted to be able to afford in-state tuition and maybe have access to Community Colleges to save some money and get their kids started.   Others had arrived in recent years to work for businesses expanding in the state and realized that decent infrastructure, affordable universities, recreation and services are important in attracting quality employees.  

      More than one mentioned how they had just been home to visit family in Kansas and the roads instantly got better as soon as you crossed the border out of Colorado and we really had to address that.

      Sure I ran into the all taxes are evil  type Rs but in my precinct most Rs are old fashioned Main Street pro-business types who, along with the state’s Chambers of Commerce (those notorious nests of lefties), recognize that we need to support schools, infrastructure, services and amenities if we want a vibrant economy.

    4. I think us lefties just resort to using a broad brush description for what is the noisy, media dominant wing, the Tea Party nuts, the Sons of Bruce, the Goons of Grover (Norquist.)

      Most of us really, really want a resurgence of the old Main Street, Nixon, Rockefeller, Eisenhower types of Republicans.  We understand that we need both gas (progressives) and brakes (conservatives to make a drivable car (society/government.)

      I personally think that we are peaking in the influence of the wing nuts and maybe in the next few years, the aforementioned classical Republicans will become dominant again.

  5. .

    the glass of water that is only half full started a  diary on this subject, and the bidding to pay me to serve him was up to $1,000.

    Do I hear $2,000 ?

    .

    1. to help arrest another extremist antigovernment zealot. Can’t see anything going wrong with that plan.

      We lefties may be bad with money, but we’re not THAT bad.

  6. and Bruce is certainly not my hero.

    He’s insulting to women, mocks the homeless, and has total disdain (especially when he was a County Commissioner) for our military.

    He condescending, self-righteous, and his many ill-fated attempts at suing Colorado Springs, the local library district, and the school districts have all ended in failure for him and cost the taxpayer.

    Oh, and by the way, calling Sheriff Maketa a “longtime acquaintance” would really piss of the good Sheriff.  On Bruce’s last meeting as a County Commissioner, Maketa blasted him publicly.  If I could find a link to the video I’d post it.  It was priceless as Sheriff Maketa showed he had the guts to call Bruce out for what he is.

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