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March 16, 2015 04:01 PM UTC

Things You're Not Supposed To Admit, Chris Holbert Edition

  • 29 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Sen. Chris Holbert (R).
Sen. Chris Holbert (R).

The Denver Post’s Lynn Bartels reported Saturday on the death earlier this month of Senate Bill 15-118, a bill that would have upped the incentive for Colorado middle class families to save for college tuition via the CollegeInvest program:

Senate Bill 118 concerned Coloradans who save for college through a not-for-profit state agency called CollegeInvest, where money is put into what are known as 529 plans.

As amended, the proposal from Merrifield, a Colorado Springs Democrat, would have eliminated the state income tax break for those earning more than $500,000 a year, while doubling it for those making less than $150,000 a year. Coloradans earning between $150,000 and $500,000 would still receive some tax break.

The bill died March 5 on a 3-2 party-line vote in the GOP-controlled Senate Finance Committee, where Sen. Chris Holbert made a statement that stunned Democrats and bill supporters.

We’d say on an objective scale, this was pretty stunning.

“I represent a part of a county that has the sixth-highest income demographic in the nation,” the Parker Republican said. “The people who elected me and who I represent, many are in those upper-income brackets.” [Pols emphasis]

So-called “529” plans like Colorado’s CollegeInvest program enable tax-deferred investments to save for a designated beneficiary’s college education. In Colorado, families can also claim a tax credit against their state income tax for the amount they invest in 529 plans. Under Merrifield’s bill, wealthy 529 plan investors would still benefit from their tax-advantaged status, but wouldn’t qualify for the additional state income tax credit unless their income is under $500,000 per year.

Republicans at every level of government face a significant message setback when trying to justify policies that either disregard the interest of or actively work against the middle class voters who make up the bulk of the electorate. We’ve seen this manifest over and over in the last few years, with phrases like “attacking job creators” and “class warfare” nervously appropriated by Republicans to avoid having to say simple declarative things like “I represent the rich people.”

Politically this is not difficult to understand, since there are simply not enough rich people to form an electoral majority–and even among the Republican rank-and-file, blind fealty to the upper class is breaking down as middle class incomes stagnate while the rich get richer.

That is why this statement we assume Sen. Chris Holbert made without any hesitation is so shocking. Republicans work hard to pigeonhole Democrats as the party that represents the only very poorest Americans–those “other” Americans it’s broadly assumed are “lazy” and “not pulling their weight.” Democrats respond that they have the interests of the middle class at heart–in this case families saving for college–and that Republicans have become the party of only the very rich.

And here you have the deciding vote on a bill to help the middle class candidly admitting it. The political significance of that, even if you’re not surprised, should be very great indeed.

Comments

29 thoughts on “Things You’re Not Supposed To Admit, Chris Holbert Edition

  1. As far as the GOP seems concerned, as long as the middle class stays out of the way, they won’t get trampled by the stampede of Republican legislators to kneel at the feet of their wealthy benefactors.

    Thus GOP support for “middle class” tax cuts are fine, fully aware that the vast majority of the cuts flow to the top.

    Holbert didn’t even listen to Frank Luntz who would simply say that the “middle class” makes $500k or more, and the GOP will always support the “middle class”.

  2. “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper Parker, CO, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.” 

    – Any Modern Day Republican

    1. It isn’t class warfare to ask that those who can best afford to pay shouldn’t be subsidized as heavily as those who are less able to pay. Of course what you should be saying, since you don’t believe in big government handouts, is that there should be no breaks for anyone, regardless of income. But you just went straight to knee jerk defending the “takers” who happen to be in the top .1%. More proof the right isn’t against government hand outs at all. You just want them all to go to the top .1%.

      1. Republicans are not for limited government – it’s one of their biggest lies. You can’t maintain a vast system of regulations written by corporations (for their benefit) if you have limited government; you can’t maintain a complex system of corporate welfare if you have limited government; you can’t grow the military-industrial complex if you have limited government; and most of all, you can’t support an army of Republican politicians living on public funds if you have limited government.

        1. Exactly. And they sure as hell aren’t for limited government intrusion into private matters such as who you have sex with, how you plan your family,  end of life decisions such as in the Terry Schiavo case, favoring of select religions beliefs etc. either. You can’t get much more big government intrusive than forcing women to undergo invasive unnecessary procedures before deciding to end a pregnancy as is their constitutionally protected right. What they are for is big government to enforce their agenda, big hypocrisy and big lies.

          1. if they were truly for a limited govt. they’d be up in arms about how the Ferguson PD was mostly a revenue collection agency of the city. Of course, all that revenue was coming from the undeserving, so it’s ok by current Republican standards.

    2. If the US government were run by a representative sample of its citizens, equally as self-interested as any government officials throughout our country’s history, then we would already have a $15/hr minimum wage, Citizens United and Shelby County v Holder would both have gone the other way and wouldn’t have been close, copyright would still be for 14 years, and corporations would be incorporated for limited times to serve the public good.

      The 1% wouldn’t have any voice in the government unless they spoke for the other 99%, because they couldn’t get enough people together in one district to vote one of them in to office. Your so-called “class warfare” is a lie perpetrated by those who wish to use their power to maintain additional perks for the rich and ultra-rich to the detriment of the poor and middle class.

      1. If we all actually paid attention and voted in our own best interests, that’s the kind of government we’d have. Instead most people I talk to while canvassing door to door or phoning brag about not paying any attention to politics and, right up to the last week before the end of an election, are still saying they haven’t looked into it yet. Too bad the minority who do pay attention also have to wind up with the government the ignorant, yet opinionated (based on no actual knowledge) majority deserves. But that’s the way the democratic process works and why it works so badly with an ignorant electorate. An electorate that knows nothing and is proud of it is very easily bought.

        1. An electorate that knows nothing and is proud of it is very easily bought.

          Hence the success of Fox news and the industry of right wing media that relies on endless repetition of lies and half-truths by attractive, likeable people.

              1. And geeky to be smart. Yeah, I know. I had to dumb down my vocabulary very early on in my elementary school days so as not to get teased. Back in the day (end of Eisenhower through Kennedy administration) being of average intelligence was practically a religion and appearing above average got you labeled “egg head”. Bad for boys. Worse for girls. Because, of course, what boys would like you if you sounded smart and what else were girls supposed to do but get liked by boys so they could get married?

  3. Thanks to Sen. Merrifield for sponsoring this bill.  I have made this proposal for many years.  Unfortunately, the Democrats waited until they no longer controlled both houses before they offered this bill (i.e., probably knowing it wouldn’t pass).  Another target for eliminating tax breaks for the wealthy would be the $24,000 per person pension exclusion that also has no restriction based on your income.  But, again, Democrats were not interested in sponsoring this legislation when they had the opportunity in recent years to actually pass something.

    So, it is true that the GOP clearly supports the interests of the wealthy.  But, it’s hard to see where Democrats go out of their way to help the middle class.

  4. Are we to infer, based upon Holbert’s comment, that this is the last office he will aspire to hold? Because if he has his eye on something higher, he may have to slum it up with people who are not the sixth highest income demographic in the nation. And doesn’t he think that in the IT era, these words will come back and bite him in the ass?

  5. So basically Holbert is giving a gigantic “F U” to anyone who makes less than $150,000 a year. He’s saying he won’t even consider a minor inconvenience to half-a-millionaires even though it would make a huge difference for middle-class families struggling to save enough for college.

    What a jerk.

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