YEARS LATE AND SO MANY WASTED TAX DOLLARS SHORT: Reason Magazine tugs back on Gov. Jared Polis’ ‘libertarian’ card.

Amidst ongoing battles within his own party, and despite recently vetoing a pair of bills that concentrated more authority in Colorado state government, Jared Polis’ carefully scripted reputation as a libertarian-leaning governor appears to be fading.

Even Reason Magazine, the national media outlet that has for years has hung its hat on the idea that Polis is more liberty-minded than progressive, is now questioning whether Polis’ moderate temperament is real, with editor-at-large Nick Gillepsie tugging back on Polis’ libertarian card in an April 14 article asking if the “small government Democrat is beefing up state power.”

Reason has long been considered the standard-bearer for libertarian thought and ideas, complete with the tagline of “Free Minds and Free Markets.”

Gillespie notes in the very first sentence that it’s Polis himself who identifies as a “libertarian Democrat.” However, it was also Gillespie — who recently said he was “an admirer” of Polis’ on a Facebook post pitching his latest story — who penned that Polis “might be the most libertarian governor in America,” in a profile story he wrote in 2022.
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“Through the years, Gov. Jared Polis appears to have welcomed the libertarian label — affixed to him by the news media, political commentators and even some other politicians. It’s almost as if he wants to create a buzz about it,” Goodman writes. “However, a closer examination of what he has done to our state reveals a stark contrast between that label and his actions.”

Goodman goes on to note that while that while Polis supports marijuana legalization and school choice — two important Libertarian Party principles, he fails in the area of reducing government size, civil liberties, and taxation. “Polis, while campaigning as an advocate for lower income taxes, consistently passes and advocates for legislation which increases the tax burden upon Coloradans.”

Goodman also says Polis’ stance on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) is a big red flag.

The results speak for themselves.