I read an editorial in the paper that made me smile. The article should give Americans food for thought, but I doubt if they will take even a bite.

The article begins by commending Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights— TABOR—that restricts government's growth. The bill was initiated and passed as a constitutional amendment a decade ago by the citizens of Colorado. This law requires the state to refund tax payments in excess of the prior year's collections after adjustment to inflation and population growth.

It means the citizens of Colorado restricted state's politicians taxing and spending privileges so they can no longer "legally"tax as much as they want, nor squander as much as they can get away with.

The editorial then goes on to laud California Governor, Arnold Schwartzenegger who wants Californians to pass his version of TABOR called "Live Within Our Means Act" that would limit state budget growth to the average budget growth of the past three years.

The article went on to state that the political power machine in Colorado behind the governor is currently proposing &qot;Referendum C" that will allow the state to keep excess tax money and, in essence, begin chipping away at TABOR. Typically, this is what happens everywhere in the republic: in-between presidential elections, working people are mostly indifferent to politics, but self-interest-groups, promote and support their pet causes until they become law. Their perseverance pays off.

In November, more than a dozen states will have a TABOR billon the ballot, or a candidate proposing one, and many states already possess what they call "Taxpayers Bill of Rights." Most, however, are all meaningless bits of drivel, merely declaring what citizens can or cannot legally do within the political system. Few of these bills give citizens the power to initiate or curb spending bills and fewer restrict the power of politicians to tax and spend. The bills are merely more deception from greedy politicians wishing to fool unthinking, ignorant constituents.

What needs to be pointed out is that Colorado's TABOR is an example of how Direct Democracy—true democracy—works as opposed to how representative democracy— pseudo-democracy—does. In DD a citizen possesses the privilege to initiate laws. Of course, all citizens must vote to approve these laws, whereas in a pseudo-democracy, under which Americans live, the opportunistic politicians and their wealthy masters create all the laws.

What Americans should be aware of is that commoners the world-over are dipping their toes into the waters of DD and bottom-up law-making, timidly beginning their revolution against corruption, privatization, and wars initiated by top-down governments. If you haven't already done so, visit the website www.movementfordirectdemocracy.com just to see what's really going on in the world outside of the fantasyland created by the fawning American mass media.

Remember, the world could be a better place to live, if you participated in your political system. And if the system—or the men who control the system—won't let you participate, then take it away from them and change it to a system that will. You and all the other commoner citizens of the republic possess the Greater-Force. You have only to wield it with your vote.