Colorado is floundering under Democrat-led one-party control — as the nation now is, with Democrats currently controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress. Among the consequences of this are higher taxes (or fees) levied on the middle class, and profligate spending binges throwing your money at everything – except what government should be doing.

In Washington, the Democrats are proposing to spend another $3.5 trillion of your money on a grab-bag of new social engineering schemes, welfare programs, and handouts to favored industries, financed through enormous tax hikes. They will tell you that their tax increases are aimed at “the rich”; what they won’t tell you is that every one of their proposed tax increases will be paid by the middle class.

For example, the Democrats are proposing to raise the corporate income tax rate, claiming proudly that they are punishing only “greedy big business”. But what they mean is you. The reality is that this tax will be levied mostly on small businesses — including every restaurant, shop, and professional service you see and use in Colorado Springs every day — which have no choice but to pass them on to the consumer. Businesses, unlike the federal government, have to balance their books at the end of every month. They have to pay for these additional taxes somehow, and that means either cutting costs (like lowering wages or laying someone off), raising prices, or locking their doors.

Analyses from the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, the Tax Foundation, and the Tax Policy Center all demonstrate that it is workers and consumers who necessarily shoulder the burden from corporate tax hikes, largely through rising prices which hit lower income families the hardest. It is the same effect with capital gains tax increases, elimination of common deductions, and all of the other taxes D.C. Democrats want to impose on you, directly or indirectly.

And where is all of this taxpayer-financed deficit spending going? The list is extensive, but notably absent are those few things the federal government should be spending resources on, like national defense and border security.

After the Biden administration so tragically and abysmally mishandled the retreat from Afghanistan, the world has become a more dangerous place. Not only are we likely facing renewed terrorist threats, but the People’s Republic of China is becoming ever more aggressive towards Taiwan, Iran has resumed its quest for a nuclear weapon, and Russia is flexing its economic muscles over Eastern Europe. And yet apparently “green” subsidies, and a universal basic income to pay people not to work are more important than preparing our nation’s defense against these growing threats. Meanwhile, the crisis at the border is only getting worse, while the Democrats look the other way.

It is no better here at the state level. Thankfully, Colorado still has to balance its budget each year. But as on the federal level, the Democrats who control the state are constantly hitting the middle class with taxes disguised as fees, for all manner of social engineering schemes, while ignoring their true governing responsibilities.

The primary responsibility of government is keeping our communities safe, and on this Democrats in Colorado have failed miserably. Data released by the FBI last month confirms that crime, including violent crime, is getting worse in this country, and that violent crime in Colorado went up last year at almost double the national rate. This is the third year that Colorado’s violent crime rate has been higher than the nation’s, marking a trend that has continued since 2014.

It is impossible for the Democrats to evade responsibility for this tragedy. The “Defund Police” movement continues under the gentler guise of “criminal justice reform” – Democrats continue to advance policies that reduce penalties for crimes, decriminalize the drugs that tear our communities apart, and release criminals from prison – or keep them from going there in the first place, such as Sen. Pete Lee’s infamous “pre-trial reform” bill that would all but eliminate bail and keep offenders on our neighborhood streets instead of behind bars.

We cannot continue to let Pete Lee and his Democratic colleagues accommodate criminals at the expense and safety of law-abiding families. Democrat one-party control is not working in Colorado, and is failing at the national level now as well. It is leading only to greater debt, higher taxes and fees on working families and the middle class, with nothing to show for it except a less secure nation and unsafe streets. It is time for a change at both the national and state level.

Larry Liston is State Senator for Senate District 10.

Larry Liston.