Don’t forget to claim your TABOR refund — and protect it The TABOR Committee supports the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. We’re writing to remind you to claim your TABOR refund on this year’s tax return. To obtain between $19 and $118, be sure to claim your refund on page 6 of the state income tax report. The state’s tax code is designed to bring in more and more money in good times, above what the TABOR limit allows. TABOR provides for automatic increases in tax revenue while preventing government from growing out of control and taking an ever-larger share of family and business budgets. When the TABOR limit is exceeded, tax law restores the over-collection back to you in the form of TABOR refunds. This year, the TABOR refund is rather small. Your refund would have been about four times as large, except the legislature got sneaky in 2024 and opened a loophole that TABOR allowed by being flexible. They created a new welfare program, a redistribution, only available if there is a TABOR surplus. Making a welfare program dependent on taking our refunds is also unfair to the people who get the subsidy, because they may come to depend on it, yet it will be jerked away entirely if the economy turns down. Better the program should be funded inside the state budget with transparency and certainty and in competition with all other state priorities. For more information, visit thetaborfoundation.org. Jason Bailey, Denver  Kafer column should serve as a voter guide Re: “Trump is taking his losing streak out on Colo.,” Feb. 15 commentary Now is a good time to clip and save Krista Kafer’s assessment of what a Donald Trump presidency has meant for Colorado after a little more than one year: retribution. Be sure to read, clip and save for making voting choices in November. Keep her words available for you and your voting friends and relatives, as they offer inspiration and evidence of what your vote means for this year and the future of the state. David W. Dent, Broomfield I do not think, therefore, I do not am Re: “The ugly sides of AI,” Jan. 25 commentary My wife noted that Jeffco schools were not in session on Friday before Presidents Day, and I responded that with AI, it doesn’t take long to get answers. That morphed into a discussion of the learning process: answers versus thinking through problems. Technology dumbs us down, so we become dependent upon it (think: GPS v. map and compass). I often wonder whether young people are being deprived of learning how to think and so just rely on technology to get by. AI makes that problem worse, amplified by social media. If schools no longer teach the process of thinking through problems to get real-world solutions, then we become totally dependent upon technology (especially AI) for everything. And, if we do not think, evolution will eliminate our ability to think (we do not am). So, as we relinquish control over our lives and our environment to technology, and AI learns to do the “thinking” that we no longer do, where does that lead? Are we making it easy for AI to destroy the human race, given the probability that AI already “knows” that we are the problem and must be eliminated? It is no longer science fiction. We are making it a reality. Not just possible, but probable, maybe inevitable. Humans need water and clean air; AI just needs data centers and electricity. Think about that, or do not am. Greg Scott, Evergreen Former V.P. Pence should speak out Former vice president Mike Pence has the historic opportunity to do what civil rights hero John Lewis called “good trouble.” He could do that by simply telling the truth about President Trump and especially about the January 6 rebellion. Good trouble would help Mike Pence join the members of the “Profiles in Courage” gang. David L Stevenson, Denver  Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more. To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail. ...read more read less