A few weeks ago, it was reported that Colorado Springs anti-tax-man Douglas Bruce had hired David Lane, Ward Churchill's lawyer to assist him in fighting to get Bruce's tax measures on the same ballot as those for Proposition C and D. Smart choice. The case was assigned to Federal Judge Wiley Daniel. But Daniel ruled against Churchill and Lane. Bruce had asked U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Daniel to step in and make sure that his two ballot initiatives to eliminate and reduce some taxes were placed on the Nov. 1 ballot.

In his argument, Bruce said he wanted his measures on the same ballot as the statewide Referenda C and D, which would allow state government to keep $3.1 billion that would be refunded to taxpayers under a 1992 amendment to the state constitution that was championed by Bruce. Wiley said the matter could be settled in an El Paso County District Court and through the city. "Alternatively, I find that this matter is one of the rare cases where abstention by the federal court is appropriate," Wiley wrote.

Bruce's initiatives would gradually get rid of the city's the city's property tax, cut the city's sales tax and get rid of Colorado Springs Utilities' streetlight fee.

If I know David Lane and Doug Bruce as well as I think I do, they have had their next strategic move in their back pocket all along.