Those wishing to forcibly transfer more money from those who earn it to those who want it constantly review the benefits (real or imagined) of higher tax spending.

What they generally ignore are the costs.

Sure, when the government transfers money from Alice to Ben, Ben gets to spend the money on something he wants. But Alice has less to spend on her needs and those of her family, and those with whom Alice does business also suffer.

When people evaluate economic opportunities, they tend to move to where they can keep more of what they earn -- to spend, invest or give away as they see fit -- and live and work as they deem best, rather than as politicians demand.

We Coloradans enjoy a relatively strong economy in large part because it remains a relatively free economy. Higher taxes threaten to alienate vibrant businesses, entrepreneurs and young workers.

Higher taxes also reduce liberty. People have a right to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Regardless of whether politicians and activists mean well in forcing some people to surrender their money to others, the practice is morally wrong.

This November, Colorado voters will decide whether to respect individual rights or to expand the tyranny of the majority when they vote on Amendment 59 (which advocates are calling Savings Accounts for Education, or SAFE), a new, forever net tax hike.

Notably, Amendment 59 is brought to us by much of the same crew that brought us Referendum C in 2005. Legislative Council published a couple of interesting documents online about Referendum C. The Council's projection for the net tax hike for the 2005 Blue Book was more than $3.7 billion for five years. The new projection is $6.1 billion.

Moreover, the measure will permanently increase state spending.

Yet, even though Colorado voters approved a net tax hike just a few years ago expected to raise more than $2 billion more than supporters originally suggested, the higher-tax crowd now want billions more.

Don't be fooled by claims that the new measure is just about education.

Also beware of claims that the measure "does not increase tax rates." The way that the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights works is that the state must refund taxes that are collected over the limit. So, while Amendment 59 would not impact the rates on taxes collected, it would impose a massive net tax hike by wiping out the refunds.

At this point, Colorado taxpayers might reasonably ask how much is enough. Is there ever a point at which taxes are too high? The simple fact is that there will always be those who cannot afford to buy everything they want with the money they earn or solicit from voluntary contributions, and who turn to politicians to get the rest.

The Colorado tax budget could double, triple or expand tenfold -- and still the taxers would cry that more still is needed.

Ari Armstrong is a guest writer for the Independence Institute and the editor of FreeColorado.com.