Bride of TABOR left at the altar?

As Oliver Hardy might say, "Well, there's another nice mess you've gotten me into."

If Oli were a Republican lawmaker (which seems highly unlikely), he'd be speaking not to Stan Laurel but to State Sen. Glenn Grothman and State Rep. Jeff Wood, the Republican legislators who are trying desperately to put together an anti-tax amendment that can get enough GOP votes to pass. They call it the Taxpayer Protection Amendment. We call it Bride of TABOR.

Whatever you call it, it's in critical condition -- again.

Every time the sponsors amend it to try to solve a problem, they lose someone else.

Now State Rep. Frank Lasee, one of the true believers, is off the bus.

For years now the GOP has struggled to put together 17 votes for TABOR in the State Senate, where there are 19 Republicans. The assumption was that the Assembly, with 60 GOPpers, could find 50 to vote in favor and pass it. But even the Assembly is in doubt now, some insiders say. That's one reason they all adjourned to caucus at a Madison bar, away from the Capitol, recently. They did not emerge singing "Kumbaya," although there may have been some other off-key singing before the last leggie left the bar.

New Manitowoc County Exec-elect Bob Ziegelbauer, a longtime Dem legislator, says: “

I support the concept of moderate, meaningful spending controls. But to create the perfect Rube Goldberg mechanism that will do that in every single case, and putting it into the state constitution ... that is a concept I am very skeptical of.”

Many Republicans feel the same way, and some of them, Cory Liebmann says, are beginning to abandon ship.

Conservative blogger Dennis York says the problem is that after seven years the authors still haven't gotten it right, and the proposal is still rife with problems, a new one almost every day. (OK, I said some of that, but Dennis would agree.)

Owen Robinson has followed every nuance and wants to believe it will be repaired.

Brian Fraley does believe the next change will be the one. Right.

Carrie Lynch doesn't think it will even come back this session.

Seth Zlotocha says the confusion and inability of the GOP to get its act together may kill off the amendment.

Finally, Ragnar Mentaire asks:Who put Grothman and Wood in charge anyway?Good question.

Whatever you call this mess, it is a bad idea whose time has not come. Republicans should give up, go back to the drawing board, and quit wasting everyone's time.