Year of the Taxpayer from Americans for Prosperity

Happy New Year from Americans for Prosperity!
Will 2008 be the year of the taxpayer or of the tax spender?
Yes, 2008 is election year and time to determine if candidates are going to promote taxpayer protections -- or if they are simply tax spenders.

At AFP, we plan our work and work our plan. 2008 is the year of the taxpayer and our plan entails taxpayer protections and empowering taxpayers -- all under our "Good Government" agenda.

Let's face it - government goes to those who show up. Voters need to show up at townhall meetings, on candidate websites and in forums, asking questions.

Remember, even if we are too busy to get involved in the public policy process, there are plenty of folks who will. And many will have agendas that don't match the taxpayers' agenda.
Will 2008 be the year of the taxpayer - and taxpayer protections - or the year of the tax-and-spenders? It's up to you.

Encourage candidates to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and we will begin posting updated lists of pledge signers.

Taxpayers are being kept in the dark

Texas legislators chose to keep taxpayers in the dark regarding the government accounting for post-employment benefits. It's not good news for taxpayers, and legislators need to reverse the action and shed some light on how much taxpayers will owe. The Austin Statesman recently ran an article on a new study out by the Pew Center for the States which revealed that nationwide, taxpayers will face a trillion dollar bill for government pension and other post-employment benefits.

Mind you, government retirees' benefits are likely much more lucrative than most of us private-sector taxpayers will receive, and though we'll be footing the bill, we aren't even allowed to know how much we'll owe in Texas. Americans for Prosperity opposed the legislature's scheme to hide future costs for government employee benefits and it's time for the sun to shine on government benefits liabilities.

You can read Peggy Venable's commentary on this issue here.