Action Update - Issue 81 :: October 25, 2006

We still believe in less government, lower taxes, immigration reform, welfare reform, a strong military, tough punishment for criminals, the sanctity of life and liberty for all.

Vote for them, then hold them accountable!!!

Eight Reasons Conservatives Must Vote On Nov 7th
Michael Medved: Why People of Conscience Can’t Afford to Facilitate a Leftist Victory

• Early voting in Texas
  
  
• Ten Conservative Principles

Strengthening Taxpayer Protection: The Imperative for Budget Reforms
by the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute

The Spending Explosion
Total annual state spending grew from $47.7 billion to $64.7 billion between 2000 and 2005 – an increase of more than 30%. The increase is most marked in two areas: health and human services spending jumped from $16.3 billion in 2000 to $24.3 billion in 2005, and education spending grew from $19.1 billion to $21.8 billion. The 79th Legislature left taxpayers with a $139.4 billion biennial budget to fund. This represented a 19% increase over the budget enacted just two years previously, and outstripped the growth in personal income over the same period.

While it is often suggested that population increases fuel the need for budget growth, general revenue spending has far exceeded growth in population, inflation, or gross state product (GSP). Except during the 78th Session, the Legislature has not had the will to restrain spending when there was extra money available to the state. What is often characterized as a revenue problem is actually a spending problem. The exhaustion of more than $19 billion in total budget surpluses since 1994-95 best illustrates the problem at the heart of the need for passing new mechanisms to restrain the growth in spending.

Conservative lawmakers must now reestablish their commitment to fiscal responsibility and responsible reform by setting spending priorities to serve as a guideline for governing the state of Texas. At the heart of this document is the acknowledgement that government cannot and should not do everything. As former Governor Bush wrote: “Government cannot solve every problem or meet every need. State government should do a few things and do them well.”

Government should focus solely on the things that only it can do. A government that expands to meet every “need” not only loses sight of its priorities and becomes unwieldy to manage, but also ensures that it will not do the basics very well. It also guarantees that government will inevitably pass more tax and fee increases to fuel that growth. Restoring the limited role of government as a way to improve government efficiency and to control the growth in government spending is one of the primary goals of conservative lawmakers.

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RECOMMENDED READING

• Must things get worse in order to get better?
  Star Parker: Republicans and conservatives are fed up with their party and their representatives. But can it be that anything is better than what we now have?

• In a Free Society, Campaigns Matter
  Here is the choice for 2006: A Vital Moment for America: Who Is Historically Right, and Who Is Historically Wrong?
  
  
• Why Do You Favor the Fair Tax?
  The only people who should fear the Fair Tax are the politicians, of both parties, who would lose their tools for extortion.

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