The Antidote to "Spend-Too-Much"

We thank Grover Norquist for his thoughts on the crucial issue of transparency.  This is genuinely an area in which Republicans, at the State level, have made real progress and shown genuine leadership.  More like this, please. - Jon Henke

Republicans have learned how to deal with tax hikes.  Since 1986, pro-taxpayer candidates have signed the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" promising in writing to oppose any and all tax hikes. Those candidates like Bush 41 who signed and broke the pledge have been defeated.  A strong and public message to others.

Since 1992 more than 90 percent of all Republican candidates for House and Senate have signed and kept the pledge. In 1993, Clinton had to rely solely on Democrats when he passed his tax hike.

Thanks to the pledge and a GOP that branded itself as the party that will not raise taxes there has not been a major tax hike in Washington DC since 1993. That is fifteen years without a net tax hike from Congress. That is the longest period in American history without a significant tax hike.

Still spending has increased too much.  Much thought has gone into how we can "bell the cat" of spend-too-much.

There is now a strategy beginning to emerge.

In the fall of 2006, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas put his gubernatorial office's spending on the internet available for everyone in Texas-and the world-to see. The Texas Comptroller Susan Combs then did the same for all spending by all agencies in Texas, and legislation complementing her action was passed.

Of all state elected officials, Gov. Matt Blunt of Missouri probably went the furthest the fastest - issuing an executive order to put all state spending on the web with a search engine that makes it easy to follow how tax dollars are spent in the appropriately named "Show me State," and launching the site on the same day, on July 11, 2007. The Missouri Accountability Portal (MAP) has had more than seven million hits since.

Websites in Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Alaska are also up and running, with Kansas and Oklahoma being the results of legislation, while South Carolina and Alaska's websites were launched per gubernatorial action.

Similar laws have been passed in Utah, Washington State, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Maryland, Hawaii, Minnesota and, most recently, Arizona. State constitutional officers have also embarked on their own spending transparency efforts.

Suddenly, every check written in Missouri and other transparency states becomes a potential "Bridge to Nowhere" - a teaching moment on "spend-too-much." We remember the six hundred dollar hammer of the Reagan years. Taxpayers and voters understandably have a hard time getting their heads around "Three Trillion dollars" in federal spending. However, they can grasp a single earmark, travel costs, or a high salary, with this type of information readily available at their fingertips on the Missouri Accountability Portal.

School districts, county governments and other local government entities are beginning to feel the pressure to open up their checkbooks to public scrutiny. Before the decade is out every state, city and school district will be fully transparent.  There is no good reason to say "no" to transparency. Only the corrupt have something to hide. Which politician wishes to advertise to the world that their books must be a secret?

The press loves transparency. It is the "lazy reporter wins a Pulitzer prize" legislation. Honest liberals like Ralph Nader have endorsed the effort. Conservatives trust that voters will benefit from seeing exactly how each check is spent.

As taxpayers are getting used to being able to tracking their tax dollars at a mouse click, we are beginning the long march to wrestling "spend- too- much" to the ground.

Americans for Tax Reform has also launched the Center for Fiscal Accountability, dedicated to shedding a light on government expenditures and promoting the principles of fiscal restraint and limited government. Sign up to receive a notification email when the website launches at www.fiscalaccountability.org.