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A significant victory for Pennsylvania taxpayers occurred this month as the Rendell administration’s I-80 tolling plan was rejected for what appears to be the final time. Rendell and his accomplices passed legislation during the Bush administration to toll I-80; it also increased tolls on the PA Turnpike. The legislation was promoted as a way to fund needed road and bridge transportation improvements, but it also included hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize mass transit systems in Pennsylvania.

The current governor’s number one funding priority over the last 7 years has without a doubt been welfare expansion. The welfare expansion has not been limited to his more than $4 billion annual increase, but has included hundreds of millions of dollars sent to mass transit to subsidize someone else’s bus fare. The rejection of I-80 tolling has been met by Rendell and his friends in the legislature with a call for a special session of the legislature on transportation funding.

We do not need another special session to fix the transportation funding problem; we just need to cut the wasteful, politically-driven spending and prioritize the legitimate state expenditures. If we cut welfare spending by only a mere 10% we would have one billion dollars a year for road and bridge improvements.

As everyone knows, when taxpayers are faced with their own budget problems they are certainly able to reduce their budgets by 10%. Why can’t the government do the same? The answer is because they do not believe they have to. We must create more transparency and accountability in government to stop the irresponsible spending.

Last month, the Democrat leadership in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives pushed Rendell’s plan to spend $29 billion through to the Senate. The current year’s revenue which was expected to be $25.5 billion is $720 million below expectations. Planning to spend $29 billion with less than $25 billion coming in is a display of callous disregard for taxpayers by the House Democrats and the Rendell administration.

The special session on transportation funding and budget debate will be a battle between those of us who believe government is already taking too much from taxpayers and those who want to take more. In an effort to create more transparency and accountability during this year’s budget battle I am organizing the 2nd Annual Pennsylvania State Capitol Taxpayers’ Protest on June 8, 2010.

The halls of the state Capitol are normally filled at budget time with people going from office to office with their hand out asking for more of your money. Our goal on June 8, 2010 is to have taxpayers fill the halls of the capitol, going from office to office, demanding that the governor and legislators pass a responsible budget that protects taxpayers by reducing spending and that does not increase taxes.

Please visit www.StateCaptiolProtest.com for more information. I invite you to join me at the state Capitol in Harrisburg on June 8 as I lead the fight to protect taxpayers from Rendell and his accomplices’ insatiable appetite for other people’s money!  

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