PROBLEM:

Short-sighted and irresponsible spending increases, taxes and fees that are too high, state debt, a lack of spending priorities... the list of irresponsible fiscal management goes on and on.  Such uncontrolled spending and taxation stunts the state's economic growth and bankrupts our future.  Liberal legislators say that cuts to the state budget will affect education and the sick and elderly.  Anyone knows that what should be cut are our lowest priority needs.  Are the legislators insinuating that our children and our elderly are our lowest priority?

Last year, North Carolina legislators found themselves having to address yet another budget crisis, the second major deficit in eight years. Rather than using the deficit as an opportunity to implement meaningful spending reform as a for-profit business would be forced to do to stay lucrative, lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled legislature imposed another round of “temporary” tax hikes – this time totaling more than $1 billion dollars.  North Carolina also finds itself with a $29 billion unfunded liability for state retirement benefits mostly affecting retired teachers.

A study of North Carolina state spending trends over the last 30 years reveals the root cause of North Carolina’s repeated budget crises: unsustainable spending growth.  When will it stop?  When will the broken promises end?

SOLUTIONS:

• Prioritize spending in order to eliminate the least important expenditures.
• Implement zero-based budgeting which requires all state agencies to describe and justify expenditures.
• Make economic decisions basedf on COMMON SENSE and the will of the people, such as ensuring a public vote on all state debt.
• Enact a constitutional restraint on annual spending growth tied to the growth of population plus inflation