The Greenville News
Friday, September 29, 2006
By: Mike Campbell

President Reagan once said, "Government is the people's business and every man, woman and child becomes a shareholder with the first penny of tax paid." As any responsible shareholder should do, we taxpayers need to closely monitor if we are getting the greatest return on our investment and hold management (in this case, government officials) accountable when we are not. A major portion of that monitoring should be comparing spending to profitability. In other words, is more money going out than coming in?

Currently, we are not getting the greatest return on our investment. If one were to run his business as government operates, he would go bankrupt.

South Carolina's rate of state government growth is the eighth highest in the nation, the highest in the Southeast and nearly twice the national average. Our government is expanding more quickly than our population. Our cost of government is 130 percent the national average and only contributes to an inefficient, ineffective, oversized state bureaucracy.

In addition, our unemployment rate is the second highest in the nation and our state credit rating has been downgraded. Obviously, skyrocketing state government spending hasn't translated into a healthier economy.

Unfortunately, these problems are not limited to state government. Our federal and local governments have created similar situations that need to be addressed. At all levels of government it is becoming more and more apparent that our elected officials need reminding of whose money they are spending: ours.

The days of the good ol' boy system, government waste and frivolous bureaucracy must come to an end. We must usher in a new era of prosperity ensuring our state and economy thrive for years to come.

Creating such an environment for our state will also ensure we have the necessary resources to address other areas of concern, such as education, health care and other quality-of-life issues. This is why, as taxpayers, as shareholders, as South Carolinians, we must expect and demand more. We must stand up for our tax dollars and hold our government officials accountable for the greatest return on our investment possible.

This means lower taxes, less government, better results and more prosperity. So how can we do this? Don't worry -- help is on the way!

Recently I was honored to be asked to lead for our state an organization that addresses the fiscal challenges we face with government. Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a national fiscally conservative network of citizen activists, empowered taxpayers, who believe in free-market ideals and holding government accountable.

AFP's grass-roots organization is made up of men and women from all professions and walks of life who believe that taxpayers deserve a voice in our government, more so than the lobbyists and pork-barrel projects. Through grass-roots organization and education, AFP has had a significant impact on fiscal restraint in government at all levels in the 14 other states where they have chapters. We intend on having that same level of impact here in South Carolina.

With our elected officials eyeing November and desperately seeking approval from the citizens they represent, there is no better time than right now for regular citizens to begin having an impact through an organization like Americans for Prosperity. In the coming weeks and months we will begin recognizing elected officials from both parties who have been good stewards of our tax dollars, as well as identifying those individuals who have not. We will begin building a grass-roots network around South Carolina through education and training seminars.

Elected officials are accustomed to being influenced by lobbyists and special interests. Now it is time that they become accustomed to being influenced by taxpayers. A robust grass-roots activist network combined with a stalwart level of national support sets AFP apart from the other great organizations in our state.