Today's Philadelphia Inquirer features the following op-ed by ATR director of state affairs Patrick Gleason:
Gov. Corbett's greatest success in his first six months in office was closing a more than $4 billion budget gap without further soaking the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, who already contend with the nation's 10th-highest state and local tax burden.
Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which Corbett signed, is often denounced as too "rigid," and the governor has been criticized for signing it. But the state budget that went into effect this month highlights the efficacy of the pledge in promoting fiscal restraint and helping politicians focus on government's real problem: overspending.
Even Corbett's fellow Republicans in the legislature chafed at his refusal to consider tax increases. Yet in taking higher taxes off the table, he sent a message to lawmakers that the state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
The budget Corbett signed into law represents a year-over-year reduction in state spending of about 3 percent. The last time that happened, the Phillies were preparing to move into a brand new facility called Veterans Stadium.
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