Taxpayers Unite: Pennsylvania Taxpayer Protest Update

Written by Roberta Biros

Today is a big day for fiscal conservatives in Pennsylvania. The Taxpayer Protest began at the Rotunda of the State Capitol this morning at 10am. I watched the opening statements through the live feed that was provided through Representative RoseMarie Swanger’s website (RepSwanger.com).

As a fiscal conservative, I find the overspending of our political leaders in the Commonwealth to be irresponsible and negligent. The Taxpayer Protest was designed to give concerned citizens an opportunity to show their disapproval of the fiscal irresponsibility that has taken over in Harrisburg. Taxpayers that attended (and that watched over the internet) were also given the opportunity to meet the leaders in Harrisburg that are willing to stand up against irresponsible spending.

For anyone that is involved with issues of fiscal conservatism, many of the names were very familiar to us. Who are they? While the official list of participants was announced at the start of the meeting (and it will be published later this week), a quick overview of some of the highlights are as follows:

Senator John Eichelberger
Senator Richard Alloway
Senator Mike Fulmer
Representative Sam Rohrer
Representative Daryl Metcalfe
Representative Kerry Benninghoff
Representative Karen Boback
Representative Paul Clymer
Representative Jim Cox
Representative Tom Creighton
Representative Scott Hutchinson
Representative Rob Kauffman
Representative Tim Krieger
Representative Bob Mensch
Representative Donna Oberlander
Representative Tom Quigley
Representative Kathy Rapp
Representative Mike Reese
Representative Brad Roae
Representative Todd Rock
Representative Sam Rohrer
Representative Curt Schroder
Representative Jerry Stern
Representative Rosemarie Swanger
Representative Will Tallman
Representative Katie True
Representative Mike Turzai
Representative Matt Gabler
Representative Stan Saylor
Representative Sheryl Delozier
Representative Carl Metzgar
Representative Seth Grove
Representative John Payne
Representative Gordon Denlinger
Representative Keith Gillespie
Representative Michele Brooks

The following names were added to the list on June 14 as per the official published list from statecapitolprotest.com:

Representative John Bear
Representative Jim Christiana
Representative Gary Day
Representative Russ Fairchild
Representative Mauree Gingrich
Representative Sue Helm
Representative Sandra Major
Representative Duane Milne
Representative Dan Moul
Representative Mark Mustio
Representative Tina Pickett

These are the leaders in Harrisburg that are willing to protect the interests of the taxpayers. These are the elected officials that are willing to take extra steps to fight for responsible spending of our tax dollars. These are the political leaders that were willing to take time from their busy schedules in order to make a statement regarding how serious they are about fiscal responsibility. To quote Susan Staub, Pennsylvania Right to Work, regarding these leaders, “We’ve got to stand with the people that stand with us”.

Once the final list of those involved is published (at http://statecapitolprotest.com/), I will cross publish the list on my “Directory of Fiscal Conservative Pennsylvania State Legislators” that is available through PAGovWatch.com.

A good point that was made by Matt Brouillette, Commonwealth Foundation, was that this should not be a political issue of Democrats vs. Republicans. He said “Even President Obama realizes and supports that raising taxes during difficult economic times is not the right answer.” This is an issue that is more important than ever, and it deserves our attention, and our leaders in Harrisburg need our support.

Mercer County Connection:

Representative Michele Brooks (R-Lawrence, Mercer, Crawford) was the only State level elected official from Mercer County that participated in the event today. Even with a very busy schedule, she was able to set aside time to show her support of concerned taxpayers.

BLOG POST UPDATE:

View the video from the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Protest right Here!

Capitol Taxpayers’ Rally

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