Tired of high property taxes and appraisal creep?

Here is your opportunity to talk to the elected officials who work on tax policy in the State Legislature. The House Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform will be conducting public meetings and taking testimony at locations across Texas beginnning on June 17.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - Travis County
Tuesday, June 24 - Hidalgo County
Tuesday, July 1 - Bexar County
Tuesday, July 8, Tarrant County
Tuesday, July 15 - Jefferson County
Tuesday, August 12 - Lubbock County
Tuesday, August 19 - Harris County

(Hat tip to The Travis Monitor)

Groundbreaking Conservative New Media Summit Set for Austin July 18, 19

If conservatives don’t increase the opportunity for education and participation online, the conservative movement is in danger of losing a generation of voters.

Dean and now Obama have had success online fundraising and mobilizing voters.

Conservatives have been largely absent online with the notable exception of the Ron Paul revolution.

Americans for Prosperity is convening a new media conference which includes strategy sessions, training, and networking. It’s a not-to-be-missed event for conservative activists and online leaders.

Interestingly, it will be held in Austin when the DailyKos/Netroots Nation convening their third annual convention, assuring to Keep Austin Weird.

Conservatives will be convening at the Arboretum with a number of leading conservative groups joining AFP – Heritage Foundation, Leadership Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Sam Adams Institute, Media Resource Center and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility among them.

For more information, check out: www.DefendingTheDream.org/TX

Are your property taxes too high?

• Are your property taxes too high? If you said “yes” and agree that Texans need taxpayer protections, read on…
  
  Even with the current 10% property tax cap on homesteads, your property taxes can double in 7 years. And local officials can claim they didn’t raise your taxes. How? Local taxing entities don’t have to raise the tax rate to dig deeper into taxpayers’ pockets – the appraisal increases are essentially tax increases.
  
  Local governments are growing 4 times faster than our paychecks and local government debt is growing 5 times faster. Local government debt is so great that the interest payments in one year alone equal what all local governments spend on police and fire protection combined.
  
  Do you think government taxes and spends too much? What can you do?
  
  Americans for Prosperity is a taxpayer organization, and we have a plan. We want to:
  
  -- Put government on a diet – government should grow only as fast as the population and inflation and any growth beyond that should require taxpayer approval.
  
  -- Lower the current 10% property tax cap to 3% and include ALL property, not just homesteads.
  
  -- Use the projected $15 BILLION state budget surplus to provide property tax relief.
  
  -- End taxpayer-funded lobbying which allows government entities to hire lobbyists and join organizations that hire lobbyists who then lobby against taxpayer interests. These lobbyists often fight against the taxpayer protections we listed above.

Government goes to those who show up. We are working on a plan and want to hear from you. We'll ask that you not post anonymously, as we want to know who we are hearing from.

Let us hear from you - and we want to work with you to get taxpayer protections enacted in Texas! - Peggy V.

State Government Shouldn't be a Jobs Program for Ghosts

AFP-Texas Joins the Ghost Hunt


You may have read about it – people scattered around the country who are on the Texas payroll, making an hourly wage, doing who knows what, and getting employee benefits.

AFP-Texas has sent public information requests to all House Democrats, on the heels of another group asking Republicans, to identify ghost employees. Folks, these are “employees” on the state payroll but who work only a few hours (if any) and get health care benefits among other bennies.

That’s just wrong, says Speaker Tom Craddick. We agree. And we want to shed some light of public scrutiny on the practice.

It’s taxpayer dollars – and lots of Texas taxpayers are struggling to pay their own health insurance. State government shouldn’t be a jobs program for ghosts.

We tilt our hat to the ghost group who appears to be investigating only Republicans. But, hey, if it’s wrong, it’s wrong. We want to expose ALL legislators who have ghost employees. Our inquiry may heighten the fear among some legislators, but if you can’t stand the ghost hunt, get out of the capitol.

-- Peggy V.