From WisPolitics:
Greater Wisconsin Committee: Radio Ad - "Taxpayer Protection Amendment" is New Name for Same Bad Idea
2/28/2006
CONTACT: Michelle McGrorty 608/279-5199
The Greater Wisconsin Committee, an issues advocacy group, launched a radio campaign today warning listeners that the ill advised constitutional amendment once called “TABOR,” is back with a new name, the “Taxpayer Protection Amendment.”
The ad says that you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig, and is punctuated by pig grunts and squeals.
“This was a bad idea the first time around and this new version is just as bad. People will not be fooled,” said Michelle McGrorty, the group’s executive director. “Wisconsin doesn’t need gimmicks to protect taxpayers. We need legislators who are willing to stand up to special interests and make tough decisions about spending priorities” McGrorty said.
In Colorado, a similar proposal led to larger class sizes, decreased access to health care, job losses and devastating cuts to critical services. Recently, voters there passed a referendum that limits TABOR after experiencing its devastating effects.
Wisconsin newspapers, including the Beloit Daily News, Oshkosh Northwestern, Capital Times, Wisconsin State Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Appleton Post Crescent and Marshfield News-Herald all have editorialized against the amendment.
The commercial says that local officials, seniors, nurses, firefighters, teachers and retirees are all opposed to this amendment, because they know it will squeeze and cut the delivery of vital services to the people who need them most.
“We just don’t need the amendment. We need legislators with the backbone to say no to wasteful spending,” said McGrorty.
The Greater Wisconsin Committee ran a radio and telephone campaign that helped defeat the original TABOR amendment in 2004. The organization also has run grassroots lobbying and media campaigns on raising the minimum wage, protecting lead paint poisoning victims, supporting state budget vetoes to protect school funding and freeze property taxes, and upholding the governor’s veto on concealed weapons.
The commercial started running statewide in targeted legislative districts on Tuesday, urging citizens to call their legislators and oppose the amendment. Greater Wisconsin declined to disclose how much it was spending or how long the spot will air.
Script Follows
“LIPSTICK” Greater Wisconsin Committee
They say you can put lipstick on a pig – but it’s still a pig. (SOUND EFFECT: OINK!)
An ill-advised constitutional amendment, once called TABOR, is back with a new name, the Taxpayer Protection Amendment.
But it has the same flaws as the earlier version, the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern says.
Taxpayers need protection, all right – protection from this same old bad idea.
The Beloit Daily News calls it “gimmicky nonsense.”
The Appleton Post-Crescent says it’s “an example of wrong-thinking government.”
Local officials, seniors, nurses, firefighters, teachers, and retirees are opposed to the amendment. They know it will cut vital services for the people who need them the most.
Wisconsin doesn’t need a constitutional amendment to hold down spending. It needs state legislators who will make some tough decisions.
Call your legislators today at 1-800-362-9472. Ask them to oppose the so-called Taxpayer Protection Amendment. (SOUND EFFECT: OINK!)
Paid for by Greater Wisconsin Committee
