(Alexandria, VA) -- Republican candidate Scott Brown's win in last night's Massachusetts Senate contest shows that the people who pay government's bills are tired of being ignored. That's the assessment of the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union's (NTU's) V-P for Policy & Communications Pete Sepp, who released the following statement:
"Throughout the health care debate, NTU has fought tirelessly against a government-run plan that would harm the nation's already faltering economy. Over the last few months, too many politicians ignored their constituents at town hall meetings, ignored them at rallies, and ignored their letters and phone calls, but they can't ignore this: an avowed opponent of big-government health care legislation, in Scott Brown, being elected to serve one of the deepest-blue states in the U.S. Senate.
What taxpayers already knew, and what we hope Congress now understands, is that at a time when the country suffers job losses and economic uncertainty, we need to rein in our out-of-control federal government. A trillion-dollar health care plan that imposes huge new taxes is unwise, unwarranted, and unwanted. Even in the face of economic distress, people across America understand that government is not the answer to their problems.
We congratulate Senator-elect Brown on his win and look forward to working with him as well as his colleagues to make a fresh start in Congress. That means advancing an agenda that trims back wasteful spending, keeps taxes low, and relieves Americans of the crushing burden of an ever-expanding federal budget.
Still, we are under no illusions that one Senate election will silence advocates of massive government expansion. This is why we will continue to use every resource we have to fight back until Washington takes the advice NTU members have offered all along: stop listening to special interests and start listening to taxpayers!"
NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, accountability from public officials, and economic freedom at all levels. Note: additional analyses of health care plans are available at www.ntu.org.