If you live in Colorado and you're mad about debt, you're not alone. A group of Colorado moms concerned about the massive amounts of debt piling up on their children are taking action, forming a group called Mothers Against Debt (MAD). Today, MAD is the subject of my latest "Profiles in Taxpayer Advocacy."
Founded and led by my friend and colleague Amy Oliver Cook, Director of the Colorado Transparency Project at the Independence Institute, MAD's mission is: "We pledge to hold accountable any elected official, government bureaucrat or anyone with access to taxpayer funds who adds to our children's debt or unwisely spends our money. Every dollar government takes is a dollar that parents could use to provide for their children." Recently, MAD has been active in getting the word out about the debt crisis through use of new media such as the Internet, blogs, and facebook. MAD has also created some very creative viral videos to put the debt crisis in more human, family-oriented terms. You can view some of these great ads by clicking here.
Amy has been very outspoken in MAD's concerns about the debt load being incurred by massive overspending at the federal, state, and local levels of government. At a recent press conference recognizing the end of Referendum C and the return of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) in Colorado, Amy spoke of TABOR as "a mom's best friend. It's the only defense we have between the spending bullies [in the Colorado State Capitol] and a working family's budget." She also described how she could have used the money Referendum C redirected to the government instead of the taxpayers to put food on the table, pay college tuition, or pay the mortgage. Amy and MAD understand what families face and how overspending affects them directly.
Currently, Amy and MAD are at work on an effort to train Colorado voters how to be "Citizen Auditors" who study the budget and find government waste. You can learn more about that effort here. We here at NTU are pleased to see Amy and MAD at work, highlighting the debt crisis, and we wish them continued success.