Brogdon Responds to Hobson’s Anti-TABOR Rant

(State Capitol, Oklahoma City) – State Sen. Randy Brogdon, a proponent of a spending limitation amendment known as the Stop Over Spending (SOS) initiative, responded Wednesday to a recent, misleading rant against the proposal by State Sen. Cal Hobson, D-Lexington. SOS is also known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).

“State spending is out-of-control because liberal politicians like Sen. Hobson have never met a spending proposal they didn’t like,” stated Brogdon, R-Owasso. “The best way to rein in spending is to put the Legislature on a diet with the SOS initiative, which limits spending while still allowing for reasonable growth in government spending at the rate of inflation plus population growth.”

Brogdon disagreed with Hobson’s assertion that “there is virtually no support for the initiative in the Sooner State.”

“Poll after poll shows that Oklahomans support a constitutional amendment that slows the growth of state spending. In fact, upwards of 75% of Oklahomans support the SOS initiative according to the last poll I saw. Oklahoma taxpayers want and need relief from the outrageous growth in government spending,” Brogdon said.

Brogdon believes Hobson’s scare tactics about SOS will fail because the public sees a clear need for a limitation on state spending.

“Most of our state’s problems can be traced to the decades of misguided social and economic policies of liberal state leaders like Sen. Hobson. For 25 years Sen. Hobson got to try things his way. It’s time for a new direction that makes Oklahoma a better place for taxpayers, families, and businesses – and SOS is a major part of that new direction,” Brogdon said.

Brogdon noted that there is a clear need for stricter government spending limits in Oklahoma:

• In the past two years, state spending has grown by more than 30 percent – including a $1 billion (18%) increase for the 2007 budget.
• Oklahoma state government spends over $225 of our heard-earned tax dollars EVERY SECOND.
• Between 1988 and 2003, Oklahoma’s state budget increased by 149.4%!
• Nearly 300,000 valid Oklahoma signatures were certified by the Secretary of State for the SOS initiative, showing widespread support for the proposal by hard-working Oklahomans.