As the September primary and November election looms before the general electorate, the political campaigning heats up, along with the political oratory. Many candidates fall back on the old cliché of “no new taxes,” or some other such slogan, and when they are elected to office they routinely break that promise and without hesitation roll out new tax hikes. Sadly, the voting citizens have almost come to expect broken promises once someone is elected to office.

But there is a way to sort out what are empty political promises and what are not. It’s called the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. When signed by a candidate in front of witnesses, candidates and incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases. This helps a candidate’s constituents know that a particular candidate is serious about protecting those he represents from new tax hikes.

Fifth Assembly District Candidate Craig Fletcher signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge on Tuesday, July 27 at a public meeting of Close2Home. Close2Home is a local group dedicated to finding solutions to the challenges facing society at the most local level possible by focusing on the four areas American citizens can exercise the most influence: their home, workplace, churches and in the voting booth.

The pledge is considered binding as long as an individual holds the office for which he or she signed the Pledge. But that doesn’t bother Craig Fletcher, who says he will have no problem “voting his convictions,” because those convictions are based on no new taxes. Fletcher goes even further and promises to “seriously read and evaluate every piece of legislation” that comes before him, not just for tax hikes but also for the effects on the freedoms and liberties of the people under both the Wisconsin and the U.S. Constitutions.