Our state and country are clearly headed in the wrong direction. Recent legislative sessions have seen state government spending continue to increase at an alarming rate – state spending has gone up over 300 percent in the last 20 years while our population has only grown 42%. To keep up with state spending, taxes have been increased to the point where the overall tax burden in the state is one of the highest in the Southeast, causing prospective industry to stay away and North Carolina’s economy and jobs to lag behind.

• North Carolina has one of the 15 worst tax environments for small businesses in the country and the worst in the South _{(Triangle Business Journal, April 28, 2010)}
• The Tax Foundation has ranked North Carolina 39th in its State Business Tax Climate Index two years in a row and cited North Carolina for having the worst business climate in the Southeast. _{(2009 and 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index)}
• The National Council of State Legislatures says North Carolina was not only the only state in the Southeast to raise all three major state taxes last year (sales, income and corporate) – no other state raised even one!