General Feed
New Blog Link & RSS Feed, and New Website!
Posted by Demian Brady - February 20, 2010
At long last, I am pleased to announce that NTU's new website is up and running at www.ntu.org. The new layout will make it easier for folks to see the latest work from NTU and NTU Foundation on federal and state issues, find the reports and information they are looking for, and stay involved with our new ... Read more
CPAC Day 3
Posted by Jordan Forbes - February 20, 2010
I'm up here on Blogger's Row, blogging live from the third day of CPAC 2010. We have an exciting lineup of speakers for today: Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. I'll be posting excerpts and analyses throughout the day, so stay tuned! The energy in here is incredible and I'm looking forward to an exciting final day.
Click here to watch live!... Read more
Mike Pence at CPAC on Fiscal Discipline
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 19, 2010
Indiana Representative Mike Pence was a headliner at Friday’s Conservative Political Action Conference. He began by declaring, “You proved Thomas Jefferson right. He said “The people are the ultimate guardians of their own liberty.” Because of you, the American people have been o... Read more
Tim Pawlenty at CPAC Day 2
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 19, 2010
Grover Norquist introduced Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a critic of federal healthcare reform and increasing debt, spoke at 10AM on the second day of CPAC in Washington DC. After praising the recent DC snow storm for shutting down Congress, he described the Obama Administration as “hope and change and teleprompters.” His PAC, ... Read more
My Day at CPAC
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 19, 2010
I had the opportunity to cover the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference’s first day for the National Taxpayers Union. As a blogger, we were given a room overlooking the floor of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel but that didn’t stop the discussion amongst the tech savvy sect of the conservative and free-market blogosphere.
While speakers were headlining initiatives like the ... Read more
Boehner Finishes up CPAC Day 1
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
Standing amidst a standing ovation, Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner spoke of his efforts throughout his career centering on doing the right thing and be willing to listen to supporters and opponents. Since 1991, Boehner has served in the US House of Representatives representing Ohio’s 8th District. He stated three lessons he lives by: Be open, transparent, and willing to li... Read more
“Thank you Massachusetts”
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
Citing Barack Obama’s downhill direction in the polls, Mitt Romney spoke at CPAC of the “4 million Americans who lost their jobs last year and millions more who stopped looking for work.” He cited how pillars of business, such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Sam Walton, shaped their enterprises and in so doing, shaped our nation. Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty but President Obama and fellow “liberals are convinced government knows b... Read more
Scott Brown makes surprise appearance at CPAC
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
In one of his first public appearances since being elected as a US Senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown spoke on the first day of CPAC just before 2PM. Citing his election, he feels it happened so fast that it’s just now sinking in that we have changed the course of American politics.” Brown was sworn on February 4th. He introduced former Massachusetts Governor and former Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.... Read more
Moylan Moderates CPAC Panel on Mobilizing Grassroots
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
National Taxpayers Union’s Director of Government Affairs spoke at a CPAC panel focused on helping the grassroots organizers how to organize and to connect with other groups and individuals for promoting greater freedoms. The Saving Freedom One Patriot at a Time panel had many prominent innovators of the freedom movement:
Ginni Thomas, LibertyCentral.org
Dana Loesch, ... Read more
Dick Cheney makes surprise visit to CPAC
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
After a rousing speech by Liz Cheney about the security and defense situation of the United States, she introduced her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. He spoke of the recent elections and rallies as encouraging and stated “I think Barack Obama is a one-term President.” He called for the younger generation to get more active and to encourage citizens to get involved in the cause of freedom.... Read more
Ohio State Representative Josh Mandel at CPAC
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
Representing a northern Ohio district, predominately an opposition electorate, Josh Mandel spoke around 11 o’clock on the first day of CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in Washington DC. He spoke of the many challenges he has faced. After being elected to a city council position, Mandel set about lowering the local property taxes and mobilizing a community in the process. The young, actively serving US Marine, took an intellect... Read more
Marco Rubio kicks off CPAC
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
Senator Jim DeMint introduced Marco Rubio who said, “2010 is a referendum on the very identity of our nation and issues are so big… that many of the old rules of political engagement don’t apply.” CPAC started off with an articulated speech by the Florida Senatorial Candidate who pushed for jobs... Read more
NTU Covers CPAC
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 18, 2010
The National Taxpayers Union will be covering this year’s CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, being held in Washington DC. It is one of the largest organizing events between grassroots organizers, political leaders, and everyday citizens. This three-day event will feature well-known national figures such as:
Nationally syndicated radio talk show hosts Herman Cain and Gl... Read more
Leviathan is Hungry: Tax Audits on the Rise
Posted by Demian Brady - February 18, 2010
CNN reports that 1.4 million taxpayers were audited last year, the most in a decade. And expect even more audits this year with the Administration's $8.2 billion budget for tax enforcement - a 10 percent increase over last year.
Hat tip: ... Read more
Stimulus turns a year old, Gets continued spending and fake jobs as presents
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 17, 2010
On the first anniversary of the Stimulus package’s signing, it’s time to take stock of President Obama’s cure-all for the kaput housing market and continuing economic decline. Back in the infancy of the President’s term, the American Recovery and Reinv... Read more
Lawmakers preventing Postal Service from being responsible
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 16, 2010
Who ever thought cuts would cost so much? The US Postal Service is in deep financial trouble and is looking to balance its books, mostly because it would literally take an act of Congress to bail out the federal letter carriers, by cutting Saturday deliveries. Both Congress and the White House want to see your neighborhood postal worker walking... Read more
Presidents' Day Trivia Flashback
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 15, 2010
Here is a presidential trivia quiz from OpinionJournal.com's James Taranto. The quiz was originally posted on Sept. 1, 2006 and has been reposted on this site a couple of times. If you haven't tried it before, give it a go. If you have, see how much you still remember. Enjoy.
... Read more
Airborne Laser works after billions spent
Posted by Dan Barrett - February 12, 2010
A low-power laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747 has accomplished its goal of destroying a launched missile in its boost phase. While impressive, perhaps amazing, we need to ask those questions big spenders hate to hear: How much has it cost? How will this help? What's its future worth?
The A... Read more
"Stimulus" Used to Fight Weeds
Posted by Demian Brady - February 12, 2010
WAPT News in Mississippi found that the state's forestry service is using $1.2 million of "stimulus" funds to clear Kudzu and other weeds from private property.
This is a good time to introduce a new pork and waste mascot, Pig Rider:
Ride the Pig!
... Read more
Carton Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 12, 2010
HT: Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner
... Read more
California Use Tax Update
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 11, 2010
An update on yesterday's item about California proposed requirement that small businesses file use tax returns. Forbes.com reports:
A member of California's state-tax-collection-agency governing board said Thursday he would... Read more
"Stimulus" Used for iPods
Posted by Demian Brady - February 11, 2010
Florida's Polk County school district is spending $350,000 in federal "stimulus" money on iPods to be given out as rewards to parents who fill out a 10-minute online survey.
It is because of wasteful programs like this (and, of course, the fraudulent "jobs saved or created" metric) that I always refer to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with a touc... Read more
Here's a Shocker Headline
Posted by Demian Brady - February 10, 2010
Courtesy of the Associated Press:Jobs bill won't add many jobs... Read more
California Use Tax Reporting Requirement Hits Small Biz
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 10, 2010
According to Forbes.com:
Upward of 180,000 California businesses are being ordered to register with the state's tax collection agency, the Board of Equalization, and to file a new tax return covering just one levy--the state's "use" tax, a sales tax on items purchased from out-of-state retailers--ov... Read more
Snowmageddon Update
Posted by Demian Brady - February 10, 2010
The federal government has now been shut on account of weather for three days as the DC-area has been pummeled by back-to-back blizzards. Actually, since the government closed early last Friday, it has now been shut for 3 and 1/2 days.
According to the Office of Personnel Management's website, federal telework employees who have arrangements to work remotely are still expected to perform... Read more
Frivolous Tax Arguments
Posted by Demian Brady - February 09, 2010
In an earlier post on our blog, someone named JT commented that citizens have no legal obligation to file and pay income taxes. He should take a look at the IRS's latest list of frivolous tax arguments and the legal references that refute those arguments. Claims that there is no legal obligation to... Read more
Boom Times for the Transportation Lobby
Posted by Demian Brady - February 08, 2010
The Center for Public Integrity has a new report out about the massive transportation lobby seeking federal funding. Some of their findings:As lawmakers grappled with renewal of an expiring multi-year transportation law last September, the number of cities and counties lobbying on transportation had grown by 80 percent sin... Read more
Raising the Penalty for Tax Protesters/Deniers
Posted by Demian Brady - February 05, 2010
Under current law, the willful failure to pay taxes is a misdemeanor. You could go to jail for up to a year and pay a maximum fine of $25K (for individuals, $100K for corporations) for each year you fail to file a return. There is a proposal in the new budget to increase the penalty for repeated failure to file a tax return:Any person who willfully fails to file tax returns in any three years within any five consecutive year period, i... Read more
Doing it again
Posted by Tom Horne - February 04, 2010
In President Obama’s State of the Union address he called for a slew of new spending proposals which include taking 30 billion dollars worth of money that banks have paid back to the government and giving it to other banks to make small business loans. I might be taking an unpopular stance on this because everyone wants to help small busine... Read more
Arming Up the IRS
Posted by Demian Brady - February 03, 2010
The IRS posted a request for quotes for the purchase of 60 rifles:The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to purchase sixty Remington Model 870 Police RAMAC #24587 12 gauge pump-action shotguns for the Criminal Investigation Division. The Remington parkerized shotguns, with fourteen inc... Read more
When the Government Lends, Taxpayers Pay
Posted by Demian Brady - February 03, 2010
The government is heavily involved in lending (through both direct loans and taxpayer-backed guarantees) via education, housing, and dozens of other programs.
The good news is that the subsidy rate for defaults is relatively low (although I would like to see how this compares to private lenders): for FY 2009 the government's total direct loan write-off and guaranteed loan termination subsidy rate is 1.3 percent.
The bad news is that this ra... Read more
Former Governor and Everest-climber to take on much tougher job reforming government
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - February 02, 2010
One of NTU’s members alerted us to an upcoming event in the DC-area featuring Gary Johnson, the former Governor of New Mexico and successful climber of Mt. Everest!. The two-term governor of New Mexico is an entrepreneur and former owner of a New Mexican construction company. He had a long list of taxpayer-friendly accomplishments while in office, and now he’ll be in Annandale, Virginia to discuss a task far more difficult: reforming our govern... Read more
10 Frightening Facts on Obama's Budget
Posted by Andrew Moylan - February 02, 2010
After President Obama released his $3,800,000,000,000 budget yesterday, analysts with our Foundation plowed through and found some things that should keep taxpayers awake at night. They are...
- - - - - - -
1) Debts Arrive Sooner. Last year’s budget projected that Gross Federal Debt would hit 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)... Read more
Terminations, Reductions, and Savings in the FY 2011 Budget
Posted by Demian Brady - February 01, 2010
Discretionary Cuts
The White House's Terminations, Reductions, and Savings in the FY 2011 Budget lists cuts and reductions to 78 discretionary programs totaling $10.27 billion. 24 of these items (representing $4.477 billion in savings) were also included in last year's list of savings and terminations, which means they were rejected by Congress (6 of these were also proposed in President Bush's 2009 budget). The largest of the repe... Read more
Where do your tax dollars go?
Posted by Andrew Moylan - February 01, 2010
Ever wondered exactly how many of your tax dollars go to which programs? Sure, there are any number of sources that can give you a vague idea of the answer, but the USA Today has a terrific visualization today that allows you to enter your income and generate a detailed "report" right before your eyes.
For example, let's say that you earne... Read more
How 'bout that spending freeze?
Posted by Andrew Moylan - February 01, 2010
In typically brilliant fashion, our friend Matthias (better known as the "10,000 pennies guy") lets you visualize just exactly what President Obama's spending freeze would do to the budget in context...
... Read more
Hypocrisy
Posted by Tom Horne - January 29, 2010
When the failing Merrill Lynch’s new CEO John Thaine remodeled his office he was publicly excoriated. He spent 1.22 million dollars by the time he was done on such things as the famous designer Michael Smith and a 19th century credenza. CNBC, CNN, and the blogosphere pick... Read more
State of the States Part II
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 29, 2010
Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri plans to revive the state’s economy through tax credits rather than tax increases and by continuing to cut government spending. Two of his priorities include balancing the budget with less revenue and job creation.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert called on law... Read more
Economics Meets Pop Culture
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 29, 2010
Russ Roberts, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, released the first of several videos planned for EconStories.TV. This creative video features two of the great economists of the 20th century, John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek, break out in a rap – “Fear the Boom and Bust.” While it scores h... Read more
SOTU Update: Cost Estimate for Nuclear Energy Loan Guarantees
Posted by Demian Brady - January 29, 2010
In a surprising move, President Obama made a pitch for nuclear energy in his State of the Union address:"[T]o create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.”In NTU Foundation's line-by-line analysis of the spe... Read more
Spending and Budget Issues in the State of the Union
Posted by Demian Brady - January 28, 2010
During the State of the Union address, Presidents generally trot out a laundry list of items and bring a few issues in particular to the top of the agenda, and this year was no different. President Obama laid out an ambitious agenda for Congress to enact, including a jobs bill, final passage of a cap-and-trade bill, and increased assistance for military families. According to NTU Foundation's ... Read more
Jobs Bill
Posted by Tom Horne - January 28, 2010
There is some backwards thinking among politicians on the topic of job creation.
In the private economy, jobs are considered an input used towards the production of a good or service. Businesses need to hire workers just as they need to purchase the raw materials used or the overhead the work is done in. Labor is simply another factor of production. Although there are entire disciplines of economics dedicated to studying labor markets, its ... Read more
Rhetoric vs. Reality
Posted by Jordan Forbes - January 27, 2010
Did anyone else find it strange that the President fervently praised his stimulus plan at the onset of the SOTU tonight? I guess it should not have come as too much of a shock since he was desperate to get that post-speech bump that would bring him out of an approval rating in the 40s. I do not know if he achieved that goal, but I do know that he deceived the American people.
Despite package of the American "Recovery" Act, 2.5 million jobs hav... Read more
Health Care Alternatives
Posted by Jordan Forbes - January 27, 2010
Here is another segment from President Obama's SOTU address:
"But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know."
I wonder if he has seen the alternative proposal from the Republican Study Committee (RSC).
H.R. 3400, the Empowering Patients First Act, would increase access to cove... Read more
Bipartisanship?
Posted by Jordan Forbes - January 27, 2010
The President said he will veto any financial reform bill that does not meet HIS definition of true reform. He was referring to H.R. 4173, the so-called "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act," that passed the House on December 11, 2009.
This 1,300 page bill creates a new "consumer" agency, funded by billions in new taxes on financial companies - many of which did not create the fiscal crisis we currently face. The new Consumer Finan... Read more
Here we go!
Posted by Jordan Forbes - January 27, 2010
Word on the street is that the President will focus on a package of "modest" initiatives to aid middle-class families in tonight's SOTU. The big question is how he will fit the issue of health care reform into the context of these proposals. Or will he even try? Here's an excerpt of the President's speech taken from a Washington Post blog just a few minutes ago:
"By the time I'm finished speaking tonight, more Americans will have lost their h... Read more
Video Submission
Posted by Tom Horne - January 26, 2010
We recently received this video from one of our enthusiastic members highlighting a board game he's created aptly named, “Screw the Taxpayer”. We applaud all of our members like Mr. White and encourage you all to keep fighting the good fight!... Read more
Reminder: Tomorrow's NTU Online Coverage of the State of the Union
Posted by Dan Barrett - January 26, 2010
Don't forget: Tomorrow night at 9 p.m., NTU will provide special online coverage of the President's State of the Union message, and we want you to be there. Details on how you can join the conversation are below. See you online tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern.
If you have a Twitter account, use the hash tag #SOTU to link into our discussions and analyses. Hash tags are like keywords for Twitter. Just use them in each of your messages ... Read more
State of the States Part I
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 26, 2010
Across the country governors are giving their annual State of the State addresses. Below are a few summaries of the addresses with explicit fiscal impacts:
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford offered three goals for his final year in office: overhaul the Employment Security Commission, require governors and lieutenant governors to run on the same tic... Read more
You're Invited to NTU's Online Coverage of the State of the Union
Posted by Dan Barrett - January 21, 2010
As a friend of the National Taxpayers Union, you're invited to be a part of for our special online coverage of the President's 2010 State of the Union address starting at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27th. NTU's analysts and experts will be sharing their ideas and comments online using Twitter, Facebook, ... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Senators Vote "NO" on H.J. Res. 45
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - January 21, 2010
NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on H.J. Res. 45, a massive increase in the national debt limit of nearly $1 trillion. Congress has ramped up spending at an appalling rate, and approval of this resolution will only pile more onto the crushing burdens borne by Americans now and in the future. In order to best protect taxpayers, we urge that you support amendments to reduce hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending and oppose a... Read more
Coalition Calls for Health Care Transparency
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - January 20, 2010
NTU and a diverse coalition have called on Members of the U.S. House to support a resolution that would urge "Congress and the Obama Administration to conduct all negotiations surrounding landmark health care reform legislation 'in full public view and not behind closed doors.'" The coalition's letter is available here.
... Read more
One Election Is Not Enough
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - January 20, 2010
NTU's Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp makes an important point regarding the Massachusetts special election yesterday, "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 t... Read more
The Fate of Health Care Reform
Posted by Demian Brady - January 20, 2010
The Washington Post recently wrote about President Obama's rhetorical use of the phrase, "Let me be absolutely clear." As someone quoted in the article observed, frequent use of that phrase begs the question of whether he is perhaps being unclear when he doesn't employ it.
Obama spoke to ... Read more
Reading the Tax Code
Posted by Demian Brady - January 20, 2010
The TaxGirl blog is having a trivia contest:
Assuming that you read out loud at the same speed as you count (on average), how many days would it take to read the entire Tax Code out loud without stopping?
The first person to provide her with the correct a... Read more
Policy Priorities in the State of the Union Address
Posted by Demian Brady - January 19, 2010
Last November, word was that the President was going to focus on deficit reduction in the upcoming State of the Union Address. From Politico:President Barack Obama plans to announce in next year's State of the Union address that he wants to focus extensively on cutting the federal deficit in 2010 – and will downplay other new domestic spending beyond jo... Read more
NTU Letter to the FCC Regarding Net Neutrality
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 19, 2010
Last week, NTU sent a letter to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Proposed Rulemaking on Preserving the Open Internet and Broadband Industry Practices. We believe that there is little justification to proceed with rulemaking over “open Internet” access, instead for the publi... Read more
The Budget Then and Now
Posted by Demian Brady - January 19, 2010
Yesterday I was reviewing a statement that former NTU Executive Vice President David Keating gave before a House of Representatives' special Conference in 1994. The Conference was about a bipartisan spending reduction proposal under consideration in the 103rd Congress. David said that the proposal should be the first order of business for both the House and the Senate given that at that time, the national debt exceeds $4.5 trillion and the annual... Read more
CBO Report on Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations
Posted by Demian Brady - January 18, 2010
The Congressional Budget Office released its 2010 report on Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations. It is required to produce this each January to give Congress a heads up on those programs being funded even though their authorizations have expired and those programs whose authorization are due to expire this year.
For 2010, Congress has appropriated $290 bil... Read more
Private Sector Jobs Now!
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - January 15, 2010
This afternoon NTU's Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp joined other free-market allies to discuss the importance of private sector jobs. The group met at the National Press Club to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Bureau of the Budget Bulletin (known today as the Office of Management and Budget).
On January 15, 1955 the Eisenhower Administration published a document stating, "The federal government will not start... Read more
CBO Made Easy-to-Understand
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 15, 2010
Huge thanks to Matthias Shapiro for maintaining the blog, Political Math. Shapiro uses this medium to take data that are free for anyone to read through and transform them into something that is much easier to understand.
In his most recent post, Shapiro communicates in a single image how much the top (and su... Read more
Government Waste
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 15, 2010
Not that you need another example of government waste, but take a minute to check out this blog post, you will find it interesting. The author received a sales tax audit for Alabama- a three year audit despite having operated in Alabama for only six months. When he called to request more information from the auditor about why t... Read more
Shadegg not to seek reelection
Posted by Dan Barrett - January 14, 2010
Congressman Shadegg of Arizona’s Third District, a House Member who was elected during the Republican Revolution 1994, announced today he would Not run for a ninth term of office.
The fifth-highest ranked Republican in the House has been a prominent figure in the debate over healthcare reform,... Read more
From bad to worse
Posted by Tom Horne - January 13, 2010
On Dec 18th, the federal Office of Management and Budget released a 24 page memo outlining a brand new accounting process to replace the much maligned ‘jobs saved or created’ count. Its been a long time coming. Besides the fact that 'saved or created' is obvious political spin, it’s already been ... Read more
The Danger of Populism in Big Groups
Posted by Dan Barrett - January 12, 2010
Standing at the steps of the Ohio Statehouse on April 15th and on the US Capitol’s lawn on 9-12, I felt the rumbling of a nation. We all let the government get bigger and bigger until it mushroom clouded into some of the biggest spending bills in history BUT we saw the error of our ways, either in our p... Read more
There's always another example of waste
Posted by Tom Horne - January 08, 2010
I should really be used to this by now. Over the past year I’ve made it a habit to check up on the recovery websites, typically I stick to the 18 million (tax)dollar recovery.gov and the privately run (woohoo) recovery.org. These sites have all kinds of miserable information. There’s been federal taxpayer money spent on things like small town bus amenities (excess of 1 million), ‘reclading the façade’ on an office building in Cleveland (110 mi... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - January 05, 2010
Cartoon by Chip Bok... Read more
Health care lobbying begs a fundamental question
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - January 05, 2010
On December 28th, the Politico web site ran a long article entitled "Wielding influence in health care fight" which lays out the influence and impact of various lobbying groups on the health care "reform" debate. The groups, including organizations representing "Big Pharma", hospitals, health insurance companies, and the medical device companies each have... Read more
Not-so-fun facts
Posted by Andrew Moylan - January 05, 2010
I'm in the process of digging through every single roll call vote that Congress took last year for our annual Rating of Congress. Every year, we plow through ALL of the votes Congress takes and include ALL that have a significant impact on taxpayers, whether through tax, spending, regulatory, or trade policy.
In 2008, both houses of Congress cast an incredible total of 9... Read more
What are we supposed to say, Thank you Big Government?
Posted by Dan Barrett - January 04, 2010
If slow-moving bureaucracy and unreliable plans haven’t dogged your New Year yet, check out Saturday’s New York Times article. Although extrapolated, the author estimates “6 million people in households with no income” receive food stamps – a doubling of recipients. While this is not too surprising, given ... Read more
Economists Actually Agree
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - December 21, 2009
My Econ 101 prof always joked about how economists can only agree on one thing- that they will never agree on anything. Yet, House Minority Leader John Boehner released a list of 222 economists across the United States that actually agree that we must rein in federal spending rather than adding more “stimulus” spending.
Listen to what the group ... Read more
Ben Nelson Gets Purchased
Posted by Andrew Moylan - December 19, 2009
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) has long been thought of as the most likely to withhold his vote on the Senate's health care bill because of concerns he had about the way it dealt with abortion. Well, it looks like the oldest trick in the book was enough to secure Senator Nelson's vote on the final bill: a payoff.
The amendment introduced by Majority Leader H... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Senators vote "NO" on H.R. 3590
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 19, 2009
NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on H.R. 3590, the so-called “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” This $2.5 trillion bill is NOT real reform, but rather a political ploy to deceive taxpayers and to expand the size and scope of the federal government in a way that is both unprecedented and unsustainable.
For months, you have heard from the American people through their phone calls, emails, town halls, and office visits. The... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - December 16, 2009
... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on H.R. 2847
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 16, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 2847, the so-called Jobs for Main Street Act. Introduced by Representative David Obey (D-WI), this misnamed “job creation” bill would pour $150 billion in taxpayer dollars into programs that have failed to spur job growth and decrease unemployment through the recently-enacted “stimulus” bill.
H.R. 2847 would set aside $48 billion for various infrastructure projects such as Trans... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on H.R. 4314
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 16, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 4314, which would increase the national debt limit by $290 billion, from $12.1 trillion to $12.4 trillion. The nation’s debt has escalated by 39 percent since January of 2007, and the ceiling has already been lifted once this year through passage of the first stimulus package.
The premise is simple: the more we spend, the more we must borrow. Due to the unb... Read more
A "Dark Knight" for Taxpayers
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - December 16, 2009
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spent $10,000 on a “fee for agency participation in Dark Knight Gala” in Chicago in 2008.
The Dark Knight Gala was an event honoring Christopher Nolan, the director of the most recent Batman films, and included a screening of The Dark Knight and a dinner reception. For the general public, ti... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Senators vote "YES" on the Crapo motion to recommit
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 15, 2009
NTU urges all Senators to vote “YES” on the Crapo motion to commit H.R. 3590, the vehicle for the Senate health care bill. This motion would codify an oft-repeated promise by clarifying that no provision in the health care bill shall result in a tax increase on individuals earning less than $200,000 per year or families earning less than $250,000 per year.
President Obama and Congressional leaders have claimed, time and time again, th... Read more
Was the Death Tax Revived so that Spending Agendas Could Thrive?
Posted by Demian Brady - December 11, 2009
When the House of Representatives voted last week to create a permanent 45% federal estate tax instead of repealing it next year, supporters of the move said they were helping to reduce the deficit. But an analysis of the vote shows using NTU Foundation's BillTally data, shows that those who voted in favor of the tax had, on average, larger spending agendas of those who oppo... Read more
Health Care Legislation Would Bust State Budgets
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - December 11, 2009
Much of the debate over national health-care legislation has centered on flashpoints like higher taxes, abortion and immigration.
Yet one major aspect of the health-care plans being developed on Capitol Hill has received relatively scant attention. House and Senate Democrats are planning on significantly expanding Medicaid in an attempt to decrease the number of uninsured.
Medicaid was launched in 1965 as a joint federal-state safety net th... Read more
The Geithner Penalty Waiver Act
Posted by Demian Brady - December 11, 2009
Representatives John Carter, Lynn Westmorland, and Michael Burgess have introduced H.R. 4172 to ensure that taxpayers who applied for the Treasury Department's tax amnesty plan for unreported income pay the same penalty on that income that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner paid for his unreported income while working for the International Monetary Fund: zero.
... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on H.R. 4173
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 10, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 4173, the so-called Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This 1,300-page bill, introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-VT), would unduly expand the federal government’s regulatory power over our free market while continuing to put taxpayers at risk with serious liabilities.
Among many other disastrous provisions, H.R. 4173 would establish yet another bureaucracy kno... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on H.R. 3288
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 10, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 3288, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2009. This “multibus” package includes six of the seven remaining appropriations bills: CJS, Financial Services, Labor-HHS, MilCon-Veterans, State-Foreign Ops, and THUD. H.R. 3288 contains a total of nearly $450 billion – 13 percent above the 2009 enacted level.
At a time when our nation is faced with a sagging economy, the last thing ... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on S. Amdt. #2793
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 09, 2009
NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on the drug importation amendment (S. Amdt. #2793).
This amendment, introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), would be tacked on to pending health care reform legislation in an effort to open the floodgates for drug importation to the United States. More specifically, the Dorgan amendment would waive the limitation, as administered through the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which allows impo... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on H.R. 4213
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 09, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 4213, the “Tax Extenders Act of 2009,” introduced by Representative Charlie Rangel (D-NY).
This legislation extends dozens of expiring provisions of the tax code that reduce burdens on American families and businesses, such as the state and local sales and property tax deductions and the research and development tax credit. Unfortunately, H.R. 4213 immediately offsets tha... Read more
NTU Testifies on MN Spending Amendment
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - December 08, 2009
NTU's State Government Affairs Manager Joshua Culling has testimony in support of Governor Tim Pawlenty's "Spending Accountability Amendment." You can read it here.
... Read more
New Transparency Portal
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - December 07, 2009
The Illinois Policy Institute just launched a new transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org. The website gives taxpayers in Illinois an easily accessible source of information on spending in the state. It provides information on each agency or person. IllionoisOpenGov.org takes raw spending data, provided directly from gov... Read more
Trimming TARP
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - December 07, 2009
From the Wall Street Journal:
The Obama administration, buoyed by a resurgent Wall Street, plans to cut the projected long-term cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program by more than $200 billion, in a move that could smooth the way for the introduction of a new jobs program.NTU has supported efforts to ... Read more
Just in Time for Christmas -- a Carbon Crackdown
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - December 07, 2009
According to the New York Times:
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday will finalize its determination that greenhouse gases pose a danger to human health and the environment, paving the way for regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants, factories refineries and other major sources.It's j... Read more
Carton Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - December 04, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
Air Travel Perks for Members of Congress
Posted by Demian Brady - December 02, 2009
On Thanksgiving morning, my 6-year son told me he saw my colleague, Pete Sepp, on CNN discussing travel. I finally found the link to the video, and the topic is outrageous.
Talk about a conflict of interest. The airlines give valuable perks to the people who write the laws to regulate the airlines: Members of Congress.
Lawmakers get ... Read more
Fun with Numbers
Posted by Tom Horne - December 02, 2009
According to the (84 million dollar) Recovery.gov website, Puerto Rico is claiming that the nearly 2 billion dollars in stimulus funds they received has resulted in 17,500 jobs 'saved/created'. That number is more than the number of jobs claimed in DC, Vermont, Delaware, South Dakota, Idaho, Rhode Island, Maine, Hawaii, North Dakota and Wyoming COMBINED. In fact, if that number is correct our ... Read more
The Zen of Free Speech & The False Prophet of Regulation
Posted by Dan Barrett - December 02, 2009
The Institute for Justice (IJ), a libertarian-leaning public-interest law firm, filed suit in federal court over the Commonwealth of Virginia's regulation of yoga and free speech. Under current law, people who wish to teach others how to be yoga instructors must submit paperwork, ... Read more
Vote on Death Tax "Relief" Looms
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - December 02, 2009
Just when you thought that Congress might bring you an early Christmas gift -- permanent estate tax "relief" -- you find out that how you spell "relief" is not how Congress spells it.
You may recall that the Death Tax is set to disappear next year but returns in 2011. If you're concerned about that happening, the title of H.R. 4154,... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - December 02, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 4154, the so-called Permanent Estate Tax “Relief” for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act. Introduced by Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), this bill would dramatically hike taxes by canceling repeal of the death tax in 2010, while moving toward an exemption level of $3.5 million and 45 percent.
The economic implications of the death tax are clear: it destroys hard-earned sav... Read more
Does the IRS Have a Check Waiting for You?
Posted by Demian Brady - December 01, 2009
Could you use some extra cash during this holiday season?
Each year, thousands of income tax refund checks are returned to the IRS as undeliverable because the taxpayer has moved, changed his or her name, or simply because the check has an incomplete or improper address.
Are you due a refund? Check out NTU's online Tax Refund Finder to see whether the IRS has some... Read more
US Foreign Policy’s Definition of Democracy
Posted by Dan Barrett - November 30, 2009
It appears the conservative candidate, Porfirio Lobo Jr., will be named the winner in Sunday’s Honduran presidential election. Normally, foreign leaders would make statements praising the democratic process and how the will of the people always prevails when freedom is allowed to flourish, but many leaders are ... Read more
Ready for Some Outrage?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 27, 2009
Ready for some leftovers? Football? How about some outrage? If you're done shopping and have finished rummaging through the fridge, check out our online voting booth and vote for the "Outrage of the Month."
... Read more
Fiscally Conservative?
Posted by Jordan Forbes - November 25, 2009
Our friends over at the National Republican Congressional Committee devised a list of who they thought were vulnerable Democrats in 2010. We then proceeded to track the votes of each of those Members on the most important fiscal bills over the past year: both TARP bills, the auto bailout, stimulus, budget, cap-and-trade, Republican motion-to-recommit H.R. 3962, the House health care "reform" bill, and final passage of H.R. 3962.
Keep these vo... Read more
New York Court Approves Eminent Domain Use
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 24, 2009
After years of delay, New York's Court of Appeals has cleared the way for the use of eminent domain on behalf of a private developer, according to the New York Times. NTU spoke out against this project back in 2004.
... Read more
Tax Panel Willfully Breaks Nevada Law
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - November 23, 2009
The Nevada Tax Commission has violated state law for over ten years. Its failure to issue a statutorily required tax policy manual to ensure that the state’s county assessors uniformly appraise property across the state has led to significant disparities among county assessors in how they value property for tax purposes.
Our friends at the ... Read more
NTU Statement on Cloture Vote
Posted by Andrew Moylan - November 21, 2009
Taxpayer Group Condemns Senate for Moving Forward with Massive Government-Run Health Care Bill
The nation’s oldest taxpayer group slammed the Senate for moving forward with debate on Majority Leader Harry Reid’s enormous health care “reform” legislation. Packed to the gills with tax hikes, more government spending, and damaging regulations, this bill would add tremendous burdens to taxpayers while ignoring some of the fundamental problems with... Read more
Thank You for Voting No
Posted by Jordan Forbes - November 20, 2009
Thank you to the 183 Republicans and Democrats who voted against H.R. 3961, the so-called “Doc Fix” legislation. As many of you know, we had grave concerns with this legislation. Our concerns did not necessarily stem from the underlying policy, but rather the partisan political tactic being played. H.R. 3961 was an underhanded attempt to deceive taxpayers and artificially deflate the cost of the House-passed health “reform” bill. That health care... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 20, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
If you would like to support NTU's efforts to defeat Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's efforts to "reform" your health care, you can make a financial contribution of support using our secure server here.
... Read more
Senate Phone Lines
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 20, 2009
A little bird has told me that some of the Senate phone circuits are very busy. If you can't call your Senators about tomorrow's health care vote, you can email them here or you can call, write, or tweet at highnoonforhealthcare.org. The time to speak out is now!
... Read more
Who Is Paying Taxes?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 20, 2009
Tim Wise from ACTA passes along this chart from Mint.com showing who pays taxes. We have IRS data going back to 1999 here.
... Read more
Do They Get Overtime?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 20, 2009
The lights will be burning on Capitol Hill again this weekend as the Senate takes a procedural vote on the Reid health care bill late Saturday, according to CQ. It's not too late to let your Senators know that you oppose tax hikes and more governmental control over health c... Read more
NTU Study Finds Every GM Vehicle Sold Costs Taxpayers $12,200
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - November 19, 2009
The season of giving is near, and leave it to the government to think it has the prerogative to “give” away taxpayer money.
It was bad enough that the federal government bailed out banks last fall, but then they went a step further in the wrong direction by bailing out the automotive industry. To date, $78.9 BILLION in taxpayers' money has gone to bailout GM,... Read more
A Look at Reid's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Posted by Demian Brady - November 18, 2009
Senator Reid tonight released the latest version of the many health care reform packages that are slowly working their way through Congress. His is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and weighs in at 2,074 pages -- over twice as long as House Speaker Pelosi's America's Affordable Health Choices Act.
Here is a link to a Google Spreadsheet NTU Foundation put together that contains a word count of the key terms in Pelosi's orig... Read more
Stimulus Transparency?
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - November 18, 2009
Thanks to our friends at the Mercatus Center for giving us the heads up that the new version of Stimulus Watch is now available! The original site featured proposed stimulus projects taken from the US Conference of Mayors survey. The new version contains actual stimulus spending across the country. The information comes directly from the official recipient reports available at ... Read more
"Best" Bill -- Ever!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 18, 2009
From The Hill:
"Of all the bills we've seen, it'll be the best," Reid said. "Saves more money, is more protective of Medicare, is a bill that's good for the American people."
He added confidently: "I think if you're not impressed, you should be."And how impressed should you be? How about $849 billio... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Senators vote "No" on any motion to proceed to Reid's health care bill
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - November 18, 2009
NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on ANY motion to proceed to the health care bill being introduced by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV).
All published reports suggest that this bill will dramatically expand the size and scope of our federal government, boost taxes on millions of small businesses and families, and increase health costs at a very difficult time for many Americans.
There is a bipartisan consensus that our health care syst... Read more
Still more "jobs created or saved" lies and errors
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - November 17, 2009
After the Associated Press broke the left-leaning media's cone of silence about the Administration errors and/or lies regarding jobs "created or saved" with so-called "stimulus" money, other would-be journalists and even Democratic politicians have found a bit of courage and are castigating the reported statistics. On Monday, ... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on H.R. 3961
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - November 17, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 3961, the so-called “Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act.” Introduced by Representative John Dingell (D-MI), this bill is part of an appalling display of bait-and-switch to reduce the apparent cost of health care reform.
H.R. 3962, the recently passed House health care “reform” bill, received a 10-year cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office of $1.05 trillion. It achieved that... Read more
Best Line of the Day
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 16, 2009
From today's Wall Street Journal editorial entitled "The Rationing Commission":
The core problem with government-run health care is that it doesn't make decisions in the best interests of patients, but in the best interests of government.
... Read more
About those jobs...
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - November 16, 2009
Following up on Ross Kaminsky's post about problems with the Obama Administration's stimulus job estimates, I took a closer look at the Illinois job numbers. What I found wasn't pretty.
Some examples:
... Read more
Will a Budget Commission Work?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 13, 2009
According to the Journal's Washington Wire: "After months of behind-the-scene discussions, Sens. Kent Conrad (D., S.D.) and Judd Gregg (R., N.H.), the Budget Committee's chairman and top Republican, have agreed in principle on a bill to establish a powerful commission to try to solve the government’s serious fiscal problems." The panel ... Read more
More "jobs created or saved" lies and errors
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - November 13, 2009
I reported a couple of weeks ago on an AP story describing how errors or lies are massively inflating the "jobs created or saved" number touted by the Administration as a sign of the effectiveness of the so-called "stimulus". In that note, I pointed out that when as pro-Obama an organization as the AP is critical of the Administration, the offense m... Read more
Cartoon Blogging -- Just Trust 'em
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 13, 2009
Tim Wise sends along this cartoon that makes me -- as a Mac user -- laugh and as a taxpayer cry.
And if you haven't seen the inspiration for the cartoon, here it is:
... Read more
Mounting Debt
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 12, 2009
George Will talking about America's growing national debt:
Gold increasingly looks to investors to be a more reliable store of value than governments' bonds are, especially U.S. bonds as the U.S. government threatens to pile a mammoth health care entitlement onto the nation's Ponzi welfare state, increasing the nation's debt and... Read more
Veteran's Day
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 11, 2009
Thanks to those who serve, have served, and the families who support them.
... Read more
A Fundamental Disconnect
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 10, 2009
From CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf blogging about a recent presentation to the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management:
I concluded the talk by emphasizing that fiscal policy is on an unsustainable path to an extent that cannot be solved by minor tinkering. The country faces a fundamental disconnect between the services the people expect the government to prov... Read more
"Mr. Obama, Tear Up That Bill!"
Posted by Demian Brady - November 10, 2009
This is posted on behalf of NTU Research Analyst Eric Sundheim.
20 years ago yesterday, the West won the Cold War and the Berlin Wall was torn down. Last Friday, I attended an event at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library which featured Secretary of State George Schultz, Attorney General Ed Meese, and Steve Forbes among others. It was amazing to hear the perspectives of those who helped engender and were greatly affected by this momen... Read more
The Devil's Dictionary of Healthcare Reform
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - November 10, 2009
One of the strengths of the American left is their mastery of using language. They say things that mean exactly the opposite of what they sound like (such as the "Employee Free Choice Act" which means to strip the right to a private ballot in a decision about unionizing.) And, with the help of a credulous press and often lazy electorate, they get away with it more often than not.
In no area is the understanding of the difference between what t... Read more
$1 million stimulus payout to study new taxes?
Posted by Joshua Culling - November 08, 2009
We've heard of plenty dubious uses of federal stimulus money. Those dollars have paid for doorbells, road signs, and, most recently iPods for underserved residents - all while unemployment continues to rise.
But the latest stimulus #fail should have taxpayers' collective blood boiling. The University... Read more
List of 36 Democrats who once opposed the health bill, then voted for it anyway
Posted by Andrew Moylan - November 07, 2009
I wrote earlier about the list of 69 Democrats who had expressed opposition to the health care bill at some point. Well, digging through the roll call vote records, I've compiled a list of people who appear to have gone back on their earlier statements. They are...
Marion Berry (... Read more
$1 Trillion Health Care Bill Passes...Barely
Posted by Andrew Moylan - November 07, 2009
The House of Representatives just narrowly passed the massive $1 trillion health care bill by a vote of 220-215 (they needed 218 to pass it). Despite the fact that at least 69 Democrats had expressed some sort of opposition to the bill, only 39 had the guts to ac... Read more
Health Care Whip Count
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 06, 2009
The Hill has updated its whip count of Democrats for this weekend's health care bill vote. See where your Representative is and then let them know how you feel about the bill.
... Read more
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - November 06, 2009
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 3962, the “Affordable” Health Care for America Act. This 1,990-page, $1 trillion bill is NOT health care reform, but rather a political ploy to deceive taxpayers and forever distort the relationship between government and the people it serves. While there are innumerable provisions in this legislation that we oppose, we have chosen to highlight those that we believe are most detrimental to taxpay... Read more
NTU's Pictures from the November 5th House Call Event
Posted by Rachael Slobodien - November 06, 2009
NTU joined conservatives and libertarians on Capitol Hill yesterday to protest Pelosi's health care bill. The event had tens of thousands of participants from all across our nation. Pretty phenomenal turn out, especially when the entire event was planned in only four days!
Go to our Flickr page to view NTU's pictures from the event. ... Read more
America's Public Option for Mail Continues Slip into Fiscal Quagmire
Posted by Demian Brady - November 06, 2009
The Government Accountability Office reports that the U.S. Postal Service's recent efforts to cut costs and increase revenues have been a $7 billion bust, the third consecutive year of losses and the largest in decades. And in keeping in the spirit of Bailout Nation, Congress shipped $4 billion to the Postal Service to help it make its mandatory payment to prefund emplo... Read more
US unemployment rate rises to 26 year high of 10.2%. How many jobs has Obama "created or saved now"?
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - November 06, 2009
Not much needs to be added to the somber statistic except to wonder how it will effect waivering Democratic votes on the House health care "reform" bill, given that all but the most far-left of the Dems must understand that the measure will be extremely destructive to American employment.
... Read more
House Health Care Vote This Saturday
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - November 05, 2009
From AP:
The second-ranking House Democrat predicted that historic health care legislation will be passed Saturday, extending coverage to tens of millions of uninsured and banning the industry from turning people away.
Rep. Steny Hoyer told reporters House leaders would have the 218 votes needed to pass the sweepi... Read more
A "Tax Horror Show"
Posted by Jordan Forbes - November 04, 2009
This morning, I had the privilege of a one-on-one interview with Congressman John Fleming (LA-4) to discuss his thoughts surrounding the prevailing health care debate. It was interesting to get his take on an issue that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now saying could very well carry over to next year. While it is good news t... Read more
NTU Ad Campaign
Posted by Jordan Forbes - November 03, 2009
In a continued effort to speak out against government-run health care, NTU has launched an aggressive campaign in key Democratic districts across the nation. We will sponsor radio ads and phone banks opposing the $1 trillion health care bill, and the following Members of Congress will be targeted:
Travis Childers, MS-01
Mike McIntyre, NC-07
Heath Shuler, NC-11
Dina Titus, NV-03
Ann Kirkpatrick, AZ-01
Glenn Nye, VA-02
Harry Teague, NM-02
... Read more
House Call on Washington
Posted by Jordan Forbes - November 03, 2009
The House of Representatives may vote on health care legislation THIS WEEK, and we need your help to try to stop them. Right now, we are hearing that Speaker Pelosi does not have the votes, but will bring the bill to the floor as soon as she reaches the magic number of 218. WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN!
The $1 trillion bill, complete with its massive tax hikes, government-forced insurance, new regulations and bureaucracies – all leading to... Read more
Defeat in hand; Obama administration claims victory
Posted by Tom Horne - November 03, 2009
Everyone remembers the famous (infamous?) shot of President Bush on the aircraft carrier with the mission accomplished banner waving, in my head I substitute in Obama and pretend the war was against the economy. Instead of acknowledging that their stimulus has clearly NOT worked (unemployment heading over 10%) they're simply claiming victory... Read more
Election Night Primer
Posted by Joshua Culling - November 02, 2009
I'm blogging today from the State Policy Network Annual Meeting in gorgeous Asheville, NC. It's a phenomenal conference for anyone with an interest in state fiscal and economic issues, as it brings together the leaders of free market think tanks across the country for policy discussions, training seminars, and networking. This year's event could not come at a better time, as Election Night falls smack dab in the m... Read more
The Christmas Party You Paid For
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - November 02, 2009
Thanks to our friends at the Idaho Freedom Foundation for this story. We’re approaching the holiday season and already the Christmas commercials are playing and the malls are displaying their holiday merchandise. So as you begin thinking about planning your Christmas party, you may be interested to hear about the party that you p... Read more
Authorizations and Appropriations in the Affordable Health Care for America Act
Posted by Demian Brady - November 02, 2009
Here is a link to a Google Docs spreadsheet I put together of all the authorizations and appropriations available in H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
The dollar figures in the bill total in excess of $100 billion, plus there are 32 additional authorizations for "such sums as may be necessary."
... Read more
Amtrak Understates Losses
Posted by Demian Brady - November 02, 2009
Note: This article is posted on behalf of NTU Foundation Research Analyst Eric Sundheim.
A recent study by Subsidyscope (a project of Pew Charitable Trusts "to raise public awareness about the role of federal subsidies in the economy") estimates that Amtrak loses $32 per passenger- four times the $8 figure Amtrak ... Read more
The fiscal disaster of Pelosicare
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - November 02, 2009
Just like the Baucus bill, the health care "reform" bill which is being pushed by Nancy Pelosi (and which she might or might not have the votes to get through the House) is nothing more than financial smoke and mirrors, a massive tax and spend program which will cost far more than Pelosi or her useful idiots at the CBO want you to believe.
Please see my full discussion of the subject in my ... Read more
Best Line of the Week
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 30, 2009
Holman W. Jenkins Jr writing in yesterday's Wall Street Journal: "It's no exaggeration to say the Senate health-care bill taking shape is the equivalent of climbing aboard a train about to plunge into a canyon and deciding what it really needs is a bomb on board."
Now, that is a well-turned phrase.
... Read more
A Matter of Simple Fairness
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 30, 2009
Today, Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State and member of our Board of Directors, has a fantastic op-ed in The Examiner. The piece, entitled “Hiking the death tax is an insult to Jack Kemp’s legacy,” discusses the need for a permanent repeal of the death tax – a core goal of NTU.
Mr. Blackwell eloquently captures Jack Kemp’s history of protecting the rights of minorities. Whether through the Civil Rights Movement, enterprise ... Read more
Righting a Federal Wrong: Compensation for Bone Marrow Donations
Posted by Dan Barrett - October 30, 2009
The Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm, filed suit against the U.S. Attorney General on Monday “to put an end to a ban on offering compensation to bone marrow donors.” Currently, the ... Read more
When even the AP suggests the stimulus isn't working...
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - October 30, 2009
When even the liberal Associated Press suggests the stimulus isn't working as we're told, you know the bloom is coming off the Obama rose, and Americans are slowly but surely learning the destructive fiscal folly of his economic policies.
In an article reprinted in the Denver Post yesterday entitled "Stimulus jobs overcounted nationwide", two AP reporters lay out details of co... Read more
Democrats dead-on with comparisons.
Posted by Tom Horne - October 30, 2009
On Thursday, house democrats decided to hold a press conference (supporters-only rally?) outside the capitol to celebrate the grand unveiling of an $894 billion dollar health package.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was quoted saying It is with great pride and with great humility that we come before you to follow in the footsteps of tho... Read more
Speaker Pelosi's Health Care Press Conference
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 29, 2009
Earlier today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled the newest House health care bill at a press conference on the West Front of the Capitol. The Democratic bill is nearly 2,000 pages in length – twice as long as the original, but “essentially the same.” How is that even possible?
I attended the press conference, but was unable to get in because there was a list at the door. I have been around the Hill for several years now and can assure you that wa... Read more
Town Hall Meetings in Cyberspace
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 29, 2009
How would you like less interaction with your Member of Congress at the expense of real scientific research that could potentially cure our world’s most debilitating illnesses?
A new study released by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) reveals that Internet “town hall” meetings supposedly increase constituent trust and perception in their lawmakers. To that end, CMF is hosting a briefing tomorrow to discuss these findings and how M... Read more
My Letter to MoveOn.org
Posted by Andrew Moylan - October 28, 2009
Today, I wrote a letter to our good friends at MoveOn.org. In a recent television ad starring actress Heather Graham, they state, "Competition is as American as applie pie." Check it out. It's a very well done, slick advertisement. It's really amazing that they were able to put this together with a budget only ten times as large as we corporate fat-cats.
... Read more
Highlighting Washington Initiative 1033
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - October 28, 2009
In a previous post, I blogged about NTU’s release of the 2009 General Election Ballot guide. Included in the guide is information on Washington Initiative 1033. The National Taxpayers Union organized a coalition of taxpayers and policy advocates to launch taxpayersfor1033.com, which contains a variety of information about the measure.
Initiative 1033 would institute... Read more
Hang out with Nancy Pelosi!
Posted by Andrew Moylan - October 28, 2009
In a manner of speaking.
Tomorrow, Nancy Pelosi will hold a big fancy press conference to discuss health care at the West Front of the United States Capitol Building (where we helped to organize hundreds of thousands of conservatives for the 9/12 March on Washington). Being good civic-minded individuals, we wanted to do our level best to ensure that citizens attend e... Read more
Info on Maine Question 4
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - October 28, 2009
Earlier this week, I blogged about NTU’s release of the 2009 General Election Ballot guide. Included in the guide is information on Maine Question 4, the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). The National Taxpayers Union organized a coalition of taxpayers and policy advocates to launch maine4taxpayers.com, which c... Read more
NTU's Pete Sepp on Fox News
Posted by Demian Brady - October 27, 2009
Pete Sepp was recently on Fox News discussing the NEH grants that my colleague Dan Barrett just blogged about:
... Read more
Nickel-and-diming the taxpayer
Posted by Dan Barrett - October 27, 2009
Fox News reported on the National Endowment for the Humanities’ projects, detailing some of the more surprising and, arguably, selfish grants handed out to educators around the country. While the National Taxpayers Union’s own Pete Sepp concluded the program’s aims were ... Read more
Rappin' 'Bout Economic Principles & EFCA
Posted by Demian Brady - October 27, 2009
Greg Mankiw's blog links to this rap, "Rhythm, Rhymes, Results" about 10 economic principles.
And Remy, the genius behind the "Arlington Rap," lays down some new rhymes on the Orwellian legislati... Read more
The Opt-Out Cop Out
Posted by Andrew Moylan - October 27, 2009
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced a new health care plan that included a revival of sorts for the so-called "public option," or government-run insurance plan. Supposedly as a nod to moderates from states that are not supportive of the government plan, his bill will have a p... Read more
General Election Ballot Guide 2009
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - October 26, 2009
While this is an “off-year” for most statewide elections, many citizens will have the chance to vote on important tax and spending questions through the initiative and referendum process. We have put together a Ballot Guide (PDF format) that covers more than 40 initiative and referendum measures in 12 states.
There are two measures in particular that taxpayers may be... Read more
O Stimulus, Where Art Thou?
Posted by Demian Brady - October 26, 2009
I thought the stimulus was supposed to be timely and targeted? But according to the Associated General Contractors of America, construction employment declined in 49 states and D.C. in September compared to last year. Only Louisiana gained construction jobs. The contractors say "the industry awaits stimulus, recovery."... Read more
TABOR and Education
Posted by Joshua Culling - October 23, 2009
Note: This piece was first posted on the Maine 4 Taxpayers blog. For more information on Maine Question 4 (TABOR), which would limit the annual growth of government spending and allow citizens to vote on any tax increase, visit maine4taxpayers.com. -JC
Question 4 opponents' favorite strategy is to play on voter fears about public education. They claim that by limiting the growth of government s... Read more
"Stimulus" Used to Buy $196K of Frisbees, Sunglasses, and Beach Balls?
Posted by Demian Brady - October 23, 2009
I found a contract award of so-called "stimulus" funds in the amount of $196,472 for the purchase of frisbees, floating key chains, crayons, insulated can holders, sunglasses, sunglass holder straps, pens, beach balls,... Read more
Reverse Robin Hood on Social Security
Posted by Paul Gessing - October 22, 2009
In case you haven’t heard, because the federal government’s cost of living indicators are showing slight deflation, there will be no cost of living increase for Social Security recipients next year. Of course, seniors vote in large numbers and are a politically-powerful voting bloc, so as soon as word came down that there would be no COLA, spineless members of Congress and President Obama started looking for ways to give seniors money anyway.
... Read more
FCC Net Neutrality Decision
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 22, 2009
As I mentioned on a blog post earlier this week, the FCC was set to vote today on a proposed set of "net neutrality" rules. The proposal passed unanimously and will immediately put into motion a series of new regulatory procedures.
While this undeniably indicates the onset of yet another government takeover, it is not too late to take action. The final rule will not be voted on until early next year.
Visit the FCC's ... Read more
Amtrak Received More Money from Taxpayers Than from Ticket Sales
Posted by Demian Brady - October 22, 2009
[This blog article is posted on behalf of NTU Foundation's Research Analyst, Eric Sundheim]
Amtrak received $2.37 billion in 2009, yet only $1.6 billion of that revenue came from ticket sales: the remainder came courtesy of the American taxpayer. This deficit was conveniently ignored in Amtrak's recent ... Read more
DC School Choice Film Released
Posted by Dan Barrett - October 22, 2009
On Tuesday, I had the distinct pleasure to attend the premier of Let Me Rise, a 30-minute film on the fundamental need for the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. Established in 2004, the voucher pro... Read more
Health Care Video Message Project
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 21, 2009
As many of you may know, NTU recently launched a campaign where we asked taxpayers from across the nation to submit videos to NTU about their thoughts on the health care debate and what they would like to see their elected officials do.
After receiving a host of responses, NTU staff converted these messages into DVDs and delivered them to Congressional offices on Capitol Hill. To view a sampling of these videos, visit NTU’s YouTube channel, ... Read more
Hidden Fees are Still Taxes
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - October 21, 2009
Our Friends at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation reported this nugget of opaque government- changes to the form drivers send in to pay their license fees.
Drivers in Washington must like their state parks, right? So the State Parks Department would like you to believe. Washington State collected ... Read more
The Quarter-Trillion Dollar Sneak Attack
Posted by Andrew Moylan - October 19, 2009
Today, NTU released a coalition letter that we circulated that was signed by 20 state and national groups in opposition to an attempt to deceive the American public about the true costs of health care reform. Tomorrow evening, the U.S. Senate will vote on S. 1776, the so-called "Medicare Physicians Fairness Act." This legislation, worth $247 billion (all rack... Read more
Net Neutrality Rears Its Ugly Head
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 19, 2009
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote Thursday on a proposal that would impose federal government regulations on network managers. The so-called “net neutrality” rules would add to existing guidelines adopted in 2005 on Internet network operations. While the proposal is expected to pass with full support from FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and the Obama administration, we encourage you to speak out and let your voice be heard, as... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 16, 2009
HT: Tim Wise
... Read more
Reid Suggests Health Care Reform to Cost $2 Trillion
Posted by Demian Brady - October 15, 2009
... Read more
Taxing your Tailgate Party
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - October 14, 2009
Tailgating is one of our favorite pastimes: we tailgate before the Packer’s games, we tailgate before the Brewer’s games, we tailgate before pretty much any sporting event. C’mon, who doesn’t enjoy sipping some of Wisconsin’s finest before the game? Yet now, our legislators have found yet another way to cash in on our leisure time.
The Wisconsin State Assembly Committee on Public Safety held its first public hearing yesterday on a bill to ... Read more
Disgusted Taxpayers
Posted by Demian Brady - October 14, 2009
All it takes is one person to get a movement started. Michael Hirsch knew he paid high municipal taxes but never realized why:That is, until he opened The Journal News one April morning and saw that the top 50 wage earners in Clarkstown were police officers. Three of them made more than $300,000 and an overwhelming majority made more than $100,000 in 2008, making... Read more
Hidden Taxes in the Baucus Bill
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 14, 2009
Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Douglas Holtz-Eakin echoes our concerns that the Baucus bill raises taxes.... Read more
Here a Job, There a Job
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 14, 2009
White House numbers on jobs created by the stimulus package might not add up.
... Read more
An alternative to ObamaCare from the states
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - October 13, 2009
Earlier today Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty explained to BigGovernment.com readers how the Baucus health care plan is a prescription for higher taxes and higher premiums.
In keeping with the theme that good perspectives and ideas often come from the states, 33 state-based think tanks came together this morning to ... Read more
Virginians: Watch Out for Hidden Taxes
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - October 13, 2009
Over the long weekend, Virginia had an energy efficient sales tax holiday (Oct 9-12). During the holiday, certain appliances bearing the EPA’s Energy Star label were exempt from the state’s sales tax. This sounds like a good idea: retailers boost sales, shoppers save money, environmentalists like greater efficiency and so on. So why should Virginians be concerned?
Unfortunately, ... Read more
The Value-Added-Tax: What Is It and What Does It Mean for the Economy?
Posted by Demian Brady - October 12, 2009
Pete Sepp, NTU's VP of Communication, sits down with Fox News to explain the value-added-tax, aka, the VAT. (Video hosted on breitbart.tv.)
... Read more
CBO Revisits Budget Savings from Medical Tort Reform
Posted by Demian Brady - October 12, 2009
The Congressional Budget Office released a letter last week updating its analysis on tort reform. In addition to savings from lower premiums, there will also be savings from reduced utilization of health care services:Many analysts surmise that the current medical liability system encourages providers to increase the volume or intensity of the health care services ... Read more
Census 2010 Costs Continue to Climb
Posted by Demian Brady - October 09, 2009
As mandated by the Constitution, every ten years a census is taken of the U.S. population and that information is used to apportion the number of House seats among the states and is also used to guide the distribution of federal funds for various programs. Initial estimates put the cost of the 2010 census at $11.5 billion but that figure has gradually crept higher. In the summer of 2008 the GAO forecast that it would cost between $13.7 billion an... Read more
It's All About the Uncertainity
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 08, 2009
Andrew has already touched on the "scoring" of the Baucus bill. I wanted to highlight a couple of items from the CBO Director's blog on this subject.
Regarding costs beyond the 10-year budget window:
In subsequent years, the collective effect of those provisions would probably be continued redu... Read more
The Baucus "Bill" CBO Score: Deficit Deception
Posted by Andrew Moylan - October 08, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, the Congressional Budget Office released the long-awaited score of the health care plan drafted by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). Baucus has yet to introduce an actual bill (after all, that would expose it to real scrutiny by the public, and we can't allow that!), but the CBO looked at the draft that the Finance Committee had marked up. ... Read more
Trade in your clunker, get a broken economy
Posted by Dan Barrett - October 08, 2009
Cash for Clunkers helped auto sales “in a fast and furious way.” Sure sounds like a government program. The $3 billion program, which lasted for a month, was intended to last years, or so a Princeton professor, who pushed for such an incentive program, thought. Perhaps he ... Read more
Is Dick Durbin too Cynical?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 07, 2009
Ok, perhaps I'm too cynical but maybe Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is too. In response to reports that Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning wants legislation posted online for 72 hours with a CBO estimate before the Senate votes on it, Durbin responded: "They dream up new way... Read more
Downsizing the Federal Government
Posted by Jordan Forbes - October 06, 2009
Our friends over at CATO just launched a great project called Downsizing the Federal Government, which provides a department-by-department guide to cutting the federal government's budget. We all know that spending is out of control, but we also know that taxpayers often struggle to find the resources and ammunition they need to fight back. Downsizing the Federal Government is desi... Read more
So how's that stimulus working out for you?
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - October 05, 2009
Illinois is asking for $3.2 billion in federal "high-speed rail" stimulus funds. That's a lofty goal, considering that there's a grand total of $8 billion available, and over 40 states have put in applications asking for a total of more than $100 billion.
The real kicker? The $3.2 billion that Illinois wants would be used to increase the average speed ... Read more
Shopping with Max Baucus
Posted by Sam Batkins - October 05, 2009
Over the weekend, I had the misfortune of shopping in the same grocery store with the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus. Senator Baucus is currently front-and-center in the debate over health care reform, and the bill that passes through his committee could be the final version that the President signs.
During the Senator’s shopping experience I passed him in the wine section. Chairman Baucus, like many shoppers, was in th... Read more
Pennsylvania Tax Hike Mania!
Posted by Joshua Culling - October 02, 2009
For Pennsylvania tax hikers, it appears the best things in life are worth waiting for. After three months without a state budget, the PA state House passed a budget tonight that saddles working families with roughly $1 billion in new taxes to appease a merry band of spendthrifts in Harrisburg. House Democrats decided to throttle past the "three caucus" budget agreement, which would have added an apparently insufficient $800 millionish burden to P... Read more
Big Government Health Care PSA
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - October 02, 2009
... Read more
Where are the $5k Toilet Seats When You Need Them?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 02, 2009
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reports that stimulus spending czar Vice President Joe Biden is concerned that the government isn't spending stimulus monies fast enough:
Biden wants about $299 billion -- 60% of the $499 billion for spending on projects and aid -- out the door by the end of the year. "I ap... Read more
Happy Birthday, TARP!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 02, 2009
Forbes.com points out that Saturday will be the Troubled Asset Relief Program's (aka TARP's) first birthday and suggests that the program might make it to the terrible twos. What does one get a program that already has $700 billion?
... Read more
Carton Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - October 02, 2009
HT: Keith Capp
... Read more
Gov. Quinn: Short-term solution is tax hikes; long-term solution is tax hikes
Posted by Joshua Culling - October 01, 2009
So far, IL Gov. Pat Quinn's quixotic quest to fix the state budget has produced very little. He's sticking to his tax-and-spend guns, though:
Gov. Pat Quinn says a proposed cigarette tax could be a short-term solution to restore funding to the state's largest financial aid program for college students.
Quinn told student... Read more
Tax Hike Ted
Posted by Joshua Culling - September 30, 2009
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is finally embracing his inner liberal, proposing an $844 million income tax hike on Ohioans of all income levels. Tax Hike Ted gave a problematic and misleading speech this... Read more
Health-care Flashback
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 29, 2009
From an editorial discussing an individual mandate in today's Wall Street Journal:
In the 1994 health-care debate, the Congressional Budget Office called the individual mandate "an unprecedented form of federal action." This is because "The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of law... Read more
Us vs. Them on Health Care Taxes
Posted by Andrew Moylan - September 28, 2009
Recently, we've heard more and more rumblings about the idea of imposing a "value-added tax" (VAT) to pay for a massive $1 trillion+ government-run health care program. A VAT is essentially a national sales tax imposed on producers of a good at every step of production. Our cold neighbors to the north in Canada, for example, pay 5% on each and every p... Read more
Two Flat Tires
Posted by Dan Barrett - September 28, 2009
Obama wishes to inspire the companies who have gone overseas to bring their production capacities back to US shores. This philosophy has breached reality with a 35% tariff on Chinese tires coming into the country. Unfortunately for consumers and producers alike, such a homecoming would unravel the modern global economy as we know it – the same economy America has built i... Read more
What Is Bruce Bartlett Thinking?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 25, 2009
I don't know if Bruce Barlett lives inside the Beltway or not, but I think he's fallen victim to Beltway-itis: raising taxes is the answer to any problem. Writing at Forbes.com, Barlett lays bare the spending excesses of the Bush administration -- something that NTU opposed at every turn and that didn't make us very popul... Read more
How About Doing Something Different?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 24, 2009
My United States Senator, Mark R. Warner from the Commonwealth of Virginia, just sent me an email entitled "The cost of doing nothing" in which he states:
Doing nothing means doubling the health care premium costs for American families. Doing nothing means exploding the federal deficit. And doing nothing means that American companies will be less competitive in a global market and our small businesses will continue to face signifi... Read more
Iraq and Afghanistan Operations Funding
Posted by Demian Brady - September 24, 2009
Taxpayers were promised that big savings would result from scaling back operations in Iraq. How is that working out? A July CBO cost estimate for the Senate's National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010 (S. 1390) reports that the bill would authorize $129 billion for "overseas contingency operations," a decrease of 11.5 percent from the FY 09 appropriations level of... Read more
The Special Delivery Project
Posted by Andrew Moylan - September 24, 2009
Let NTU deliver YOUR video message on health care to Congress!
... Read more
The Story of Spending
Posted by Jordan Forbes - September 23, 2009
Our friends at the Commonwealth Foundation recently put out a fantastic video called “The Story of Spending.” The 7 minute clip cleverly and artistically documents the reckless spending policies of every president from FDR to George W. Bush and Barack Obama – and how these policies are bankrupting our nation. A very good synopsis of the negative impact of unbridled spending on taxpayers, I highly recommend you check it out.
... Read more
Break Out Your Dictionary, Mr. President
Posted by Jordan Forbes - September 21, 2009
Check out the YouTube footage of “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos and President Obama. Yesterday, Stephanopoulos put pressure on the President to explain how the individual mandate in Senator Baucus’ health reform proposal would not constitute a tax increase on the middle class. The individual mandate says that you will be required to purchase health insurance, and fined if you do not. The President claims this is not a tax increase, but ra... Read more
Cartoon Blogging -- the Monday Edition
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 21, 2009
HT: WSJ.com
... Read more
Is 65% Right for Virginia's Students?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 21, 2009
This early Monday email from the Virginia Education Association made me chuckle:
Virginia Tomorrow just posted an analysis we did on the McDonnell/Bolling education plan. Regardless of your political leanings, the plan is seriously flawed. Please check out the analysis.
I mean, I was shocked to see that the teachers' union was panning an educational plan laid ... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 18, 2009
... Read more
Reason in the Chaos
Posted by Dan Barrett - September 17, 2009
With a title like “Storming Wall Street”, one imagines a contingent of Leftist freedom fighters, with more romantic passion than knowledge, to be taking back Wall Street from the chaos-loving barons and greedy CEOs. So, to find out that Anthony Randazzo’s latest paper co... Read more
Another Government Takeover
Posted by Jordan Forbes - September 17, 2009
If health care was not enough, it looks as though we are on track to nationalize student lending. Today, the House of Representatives passed the so-called “Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility” Act – legislation that would eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and shift student loans to a government-run and taxpayer-financed system under the Federal Direct Lending Program (FDLP). Specifically, H.R. 3221 does the following:
... Read more
Happy Constitution Day!
Posted by Demian Brady - September 17, 2009
In honor of Constitution Day, here is a dramatic reading of the Preamble from Captain James T. Kirk:
... Read more
Max Baucus's health care errors and lies
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - September 17, 2009
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT), lays out his lies case for his version of health care "reform".
The beauty of the recent turn of events/tone in the health care debate is that the public is now actually listening to the con... Read more
That Giant Sucking Sound...
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 16, 2009
Is coming from your wallet! According to CBS News:
A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper end of the administration's estimate, the cost per American household would be an extra $1,761 a year.... Read more
Protectionist Policies Risk Killing Free Trade
Posted by Dan Barrett - September 16, 2009
The Obama Administration has taken it upon itself to not only fix the environment, the overregulated financial system, and healthcare but to also trigger a trade war. With Friday’s decision to raise Chinese tire imports to 35%, the special interests (i.e. organized labor) have started their protectionist campaign – a quest benefitting... Read more
GM's Money-Back Guarantee
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 15, 2009
From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog:
In a rousing, campaign-like address, Obama hailed the return of 150 workers here yesterday, and the pending return of more than 1,000 more in the next three weeks as the plant gears up to build more Chevrolet Cobalts. Inventories of the small cars were depleted by the "cash for... Read more
Health Care Reform to Slow Medical Advances?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 15, 2009
From Rupert Darwall in today's Wall Street Journal:
In 1965, economist (and future Nobel laureate) James Buchanan observed of the 17-year old NHS that "hospital facilities are overcrowded, and long delays in securing treatment, save for strictly emergency cases, are universally noted." Forty-four years later, matters are littl... Read more
NYC Considers Expanding Smoking Ban
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 14, 2009
The New York Times reports: "The city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, announced on Monday that the Bloomberg administration would seek to ban smoking in city parks and beaches."
As former FDA Commissioner Dr. David A. Kessler points out: "It's not only us, but our kids in these parks and beaches." (emp... Read more
The 9/12 March on Washington: What I Saw
Posted by Andrew Moylan - September 12, 2009
We came, we marched, and we sent politicians a message they'll never forget! Check out some of the early pictures from the 9/12 March on Washington.
Months ago, NTU sat down with FreedomWorks, Tea Party Patriots, and other organiza... Read more
Tackling Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Medicare and Medicaid
Posted by Demian Brady - September 11, 2009
Administration officials say two-thirds of the trillion dollar health care reform bill will be financed by savings in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the health care system. Senator Baucus is working on a reform bill that projects that around half the revenue needed to offset its cost would come from anti-fr... Read more
Remembering...
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 11, 2009
... Read more
Still Waiting for Those Details
Posted by Demian Brady - September 11, 2009
The President delivered yet another big speech on health care reform, this time promising to lay out what he wants to see in legislation. But he really didn't offer much that was new which was why his Congressional audience had a good laugh when he said "there remain some significant details to be ironed out." How do you expand coverage yet spend less money? How will the miraculous Holy Grail of savings in Medicare and Medicaid actually be found?... Read more
Video: ObamaCare and Federal Entitlements
Posted by Sam Batkins - September 10, 2009
The following video illustrates our current unfunded liabilities and the burdens H.R. 3200 will add.
... Read more
Live from the 912 Liberty Summit
Posted by Joshua Culling - September 10, 2009
I'm blogging live from the kickoff to the 912 March on Washington this morning at the DC Armory. Folks from Texas, Idaho, Arizona, California, and countless other states stopped by the NTU booth this morning, excited for Saturday's historic march down Pennsylvania Ave. to the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
The Liberty Summit is a series of policy and advocacy panels on everything from health care to bailouts to cap-... Read more
A Missed Opportunity
Posted by Jordan Forbes - September 09, 2009
I had the honor of attending President Obama’s health care Joint Session of Congress this evening. It was predictable – strong – because the President undeniably knows how to deliver feel-good rhetoric that he thinks the American people want to hear. The problem is that he underestimates the people he serves. The nation did not tune in to hear a partisan stump speech. They tuned in hoping to find a leader who would, for an hour, put ideology asid... Read more
5 Ideas the President Should Have in His Speech
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 09, 2009
The Hoover Institution's Scott W. Atlas has a column at Forbes.com outlining "five concrete steps that can increase competition among health insurers without positioning government as the dominant insurer itself."
1. "strip back the out-of-control mandates on health insurance coverage"
2. "eliminate the co... Read more
Tax Causes Sales to Fall
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - September 08, 2009
Last week, in this blog post, I wrote about Wisconsin’s increased cigarette tax and the dangers of doing so. If you need further proof, just look to Florida whose cigarette sales have dropped and have caused consumers to cross state lines to purchase cigarettes. Case and point.... Read more
Ritter Wrong Again on Transparency
Posted by Joshua Culling - September 08, 2009
It appears that back in June I had my own "Mission Accomplished" moment. I declared that "transparency had arrived" in Colorado after Gov. Bill Ritter signed Rep. BJ Nikkel's HB 1288 into law. The bill mandated that state government open up its checkbook for all to see, placing expenditures and revenues online in a searchable, sortable format.
All we had to do was wait for the execut... Read more
Cell Phone Tax Should be Repealed
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 03, 2009
CTIA, the wireless telecommunications industry group, has called on the IRS to repeal the tax on the personal use of employer-provided cell phones calling the proposed rules "burdensome and poorly understood."
For more on this see here and ... Read more
Traficant is Out!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 02, 2009
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports that former Ohio Congressman and convicted felon Jim Traficant is out of prison: "Traficant was released this morning. He didn’t answer reporters' questions and a cab whisked him away. Sartorial note: AP reports he was wearing a gray T-shirt, white shorts and white knee-high socks."... Read more
Illinois Alcohol, Candy, and Soap Taxes Going Up Today
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - September 01, 2009
Yes. Soap. Illinois is increasing its taxes on personal hygiene products. This could be a smelly example of where "taxing something and getting less of it" is a decision legislators will regret come August in Springfield. Just ask Harry Reid.
You can read all about the ... Read more
Ramming Health Care Through
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - September 01, 2009
A report in the Washington Examiner suggests that Senate Democrats will try to pass health care legislation using the budget reconciliation process, which requires just 51 votes rather than 60.
If you haven't contacted your Members of Congress yet to share your thoughts on health care reform, you ... Read more
A Drag on the Economy
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - September 01, 2009
Today, Wisconsin’s cigarette tax went up 75 cents per pack, making it the fifth-highest tax in the country and the most expensive among neighboring states. The latest increase, taking the state tax to $2.52 per pack, comes less than two years after a $1 per pack increase in 2008. In April, federal cigarette taxes went up 62 cents to $1.01 per pack. While health advoca... Read more
Tax Code Complexity
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 28, 2009
Apparently, complying with the Tax Code isn't challenging enough. According to Forbes.com, the IRS has released draft tax forms that could make filing your 2009 taxes even more exciting. Watch for the 21-step "Schedule L--Standard Deducti... Read more
Why Can't Our Federal Government Run Health Care?
Posted by Jordan Forbes - August 28, 2009
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, offers his insight:
1. Government Can’t Be Trusted With a Credit Card
American families know how to stick to a budget during an economic downturn. They are cutting back to make ends meet – Congress should be doing the same.
2. Government Can’t Even Give Free Money Away Effectively
The cash-for-clunkers program has been an utter disaster. Budgeted to sell 250,000 in three m... Read more
Stimulating Kmart
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - August 28, 2009
Is this an appropriate use of federal stimulus dollars?Helping low-income families buy new school clothes is one way Sangamon County [Illinois] is using federal stimulus money to help people in need.
With the infusion of stimulus cash, the county Community Resources Office has created pr... Read more
I'm Sorry (Almost) That I Missed It
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 27, 2009
My Member of Congress is Jim Moran of Virginia. The Washington Examiner describes Moran's health care townhall this way:
Rep. Jim Moran's town hall meeting descended into chaos Tuesday night as protestors clashed -- in one case violently -- with supporters of a broad federal health care expansion, leading... Read more
A nationwide movement storms Washington
Posted by Joshua Culling - August 26, 2009
A bubbling undercurrent of frustration with President Obama's spending problem came to a head in February, when CNBC reporter commentator Rick Santelli called for a taxpayer tea party in Chicago:
... Read more
Deficit news (in case you missed it)
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - August 25, 2009
Last week, the Administration leaked news of a reduced 2009-2010 budget deficit estimate (even though the reduction was basically smoke and mirrors) during a mid-week morning. Then they tried to bury the real news of the week, that the 10-year budget estimate is actually being increased by more than 25% to over $9 trillion. No, that’s not a typo.
The deficits and the way the Administration handled the news are (in my opinion) an interesting ... Read more
And Then They Came for the FSAs
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 24, 2009
The so-called "Gang of Six" is looking for revenue to pay for health care reform -- just $300 billion or so. We've heard about surtaxes, income tax hikes, taxes on high-end plans, and taxes on insurance companies. Now, according to the Journal's Washington Wire blog: "[The Gang] thought they found about ... Read more
On Clunkers & Health Care
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 24, 2009
From today's Journal editorial entitled "Cash for Clunkers is Another Government Failure":
We keep hearing this is a brave new era of public confidence in the virtues of government planning. But the lesson of cash for clunkers is that if this government can't manage a free lunch, it can hardly be trusted to decide whether you ... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 21, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
Today's cartoon piggy-backs a report from the Journal's Washington Wire blog: "The Democrats' emerging go-it-alone strategy on health care increases the odds of passage for a House proposal to impos... Read more
Rose Friedman, RIP
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 20, 2009
According to the Journal editorial page, Rose Friedman -- wife of Milton Friedman and economist in her own right -- died Tuesday. The Friedman Foundation says that she was believed to be 98. The Friedman Foundation has a brief bio here. From the J... Read more
Don't Like Our Bill...Tough!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 20, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports that "The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and pass the most expensive provisions solely with Democratic votes."
Image from WallSteetJournal.com... Read more
Google Quotation of the Day
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 19, 2009
If God had wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates. -- Jay Leno... Read more
Lemonade Stand Update
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 19, 2009
An update on an item from yesterday. The New York Post reports that "The 10-year-old West Side girl who got a $50 ticket for selling lemonade in Riverside Park was back in business yesterday and had a special customer -- Parks Commissioner Adri... Read more
History repeats with Obama's anti-growth policies
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - August 18, 2009
During the economic downturn from roughly 1929 to 1939, Franklin Roosevelt implemented a raft of anti-capitalist, anti-growth policies, from wage controls to higher taxes to simple badgering of businesses (especially utilities). The result was that Europe emerged from the depression sooner while Democratic economic policies turned what could have been just a bad recession into the Great Depression.
The Obama Administration suffers the same fat... Read more
I Smell Something Fishy
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - August 18, 2009
Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering a two-year contract of up to $32,000 to Nahkeeta Northwest Wildlife Services to continue the Puget Sound Green Crab Monitoring Program.
The program is meant to stop European green crabs from taking jobs away from American crabs. ... Read more
Idaho Officials Cruising Around in Style
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - August 18, 2009
Idaho government workers spent nearly $20 million on furniture, cars, trucks and computer equipment during the 2008-09 budget year that ended in June, according to this analysis of records from the state controller’s office. Roughly 30% of that total, $5.9 million, came directly fro... Read more
Why Do They Hate Lemonade Stands?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 18, 2009
A report on WCBS.tv has the following headline: "Girl, 10, Fined $50 For Lemonade Stand At NY Park". It's similar to the case of Daniela Earnest in California earlier this month.
Ok, the girl and her father were in the park, but why didn't officials just let the two leave rather ... Read more
Bob Novak, RIP
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 18, 2009
Political columnist Robert Novak has died. The Chicago Sun-Times has a remembrance here. The Sun-Times says the following was Novak's advice for young people just starting out, but I think it's great advice for anyone of any age:
“Always love your country — but never trust your government!
“That should not be misun... Read more
Obama & Charter Schools
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 17, 2009
The Virginia Education Association seemed concerned about this New York Times article entitled "Dangling Money, Obama Pushes Education Shift." Here's the opening paragraph:
Holding out billions of dollars as a potential windfall, the Obama administration is persuading state after state to rewrite education laws to open the door to more charter... Read more
If We Didn't Spend a Dime
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 17, 2009
Something to think about from today's Roll Call Budget Briefing Room: "Considering that the budget deficit for fiscal 2009 is already pegged at $1.3 trillion, the elimination of all discretionary funding would not eliminate the annual deficit." [emphasis added]
... Read more
Specter Supports Modified Card-Check
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 17, 2009
From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: "Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter continued remaking himself as a Democrat at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh [Friday] afternoon, when he said he would support a cloture vote on a modified version of the Employee Free Choice Act."
... Read more
It's Funny Because It Is True
Posted by Demian Brady - August 14, 2009
Jeff posted a cartoon about taxing young entrepreneurs. This reminded me of a press release I saw this week from the IRS, Seven Tips for Students with a Summer Job:Many students do odd jobs over the summer to make extra cash. Earnings you received from self-employment are s... Read more
What are states spending on stimulus road signs?
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - August 14, 2009
How much is Illinois spending on political propaganda signs to tout stimulus projects?
A freedom of information act request submitted by the Illinois Policy Institute came back to us from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) wit... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 14, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
Maybe I Should Eat Organic
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 14, 2009
ABC is reporting that some Whole Foods store customers are upset with the company's CEO John Mackey for his op-ed in yesterday's Wall Street Journal on health care reform. The report highlights some comments made on the company's forum page: "'You should know who butter... Read more
Australia Rejects Greenhouse Cap Plan
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 13, 2009
According to the BBC: "The Australian parliament has rejected government plans to introduce an ambitious carbon trading scheme to tackle global warming."
... Read more
A Democrat on the Democrats' health care plan
Posted by Keith Capp - August 12, 2009
From Camille Paglia's column on Salon.com this week:
The president is promoting the most colossal, brazen bait-and-switch operation since the Bush administration snookered the country into invading Iraq with apocalyptic visions of mushroom clouds over American cities.
You can keep your doctor; you can keep your insurance, if you're h... Read more
Congratulations, Jim!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 12, 2009
Now for some good news.... NTU friend and great American Jim Blasingame has received the "Champion of the Chamber Movement" award from the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. Jim is the host of the syndicated radio show "The Small Business Advocate Show" and has been kind enough to have me as a guest in the past. Congratulations, Jim!... Read more
Sen. Specter's Town Hall
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 12, 2009
This New York Times piece reports on Senator Specter's town hall meeting yesterday. What I didn't see mentioned was the burst of applause and cheers when one gentleman mentioned the need for term limits.
... Read more
The President Needs a New Analogy
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 11, 2009
The President has once again compared the "public option" to UPS and FedEx competing against the Post Office: "If you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It's the Post Office that's always having problems." Let's put aside the issue that the Post Office has a monopoly on first-class mail, if you haven't ... Read more
It's Their Scare Tactics That Are the Problem
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 11, 2009
This AP story on the President's health care town hall reminded me of my favorite line from my favorite movie: 1776. If you're unfamiliar with the film, the setting is Philadelphia in 1776 as the Continental Congress struggles with declaring independence from Great Britain. T... Read more
Incentives Matter
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 10, 2009
Writing at Forbes.com, John Tamny points out that tax rates and incentives can affect behavior -- for good or bad. He closes with this bit of wisdom:
History, as they say, is repeating itself. Contrary to what politicians frequently assume, raising taxes is not the equivalent of raising re... Read more
Farmers Lobby EPA on Ethanol
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 10, 2009
According to the Lincoln Journal Star: "The Nebraska Corn Board says nearly 5,000 farmers sent postcards urging the Environmental Protection Agency to approve blending more ethanol with gasoline." The EPA is considering whether to allow the sale of 15% ethanol. If approved, watch your wallet and your gas m... Read more
The Steamboat Institute's Inaugural Freedom Conference
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - August 07, 2009
Talk about trying to do something about a problem (in the case the problem of the ongoing assault on liberty and fundamental principles of the American Founding.) I'm extremely proud of my colleague from the Leadership Program of the Rockies' Advisory Board, Jennifer Schubert-Akin who has not only founded The Steamboat Institute, a pro-liberty organization in Steamboat Springs, but... Read more
Obama's Math: Ten > Tens of Thousands
Posted by Andrew Moylan - August 07, 2009
Here's your opportunity to sound off to YOUR representatives telling them that you're REAL and you oppose government-run health care! Send them a message telling them you oppose such a plan, and if they don't, you'll oppose THEM for re-election!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
President Obama's government health... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 07, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
The Elites Don't Like All This Democracy
Posted by Demian Brady - August 06, 2009
The townhall protests are working. You can tell by the reaction of key Democrats. According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, when citizens express their opinions to their elected officials and urge Washington not to move the country in the direction of a single payer health insurance system, they are "sabotaging" the democratic process. Sen. Reid from ... Read more
If All You Have is a Hammer...
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 06, 2009
The Fresno Bee reports that a code enforcer for the city of Tulare, California, shut down a lemonade stand owned by an 8 year old girl for not having a business license. The scofflaw, Daniela Earnest, was trying to earn money for a trip to Disneyland. The community, as one might expect, rose to her defense.
Here is what makes me want to slam my head against my desk... Read more
Townhall Protesters Are Just Modifying Obama's Advice
Posted by Demian Brady - August 06, 2009
During the campaign, Obama the candidate urged his supporters to plead his case, "Talk to your friends, and talk to your neighbors ... argue with them and get in their face."
... Read more
Report Yourself to the White House
Posted by Andrew Moylan - August 05, 2009
The White House put up an interesting blog post yesterday about what they now call "health insurance reform." In it, they claim that groups like NTU and people like you are spreading "scary" emails and videos opposing government-run health care. They're urging anyone who hears something "fishy," whether through "emails or through casual conversation," to rep... Read more
$500 for a Hammer, $2,103,688 for some Traffic Lights
Posted by NTU Gov - August 05, 2009
For the most part it would seem that funds already dispersed to state and local agents in the great gem of the South, Georgia, have been put to use in ostensibly reasonable areas. There haven’t been any ‘ham’ incidents or funding of assorted ‘... Read more
On Walls and Deficits
Posted by Demian Brady - August 04, 2009
Traverse walls, built for climbing sideways, are the latest trend in physical education. Start to type the word "traverse" into Google and the search engine will suggest the phrase "traversing walls for schools."
Four schools in Milford, Connecticut paid for their new traverse climbing walls through parent-teacher association ... Read more
Two More Jobs "Saved" by the "Stimulus"!
Posted by Demian Brady - August 04, 2009
From the Grand Island Independent:The Hastings Symphony Orchestra was awarded a $15,254 grant to keep its executive secretary and conductor/artistic director. ... The grants' funding came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as the federal stimulus package.... Read more
Discussing the Price of ObamaCare
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - August 03, 2009
Senior Forbes editors Mike Maiello and Mike Ozanian discuss the price tag of ObamaCare.
... Read more
Exposing the difference between Dems' rhetoric and reality
Posted by Andrew Moylan - July 31, 2009
We just launched a video exposing the fact that the words President Obama uses to promote government health care and what the bill Democrats came up with ACTUALLY SAYS.
Watch the video, send it to your friends, and then contact your Representatives to demand that they vote NO on higher taxes, more regulation, and less freedom in dealing with the health of our famil... Read more
I Agree with Bruce Bartlett!!!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 31, 2009
I can't believe it. Bruce Bartlett and I agree on something!!! His column entitled "A Surtax On The Top 1%" is on Forbes.com.
Oh, and if you're wondering what we agree on -- it's the 1% thing not the VAT-thing.
... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 31, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
Health Care Reform: Rhetoric vs. Reality, Visualized
Posted by Andrew Moylan - July 30, 2009
... Read more
Minnesota: The New Vacation Destination
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - July 29, 2009
As a Wisconsinite, I enjoy taunting my foes in purple every now and again. Yet, right now Minnesotans should be equally ashamed of the ridiculous waste of taxpayer money. In addition to the gorilla habitat funding request, the city of St. Paul is also asking its taxpayers to pay for a waterpark at Como Park.
The park recently demolished its public swimming pool because it was old and costly to maintain. So what does the city want to do no... Read more
Analyzing Obama's Health Care Rhetoric
Posted by Andrew Moylan - July 29, 2009
A little while back, my colleagues did an analysis of the Democrats' health care bill and how many times certain words appeared in it. They found some disturbing, but not terribly surprising results. The bill is littered with words like "require," "regulate," and "tax." Meanwhile, words like "choice," "marketplace," and "freedom" are very scarce. In fac... Read more
Taxes on the Rise in Buckeye State
Posted by NTU Gov - July 28, 2009
On August 4, Columbus residents will head to the polls to vote on a proposed 25% income tax hike in order to reduce the city government’s projected budget deficit by $90 million dollars. The increase, which will raise the city income tax from 2.0 to 2.5%, will boost Columbus’ general operating fund, which is used primarily to pay for local police, fire, and sanitation services. But with the state’s unemployment rate sitting at ... Read more
UK foreshadows political future for US banks
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - July 27, 2009
The BBC is reporting that Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (roughly equivalent to our Treasury Secretary), is interested in questioning banks over whether their interest rates for small business loans and mortgages are too high.
According to the BBC article,
Mr Darling's comments come after a report by financial website Moneyfacts sai... Read more
Federal Domestic Spending Increases 9.3 Percent in FY ’08
Posted by Demian Brady - July 26, 2009
According to a new Census Bureau report, federal domestic spending reached $2.79 trillion ($9,184 per person) in FY 2008, a 9.3 percent increase over 2007.Entitlement programs Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security comprised 48 percent of all federal spending, accounting for $1.35 trillion. Of that amount, $659 billion went ... Read more
What will they tax next?
Posted by Joshua Culling - July 24, 2009
Federal and state governments alike have embraced arbitrary tax proposals to nickel-and-dime consumers of specific products like sugary drinks, cigarettes and gasoline. If cap-and-trade passes the U.S. Senate this year, Americans will be taxed every time they consume energy. Here's a preview of what that may look like:
... Read more
File this under: good ideas likely to be ignored by Congress
Posted by Andrew Moylan - July 24, 2009
Today, Representative Pete Olson (R-TX) introduced H.R. 3309, a bill to postpone the costly increase in the minimum wage. We've explained several times why a hike in the minimum wage isn't a good idea, despite how it might feel.
ITTET (my new extremely clever acronym for "In these toug... Read more
Representative McHenry Prested with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - July 23, 2009
Tuesday, Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. McHenry's fourth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
California budget deal a net win for taxpayers
Posted by Joshua Culling - July 22, 2009
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders in California announced an agreement this week to close a $26.3 billion budget gap without raising taxes. California serves as the nation's best example of liberal policies taken to the extreme, and the inevitable public backlash after years of overspending, borrowing and tax hikes.
On September 23, 2008,... Read more
Recovery.gov Update
Posted by Demian Brady - July 22, 2009
The same day that the Drudge Report dug up some controversial contracts awarded under the "stimulus" program, Recovery.Gov changed its formatting so that the description of work or service performed for each contract was not clearly displayed on its web pages (see our earlier blog post). It seemed as though the government's web site, which was intended to be a u... Read more
Appropriations Gaming
Posted by Jordan Forbes - July 21, 2009
Want another example of the majority’s efforts to expand the role of government and stiffen the voices of the American people? Look no further than the so-called appropriations debate on the House floor. Democratic leaders are utilizing a bold, albeit appalling, tactic to push their spending agenda one step closer into law.
During consideration of a string of appropriations bills, the majority has authorized unprecedented change in House ru... Read more
"Rationing" Is All in Your Head
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 21, 2009
Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl suggests that "rationing" is all in your head. According to Kohl:
I want to be clear that lowering costs has nothing to do with limiting access to care, though opponents of health care reform will try to convince America otherwise. The idea of "rationing" is a myth, and anyt... Read more
Reading Between the Lines
Posted by NTU Gov - July 21, 2009
It’s one of the oldest tricks in the political handbook: take an extremely complicated issue, simplify it down to a few buzzwords, make some empty promises, and then refuse to offer specifics until everyone is so confused they don’t know what they’re voting for or against. At least, this seems to be the strategy being adopted by the current administration and proponents of increased government control over health care. Thankfully, our friends at ... Read more
Honk if you'd pay $1,000 for high-speed rail
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - July 21, 2009
Would you pay $1,000 so that someone – probably not you – can ride high-speed trains less than 60 miles a year?
I'm going to guess you answered "no way" to that question. I certainly did, and I'm an Amtrak rider.
In a new report released by the Illinois Policy Institute on the false promises of high-speed rail, transit expert Randal O'Tool... Read more
Oh Yeah, THAT $100 Million in Cuts
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 20, 2009
Jonathan Weisman reporting for the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reminds us that the President promised to deliver $100 million in cuts in just 90 days. According to Weisman:
Well, on this, the 91st day, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki and White House budget office spokesman Ken Baer rel... Read more
A Step Backward for Transparency at Recovery.gov
Posted by Demian Brady - July 20, 2009
This morning the Drudge Report and several people on Twitter were linking to questionable projects funded by the "stimulus" bill. The items, such as $1.5 million for mozzarella cheese and $1.2 million for sliced ham, were found by browsing Recovery.gov, a website whose purpose is to "foster greater accountability and transparency in the use of covered funds."
But over the course of the day, Re... Read more
Paying for Direction
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - July 20, 2009
What would you pay to prevent getting lost ever again on your way to the airport? Apparently Minnesota taxpayers could be paying $2.2 million dollars! Check out this article written by Phil Krinkie, of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. The Metropolitan Air... Read more
Congressman Jared Polis makes an impression on health care
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - July 20, 2009
You have to hand it to Jared Polis: For a freshman Congressman to be quoted in the the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal within 24 hours (and not for some misdeed) is an achievement.
Polis, who represents my district, is no doubt a "Boulder liberal", but I neverthe... Read more
Health Care Fact III - Rationing
Posted by Keith Capp - July 20, 2009
#2 – Government health care programs eventually have some sort of rationing.
The United Kingdom didn’t start off with a rationing system in place for their health care system, but in order to control costs the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has instituted a system of cost-benefit analysis to determine what care should be provided, procedures used, and/or medicines prescribed. In fact, NICE has a formula ca... Read more
One Good Amendment
Posted by Andrew Moylan - July 18, 2009
As the nation watches the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress attempt to nationalize our health care system, we can find hope in the efforts of some members who refuse to idly sit by and watch detrimental legislation be implemented into law.
On Friday, as the House Energy and Commerce Committee continued consideration of H.R. 3200, the Democrats' health care bill, Congressman John Sullivan (R-OK) offered a good government, common s... Read more
A Wise Use of Tax Dollars? $700,000 used to help reduce stress
Posted by NTU Gov - July 17, 2009
The United States Social Security Administration recently held a luxurious “motivational management” conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona for 675 SSA managers courtesy of your tax dollars. According to an article
written by Josh Bernstein of ABC 15, the $700,... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 17, 2009
HT: Tim Wise
... Read more
Congress should oppose Obama's upcoming tax attack on US multi-nationals
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - July 17, 2009
In May, the Obama Administration announced their proposals to modify the way American companies are taxed on foreign-earned income (and related expenses.) The measures, likely to come before the House of Representatives after their August recess, represent a direct threat to the economy’s nascent recovery and are likely to be extremely damaging to employment in Colorado and across the United States.
Given the Administration and the Democratic... Read more
"National Defense" Earmarks
Posted by Demian Brady - July 16, 2009
The House Appropriations Committee released a table of Congressionally Directed Spending Items, which are more colloquially known as "earmarks." It is available as a 59-page pdf, and includes lots of items only tangentially related to national defense. For example, there are several earmarks for state and locally-based counter-drug programs that seem to be focused at t... Read more
Transparency: It's Just Around the Corner -- Maybe
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 16, 2009
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog reports that recipients of stimulus money are getting a break on reporting how the funds are being used:
Soon after the stimulus plan was signed in to law, the White House Office of Management and Budget set a July deadline for states, local governments and private ... Read more
The Transportation Debate
Posted by Jordan Forbes - July 16, 2009
Just when you thought health care was the only pressing issue on this month's congressional to-do list, we draw your attention to the transportation tug of war game on Capitol Hill. With the Highway Trust Fund, which collects and distributes fuel taxes and other user fees, set to go bankrupt at the end of August, time is of the essence as lawmakers decide whether to extend or completely overhaul the current transportation formula.
House offici... Read more
Senator Vitter Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - July 16, 2009
Wednesday, Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Senator David Vitter (R-LA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Senator Vitter's first award as a U.S. Senator.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Get Card Checked!
Posted by NTU Gov - July 16, 2009
Have you ever wanted to see into the future? Ever wished we could “test drive” legislation before actually having to suffer its consequences? Well, now we can.
Today, our friend Brian Johnson at the Alliance for Worker Freedom, a special project group of Americans for Tax Reform, launched Card Checked: The Game, an interactiv... Read more
The Health Care Reform Bill in Its Own Words
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 15, 2009
We've spent a little time looking at the language in the House Democrat's 1,018-page health care reform bill, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009," and a couple of things stand out. First, the legislation empowers a very busy bureaucracy. The term "Secretary" -- as in the Secretaries of Health & Human Services, Labor, Defense, and Veterans Affairs – appears 1,124 times in the bill. The Secretaries -- along with Commissioners (199... Read more
Paul Ryan - A Great Politician, or the Best Politician?
Posted by NTU Gov - July 15, 2009
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin's First Congressional District has a terrible case of rationality. NTU would recommend that Representative Ryan continue to get eight hours of sleep each night and exercise frequently.
Why? It seems that Rep. Ryan knows a problem when he sees one - President Obama and the Majority in Congress are trying their hardest right now to push health care reform. In and of itself, this is not a bad thing, but a... Read more
Health Care Fact 1 - Cancer survival rates
Posted by Keith Capp - July 15, 2009
Health care reform has turned into the major political battle of the month. So, I thought I would assemble some health care facts that should be important in any debate of health care reform.
#1 – Cancer survival rates are higher in the United States than in Europe.
Cancer survival for men in the US is 66% compared to 45% in England. Further, a... Read more
NTU's 40th Anniversary
Posted by Keith Capp - July 15, 2009
For the last 40 years NTU has fought on behalf of the taxpayer. In honor of our anniversary, we have produced a brief documentary that details the last 40 years.
Enjoy!
... Read more
Independence Institute on Obama Care
Posted by Joshua Culling - July 14, 2009
Our friends at the Independence Institute with another great video:
... Read more
National Taxpayers Conference Pictures and Video
Posted by Keith Capp - July 14, 2009
Did you miss the National Taxpayers Conference? Did you attend the conference and want to review some of the sessions? Pictures are now up on NTU’s Flickr page and videos are up on NTU’s YouTube channel. Check them out and let us know what you thought.
... Read more
Representative Rohrabacher Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - July 14, 2009
Today, Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Rohrabacher's sixteenth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Representative Johnson Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - July 14, 2009
Today, Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Johnson's fourteenth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Obama to Cut Taxes?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 14, 2009
John Stossel -- who btw spoke at Taxpayers Conference '09 -- suggests that the President wants to cut taxes.... Read more
Reason #12 Billion and 1 for Tax Reform
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 13, 2009
According to Forbes.com, the IRS is planning to crack down on hobbyists for taking improper deductions:
At a time when the federal government is desperate for revenue, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new manual to help its agents ferret out taxpayers improperly writing off the costs of hobbies.
The latest "audit t... Read more
Illinois income tax hike dead ... for now
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - July 11, 2009
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has announced that he will shelve his demand for a tax increase until November.
This is great news for the families and businesses of Illinois, who were facing the threat of a 50 percent income tax increase in the mid... Read more
Representative Lamborn Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - July 10, 2009
Thursday, Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Lamborn's second award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Representative Miller Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - July 10, 2009
Thursday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Miller's seventh award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Thousands rally next to Capitol
Posted by Andrew Moylan - July 09, 2009
This beautiful 4th of July here in the nation's capital, I spoke at the March for Liberty's DC Tea Party. According to officials, about 3,200 freedom-loving Americans marched to the U.S. Capitol lawn and spoke out against higher taxes, bigger government, and less freedom.
In my speech, I warned of the myriad tax hikes that middle class Americans will face if Obama and his allies have their way. Despite the fact that he made a "firm pledge" n... Read more
Goldwater Institute Video on Arizona Tax Hike Scheme
Posted by Joshua Culling - July 09, 2009
This fantastic video from our friends at the Goldwater Institute outlines Gov. Brewer's painful sales tax hike scheme:
... Read more
Pennsylvania Taxpayers, Where Does Your Legislator Stand on Tax Hikes?
Posted by Joshua Culling - July 09, 2009
The Commonwealth Foundation has asked Pennsylvania lawmakers to take a stand for or against a budget without tax increases. As of yesterday, 83 legislators have said "Yes we can balance the budget, protect public safety and human services, and educate our children without raising taxes." See the list here.
The ... Read more
Help Stop Rendell's Tax Hike in PA!
Posted by Joshua Culling - July 08, 2009
Gov. Ed Rendell is campaigning hard for his tax-hike platform, and he's playing fast and loose with the facts in the process. The Governor claims to have cut $2 billion from the budget, but in reality spending will rise by $1 billion under his plan.
"The governor uses numbers to make a point," said his spokesman. "His numbers are not inaccurate, although sometimes they do not tell the whole story."
That's because telling "the whole s... Read more
Congress Takes Interest in Antitrust Issues
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 08, 2009
Concerned that Americans are in same way being harmed without knowing it, Senators are calling for antitrust probes of the wireless industry and college sports. As is typical of Washington, it's important to lo... Read more
Google Quotation of the Day
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 07, 2009
"Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be." -- Jim Horning
Advice for Members of Congress to keep in mind when bailing out private corporations, taking over the auto industry, trying to stimulate the economy, trying to reduce carbon emissions, and when trying to provide health insurance to all Americans.
... Read more
Update From the States
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - July 07, 2009
After much Ado, Hawaii Governor Lingle signed into law SB 659, the transparency legislation that passed the state legislature in May. The bill will establish and maintain a website accessible to the public providing information about state spending. It will contain data for fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter. Now Hawaii taxpayers wil... Read more
Wisconsin Taxpayers Foot the Bill Again
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - July 06, 2009
Over the past two years, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and his staff have been negligent about reporting travel expenses. This Journal Times article reports that nearly three-fourths of the time, Doyle and his staff did not supply the necessary receipts as required under state travel policy. When taxpayers are picking up the tab, we should hold our leaders ac... Read more
Tax Appeals, Tax Refunds, & Taxing Amazon
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 06, 2009
A couple of interesting tax stories that you might have missed because of the holiday.
The New York Times reports on the increase in the number of individuals appealing their property tax assessments. Shameless plug: NTU does offer a helpful guide to appealing one's property taxes in our ... Read more
Who Are the Uninsured?
Posted by Demian Brady - July 06, 2009
From a study by the Employment Policies Institute:[A]at least 43 percent of [uninsured] Americans in the 18–64 year-old age group have incomes at or above 2.5 times the poverty line, indicating they likely have the means to obtain healthcare coverage and thus may be classified as "voluntarily" uninsured.... Read more
Cap-and-Trade: Tell your Senator "we won't get fooled again"
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - July 06, 2009
Dr. Alan Carlin, an employee of the EPA since 1971, has made public his “Comments on Draft Technical Support Document for Endangerment Analysis for Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the Clean Air Act” that an ... Read more
Happy 4th!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - July 04, 2009
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they shoul... Read more
Earmark Lists
Posted by Demian Brady - July 01, 2009
Excel spreadsheets were made available today of earmarks included in three House bills:
House Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, H.R. 2996 (as passed by the House on June 26, 2009)
House Homeland Security Appropriations Act, H.R. 2892 (as Passed by the House on... Read more
National Taxpayer Advocate's Mid-Year Report
Posted by Demian Brady - July 01, 2009
The Office of the IRS's Taxpayer Advocate released a report laying out its objectives for the next year (available as a pdf). One section that caught my eye was how the number of refundable credits created by the "stimulus" bill will present challenges to the IRS:... Read more
The Power of Coffee
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - July 01, 2009
This morning, while sipping my coffee, I read this article recounting yesterday’s mishap. New York State Senator Frank Padavan walked through the Senate chamber in search of a cup of coffee. It just so happened that it was at the exact moment when 31 Democrats were convening a regular session. They argue that Padavan’s presence provi... Read more
ObamaCare Losing Steam
Posted by NTU Gov - June 30, 2009
Well, it seems that the gig is finally up on ObamaCare as more and more Americans begin to voice their concerns about a move towards socialized medicine. Along with questions about how a government-run health care system would preserve patient satisfaction and quality of treatment, there is a growing consensus that public provision of insurance would lead employers to drop employee health care plans and drive private insurers out of the market, ... Read more
Fiscal Advice from Jack Handey
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 30, 2009
With billions and billions for bailouts and stimulus spending, Congress seems to have taken fiscal advice from that renowned financial expert Jack Handey: "I hope that when I die, people say about me, 'Boy, that guy sure owed me a lot of money.'"
... Read more
No Matter How you Spin it- A Tax Hike is a Tax Hike
Posted by Kristine Tuinstra - June 29, 2009
Governor Deval Patrick said Friday that he will sign more than $1 billion in tax increases for Massachusetts residents. The House and Senate approved the tax increases last week- increasing the sales tax for the first time in a generation. The new tax rate, which goes into effect August 1, will in... Read more
What Was in the Cap & Trade Bill?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 29, 2009
Last Friday, House Minority Leader John Boehner took a "couple" of minutes to question some of items in the manager's amendment -- the 300+ page amendment to the 1,200 page bill. I will buy an ice cream for the first person who can answer all of Boehner's questions.
Watch below or read the transcript here.
... Read more
Cap-and-trade passes House narrowly
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 26, 2009
The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that we've been lobbying so hard against just narrowly passed the House, by a 219-212 margin.
Attention now turns towards the Senate, where the intensity will only ratchet up. In particular, the two Senators Nelson (Democrats of Nebraska and Florida), Martinez (R-FL), Landrieu (D-LA), both Senators from Arkansas Lincoln and Pryor ... Read more
Highlights from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - June 26, 2009
#1: California's budget crisis continues.
#2: Metro crash may facilitate federal funding.
#3: New Jersey legislators passed a budget that will hike taxes by almost $1 billio... Read more
Mark my words: cap-and-trade undecideds will get MILLIONS in earmarks.
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 26, 2009
I just posted a list of the remaining undecided votes on Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation, a.k.a. a $2 trillion energy tax.
I just want to put something on record, right here, right now. If the Democrat leadership is successful in forcing 8 out of the 12 undecideds to vote for the bill, it will be because they promised MILLIONS in earmarks to the Members.
Democrat leaders are on the floor right this minute, as I type this, trying ... Read more
Down to the wire!
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 26, 2009
The cap-and-trade debate is really coming down to the wire. My sources have the current count at 210 FOR, 210 AGAINST, with 14 remaining undecided (12 of which are Democrats).
The undecideds are...
Arcuri - NY
Boccieri - OH
Brown - FL
Carney - PA
Dicks - WA
Donnelly - IN
Green, Al - TX
Kind - WI
Kirk - IL (Republican)
Kirkpatrick - AZ
Petri - WI (Republican)
Space - OH
Teague - NM
Tonko - NY
Email them ... Read more
Understand What Is at Stake
Posted by Demian Brady - June 26, 2009
Lest anyone forget, here is Obama in his own words on his cap-and-trade plan: "Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."
... Read more
More good news! 1,200 page bill is now 1,500 pages.
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 26, 2009
The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that NTU has been hammering away on all week is now miraculously 300 pages longer than before. The new language was added to the bill at about 3:00am this morning, and the House is expected to vote TODAY!
There is very little time left to make your voice heard on this. Take a minute, click the link above, and send them an email p... Read more
Senate Approps for Commerce/Justice/Science Up 12 Percent
Posted by Demian Brady - June 26, 2009
The Senate Appropriations Committee is working on the FY 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies funding bill. The legislation calls for $64.9 billion, $200 million above the President's request. This is also an increase of 12 percent over the amount enacted last year.
... Read more
Congress Intent on Ignoring the $1.8 Trillion Deficit
Posted by Demian Brady - June 25, 2009
According to White House budget figures, federal departments and agencies will be responsible for directing $267 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act over 2009-2010. This bill included a lot of programs that members of Congress had been trying to enact in previous legislation to no avail, but earlier this year they just had to argue the funding would "stimulate the economy," and voila, now they're law. Well that's not entirely ... Read more
An Image from Today's Health Care for America Now Rally
Posted by Elizabeth Terrell - June 25, 2009
Notice how the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) made "UNTAXED" the largest word on these t-shirts. The logo was also printed on the hats these attendees were wearing.... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Vote "NO" on Waxman-Markey!
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - June 25, 2009
NTU sent the following vote alert to the entire House of Representatives today:
*****************************************************************************************
NTU urges all Representatives to vote "NO" on H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey "American Clean Energy and Security Act." This "cap-and-trade" legislation constitutes a mammoth $2 trillion energy tax hike on top of existing burdens and would crush our already-ailing econo... Read more
Obsolete, outdated, wasteful? Let's keep it!
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 25, 2009
In all the frenzied action over big-ticket items like a $2 trillion energy tax and government-run health care, the appropriations process seems to have disappeared from the media map. That's unfortunate because the appropriations process is how we fund our government. In that process, there are dozens and dozens of opportunities to cut wasteful spending, most of which are glossed over or ignored completely.
Well, yesterday, freshman ... Read more
Robert Reich's "public option" deceptions
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - June 25, 2009
Although this note may seem similar in content and intent to my note yesterday about Barack Obama's outrageous news conference, Robert Reich's Wednesday WSJ plea for government-run health care deserves an equal smack-down.
Reich's entire article is filled with ... Read more
Delaware Taxpayers: Tell Your Representatives to Hold the Line Against Tax Hikes!
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 24, 2009
Last week, politicians in Dover attempted to sneak $50 million in tax hikes through the Legislature. Thankfully, Republicans in the House sniffed out these regressive, job-killing “sin” taxes and held the line in opposition. However, it looks like the tax hike bills are back on the table, and you need to urge your lawmakers to continue to say NO to any tax increases!
House Bills 210, 211, and 212 would increase taxes on alcohol and ciga... Read more
ObamaCare: Far worse than economically ignorant
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - June 24, 2009
In a news conference yesterday, Barack Obama demonstrated a remarkable ignorance of and antipathy for free markets and free enterprise when speaking about the possibility of a “public option” as part of “health care reform.”
It’s not easy for Obama to surprise me but the vacuousness of his statements combined with their casual disregard for the power of government when “competing” with private companies was truly shocking.
According to an A... Read more
Taxpayer March on DC!
Posted by NTU Gov - June 23, 2009
The National Taxpayers Union, along with coalition partners fighting for smaller, more transparent government, will be expanding the "Tea Party" movement and participating in a march on the capital (perhaps the Capitol?).
So mark your calendar - beginning the 10th of September, come join NTU, our fellow taxpayer advocacy groups, myriad speakers and fiscally-responsible congressmen in Washington, D.C. for an event like none other.
Check out ... Read more
Good news! 1,200 page bill with $2 trillion tax hike being jammed through Congress.
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 23, 2009
Stop me if you've heard this story before...
Nancy Pelosi and other folks in House Leadership are attempting to jam a 1,200 page bill through Congress in a surprise move. This beauty contains a $2 trillion tax increase. That's two trillion, with a T, or more than $6,600 for every man, woman, and child alive in America today.
We've been ... Read more
Survey Shows Deep Concern Over Obama's Deficits
Posted by Demian Brady - June 23, 2009
In a recent L.A. Times survey of 1,001 Americans, 90 percent of respondents "are worried to some degree about the exploding federal spending deficit, a galactic number certain to gain politicians' attention on both sides."
And this is before health care reform.... Read more
That's the Unions for You
Posted by Demian Brady - June 23, 2009
In many states, the unemployment rate is reaching or exceeding 10 percent. People who want to work, can't find a way to earn a paycheck. But in NYC, around 700 teachers get paid for nothing. They get to pass the workday playing scrabble, or if it their prerogative, simply staring at a wall. According to AP, many of these teachers are in trouble ... Read more
A Little Good News
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 22, 2009
A little change of pace from our regular fare. NebraskaStatePaper.com has the story of Robert "Lindy" Lenhart, age 90, who recently received his World War II medals, including a Bronze Star for combat service, a combat infantry badge, and campaign victory medals. The reporter closes the story with this paragraph:
The importance... Read more
NTU Helps Roll Out Sunset Caucus
Posted by NTU Gov - June 19, 2009
NTU staffers pose at Sunset Caucus rally.
On Wednesday June 17, 2009, several NTU staffers helped roll out the Republican Study Committee's brand new "Sunset Caucus... Read more
Man Made Drought in California
Posted by NTU Gov - June 19, 2009
Sean Hannity recently aired an ... Read more
Updates from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - June 19, 2009
#1: Californians consider a flat tax.
#2: State government revenues from personal income taxes fall by $28.8 billion.
#3: Texans lower business taxes.... Read more
Stop a Sneaky Tax Hike in Delaware
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 18, 2009
Click here to take action!
The federal government is committed to showering the state of Delaware with hundreds of millions of dollars in "stimulus," bailing out politicians intent on perpetual and unsustainable spending growth. Yet those same politicians in Dover insist that the only way to dig the state out of recession is to increase taxes, ignoring decades of evidence to the contrary.
The Del... Read more
Taxing the Top
Posted by NTU Gov - June 18, 2009
Our friend, Curtis Dubay, over at the Heritage Foundation recently published a paper on the potential economic consequences of this Administration’s tax policies. His paper, entitled “Income Tax Will Become More Progressive Under Obama Tax Plan,” highlights President Obama’s 2010 budget and how it will significantly increase the tax burden on upper-income taxpayers and millions of small business owners over the next decade. Additionally, Dubay ... Read more
Fair and Balanced?
Posted by Jordan Forbes - June 17, 2009
It looks like President Obama will get even more prime-time to promote his political agenda on network television. It has been reported that ABC will turn its programming over to the President on the night of June 24 for a special - 'Prescription for America' - that will center on the Administration's controversial health care plan. The one-hour telecast will be set up as a town-hall discussion, with a question and answer portion of the program; ... Read more
Now IRS Wants to Repeal Cellphone Tax
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 17, 2009
According to the Wall Street Journal:
IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman on Tuesday asked Congress to repeal the 20-year-old law to ensure that neither companies nor workers will be subject to taxes for employees' personal use of work cellphones.
The request is a turnabout from last week, when the IRS proposed measures to improve enforcement of the la... Read more
Google Quotation of the Day
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 16, 2009
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. - Thomas Jefferson... Read more
Trouble at AmeriCorps
Posted by Demian Brady - June 15, 2009
By any rational standard of acceptable roles of government, AmeriCorps, the federal "paid volunteer" program, is itself a huge waste of money. But AmeriCorps' own inspector general, Gerald Walpin, found examples of abuse within the program that even meet the federal government's definition of waste. Feathers were ruffled on the board that oversees AmeriCorps. Then last week, Mr. Walpin got a call from the Special Counsel to the President for Eth... Read more
More "Monuments to Me"
Posted by Demian Brady - June 15, 2009
Andy Roth at the Club for Growth blogged about an effort to ban "monuments to me" in appropriations bills this year. These are earmarks for programs named for politicians, such as the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center.
NTU Foundation frequently comes across proposals to create or fund such monuments in our review of legislation for ... Read more
Novel Idea
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 11, 2009
Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska, a first-termer who has shown real promise thus far into his tenure, is introducing the Free Enterprise Act. It contains a simple (and terrific) idea: requiring Congressional approval for release of TARP funds that would end up with government owning shares of a business. Too bad Congress didn't think of that when drafting TARP, huh?
Johanns, BTW, wasn't around when that abomination was passed, and he's been ... Read more
Misery in New Jersey
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 11, 2009
From the New Jersey Taxpayers Alliance:
According to a new index unveiled Tuesday by the New Jersey Taxpayers Association (NJTA) New Jersey is the most miserable of states as it pertains to a rapidly growing tax burden and debt, runaway spending and soaring unemployment.
The group's new metric - the Misery Index - reveals New Jersey's misery has grown by nearly 25 percent since 2005, the year before Governor Corzine took office, ... Read more
IRS Considering Cell Phone Tax
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 11, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports that "The IRS is weighing a proposal to deem one-quarter of employees' use of work cellphones as personal use and therefore subject to tax as a fringe benefit." Give it a read, and then make sure the next time that you call home that you use a landline.
... Read more
Nationalized Medicine Threatens Women's Health
Posted by NTU Gov - June 10, 2009
The fact that the current health care system in America leaves some people uninsured is an accepted one. No one is denying that each year the inability to access medical care results in missed diagnoses and preventable deaths. But nationalizing health care in order to cover all US citizens, á la the plans of the current administration, would only necessitate the rationing of treatment, further reducing the number of patients receiving adequate a... Read more
C-SPAN Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 10, 2009
Just caught a few minutes of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin speaking about health care reform on the Senate floor. You have to give Durbin credit. He can weave together a straw man with the best of them. This morning he was challenging Republicans who are opposed to the health care bill to come to the floor and defend the insurance companies because Republicans want "no change" in the current system. (On a tangent, I wonder who is more popular ... Read more
TARP - A Big (Really, Really Big) Mistake
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 10, 2009
An appropriately titled column ("The $787 Billion Mistake") on TARP at Forbes.com.
... Read more
Representative Pitts Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 10, 2009
Monday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Joe Pitts (R-PA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Pitts’ eighth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Representative Westmoreland Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 10, 2009
Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Westmoreland’s fourth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Oh Canada
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 09, 2009
Dr. David Gratzer, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has a troubling piece on the Canadian health care system in today's Wall Street Journal. Earlier this morning New York Senator Chuck Schumer was on on the floor of the Senate saying that a "public option" in health care reform legislation was to be a check on private insurance companies because no o... Read more
Transparency Has Arrived in Colorado
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 08, 2009
Last Thursday CO Gov. Bill Ritter signed HB 1288, which will implement an online searchable database of all state government revenues and expenditures. Taxpayers in Colorado will now have easy access to detailed information about how their money is being spent. The Governor should be commended for embracing the bill and abandoning his previous proposal, a considerably w... Read more
"Bailout" for Transportation Agencies?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 05, 2009
CQ.com is reporting the following: "Passenger rail and bus advocates are pressing conferees on the war supplemental bill to include a Senate-passed provision that would allow public transit agencies to spend some of their stimulus dollars on operating expenses, instead of capital improvements." According to the article, transit agencies received $8.4 billion in stimulus funds.
Does this not sou... Read more
Representative Price Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 05, 2009
Thursday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Price's third award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Representative Culberson Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 05, 2009
Thursday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Culberson's s second award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Representative Foxx Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 05, 2009
Thursday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for her consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Foxx's third award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Representative Barrett Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 05, 2009
Thursday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan and Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp presented Congressman J. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Barrett's sixth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Senator Enzi Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 05, 2009
Tuesday, President Duane Parde and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan presented Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Sen. Enzi's eighth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Senator Kyl Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - June 05, 2009
Tuesday, President Duane Parde and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan presented Senator Jon Jyl (R-AZ) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Sen. Kyl's fourteenth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Shocking: Sugar Cartel Opposes Sugar Imports
Posted by Demian Brady - June 05, 2009
In a previous blog post, Jeff Dircksen wrote about cartels working to raise barriers to competition. That reminded me of a press release I saw earlier this week from the American Sugar Alliance with this headline:Study Sh... Read more
The Tax Code is Soooo Complicated...
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 05, 2009
How complicated you might ask? It's so complicated that in the future only specially approved experts will be able to interpret it for the masses. Rather than seeking ways to make the Tax Code less complicated and less burdensome to comply with, the IRS is considering requiring paid tax preparers to be licensed by the government, according to the Wall Street Jour... Read more
Bartlett Jumps on the VAT Bandwagon
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 05, 2009
Forbes.com columnist Bruce Bartlett has jumped on the "we need a VAT" bandwagon with a piece that has this subhead "A money machine that conservatives shouldn't oppose." Bartlett writes:
The irony is that the VAT is probably the ideal tax from a conservative point of view. As a broad-based tax on consumption it creates le... Read more
Earmarks: Diverse and Resilient
Posted by Demian Brady - June 04, 2009
Andy Roth at the Club for Growth and NTU's Jeff Dircksen each noted a few of the pork projects in the House Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee's official list of earmarks. Here's more frui... Read more
Murtha Earmark Project to Live On
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 04, 2009
The National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown, PA, which has been at the center of earmark controversies involving Congressman John Murtha will live on. Last month The Hill reported that the Obama administration supported the program and was working to find it a "permanent funding source." While it might no... Read more
Federal Truck Stops
Posted by Demian Brady - June 04, 2009
I was unaware that the government spends $6.5 million on truck parking facilities which are in competition with private truck stops. This was one of the items proposed for elimination in a document released today by House Republicans.
As Tad DeHaven of CATO points out, the cuts... Read more
Reid Cracks the Whip
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 04, 2009
From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned senators todayto expect a "very long hard work period" in July, with the chamber expected to plunge into debate on legislation overhauling the nation's health care system.
Typically, the heaviest work days on Capit... Read more
US House Office Expenses To Be Posted Online!
Posted by Keith Capp - June 04, 2009
Back in February, NTU produced a short YouTube video calling on the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the US House of Representatives to post House spending reports online. Yesterday, Speaker Pelosi wrote to the CAO requesting that he post House office expense reports online! The CAO’s office has stated that the expense reports will be posted by August 31 in PDF fo... Read more
NTU's Pete Sepp on Fox Business Network
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - June 03, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp appeared on Fox Business Network's "America's Nightly Scoreboard" last night to discuss what individual states pay in federal taxes compared to how much they get back in federal spending.
... Read more
Looking Out for Our "Investment"
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - June 03, 2009
Following on Ross's post from yesterday regarding Government Motors, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin wants to protect "our" investment. From CQ.com:
"I have some concerns about things that have been expressed in bankruptcy courts, and I’m going to explore those," Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin told reporters, referring t... Read more
Back to the...uhh...Past
Posted by Andrew Moylan - June 02, 2009
I recently blogged about a new health care proposal introduced by Senators Coburn and Burr and Representatives Ryan and Nunes. While it was promoted as a conservative alternative to government-run health care proposals emanating from the left, one of the most prominent health experts on the free-market side of the world raised some serious questions. Michael Cannon, an... Read more
Government Motors
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - June 02, 2009
For those of you interested in my view on GM's bankruptcy and the future emergence of Government Motors, please see my article at HumanEvents.com. (My agreement with Human Events does not permit me to post the text of the article here.)see “GM Bankrupt: Obama Takes Over", Ross Kaminsky, HumanEvents.com, 6/1/09 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32085... Read more
$200 Million to Save the Republic ... from Bed Bugs!
Posted by Demian Brady - June 02, 2009
Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) has sponsored the Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act. The bill would create a four year $200 million Bed Bug Inspection Grant Program.
Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.... Read more
Tax Collectors Unite!
Posted by Demian Brady - June 02, 2009
The OECD has a report titled "Tax collectors worldwide to co-operate in revenue-raising to offset fiscal deficits."
A a two-day meeting, tax commissioners also discussed ways that the advanced countries "can help emerging economies to improve tax-collecting capacity and capabilities which will enhance the fiscal capacity of their govern... Read more
A Magical Ferry Land
Posted by Demian Brady - June 02, 2009
The government has quite a track record in transportation. The feds have been losing money in the train business for years and is currently busy branching out into the auto industry. What else could the government do to help us get from one place to another? Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Patty Murray (both Democrats from the state of Washington) have introduced the United States Ferry Systems Investment Act (... Read more
NTU Confirms John Stossel to Speak at 2009 Conference
Posted by Jordan Forbes - June 01, 2009
We are thrilled to announce that award-winning news correspondent John Stossel will speak at our June 11-13 National Taxpayers Conference in Washington, DC. A co-host for ABC’s 20/20, Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club.
Stossel remains an influential advocate for smaller go... Read more
Nevada Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 01, 2009
Gov. Jim Gibbons took a principled stand against a $781 million tax hike passed with the help of some squishy GOP Senators last month, vetoing it promptly. Needing a two-thirds vote to override his veto, five Senate Republicans broke ranks with the supposed party of small government and ... Read more
Gov. Brewer Spends $$$ to Lobby for Tax Hikes
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 01, 2009
Arizona is staring down a $3 billion budget deficit, and has until the end of this month to sort it out. Taxpayers, once cheering the departure of Janet Napolitano to Washington, are stuck with Gov. Jan Brewer (R) as her replacement.
I've written about tax-hiking GOP governors before, but neglected to add Brewer to the list. She has bee... Read more
New Automobile Voucher Act
Posted by Demian Brady - June 01, 2009
Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) introduced the New Automobile Voucher Act of 2009. Under the bill, vouchers worth $5,000 would be redeemable toward the purchase of a new car. The program would be run by Treasury. Price tag of the legislation: $75 billion.
This tops Sen. Feinstein's "Cash for Cl... Read more
Quinncome Tax Hike Fails in Illinois
Posted by Joshua Culling - June 01, 2009
Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed 50 percent income tax hike failed in the House yesterday by a healthy 32 vote margin. Under Rod Blagojevich, politicians in Springfield spent themselves into an $11.6 billion hole. Rather than deal with state government's perpetual frivolity, Quinn chose to soak the taxpayers.
Perhaps the only good thing to come out... Read more
Highlights from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - May 29, 2009
#1: Minnesotans brainstorm about repairing the ruins.
#2: How the recession impacts firefighters.
#3: ... Read more
Health Care Alternatives
Posted by Andrew Moylan - May 29, 2009
Our good friends at the Cato Institute posted an update on the Coburn-Burr-Ryan-Nunes health care proposal. Cato’s health care guru Michael Cannon discussed what the bill would entail:
•Mandate that states create a new regulatory bureaucracy called a "State Health Insurance Exchange,"
•Mandate that all p... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 29, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
States Fight Back Against EFCA and Card Check
Posted by NTU Gov - May 29, 2009
Our friend Brian Johnson at the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) has posted an update on the grassroots effort to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Sixteen state legislatures have introduced resolutions opposing the measure, with eight of the resolutions having passed at least one chamber.
EFCA, als... Read more
Free Our Health Care
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 28, 2009
Check out this Free Our Health Care Petition. Because remember boys and girls, when health care is "free" you're going to be paying out your nose for it.... Read more
I Guess He's Not All Bad
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 28, 2009
It'd be tough to call British PM Gordon Brown a free market crusader. But bully to Gordon Brown for penning this fabulous column in the Wall Street Journal in which he argues:
There can be no recovery in the global economy without a revival of world trade. Trade was the driver of postwar recovery in Japan, Germany, the rest of Europe and the U.S., ... Read more
"Sin" Taxes Hurt Sinners and Saints Alike
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - May 28, 2009
NTU State Government Affairs Manager Josh Culling breaks down so-called "sin" taxes -- small, targeted excise taxes on goods such as cigarettes and alcohol -- in the June 2009 issue of Townhall Magazine. Lawmakers in many of the 45 states facing budget shortfalls through fiscal year 2010 are eyeing sin taxes as a politically convenient way to raise the most revenue f... Read more
An Open Letter to the Vermont Legislature: Cigarette Taxes Are No Way Out of the Budget Hole
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 28, 2009
March 28, 2009
Dear Legislator:
On behalf of the taxpayers and small business owners of Vermont, over 1,000 of whom belong to the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I urge you to oppose any increase in the cigarette tax. As our 360,000 members in other states can attest, such a proposal is the exact opposite of what Vermont needs in the midst of a painful recession. The Legislature’s 25-cent-per-pack tax increase and Gov. Douglas’ 45-cent-per... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - May 28, 2009
In this week's RedCounty.com podcast, "The Taxpayer's Turn," we discuss the $2 trillion climate tax making its way toward the House floor. Listen below:
... Read more
What do to when no one likes your $3.2 billion tax hike plan
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - May 28, 2009
If you're Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, you propose an even BIGGER tax hike!
That's right -- after taxpayers said "no way" to Quinn's $3.2 billion income tax hike plan, he comes back with new proposal to take $4 billion from families and businesses.
... Read more
An Open Letter to NV GOP Senators: Uphold Gov. Gibbons' Veto of Tax Increases
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 27, 2009
The following letter was sent to Sen. Minority Leader Bill Raggio and four other GOP Senators who broke ranks with the party and voted for a $781 million tax increase in Nevada. Gov. Gibbons will veto the tax increases tomorrow, but we need four of the five Republicans who voted for the tax increase to reverse course, or the veto will be overturned.
****
May 28, 2009
Sen. William Raggio
Nevada Senate
401 South Carson Street, Room 216... Read more
Tax Foundation on NJ Gubernatorial Tax Plans
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 27, 2009
The New Jersey gubernatorial primary takes place next Tuesday, and there is plenty of work to be done to get the state's economy back on track. Joe Henchman at the Tax Foundation has authored analyses of the tax plans of current Gov. Jon Corzine as well as those of GOP candidates Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan.... Read more
The Ethics of Layoffs
Posted by Demian Brady - May 27, 2009
Randy Cohen, the New York Times' staff "ethicist," has a piece today examining the morality of mass layoffs. The gist is that since employees are dependent upon their employers, companies that downsize have an obligation to ensure that federal assistance programs are "robustly funded." If Caterpillar is to relegate legions of employ... Read more
Retroactive Tax Hikes in Some States
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 26, 2009
Forbes.com has a troubling piece on states that raised taxes retroactively. Here are the opening paragraphs:
So you've filed your 2008 tax return and were hoping you wouldn't have to talk to (or pay) your tax accountant for a while. Bad news: If you live in California, New York or Hawaii, you might n... Read more
"Soak the Rich" Taxes Hitting MD Middle-Class
Posted by Keith Capp - May 26, 2009
What was the result of Maryland’s tax increase on those making over $1 million a year? Maryland is taking in considerably less tax revenue then the legislature projected! The Wall Street Journal writes: One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed ... Read more
This Week's NTU Web Poll
Posted by Keith Capp - May 26, 2009
Take NTU’s short web poll on the best state transparency websites!Here are the links to the state transparency websites: KansasMissouri... Read more
Discounted Conference Hotel Rate Extended to May 29
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - May 26, 2009
The discounted room rate of $169 for National Taxpayers Conference 2009 has been extended to this Friday, May 29. Be sure to take advantage of this deal soon -- register for National Taxpayers Conference 2009 and contact the Hyatt Regency Crystal City (... Read more
My Representatives are Lousier Than Your Representatives
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 26, 2009
Our pals across the pond are riled up by the corruption of their Members of Parliament. If you want to feel better about the folks you elected (or are just really into schadenfreude) be sure to check out this clip of MP Andrew MacKay's constitutents take him to task at a town meeting after it came to light that he and his wife (another MP) abused their h... Read more
Our Problem Is Our Solution Isn't Enough Like Our Problem
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 23, 2009
Well, we are out of money now. We are operating in deep deficits, not caused by any decisions we've made on health care so far. This is a consequence of the crisis that we've seen and in fact our failure to make some good decisions on health care over the last several decades.
So we've got a short-term problem, which is we had to spend a lot of money to salvage our financial system, we had to deal with the auto companies, a huge r... Read more
Who Elects These People?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 22, 2009
Last night Congress had a vote on funding John Murtha's personal DC shuttle (paid for, by you, to the tune of $200 million). And I know this is going to shock you, but they voted to keep shoveling your tax dollars (an "aye" vote is to cut off funding) on an ai... Read more
Rep. Jordan Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Today, V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (left) and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (right) presented Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Jordan's second award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Senator Bunning Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Wednesday, President Duane Parde presented Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Sen. Bunning's seventh award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Senator DeMint Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Tuesday, President Duane Parde (left) and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (right) presented Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Sen. DeMint's ninth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Blackburn Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for her consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Blackburn's fifth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Nunes Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Tuesday, V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (left) and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (right) presented Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Nunes' first award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Marchant Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Marchant's first award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Sensenbrenner Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 21, 2009
Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and Federal Government Affairs Manager Jordan Forbes (right) presented Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Rep. Sensenbrenner has collected a very impressive 17 awards!
Congratulations.
... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - May 21, 2009
Pete and I discuss the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009 in NTU's weekly RedCounty.com podcast, "The Taxpayer's Turn." Airline passengers could be subject to an additional $2 billion per year in taxes. Listen below:
... Read more
Medicare and Colonoscopies, an example of National Health care?
Posted by Keith Capp - May 21, 2009
Do you wonder what is going to happen if we have a nationalized health care plan like Medicare and Medicaid? Well, most likely it will lead to cuts in covered procedures or stifle the growth of new forms of treatment as the health care program attempts to control costs. Recently the Wall Street Journal wrote, All this is merely a preview of ... Read more
"The best fiscal news out of California in 30 years"
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 21, 2009
That's what the Wall Street Journal says about Tuesday's special election results. What happened roughly 30 years ago in the Golden State? The passage of Proposition 13, which capped property taxes, insti... Read more
There They Go again XXXII
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 20, 2009
Another in an ongoing series intended to highlight the actions of legislators/governmental officials/bureaucrats/do-gooders who want to expand the nanny state in an attempt to improve your life.
According to the New York Daily News:
Senate Democrats want to impose ... Read more
California Voters Voice Outrage
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 20, 2009
The results are finalized in California, and taxpayers finally took a stand. Propositions 1A through 1E were soundly defeated last night. Here's a rundown:
Proposition 1A would have been the most damaging to taxpayers, as it would extend tax hikes on sales, income, and vehicles for two years, to the tune of $16 billion. It was disguised as a spendin... Read more
California Voters Either Apathetic or Angry
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 19, 2009
Californians go to the polls today to vote on a package of budget measures consisting of a variety of tax hikes and debt increases. Proposition 1A is the most serious measure, as it would impose a $16 billion tax hike on Californians, masked by a weak spending limit.
It's just before 2:00 out West, and according to the LA Times, voter turnout has... Read more
House Marks Up Cap & Trade Bill
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 19, 2009
The House Energy and Commerce Committee's mark up of H.R. 2454, the cap and trade bill, is currently on hold while committee members vote on the floor. The mark up will continue after the floor votes are concluded. Why not take advantage of this break and let your Members of Congress know how you feel about cap & trade? Speak out on behalf of taxpayers today!
... Read more
Epstein on "Vigorous" Antitrust
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 19, 2009
University of Chicago law professor Richard A. Epstein has a piece at Forbes.com on Christine Varney's ,the new Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, push for "vigorous" antitrust enforcement. It's worth a read.
... Read more
The Climate Collaborators
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - May 18, 2009
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and socialist “climate adviser” Carol Browner recently met with members of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), companies who are angling for “free” CO2 emission permits for themse... Read more
"By The Time the Great Depression Hits We're in Trenton, NJ"
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 16, 2009
Yet another great way to illustrate the spending spree we experienced over the past nine years (and certifiable orgy of spending we've experienced over the past five months). It's the great generational theft roadtrip:
... Read more
Education Secretary on "Listening Tour"
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 15, 2009
Here's something I never thought that I would write in this space: thanks NEA! This week's NEA Education Insider reports that "U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has embarked on a cross-country 'listening tour.'" Who knew? You can learn about the Secretary's trip to Detroit on the the Department's blog.
According to the Department's ... Read more
Ethanol Industry Struggling
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 15, 2009
MarketWatch.com has article detailing the financial woes of the ethanol industry. I found this observation interesting:
But the industry remains beholden to federal rules, which essentially forged the market through a combination of mandated production volumes, tax credits doled out to refiners, and high hopes that ethanol ... Read more
Cap & Trade -- Coming Soon to Your Wallet
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 15, 2009
According to the New York Times:
House Democrats have reached agreement on several key pieces of a major climate change and energy bill, including a national renewable electricity standard, greenhouse gas emissions limits for 2020 and the distribution of valuable emissions credits to electric uti... Read more
McCain, Blackburn, Price & Moore
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 15, 2009
Senator John McCain, Representatives Marsha Blackburn and Tom Price, M.D., and Moore -- yes, Steve Moore -- will be speaking at National Taxpayers Conference 2009! You can check out the list of other great speakers here. Don't miss your chance to hear all of them!
National Taxpayers Conference 2009 will June 11-13, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel at Reaga... Read more
Don't Be a Flake?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 14, 2009
Jack Murtha's ethics problems are legendary. The liberal group CREW has labeled him one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress.
Murtha has also been the target of a string of recent ethics questions. The Washington Post has ... Read more
Senator Inhofe Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 14, 2009
Today, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and President Duane Parde (right) presented Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Sen. Inhofe has won this award 11 times.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Bachmann Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 14, 2009
Today, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for her consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Bachmann's second award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Shadegg Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 14, 2009
Today, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Rep. Shadegg has won this award 13 out of 14 times!
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Hensarling Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 14, 2009
On Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Rep. Hensarling had the 5th highest rating among House Members and collected his fifth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Royce Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 14, 2009
On Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Rep. Royce has won this award 15 times out of his 16 years in Congress!
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Linder Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 14, 2009
On Tuesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. John Linder (R-GA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Linder’s 4th award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - May 14, 2009
If the Trustees of Medicare sound an alarm in the forest (or halls of the Capitol) and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Time will tell -- but not much time, as Pete and I discuss in this week's NTU podcast on RedCounty.com, "The Taxpayer's Turn." Listen below for more:
... Read more
John McCain to Speak at National Taxpayers Conference
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 13, 2009
Senator John McCain will speak on Friday, June 12th, at National Taxpayers Conference 2009. McCain, who has won multiple Taxpayers Friend Awards from NTU, will speak during Friday morning's opening session. More information about Taxpayers Conference 2009, visit our ... Read more
Perdue Follows in the Footsteps of Republican Failure
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 13, 2009
With a large number of states considering tax hikes to balance their budgets, I looked at Georgia as a state with an opportunity to pass real pro-growth legislation. Rep. Tom Graves introduced the JOBS Act, which would have cut the capital gains tax in half and phased out the corporate inco... Read more
What's the Upside to Keeping You Alive?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 12, 2009
We conservatives often debate national health care (or socialized health care, if you prefer) by talking about increased costs, reduced quality of care, waiting lines, and lack of freedom. And those are all good arguments against nationalizing the health care system.
Today in the Senate Finance Committee, however, Prof Stuart Altman reminded us of the most important reason to oppose government health care: When Uncle Sam is picking up the ta... Read more
A Soda Tax? What will they think of next?
Posted by Keith Capp - May 12, 2009
It has a different name depending on where you are. If you are in Wisconsin its soda, in other states pop, and in the South its Coke. Regardless of its name you might be paying more for the can of soda, if you want a cold beverage on a hot summer day. US Senate leaders are considering creating a new federal tax on sodas and other sugary drinks to fund the Democrats and Obama’s expansion of health care. The ... Read more
CA deficit projections continue to climb
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 12, 2009
Gov. Schwarzenegger told the Legislature on Monday that the budget deficit could reach $21.3 billion. News flash: It "could reach" a number much higher than that, as some estimates have put the future shortfall at $60 billion.
Voters will be asked to approve more tax increases in a May 19th special election, which will take a small bite out of the deficit, putting it at $15.4 b... Read more
Taking a short drive or stopping on the way home. . . .
Posted by Keith Capp - May 12, 2009
In March 2008, I blogged about the sales tax increase in Chicago (Cook County, IL) and the potential savings someone could make by just driving North through Lake County, IL and up into Kenosha, WI. Well, it turns out I was right about what was going to happen. Poor residents are repressively taxed because it is difficult for them to shop in the suburbs. Small busines... Read more
J to the C on Hawaii Taxes
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 11, 2009
I had the misfortune of being sent on a business trip to Honolulu two weeks ago (HA!). While there, I sat down with Tom McAuliffe of the Grassroot Institute to talk about tax policy in the Aloha State. You can find the podcast here.
... Read more
Reserve Your Room Today!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 11, 2009
National Taxpayers Conference 2009 will be June 11-13 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City right outside Washington, DC. We've secured great room rates from the Hyatt (singles and doubles for just $169 a night; triples for $194, and quads for $219), but those great rates end May ... Read more
A reason for holding corporate income abroad
Posted by Keith Capp - May 11, 2009
Saturday, the Chicago Tribune had a great editorial about the original reasoning behind allowing corporations to defer taxes on overseas revenue. Here is an excerpt from their editorial:
Most countries don't tax their companies' foreign profits -- and most hav... Read more
Staggering Stat of the Day
Posted by Demian Brady - May 11, 2009
From ABC News:For the current year, the government would borrow 46 cents for every dollar it takes to run the government under the administration's plan.... Read more
What Comes Next?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 11, 2009
I was at my local car dealer this morning watching Fox News when they reported that the federal budget deficit is expected to top $1.8 trillion. A gentleman on the sales floor asked one of the salesmen, "What comes after a trillion?" Well, here's the mathematical answer -- a quadrillion. The taxpayer answer -- higher taxes, much higher taxes.
... Read more
Rep. Mack Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 11, 2009
Last Thursday, V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (left) and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (right) presented Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Mack's first award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Broun Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 11, 2009
Last Thursday, V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (left) and Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (right) presented Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Finishing third among House Members, Rep. Broun received his first award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Flake Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 11, 2009
Last Thursday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. Rep. Flake received the number 1 rank among House Members, scoring a 98%. This is his eighth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Stearns Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 08, 2009
On Wednesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (center) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Stearn's seventh award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Deal Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 08, 2009
On Wednesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Deal's fifth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Rep. Garrett Presented with Taxpayers' Friend Award
Posted by NTU Gov - May 08, 2009
On Wednesday, Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan (left) and V.P. for Communications Pete Sepp (right) presented Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) with NTU's Taxpayers' Friend Award for his consistent support of lower taxes and limited government. This is Rep. Garrett's sixth award.
Congratulations.
... Read more
Google & Healthcare Costs
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 08, 2009
Was just reading an article about Google's annual shareholder meeting and noticed this:
The other proposal, in support of universal health, was made by Brandon Rees, representing the AFL-CIO labor union and was also voted down.
While noting Google and other big U.S. companies, such as IBM, McDonald'... Read more
No Pats on the Back Yet
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 08, 2009
President Obama promised us he's going to make "hard choices" to cut waste out of the federal budget. I'll give him a gold star for wanting to make a tough choice. But did he?
Head budget honcho Peter Orszag unveiled $17 billion in proposed cuts to the f... Read more
Someone who gets it: Mike Johanns
Posted by Andrew Moylan - May 07, 2009
Time and time again, earmarks have gotten Members of Congress into trouble. Some have ended up in jail, some have been voted out of office, some have been disgraced (but remain in office). Despite all of that, many Members of Congress and many Republicans continue to ask for earmarks. Those people don't get it.
Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE), a freshman, gets it. He has... Read more
Medical Records Held for Ransom
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - May 07, 2009
Last month I blogged about an article at Forbes.com on electronic medical records. This was the opening sentence to the Forbes article: "Digitizing medical data is easy. Using it to improve care will be hard." Apparently, stealing them might be easy too. According to ... Read more
The Administration's Savings Proposals
Posted by Demian Brady - May 07, 2009
The Administration has finished its "line-by-line review" of the government and has proposed to cut $17 billion -- 1/2 of 1 percent -- from the FY2010 $3.4 trillion budget. One hopes this was just a first run through, perhaps hastily done because of staffing shortages.
A 113-page document with further information is available as a pdf.
By contrast, Bush... Read more
Would the government pass a stress test?
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - May 06, 2009
Check out the results.
... Read more
Getting Paid to do Nothing
Posted by Christy Paavola - May 06, 2009
In a time when thousands of people are losing their jobs each week, some teachers in Los Angeles are literally being paid to do nothing. The L.A. Unified School District is spending roughly $10 million a year to pay 160 teachers to sit around while it is being determined whether or not they are fit to teach. This is the same dist... Read more
SC Senate Democrat Leader: Cigarette Tax Hike "Wastes Money"
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 06, 2009
We've been on record against the 714 percent cigarette tax increase in South Carolina, and now the top Democrat in the Senate has joined us. John Land, the Senate Minority Leader, will not support the tax increase... Read more
HI Gov. Lingle Invites Public to Veto Ceremony
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 06, 2009
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has invited the public to a ceremony at the State Capitol tomorrow celebrating her veto of a variety of tax hikes recently passed by the Legislature. A release from the Governor's office:
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle is inviting members of the public to join her at the State Capitol Rotun... Read more
New Book about the Tea Party Movement
Posted by Demian Brady - May 06, 2009
Bruce Bexley has written The Tea Party Movement: Why It Started, What It's About, and How You Can Get Involved.The book is a defense of the Tea Party movement. I trace its historical and ideological foundations, refute the movement's detractors, and suggest where the protests might lead.Available on ... Read more
I Give it a Week
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 06, 2009
After this, how long before Snarlin' Arlen makes a dramatic speech about how he became an Obama Democrat but since then the Democrat party has moved too far to the left and became intolerant of moderates? ... Read more
Spending Transparency on the Way in Colorado
Posted by Joshua Culling - May 05, 2009
It's been a long, hard fight, but HB 1288 has passed in Colorado. An email from Rep. BJ Nikkel, the bill's sponsor:
House just gave final passage to HB1288. 65-0 the amendments simply wrapped the Exec
Order into the bill while retaining the substance of my bill language. We also
dropped the fiscal note to 0 because of tying it into the EO.
We at NTU are proud to have played a role in seeing this bill through to Gov... Read more
Obama's "Tax Havens" Proposal: Fresh Hell for American Businesses
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - May 05, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp released the following analysis today of Obama's plan to shut down so-called "tax havens":
President Obama's proposal to shut down or cut back what he calls "tax havens" is aimed at the wrong target during the worst possible time.
America's tax system already inflicts a great deal of harm on busine... Read more
Lofty Revenue Projections Lead to Budget Shortfalls
Posted by NTU Gov - May 05, 2009
Ohio’s State Budget Director Pari Sabety held a press conference this morning delivering news that Ohio may have a $600-900 million budget shortfall with less than two months left in the fiscal year.
One might trace a portion of this shortfall back to February, recalling the 62-cents-a-pack federal tax hike, in hopes to increase revenue. It seems that just the opposite has occurred. A $129 million ... Read more
Sign the CITIZEN Pledge!
Posted by NTU Gov - May 05, 2009
Our Tertium Quids friends in Virginia are promoting a great effort:
___
Sign Tertium Quids' "RAISE MY TAXES - LOSE MY VOTE" pledge, make a strong statement to the politicians, and get your free bumper sticker!
TMG members,
At Tax Day Tea Parties in Charlottesville and Richmond Wednesday, Tertium Quids announced its new grassroots campaign to return the citizens of Virginia to their rightful role as Sovereigns (remember We ... Read more
Why Sir? Why?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 04, 2009
That's what DC parents ask President Obama in this ReasonTV video on the Obama administration's decision to kill the DC voucher program that's helped a couple thousand kids get a good education, improve test scores, and go to the same schools as the President's children:
... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Housing Bill Amendments
Posted by Andrew Moylan - May 04, 2009
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National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
NTU urges all Senators to vote “YES” on Amendments #1016 and #1026 to the Housing Bill, S. 896. Offered by Senators Vitter and DeMint, respectively, these amendments would add some sorely needed taxpayer protections to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which has been a miserable failure so far.
Senator Vitter's Amendment #1016 would simply allow banks ... Read more
No more bailouts, Br'er Durbin?!?
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - May 04, 2009
Last week brought a rare victory for the free markets and the sanctity of private contracts: By a 51-45 vote, the Senate defeated a measure championed by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin (Illinois) which would have allowed judges to reduce the principle amount of a mortgage on a primary residence during a bankruptcy proceeding. Twelve Democrats, including Arlen Specter, voted against the plan.
The idea was typical Democrat fare, representing a c... Read more
Goodbye Jack Kemp
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 03, 2009
Last night former Congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp passed away after a battle with cancer. Kemp was one of the great leaders of our time. He was the architect of the first Reagan tax cuts and was a tireless advocate for tax reform, school choice, free trade, and enterprise zones.
Kemp wasn't just a politici... Read more
Real Solutions in Nevada
Posted by Andrew Moylan - May 01, 2009
Much of the time, fiscal conservatives are forced to play defense to protect taxpayers from an ever-expanding government. That's why it's nice to see a group taking the initiative to put forward their own, positive solutions. The Nevada Policy Research Institute has done just that. They put together "Nevada's Freedom Budget", an alternative budget in... Read more
Don't Turn America Into Another France
Posted by Andrew Moylan - May 01, 2009
Our friends at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and Reason.TV have put together this terrific video warning of the dangers of the French model....
The economic model, not their first lady. She's not so bad.
... Read more
An Ominous Warning from GAO
Posted by Demian Brady - May 01, 2009
From The Nation's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook March 2009 Update:The longer that action to deal with the federal government's long-term fiscal outlook is delayed, the greater the risk that the eventual changes will be disruptive and destabilizing.... Read more
About that Moderate Health Care Plan...
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - May 01, 2009
During the campaign, then-candidate Obama said he offered a middle course on health care between evil right wingers and the Hillary/Canada cabal. Well, thanks to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), now we know the President's plan is a straight shot to socialized health care.
... Read more
Remember Obama's "tax cut"? Well, the IRS is going to want some of that back.
Posted by Demian Brady - May 01, 2009
AP: Taxpayers to get rude surpriseMillions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.
The government is going to want some of that money back.
The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to marrie... Read more
TweetIllinois.org Launched!
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - April 30, 2009
Today, the Illinois Policy Institute, the state’s leading free market think tank, announced the launch of TweetIllinois.org, a website designed to encourage better communication between legislators and constituents.
Tweet Illinois echoes the format of a successful national site, ... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Oppose Senate Cramdown, FDIC Borrowing Bills
Posted by Pete Sepp - April 30, 2009
The National Taxpayers Union distributed the following Vote Alert to all Senators earlier today:
NTU urges Senators to vote “NO” on S. 896, the so-called “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act,” as well as S. 895, the mortgage “cramdown” legislation that will likely be offered as an amendment.
In a report on House legislation that embodied many concepts of S. 895, the Congressional Budget Office noted that “Economists and bankruptcy expert... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 30, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
Quote of the Day
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 30, 2009
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink. -- George Orwell
... Read more
New NTU Poll: Tax Reform Choices
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 30, 2009
... Read more
An Unfortunate Four Decade Trend
Posted by Christy Paavola - April 29, 2009
According to the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores - a respected federal test - U.S. high school students still have not shown any significant progress in raising reading and math scores. This is the same news taxpayers have heard for the last four decades. The achievement gaps between white and minority students have decreased b... Read more
Pence to Speak at National Taxpayers Conference
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 28, 2009
Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana -- who has won multiple Taxpayers' Friend Awards from NTU -- will speak at National Taxpayers Conference 2009!
Other confirmed speakers include Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State; Matt Blunt, former Missouri Governor; James K. Glassman, author & former Under Secretary of State; and, David M. Walker, President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Don't forget: Early Bird Registra... Read more
Specter Switches Party
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 28, 2009
Pennsylvania Arlen Specter has announced that he will leave the Republican party and become a Democrat. Specter has said that he will not be a "party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans." The interesting question from our perspective is how might this affect taxpayers? The table below lists Senator Specter... Read more
NTU Vote Alert Against Budget Conference Resolution
Posted by Andrew Moylan - April 28, 2009
April 28, 2009
******************************************
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
NTU urges all Members to vote “No” on the Budget Resolution Conference Report (S. Con. Res. 13). Should the provisions of this plan be adopted, the national debt would double in less than a decade, small business employers and investors would suffer from higher taxes, families would see the return of the immoral and economically destructive death... Read more
Death Tax Reduction on Cutting Room Floor?
Posted by Andrew Moylan - April 27, 2009
Per our friends at the American Family Business Institute, the Kyl-Lincoln amendment reducing the death tax might be on the cutting room floor during final budget negotiations. The amendment would have permanently established a lower 35% rate (from the proposed 45%) and a higher exemption of $10 million (as opposed to $7 million).
After being just a few votes shy of full repeal a few ye... Read more
How Big is $100 Million
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 27, 2009
Brilliant explanation of how much that $100 million President Obama wants to cut out of the budget is:
... Read more
Busting Bank of America
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 27, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has a must read editorial on the absolute mess the Feds have made of the financial system, and specifically Hank Paulsen's scheme that nearly killed Bank of America. The money quote:
In the name of containing "systemic risk," our regulators spread it. In order to keep Mr. Lewis quiet, they all but ordered him to deceive his own shareholders. And in the name of restoring financial confidence, they have ... Read more
Sen. McCaskill No Fan of Tax Cuts
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 26, 2009
Missouri House Republicans have proposed using $1 billion of the federal stimulus package to cut state income taxes. The plan would reduce the top personal income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent. To be clear, that top rate kicks in at $9,000 of income, so this isn't exactly a "tax cut for the rich."
This is one of the... Read more
Electronic Medical Records
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 25, 2009
One supposed cost savings for the Federal government in years to come is digitizing health care records. Forbes.com has an interesting article on the subject. Here's the opening: "Digitizing medical data is easy. Using it to improve care will be hard."
... Read more
ABC on the Johnstown AirPork
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 24, 2009
ABC News has a must-see piece on John Murtha's Johnstown Airport (I've been, it's pretty classy, albeit deserted):
... Read more
Highlights from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - April 24, 2009
#1: State budget deficits bring tax hikes.
#2: Stimulate through rebate, Missouri style.
#3: Tax evasion isn't limited to federal appointees.... Read more
Shocker of the Day: the NEA Hates Vouchers
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 24, 2009
Today's NEA Education Insider contains the "R"- word. Yes, it's true, it actually says "Republican" -- more than once even. Anyway, the NEA seems to like Republicans as long as they also hate vouchers. Here's the item:
Check out “Republicans Opposing Voucher Efforts” Website
Republicans who support public education and oppose private school vouchers can express those views through a website at www.ROVE2009.org (Republicans Oppo... Read more
Rep. Dingell on Cap and Trade
Posted by Keith Capp - April 24, 2009
During today’s US House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment hearing on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) stated, Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax and it’s a great big one. Well, we here at NTU ... Read more
This is how you use stimulus dollars
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 24, 2009
Three cheers for the Show Me State. The Missouri House Republican caucus announced today that it will use $1 billion in federal stimulus to cut taxes. They will abandon millions of dollars in pet projects and new spending to do so. GOP lawmakers will look to cut the personal income tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent. A stimulus package that will actually hav... Read more
Schedule of Events for Taxpayers Conference '09 Is Available
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 24, 2009
The schedule of events for National Taxpayers Conference has been released. You can view the schedule online here or download it in PDF.
Be a part of the movement that's sweeping the nation -- "Tax Revolt 2.0"!... Read more
Electronic Medical Records
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 24, 2009
One supposed cost savings for the Federal government in years to come is digitizing health care records. Forbes.com has an interesting article on the subject. Here's the opening: "Digitizing medical data is easy. Using it to improve care will be hard."
... Read more
Early Bird Registration Ends April 30th!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 24, 2009
Early Bird Registration ends next week -- April 30th.
Don't miss your chance to attend National Taxpayers Conference for just $99. For more information visit our Conference information page. To register click here.... Read more
Bailouts and Bankruptcy
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 24, 2009
Now that Chrysler is preparing for Chapter 11, can someone explain to me why taxpayers had to spend billions to help them last an extra four months?
... Read more
NTU Vote Alert -- Health Care Freedom Motion on Budget Resolution
Posted by Pete Sepp - April 23, 2009
NTU distributed the following Vote Alert earlier today in favor of a motion affirming the right to health care freedom of choice:
NTU urges all Senators to vote YES on Senator DeMint’s Motion to Instruct regarding health care policy in the conference version of S. Con. Res. 13. Based on the budget blueprints that passed each chamber several weeks ago, we have little faith that the final package to which Confer... Read more
$200 million for an airport that has 6 flights a day!
Posted by Keith Capp - April 23, 2009
Representative John Murtha (PA-12) has done well for the airport that was named after him. In fact, Rep. Murtha has probably kept the commercial terminal of the airport open by providing over $200 million in earmarks for an airport that sees just 3 arrivals and 3 departures per day! Probably the most ridiculous project at John... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Support Senate Amendments to Limit TARP Bailout
Posted by Pete Sepp - April 23, 2009
NTU sent the following Vote Alert earlier today in support of Amendments offered on the Senate floor to limit the taxpayer-funded financial industry bailout:
As Senators undertake consideration of S. 386, NTU urges “YES” votes on amendments sponsored by Sens. DeMint, Ensign, Inhofe, and Vitter, which would establish badly needed limits and reforms on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Although many Mem... Read more
Keep that Tea Party Momentum Going at National Taxpayers Conference 2009!
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 23, 2009
The Tax Day tea parties are over. Now what?
There was a lot of grassroots buildup against big government and overspending in the weeks and months leading up to April 15. Can taxpayer activists maintain that momentum? National Taxpayers Conference 2009, to be held June 11-13 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, provides the perfect organizing opportunity for taxpayers to turn their frustra... Read more
State Spending Transparency News
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - April 22, 2009
This week's state spending transparency newsletter is available here.... Read more
Federal Government Spends $100 Million Every 15 Minutes
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 22, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy & Communications Pete Sepp discussed President Obama's calling for Cabinet members to cut $100 million from the federal budget. To put this in perspective:
"The federal government spends a total of $100 million approximately every 15 minutes of the year," Pete said. "What Mr. Obama is doing is basically telling his departments, 'Come up with enough spending cuts to give the taxpayers an extra 15 minutes.... Read more
Are You Unhinged?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 21, 2009
The head of the New Hampshire Democratic party had an interesting observation about Tea Party participants:
... Read more
Early Bird Registration Extended!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 21, 2009
The early bird registration for National Taxpayers Conference 2009 has been extended until April 30th! Check out our Conference information page here, or register here to take advantage of the Early Bird price discount.
... Read more
What does it cost to develop a state spending website?
Posted by Keith Capp - April 21, 2009
Question: What is the average cost for a state to develop a spending-transparency website?
A) $90,000
B) $140,000
C) $300,000
D) $750,000
E) 1,500,000
To place your answer: Select "Post Comment" and enter your answer into a comment. The correct answer is the first comment.
The Mercatus Center of George Mason University did a ... Read more
NTU Team Taxpayer Reports from the Tea Parties
Posted by Andrew Moylan - April 21, 2009
We texted NTU Team Taxpayer and asked them to relate their experiences at the Tea Parties across the country. We wanted to know where they were, how many were in attendance, and what the best signs were. Out of hundreds of responses, here are some of the most interesting comments...
"Huntsville, AL. Over 2500 people. Best sign ive seen at any te... Read more
I Guess It's A Start...
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 21, 2009
For those of you keeping track, the President's plan to cut $100 million from the federal budget, amounts to a grand 0.006% of the $1.75 trillion budget deficit.
To put that in perspective, economist Greg Mankiw compares it to cutting $3 from a $100,000 family budget (fancy Harvard professors can have a $100,000 family budget). Or to quot... Read more
Again, the case for CO HB 1288
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 20, 2009
Colorado Rep. BJ Nikkel (R-Berthoud) and Sen. Michael Knopp (R-Littleton) have an op-ed in Saturday's Coloradan that makes the case for HB 1288, the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act.
This legislation recently passed the House and is headed to the Senate. Similar legislation, SB 57, would have created a transparency database for public schools, and passed... Read more
Chart: Where your taxes go
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - April 20, 2009
Thanks to Ike from OccamsRazr.com for this fantastic link:
(Click on link or image to see larger version.)
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/5927/wallstatsdatlarge.jpg
... Read more
Patriots' Day
Posted by Demian Brady - April 19, 2009
Today is Patriots' Day, marking the battles of Lexington and Concord at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The Examiner has more information and two videos about reaffirming the Oath of the Constitution.
There is also an event scheduled in Lexington:
... Read more
More Tea Parties Scheduled for April 18
Posted by Demian Brady - April 18, 2009
The Tea Parties are still going on!
April 18:
Philadelphia, PA
12-2PM
The courtyard of what's now known as Independence Hall.
More info
Jacksonville, NC
5:30pm
Marina Cafe & Marina, 110 S Marine Blvd, Jacksonville, NC 28540
... Read more
Chicago Tea Party Photos
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - April 17, 2009
John Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute and I both had the amazing opportunity of addressing the 4,000 people who showed up to the Chicago Tea Party. Check out John's rousing speech to the crowd:
... Read more
MSNBC Doesn't Like You.
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 17, 2009
Last night on MSNBC Janeane Garofalo told the washed up sportscaster Tax Day Tea Party participants are racist. According to Garofalo:
Let's be very honest about what this is about. This is not about bashing Democrats. It's not about taxes. They have no idea what the Boston Tea party was about. Th... Read more
Tax Day Tea Party Turnout By State
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 16, 2009
While MSNBC and CNN were busy making obscene jokes, more than a quarter million Americans turned out for Tax Day Tea Parties.
The numbers aren't exact with countless tea parties, like the one held in my favorite place on earth (... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 16, 2009
Check out NTU's weekly RedCounty.com podcast, "The Taxpayer's Turn." This week's topic: tax-filing burdens. Listen below:
... Read more
Tax Day Dance Party?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 16, 2009
For all you Lady Gaga fans who happen to hate taxes, this is a must see (granted the kid is goofy, but it's still a pretty impressive parody):
... Read more
You Have a Ticket to Ride
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 16, 2009
According to CNN, the President has released a "blueprint for a new national network of high-speed passenger rail lines." According to the report:
[The] plan would be funded in part through the recently passed $787 billion stimulus plan, which includes a total of $8 billion for improvements in rail service. Obama has also proposed a separate five-year, ... Read more
DC Tea Party Update -- II
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 15, 2009
Another photo from DC's Tea Party courtesy of Patty Brady.
... Read more
Unsurprising Tax Day News
Posted by Keith Capp - April 15, 2009
For those of you who have followed the President’s proposed budget The Hill’s headline “Obama’s tax reckoning” is unsurprising. The Hill’s Walter Alarkson and Ian Swanson interviewed economists and found that: Many economists, including some who voted for Obama, do not believe that he can indefinitely avoid imposing ta... Read more
Sounds Good in Theory
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 15, 2009
From Reuters:
Seeking to tap into public exasperation with the tax system, Obama said: "We need to simplify a monstrous tax code that is far too complicated for most Americans to understand, but just complicated enough for the insiders who know how to work the system."
"It will take time to undo the damage of ye... Read more
iTunes Taxes Proliferating
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 15, 2009
Back in February, I posted about Wisconsin's Governor wanting his state to adopt an iTunes tax to help close an expected budget shortfall. Apparently, it's a tax that's spreading in popularity. A kind Government Bytes! reader -- Simon Owens -- has forwarded a rather troubling ... Read more
DC Tea Party Update
Posted by Demian Brady - April 15, 2009
There were supposed to be two Tea Parties in DC today but there was some kind of last minute problem with the permit for the site near the Treasury Department.
Attendance has been strong around the corner at the Lafayette Park.
(Photo by Patty Brady)
... Read more
Cartoon Blogging -- the Tax Day Edition
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 15, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
NTU Study: Individuals, Corporations Spend Nearly $300 Billion on Tax Compliance
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 14, 2009
NTU Released its 11th annual study of tax complexity trends today. Among the findings:
Taxpayers using any of the 1040 tax form series will spend an average of 26.4 hours and $209 completing their returns for the most current tax year, up from 25.4 hours and $185 four years ago.
Treasury Department paperwork, some 90 percent of which consists of pe... Read more
California's plight: There are no words
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 14, 2009
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Under current worst-case scenarios, including the failure of three budget-related measures on the May 19 special election ballot, lawmakers may be looking at a $14 billion budget shortfall.
Read the whole thing.... Read more
New Yorkers: What Would You Cut from the State Budget?
Posted by Demian Brady - April 14, 2009
The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, NY is soliciting budget advice for New York's Governor Patterson. ... Read more
Transparency on the docket in Colorado tomorrow
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 14, 2009
CO HB 1288, the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act, will be heard at 8:00 AM tomorrow in the House Appropriations Committee.
NTU has been active in supporting this legislation over Gov. Bill Ritter's Executive Order. The Governor's order has no teeth an... Read more
Cartoon Blogging -- the Tea Party Edition
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 14, 2009
HT: Tim Wise
As Andrew mentioned below, you can find Tea Parties in your area by visiting here or ... Read more
Mitt on Card Check
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 13, 2009
The Orwellian Employee Free Choice Act is generally opposed by folks like me because it would eliminate employee's right to the secret ballot when deciding whether to join a union. But a less frequently invoked reason to oppose the Employee Forced Choice Act is the mandatory arbitration clause.
Mitt Romney, who knows a thing or two about creating jobs, explains why the mandatory arbitration clause and elimination of secret ballot would be "ca... Read more
Coming to a town near you: Tea Party Revolts!
Posted by Andrew Moylan - April 13, 2009
DoomsTax Day is almost upon us and folks across the country are sounding off in opposition to runaway spending and bailouts by organizing taxpayer "Tea Parties." NTU has already helped to create several of these events in places like Nebraska and New Hampshire, but the Big Kahuna will be on Tax Day, this Wednesday the 15th. There will literally be hundreds of simultaneous events in towns nationwide with thousands of participant... Read more
MSNBC: 12-Year-Old Boys Think We're Hilarious!
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 13, 2009
Taxpayers across the country are fed up. We're mad about taxes. We're mad about spending. We're mad about bailouts, and pork, and sweetheart deals for the well-connected.
In response, taxpayers have come together at the grassroots to organize tea parties to protest Washington. Just this weekend, in my beloved Pittsburgh, thousands gathered for a tax protest. ... Read more
Note to Obama Cabinet: Tax Day is Coming
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 13, 2009
In light of all the trouble President Obama's cabinet nominees have been having paying their taxes, the folks over at the Young Conservatives Coalition put together a public service announcement reminding them that Tax Day applies to the well connected too.
... Read more
It's An Easter Miracle!
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 12, 2009
The DC Voucher Program has been a success. Test scores are up. Parents like their new schools. And the Department of Education knows it works.
So of course, the Obama Administration killed the program.
But in a minor Easter miracle, the Wa... Read more
Highlights from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - April 11, 2009
#1: State sales and income tax hikes appear likely.
#2: See who acts as your state's "stimulus czar" by clicking here.
#3: Taxes increase in New York.... Read more
More on NTU Rates Congress
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 11, 2009
Natasha already gave you some highlights from NTU's Congress Ratings. To help you dig into the numbers a bit more, here are a couple charts:
... Read more
Tax The Rich!
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - April 11, 2009
... Read more
NTU Talks "Sin Taxes" on Fox Business Network
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 10, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp discusses "sin taxes" -- those levied on politically incorrect behavior -- on Fox Business Network's "Money for Breakfast" this morning:
... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 10, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn, Week 4
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 09, 2009
As I wrote earlier, NTU released its 2008 Rating of Congress today. Pete and I discussed some of the findings on NTU's weekly RedCounty.com podcast, "The Taxpayer's Turn." Listen below:
... Read more
Some Commendable Ideas
Posted by Christy Paavola - April 09, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been championing a couple of education reform ideas lately that deserve attention. Earlier this week in Denver he conveyed his support for keeping children in school longer - six or seven days a week; 11, 12 months a year. Schools in many other countries, as well as charter schools in the United States, have longer school days and ... Read more
NTU Releases 2008 Rating of Congress
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 09, 2009
NTU released its 30th annual Rating of Congress today, which takes a look at every roll call vote affecting tax, spending, and regulatory issues. The 2008 Rating was based on 286 votes -- 182 in the House and 104 in the Senate -- in the second session of the 110th Congress (all of 2008).
Major findings:
In 2008, only 48 lawmakers attaine... Read more
Capitalism vs. Socialism
Posted by Demian Brady - April 09, 2009
Rasmussen has a disturbing poll claiming that just 53 percent of respondents believe that capitalism is better than socialism.
Perhaps there is a correlation with this data from the Tax Policy Center estim... Read more
State Spending Transparency News
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - April 08, 2009
News on state spending transparency is available here.... Read more
"Stimulus" Rewarding Failure
Posted by Demian Brady - April 08, 2009
The USA Today has an exclusive report on 61 housing agencies that have repeatedly failed audits but have been cleared anyway to get $300 million in "stimulus" funding:Congress gave the Obama administration permission to withhold stimulus aid from housing authorities that the Department of Housing and Urban Development lists as "trou... Read more
Spam Overwhelms Email
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 08, 2009
A "shocking" headline from the BBC: "Spam overwhelms e-mail messages". The report cites a Microsoft study that finds "97% of all e-mails sent over the net are unwanted." If only someone would pass a law. Oh, wait...nevermind.
... Read more
TPPF: Stimulus a job-killer in Texas
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 07, 2009
The Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report on the impact the stimulus package will have on the state's economy. The results don't look so good.
The report, "The Economic Impact of Federal Spending on State Economic Performance - A Texas Perspective", finds that the stimulus package would adversely effect the ... Read more
NTU Supports FL Consumer Choice and Protection Act
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 07, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp sent a letter to the Florida Legislature yesterday supporting the Florida Consumer Choice and Protection Act (HB 1465 in the House and SB 2626 in the Senate). Pete writes:
Florida's telecommunications market suffers from laws created years ago, before innovations such as fiber-optic networks and cable TV-b... Read more
Georgia HB 481 (JOBS Act) Passes House
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 06, 2009
Georgia HB 481, which phases out a number of taxes on business and job creation, passed the House of Representatives on Friday. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Tom Graves. From his press release, the bill includes the following:
Create a quarterly tax credit towards the unemployment insurance tax for each eligible employee hired. This credit would be ... Read more
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
Posted by Christy Paavola - April 03, 2009
My old boss, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, has summed up the Democrat's cap-and-trade plan I think best by declaring recently, "They seem to give people the impression that it's going to be a huge environmentally friendly free lunch. This lunch is not free."
It's funny how the Democrats fail to mention that this $646 billion plan w... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 03, 2009
HT: TaxGuru
... Read more
The Definition of Hubris?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 02, 2009
Wrapping up debate on the House budget resolution, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer just stated that during the last year of the Clinton administration "we created 1.9 million new jobs." (emphasis mine) We? I'm thinking that private companies -- large and small -- created those jobs, not Congress or the White House. Perhaps Members need to be reminded of that.
... Read more
Three Reasons Gov. Ritter's Transparency Order Doesn't Shed Light on Denver
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 02, 2009
Taxpayers in Colorado deserve to see where their hard-earned dollars are going, but the executive order signed by Gov. Bill Ritter (D) today would hardly achieve that, according to the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), which has more than 7,300 members in Colorado. NTU State Government Affairs Manager Josh Culling highlighted the three main reasons taxpayers should oppose the Governor's order and inst... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn, Week 3
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 02, 2009
On the National Taxpayers Union's third weekly RedCounty.com podcast, "The Taxpayer's Turn," we discuss the Death Tax, which will soon threaten hard-working families with a highest-in-the-WORLD 55 percent rate -- unless Congress steps in and does something.
Tune in every Thursday! Listen here:
... Read more
We Don't Want to Work That Much -- Do We?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 02, 2009
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad has been on the floor today urging his colleagues not to ask for recorded votes on the 230 or so pending amendments to the Senate budget resolution. Conrad estimates that if every Senator insisted on a roll call vote that Senators would have to spend the next three days voting to get through all of the amendments. Instead, Conrad has asked that Senators accept voice votes or attempt to attach the ame... Read more
CO Gov. Ritter to Sign Pointless Transparency Order Today
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 02, 2009
CO Gov. Ritter has embraced spending transparency in his rhetoric lately, and today will sign an executive order to create the Transparency Options Project (TOP), a searchable Web site of state revenues and expenditures. Unfortunately, there are significant problems with the Governor's proposal.
First, transparency would be much better achieved through the legislature than by executive order. By codifying the legislation in statute, it is much... Read more
More Government "Volunteer" Opportunities
Posted by Demian Brady - April 02, 2009
Congress has already passed a 5-year $7 billion "volunteer" bill. Wasn't that more than enough cash? Apparently not. Rep. Weiner (D-NY) has introduced the GothamCorps Authorization Act of 2009 which would spend $260 million a year to subsidize "volunteer" efforts in large cities.
Goth... Read more
NTU's Discusses Space Programs' Spending Problems on WTTG-TV
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - April 02, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp discusses GAO reports on NASA and Defense Department space exploration programs plagued with overspending and scheduling problems.
"The money just needs to be managed better," Sepp says. "We can't even contemplate things like returning people to the moon or to mars under a government program until NASA gets its act together."
... Read more
NTU Vote Alert -- Senate Budget Resolution
Posted by Pete Sepp - April 02, 2009
The following was distributed to all Senate offices last night:
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
NTU urges all Senators to vote “No” on the Majority’s Budget Resolution (S. Con. Res. 13). Should the provisions of this plan be adopted, the national debt would double in short order, entitlement spending would receive an unsustainable boost, higher taxes would punish small business employers and investors, the death tax would return with a... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: House Budget Resolution
Posted by Pete Sepp - April 02, 2009
The following was distributed to all House offices last night:
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
NTU urges all Members to vote “No” on the Majority’s Budget Resolution (H. Con. Res. 85). Should the provisions of this plan be adopted, the national debt would double in less than a decade, entitlement spending would receive an unwarranted trillion-dollar boost, higher taxes would punish small business employers and investors, the death tax ... Read more
Reactions to Obama's First Tax Hike
Posted by Demian Brady - April 02, 2009
How is Obama's first new tax playing out? Below are several links and headlines from across the Republic. A lot of smokers were surprised, others vow to quit, and if enough people do quit or seek to trade in what will probably become a burgeoning market in bootleg butts, the feds will have to find something else to tax to pay for bigger government.
And AP has the gall to ... Read more
Busting Leninism
Posted by Demian Brady - April 01, 2009
In honor of April Fool's Day, some Russians used explosives to blow a hole in the rear of a statue of Lenin in St. Petersburg.
Photos here.... Read more
Proposed Tax Hikes Across the Country
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - April 01, 2009
FoxNews.com reports on proposed tax increases in various states. See what's been proposed where you live.
... Read more
Nationwide 2-1-1 Referral Legislation
Posted by Demian Brady - April 01, 2009
Volunteering has become very expensive since President Clinton first pushed through AmeriCorps. Congress just passed the "Serve Act" to fund $7 billion in "volunteer" activities of the next five years. The bill also creates a commission to seek ways to expand the government's role in volunteering in the future. Apparently, big government wants your time as well as your money.
... Read more
A look at the California budget ballot
Posted by Joshua Culling - April 01, 2009
Our friends at Americans for Tax Reform have a look at the May 19th special election in California, which takes the tax-hiking budget deal directly to the voters.
The ballot includes a mix of tax hikes and gimmicks that tap one-time funding sources while ignoring California's overarching fiscal problems. We at NTU join ATR in opposing the mind-numbing stupidity of t... Read more
Tackling the Problems at Hand
Posted by Christy Paavola - April 01, 2009
Today in the Wall Street Journal Congressman Paul Ryan has a great opinion piece that discusses the House Republican budget - a plan that he believes will keep America great and keep the government from imposing on people's rights. He states, "rather than attempting to equalize the results of peoples' lives and micromanaging their affairs, we seek to pre... Read more
Chambers of Commerce on the Dole
Posted by Demian Brady - April 01, 2009
The Salt Lake Tribune asks whether Chambers of Commerce deserve taxpayer money:"... [T]he South Salt Lake Chamber now receives $50,000 a year from the city, plus free office space, making it one of the valley's sweetest government deals for chambers of commerce.
'Obscene is the word for it,' [Mayor] Losser grouses."... Read more
Do Any Democrats Pay Taxes?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 31, 2009
You'd think it was April Fool's Day.... Read more
Rep. Grayson and his idea of "performance based" salaries
Posted by Keith Capp - March 31, 2009
Recently, the Washington Examiner interviewed Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-8) about his bill, the Pay for Performance Act of 2009, which would regulate the pay of anyone who works at a company that received an investment from the Federal government under the stimulus or TARP legislation. During the interv... Read more
NTU YouTube Video Quoted in the Washington Times
Posted by Keith Capp - March 31, 2009
Today, in his commentary for the Washington Times, Kerry Picket wrote about the federal tobacco tax increase that takes affect tomorrow... Read more
Twitter for transparency
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - March 31, 2009
The Offices of Rhode Island's General Treasurer, Frank Caprio, are using Twitter to make RI more transparent. Follow updates at twitter.com/RITreasury!... Read more
Important Transparency Legislation Faces Second Hurdle in Colorado!
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 30, 2009
Friends in Colorado,
It's time for spending transparency in Colorado, and you can help by urging your lawmakers to pass HB 1288, the Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act!
Coloradans pay over $4,000 per capita every year in state and local taxes, but have no way of easily accessing information on how that money is spent. Legislation before the Colorado House Appropriations Committee would change that, creating an online searchable database of... Read more
"This Budget Spends Too Much, Taxes Too Much, and Borrows Too Much"
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 30, 2009
I just saw Sen. Judd Gregg's (R-NH) response to the President's radio address. While most of it is pretty boilerplate, I found this statement pretty stunning:
"If you take all the debt of our country run up by all of our presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush, the total debt over all those 200 plus years since we started as a nation, it is President Obama’s plan to double that debt in just the first five years that he is in ... Read more
Early Bird Registration Extended!
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 30, 2009
Great news -- Early Bird Registration for National Taxpayers Conference 2009 has been extended until April 13th. This means you can still be part of Tax Revolt 2.0 for just $99.
Here are a few session topics on the preliminary agenda:
Using Initiative and Referenda to Advance t... Read more
Now they realize the Big Three aren't viable?
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - March 30, 2009
I'm somewhat pleased to say that the Obama Administration is rejecting the restructuring plans of GM and Chrysler.
The bad news is that the Administration has already given them billions of our (taxpayer) dollars and will continue to fund them (Chrysler for 30 days and GM for 60 days) with taxpayer money, at the end of which the companies will likely (in my ... Read more
Finally Finding Debt We Don't Like
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 30, 2009
Today we learned the Obama Administration forced GM CEO Rick Wagoner to resign. Administration officials cited the need for "change" in leadership before the taxpayers would spend more money bailing out the auto-giant. (Wagoner, of course, presided over GM for the past nine years as the company racked up billions in debt.)
So to recap: If you're a ... Read more
NTU Letter Cited During House Budget Committee Markup
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 29, 2009
Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) cites NTU's March 24 endorsement letter of his bill, H. Res. 276, which would put in place reasonable earmark reforms:
... Read more
Taxpayer Tea Party Roundup!
Posted by Demian Brady - March 28, 2009
It is amazing the way this taxpayer protest movement has gathered such momentum. Yet, while people around the country are holding peaceful Tea Parties against Washington's redistributive tax and spend policies, what does the New York Times report on? Two freaks who sent a bomb to the IRS in 1990. Never mind the NYT, on to the good news!
Pics fr... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 27, 2009
HT: Tim Wise
... Read more
Taxpayer Tea Parties This Weekend
Posted by Demian Brady - March 27, 2009
1) Saturday in Raleigh County, West Virginia.“Many taxpayers feel we are being taxed without representation,” said Steve O’Brien, an organizer of a petition-signing event set for Saturday in Beckley. “Many are tired of seeing massive amounts of tax dollars being spent without knowing where it’s going. We believe it will eventually lead to eve... Read more
NTU Podcast: The Taxpayer's Turn, Week 2
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 26, 2009
The National Taxpayers Union's second weekly podcast on RedCounty.com, "The Taxpayer's Turn," is up and running. Tune in every Thursday! Listen here:
... Read more
Sales, cigarette tax hikes on the table in Florida
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 26, 2009
Per the Miami Herald.
See NTU's press release on the damaging effect a cigarette tax would have on the Sunshine State here.... Read more
SHOCKER: AR cigarette tax revenue to fall short of projections
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 26, 2009
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe recently signed a cigarette tax hike of 56 cents-per-pack into law. The state projected a $85.4 million revenue increase to be dedicated to a new statewide trauma system.
On Tuesday I warned the South Carolina legislature that these tax... Read more
If Having a Roof Over Your Head Isn't Enough Reward for Paying Your Mortgage
Posted by Demian Brady - March 26, 2009
... then Representative Bill Shuster (R-PA) has introduced a bill for you!
H.R. 1317 would create a refundable credit for people who pay their mortgage on time.
And a refundable credit is the sort that could put money in your wallet: if the value of the credit exceeds the amount of taxes you owe, you get the difference in the form of a check from the U.S. Tre... Read more
And in more important news. . . .
Posted by Keith Capp - March 26, 2009
At a time of economic crisis, a government budget deficit estimated to reach $1.85 trillion, and unemployment expected to reach almost 10%, the US Senate has decided to finally take up a very important piece of legislation! They ... Read more
HAHAHA!!! Alternate title: EPIC FAIL
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 26, 2009
The 2008 Chamber of Commerce Spirit of Enterprise Award results have been released. Among the winners: such notable defenders of free markets as Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), and Representative Don Young (R-AK). NOT among the winners: such notable enemies of free markets as Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC).
If ... Read more
The Latest Taxpayer Protest
Posted by Demian Brady - March 26, 2009
... happened yesterday in Indianapolis.Nearly 200 activists fed up with inaction by state government on a host of issues and filled with a revolutionary spirit flocked to the Statehouse from every corner of Indiana on Wednesday to stage a protest in the Capitol rotunda.
Their message: "The government is not paying attention t... Read more
Long overdue...
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - March 25, 2009
The launch of Minnesota's spending transparency website (now almost 15 months late) will be announced tomorrow.
... Read more
Obama's Tax Code Trip-Up
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 25, 2009
(Alexandria, VA) -- Today the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) responded to an inconsistency in President Obama's statement during Sunday's "60 Minutes" interview that he doesn't believe in using the U.S. Tax Code to punish people. The grassroots citizen group noted that Obama's energy plan pursues precisely this line of attack.
Responding to a question about the House Bill that would impose a tax ... Read more
No Credibility on Fiscal Sustainability
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 25, 2009
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro just slammed Republicans on the House Budget Committee for having no credibility on fiscal sustainability -- a charge leveled by someone who has earned "F"s in NTU's Rating of Congress every year from 1992 through 2007. I hope that fiscal conservatives on the Hill are gnashing their teeth when the likes of... Read more
Tax System to be Rebalanced
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 25, 2009
According to Bloomberg.com, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker is to lead a presidential taskforce charged with "closing loopholes, streamlining the law and generating revenue" in an effort to "rebalance the tax system."
A few years ago, NTU submitted co... Read more
You Are the Devalued Prime Minister of a Devalued Government
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 25, 2009
I have a practice of trying my best not to listen to Europeans talk about the economy. But this clip of an MEP tearing into English Prime Minister Gordon Brown is just priceless. If only more American politicians would stand up and criticize our government for "willfully worsening our situtation by wantonly spending what little we have left."
... Read more
About Cutting the Deficit in Half
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 24, 2009
For those of you who managed to watch the President's press conference tonight (I made it about 20 minutes before bitterness over American Idol being preempted made me turn off the television) would have heard the President say repeatedly that he'd "Cut the deficit in half in five years."
Well that sounds super, but is it?
President Obama's budget deficit this year is ... Read more
Standing up for "the Cornerstone of our Democracy"
Posted by Christy Paavola - March 24, 2009
Proponents of allowing Americans to keep their right to a secret ballot received some good news today when Senator Arlen Specter announced that he will not vote for cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a bill that would eliminate workers' right to a secret ballot in union elections. Specter's refusal to vote for EF... Read more
An Open Letter to AR Governor Beebe: Veto the Milk Tax (HB 1451)!
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 24, 2009
Dear Governor Beebe:
On behalf of the more than 3,000 Arkansas members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I urge you to veto HB 1451 should it be approved by the Legislature. Such an arbitrary and regressive tax hike on dairy products is bad policy, and it reverses much of the good achieved by the grocery tax cut you signed into law last week. In addition, the scheme would be imposed in the midst of a serious recession that is hitting yo... Read more
714% Cigarette Tax Hike Up in South Carolina Today
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 24, 2009
SC House Speaker Bobby Harrell (R-Charleston) has introduced a bill, HB 3584, that would increase the cigarette tax 714 percent to fund a $139 million low-income health care program.
Nevermind the fact that cigarette tax increases rarely meet their ... Read more
Hiking MS Cigarette Tax Would Harm State's Poorest Residents, Overall Economy
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 24, 2009
Mississippi lawmakers already are counting on growing government by using one unstable funding source -- federal stimulus funds -- and should not further jeopardize the state's struggling economy by hiking its moderate cigarette tax to a much higher rate than its neighbors. That's the assessment of the 362,000-member NTU, which has more than 2,100 Mississippi members.
"Federal taxpayers across the country are footing a more than $1.6 billion s... Read more
An Open Letter to the Georgia Senate: Eliminate Telecom Slush Fund!
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 23, 2009
Dear Senator,
On behalf of the nearly 8,300 Georgia members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I urge you to support H.B. 168, which would eliminate the superfluous Universal Access Fund. The Fund was created to ease the burden on rural telecom providers with subsidies, but has since evolved into a wasteful slush fund that lavishes taxpayer dollars on questionable and unnecessary spending projects. By supporting H.B. 168 and repealing the... Read more
Gov. Sanford's reasoning on not accepting "Stimulus" funds
Posted by Keith Capp - March 23, 2009
This weekend I came across an Opinion Journal article by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford about why he does not want to accept $700 million of the “stimulus” package for his state. Sanford points out that SC already spends 11% of its tax revenue on its debt service and that the 2 year revenue infusion from the federal ... Read more
NY's "Secret" Plan to Raise Taxes
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 23, 2009
According to the New York Post: "GOV. PATERSON and legislative Democrats have secretly agreed on an $8 billion, two- year tax hike on individuals making more than $500,000 a year that will 'sunset' around the time he plans to run for election in 2010, legislative sources told The Post."
But, ssshhhhh, it's still a se... Read more
Highlights from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - March 21, 2009
#1: Like a handful of other governors, Alaska's Sarah Palin will not accept a portion of the stimulus.
#2: Mike Cox, Michigan's Attorney General, ... Read more
The "What, Me Worry?" Budget
Posted by Demian Brady - March 21, 2009
CBO released a dire warning about the deficits that will result from President Obama's proposed budget. AP reports:By CBO's calculation, Obama's budget would generate deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year of red ink over 2010-2019.
Worst of all, CBO says the deficit under ... Read more
Jared Polis, in context, warns businesses against getting too close to government
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - March 21, 2009
[Update: At about 6:50 of THIS VIDEO CLIP, economist Arthur Laffer praises Jared Polis' remarks made in the House of Representatives.]
[Update 2: Conservative anti-tax stalwart Tom McClintock (R-CA) made the following statement ab... Read more
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx Discusses Spending, Stimulus with NTU
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 21, 2009
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp recently sat down with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), two-time Taxpayer Friend Award winner, to discuss the stimulus and debt.
... Read more
Quotation of the Day
Posted by Demian Brady - March 20, 2009
John McCaslin cites a constituent complaint to Representative Marsha Blackburn:I'm tired of the government spending money I have not made yet for programs I don't want.... Read more
Obama administration "incorrect" about deficit estimates
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - March 20, 2009
I used the word "incorrect" in the title because I'm feeling momentarily generous. A more precise word would probably have been "lied".
Today's news about deficits is, not surprisingly, much worse than the already-bad picture painted for us by the Obama administration and their ridiculously rosy economic forecasts.
An AP article entitled "$1 trillion ... Read more
The Tax Man is Coming to eBay
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 20, 2009
William P. Barrett has an interesting article on Forbes.com for those who sell on eBay. According to Barrett, "Congress last year passed legislation requiring processors of third-party payments and settlements--mainly payment card companies and services like Paypal--to report to the IRS individuals and business entities tha... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 20, 2009
HT: Tim Wise
... Read more
NTU Op-Ed: Obama Budget Will Bring Back $4/Gallon Gas
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 20, 2009
NTU Director of Government Affairs Andrew Moylan has an excellent op-ed in today's DC Examiner on the energy component of Obama's budget outline. Moylan writes:
The Obama budget's massive tax increases on domestic energy have somehow slipped under the radar, yet it's these tax hikes and other punitive measures that will surely reduce domestic ... Read more
Congress You Ignorant S***!
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 20, 2009
For the past few weeks we've been subjected to Congress and the President telling us that they're shocked and confused that AIG gave out bonuses. Heck, even Chris Dodd who wrote the loophole in the bailout to let AIG use your money to pay $165 million in bonuses is shocked:
... Read more
The AIG tax bill's possible benefits
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - March 20, 2009
In a fit of economic idiocy driven by misdirected populist outrage, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1586 on Thursday afternoon, subjecting to a 90% tax rate any bonus paid to a person who works at any institution which has received at least $5 billion in TARP money whose:
(1) family income is over $250,000
(2) individual income is over $125,000 if he/s... Read more
Listen to NTU's Inaugural Weekly RedCounty.com Podcast!
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 19, 2009
The National Taxpayers Union's first weekly podcast on RedCounty.com, "The Taxpayer's Turn," is up and running. Tune in every Thursday!
... Read more
Walker, Blackwell, Blunt & Glassman at Taxpayers Conf. '09
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 19, 2009
President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation David M. Walker, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, and former Under Secretary of State and author James K. Glassman have all been invited to speak at National Taxpayers Conference 2009.
I think hearing just those four gentleman would be worth the price of admission, but wait, there's more -- more speakers, more panels, more information, mor... Read more
Dangerous AIG Bill on Floor
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 19, 2009
We've all been outraged in recent days after hearing that AIG, a company we taxpayers have been forced to bailout to the tune of $160 billion, handed out $165 million in bonuses to some of their employees. There was no bigger opponent to the bailouts than NTU, but there's a very ... Read more
"Stimulus" Dollars Literally Poured into Toilet(s)
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 19, 2009
...in a manner of speaking.
In the first of many absurd anecdotes that would be hilarious if our tax dollars weren't paying for them, one of the first stimulus contracts is going to pay for "precast concrete toilet buildings" in Missouri.
Hat tip: Allahpundit from HotAir.... Read more
A Peach of a Bill in Georgia
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 19, 2009
To our faithful blog readers and 8,300 members in Georgia, want to lower your phone bill AND eliminate a wasteful subsidy? There's a bill before the State Senate that would do exactly that.
H.B. 168 would eliminate the Universal Access Fund once and for all. Georgia... Read more
NTU Submits Statement in Support of Colorado School Transparency
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 19, 2009
As NTU State Government Affairs Manager Josh Culling noted, the House Education Committee today will hear SB 57, a bill that would require public schools to post their revenue and expenditures on the Internet in an easily accessible and searchable format.
NTU submitted a following statement in support of the Pub... Read more
NTU Featured in Property Tax-Fighting News
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 19, 2009
As much as 60 percent of taxable property in the United States is over-assessed, and don't expect property tax relief any time soon just because home prices have plummeted. This news segment below from a Nashville, Tenn. CBS affiliate was just one of hundreds of similar ones that aired across the country this week on property tax woes -- and citing NTU data on the issue.
... Read more
It Could Be a Long Weekend
Posted by Demian Brady - March 19, 2009
Obama has a new video urging people to go canvassing door-to-door this Saturday to build support for his 5-year $15 trillion budget.
It will be interesting to see how strong an effort there is beyond groups like ACORN, notorious for its "... Read more
Public school transparency looms in Colorado
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 19, 2009
Tomorrow in Colorado, the House Education Committee will hear SB 57, a bill that would require public schools to post their revenue and expenditures on the Internet in an easily accessible and searchable format. After a groundswell of grassroots support, it passed the Senate a few weeks ago.
The Independence Institute's Amy Oliver has a blog post detailing the state's... Read more
New Mexico's Answer to Economic Woes: A Regressive Tax Hike
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 18, 2009
In the midst of this economic storm, New Mexico has taken a novel approach: raising taxes in order to fund more government spending. If that doesn't sound like a recipe for success to you, that's because you're an intelligent person who realizes that it's unwise to mix a difficult economy with a tax hike. The same can't be said for 37 Members of the New Mexico House, unfortun... Read more
www.showmethespending.com Transparency Update
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - March 18, 2009
This week's www.showmethespending.com state spending transparency update is available here.
... Read more
I Guess It Depends on What You Mean by "Fiscal Conservatism"
Posted by Demian Brady - March 18, 2009
From today's USBUDGET DAILY about the Blue Dog Coalition, who plan to release their own budget outline:The fiscally conservative group of Democrats has largely praised President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget for its “honest accounting” of costs to run the federal government. The Blue Dog’s plan will reflect the president’s priorities, especially on expanded h... Read more
Universal Pre-Kindergarten Legislation
Posted by Demian Brady - March 18, 2009
While browsing through some of the bills Congress has introduced this year, I did a double take on Rep. Kucinich's Universal Prekindergarten Act, H.R. 555.
The bill would authorize $150 billion over the next five years.... Read more
EU Bureaucrats to Spend Time Down on the Farm
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 18, 2009
The BBC reports that "EU agriculture staff are to swap suits and laptops for overalls and shovels under a plan to improve policy-making." Bureaucrats from Brussels will start spending time down on the farm in 2010 as part of a plan that will, among other things, "train bureaucrats to use simpler language, in order to help farmers spend less time ploughing through paperwo... Read more
NTU Press Release: Cigarette Tax Hike Would Harm Florida's Economy, Smokers and Non-Smokers Alike
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 18, 2009
(Alexandria, VA) -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is already counting on growing government using one unsustainable funding source -- federal stimulus funds -- and should not further jeopardize the state's struggling economy by hiking cigarette taxes. That's the assessment of the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), which has more than 24,000 Florida members.
"Florida stands to receive as much as $13 billion in federal stimulus f... Read more
Tea Party Coverage
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 18, 2009
As Natasha has noted, at 6PM (Central) NTU will be bringing a tea party protest to Omaha, Nebraska. To get all you Nebraskans in the mood for protesting, here's a look at the tea parties so far:
... Read more
Massive Tax Hike Proposed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - March 18, 2009
Illinois taxpayers, beware! Earlier today Governor Pat Quinn announced a massive tax hike plan. He's seeking to increase the state's flat 3 percent personal income tax rate to 4.5 percent. Other taxes, like corporate income and tobacco taxes, would also go up.
The ... Read more
TARP Still Needs Real Transparency
Posted by Demian Brady - March 18, 2009
Americans are outraged that AIG used taxpayer funds through TARP to give out bonuses to its upper level employees. In addition, AIG paid out billions to Goldman Sachs (was this the source money it wanted to use to repay its own TARP-infusion early?) and billions to European banks.
Finally some light has been shined on the this program, but who knows what other shenanigans the TARP companies are up to? Just last week Representatives were compla... Read more
Anti-Tax Rally in Fairfax County
Posted by NTU Gov - March 18, 2009
Are you a Fairfax County resident concerned with the current tax hike proposals to the real estate tax? Fairfax County Executive Anthony Griffin wants to increase the rate 14.5 cents to $1.05 per $100 of assessed value. This would raise the average tax bill in the county around $60.
The Northern Virginia GOP and Republicans United for Tax Relief will be hosting an “Anti-Tax Rally” in front of the Fairfax County Government Center from 6-7 p... Read more
AIG: "A Mistake at the beginning"
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - March 18, 2009
The media and political furor of the week is the employee bonuses paid by AIG under contracts that existed prior to the government’s effective takeover of the company. And while the President as well as politicians of both parties are fulminating about the payouts, voter anger should be directed more at those very politicians than at AIG.
In a truly remarkable statement yesterday, GOP Senator Charles Grassley (R-Farm Subsidies, or R-Iowa) ... Read more
Obama Budget Underestimates Cap-and-Trade Tax
Posted by Demian Brady - March 18, 2009
If there is anything conservative in Obama's budget plan, it was its estimate for its cap-and-trade plan. According to a Washington Times report, an Obama administration staffer told Senate staffers that the cap-and-trade tax could cost up to three times its early estimate of $646 billion.
So that adds about $1.3 trillion in... Read more
Some Startling Figures
Posted by Christy Paavola - March 17, 2009
We all know that President Obama's budget contains a massive amount of spending, so to help wade through it Congressman Paul Ryan has released a series of graphs that highlight the most egregious aspects of the President's budget. When looking at the graphs you will see that entitlement spending under Obama's plan will increase by $1.012 trillion... Read more
NTU, Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom to Host Omaha Taxpayer "Tea Party"
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 17, 2009
Media Advisory
Nation's Largest Taxpayer Group, Treasurer Shane Osborn to Join Activists at "Tea Party" Protest of Uncontrollable Government Spending
(Alexandria, VA) -- The 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), which has nearly 2,500 members in Nebraska, and Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom (NTF) are holdi... Read more
A Heavyweight Slugfest: Brown v Owen
Posted by NTU Gov - March 17, 2009
Posted by Government Affairs Associate: Andrew Alonso
Taxpayers have been taking a real beating as of late, but last week brought news about a victory in a Washington State court battle over a 2/3 supermajority for tax hikes. State Senator Lisa Brown, Democratic Majority Leader... Read more
12 13 Steps for Gov. Quinn before raising taxes
Posted by Keith Capp - March 17, 2009
The Chicago Tribune has a great editorial today that lists 12 steps that Governor Pat Quinn (D) should take before raising the states income tax rate. The editorial board’s steps are:
A wage and hiring freeze for state employees
Lower the cost of internal se... Read more
Some States Looking at Income Tax Hikes
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 16, 2009
With almost every state in the union facing a budget shortfall, some are considering hiking the personal income tax on high-earners. This is a bad idea, as these citizens tend to be small business owners that create jobs. They are also free to relocate to states with a lower tax burden. Burdening the most productive segment of your population in the middle of a recession probably isn't the best idea, but these revenue-hungry states don't seem to ... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Lands Omnibus
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 16, 2009
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National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on H.R. 146, the vehicle for the “Omnibus Public Land Management Act.”
Despite a frenzied binge of spending amounting to $1.2 trillion in the last few weeks alone, this bill would heap more than $6 billion of brand new expenditures onto the pile, including $900 million in freshly minted entitlements.
The bill includes myr... Read more
NTU Supports "Business Activity Tax Simplification Act"
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 16, 2009
********************************
March 16, 2009
An Open Letter to the United States Congress:
Support the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act!
Dear Member of Congress:
On behalf of the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I urge you to cosponsor and work to enact H.R. 1083, the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act. This legislation is an important element of broader tax simplification efforts. By establishing... Read more
NE Treasurer Shane Osborn: Spending transparency holds politicians accountable
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 15, 2009
Treasurer Osborn is a champion of spending transparency. See his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal for more info on NebraskaSpending.com and the need for open, accountable government at all levels.... Read more
Victory for Whom?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 13, 2009
From today's NEA Education Insider:
Defeat of [the DC school voucher program] was a major victory for NEA that could not have been achieved without your help. While NEA has successfully fought voucher proposals in the past, support for the DC program has been strong among some Members of Congress and ending the pilot program has been an uphill battle. In fact, last year, Congress extended the program for one additional year ... Read more
NTU Applauds Governors Sanford and Perry for Refusing "Stimulus" Money
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 13, 2009
(Alexandria, Va.) – The 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) has applauded South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) for their decisions this week to refuse part of the federal stimulus package earmarked for their respective states. Sanford will accept $700 million only if the President allows him to use it to pay down debts rather than create new spending obligations. Perry has refused outright $555 million for ... Read more
Tax Reform Legislation in the 111th Congress
Posted by Demian Brady - March 13, 2009
OpenCRS.com has obtained and made available a new Congressional Research Service publication, Tax Reform: An Overview of Proposals in the 111th Congress. (summary of report) (pdf of complete report) (About OpenCRS.com)... Read more
US Rep. Devin Nunes before, during, and after the bailouts
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 13, 2009
Here's a video that compiles clips of US Rep. Devin Nunes opposing the bailouts:
... Read more
J.O.B.S. Act passes the Georgia House
Posted by NTU Gov - March 12, 2009
The Jobs, Opportunity, and Business Success Act (J.O.B.S. Act) passed the Georgia House today by a vote of 164-4. The bill provides tax credits to employers for each unemployed person hired, suspends the “start-up” fees for one year, and eliminates the state sales tax deposit.
"For some reason people in Washington seem to think that only big government spending programs can lift us out of this economic recession," said Rep. Tom Graves (R- R... Read more
Read the Bill
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 11, 2009
When she took over as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi promised us the "most open and honest Congress in history." As part of that promise she declared "Lawmakers must have the opportunity to read every bill before they vote on it. It’s common sense."
Well, for ... Read more
NTU Supports "No Cost Stimulus Act"
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 11, 2009
NTU released this letter in support of the No Cost Stimulus Act, a bill introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT). I'm glad to see that some folks in Congress are crafting smart, common-sense plans to increase economic growth without heaping more burdens on taxpayers.
********************
An Open Letter to the United ... Read more
Sanford: "The first order of business is to stop digging"
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 11, 2009
In a letter to the South Carolina legislature yesterday, Gov. Mark Sanford outlined his plan to reject calls for new spending programs using the portion of federal stimulus dollars under his control. Sanford's claims that his office has discretion over $700 million. Instead of new spending, he will use that money to pay down the state's debt. He also takes the general i... Read more
Back Off Me!
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 11, 2009
Whoopi Goldberg, not known for being a raging conservative, has three words for the taxman (which I'm nominating to be the new official NTU motto): "Back off me!"
... Read more
Achieving Carbon-Neutrality Is Tricky Business
Posted by Demian Brady - March 10, 2009
The Associated Press reports that the House quietly abandoned its pledge to become "carbon-neutral" because, as I've long suspected, there is no way to verify that "carbon offset" schemes actually offset any carbon.It turned out that the House's goal to become carbon neutral — by removing as much carbon dioxide f... Read more
NTU Open Letter: Ensure Transparency and Accountability by Posting Stimulus Expenditures Online
Posted by Joshua Culling - March 10, 2009
Dear Governor:
Recently, President Obama signed into law a $787 billion package that supporters claim will stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, the legislation is packed with wasteful spending, most of which will fail to reverse the downturn and will, instead plunge our country further into debt. On behalf of the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union nationwide, I ask you to reject the portion of the stimulus package to be directed ... Read more
A Long-Term CR?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 10, 2009
According to US Budget News Service:
If Senate Republicans succeed in amending the $410 billion omnibus bill, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday, Congress may just punt on the package altogether and pass another continuing resolution to keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year.
The Senate appears poised to vote Tuesday on an amendment by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that would require Members ... Read more
Stimulus Spending by State
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 10, 2009
The Wall Street Journal has put together an interactive map of per capita education, pell grant, HUD, and Medicaid spending as well as dollars per square mile transportation spending. In case you were wondering, the District of Columbia will receive $1,807,256 per square mile in transportation money. The next largest -- Rhode Island at just $88... Read more
Video Contest
Posted by NTU Gov - March 10, 2009
Heritage and Americans for Prosperity have teamed up to create a video contest called “Stop Spending Our Future”. They want you to submit videos responding to the question: What's your biggest frustration about the government's appetite for more spending in... Read more
NTU Statement on Obama Energy Plan: Tax Hikes, Resource Restrictions Counterproductive
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 10, 2009
NTU released a statement today criticizing President Obama's energy plan as outlined in his budget:
From NTU President Duane Parde:
"At a time when so many households are facing previously unimaginable financial constraints, it's more counterproductive than ever for Washington to subsidize politically favored industries while punishing others with tax hikes.... Read more
Rewarding Those Who Can Teach
Posted by Christy Paavola - March 10, 2009
In the last few months President Obama has spent billions of dollars on education - not all of which will necessarily help students learn. A prime example of this is the $21 billion for school modernization. Today, however, he released his education agenda which includes a merit pay plan for teachers. We know that one of the number one factors in determining ... Read more
Kleptocracy -- Collect All Three
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 10, 2009
The cynical folks at Despair.com bring you three new t-shirts based on the new game sweeping the nation -- Kleptocracy.
In case the Community Cheat or Cheat cards in the pic above are too small to read at this resolution, here's what they say:
Your 'investment' in Congress paid off. Get out of Jail, Free.
You ... Read more
New State and Local Taxpayer Groups
Posted by Christy Paavola - March 09, 2009
Recently eight new taxpayer groups from the states of New Hampshire, Connecticut, California, Alaska, Illinois and North Dakota were added to NTU's extensive list of state and local taxpayer groups. Make sure to check out our list to find a taxpayer group in your area! ... Read more
New Litmus Test for GOP Candidates
Posted by NTU Gov - March 09, 2009
Stephen Gordon with The Next Right has proposed that a new “litmus test” be implemented for 2012 Republican Presidential candidates. In the current era of massive government spending, Gordon proposes a different approach from the pro-life litmus test of the ... Read more
Early Registration Ends March 31st
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 09, 2009
Early-bird registration for National Taxpayers Conference 2009 ends March 31st -- so time is running out. The event will be held June 11-13 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, VA. Read more -- and register -- here.
... Read more
News from the States
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - March 06, 2009
#1: Transparency in state spending continues to spread. Enormous deficits on the one hand, and large flows of stimulus spending on the other, have been raising citizens' interest and expectations about the degree to which government reveals how officials steward taxpayer dollars.
#2: ... Read more
Johnnie Walker Needs Our Help!
Posted by Demian Brady - March 06, 2009
As a member of the Striding Man Society, I received this email:
Dear Demian,
As someone who enjoys great brands such as Smirnoff, Crown Royal, Captain Morgan, Johnnie Walker, Ketel One, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray, Guinness, Beaulieu Vineyard or Sterling Vineyards wines, you are a member of the Diageo family. As a member of our family, you need to be aware that in the coming months, lawmakers will be proposing tax increases that will... Read more
"Spending Fatigue"
Posted by Demian Brady - March 06, 2009
Congress couldn't come to a deal on the bloated omnibus spending bill. The deadline to pass it was today, but instead they're passing a Continuing Resolution to push the deadline back to next week.
The $410 billion package covers the remaining spending bills leftover from the last Congress. Republicans tried to push for a spending freeze as an alternative to the omnibus's 8 percent increase, but that amendment was defeated.
House Appropriat... Read more
Top 10 Cities with Lowest Tax Burden
Posted by Demian Brady - March 06, 2009
YahooFinance! has a Kiplinger's listing of the ten cities with the lowest tax burdens.
Anchorage tops the list with a state & local tax burden of 3.6 percent.
Surprisingly, Chicago slips into tenth place on the list, this runs counter to everything I've heard about that city.... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - March 06, 2009
HT: Tim Wise
... Read more
NTU Vote Alert: Omnibus Appropriations
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 05, 2009
March 6, 2009
******************************************
National Taxpayers Union Vote Alert
NTU urges all Senators to vote “NO” on H.R. 1105, the omnibus appropriations bill. This $410 billion legislation heaps an additional 8.7 percent spending hike on top of the recent binge embodied in the $800 billion+ “stimulus” plan. Furthermore, the bill contains more than 8,500 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion.
The federal government faces a... Read more
NTU Testifies in Support of MD Taxpayer Protection Act
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 05, 2009
NTU State Government Affairs Manager Josh Culling is testifying before the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee this afternoon in support of HB 684, the Taxpayer Protection Act, which would amend the state Constitution to require a three-fifths majority of each House of the General Assembly to approve an increase in any existing tax rate or the creation of any new tax... Read more
Obama Benefited from School Choice; Why Can't They?
Posted by Andrew Moylan - March 05, 2009
That's the message in this terrific video from the Heritage Foundation:
... Read more
Transparency Legislation Moves Forward in Colorado
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - March 04, 2009
On March 4th, Colorado House Bill 1288 unanimously passed (11-0) the House Finance Committee and will now be considered by Appropriations. The bill requires the creation of a searchable site of state expenditures by no later than January 1, 2010. This bill, ... Read more
Earmark Kings
Posted by NTU Gov - March 04, 2009
Taxpayers for Common Sense released a list of the biggest earmarkers in the Senate. The list only includes earmarks from the FY 2009 Omnibus bill, leaving out three spending bills that were passed in the fall (Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction/Veterans Affairs). Those 3 bills contained 2,000 e... Read more
People Got a Lotta Nerve
Posted by Demian Brady - March 04, 2009
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timmy "Turbo Tax" Geithner had the nerve to testify before Rep. Charlie "Sunny Isles Beach... Read more
Join NTU's Team Taxpayer
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - March 04, 2009
We alert. You call. They listen! Fight big government with your mobile phone.
Text "FIGHT" to 54608 to sign up for NTU's text messaging advocacy service. It's free beyond standard messaging rates of your mobile plan.
E-mails can be easily ignored by Congressional staffers and the offices of state legislators, but hundreds -- or thousands --... Read more
"We're Giving the American People a Slap in the Face"
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 03, 2009
During the presidential campaign Sen. McCain was generally about as exciting to watch as the National Spelling Bee (OK, except for the year that kid passed out). But, being a presidential loser has livened up the senior senator from Arizona.
In his most recent foray, Senator McCain savages the bloated, pork-filled budget recently passed by the House:
... Read more
Tuesday market thoughts...another day
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - March 03, 2009
On Tuesday, the stock markets put in another dismal performance, with all major indices closing down on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 6726, down 37 points, about 20 points above its low and 125 points below its mid-day high. And immediately after the bell, futures are trading substantially lower, as if the Dow were down another 25 points or so. The market closed at levels last seen in October, 1996.
Technology stocks ... Read more
The Cap-and-Trade Tax
Posted by Demian Brady - March 03, 2009
The President's budget includes a proposal to enact a cap-and-trade program for emissions. Certain industries would be required to buy allowances for their carbon emissions, which represents a hefty new tax expected to raise about $80 billion a year. I just received an email from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities with this subject line: Administration's Cap & Trade Proposal is Not a Tax Increase; Raises Revenues to Help Consumers
... Read more
"The Greatest Wealth Destruction I've Seen by a President"
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 03, 2009
Jim Cramer, who admittedly is given to excess, has officially fallen out of love with our President. On the Today show this morning Cramer declared: "We have an agenda in this country that I would regard as a radical agenda. We have a budget that came out that basically put a level of fear in this country that I have not seen, ever, in my life...This is the greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a President."
You can watch Uncle Jim spiral... Read more
Do Any Democrats Pay Taxes?
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 02, 2009
Ron Kirk, who was nominated to be U.S. Trade Rep by President Obama owes the IRS $10,000.
To recap: Rep. Charlie Rangel (chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee), Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle (nominee for Health and Human Services secretary) and Nancy Killefer (nominee for chief performance officer) all f... Read more
DC Kids Ask To Go To School
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - March 02, 2009
Click below to see beneficiaries of DC's school voucher program ask President Obama to let them go to the school of their choice:
... Read more
A Budget Time Line
Posted by Demian Brady - February 27, 2009
1952: First time budget outlays top $500 billion (1)
1979: Outlays exceed $1 trillion (1)
2003: Outlays exceed $2 trillion (1)
2008: Outlays pass $3 trillion (1)
2009: Outlays projected to pass $3.9 trillion (2)
2014: Outlays projected to exceed $4 trillion (2)
2019: Outlays projected to exceed $5 trillion (2)
(1) FY 2009 Historical Tables of the U.S. Budget, in constant dollars.
(2) From on Obama's ... Read more
Another Stimulus? Will This Never End?
Posted by Sam Batkins - February 27, 2009
Thought the last stimulus was bad? According to the National Journal’s poll of insiders, 65 percent of Democrats expect another stimulus, mainly because “it may be wise to invest as much money to fix the problem.” Sixty-three percent of Republican insiders believe there will be another stimulus package.
Let’s hope the “insiders” are wrong and Specter... Read more
Spending Transparency in Minnesota?
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - February 27, 2009
Although Minnesota's spending transparency database was supposed to have been launched thirteen months ago, it's still not live. Read more in NTUF's article from today's minnpost.com.... Read more
NPR Highlights "Text 'FIGHT' to 54608"
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - February 27, 2009
NTU is asking mobile phone users to sign up for our new text messaging service by texting "FIGHT" to 54608.
National Public Radio was at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday; NPR covered NTU's text messaging service in this story.... Read more
I Liked the Campaign Obama Better
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - February 26, 2009
... Read more
Pay Up!
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - February 26, 2009
Toby Harnden, of The Telegraph, has done some numbers crunching on President Obama's budget. And it's depressing. According to Mr. Harnden, the President's $3.552 trillion budget will cost each American taxpayer $25,573.48.
To put that in perspective, that's the equivalent of a ... Read more
Now That's a Lot of Change
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - February 26, 2009
In Tuesday's joint session, President Obama rightly beat up on President Bush for running up deficits over the past eight years. And he was right to do it.
But now the time for speechifying is over, and President Obama wrote a budget. And sadly, it looks like he learned all the worst lessons from the Bush administration.
In just his first year in offi... Read more
Tax Cuts and "Tax Cuts" in Obama's Budget
Posted by Demian Brady - February 26, 2009
The Good -- Makes the R&E tax cut permanent.
The Semi-Good -- Freezes estate tax at 2009 levels of a $3.5 million exemption and 45 percent top rate (not as good as full repeal in 2010 but much better than a reversion to a $1 million exemption and 55 percent rate).
"Tax Cuts" -- The budget cites $278.6 billion in new tax cuts for families and individuals over five years. However, 42 percent ($118 billion of these "tax cuts" are refundable --... Read more
Taxes in Obama's Budget
Posted by Demian Brady - February 26, 2009
Obama's new budget preview is heavily dependent on higher taxes. Table S-1 projects that federal receipts will grow by over 13 percent in each of years 2011 and 2012. That would be the biggest one year jump in tax receipts since 1969 saw a 15.2 percent increase from 1968, however, the receipts dropped over the next two years. 1951 an... Read more
Some real stimulus oversight
Posted by Andrew Moylan - February 26, 2009
Today, a group of Senators and Members of the House got together to launch the Fiscal Responsibility Working Group. The goal, according to their press release, is to promote accountability and transparency in the stimulus bill.
Unfortunately for all of us, Congress didn't see fit to create an actual Congressional oversight board in the legislation, so these brave Members of Congress are forming their own group to tackle the issues. Led by Se... Read more
US House office expenses should be online!
Posted by Keith Capp - February 26, 2009
Earlier this month, NTU’s Kristina Rasmussen wrote a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Administration. In the letter, Rasmussen requests that the committee direct the House’s Chief Administrative Officer Daniel P. Beard to publish the Disbursements of the House on the CAO’s website. The Disburs... Read more
Fewer Children = Savings
Posted by Demian Brady - February 26, 2009
I've been browsing through the budget and noticed that it assumes a ten-year savings of $190 million by "expanding availability of family planning services under Medicaid."... Read more
Budget Heads Up
Posted by Demian Brady - February 26, 2009
The Administration is releasing a preview of its budget today, available as a pdf here:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy10/pdf/fy10-newera.pdf (146 pages).
The complete set of budget documents will be released in April. ... Read more
Goodbye, NTU!
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - February 25, 2009
Dear friends, colleagues, and GovernmentBYTES fans:
After three-and-a-half wonderful years with the National Taxpayers Union, I’m joining the Illinois Policy Institute as their new Executive Vice President .
The Illinois Policy Institute is a nonpartisan research organiza... Read more
Come join our Taxpayer Tea Party!
Posted by Andrew Moylan - February 25, 2009
Sick of bailouts, mind-boggling spending, and politicians in DC and your state that just don't get it? Join the crowd! NTU is joining together with several other conservative organizations to start a "New American Tea Party" protest. When the colonists got sick of the out-of-touch British and their absurd taxes, they revolted and pitched shipments of tea into Boston Harbor. Let's reprise that effort and start a new Tea Party of our own! Join... Read more
House Passes Omnibus Spending
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 25, 2009
The House has passed H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2009, by a vote of 245-178. Despite what you might have heard about reforming or ending earmarks, you might be shocked to learn that the bill contains earmarks. You can download an Excel file of earmarks compiled by the Appropriations staff to see what pork -- I mean, Congressionally-directed spending --... Read more
A Fiscal Look at the President's Address to the Nation
Posted by Demian Brady - February 25, 2009
Last night, President Obama laid out the agenda that will be released soon in his first official budget. His speech last night continued some of the main themes he discussed during the campaign, such as expanded access to health care and education. However, his more recent emphasis on stronger fiscal discipline still lacks a list of remedies to make a prognosis of lower budget deficits in the near future.
Health Care (unknown): Th... Read more
Spending transparency passes unanimously in Virginia
Posted by Joshua Culling - February 25, 2009
From Norm Leahy at Tertium Quids:
HB 2285, Del. Ben Cline's budget transparency bill, passed the Senate today 40-0. Ken Cuccinelli's transparency bill (which mirrors Cline's) passed the House 100-0.
Let the sun shine in.
NTU has been involved in this fight from the beginning, and though the legislation was watered down a... Read more
NTU Supports "Secret Ballot Protection Act of 2009"
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - February 25, 2009
NTU sent a letter to Congress today in support of the "Secret Ballot Protection Act of 2009," introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Reps. John Kline (R-MN), Tom Price (R-GA), and Howard McKeon (R-CA). NTU Government Affairs Manager Andrew Moylan writes:
American workers should be allowed to make decisions about joining a union in private, free of retribution fr... Read more
His, Mine, Ours?
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 25, 2009
An insightful observation from political analyst Rich Galen regarding President Obama's address to Congress:
President's story about the bank executive who shared his bonus with his employees. The Members applauded because they think they do that all the time. The difference is: He gave away his money. They give away our money.
... Read more
Tax Relief in Maine is Just One Election Away
Posted by Joshua Culling - February 24, 2009
The Maine Secretary of State has certified two important initiatives for the 2009 ballot.
The TABOR NOW initiative (An Act to Provide Tax Relief) would enact a Taxpayers Bill of Rights in Maine, limiting the growth of government spending, giving voters the right to approve or deny new taxes, and refunding surplus revenue to the taxpayers. TABOR would go a long way in restoring sound pro-growth economi... Read more
Using Tax Dollars to Teach Students What They Already Know
Posted by Christy Paavola - February 24, 2009
In light of California's budget problems you would hope that the state would try to cut spending on wasteful projects. However, in California's public schools that seems not to be the case. One middle school is using taxpayers' dollars for an AP Spanish class that consists mainly of students from Mexico, or the sons and daughters of Mexican immigrants. In a class o... Read more
NTU Launches Weekly Internet Radio Program
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - February 24, 2009
NTU has begun a weekly Internet radio show called "Speaking of Taxpayers" on gmmy.com, which nets tens of thousands of site visitors each month. The 30-minute program airs every Sunday from at 3 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. CT, 1 p.m. MT, and 12 p.m. PT.
NTU Vice President for Policy and Communications Pete Sepp and I host the show, which features interviews with NTU policy experts, the latest news on important taxpayer is... Read more
A mortgage bailout is a bad deal!
Posted by Keith Capp - February 24, 2009
It’s the last week of the month and time for myself and millions of other Americans to cut a check to our landlord. I rent because at this time in my life I feel that it is the smart decision. I don’t want to be saddled with a house and mortgage I can’t afford or being stuck with a house when my life circumstances change. Like many in the country, I agree with CNBC’s Rick... Read more
Nebraska Treasurer Shane Osborn Interviewed about Nebraska's Spending Database
Posted by Keith Capp - February 23, 2009
NTU has continued its work with the Show Me the Spending Coalition and periodically interviews champions of the government transparency movement. Recently, NTU’s Kristina Rasmussen was able to speak with Nebraska Treasurer Shane Osborn about Nebraska’s online spending database and his goals for it in the future. You can ... Read more
Washington Tea Party
Posted by NTU Gov - February 23, 2009
New American Tea Party and The American Spectator will be hosting a Tea Party Rally on Friday February 27th. The event will take place from 12-2 pm at the Washington Monument. The National Taxpayers Union will be co-sponsoring the event. Several other Tea Party events will be held simultaneously across the country.
Take a break from CPAC on Friday and... Read more
12 Brave Senators
Posted by NTU Gov - February 23, 2009
The Club For Growth's Andy Roth has posted the names of the only 12 U.S. Senators that voted NO on the auto bailout, TARP, and the stimulus. Here they are:
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bunning (R-KY)
Cochran (R-MS)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (... Read more
Biden to Oversee Stimulus Spending
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 23, 2009
According to reports, Vice President Joe Biden has been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the stimulus package. In selecting Biden as the guardian of nearly $800 billion in taxpayer money, President Obama said, "The fact that I'm asking my vice president to personally lead this effort shows how important it is for our c... Read more
Why Do Some Governors Oppose the Stimulus?
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - February 23, 2009
Governors Haley Barbour (Mississippi), Mark Sanford (South Carolina), Butch Otter (Idaho), Rick Perry (Texas), and Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) strongly oppose the states receiving certain cuts of the federal stimulus package. Why? In two years, the federal funds designated to increase state spending on welfare, education, and health care will no longer flow to th... Read more
How to start a taxpayer group
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - February 21, 2009
Mad about your property taxes? Interested in starting up a taxpayer group?
Find out how you can start and run a successful state or local taxpayer association by reading this short tutorial authored by NTU for Heritage Foundation's The Insider magazine.
... Read more
Does your state let you see how it spends your money?
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - February 20, 2009
Ever wondered what it takes to see exactly how government spends your taxpayer dollars? Click below and hear what Ed Martin, Chief of Staff to former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, has to say about putting up the Missouri Accountability Portal:
... Read more
New NTU poll: housing bailout
Posted by Kristina Rasmussen - February 20, 2009
... Read more
Wisconsin Gov. Wants iTunes Tax
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 20, 2009
According to Macintosh News Network, "Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle would like iTunes customers to help pay for the state's budget shortfall, according to the Associated Press." It is hoped that the tax would raise $11 million over the next two years, which will certainly help close the $600 million budget gap the state now faces and the $5.7 billion defici... Read more
Stadium Deal is about "Public Benefit", Not Dollars
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 20, 2009
When politicians push a publicly-financed stadium deal in their communities, they usually highlight how the new stadium will be an engine for economic growth and generate an economic return for taxpayers. Again, that's what usually happens, but apparently that's not the case in Prince George's County Maryland.
PG County -- as it's known locally -- wants to build a soccer stadium for DC United, the Major League Soccer franchise that had been... Read more
Cartoon Blogging
Posted by Jeff Dircksen - February 20, 2009
HT: Andrew Moylan, Andy Roth, and IBD
... Read more
Rick Santelli Isn't Happy
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - February 19, 2009
I think this speaks for itself:
... Read more
NTU Letter Supporting Spending Commission
Posted by Andrew Moylan - February 19, 2009
Last week, NTU and our friends at Citizens Against Government Waste hosted a press conference to urge Congress to oppose the stimulus and begin systematically addressing the absurd amount of waste in the federal budget. At that conference, Representative John Sullivan (R-OK) announced that he was introducing a bill called the "Federal Agency Program Realignment and Clos... Read more
NTU Testifies in Support of MD TABOR
Posted by Natasha Altamirano - February 19, 2009
NTU State Government Affairs Manager Josh Culling is in Maryland today testifying before the House Ways & Means Committee in support of Del. Warren Miller's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.
Maryland presently faces a budget deficit of $2 billion, despite a number of significant tax hikes that have recently been in... Read more
Manny gets a bailout
Posted by Joshua Culling - February 19, 2009
Per The Onion.... Read more
Laugh at this immediately
Posted by Joshua Culling - February 19, 2009
Best. Video. Ever.
... Read more
Your Stimulus is So Fat...
Posted by Dominic Rupprecht - February 18, 2009
We know the spendulus is big and bloated and porky. But thanks to one scrappy numbers cruncher now we know that the stimulus weighs more than the punchline to a "Your Momma's so fat" joke.
So the math: every dollar bill (and every other US bill) weighs about one gram.
1 million grams = 10... Read more
This Week's Transparency Newsletter Posted
Posted by Doug El Sanadi - February 18, 2009
Click here and scroll down to see this week's state spending transparency update.
Speaking of transparency, as California's crisis continues be sure and refer folks to this... Read more
Yes, We Care!
Posted by NTU Gov - February 18, 2009
Conservative syndicated columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin organized a rally to protest the President signing the “porkulus bill” in Denver, Colorado yesterday. Food and entertainment were supplied at the protest. The event featured both a live pig, as well as a roasted one for attendees to enjoy.
Along with the hundreds of taxpayers in attendance, Jim Pfaff of Colorado Americans for Prosperity, Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute... Read more
Fiscal Responsibility Summit
Posted by NTU Gov - February 18, 2009
The White House has announced that President Barack Obama will hold a “Fiscal Responsibility Summit” on Monday the 23rd. The three-hour bipartisan summit has invited 90 people, which include 30 House members, 30 Senators and 30 representatives of advocacy groups. NTU has yet to receive an invitation.
In the wake of signing the largest spending bill in history, President Obama would now like to demonstrate “fairness” by holding a summit to di... Read more