CONTRIBUTOR
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES / NATIONAL IMPACT
ATR
Member For
32 weeks 2 days
Website:
www.ATR.org
Contact:
722 12th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20005
Office: 202-785-0266
Fax: 202-785-0261
friends@atr.org
BIOGRAPHY
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle.
We believe in a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax. We believe that power should be minimized.
ATR was founded in 1985 by Grover Norquist at the request of President Reagan.
The flagship project of Americans for Tax Reform is the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written promise by legislators and candidates for office that commits them to oppose any effort to increase income taxes on individuals and businesses. Since ATR first sponsored the Pledge in 1986, hundreds of U.S. Representatives, more than fifty U.S. Senators and every successful Republican Presidential candidate have all signed the Pledge. In the 111th Congress, 172 U.S. Representatives and 34 U.S. Senators have taken the Pledge never to raise income taxes.
Americans for Tax Reform began promoting the Taxpayer Protection Pledge on the state-level in the early 1990s.
ATR works with state taxpayer coalitions in all 50 states to ask candidates for state legislature and constitutional office to sign the State Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which reads: “I _____ pledge to the taxpayers of the __________ district, of the state of __________, and to all the people of this state, that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”
Additionally, Americans for Tax Reform works with state-based center-right groups to help replicate ATR’s national Wednesday Meeting in the states. Currently, there are over 50 meetings in 45 states. These meetings bring together a broad cross section of the center-right community- taxpayer groups, social conservative groups, business groups, legislators, etc., to promote limited government ideals.
Realizing that Americans not only need to be protected from higher taxes, but from higher spending; Americans for Tax Reform created the Center for Fiscal Accountability (CFA) in 2008. CFA focuses on all central issues related to fiscal responsibility and accountability, especially spending restraint and the promotion of a more transparent and accountable government on the local, state, and federal level through easily searchable online spending and contract databases.
Americans for Tax Reform and Americans for Tax Reform Foundation also sponsor the annual calculation of Cost of Government Day (COGD), the day on which Americans stop working to pay the costs of taxation, deficit spending, and regulations by federal and state governments.
ATR is a nonprofit, 501(c)(4) lobbying organization. Contributions to Americans for Tax Reform are not tax deductible. The Americans for Tax Reform Foundation is a 501c(3) research and educational organization. All contributions to the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation are tax deductible to the extent provided for in federal law.
COMMENTARIES
Departing Dems: What to do After You Lose Your Seat
By Americans for Tax Reform | 11/17/09
Some suggest that it will be a political liability if Democrats don’t pass health care reform. But maybe passing health care reform would be even worse. After all, If I were a Democrat in a red district that supported McCain in ’08, and I had just cast my vote for a horrendous health care bill, I might be a little worried about what will happen in 2010. But really, I shouldn’t be. Just ask... read more »
The Best We Can Get: Support H.R.3905
By Americans for Tax Reform | 11/15/09
Americans for Tax Reform sent the following letter today to Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX): On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform, I am pleased to support H.R. 3905, “The Estate Tax Relief Act of 2009.” While it falls short of our goal of full death tax repeal, it remains a tax cut relative to current law. As you know, the death tax is scheduled to be reduced to a rate of “0” in 2010, only to shoot up to... read more »
0 Comments | Related Topics »National |
White House Wages War on Free Speech
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/24/09
It should go without saying that freedom of speech is an essential part of any democratic state. The freedom to criticize the government, to say what you think and feel, and to truly engage in the political process. It is for this reason that I am somewhat disturbed by a recent trend that seems to be developing in some of the more recent actions of this Administration. Earlier this year, there was a considerable push to... read more »
5 Comments | Related Topics »National |
Healthcare Bill Breaks Obama's Oft-Repeated Promise on Taxes
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/22/09
Over and over again, President Obama has promised not to raise “any form” of taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year. Yet, the U.S. Senate is getting ready to consider a government healthcare bill which does just that. Here’s how: Health Insurance Mandate Taxes on Working Families Individual Mandate Excise Tax. Americans who do not sign up for health insurance will have to pay an excise tax... read more »
3 Comments | Related Topics »National |
Government Healthcare: Everyone is Equal, Some More Equal Than Others
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/20/09
Government run healthcare - the promise of equality for all! Everyone is equal, universality for all! In reality, of course, it doesn't work like that. Like in George Orwell's masterpiece Animal Farm, everyone may well be equal, it's just that some are more equal than others. One of the best instances of this comes from the sacred heart of modern government-run healthcare - the UK. The Times of London reported yesterday that "The... read more »
10 Comments | Related Topics »National |
Cap and Trade: Price Controls Don't Exist in a Rational Market
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/18/09
Prices play a crucial role in a market economy and history has shown that any attempt to artificially manipulate prices has disastrous effects. Prices send signals to producers and consumers about the preferences of consumers and the supply of resources. In the case of energy, oil can be used in numerous ways (heating, lubrication, powering vehicles, generating electricity, etc.). Prices help to guide producers and consumers to the most... read more »
3 Comments | Related Topics »National |
"Stimulus" Job Numbers Greatly Exaggerated
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/17/09
The first batch of recipient reports have been uploaded to Recovery.gov, and media headlines are now saying that the $16 billion so far tallied (more data is to be uploaded by the end of the month) created more than 30,000 jobs. Exactly what the White House wanted - having the media report about jobs "created" when a good number of these jobs previously existed, and we have discussed the challenges associated with the... read more »
3 Comments | Related Topics »National |
White House Spins Redistribution Scheme as Tax Cut
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/12/09
President Obama’s White House blog team reports that “President Obama’s aims (sic) to restore fairness to the tax system by providing the Making Work Pay tax cut to 95 percent of working families….” Of course, there is a small problem here. 95% of working families don’t pay taxes. One-third don’t pay any income taxes at all. So how can we give them a tax cut? Frankly, we... read more »
3 Comments | Related Topics »National |
Soviet Defector Provides a Lesson in Government Run Healthcare
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/05/09
Yuri N. Maltsev, who previously worked as an economist on Mikhail Gorbachev's economic reform team before defecting to the United States, wrote recently on the ultimate government run healthcare system - healthcare in the USSR. After all, as he notes, in 1918, the Soviet Union became the first country to promise universal "cradle-to-grave" healthcare coverage, to be accomplished through the complete socialization of medicine. The... read more »
Government Intrusion Threatens Future Technological Innovation
By Americans for Tax Reform | 10/04/09
Only a week after President Obama’s newly-appointed FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, announced his plans for government regulation of the internet, a study by the network planning consultancy AIRCOM International revealed the cost of an upgrade to LTE (or 4G) telecommunication technology could be as much as $1.78 billion for a tier one US operator in the first year. When implemented, this technology will significantly increase... read more »
2 Comments | Related Topics »National |
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