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The 12 panel members have legislative agendas whose individual impact on the budget would vary widely, from an annual cut in federal expenditures of just over $85 billion to a yearly increase of more than $1.15 trillion.

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 America’s health care system. Andrew Moylan, Director of Government Affairs for the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) provided the following the statement on behalf of his organization:

Several groups are beginning to release voter guides for the upcoming Presidential election. These can be printed and used in church bulletins, etc. National Right to Life: English version: http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparison0909084c.pdf Spanish verson: http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparisonHISPANIC.pdf Also, from American Family Association HTML version: http://www.afa.net/08VG/index.html PDF version: http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08VG_print.pdf

It is now consensus that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the systemic meltdown we are seeing in the mortgage market. They are costing taxpayers billions through their own bailouts and through the role they played in fueling an artificial mortgage boom.But eight years ago, when I testified before Congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's "special privileges create a serious hazard to the market, to taxpayers (and) to the economy," my criticism of these sacred financial entities was met with ridicule. At the hearing on June 21, 2000, before the House Financial Services Committee, I...

Why NTU Supports the FairTax: The Fair Tax Act would promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States. Legislative Status: The FairTax has been reintroduced for the 110th Congress. It is H.R. 25 in the House and S. 1025 in the Senate. NTU has endorsed the FairTax since 1998 and continues to work for its adoption Benefits of the FairTax: The FairTax plan brings fairness, transparency, and efficiency to our unfair, complex, and confusing Tax Code....

NTU's Fiscal "Snapshot" of the 2008 Presidential Race 2008 Presidential Race: Fiscal Snapshot of Leading Contenders with a Record In Congress   1. NTU Congressional Rating – Most Recent Grade and Rating 2. NTU Congressional Rating – Percent of "A" Grades (1992-2007) 3. NTUF Spending Agenda (BillTally) – Most Recent Congress 4. NTUF 2008 Candidate Spending Analyses Democrats Barack Obama (IL) F (5%) 0% +$40.5 billion $343.6 billion [updated analysis in PDF] Republicans John McCain (AZ) A (88%)5 67% +$8.8 billion $68.5 billion [updated analysis in PDF] Notes: 1. NTU Congressional Rating – 2007 Grade and Rating – NTU's Rating...

For Immediate Release Feb 29, 2008 For Further Information, Contact: Peter J. Sepp, Natasha Altamirano, (703) 683-5700 Plaintiff Hails Court's Ruling against N. Va. Tax Authority; Predicts "Major Benefit" for Other States' Taxpayers (Alexandria, VA) -- Virginia taxpayers scored a huge victory today when the Commonwealth's highest court sent an unmistakable message that the General Assembly may not delegate its taxing power to non-elected bodies such as the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority. Kristina Rasmussen, a plaintiff in Robert G. Marshall, et al. v. Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, et al. and Director of Government Affairs for the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union...

(Alexandria, VA) -- As House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) plans another push this year for an overhaul of the Tax Code, lawmakers should abandon Rangel's multi-rate proposal and follow the worldwide movement toward a simple flat tax system, according to the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU). In the mid-20th century, Hong Kong was the only country with a flat -- and proportional -- national personal income tax rate. Since then, 17 other countries have followed suit and introduced flat taxes, according to the World Taxpayers Associations (WTA), a coalition of 60 taxpayer-advocacy groups -- including NTU...

Below is the email I received from the National Taxpayers Union. John was one of our good guys who could spot a RINO in 15 words or less. God Bless John: We are sorry to announce the passing of John Berthoud. As you may know, he has led both the National Taxpayers Union and National Taxpayers Union Foundation over the last 11 years. We have looked to him as a strong leader, compassionate friend, and a fierce fighter for freedom. Pete Sepp, Vice President for Communications, shared his surprise, "John Berthoud's death today was as sudden as it was shocking...

Just found out that John Berthoud, president of the National Taxpayers Union and a good friend to conservatism, passed away earlier today. Sorry if it's already been posted, searched and didn't find anything.

Live-blogging from our 2007 National Taxpayers Conference, we now have the results of our Presidential Straw Poll. Every attendee of our Conference was given a chance to vote for any of the declared Presidential candidates, Republican or Democrat. After counting the votes, we can announce partial results. Fred Thompson was the winner with 25.7% of the vote. Ron Paul came in second place with 16.7%. Rudy Giuliani placed third with 12.5% Mitt Romney garnered 9.0% of the vote to snag fourth place. The top five was rounded out by John McCain, who received 5.6%. Full results, pictures, and more about...

Former Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman’s loss in the Connecticut Democratic Senate primary may have grabbed the headlines, but Republican Congressman Joe Schwarz’s primary loss on Tuesday may create political waves just as big. Tim Walberg pulled off the rare feat of defeating an incumbent Congressman (by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin). The message from Michigan: the conservative base is tired of big-government Republicans. Schwarz of course was backed or praised by much of the GOP establishment and business lobbying community. He also received help from liberal groups, labor unions, and the union-allied Republican Main Street Partnership. Schwarz’s...

Press Releases of Mike DeWine Dominated by Pork and Spending The list is long, but apologies for its length should be requested of Senator Mike DeWine.04/27/06 DEWINE SPONSORED BILL TO IMPROVE COMPETITION IN OIL INDUSTRY PASSES COMMITTEE 04/27/06 DEWINE INTRODUCES RESOLUTION DESIGNATING JUNE 2006 AS “NATIONAL SAFETY MONTH” 04/27/06 DEWINE BILL WOULD IMPROVE SCREENING OF NEWBORNS 04/27/06 DEWINE, VOINOVICH APPLAUD COMMITTEE CONFIRMATION OF BARRETT NOMINATION 04/26/06 DEWINE SPONSORED BILL WOULD PROVIDE GRANTS FOR HOLOCAUST EDUCATION 04/18/06 DEWINE HELPS SECURE DISASTER RELIEF GRANT FOR VOLUNTEER CONNECTION OF NW OHIO 04/13/06 DEWINE HELPS SECURE CONSERVATION GRANT FOR CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER 04/12/06 DEWINE...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In 2008, when voters begin to decide on presidential candidates, parsing through stump speeches and plain vanilla debates will make it difficult to judge who among the hopefuls will live up to their rhetoric on taxes and government spending. For concerned taxpayers, history has proven to be the best measure of a candidate’s mettle. Former Virginia Democratic Gov. Mark Warner is heralded as a fiscal conservative who brought his state out of a financial crisis. Voters took note when Warner proclaimed: “I will not raise taxes. My plan states it. I’ve said it through this campaign.” His...

Yes, it’s that time of the year again. NTU released its annual rating of Congress today. If you haven’t visited today, make sure to Click Here for the pdf and Here for the Database.

The editorial page of The Washington Times has reviewed the interest-group and ideological ratings and rankings of the three Republican House members -- John Boehner of Ohio (first elected in 1990), John Shadegg of Arizona (1994) and Roy Blunt of Missouri (1996) -- seeking the post of House majority leader, which Tom DeLay permanently vacated recently. >snip Mr. Shadegg, who has compiled five 100% ratings in 10 years from the American Conservative Union (ACU), has a lifetime ACU rating of 97.6. With four 100% ratings over 14 years, Mr. Boehner's lifetime ACU rating is 93.4. Mr. Blunt, who has received...

Veteran Weld-watchers may have noticed a brief flicker of the old Bill Weld yesterday as he came out swinging against the striking New York transit workers. Does Big Red still have enough of the fire that won him the Massachusetts governorship in 1990 to make a difference in New York in 2006? In an interview with the New York Sun, Weld challenged Democratic front-runner Eliot Spitzer to get tough on the strikers. "If he were governor, I don't think he would be as aggressive as I would be," said the Bay State turned Empire State Republican. "Mr. Spitzer should be...

The pending Boeing/Lockheed "United Launch Alliance" (ULA) to provide the Air Force with expendable rockets would unfairly strand taxpayers with a half-billion-dollar-a-year subsidy: that's the message the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) delivered to Congress today, in an open letter urging lawmakers to end subsidies for the companies' current and proposed space-booster schemes. Federal policymakers are expected to consider the merger deal as early as this week. "Launch platforms for satellites can be expendable, but tax dollars never are," said NTU Director of Government Affairs Paul Gessing. "Over the past decade, the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) initiative...

At $286.4 billion, the highway bill just passed by Congress is the most expensive public works legislation in US history. In addition to funding the interstate highway system and other federal transportation programs, it sets a new record for pork-barrel spending, earmarking $24 billion for a staggering 6,376 pet projects, spread among virtually every congressional district in the land. The enormous bill -- 1,752 pages long -- wasn't made available for public inspection until just before it was brought to a vote, and so, as The New York Times noted, ''it is safe to bet that none of the lawmakers,...