National Taxpayers Union
From Sunshine Review
The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)4 organization established in 1969 to advocate the benefits of lower taxes, leaner and limited government, and economic freedom at the federal, state, and local levels. In addition, NTU supports institutional reform of government through replacing the U.S. Tax Code with a better alternative, supporting a Balanced Budget Amendment, a Tax Limitation Amendment, and laws requiring government agencies to reveal their expenditures to citizen scrutiny.
NTU’s team is located just outside of Washington, DC in Alexandria, VA. The team amplifies the taxpayer voice through grassroots mobilization, media outreach, public rallies and speeches, internet communications, advertising, and lobbying.
Since 1969, NTU has grown from a small group of concerned citizens to have a membership of over 362,000 Americans in every state and territory of our country.[1]
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Policy Positions
Of late, NTU's work has been centered around tax reform, transparency, and regulatory issues. NTU has been a proponent of a Tax Limitation Amendment and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[2][3] They have also worked for reform of federal entitlements including Social Security and Medicare. They have also supported abolishing the current tax code and replacing it with a flat tax or the FairTax.[4] In the long run, NTU would like to see the tax code become the FairTax. The organization has been an advocate for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) at all levels of government.[5] Believing that transparency is key to fiscal responsibility, NTU has supported many movements to open up federal, state, and local government financial records in online databases to taxpayer scrutiny.[6]
Transparency
NTU manages a coalition of organizations devoted to transparency in state spending, and sponsors the Show Me The Spending portal on Sunshine Review.
Accomplishments
- Successfully supported income tax cuts for everyone.
- Supported income tax indexing to prevent cost of living adjustments from pushing taxpayers into higher tax brackets.
- Organized activists to fight state and local tax increases nationwide.
- Won reforms in 2006 to establish a public database of federal contracts and grants.
- Supported the movement for online transparency databases in several states of contracts, grants, and/or payments.
- Successfully fought "hidden taxes" on consumers, such as telephone taxes, satellite taxes, and mandatory fees.
National Taxpayers Union Foundation
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. Founded in 1977, NTUF’s mission is to provide timely and original information promoting the benefits of lower taxes and limited government. NTUF’s work covers a wide range of public policy issues including: tax reform, economic growth, Congressional budget tracking, interest group analysis, entitlement reforms, and government spending analysis.[7]
NTUF Projects
BillTally
NTUF's BillTally project estimates the costs or savings of bills introduced into the U.S. Congress that would have a net impact of over $1 million on the US Budget. The cost analysis are then cross indexed with the sponsors or cosponsors to determine the federal spending or savings proposed by individual members of Congress. The NTUF staff utilizes Congressional Budget Office reports, news reports, Congressional offices, previous estimates, and other sources to complete this project. Using this methodology, NTUF estimates that they are able to score 95% of bills introduced in Congress.
VoteTally
NTUF's VoteTally utilizes BillTally estimates to to asses the cost or savings of every vote that effects the federal budget in excess of $1 million. The methodology is intended to reflect the overall budget pressure that each member of Congress' votes place on the federal budget.
2008 Ballot Information
NTU and NTUF have compiled information for voters on their 2008 Elections page.
- Presidential Election: Studies include a cost analysis of new spending programs proposed by the candidates, a snapshot of the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees fiscal records in Congress, and other studies and releases on the candidates.
- Congressional Election: NTUF has completed an analysis of the new programs proposed by candidates in select US Senate Races. In addition, NTU conducted its bi-annual Congressional Candidate Survey to asses candidates' positions on various taxes and reform measures.
- State Ballot Measures: The 2008 NTU Taxpayer Ballot Guide contains over 100 state ballot questions that are appearing in ballots November 4, 2008.
NTU Websites
- BeyondBailouts.org- NTU's campaign and online petition to end the taxpayer bailouts of reckless Wall Street bankers, corporations, and consumers.
- NoTaxHikers.org- NTU's get-out-the-vote effort to encourage voters to vote against government officials who have voted to raise taxes on their constituents.
- No New Energy Taxes - NTU's project showing how energy taxes will raise the prices for consumers.
- Government Bytes - NTU's Blog
Allies
- NTU maintains a database of state & local taxpayer groups.
- NTU frequently works with coalitions of like minded organizations including: Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Citizens Against Government Waste, FreedomWorks, and many other national, state, and local groups.
Affiliates
- Arlington County (VA) Taxpayers Association
- Iowans for Tax Relief
- Florida Taxpayers Union
- Mississippi Forward
- Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom
