Americans for Tax Reform

Americans For Prosperity - Americans for Tax Reform - Conservatives - Elections - GOP - Government - Jim DeMint - Senate - Society/Culture - The Heritage Foundation - Warner Todd Huston

WaPost Says Political Party Power Dying for GOP, But What Does it Mean?

January 15, 2013 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Originally posted at TheOtherMCain.com.

In his latest piece at The Fix Blog, Washington Post reporter Chris Cillizza focused on the apparent waning power of the Republican Party among the center right coalition. Cillizza makes some good points, of course, but I do have at least one warning to our side over the points Cillizza makes.

Cillizza’s focus is on the recent departure from the Senate of South Carolina’s Jim DeMint who abruptly left a high profile political career to take the top spot leading the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Cillizza doesn’t mention it, but DeMint wasn’t just any old faceless senator. He had made himself an important voice in conservative circles even going so far as to become a major national player in elections whereby candidates would make a pilgrimage to his offices to seek his endorsement.

So, when DeMint left the power of the Senate behind, it was a big shock to conservatives who had hoped he’d continue to be a major conservative voice inside Washington.
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WaPost Says Political Party Power Dying for GOP, But What Does it Mean?”

Americans for Tax Reform - Barack Obama - Budget - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Entitlements - Ethics - GOP - Grover Norquist - House of Representatives - John Boehner - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Policy - President - Progressives - Regulation - Republicans - Senate - Stimulus - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Norquist: Obama’s Failed Fiscal Cliff Ideas Like a ‘Seinfeld Episode Where No Learning Takes Place’

December 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Grover Norquist worries that Obama is like a bad episode of Seinfeld and might prove unable to learn from his past mistakes pushing us over the fiscal cliff whether we like it or not.

This is what Norquist, chief of Americans for Tax Reform — evangelist for the no-tax pledge that so many Republicans have signed — said in an intimate conversation today during which he laid out some ideas on how to push this debate back in our direction.

In a call with only a few conservative bloggers, Norquist laid out the problems we are facing and then went into some of the specifics, the ins and outs of negotiations, and laid out one idea that could help better inform Americans on just what the heck is going on in this debate.

The first thing of interest the ATR chief said was that we should avoid a grand budget bargain that settles everything at once. Instead, Norquist argued to continue the process of having repeated continuing resolutions. Over the last several years, instead of having a full budget passed by Congress, the House has been making do with short-term budgets called continuing resolutions (CR). These CRs fund the government for months or even weeks instead of a full fiscal year.

For his part, Norquist felt that we’ve gotten far better deals and advanced the spending cut/tax cut ball much further with the CRs than we ever could with a single, year-long budget. He also noted that the GOP had a huge amount of power by having control over the debt ceiling and would be stupid to allow the president to take that from them as he’s proposed doing.
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Norquist: Obama’s Failed Fiscal Cliff Ideas Like a ‘Seinfeld Episode Where No Learning Takes Place’”

Americans for Tax Reform - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Aug. 12: Happy Cost of Government Day (Illinoisans Hardest Hit)

August 12, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, we’ve finally paid for the cost of government for the year. That’s right, it took over half the year for working folks to pay off what it costs to keep government rolling for a year. Sadly, Illinois does not far as well as most other states.

Each year Americans for Tax Reform figures in the costs of federal, state, and local taxes, fees and costs to float government and calculates that against the income earned by each individual American worker to arrive at the day that government costs are satisfied for the year. This year the day is August 12th.

Working people must toil 224 days out of the year just to meet all costs imposed by government, a full 27 days longer than 2008.

In other words, in 2011 the cost of government consumes 61.42 percent of national income.

Interestingly, last year’s date was August 14, so 2011’s cost of government day is two days earlier than 2010’s.
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Aug. 12: Happy Cost of Government Day (Illinoisans Hardest Hit)”

Americans for Tax Reform - Cable - Democrats/Leftists - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - MSNBC - Newt Gingrich - TV - Warner Todd Huston

Gays, Media, Ignore MSNBC Talker’s Gay Slur

July 31, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We all know that the Old Media is filled with double standards where it concerns treatment of conservatives and liberals. Last week we found yet another example of the media’s penchant to hypocrisy when a talking head on MSNBC used a derogatory term associated with gays yet the entire militant gay establishment and their pals in the Old Media ignored the whole thing. We all know that if a conservative had issued a gay slur like that the tale would have overshadowed every story in the news today.

Last week MSNBC’s left-wing talker Dylan Ratigan had fellow talking head Jimmy Williams on his program to discuss the debt ceiling talks going on in D.C. The discussion turned to head of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist, whom Williams idiotically called a “petty criminal.” But what Williams said of the relationship he felt that Norquist and Newt Gingrich had was far worse. (My bold)

One person is controlling the agenda of the United States of America right now and his name is Grover Norquist. Grover Norquist was Newt Gingrich’s butt buddy…

First of all, it is simple-minded, and nothing but foolish demagoguery to seriously posit that Grover Norquist is “controlling the agenda of the United States of America right now.” Williams makes himself a clown with such nonsense. But that he goes on to use a gay slur right afterward truly makes of him no one worth taking seriously.
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Gays, Media, Ignore MSNBC Talker’s Gay Slur”

Americans for Tax Reform - Budget - Congress - Conservatives - Economy/Finances - Government - House of Representatives - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Strong Coalition Urges House Republicans to Create Anti-Appropriations Committee

December 22, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

President of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR.org), Grover Norquist, wrote about having an “anti-appropriations committee back in June n the American Spectator.

Norquist talked of Democrats, Republicans and “the appropriators” in congress and proposed an idea to take the starch out of the appropriator’s assumed sense of entitlement to spend our money with abandon.

Hearkening back to the board that identified needless spending during WWII, spending congress then cut from the budget, Norquist suggested a similar board today that would look over the budget and decide in a non-partisan way what was worth the spending and what should be cut.
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Strong Coalition Urges House Republicans to Create Anti-Appropriations Committee”

Americans for Tax Reform - Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - Liberals - President - Regulation - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

ATR: Why Business Extenders in the Tax Deal Aren’t Earmarks, TARP, Pork, Etc.

December 13, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Americans for Tax Reform has a must read piece on some of the provisions in the tax deal that Obama is trying to work out with Republicans. Many on the left are saying that the business extenders in the deal are pork, or are an earmark, or are even “costing the government.” Ryan Ellis explains why these claims are incorrect re the business extenders.

The first thing he mentions is that business extenders aren’t new to this tax deal and that they’ve been around for a long time. For the left and the Old Media to be focusing on them as if they are new policy is simply wrong.

In any case, whatever else is wrong with this idea — such as the pork that is being added every other hour at this point — the business extenders are not a detraction here.
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ATR: Why Business Extenders in the Tax Deal Aren’t Earmarks, TARP, Pork, Etc.”

Americans for Tax Reform - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - DuPage County - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Kane County - Liberals - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Hare Desperate to Take Focus Off Record Uses Debunked Attacks on Bobby Schilling and ATR Pledge

October 7, 2010 by

-By Adam Radman, Americans for Tax Reform

The recent attacks by Rep. Phil Hare’s campaign against Bobby Schilling and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge lack credibility. Democrats like Rep. Hare have made these false and misleading claims over and over again across the country. A number of news sources have reviewed the charges and discredited them. Starting in April, FactCheck.org’s Brook Jackson condemned the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for making similar claims calling the attacks “blatantly false.” Jon Ralston, during his television show Face to Face, called similar claims against the Pledge in NV-03 “thoroughly misleading.” Even the DSCC and Democrat Senate candidates have attempted to distort the meaning of the Pledge. Democrat Sen. Patty Murray’s attempts were called “a stretch” by King 5 TV in Washington State.

Rep. Phil Hare has attempted to distract voters from the important issues this election cycle: jobs and economic growth. Voters should demand to know from Rep. Hare just how tax hikes on individuals and/or businesses create jobs. In fact, voters should also ask him why he left Washington before putting a stop to one of the largest tax hikes in U.S. History. By taking the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, Schilling has made a clear pledge to the taxpayers in IL-17 that he will oppose and vote against any and all tax increases on working families and employers
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Hare Desperate to Take Focus Off Record Uses Debunked Attacks on Bobby Schilling and ATR Pledge”

Americans for Tax Reform - Budget - Economy/Finances - Government - Liberals - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Happy Cost of Government Day, America!

August 19, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Every year Americans for Ta Reform announces the day when the average American has finally finished paying his share of the cost of government and every year it seems to occur later in the year. This year the date has been pinpointed as today, August 19. (Download study HERE)

Imagine that, folks. We now work for three quarters of the year to pay for government! We don’t start working for ourselves until the middle of August! This is intolerable.

And with Barack “emperor” Obama in office we are sure to see this date advance even later by next year.

According to ATR:

Every year, the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and the Center for Fiscal Accountability calculate Cost of Government Day. This is the day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government at the federal, state, and local levels.

In 2010, Cost of Government Day falls on August 19. Working people must toil 231 days out of the year just to meet all costs imposed by government – 8 days later than last year and a full 32 days longer than 2008.

In other words, in 2010 the cost of government consumes 63.41 percent of national income.

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Happy Cost of Government Day, America!”

Americans for Tax Reform - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Chicago - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - GOP - House of Representatives - Illinois - Republicans - Rights - State Government - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Which Ill. Candidates Have Signed Taxpayer Protection Pledge?

January 29, 2010 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Americans for Tax Reform (atr.org) has a post up today reminding us all just which Illinois candidates have signed ATR’s no tax pledge.

It’s called the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and you can see the pledge HERE.
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Which Ill. Candidates Have Signed Taxpayer Protection Pledge?”

Americans for Tax Reform - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Free Trade - Socialism - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Mr. Freeze? Hardly. The Fake Spending “Restraint” of Obama

January 26, 2010 by

-By Ryan Ellis, Americans for Tax Reform

The political media is awash in news that President Obama will propose a freeze in non-defense, non-security discretionary spending over the next three years. This will reduce the spending baseline by $250 billion over the next decade.

A few thoughts:

1. Welcome to the fiscal responsibility party, Mr. President. After a year of trillion-dollar bailouts, trillion-dollar stimulus bills, and trillion-dollar healthcare plans, it’s nice to see at least a rhetorical nod toward sanity coming out of the White House.
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Mr. Freeze? Hardly. The Fake Spending “Restraint” of Obama”