Americans for Tax Reform
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| Abbreviation | ATR |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1985 |
| Type | Advocacy group |
| Headquarters | 722 12th Street NW |
| Location |
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Region served
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United States |
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President
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Grover Norquist |
| Website | www |
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a politically conservative U.S. taxpayer advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." According to ATR, "The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax. We believe that power should be minimized." The organization is known for its "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", which asks candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to opposing all tax increases. The founder and president of ATR is Grover Norquist, a conservative tax activist.
Americans for Tax Reform is a 501(c)(4) organization with 14 employees, finances of $3,912,958, and a membership of 60,000 (as of 2004). It was founded by Grover Norquist in 1985.
The associated educational wing is the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation, which is classified as a 501(c)(3) research and educational organization. The purpose of both entities is to educate and/or lobby against all tax increases.
Americans for Tax Reform is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a U.S. national network of free-market oriented think tanks. Americans for Tax Reform is a grantee of the Donors Trust, a nonprofit donor-advised fund.
Since 1986, ATR has sponsored the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written promise by legislators and candidates for office that commits them to oppose tax increases. All candidates for state and federal office, and all incumbents are offered the Pledge. Nearly 1,400 elected officials, from state representatives, to governors, to US Senators, have signed the Pledge. There are separate versions at the national and state level.
In the version for the U.S. House of Representatives, the signer pledges to:
ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and
TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
In the version for state legislators, the signer pledges that:
I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.
In the 112th Congress serving in years 2011 and 2012, all but six of the 242 Republican members plus two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, for a total of 238 – a majority of that body – as well as all but seven of the 47 Republican members plus one Democratic member of the U.S. Senate, for a total of 41, have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. All except 13 sitting Republicans have signed the pledge, while three Democrats have signed it (outgoing-Sen. Ben Nelson (NE) and House members Robert Andrews (NJ) and Ben Chandler (KY)).
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Wikipedia