News Release

July 10, 2001

Study finds taxpayer money goes to fund anti-tax cut advocacy
Subsidies for political advocacy distorting democratic process

WASHINGTON-President Bush's tax cut proposal drew criticism from a variety of sources, including the Fair Taxes for All Coalition. A new study by the Cato Institute shows that member groups of the Coalition received $618 million in taxpayer money in recent years, meaning that taxpayers have been unwittingly supporting advocacy against tax cuts.

In "More Government for All: How Taxpayers Subsidize Anti-Tax Cut Advocacy," Cato scholar John Samples and Capital Research Center researchers Christopher Yablonski and Ivan G. Osorio argue that, "American democratic processes should be constitutional, responsive, and neutral. Judged by these standards, public subsidies for anti-tax cut advocacy distort democratic processes."

"Of course Fair Taxes for All Coalition members have every right to express themselves politically," the authors write. "The question is whether every taxpayer should be forced to subsidize their doing so." When federal funds go to support political advocacy, "it forces some citizens to support political causes they would oppose if given a choice," they argue. "Surely such a compulsion is the most disturbing aspect of public subsidies."

In order for a representative government to accurately reflect the demands of the people, the authors argue, "Government should be neutral toward the political process." If the government abandons neutrality and subsidizes particular individuals or groups, "such bias will prevent the government from making laws that accurately reflect the wants and desires of the American people," they write.

"The federal government should take steps to get the politics out of nonprofits," the authors say. "Americans need better disclosure of public subsidies for political advocacy, and Congress should seek effective ways to prevent public money from being used to support political causes of any kind."

"More Government for All: How Taxypayers Subsidize Anti-Tax Cut Advocacy"