Club For Growth

I found, or maybe rediscovered, a site called The Club for Growth. It's mission is to help conservates get elected who espouse fiscally conservate ideals. Here are the first two paragraphs about why this club exists:

For 30 years economic conservatives and libertarians labored mightily to wrestle control of Congress away from a Democratic Party that has been mostly captured by the left at the national level. Most of us believed that electing a Republican Congress would bring about the kinds of major policy reforms—tax cuts, fundamental tax reform and simplification, school choice, less wasteful government, and so on—that are so critical to advancing prosperity.

We now know that was a naive hope.

Part of what they do is research the candidates, statewide and Federal, and decide whether they meet The Club's criteria of being fiscally conservate. If so, The Club will then endorse the candidate. Any campaign contributions you make through the club are matched with other contributions earmarked for a specific candidate.

Look here for more information. There is no cost for joining if you decide to do so, but there is a two year voluntary membership contribution. I am not endorsing The Club, but am recommending it for your further research.

I found several interesting articles here, one of which (Professor Bainbridge) shows that Senator Kerry and the Missus paid an effective tax rate of 12.8%. Geez, Louise! that's less that I paid and less than the 30% that George and Laura Bush paid. Might explain why Kerry opposes a reform in the tax code. I also found a link to Coyote Blog where I found this information on who pays what percentage of taxes. I've seen it before, but well, here it is again:

For 2003, the estimated share of total individual income taxes paid by:

Wealthiest 1%: 33.6%

Wealthiest 5%: 55.1%

Wealthiest 10%: 67.9%

Wealthiest 20%: 83.0%

Wealthiest 40%: 97.8%

Wealthiest 60%: 103.0%

The way to read this is that the wealthiest 10% of taxpayers pay 67.9% of the country's individual income taxes. And yes, that 103% is not a typo - the bottom 40% in income as a group pay negative personal income taxes (because of the EITC).

Oh, those numbers came from the Congressional Budget Office Report. Interesting reading, in any case.