Citizens for Political Reform
PO Box 408 * Peabody, MA 01960
Phone: (508) 538-3900 * Fax: (508) 531-4374 * E-Mail: CPR98@aol.com
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*** UPDATE ***

Sunday, January 12, 1996

Aberdeen, Maryland (Ah the memories; I was stationed at Aberdeen
Proving Grounds some 25 years ago while in the US. Army!)

Greetings friends and activists!

Stopping for the night enroute home, I wanted to give you an update of this weekend's activities to keep you informed of what went on in the nation's capital with all of us "revolutionaries" in town for a visit! (This feels like a report coming from one of Sam Adams' Committees of Correspondence enroute from Philadelphia!)

National Taxpayers Conference '97 ended earlier today (officially at 1:45 P.M.) and we attendees headed our separate ways home to points all over the country and the world, a little wiser for the experience, encouraged that we are not alone in the fight for smaller, less intrusive, more responsive and accountable, and less expensive government at all levels.

To illustrate just how grueling a schedule we kept over the weekend beginning on Friday morning, and the multitude of topics that were covered by people with expert experience in their respective fields, following is the schedule of informative events and seminars which we attended.

The biggest concern was the upcoming vote -- the first bills filed by both the U.S. House and Senate (HJR 1 and SJR 1, worded exactly the same; but both only providing for tax increases requiring a constitutional majority [majority of actual members not members present and voting] instead of a supermajority -- for the Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).

It seems this time it is believed that the votes exist for passage in the Senate -- where it failed last time by ONE vote -- but the concern is primarily in the House, which has fewer Republican members than did the 104th Congress.

Even so, it seems to be not even definite in the Senate, where they still lack three definitive votes -- and where I expect we'll see some Democrats who faced re-election last cycle who don't in 1998, who voted for it only for that reason, who won't this time! (Of course there will be the Democrat senators who didn't vote for it the last time who face re-election in '98 and might feel a "yes" vote is necessary for re-election and will accordingly switch their vote this time. . .)

We were asked by every member of Congress who addressed us to go home and put the pressure on our Congressmen and Senators to vote for the Balanced Budget Amendment. You can imagine -- hell, you don't have to *imagine*; they're yours too! -- the futility we in the Massachusetts delegation to the conference felt with both our U.S. Senators Kennedy and Kerry just off successful re-election campaigns and both sworn opponents of the BBA. However, although our state's congressional delegation is generally wed to bigger government, more spending, and higher taxes, Congressman Joe Kennedy did vote for the BBA last time and is counted as a Yes vote for the next.

With his and Paul Tsongas' support, there may be other Democrats in both the Massachusetts delegation and on Beacon Hill who will vote to balance the federal budge "for the children". If the BBA is passed in February as hoped (my prediction is don't bet the farm on it), then the big job will be to convince our state legislature to ratify it in Massachusetts and send it back to Congress; no small feat in itself with only 38 Republicans left in the state House of Representatives and in the state Senate.

Chip Ford, Chairman

PS. While we had one enthusiastic state rep. present from Massachusetts (Rep. Jackie Lewis, R-Bridgewater), we found it interesting that the delegation from New Hampshire even included a state representative from a relatively large and popular group in the Granite State known as . . . *Legislators* for Limited Taxation!

*** NATIONAL TAXPAYERS CONFERENCE '97 ***

Friday ---------------------------------------------------------

8:30 - 8:35 AM: Hon. David M. Stanley; Pres., National Taxpayers
Union and Iowans for Tax Relief: Welcoming Remarks

8:35 - 9:00 AM: Sen. John McCain (R-Z); How the 105th Congress
Could Save You Money

9:00 - 9:25 AM: Prof. Richard Vedder, Ohio University and
National Taxpayers Union Board Member; Taxes and Economic
Opportunity

9:25 - 9:50 AM: Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-TX), Prospects of a
Bipartisan Budget Compromise

9:50 - 10:15 AM: Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA): what to Expect
from the 105th Congress

10:15 - 10:40 AM: Robert Woodson, Pres., Nat'l Center for
Neighborhood Enterprise; The Implications of Welfare Reform

10:40 - 11:05 AM: Arianna Huffington, Chair, Center for
Effective Compassion; Taxes and the Moral High Ground: Why
There's Been So Much Tax Talk and No Tax Reform

11:05 - 11:30 AM: Hon. Lamar Alexander; Are We Ready?

11:30 - 11:55 AM: James Dale Davidson, Chairman & Founder,
National Taxpayers Union & National Taxpayers Union Foundation

12:15 - 1:45 PM: (Lunch) Steve Forbes, Pres. & CEO, Forbes,
Inc. & Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Magazine; Entitlements, the Bud-
get, and Economic Growth

2:00 - 2:25 PM: Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY); The House's Legis-
lative Agenda in the 105th Congress

2:25 - 2:50 PM: Rep Gary Condit (D-CA); How the Blue Dog
Democrats Plan to Influence Public Policy

2:50 - 3:15 PM: Hon. Kenneth Blackwell, State Treasurer of Ohio
& National Taxpayers Union Board Member; The Need for (State)
Tax Limitation Amendments

3:15 - 3:40 PM: Charles Baker, Sect. of Administration &
Finance, Massachusetts; Wrestling the Waste Out of State
Government

3:40 - 4:05 PM: John Fund, Editorial Page Writer, The Wall
Street Journal; Visitor's Guide to an Alien Planet: Washington
D.C.

4:05 - 4:30 PM: Jack Anderson, Syndicated Columnist; The
Washington Money-Go-Round

4:30 - 5:15 PM: The Ten Dumbest Federal Programs --
Tom Schatz; Pres., Citizens Against Government
Waste (moderator)
Ralph DeGennaro, Exec. Dir., Taxpayers for
Common Sense
Scott Hodge, Grover M. Hermann Fellow in
Federal Budgetary Affairs, The Heritage
Foundation

5:15 - 6:00 PM: A Tax Tour of the World: A Report by Taxpayers'
Associations from Australia, Canada, Finland,
Germany, Holland and Sweden --
Bjorn Tarras-Wahlberg, Pres., Swedish Taxpayers
Assoc. (moderator)
Peter McDonald, Nat'l Dir., Australian Tax-
payers' Assoc.
Troy Lanigan, Exec. Dir, Canadian Taxpayers
Federation (British Columbia)
Heikki J. Perala, Pres., Taxpayers Assoc. of
Finland
Rolf von Hohenhau, Pres., Bavarian Taxpayers
Assoc.
Annette van-der Godart, The Dutch Taxpayers
Assoc.

8:00 -- "Get Acquainted" House Party hosted by Grover
Norquist, Exec. Dir. & Founder, Americans for
Tax Reform (and the "Leave Us Alone Coalition"
-- featured in this month's Reason Magazine)

Saturday --------------------------------------------------------

8:30 - 9:00 AM: Sen Orrin Hatch (R-UT); The Balanced Budget
Amendment: The Constitutional Answer to America's Problem

9:00 - 10:20 AM: 1996 State Ballots on Taxes: Lessons from the
Elections --
David Keating, Pres. National Taxpayers Union
Foundation (moderator)
David Biddulph, Chair, Tax Cap Committee (FL)
Joel Fox, Pres., Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Committee (CA)
Bill Sizemore, Exec. Dir., Oregon Taxpayers
United
Michael Steel, Leader, TRIM (Prince George's
County, MD)

10:20 - 10:35 AM: Troy Lanigan, Exec. Dir., Canadian Taxpayers
Federation (British Columbia); How Rallies Stopped a Tax
Increase

10:35 - 11:05 AM: Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID); Prospects for Passage
of the Balanced Budget Amendment

11:10 - 12:25 PM: (Holmes Room): Entitlements and the Graying
of America --
Paul Hewitt, Exec. Dir, National Taxpayers
Union Foundation (moderator)
Peter Ferrara, Chief Economist & General
Counsel, Americans for Tax Reform
Neil Howe, Chief Economist, National Taxpayers
Union Foundation

(Cotillion Ballroom): Making Politicians
Accountable: Effective Vote Ratings and
Candidate Surveys --
Grover Norquist, Pres., Americans for Tax
Reform
Jeff Boeyink, Exec. Dir., Iowans for Tax Relief
Rep. Sharon Cooper, Georgia State Legislature,
Author, Taxpayer's Tea Party
Karl Peterjohn, Exec. Dir., Kansas Taxpayers
Network
James Tobin, Pres., National Txpayers United
of Illinois

12:30 - 1:45 PM: Jim Rogers, TV Commenator & Author, Investment
Biker; The World's Emerging Growth Economies: Lessons for
America's Future

2:00 - 3:00 PM: (Holmes Room): Boost Your Group's Clout by
Raising More Money: How to Solicit Contributions
from $100 to $10,000 --
David Stanley, Pres., National Taxpayers Union
Foundation & Iowans for Tax Relief
Frank Eisenzimmer, Founder, Oregon Taxpayers
United
Edward D. Failor, Jr., Finance Director, Iowans
for Tax Relief

(Cotillion Room): Building Direct Mail Fund-
raising: How to Recruit, Activate and Keep
Thousands of Members --
Rita Smith, Dir. of Admin., National Taxpayers
Union (moderator)
Walter Lukens, Pres., The Lukens Company
Al Mitchler, Finance Dir., Republican National
Committee

3:15 - 4:25 PM: (Holmes Room): School Chice: The Growing Movement
to Better Education and More Freedom --
David Boaz, Exec. Vice Pres., Cato Institute
Bruno Manno, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

(Cotillion Room): Changing the Intellectual
Climate: How State Think Tanks Can Affect Public
Policy
Dr. Don Racheter, Exec. Dir., Public Interest
Institute (IA)
Mike Watson, Pres., Arkansas Policy Foundation
(Organizer, Arkansas Citizens Commission to
Streamline State Gov't.)

4:30 - 5:45 PM: (Cotillion Room): Effective State and Local
Lobbying Techniques --
Sydney Hoff-Hay, Pres., Lincoln Caucus (AZ)
(moderator)
Jim Broussard, Chair, Citizens Against Higher
Taxes
Edward D. Failor, Sr., Vice Pres., National
Taxpayers Union & Chief of Staff, Iowans for Tax
Relief
Charles Gerow, Chair, Citizens Against Gov't.
Waste of PA
Bill Sizemoe, Exec. Dir., Oregon Taxpayers United

6:00 - 7:00 PM: Reception

Sunday ----------------------------------------------------------

9:30 - 11:00 AM: (Holmes Room): Bringing Your Message to the
Masses: Effective Public Relations Techniques --
Mark Rhoads, Pres., Rhoads & Assocs. (moderator)
Barbara Anderson, Co-Dir., Citizens for Limited
Taxation & Government (MA)
Eddie Mahe, Chair, Eddie Mahe Company
Mike Siegel, Host, The Mike Siegel Radio Network

(Atrium II): Term Limits: The Next Step --
Paul Jacobs, Exec. Dir., U.S. Term Limits
Donna Weaver, Idaho Chair, Federal Term Limits
Campaign

11:10 - 12:00 PM: (Atrium II): What's Up With Privatization? --
Robert Poole, Pres., Reason Foundation

(Holmes Room): Tax Limits: What's Working, What's
Not --
David Keating, Pres., National Taxpayers Union
Foundation
David Stanley, Pres., National Taxpayers Union &
Iowans for Tax Relief

12:15 - 1:45 PM: Sen. Don Nickles (D-OK); A Taxpayer Agenda for
The Future

1:45 PM: Formal Conference Program Concluded -------------

2:30 PM: Barbara Anderson and I met privately with Grover
Norquist at the Americans for Tax Reform office in
downtown Washington.