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==Special Projects==
The website provides links to the following projects:[http://www.atr.org/special/index.html]
===Monthly radio program===
[[Grover Norquist]]'s Radio Show, "Leave Us Alone" broadcasts on the internet every fourth Thursday on [[Rightalk]]. The organizational website maintains an archive of the programs. [http://www.atr.org/special/misc/leaveusalone/index.html]
===Nationalization of Virginia state tax issues===
Starting in 2004, ATF launched a national letterwriting campaign to persuade Virginia legislators to fight Democratic Governor [[Mark Warner]]'s plan to raise taxes to maintain the state's AAA bond raising and meet commitments to K-12 and higher education funding, among other purposes. Warner had inherited budget shortfalls from his predecessor, Republican [[George Allen]] and had already cut spending to avoid a deficit. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/graphics/virginia_money_022504.html?referrer=emaillink]
When 34 Republican legislators worked with Virginia’s Democratic governor to secure passage, they issued a "Virginia's Least Wanted" poster targeting those Republicans. On April 24, 2005, ATF issued a press release touting those legislators that had signed a pledge not to increase taxes.[http://www.atr.org/content/pdf/2005/mar/pr-va-primaries.pdf]
On June 15, 2005, after the state primary, ATR issued a press release claiming that "Taxpayer advocates believe the two scalps they claimed last night – those of Gary Reese (H-67), who was defeated by newcomer Chris Craddock, and James Dillard (H-41), who retired rather than face a strong challenge from Michael Golden – are only their latest wins against the pro-tax 'Republicans.' Last September, Sen. Ken Stolle (S-8) was denied a seat in Congress because of his pro-tax vote; anti-tax Delegate Thelma Drake took the seat in Congress instead. In the special election to succeed Thelma Drake, Republican Michael Ball lost by less than 100 votes because he tried to finesse the tax issue."[http://www.atr.org/content/pdf/2005/jun/061505pr-va-postprimary.pdf]
However, the strategy may have backfired. Both the Dillard and Reese seats, which had been Republican, ended up as Democratic seats in the general election. In fact in the Craddock-Caputo race in Virginia's 67th District, Norquist became a target in the campaign.
no edit summary
{{about_ALEC}}
===What is the [[Taxpayer Protection Pledge]]?===
Big tobacco companies used Norquist's tax pledge as a cover to lobby lawmakers against cigarette taxes. That was in the 1990s. Now, however, it's questioning that the ATR group still remains somewhat in control of the Republican party. An inside look at the funding for Norquist's group reveals that 66 percent is coming from only two non-profit organizations. The [[Center to Protect Patient Rights]] donated $4,189,000 to ATR in 2010, 34 percent of the total amount of funding. [[Crossroads GPS]] donated $4,000,000 to ATR in the same year, 32.46 percent of the budget. The staggering amount of money these billionaire-backed organizations donated accounts for well over half the total budget. <ref>[http://www.thenation.com/blog/171475/analysis-grover-norquists-budget-largely-financed-just-two-billionaire-backed-nonprofits#] Grover Norquist's Budget is Largely Financed by Two Billionaire-backed Nonprofits, Lee Fang, November 27, 2012.</ref>
===Nationalization of Virginia state tax issues===
Starting in 2004, ATF launched a national letterwriting campaign to persuade Virginia legislators to fight Democratic Governor [[Mark Warner]]'s plan to raise taxes to maintain the state's AAA bond raising and meet commitments to K-12 and higher education funding, among other purposes. Warner had inherited budget shortfalls from his predecessor, Republican [[George Allen]] and had already cut spending to avoid a deficit. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/graphics/virginia_money_022504.html?referrer=emaillink]
When 34 Republican legislators worked with Virginia’s Democratic governor to secure passage, they issued a "Virginia's Least Wanted" poster targeting those Republicans. On April 24, 2005, ATF issued a press release touting those legislators that had signed a pledge not to increase taxes.[http://www.atr.org/content/pdf/2005/mar/pr-va-primaries.pdf]
On June 15, 2005, after the state primary, ATR issued a press release claiming that "Taxpayer advocates believe the two scalps they claimed last night – those of Gary Reese (H-67), who was defeated by newcomer Chris Craddock, and James Dillard (H-41), who retired rather than face a strong challenge from Michael Golden – are only their latest wins against the pro-tax 'Republicans.' Last September, Sen. Ken Stolle (S-8) was denied a seat in Congress because of his pro-tax vote; anti-tax Delegate Thelma Drake took the seat in Congress instead. In the special election to succeed Thelma Drake, Republican Michael Ball lost by less than 100 votes because he tried to finesse the tax issue."[http://www.atr.org/content/pdf/2005/jun/061505pr-va-postprimary.pdf]
However, the strategy may have backfired. Both the Dillard and Reese seats, which had been Republican, ended up as Democratic seats in the general election. In fact in the Craddock-Caputo race in Virginia's 67th District, Norquist became a target in the campaign.
== History ==
