Hodges, S

now at tax foundation
---
The Tax Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank" title="Think tank">think tank</a>

founded in 1937 that collects data and publishes research studies on

tax policies at the federal and state levels. The organization is broken

into three primary areas of research which are the Center for Federal

Fiscal Policy, The Center for State Fiscal Policy<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-0">[1]</a> and the Center for Legal Reform<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-1">[2]</a> The group is known for its annual reports such as "Facts & Figures: How Does Your State Compare"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-2">[3]</a> which was first produced in 1941<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-3">[4]</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Freedom_Day" title="Tax Freedom Day">Tax Freedom Day</a> for the United States, which it has produced since the early 1970s.

The Foundation's stated mission is to "educate taxpayers about sound

tax policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all

levels of government". The Tax Foundation is organized as 501(c)3

non-profit educational and research organization. Its website states

that journalists should describe it as: "a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonpartisan" title="Nonpartisan">nonpartisan</a> tax research group",<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-aboutus-4">[5]</a> though it has been described as having a "pro-business leaning"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-5">[6]</a> and it has ties to various conservative groups.

<h2>Contents</h2>

</div>

<ul><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#Goals_and_principles">1 Goals and principles</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#History">2 History</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#Board_of_directors">3 Board of directors</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#Criticisms">4 Criticisms</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#Notes">5 Notes</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#See_also">6 See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#External_links">7 External links</a></li></ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2> Goals and principles</h2>

Tax Foundation states that their research is guided by the principles

of simplicity, transparency, neutrality, stability, no retroactivity,

broad bases and low rates, which they describe as sound tax policy.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-6">[7]</a>

Tax Foundation research is generally critical of tax increases,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-7">[8]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-8">[9]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-9">[10]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-10">[11]</a> high business taxes,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-11">[12]</a> so-called "sin" taxes,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-12">[13]</a> tax preferences for the housing industry,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-13">[14]</a> and use of the tax code for "picking winners and losers".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-14">[15]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-15">[16]</a>

However, they are against reducing $47 billion in tax credits for the

oil industry, and against taxes on growing fossil-fuel carbon emissions.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]

They have spoken favorably of efforts to balance the federal budget

with tax reform and significant spending cuts, such as the

Bowles-Simpson plan,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-16">[17]</a> the Ryan Plan,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-17">[18]</a> and the Wyden-Coats plan.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-18">[19]</a>

The Tax Foundation has received funding from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil" title="ExxonMobil">ExxonMobil</a> and from conservative political groups such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Family_Foundations" title="Koch Family Foundations">Koch Family Foundations</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earhart_Foundation" title="Earhart Foundation">Earhart Foundation</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-19">[20]</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" title="Citizens for a Sound Economy">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>.

<h2> History</h2>

The Tax Foundation was organized on December 5, 1937 in New York City by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P.Sloan,Jr." title="Alfred P. Sloan, Jr." class="mw-redirect">Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.</a>, Chairman of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors" title="General Motors">General Motors</a> Corporation; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donaldson_Brown" title="Donaldson Brown">Donaldson Brown</a>, GM Financial Vice President; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S.Farish" title="William S. Farish" class="mw-redirect">William S. Farish</a>, President of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil_Company_of_New_Jersey" title="Standard Oil Company of New Jersey" class="mw-redirect">Standard Oil Company of New Jersey</a> (Exxon); and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_H.Brown" title="Lewis H. Brown">Lewis H. Brown</a>, President of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns-Manville" title="Johns-Manville" class="mw-redirect">Johns-Manville</a> Corporation, who later became the first Chairman of the Board of The Tax Foundation.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-20">[21]</a> The stated goal of the organization was "to monitor the tax and spending policies of government agencies".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-fiftyyears-21">[22]</a> Its offices were located at 50 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Center" title="Rockefeller Center">Rockefeller Plaza</a> and later 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

The Tax Foundation’s first project was a successful effort to stop a tax increase in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westchester_County" title="Westchester County" class="mw-redirect">Westchester County</a>, New York, where they provided research and analysis (including an "Expenditure Survey” of state spending) to local activists.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-fiftyyears-21">[22]</a> By 1943, the Tax Foundation had helped set up taxpayers associations and expenditure councils in 35 states.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-fiftyyears-21">[22]</a>

During World War II, Tax Foundation research emphasized restraining

government spending domestically to finance wartime expenditures. In

1948, the Tax Foundation opened an office in Washington, D.C., and in

1978 relocated there completely.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-fiftyyears-21">[22]</a>

Its research and analysis has historically emphasized publicizing

federal and state financial information, arguing against the use of tax

systems for "social engineering," and urging "broad bases and low rates"

tax reform.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-aboutus-4">[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-fiftyyears-21">[22]</a>

Since 1990 or earlier, the Tax Foundation has "operate[d] as a separate unit" of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" title="Citizens for a Sound Economy">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-22">[23]</a>

Since 2009, The Tax Foundation’s offices have been located in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Press_Club_%28USA%29" title="National Press Club (USA)">National Press Building</a> in Washington, D.C.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-23">[24]</a>

<h2> Board of directors</h2>

<table class="wikitable" style="text-align: left"><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Term</td><td>Other Affiliations</td></tr><tr><td>Ongoing Directors:</td></tr><tr><td>David P. Lewis, Chairman</td><td>2009–current</td><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Lilly" title="Eli Lilly">Eli Lilly</a> & Co, Vice President Taxes, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tax_Council_Policy_Institute&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tax Council Policy Institute (page does not exist)">Tax Council Policy Institute</a>, Treasurer<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-24">[25]</a></td></tr><tr><td>James Lintott</td><td>pre-1999–current</td><td>Sterling Foundation Management</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Reynolds_Archer,Jr." title="William Reynolds Archer, Jr.">Bill Archer</a></td><td>2003–current</td><td>former Texas Congressman</td></tr><tr><td>Former Directors (post-1990):</td></tr><tr><td>Wayne E. Gable</td><td>pre-1999-2008<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-25">[26]</a></td><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Koch Industries</a> Dir. of Federal Affairs, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" title="Citizens for a Sound Economy">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C.Miller_III" title="James C. Miller III">James C. Miller III</a></td><td>1989–2005</td><td>Citizens for a Sound Economy; Director of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Management_and_Budget" title="Office of Management and Budget">OMB</a> under Pres. Regan</td></tr><tr><td>Joseph O. Luby, Jr.</td><td>2000–2006</td><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Mobil" title="Exxon Mobil" class="mw-redirect">Exxon Mobil</a>, VP Tax</td></tr><tr><td>James Q. Riordan</td><td>pre-1989–1999</td><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobil" title="Mobil">Mobil</a>, VP Tax</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.Glenn_Hubbard" title="R. Glenn Hubbard" class="mw-redirect">R. Glenn Hubbard</a></td><td>2003–2008</td><td>Chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers</td></tr><tr><td>Michael P. Boyle</td><td>2002–2006</td><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a>, VP Finance</td></tr><tr><td>Other Current Directors:</td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Holtz-Eakin" title="Douglas Holtz-Eakin">Douglas Holtz-Eakin</a></td><td>2009</td><td>American Action Forum; chief economic adviser to Presidential candidate John McCain in 2008</td></tr><tr><td>Pamela F. Olson</td><td>2009</td><td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skadden,Arps" title="Skadden, Arps" class="mw-redirect">Skadden, Arps</a>; senior economic adviser to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">Bush</a>-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney" title="Dick Cheney">Cheney</a> campaign and formerly Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Tax Policy<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-26">[27]</a> under Pres. Bush</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2> Criticisms</h2>

The Tax Foundation's annual study that calculate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Freedom_Day" title="Tax Freedom Day">Tax Freedom Days</a> in the United States has been criticized by other think tanks, such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_on_Budget_and_Policy_Priorities" title="Center on Budget and Policy Priorities">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a> (CBPP)<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-27">[28]</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_for_Tax_Justice" title="Citizens for Tax Justice">Citizens for Tax Justice</a> (CTJ),<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-28">[29]</a>

citing repeated "methodological errors" and "reliance on early

projections without hard data." CBPP has also criticized other reports

by the Tax Foundation,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-29">[30]</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-30">[31]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-31">[32]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-32">[33]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-33">[34]</a> and in turn the Tax Foundation has responded or criticized CBPP reports.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-34">[35]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-35">[36]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-36">[37]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-37">[38]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-38">[39]</a> The two groups have some areas of agreement, such as opposition to most tax expenditures<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-39">[40]</a> and sales tax holidays.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-40">[41]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-41">[42]</a>

US economist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Krugman" title="Paul Krugman">Paul Krugman</a> has characterised the Tax Foundation as "not a reliable source" while criticizing a report by the Tax Foundation comparing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_tax_in_the_United_States" title="Corporate tax in the United States">corporate tax rates in the United States</a> to those in other countries.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-42">[43]</a> Krugman has also accused the Tax Foundation of "deliberate fraud" in connection with a report it issued concerning the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jobs_Act" title="American Jobs Act">American Jobs Act</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Foundation#cite_note-43">[44]</a>
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<a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_05/conservatives_limited_toleranc029624.php#" class="headline">Conservatives’ limited tolerance for dissent</a>

                    
     <p class="author">By Steve Benen</p>
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     <p>The <i>Wall Street Journal</i> ran a wildly misleading chart

last week, hoping to “prove” that increasing taxes on the wealthy is a

poor way to address the deficit. To its credit, the Tax Foundation, a

conservative outfit generally aligned with the Wall Street Journal editorial page, published a piece noting how wrong the newspaper was.

<a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2011/05/the_disappearing_tax_foundatio029609.php">Brendan Nyhan noted</a> what makes this especially interesting: the fact-checking item disappeared soon after.

<blockquote>At this point, you’re probably wondering why this post

doesn’t contain any links to the Tax Foundation website. The reason is

that this sort of intra-movement criticism has a short shelf life — so

short that the post had already vanished by this morning. Scott Hodge,

the president of the Tax Foundation, confirmed that the post had been

removed: “we withdrew the post for editorial and content reasons.” He

did not elaborate further.</blockquote>

<a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/apparatchiks-2/">Paul Krugman added</a>:

<blockquote>Obviously someone at the Tax Foundation forgot what their

job was: they’re movement conservatives, and they’re supposed to serve

the movement, not point out inconvenient facts.

And in a way we should be grateful for this episode, which

clarifies what the Foundation is really about for anyone who might have

been confused.</blockquote>

This seems to come up quite a bit on the right, especially when it

comes to conservatives’ intellectual infrastructure, where ideas are

supposed to be scrutinized and challenged.

When Cato moved to the right, Brink Lindsey and Will Wilkinson were

shown the door. David Frum was forced out at the American Enterprise

Institute after failing to toe the Republican Party line. Bruce Bartlett

was shown the door at the National Center for Policy Analysis for

having the audacity to criticize George W. Bush’s incoherent economic

policies.

In perhaps the most notable example, John Hulsman was a senior

foreign policy analyst at the right’s largest think tank, the Heritage

Foundation. Hulsman was a conservative in good standing — appearing

regularly on Fox News and on the Washington Times’ op-ed page, blasting

Democrats — right up until he expressed his disapproval of the

neoconservatives’ approach to foreign policy. At that point, Heritage

threw him overboard. Cato’s Chris Preble said at the time, “At Heritage,

anything that smacks of criticism of Bush will not be tolerated.”

And now the Tax Foundation doesn’t feel comfortable — even when it’s correct — noting an error on the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

Intellectually, modern conservatism is facing a painfully sad state of affairs.

                    <a name="more">
     
     
     </a><div class="author-info"><a name="more">
      </a><a href="mailto:sbenen@washingtonmonthly.com">Steve Benen</a> 
      is a contributing writer to the Washington Monthly, joining the

publication in August, 2008 as chief blogger for the Washington Monthly

blog, Political Animal. </div>