Taxpayers for Common Sense

Agriculture program - tcs educates the public and policy makers about federal agriculture policy; emphasizing reforms to create a cost-effective and transparent safety net for agricultural producers; and ways to eliminate expensive subsidies and programs that waste taxpayer money. Activities included farm bill policy analysis and recommendations that would maximize the taxpayer benefits of federal subsidies; improving crop insurance compliance and reporting; monitoring and reporting conservation program performance; new or expanded subsidies for corn ethanol production and unsustainable biomass sources; expansion of federal mandates for corn ethanol and other corn-derived fuels; subsidies that artificially support specific industries. Tcs produced substantive posts on its website and social media, opinion pieces in media, and produced videos that were distributed on social media.

Environmental & natural resources program - tcs works to ensure that the federal government manages taxpayer assets of public lands and waters in a manner that protects their value, delivers a fair return from private interest use, and avoids long term liabilities for the taxpayer. This includes work documenting taxpayer costs and liabilities associated with climate change and ways to mitigate those costs with less burden on future Taxpayers. Tcs educates the public and policy makers about energy and natural resources policy, climate chabge impacts and policy, and works to eliminate harmful and wasteful spending that creates long term costs for Taxpayers. Tcs covers a wide range of energy, public lands, and resources issues, producing and distributing educational materials such as, federal subsidies for biofuels and biomass energy; doe loan guarantee program; the cost of speculation in federal oil and gas leases; tcs routinely presents comments on administration rules and testifies before the house and senate. Reports, fact sheets, and analysis are made available to the public through the tcs website and are actively promoted through social media.

National security reform, investigations, and general programs - tcs reviews the federal budget, specifically, appropriations, tax trends, and costs of federal spending. Tcs educates the public and policy makers about the need for evidence-based government and clear federal prioritization. Tcs analyses spending proposals, investigates discrete funding provisions, and identifies actual beneficiaries where possible. This is an effort to increase transparency in the budget process to better serve the american taxpayer, and hold members of congress and the administration directly accountable for spending decisions. General programs involve activities on timely issues of government waste, transparency, and functions not directly reflected in the other program categories. Activities included production and wide distribution of educational materials on the federal debt and deficit, the appropriations and budget processes, and tax policy. Tcs produced and distributed reports, analyses, fact sheet and opinion pieces on the president's budget and tax extender legislation. Tcs undertook extensive press outreach, with coverage in major u.s. broadcast news outlets, opinion-leader and business trade press, and local and national print and online outlets. Tcs produced and distributed videos. Tcs provided background information for fact checkers and investigative journalists. In addition to substantive posts and reports published online, tcs updated their subscribers with weekly emails on the full spectrum of issue topics. Tcs actively engaged with allies across the political spectrum to create Common Sense reforms and recommendations.