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Letter Urging Withdrawal of Funding to O.E.C.D

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Dear Senators and Representatives:

American taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize international organizations working against U.S. interests. The undersigned organizations, representing the Coalition for Tax Competition, call on Congress to protect American interests by ending subsidies to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The OECD has made ending tax competition one of its major purposes. In pursuit of this goal, it targets jurisdictions with low tax rates and robust privacy rules aimed at protecting human rights.

Tax competition plays a key role in promoting efficient government and encourages politicians to adopt pro-growth policies. It is an essential protection for taxpayers worldwide. The United States is also the world’s biggest beneficiary of international capital flows and tax competition through its attraction of international capital.

The OECD even weighs in on domestic U.S. policy debates and consistently sides with bigger government. In the past it has supported so-called “stimulus” spending, pushed Obamacare style health care, advocated for cap-and-trade regulation, and suggested a value-added tax in the United States. In its most recent “Economic Survey” of the U.S. released last year, the OECD advocated for making the personal income tax system more redistributive, for greater federal involvement in education, and for new barriers to employment through a higher minimum wage and nationally mandated paid family leave.

In FY 2014, the United States sent $87 million to the OECD, much of which went to pay the tax-free salaries of its army of elite global bureaucrats. The United States is its single largest supporter, accounting for over 21% of its total 2014 budget.

There's never a good time to ask American taxpayers to fund lavish paychecks for international bureaucrats working against their interests, but it's especially egregious to do so when Washington can't balance the budget. The undersigned organizations call upon Congress to defund the OECD.

Sincerely,

Andrew Quinlan, President
Center for Freedom & Prosperity

Grover Norquist, President
Americans for Tax Reform

Pete Sepp, President
National Taxpayers Union

Phil Kerpen, President
American Commitment

J. Bradley Jansen, Director
Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights

Seton Motley, President
Less Government

David Williams, President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Bob Bauman, Chairman
Sovereign Society Freedom Alliance

Tom Giovanetti, President
Institute for Policy Innovation

George Landrith, President
Frontiers of Freedom

Iain Murray, Vice President
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Andrew Moylan, Executive Director
R Street Institute

Tom Schatz, President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Sabrina Schaeffer, Executive Director
Independent Women’s Forum

James L. Martin, Chairman
60 Plus Association

Heather Higgins, President
Independent Women's Voice

Lew Uhler, President
National Tax Limitation Committee

Karen Kerrigan, President
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Wayne Brough, Chief Economist and Vice President of Research
FreedomWorks

John Tate, President
Campaign for Liberty

Richard Manning, President
Americans for Limited Government