WASHINGTON – Taxpayer advocates were outraged today by the revelation that many of the organizations fighting the appointment of former Sen. John Ashcroft (R-MO) as United States attorney general receive a substantial amount of government funding.
Research into the records of the Federal Award Assistance Data System by the Capital Research Center (www.capitalresearch.org) reveals that groups opposing Ashcroft received almost $150 million in government money from 1996-1999.
Those organizations include the National Organization for Women, Feminist Majority, National Education Association, Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, and the Youth Law Center, among others.
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, issued the following statement on these revelations:
"The American people should know this is one reason their taxes are so high. The government insists on giving their hard-earned money to radical left-wing organizations so they have the funds to run smear campaigns against honorable people like Sen. Ashcroft.
"These organizations should immediately be cut off of the federal dole if they\’re going to run partisan political campaigns. This is a waste of 150 million taxpayer dollars."
A complete list of these groups and the money they received from the federal government can be viewed at ATR\’s website, www.atr.org. For more information on the groups listed or their funding, please contact Andrew Walker, director of communications at Capital Research Center, at (202)483-6900.