Common Ground-U.S.A.'s Letter Lobby Campaigns

6-29-2007HR 2069 IH, Save our Climate Act of 2007; S.280, Climate Stewardship Act and Innovation Act of 2007
6-4-2007HR 2262 - Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007
5-11-2007Earmarks Reform
6-15-2006Oppose Permanent Repeal of Federal Estate Tax
6-14-2006Support S.2381 and HR 4890: The Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006
10-14-2005HR 3824, Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005
6-4-2005Oppose H.R.8 to Permanently Repeal the Estate Tax
4-11-2005Pres. Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform
2-4-2005Reintroduction of Rep. Linder's 2003 HR 25 for a 23% National Sales Tax to Replace the Federal Income Tax

Write to oppose sales taxes.

6-24-20042004 bills to authorize funds for Federal-Aid Highways, Highway Safety Programs and Transit Programs, and for Other Purposes.
3-24-2004Extend Moratorium on E-Commerce Taxes. (HR.49, S.150, S.2084)

Write U.S. Representatives/Senators that we oppose e-commerce taxes.

9-18-2003Federal Communications Commission's Ruling on Media Ownership - Congressional Action.

Thank U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator for vote to overturn FCC's ruling to raise to 45% the limit that one company's TV stations can reach of the nation's viewers.

9-17-2003HR 6, Energy Policy Act, now in Conference Com.

Write your U.S. Representative or U.S. Senator or Conference Committee member from your state, with your input (especially don't build with government subsidies more nuclear power plants, because of waste transportation hazards)

7-11-2003 HR 1904 "Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003"


3-20-2003 Federal, State and Local Budget Crises

Contact your own state and local officials.

10-20-2002 FCC Review of Rules of Broadcast Cross-Ownership

Write to Federal Communications Commission Chairman. As the FCC considers changes to the rule designed to prevent common ownership of a TV station and a newspaper in a single community (broadcast cross-ownership), and of the cap limiting the number of broadcast TV stations a network can operate, please remember the public good of diversity of expression. Monopolization leads to exclusion of expression by those in disagreement and lends itself to increased prices that exclude lower income citizens.

7-30-2002 The Estate Tax (which is scheduled to "sunset" at Midnight Dec. 31, 2010, as provided in the "Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001")

Thank Senators that in June 2002, the Senate rejected permanently repealing the estate tax by voting down removal of the "sunset" date of midnight Dec. 31, 2010.

7-29-2002 HR 4748, Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 2002

Fax or email Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and of the House Resources Com. to set up a hearing and encourage debate of reform of the existing 1872 Mining Law.

4-24-2002 Yucca Mountain as a Proposed Nuclear Waste Depository

Please write to your US Representative and US Senator, asking that they not override Nevada's veto of Yucca Mountain, which is situated on one of the most seismically-active (earthquake) zones in the United States. Furthermore, shipments of nuclear wastes now stored at 130 nuclear plants in 39 states if shipped by truck and rail to Yucca Mountain, NV would pass through 703 counties with populations of about 123 million people, jeopardizing them to radioactive waste accidents.

11-30-2001 E-Taxes: Internet Moratorium extended
(Write US Reps and Senators).

SAMPLE MESSAGE: Thank you for passing the extension of the Internet Moratorium (HR 1552) on taxes assessed on transactions conducted on line. Sales taxes on capital (goods) are regressive and counterproductive, since the more goods are taxed, the less able are lower income people to purchase them. Internet taxes on transactions conducted on line would be a dampening effect on the development of Internet Commerce in our global economy.

Cities, counties, and states would be better off raising revenue locally by levying a tax or "rental charge" on the market value of land which would stimulate the highest and best use of that site and promote productive employment. Such a site tax increases, rather than diminishes, the incentive to produce. Levying higher taxes on land values and lower taxes on improvements (capital) would discourage urban sprawl, promote infill of vacant land, and diminish the expense of extending roads and other infrastructure. We invite you to visit the web site of Common Ground-USA, http://www.progress.org/cg for more information.

4-14-2001 Oppose Repeal of the Estate Tax.
Write your U.S. Senators.
SAMPLE MESSAGE: "Please vote no on HR 8, which comes now to the Senate after having passed the House. I oppose repeal of the estate tax, which just shifts taxes off wealthy heirs onto average American taxpayers. Or, alternatively, the revenue loss from the estate tax repeal contributes to budget cutbacks in important federal programs. It is mega-farms that would benefit from the estate tax repeal, not family farms. Small businesses and farms number only 1200 of the 48,000 estate tax payers annually, and they already benefit from special tax breaks. Repeal of the estate tax would be devastating to charitable contributions. Since only 2% of the heirs to decedents each year pay the estate tax, if there is a problem with the exemption ceiling, because of inflation, then fix the problem, but don't repeal the estate tax itself."
3-5-2001 Council for Investment in the New American City.
Write Your Mayors.
SAMPLE MESSAGE: "Instead of dependency on state and federal revenue sources, cities can become self-sufficient by taxing community-created site values more and taxing individually-created building values less, as a number of Pennsylvania cities are doing." For more background, read this Open Letter to Mayors.
10-9-2000Social Security Numbers - Identity Theft.
You can: (1) Provide input to Social Security Administration Identity Theft Workshop; (2) write to your own U.S. Representative and Senator.
SAMPLE MESSAGE: Please support Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention as proposed in HR 4857 and S 2554.
8-5-2000Extend Moratorium on E-Commerce Taxes (S 2255, HR 3709).
Write US Senator in support of extending Internet Tax Moratorium until 2006.
SAMPLE MESSAGE: "Please vote for S 2255 and HR 3709 to extend the Internet Tax Moratorium until 2006. Sales taxes are regressive, are not uniformly collected among all states, and are a dampening effect on the development of Internet commerce in our global economy."
4-12-2000 Re HR 2525 (would replace national income taxes with national sales tax). Write U.S. Rep. to collect publicly created natural resource values and tax pollutants -- not impose taxes on labor and capital which suppress economic production. For a sample letter you can send to your Representative, click here.
9-28-99 Re Polluters Should Pay for polluting natural resources.
6-3-99 Re Gore/Clinton $10 Billion "Livability" Agenda; (to deal with urban sprawl and urban blight).
12-10-98 Re Advisory Com. of Public Interest Obligations of Digital TV Broadcasters, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (re electro-magnetic spectrum).
9-2-98 Support N.H. House Bill 1666-FN-A-Local.
6-15-98 National Forests. Write Pres. Clinton re annual Forest Service shortfall between market rate logging sales revenue and Forest Service provided services to logging firms.
1-10-98 Land Assessments. If you are in a state which does not break down land and buildings assessment reporting to Census of Governments, consider developing a concerted strategy of letter writing to get your state to change that. (Write Secy. of State, Dept. of Revenue.)
11-3-97 Re Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997 (legislative bills S104 and HR1270). Write U.S. Senator to sustain the President's anticipated veto on the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. (More than 50 million Americans live within a half-mile of the likely nuclear waste transport routes between the nuclear plant reactors and Yucca Mountain. Concern re nuclear spills).
10-7-97 Re Endangered Species Act; phone U.S. Rep. in support of Rep. Miller's HR2351; phone U.S. Senator in support of Senator Boxer's amendments to S1180. (to ensure that development projects, mining, timber, etc. are consistent with recovery goals.)
6-24-97 Re Capital Gains Cut (buildings only).
12-30-96 Re Headwaters Forest.
8-31-96 Re S1459 Public Rangelands Management Act (rangers' management and low fees).
4-29-96 Re billion dollar give-away of Airwaves (auctioning the electro- magnetic spectrum)
2-11-96 Re near give-away of Public Lands Resources (grazing land, mining and timber land).
12-26-95 to National (Kemp) Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform (re better land assessments instead of flat tax).
Oct. 1995 Re Presidio Bill S594 (seek revenues from leases reinvested in Presidio National Park, creates Presidio Trust).
3-31-95 Re Capital Gains (land portion thereof); Letters to Senators.
1-27-95 Re Balanced Budget Amendment (Capital Improvements/Operations) Letters to Senators.
11-12-94 To Kerry Commission on Entitlements re Social Security.
7-7-94 Re Balanced Budget Amendment (Separate into Capital Improvements, Operating). Letters to House, Senate, White House Budget heads.
2-25-94 Re two-rate Pennsylvania Boroughs Bill; Support Letters to Pa. House and Senate members.
11-4-93 Re Reid grazing fee amendment to HR 2520, Interior Dept. Appropriations Bill. Letters to 45 senators who voted nay on 10/26 cloture vote.
9-22-93 Re V.P. Al Gore's 6-month National Performance Review Study, Creating a Government that works for less. Letters to Senate Government Affairs Com.; V.P. Gore; US HUD Secy. Cisneros; House Speaker Foley; Senate Majority & Minority Leaders.
7-15-93 Re proposed annual airwaves fee for already awarded licenses and auctioning of newly freed-up 200 megahertz of the electro-magnetic spectrum. Letters to chairs of Senate Finance Com.; Commerce, Science & Transportation; and U.S. Senate members on Conference Com. to Reconcile Differences; and chairs of House Com's Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce.
6-4-93 Re S.5652 and A7901, for Amsterdam, NY two-rate enablement; Letters of Support to Nick Garlick, Office of Senator Johnson, Albany.
3-10-93 Re S.257, Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 1993; Letters to Members of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Com.

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