The Hill reports that tax unfriend Grover Norquist and his merry band of scamps at Americans for Tax Reform spent over $300k lobbying in the first three months of year. That beats the same time period for last year by 82%. Pretty impressive work, but considering it's an election year, not surprising. What you might find interesting is that GGN & Co. weren't just fighting against taxes, they really spice things up:
The group lobbied on a wide range of issues this quarter, straying from tax-only territory. Norquist’s team lobbied on issues including the hotly contested Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Permanent Normal Trade Relations Status for Russia, along with a variety of tax, trade and telecommunications bills. Americans for Tax Reform spokesman, John Kartch, said the group has “promoted intellectual and physical property rights as being key to economic growth” when asked about the group's interest in SOPA. “We have a problem with intellectual property being stolen online, and that we need to do something about it,” he said.
The "Intellectual Property Protection Pledge" does have a ring to it!
Norquist group increases lobbying efforts [OTM/The Hill]
