Mission Statement
The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) seeks innovative private-sector solutions to public policy problems.
NCPA’s Motto: Making Ideas Change the World
John C. Goodman, NCPA President
“The values of freedom and free enterprise are more widely cherished in the world today than at any point in our lifetime. Yet the battle for these ideas is far from over. That’s why this work of the NCPA is so important and why your support of the NCPA is so necessary.” – Ronald Reagan
“I believe the NCPA’s work and research are worth your time and donation.” – George W. Bush
The NCPA is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, established in 1983. The NCPA’s goal is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control, solving problems by relying on the strengths of the competitive, entrepreneurial private sector.
Our Motto – Making Ideas Change the World – reflects the belief that ideas have enormous power to change the course of human events. The NCPA seeks to unleash the power of ideas for positive change by identifying, encouraging, and aggressively marketing the best scholarly research.
Headquartered in Dallas, the NCPA has a highly effective office in Washington, D.C. that sponsors Capitol Hill briefings, conferences and testimony by NCPA experts before congressional committees. The NCPA serves as a source of “outside the Beltway” thinking for Capitol Hill deliberations.
Gov. Pete du Pont, NCPA Policy Chairman
Senator George Allen, former NCPA Distinguished Fellow, speaks at an NCPA briefing at the National Press Club.
The NCPA is an ongoing source of innovative ideas at the federal, state and local levels. An early NCPA book, Dismantling the State, described Margaret Thatcher’s 22 techniques of privatization. During the 1980s, the publication became a privatization handbook, used extensively by cities and counties in the United States and in countries all over the world.
– “The NCPA… helped craft the tax reform elements of the House Republican’s Contract with America.” – National Journal
– “The NCPA’s study and research on the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act helped to turn Congress around on the issue and to win the battle to repeal the act.” – Milton Friedman
– The NCPA’s idea of… Medical Savings Accounts is the right idea at the right time.” – Senator Rick Santorum
The NCPA shaped and molded the pro-growth approach to tax policy during the 1990s. A package of pro-growth tax cuts, designed by the NCPA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1991, became the core of the Contract With America in 1994. Three of the five proposals (capital gains tax cut, Roth IRA and eliminating the Social Security earnings penalty) became law. A forth proposal – rolling back the tax on Social Security benefits – passed the House of Representatives in 2000.
The NCPA also has assumed a leadership role in developing a pro-free enterprise approach to health policy. Of special importance, the NCPA’s concept of Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) allows individuals to directly control some of their own health care dollars instead of turning all the money over to an impersonal bureaucracy.
An NCPA-funded model, developed by economists at Texas A&M is providing Congress and the Bush Administration with the ability to evaluate proposals to reform Social Security and Medicare.
NCPA ideas also have been incorporated into legislation in other areas, including criminal justice, education and environmental policies.
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Bruce Bartlett, NCPA Senior Fellow, testifies before the House Budget Committee.
– “One of the big frustrations I have with a lot of think tanks is that they think, but it’s never relevant. NCPA ideas are actually new, and yet they are relevant at the same time.” – John Kasich
– “The NCPA has been at the forefront of real reform in America.” – Steve Forbes
– “Spreading the good news about the tax cut was critical to the success of that important legislation.” – Lawrence Lindsey
NCPA research shows that high tax rates discourage work, savings and investment. Lowering marginal tax rates in general, and taxes on capital specifically, has the power to boost economic activity.
The NCPA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce designed a package of pro-growth tax cuts that were incorporated in several pro-growth tax bills before Congress. Eventually, these ideas became the core of the Contract with America.
NCPA Senior Fellow Bruce Bartlett’s proposal for an across-the-board tax cut became the centerpiece of Bob Dole’s presidential campaign and was incorporated in several congressional proposals. President Bush’s tax cut also reflects a number of NCPA tax reform ideas, including repeal of the death tax and reducing the marriage tax and dividend tax.
A study by NCPA Senior Fellow Gerald W. Scully found that taxes are a drag on the U.S. economy. If taxes had remained at the same level they were in 1950, the average American household would have twice as much income today as a result of higher economic growth.
The NCPA is also interested in fundamental tax reform. NCPA Policy Chairman Gov. Pete du Pont, William F. Buckley Jr. and NCPA President John Goodman argued for a flat tax in a two-hour prime time Firing Line Debate televised nationwide.
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Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan speaks at an NCPA conference on school choice.
– “If we want to improve academic performance in public schools, we must change the financial incentives for school districts. A proposal to do just that has been developed by the National Center for Policy Analysis.” – The Wall Street Journal
– “The NCPA’s ‘An Education Agenda’ is an excellent resource for anyone seeking a broad overview of school choice from some of its most articulate advocates.” – Lynne Cheney
– “As a new study by the NCPA concludes, America has a system of school choice, but it’s closed to low-income and minority Americans.” – Rep. John Boehner
The NCPA was the first public policy institute to publish a statewide report card on public schools, based on results of student achievement exams. In another first, NCPA researchers measured the efficiency of Texas school districts. And an NCPA task force report on school vouchers eventually led to the private school voucher movement in the United States.
The NCPA also pioneered the concept of education tax credits as an innovative alternative to a spending (voucher) system, which has been adopted in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa.
In an effort to help Congress and the Bush Administration encourage reform of the nation’s public schools, the NCPA and Children’s First America published An Education Agenda – a book of essays from the nation’s leading education experts, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman.
Another NCPA book, The Myths about School Choice, exposed the inaccuracies, half-truths, distortions and outright lies that opponents are using in their campaign against tax-funded school vouchers. Authors are Howard Fuller, distinguished professor of education at Marquette University, and Kaleem Caire, president and CEO of the Black Alliance for Educational Options.
Our Debate Central site, designed to educate high school debaters on several national debate topics, reaches more than 400,000 students each year. The site is now the National Federation of High Schools’ main bulletin board and is one of the largest and most popular debate Web sites today. Furthermore, Debate Central is also the only free debate-oriented site updated continuously and available to all students. Access the site and a wealth of additional information at www.Debate-Central.org.
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Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) speaks with NCPA president John Goodman following his congressional testimony.
– “‘Patient Power,’ which came out during the debate over Hillary Clinton’s plan to nationalize the entire health care market, laid out a convincing free-market alternative.” – Investor’s Business Daily
– “Goodman and the NCPA have landed squarely in the middle of an all-out political war over health care.” – The Wall Street Journal
-“A majestic idea comes from a team gathered by the National Center for Policy Analysis… a sensible solution to the problem of Medicare.” – Forbes
The NCPA is the nation’s premier think tank for developing private-sector solutions to the nation’s health policy problems.
Ideas about health care reform that have been espoused for years by the NCPA are now part of President Bush’s health plan – specifically, the NCPA idea of tax credits for people who purchase their own health insurance, and expansion of Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs). This is the first U.S. President, either Democrat or Republican, to propose a coherent program of free-market health care solutions.
In 2002, the IRS made a remarkable ruling that reflects the educational efforts of both the NCPA and the Wye River Group on Healthcare. This ruling allows the private sector to have a health reimbursement account (HRA) similar to an MSA.
The NCPA has documented the advantages of allowing seniors to join comprehensive, private health plans – similar to ones that serve the non-elderly. An NCPA funded study by Milliman and Robertson showed that senior citizens could have comprehensive coverage for prescription drugs, in addition to other Medicare benefits, with virtually no increase in personal costs, if private health plans were allowed to administer the benefits.
The NCPA established a Health Advisory Group that meets regularly in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways to help shape the policy debate on health care reform. The group, chaired by Dr. Goodman and NCPA Policy Chairman Pete du Pont, meets with executive officials and Capitol Hill representatives and is comprised of representatives of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, as well as physicians and employers.
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