New political organization focuses on tax issues

“So you think you’re free?” asks an anonymous narrator. “Let’s do the math.”

A family is drawn on the chalkboard, and the average household tax and debt liability is contrasted with the median household income. The narrator tells the viewers their tax dollars belong to them. He urges them to think big, move and sign big.

That is from the first YouTube video uploaded by Sign Big, a new Indiana organization that claims its mission is to inform taxpayers and reform local government, according to its Web site. Sign Big frames itself as a grassroots organization and utilizes new media such as YouTube and Facebook to get its message across. The organization gets its name from John Hancock’s famously large signature on the Declaration of Independence.

“We expect to touch at least 25,000 Hoosiers for the purpose of the Sign Big launch,” said Marissa Lynch, Sign Big chairwoman, in a press release.

Nate Bullock, Sign Big treasurer and spokesman, said his group’s main concern is trying to bring people together who have a common dissatisfaction with how government is run.

“Our top priority now is to inform Hoosiers and get them engaged in the process of fighting inequitable and higher taxes,” he said in a press release. “So, in the spirit of John Hancock, who made his mark larger than life on the Declaration of Independence, we are asking Hoosiers who are ready for a renewal of free market principles and smaller government with fewer taxes to not just sign up, but sign big.”

He said Sign Big is trying to connect with both the older and younger generation. That is part of why his group focuses on its Web site and links directly to Sign Big’s Twitter page and the organization’s blog. Bullock stressed that the group is run like a modern campaign.

Bullock also said the group was nonpartisan, but he admitted it might appeal more to Republicans. It will focus mostly on state government issues, including the upcoming state budget, Bullock said.

“This country was founded on patriots who thought we were being taxed too much,” Bullock said. “That’s why we allude to the image of John Hancock.”