Staff
Jim Tobin | President
In 1976, Jim Tobin founded Taxpayers United of America (TUA), which has become one of the largest taxpayer organizations in the country. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs including ABC, CBS, FOX, WGN and NBC news programs. His tax-cutting activities have been the subject of articles by major media including the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and the USA Today.
Tobin received an M.A. in International Economics from Northern Illinois University. He worked for nine years as a Federal Reserve Bank Examiner, specializing in international finance. Tobin was one of the first economic experts to predict the collapse of Continental Bank and to warn of the dangerous extension of credit by U.S. banks to bankrupt foreign governments. From 1979 to 1999, Tobin taught economics at Elmhurst College. Tobin gained notoriety in 1977, leading the first successful property tax strike in Illinois history. Subsequently, his organization has saved taxpayers more than $100 billion. In 2002, Tobin ran for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, representing the Libertarian Party of Illinois.
Christina Tobin | Vice-President
Christina Tobin, Vice President of Taxpayers United of America, is the daughter of Jim Tobin and an American political activist and leader in the election reform and voters’ rights movements. She is the founder and chair of The Free and Equal Elections Foundation and president and chief executive officer of Free and Equal Inc., a non-partisan, full-service ballot access consulting and petitioning firm that specializes in independent and third party candidates. Tobin serves on the Board of Coalition for Free and Open Elections.
Tobin started her career as a non-partisan ballot access coordinator. An expert in defending signatures and coordinating petition drives, Tobin helped gather and defend over 1 million signatures for Independents, the Green Party, the Constitution Party, the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party and the Socialist Equality Party.
In 2008, Tobin served as Ralph Nader’s national ballot access coordinator. She helped collect more than 500,000 signatures to put Ralph Nader on the District of Columbia ballot and 45 state presidential ballots, more than any other third party or independent candidate.
Tobin’s recent activities have emphasized electoral reform. She traveled extensively within Illinois and subsequently expanded her work to other states, in which she obtained county-by-county data on salaries and pensions of government employees. Her research has shown the pressing need to remove the influence of corporations and labor unions from the electoral process.
Bill Zettler | Director of Research
Bill Zettler is a well-known expert on public employee salaries and pensions. He has published more than 150 articles on salaries and pensions since 2002 including on national sites such as biggovernment.com and pensiontsunami.com. He has been interviewed and had his research presented on ABC News, Fox News and the Glen Beck show.
