After what has felt like an eternity since last fall, September is finally here. The leaves are slowly turning brown and the kids are going back to school (sort of). Pumpkin spiced everything has appeared and stores are starting to roll out their Halloween advertising. And, Congress is ready to get back to work after an August recess truncated by postal hysteria.
The broadband taxpayer money doled out by the CARES Act is intended for unserved, rather than underserved areas. But, plans created by governments that will dole out the money and those providers who will receive them, raise concerns that funds will truly go to those who need them the most. The difference between unserved and underserved is significant because underserved is subjective while unserved is absolute. For example, “underserved” could imply a town that currently has competitors while “unserved” means no service.
With companies racing to test potential COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic’s end may finally be in sight. A cure for this deadly disease is right over the horizon, and millions of vaccine doses will soon be ready for distribution. But, unless regulatory agencies agree to cooperate and expedite approval processes, these promising treatments will lie in limbo as the world continues to suffer. With the right-sized regulatory approach, however, the world will finally be able to close the book on COVID-19.
Party time is over. Republicans have just ended their national nominating convention, while Democrats capped theirs off last week. Throughout both conventions, speakers directed their firepower at the “enemy,” the opposing political party incapable of doing anything well. But what Republican and Democratic speakers didn’t mention is that policies agreed on by both parties have contributed to a jaw-dropping and record-setting $4 trillion deficit. Unless the two parties team up to get a grip on wasteful spending, taxpayers will have to mortgage their futures to Capitol Hill due to years of overspending. It’s time for the parties to get together to address runaway spending, rather than blaming one another for the nation’s woes.
For decades, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has experienced rising costs and declining service. America’s mail carrier lost nearly $9 billion last year and unfunded liabilities now total more than $160 billion. For all this red ink, the USPS has yet to deliver a ten-year business plan (which was supposed to be delivered last summer) or turn around sliding on-time percentages. Fortunately, the new Postmaster General (PMG), Louis DeJoy, values reform and operational improvements over excuse-making and complacency. DeJoy is an outsider, working his way up in the private sector for decades while doing business with the USPS. His ample experience gives him unique insight into the failings of the struggling agency, which he is determined to fix regardless of the countless personal attacks directed at him. And for standing firm in his resolve to turn around the USPS, PMG DeJoy is truly a Profile in Courage.
Well, these past few weeks are probably not what lawmakers had in mind for a peaceful and relaxing August. Members of Congress have been Zooming into Capitol Hill briefings and hearings to hurl profanities, bicker about “relief” legislation, and listen to misinformation about the U.S. Postal Service. Traveling is fraught with difficulty because an immunity-boosting vaccine has yet to emerge. While government officials have repeatedly assured the American people that these innovations are just over the horizon, they remain stymied by an onerous Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process that prioritizes risk aversion over saving lives. By embracing new, game-changing technologies, the FDA can approve new tools to fight COVID-19 and allow lawmakers a reprieve from awkward Zoom calls.
Introduced by California Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, Assembly Bill 1253 would not only increase the tax rate on income over $1 million, but it would do so retroactively for income earned January 1, 2020. The bill would impose a 1 percent increase on annual, adjusted gross income more than $1 million, a 3 percent increase on income more than $2 million, and a 3.5 percent increase on income more than $5 million. Overall, the tax hike would increase the state’s tax rate on income above $1 million from 13.3 to 14.3 percent and levy a staggering 16.8 percent rate on those in the $5 million plus income bracket.
Consumers see more options and lower costs on the goods they rely on when international markets open up. That’s especially the case now as border arrangements remain tenuous due to COVID-19. Fortunately, indications are that the U.S. and Taiwan may soon pursue a free trade agreement. On August 12, Politico reported, “Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen… expressed hope of beginning free trade talks with the United States, a long-sought goal that likely would further increase tensions between Washington and Beijing.”
The 2020 election is right around the corner, but no one can agree on how people should vote. The controversy first flared up in late July, when President Trump wondered on Twitter whether to “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???" This understandably earned the ire of many citizens and legislators from both parties. In response to these remarks, some policymakers have been pushing hard for providing tens of billions of dollars in funding for the U.S. Postal Service to facilitate mail-in voting.
Whether relaxing at a resort or rushing around Capitol Hill, lawmakers are (hopefully) familiar by now with mask requirements and social distancing restrictions. After all, members of Congress have heard enough horror stories about colleagues and constituents coming down with Covid-19 and facing ill health for weeks (or even months). And, when coronavirus patients find themselves in the emergency room for a sudden bout with the deadly disease, there’s no assurance that their insurance network will cover all the attending doctors. Even after they think the ordeal is over, 1 in 7 patients will receive an unwanted, unexpected “surprise bill” in the mail. Lawmakers are hard at work figuring out how to “solve” this pressing issue, but not all solutions are created equally. Some proposals would lean heavily on onerous price controls and have bureaucrats dictating prices to doctors and patients. Members of Congress need to do their homework on the myriad unintended consequences of rate-setting (price controls) before prescribing this wrongheaded solution because millions of lives depend on finding a solution. Fortunately, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and the Coalition Against Rate-Setting (CARS) are offering lawmakers ample summer reading on this pressing issue.
