Page 200 – Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Profile in Courage: Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R)

Post author:Ross Marchand
Post published:May 15, 2020
Post category:State Issues

Picture credit: AP Last week, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) highlighted Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) as a Profile in Courage for cautiously reopening his state against strong political headwinds. From the other side of the political aisle (and country), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has had to deal with plenty of political opposition in his deeply blue state, including a state legislature intent on pushing wasteful spending and tax increases at the worst possible time. And, for putting up with Maryland’s shenanigans (while still managing a ~70 percent approval rating), Gov. Hogan is truly a Profile in Courage.

TPA Releases Report on Taxpayer Funding of Government Owned Broadband Networks

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:May 13, 2020
Post category:Broadband Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) released a report detailing the problems with government-owned networks (GONs) for taxpayers and broadband consumers across the country. The report, titled “GON with the Wind: The Failed Promise of Government Owned Networks Across America,” lays out the massive amount of taxpayer dollars being wasted as governments continue to build broadband networks across America. Taxpayer-funded broadband networks are rarely successful as they are poorly targeted and underutilized, often times being sold to private companies for less than the cost of construction. These taxpayer-funded broadband networks undermine private efforts to keep America connected during the COVID-19 crisis and are therefore especially harmful for households. In tandem with the new analysis, TPA re-launched its website munibroadbandfailures.org, a clearing house for information regarding GONs.

GON with the Wind: The Failed Promise of Government Owned Networks Across the Country

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:May 13, 2020
Post category:Report

There is no disputing the importance of internet connectivity in the 21st century economy. The question is whether the private sector should continue taking the lead in funding and facilitating the deployment of broadband or whether taxpayers should create and fund/subsidize government- owned networks (GONs) to do so. Supporters of taxpayer-funded broadband systems claim that governments (i.e. taxpayers) are needed to build these systems because the private sector simply will not. The truth is that broadband providers have spent more than $1.6 trillion since 1996 to build, upgrade, and maintain networks, resulting in a 71 percent growth in rural broadband. Internet infrastructure is in place to serve 98 percent of the country, primarily built by telecom companies.

Watchdog Slams Speaker Pelosi’s Latest “Relief” Proposal

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:May 12, 2020
Post category:Congress Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) urged Congress to reject the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act and instead pass a clean Coronavirus-related relief bill. Introduced on May 12 by House Democrats, the HEROES Act would allocate $500 billion to states and an additional $375 billion to localities ostensibly to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19.

Read more about the article Coalition of 18 Free-Market Groups Urges Congressional Leadership to Keep Unnecessary Spending out of “Phase 4” COVID-19 Package

Coalition of 18 Free-Market Groups Urges Congressional Leadership to Keep Unnecessary Spending out of “Phase 4” COVID-19 Package

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:May 12, 2020
Post category:Coalition Congress

Today, a coalition of 18 free-market groups sent a letter to Congressional Leadership urging them to keep unnecessary spending and regulatory measures out of the "Phase 4" COVID-19 relief package.

COVID-19 Highlights the Potential of Free-Market Innovation

Post author:Tim Andrews
Post published:May 11, 2020
Post category:Intellectual Property

Three weeks ago, the Trump administration and government health agencies studied 93 potential COVID-19 vaccines from more than 80 pharmaceutical companies in what is now called “Operation Warp Speed.” Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug—Remdesivir—emergency use authorization following promising National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) study results. In March, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) signed a $456 million contract with Johnson & Johnson for a coronavirus vaccine that could be ready for human trials in just a few months. The list goes on.

Profile in Courage: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D)

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:May 8, 2020
Post category:State Issues

Anyone who thought that the Coronavirus crisis would be a time of unity must be severely disappointed, but probably not surprised. Political tribalism has never been stronger, and any reopening plan (or lack thereof) suggested by one party is immediately attacked by the other. Taking some of the vitriol at face value, any endeavor to open stores and restaurants at minimal capacity is geronticide. But there’s one prominent Democratic official, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who is resisting calls within his party to keep America indefinitely shuttered. Gov. Polis (D) has widely urged a middle-of-the-road course that will reopen Colorado while acknowledging the very real risks of the Coronavirus. For defying political expectations and working for the best interests of his state, Gov. Polis is truly a Profile in Courage.

TPA Delivers Postal Myths and Facts

Post author:Ross Marchand
Post published:May 7, 2020
Post category:Postal Reform

It took a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to catapult the funding problems of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to national attention. And now, there will be a new postmaster general left to solve them. North Carolina businessman Louis DeJoy , who served as the chief executive of XPO Logistics’ supply chain business in the Americas, has been chosen to lead the beleaguered agency starting June 15. DeJoy’s ample supply chain experience and longstanding relationship with the USPS will serve him well, but the new leader must counter a slew of misinformation about the beleaguered agency’s problems and how to fix them. The reality is that the USPS’ $140 billion debt problem has been fueled by systematic mismanagement and flawed pricing policies. Backers of the status-quo continue to look past these problems, and scapegoat a (mostly) imaginary conspiracy to run the agency into the ground and sell it off to the highest bidder. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is here to set the record straight.

Compulsory Licensing Would Halt Race for Corona Cure

Post author:Ross Marchand
Post published:May 5, 2020
Post category:Healthcare

As millions of people suffer during this difficult time, lawmakers around the world have taken extraordinary measures to curb the Coronavirus pandemic. Elected officials walk a fine line between doing enough to help patients and still respecting the rule of law undergirding healthcare innovation. But, unfortunately, some nations are wantonly ignoring intellectual property (IP) protections key to finding cures and vaccines for COVID-19. Alarmingly, these compulsory licensing efforts (i.e. producing a product without the patent holder’s consent) are being green-lit by taxpayer-funded international bureaucracies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). Now more than ever, leaders from the U.S. to Israel to Chile must resist the siren song of compulsory licensing.

Nicotine Policy Should Not Be Exempt From Science

Post author:Jeff Stier
Post published:May 4, 2020
Post category:Harm Reduction

There seems to be an inclination among policy-makers that adherence to evidence-based policy-making is a luxury we can only afford when not in a crisis. After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control bungled last year’s “EVALI” outbreak, one might have thought federal officials would have exhibited some humility. Or at least limited their statements to those supported by science. But when it comes to tobacco and vaping policy, that’s just not the case.