Watchdog Group Slams Pelosi for Socialist Drug Price-Fixing Plan

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Ca.) plan to have the government “negotiate” drug prices with manufacturers based on drug prices in countries with socialized medicine. Under Speaker Pelosi’s plan, medications selected by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be subject to government-suggested prices based on an international average of foreign prices. Failure by the drug manufacturer to agree to “negotiated” prices would result in fines equal to at least 65 percent of that manufacturer’s gross annual sales.

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Vaping bans hurt adults smokers trying to quit

Across the United States, 34 million smokers face a daily struggle to give up their deadly habit and quit cigarettes for good. Thanks to the Trump administration, smokers will soon face more barriers than ever to kicking their vice. On Sept.11, President Trump proposed a ban on flavored vaping products, which will be put into place by the Food and Drug Administration. This abrupt prohibition came a week after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered flavored vapes be taken off the shelves.

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US Must Stand for Property Rights in Venezuela

It’s neither a surprise nor coincidence that the most prosperous and pleasant countries around the world have robust systems for protecting private property rights. When companies constantly must look over their shoulders for fear of the government seizing what they own, they invest and hire less in that country. Venezuela has learned this the hard way over the past two decades as successive socialist leaders have used companies as their piggy bank to fund their bankrupt pipedreams, destroying the once prosperous country in the process.

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Pelosi’s Plan for Drug Pricing Is Not What the Doctor Ordered

Presidential candidates and members of Congress are always among the first to propose a “solution” to some pressing issue, but the last to lead on actual reforms. Case in point: America’s drug pricing system, which seemingly every politician knows how to fix. The most recent proposal comes from House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who suggests that medication costs can be lowered by the sheer force of federal fiat. Speaker Pelosi’s proposed “negotiations” with pharmaceutical companies would end in disaster, slashing medical innovation and compromising care for millions of Americans. Government price-fixing is the wrong prescription for lowering healthcare costs.

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Watchdog Slams Trump Administration’s Vaping Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) strongly condemned President Trump for proposing a ban on flavored vaping products. According to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the FDA is preparing final guidance that would ban the sale of flavored vaping products nationwide following the president’s announcement.

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New US Space Command creates a black hole of waste

Too often within the U.S. government, space cadets run the show. On Aug. 29, the Trump administration launched the U.S. Space Command, a new, concentrated cluster of units within the Pentagon tasked with satellite defense, missile warning, and general space operations support. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper recently claimed that the Space Command, “is the next crucial step towards the creation of an independent Space Force as an additional armed service,” without specifying the pressing need for a new space bureaucracy in the first place.

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Read more about the article New USPS, PRC Leadership Must Act Quickly to Save Agency
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New USPS, PRC Leadership Must Act Quickly to Save Agency

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has a late delivery problem, and it’s not (just) with mail. The beleaguered agency, which has lost $70 billion over the last ten years, promised taxpayers and consumers a ten-year delivery plan this summer, but this much-touted blueprint has yet to reach the public. The agency also promised it would decide on a mail truck vendor this summer for the decade-long, $6 billion task to replace USPS’s worn out and fire-prone fleet. Now, that decision has been also been kicked down the road until 2020.

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Watchdog Group Praises Treasury Donor Disclosure Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) praised the U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for taking steps to protect non-profit groups from onerous reporting requirements. The proposed rule, released on September 6, exempts thousands of advocacy groups from having to annually report the names and addresses of donors that have contributed at least $5,000 to the groups.

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Time for Free Trade with Taiwan

The current trade/tariff war has put the U.S. economy at a crossroads as analysts fear an economic “correction” while administration officials predict growth for years to come. Continued trade protectionism keeps prices high for millions of American consumers while inviting other countries to keep American goods off their own markets. Fortunately, a trade opportunity sitting at the administration’s doorstep would be a boon to American commerce and even pave the way for 5G wireless deployment. Negotiating and implementing a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan would boost American credibility in Asia, signaling to countries across the region that the U.S. is once again open for business.

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Read more about the article Watchdog Slams Michigan’s New Vaping Ban
Held Wednesday, 10/21/2015, Ford School faculty member Gretchen Whitmer opens her class to the community and welcomes special guests Judge Steven W. Rhodes, Judge Gerald E. Rosen, Judge Mike Gadola, Senator Randy Richardville, Chad Livengood, and Representative Tommy Stallworth for a discussion on the impact of the Detroit Grand Bargain. Details: http://fordschool.umich.edu/events/2015/detroit-grand-bargain

Watchdog Slams Michigan’s New Vaping Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) strongly condemned Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) for introducing a ban on flavored vaping products. The ban, announced earlier today, would bar the sale of flavored vaping products in retail stores and online. Additionally, Gov. Whitmer is using “emergency powers” to prohibit e-cigarette manufacturers from sharing information with smokers as to the significant public health benefits of switching from cigarettes to vapes.

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