In his 1986 memoirs, The Triumph of Politics, David Stockman wrote: "The politicians were wrecking American capitalism. They were turning democratic government into a lavish giveaway auction. They were saddling workers and entrepreneurs…
Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a columnist for Reason magazine and the Washington Examiner, and blogs about ecomomics for National Review. Click here to contact her, and follow her on Twitter: @veroderugy. Click here to read previous columns. This piece originally appeared on Noozhawk.com on December 23, 2016. In his 1986 memoirs, The Triumph of Politics, David Stockman wrote: "The politicians were wrecking American capitalism. They were turning democratic government into a lavish giveaway auction. They were saddling workers and entrepreneurs with punitive taxation and demoralizing and wasteful regulation." For the four years he served as President Ronald Reagan's budget director, Stockman fought for his vision of sustained economic growth and social progress through sound money, lower tax rates and curtailment of federal spending, welfare and subsidies to private interests. Unfortunately, he lost his dream of a true Reagan revolution because many congressional politicians refused to implement the big spending cuts that had to be matched with the big tax cuts.
This article originally appeared in USA Today on December 16, 2016 In the 1990 Oscar nominated film “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner’s character hears a promise from above: “If you build it, he will come.” Viewers, and Costner, aren’t sure who “he” is, but it’s one of the most memorable movie lines of all time and is enough to get Costner to level his cornfield and build a ball field. That faith is enchanting in the movies, but in real life can be problematic. KentuckyWired, the Bluegrass State’s government-owned broadband network, is a great example of real life being out of tune with fantasy. Upon taking office, Gov. Matt Bevin seemed to -- wisely -- be pulling back from this project, which is now more than a year behind schedule. Now he has reversed that position and basically told taxpayers in a press conference earlier this year, “If the state builds it, we’ll find a way to pay for it.”
The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is headed into 2017 with a campaign called No More Excuses. As previously discussed, the No More Excuses campaign is about making sure that the new Congress and new White House administration know that the time for action is now. Issues that have been getting lip service for many years must now be tackled head on and the fact is there are simply No More Excuses for inaction. However, there are many issues that Washington should stay away from, and a ban on Internet gambling is one of those issues. TPA recently joined with a number of groups on a coalition letter sent by Institute for Liberty making the case once again for why legislation known as the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), which is a federal ban of online gaming, would be a disaster. The Lame Duck session was a looming threat where a ban may have been slipped into last minute legislation, thankfully that did not happen. TPA and others will still be working to make sure it doesn't happen in 2017 either.
A version of this op-ed was recently published in the Sun Prairie Star Across the country, public officials are continuously duped into following the siren call of government-owned broadband systems. While it is certainly tempting to score political points with constituents who initially benefit from high-speed internet, these short-term gains are invariably canceled out by long-term costs that bedevil those same constituents. That’s why city officials in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin now have an opportunity to be trendsetters. Instead of pressing ahead with its current broadband initiative, they ought to carefully consider the examples of recent history and reverse course. When a project is government-owned, this also means it is taxpayer-funded and that’s a problem when construction costs skyrocket and subscription numbers do not keep up with projections. Guess who foots the bill when that happens? Taxpayers, or course. And, with a recent vote to approve an additional $4.5 M for project expansion in Sun Prairie, it is important to look at what has happened across the country with these projects.
This article appaeared in Inside Sources on December 21, 2016 As people celebrate the holidays in different ways across the country, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance is celebrating Festivus. The holiday created by the television show “Seinfeld” challenges all the normal rules of gift giving and decorations and is essentially a day of telling people why you’re upset with them about the choices they’ve made over the last year. Airing of Grievances The first tradition of Festivus is “the airing of grievances.” This part of Festivus expresses the ways that taxpayers have been disappointed over the last year. While there could have been an entire book written on taxpayer grievances, here are just a few grievances that taxpayers have with bureaucrats and lawmakers.
The importance of protecting Intellectual Property (IP) is undeniable. Now, a December 6 report from the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) titled, Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2016 Report, confirms the economic impact. According to the report, copyright industries are responsible for adding $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy as well as employing 5.5 million workers in America. These numbers (and others from the report) show indisputable proof that Congress must act to modernize the Copyright Office to foster even more growth in the copyright industry. It should come as no surprise that copyright has such a strong economic impact. The Department of Commerce released a report in October that detailed the importance of all IP to the economy. That report, titled “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: 2016 Update,” showed that 45 million jobs are directly or indirectly tied to IP, and that IP-intensive industries accounted for $6.6 trillion in GDP value.
Below is testimony from Carl Szabo, Senior Policy Counsel with NetChoice, stating opposition to the Tennessee Department of Revenue Proposed Regulation 1320-05-01-.63; 1320-05-01-.129 – Creating a New Tax Rule. The testimony was given on December 14, 2016 and it can also be found online here. We ask you to reject the Department of Revenue’s Regulation 1320-05-01-.63; 1320-05-01-.129 (“Rule”) as it creates costs, burdens, and new taxes on Tennessee citizens. This Rule’s problems began with its introduction and will continue through the expected legal battles. And if the Rule were to survive constitutional challenges, it would impose new burdens on your businesses and citizens. Click "read blog" below to see the full tesimony
Finally, a government report that doesn’t fully embrace the notion of taxpayer-financed municipal broadband services. The Tennessee Advisory Group on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) recently posted a draft study (the final study is expected to be released some time early in 2017) on broadband access and investment on its website. The report outlines several municipal broadband failures and, while it does suggest that electrical cooperatives work with cities to provide broadband service directly to consumers, it strongly urges municipal leaders not to create their own taxpayer-financed networks.
The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is closing out 2016 with a message for Congress and the incoming Trump administration: No More Excuses! Over the past several years, Congress has dropped the ball in coming together on solutions to very real and solvable problems that are impacting taxpayers and businesses. Now, with the likely prospect of a Congress and White House that are seemingly aligned on some of the major issues facing the country, there is no reason that many of those problems can’t be solved over the course of 2017. Hence, no more excuses.
