More than 6.5 billion taxpayers in 180 countries are being forced to contribute to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the United Nations’ tobaccocontrol agency. The WHO has been rebuked for banning journalists, malpractice, silencing stakeholders, and imposing onerous taxes and regulations on countries around the world.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) released a new report detailing the public funding of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the United Nation’s (UN) tobacco-control agency. The report (linked here), titled The World Health Organization in Intensive Care, lays out the massive amount of taxpayer money that is going to further some of the anti-freedom, anti-intellectual property activities of the United Nations. The United States funds the UN and the WHO and those organizations continue to express ideas and engage in policies that are contrary to the values and principles that America stands for when it comes to press-freedom, transparency, and intellectual property. Click 'read more' below to see the full press release
This article originally appeared in Independent Journal Review on September 29, 2016 It has been a tumultuous year for the U.S. healthcare system and consumers. Between the mass exodus of large insurance companies leaving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, and a continuous slew of co-op failures, American taxpayers have been busy trying to wrap their minds—and finances—around the fact that they will most likely be paying much more for their health care plans than they did in previous years. Now, insurers are trying to cover up an important piece of news: that the costs of prescription medicines may not be the real reason for increased healthcare costs today. A recent report from the Altarum Institute found that spending on prescription medicines grew by just 3.9 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, a significant decrease from last year’s spending.
What’s happening in Pennsylvania with a new proposed pipeline is garnering national attention, and not in a good way. A recent article by the nationally-recognized Inside Sources reported that the Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General (IG) has begun auditing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) program. The focus of the investigation is whether a non-profit group, the Pennsylvania-based Pipeline Safety Coalition, illegally used taxpayer funds for lobbying purposes.TAG grant funding is supposed to be used “to provide funding to non-profits and local governments that would act to ‘improve damage prevention, develop new technologies, or otherwise improve pipeline safety’ of natural gas or hazardous liquid pipelines.”
Alex Wild is the Reasearch Director at The TaxPayers' Alliance. This article was originally published in City A.M. on August 30, 2016 Most governments would love to get their hands on an extra €13bn (£11.1bn) from a multinational company. But the Irish government will likely be wrangling in court for many years at what will surely be considerable expense in a somewhat unusual bid to avoid collecting tax. The European Commission has ordered what is by far the largest recovery order in EU history by deciding that Ireland gave Apple tax benefits illegal under EU state aid rules. Essentially, it has concluded that two rulings by the Irish tax authorities, in 1991 and 2007, endorsed an allocation of profits within two of Apple’s Irish subsidiaries that had “no factual or economic justification”. The Commission believes these advantages were not available to all companies in Ireland.
More than 6.5 billion taxpayers in 180 countries are being forced to contribute to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the United Nations’ tobacco control…
Congress has recessed until after the November elections, but unfortunately federal agencies and the Obama Administration are still making sure to promulgate new rules and regulations aimed at to increasing the authority and scope of the executive branch. Taxpayers continue to pay the price from damaging regulations coming from agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Treasury Department. Recently, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) joined a coalition effort hoping to stop the “Defense to Repayment Regulations” rule coming from United States Department of Education (US ED). This new rule proclaims to “protect students,” but all it will do is cost taxpayers, as it is a bailout for student loans. The rule could cost anywhere from $2 billion to $43 billion according to the US ED’s own analysis and that is why TPA continues to oppose the rule and call for action to stop it. This week the coalition, led by American Commitment, sent a new coalition letter to Howard Shelanski, the Administrator at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) urging the agency to require a new analysis of the rule and its cost before moving forward. Click 'read more' below to see the full letter
Earlier this month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler released an updated version of his “set-top box” proposal, which continues to rely on misguided policy and questionable authority. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) slammed the new proposal noting the widespread opposition and unprecedented amount of power the plan would give to the FCC. Now, as the FCC prepares to meet and vote to approve the new plan this week, taxpayers and consumers should continue to voice their opposition to the unnecessary new mandate. Chairman Wheeler reworked his plan because the original proposal, which would have required traditional pay-for-TV providers to make video programming available to third-party devices, failed miserably on the merits. Support was scarce from the creative community and even members of the commission who normally agree with Wheeler had reservations. The proposal was so troublesome that the Copyright Office expressed deep concerns about the deleterious effects it would have on intellectual property.
This article originally appeared in Inside Sources on September 21, 2016 In recent weeks, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has tirelessly defended his Clean Energy Standard plan that forces taxpayers and electric customers to bail out the state’s failing nuclear energy industry. The governor should save his breath. The controversial scheme, which Cuomo and state regulators approved in August without the consent of state lawmakers, has been hailed as a model for other states to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But critics rightly view the Clean Energy Standard (CES) a raw deal for electric ratepayers and taxpayers that amounts to little more than an indefensible corporate welfare racket.
With just more than six weeks until the 2016 Presidential election, tonight will mark the first of three debates between Republican candidate Donald Trump and the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. The event is expected to shatter ratings records because the race is tightening up and voters want to see the first one on one debate between the two candidates. There has been way too much rhetoric and not enough substance so far in the campaign. Voters want to hear about the issues, not personal attacks. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has a long list of issues to address, but there are four areas in particular that taxpayers want to hear about from the candidates.
