Page 315 – Taxpayers Protection Alliance

New TPA Website Highlights Solar Panel Leasing Scheme

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:January 9, 2015
Post category:Congress Energy Michi Iljazi Solar Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Last year, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) launched a new website, SolarSecrets.org, The site was created to help average Americans keep solar power in perspective. We want the industry to fulfill its promise without picking all our pockets along the way. We’re here to help keep the solar industry and its growing lobbying army honest, by telling some hard truths about the hidden costs, market impacts, technical limitations and occasionally shady side of this highly-touted technology. Arizona and California have become prime battlegrounds in this fight, but the subsidies are sure to spread across the country. This battle will not be fought by us alone, it will be fought by all taxpayers and Americans who want to keep a watchful eye on the solar power industry. We want everybody to visit the ‘Take Action’ page on Solar Secrets to urge members of Congress to contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to investigate these solar panel companies that are getting rich off of taxpayers. This will be the first step in bringing much-needed oversight to the industry.

Congress Must Take Action to Stop the FCC and President Obama on Net Neutrality

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:January 7, 2015
Post category:Congress Internet Michi Iljazi Net Neutrality Regulation Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Congress has a full plate of issues that they will need to deal with right from the start. But with all the issues that appear to be dominating the new session of Congress, one issue that cannot be ignored is net neutrality, a direct assault on the future of the Internet. Last year, President Obama and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were rebuked by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the Verizon vs FCC case. But, just one year later it appears that net neutrality advocates in the Obama Administration appear ready to move forward quickly (as early as February) with plans to reclassify the internet as a utility under Title II. Any reclassification would be disastrous for consumers, taxpayers, and the future of the Internet. Reclassification of the Internet could pave the way for new taxes, harm upcoming spectrum auctions, and totally upend the economy by stifling innovation and commerce.

Senate Begins 2015 With Keystone XL Pipeline Legislation

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:January 6, 2015
Post category:Congress Energy Michi Iljazi Oil Senate Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed that the passage of the Keystone XL pipeline will be one of the first Senate votes in the 114th Congress. This is good news because the project has been delayed for several years by the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Senate. According to Politico, “Sen. John Hoeven will officially file legislation on Tuesday to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline, with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin as his new main Democratic co-sponsor.” This is good news for the U.S. economy and all Americans. The proposed construction of the pipeline provides the capacity to move more than 700,000 barrels of oil each day. The increased production would provide thousands of jobs and help lower energy costs for working families nationwide

Retiring Sen. Tom Coburn Takes Aim at DHS Waste in Final Report

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:January 5, 2015
Post category:Appropriations Budget Inspector General Michi Iljazi Spending Taxpayers Protection Alliance

A new session of Congress begins this week, and the new Senate will look different in more ways than the obvious one of Republicans taking control. One significant change will be the absence of now former Sen. Tom. Coburn (R- Okla.). Sen. Coburn’s legacy will be that he exposed government waste wherever it was. The annual ‘Wastebook’ released by Sen. Coburn’s office highlighted billions in government waste across a wide array of federal agencies, leaving no department untouched. Though the ‘Wastebook’ has seen it’s last release from Sen. Coburn’s office, the Senator made sure to leave Capitol Hill delivering one last shot at bloated government with a detailed report on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In short, the report stated that, “Homeland Security is not successfully executing any of its five main missions.”

New Senate Gives Opportunity for White House on Trade Agreements

Post author:David Williams
Post published:January 2, 2015
Post category:Congress Senate Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Next week, the 114th Congress will be sworn in and with it many taxpayer and economic possibilities will follow. While the House of Representatives will see no change in which party controls the chamber, the Senate will see a shift from Democrat control to Republican control. This will be the first time since the end of 2006 that the GOP will run both chambers of Congress and with this new shift in the dynamic of power on Capitol Hill there are going to be opportunities for cooperation with President Obama. One area that could see mutual agreement and partnership is trade policy, specifically Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Opening up trade would be a win-win for taxpayers and the economy. Agreement on how to proceed with trade policy has been stalled because Senate leaders and the President have been at odds over the direction and language of various trade agreements on the table. Last July it was clear that Democrats controlling the Senate were not in the same mindset as President Obama when it came to TPA and TPP. The problems weren’t limited to just the Senate and then-Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, but also other members of the President’s own party including Nancy Pelosi in the House, who had vowed to block TPA legislation.

TPA's New Year's Resolutions for 2015!

Post author:David Williams
Post published:December 31, 2014
Post category:Broadband Congress Copyright Defense Energy Ex-Im Bank Intellectual Property Internet Marketplace Fairness Act Michi Iljazi Net Neutrality Solar Taxpayers Protection Alliance Telecommunications

The New Year is upon us and it’s time for millions of Americans to make their resolutions for the New Year. Many folks vow to lose weight by eating a healthier diet and going to the gym. In a twist on that time-honored tradition, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is urging Congress to get it’s fiscal health back in shape. We put together a list of our own resolutions for Washington and those politicians who will soon be returning for a new Congressional session. Click 'read more' below to see the full list of 2015 New Years resolutions!

TPA Joins Coalition Urging Changes at the Congressional Budget Office

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:December 30, 2014
Post category:Budget Congress Congressional Budget Office Michi Iljazi Taxpayers Protection Alliance

cbo The Taxpayers Protection Alliance is a strong advocate in the need for nonpartisanship at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and with the leadership of the agency, specifically the CBO Director. Nonpartisanship ensures that scoring models for legislation will not be influenced by any administration, Republican or Democrat. With that in mind, TPA signed on to a coalition letter sent by Independent Women’s Voice today to Congressional leaders urging the need for a new CBO Director, as Douglas Elmendorf’s current term has expired; and the need for more dynamic scoring of legislation, which would account for how incentives impact behavior and provide a more complete outlook on legislation. More than 40 groups joined in on the letter and with Congress returning to Washington next week, the issue of finding a new CBO Director will be extremely important in the early stages of the new year.

Meet The Solyndra Of Emergency Response Technology

Post author:David Williams
Post published:December 29, 2014
Post category:Congress Taxpayers Protection Alliance

This article originally appeared in The Daily Caller on December 19, 2014 In 2009, the federal government loaned half of a billion taxpayer dollars to a company that promised it could help revolutionize American infrastructure. The company manufactured a product that used an unusual technology – panels of “copper indium gallium selenide” – and its executives told the Obama administration that this unproven technology was more efficient than the solutions already on the market. By using a cylindrical shape, the panels could collect sunlight from all angles, concentrate that energy, and use it to power American homes. The company was relatively new, and its product was expensive and untested, but the federal government liked the promise of this new technology that could replace traditional solar paneling techniques. Internal emails show the White House put pressure on OMB officials to OK the loan despite the company’s financial problems. The company, Solyndra, filed for bankruptcy two years later and has become a warning sign of future promises.

TPA Joins Coalition Urging Support of the RASP Act

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:December 26, 2014
Post category:Congress Energy Environmental Protection Agency Michi Iljazi Regulation Taxpayers Protection Alliance

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance has been a consistent critic of the expansion of regulatory power under various federal agencies. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are just two examples where this has been an issue. However, one agency that has been a standout in using the power of regulations in order to bypass Congress is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Earlier this month, in an effort led by Americans for Prosperity, TPA joined a wide range of groups at the state and federal level sending a coalition letter urging state legislators to fight the EPA's new regulations designed to bring harmful anti-energy policies into the states by supporting the Reliable, Affordable and Safe Power (RASP) Act. The resolution would help fight the EPA on their bltant regulatory power grabs harming state economies. Click 'read more' below to read the full letter

TPA Holiday Video Message to USPS: Focus on Delivering Our Mail

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:December 24, 2014
Post category:Michi Iljazi Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Fed up with the continued fiscal madness over at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) last week released an animated holiday-themed video calling on the government-granted monopoly to stop with abusive expansion into private markets and return to its core mission: delivering letters. TPA filed comments with the Postal Regulatory Commission back in September urging the PRC to tread lightly on the new push to expand the USPS grocery delivery service. In the filing, it was stressed that the USPS is nearing a point of financial collapse as it is losing millions of dollars a day and billions of dollars each year. The USPS must definitively show that their previous 60-day test of grocery delivery services was successful and did not lose money. There should be no fast tracking process into new and unknown markets before understanding the possible consequences. TPA urged the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to delay any decision, but unfortunately they did not. It still the belief that the PRC should conduct a full study that will provide the financial details of this expansion and determine its effect on the USPS and American businesses. The video can be seen below and on TPA’s YouTube page (click here).