Page 340 – Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Eliminate the Export-Import Bank

Post author:David Williams
Post published:November 6, 2013
Post category:Ex-Im Bank Taxes Taxpayers Protection Alliance

This article originally appeared on the Real Clear Policy website, November 6, 2013 Liberals often say that government intervention is necessary when the private sector, for whatever reason, cannot offer a critical service. Yet this line of thinking clearly does not justify the continued existence of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, an institution whose primary purpose is to finance loans to foreign companies so that they can buy American-made products. The Ex-Im Bank recently announced that it generated a billion-dollar profit this past year. This is clear evidence that private lenders could make money financing these loans, too. What's more, private lenders would not expose taxpayers to catastrophic risks, and they would not use taxpayer-backed loans to fund politically connected businesses.

New Study Exposes Flaws in Louisiana Municipal Broadband Service

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:November 5, 2013
Post category:Broadband Chattanooga EPB Michi Iljazi Taxpayers Protection Alliance

When government decides to crash the private sector there are always major concerns regardless of the project or the reasoning behind the move. Two major concerns that seem to play out over and over again are that the government can’t do a better job than those businesses that are already providing the service; and that inefficiency will lead to wasted taxpayer money. In a recent study from the Reason Foundation, a six -year government-run broadband project in Louisiana (LUS Fiber) proved once again that taxpayers are getting nowhere near their money’s worth when it comes to public-sector attempts to best the free-market. This comes as no surprise to the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) because we have written about LUS Fiber in the past (click here to read previous posts). Last week, Steven Titch with the Reason Foundation discussed the study, Lessons in Municipal Broadband from Lafayette, Louisiana, and some of the key findings of the Lafayette Utilities Service that began in 2005. The LUS has been around for several years and has been held up as the shining example of how municipal broadband services can succeed if given enough taxpayer dollars. LUS has received attention from not only prominent media types, but also a former Obama administration official. The high-profile associated with the program was something not lost on Mr. Titch.

As Maryland Considers Proposals for Final Casino License, Taxpayers Hope to Win Big

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:November 1, 2013
Post category:Casinos Michi Iljazi Taxes Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Taxpayers in Maryland have been getting the shaft lately as the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has documented the outrageous “Rain Tax” discriminately hitting only certain counties and taxpayers in the state; and the recent revelation that Baltimore taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $300,000 in property taxes owed on a building owned by Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos, due to an accounting error! Let’s not forget the Baltimore Raven receiving $130,000 of state tax money to promote Obamacare. So, it’s safe to say that it isn’t great to be a Maryland taxpayer this year. A recent study confirmed that the Free State isn’t so free considering that Maryland has one of the worst business climates due to harmful tax policy. Now, a new story out of Maryland harkens back to an issue TPA was involved in last year when the state moved to build a Casino in National Harbor and give tax-breaks to an out-of-state casino operator. In a story last week, The Washington Post reported that a gaming organization plans to make Maryland officials an offer “they can’t refuse.”

TPA Celebrates Halloween with Taxpayer Tricks & Treats of 2013!

Post author:David Williams
Post published:October 31, 2013
Post category:Agriculture Broadband Chattanooga EPB Congress Defense Earmarks Farm Bill General Services Administration Healthcare House Income Tax Michi Iljazi Obamacare Senate Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Halloween is quickly approaching which means candy, costumes, jack-o-lanterns and cute trick-or-treaters filling neighborhood sidewalks across America. This also means that it is time for the Taxpayer Protection Alliance’s (TPA) annual Trick or Treat fun. The tricks by the government ghosts, ghouls, and goblins are out once again to scare taxpayers. The biggest trick played on taxpayers is the $17 trillion debt and a debt ceiling that no longer exists (a ghostly disappearing act). TPA reached down deep into its bag of goodies and found few Treats so taxpayers don’t turn into Zombies. TRICKS Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or “The Green Blob”: No stranger to tricks, the General Services Administration (GSA) and US Green Building Council have been in on one for quite some time and TPA has been there every step of the way to ask the tough questions and continue to expose the reality of the (LEED) certification system. TPA warned about the “new” LEED standards, known as LEED v.4 (click here to read previous blog posting). LEED v.4 is now set for official use as it has been approved. TPA continues to argue that adopting LEED standards would be harmful for taxpayers and businesses. GSA officials vanished like a ghost when TPA asked submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Click here to read more on TPA’s efforts to unmask LEED. To see the all of TPA's Tricks & Treats, click 'read more' below!

TPA Joins Coalition Supporting REINS Act of 2013 in the Senate

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:October 30, 2013
Post category:Executive Branch Michi Iljazi Regulation Senate Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Federal regulatory policies and the agencies under their control have grown exponentially over the last several years. It is no secret that that increased regulations have made it more difficult for entrepreneurs to do business due to the many hurdles they are forced to jump, and most times these new regulations are unanticipated. There has been movement in Congress to get the ever-expanding regulatory machine under control. Last week, in an effort led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, TPA signed a coalition letter, along with the 60 Plus Association, American Commitment, American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Campaign for Liberty, Center for Individual Freedom, Cost of Government Center, Freedom Action, FreedomWorks, Frontiers of Freedom, The Heartland Institute, Less Government, and the R Street Institute supporting Senate legislation entitled the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny Act of 2013 (aka the “REINS Act”). The REINS Act seeks to restore legislative control and accountability to the federal regulatory process by providing for meaningful congressional oversight over new regulations that agencies impose by requiring both houses of Congress to approve any proposed “major rule” (which is any rule likely to affect the economy by $100 million or more) before going into effect. The amount of new regulations is astonishing, and in some cases you can see how far agencies are going overboard just by looking at a single piece of legislation. TPA is dedicated to ‘reining in’ the regulatory machine and will continue to work towards that goal. To read the full letter, click 'read more' below

Don’t Cry For Them: Coalition Urges Lawmakers to Oppose World Bank Loan to Argentina

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:October 29, 2013
Post category:Congress Michi Iljazi National Taxpayers Union Taxes Taxpayers Protection Alliance

World Bank HQ in Washington, D.C. (courtesy Wikimedia Commons) The United States is in debt by more than $17 trillion dollars and it is imperative to take steps to curb the out of control spending and inefficiencies in government that have led us to this point. One area that elected officials must keep a close eye on is lending money to other nations. The World Bank, which receives backing from U.S. taxpayers, is considering a loan to Argentina for $3 billion. Argentina has been clearly defined as a bad actor in the international community and taxpayers should not be contributing a single dollar to support a loan that may never be paid back. Argentinean officials have publicly and repeatedly announced their intentions to defy the U.S. judicial system. In fact, they’ve actively ignored U.S. court judgments, and their disrespect for the rule of law combined with their unwillingness to abide by its commitments is not just limited to the United States. Argentina also continues to ignore the World Bank’s arbitrational body, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Since 2011, US policy regarding multilateral development banks’ (MDB) lending to Argentina has been the same: oppose any loans. In an effort led by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance & the National Taxpayers Union; American Commitment, American Majority Action, Center for Individual Freedom, Cost of Government Center, Free Congress Foundation, Frontiers of Freedom, Hispanic Leadership Fund, Institute for Liberty, The Latino Coalition, Less Government, National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Grange, and Tea Party WDC signed on to a coalition letter urging lawmakers to stand firm on that policy and urge the Obama Administration and the Treasury Department to oppose the loan, and to withhold funding from the Bank if it continues to underwrite “financial rogue” states like Argentina. Taxpayers are already on the hook for trillions in wasteful spending, the government shouldn’t be adding to that by lending out money that stands zero chance of being paid back.

Ending Ex-Im Bank Should Be Top Priority For Both Parties

Post author:David Williams
Post published:October 28, 2013
Post category:Congress Ex-Im Bank Taxpayers Protection Alliance

This article originally appeared in Townhall.com on October 24, 2013 Abound Solar, the solar panel manufacturing company famous for going bankrupt last year after receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer-backed loans, is making headlines again: according to recent media reports, the price tag on the clean up of the company's "unknown hazardous waste" is as high as $3.7 million. Unfortunately, much of this drama could have been averted if the U.S. government had not propped up the firm in the first place. Abound Solar’s business was in-large part supported by help from government entities such as the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank), which help facilitate the purchasing of its product through a loan of $9.2 million to an Indian company. At the time of the loan, Abound Solar had questionable financial health, meaning most banks would have obviated from providing any financial backing involving such a company. Yet, the Ex-Im Bank decided in its infinite wisdom that it should step-in and do what most other financial institutions would not do and provide assistance to Abound Solar by providing a risky loan to another company directly engaged in business with the solar company.

TPA Celebrates Halloween with Taxpayer Tricks & Treats of 2013!

Post author:David Williams
Post published:October 25, 2013
Post category:Agriculture Broadband Chattanooga EPB Congress Defense Earmarks Farm Bill General Services Administration Healthcare House Income Tax Marketplace Fairness Act Michi Iljazi Obamacare Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Halloween is quickly approaching which means candy, costumes, jack-o-lanterns and cute trick-or-treaters filling neighborhood sidewalks across America. This also means that it is time for the Taxpayer Protection Alliance’s (TPA) annual Trick or Treat fun. The tricks by the government ghosts, ghouls, and goblins are out once again to scare taxpayers. The biggest trick played on taxpayers is the $17 trillion debt and a debt ceiling that no longer exists (a ghostly disappearing act). TPA reached down deep into its bag of goodies and found few Treats so taxpayers don’t turn into Zombies. TRICKS Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) or “The Green Blob”: No stranger to tricks, the General Services Administration (GSA) and US Green Building Council have been in on one for quite some time and TPA has been there every step of the way to ask the tough questions and continue to expose the reality of the (LEED) certification system. TPA warned about the “new” LEED standards, known as LEED v.4 (click here to read previous blog posting). LEED v.4 is now set for official use as it has been approved. TPA continues to argue that adopting LEED standards would be harmful for taxpayers and businesses. GSA officials vanished like a ghost when TPA asked submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Click here to read more on TPA’s efforts to unmask LEED. To see the all of TPA's Tricks & Treats, click 'read more' below!

Plain “Almost” Packaging Approved by the EU Parliament Is Affecting the Consumers and the Trademarks

Post author:Lorenzo Montanari
Post published:October 24, 2013
Post category:European Union

This article orginally appeared on the Property Rights Alliance (PRA) website at Propertyrightsalliance.org on October 23, 2013 and was written by PRA Executive Director Lorenzo Montanari. On October 8th, the European Union (EU) voted to amend the current Tobacco Products Directive(TPD). While the revised TPD is not actually adopted, it is on the way. The purpose of the vote is to create stricter regulations on all tobacco products for the 28-member states. The TPD had several small votes defeated, like banning slim cigarettes or smaller packages for roll-your-owns. Even though the EU Parliament voted against regulating e-cigarettes as a medical product, they still voted to increase advertisement bans on the products. Although the EU has not gone to full plain-packaging like Australia, it voted to require that 65% of packaging is covered in graphic images. The theory behind plain-packaging is to reduce the number of people smoking. Plain-packaging is meant to encourage current smokers to quit and discourage young impressionable individuals to take up smoking. While the jury is still out on the effectiveness of plain-packaging, it does present other ramifications.

TPA Joins Coalition Opposing Reform-less Water Resources Reform and Development Act

Post author:Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Post published:October 23, 2013
Post category:House Michi Iljazi Taxpayers Protection Alliance

This week, the House of Representatives will be considering a bill dealing with projects and policies directly relating to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Although the title contains the word "reform," the substance of the bill couldn’t be more misleading. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 is legislation that fails to identify or seriously correct the many problems that face the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works program. A backlog totaling $60-$80 billion dollars on projects, some dating back to 2007 authorization; increased spending to ports where traffic flow doesn’t necessarily justify the increase; and a House version of the much maligned ‘Kentucky Kickback’ (added to the Senate deal to re-open the government and raise the debt ceiling) costing more than $2 billion dollars to the taxpayers. These concerns were outlined in this letter sent yesterday by Taxpayers for Commonsense urging the House to oppose the WRDA 2013. TPA, along with other free-market and liberty oriented groups Americans for Prosperity, Campaign for Liberty, Competitive Enterprise Institute, FreedomWorks, Heritage, Action for America, Less Government, National Taxpayers Union, and the R Street Institute joined the effort. To view the full letter, click read more below