Read more about the article Pentagon Launch Program Needs More Scrutiny, Less Money

Pentagon Launch Program Needs More Scrutiny, Less Money

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) just released a report on the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program that is problematic for taxpayers and space launches. According to a fact sheet by Vandenberg Air Force Base, “EELV is designed to improve our nation's access to space by making space launch vehicles more affordable and reliable.” Not so fast. The EELV program budgets have quadrupled since the Pentagon allowed Boeing and Lockheed to merge their launch business into a single monopoly provider, the United Launch Alliance, in 2006. And now ULA is pushing the Pentagon to write the company a $15 billion check for a five-year, sole source deal that will, according to GAO, commit DOD to more rockets than it needs at a higher price than it needs to pay.

Continue ReadingPentagon Launch Program Needs More Scrutiny, Less Money
Read more about the article TPA Supports Rep. Flake to Keep Appropriations Process Open

TPA Supports Rep. Flake to Keep Appropriations Process Open

Yet again, Congress is behind schedule in passing appropriations bills. Ok, let’s be honest, Congress is beyond late, and there is very little hope for an orderly process to resolve this problem. There is already discussion about an omnibus appropriations bill. An omnibus bill is one of those multi-thousand page pieces of legislation that contains multiple appropriations bills and could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. In order to bring some sort of sanity back to the fiscal year 2012 spending process, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is urging his colleagues to keep the process of crafting, and voting on, an appropriations bill “open.” What this means is that Rep. Flake wants to make sure that there is an opportunity to offer amendments to the omnibus before it is voted on. On October 14, 2011, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance sent a letter of support for Rep. Flake’s efforts.

Continue ReadingTPA Supports Rep. Flake to Keep Appropriations Process Open
Read more about the article Deadline Looms for Super Committee

Deadline Looms for Super Committee

As part of the August 2, 2011 deal to raise the debt ceiling, the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka the “Super Committee”) was created to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. This is in addition to an initial $1 trillion in spending cuts that was instituted immediately after the deal was signed. Many believed that mid-November was the deadline to contact the Super Committee about specific ideas. It now appears that taxpayers have once again been misled. Multiple news reports indicate that October 14, 2011 is the real deadline to make formal recommendations to the Super Committee. Many groups have been offering advice on where to cut spending. In fact, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) held a Defense briefing on October 3 with representatives from the Lexington Institute, National Taxpayers Union, and Americans for Tax Reform to discuss potential spending cuts in the Department of Defense that wouldn’t affect national security. The panelists recommended eliminating funding the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine and the Medium Extended Air Defense System (read previous blog postings here and here). TPA has also recommended eliminating Community Transformation Grants funded through the Centers for Disease Control (read previous blog posting here). Even with all these superb ideas coming out of TPA, and other groups, Congress doesn’t have to look much further than the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama and the National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Integrity for ideas.

Continue ReadingDeadline Looms for Super Committee
Read more about the article Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Has an Opportunity to Eliminate a Wasteful Government Program

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Has an Opportunity to Eliminate a Wasteful Government Program

The federal government is obsessed with two things (at least), spending money and behavior control. There is no program more representative of this then the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) recently announced Community Transformation Grants. The Prevention and Public Health Fund, which funds this CDC program along with its predecessor, Communities Putting Prevention to Work, was originally created under the stimulus bill. It has little to do with job creation and more to do with expanding government’s reach into society. So far, the government has put more than $1 billion towards these “wellness” programs under The Prevention and Public Health Fund, including, $3,000,000 to label calories on restaurant menus in New York; $1,000,000 to the Boston Public Health Commission to “support the successful implementation of the state's calorie posting regulation;” and $63,265 to the Cascade Bicycle Club, Washington, for “Complete Streets” which will “emphasize that new and reconstructed roadways meet the safety and mobility needs of all travelers. The good news is that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee meets on Wednesday October 12 and they can bring some common sense back to spending and the government’s proper role in our lives by defunding this program. On October 11, 2011, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance wrote a letter urging the HELP Committee to defund the program.

Continue ReadingSenate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Has an Opportunity to Eliminate a Wasteful Government Program
Read more about the article Taxpayers Protection Alliance Joins Coalition to Stop E-Verify

Taxpayers Protection Alliance Joins Coalition to Stop E-Verify

The federal government is obsessed with collecting information. The problem with this is that any attempt to collect information is costly to taxpayers and puts everybody’s privacy at risk. The worst example of this was the attempt to establish a national identification system known as Real ID. Passed in May 2005, the Real ID Act for the first time set federal standards for authenticating and securing state-issued driver’s licenses. Real ID is a costly mandate that cash-strapped states can’t afford with weak privacy controls. Now, the federal government wants a system that mandates the use of an electronic employment verification system by every employer in the U.S. for every person seeking employment in the U.S. Known as E-Verify, this mandate creates a de facto national I.D. System (even for citizens); violates individual civil liberties such as the right to work and free speech; mandates a costly job-killing regulatory burden that cripples small business; requires employers to become enforcement agents of the federal government; and encourages identify theft of law-abiding citizens. On September 15, 2011 a coalition of almost 30 groups (including the Taxpayers Protection Alliance) sent a letter to Congress urging them to scrap the program.

Continue ReadingTaxpayers Protection Alliance Joins Coalition to Stop E-Verify
Read more about the article Opposing Net Neutrality Regulations Should be Bi-Partisan

Opposing Net Neutrality Regulations Should be Bi-Partisan

The new net neutrality rules are set to go into effect on November 20, just a few days before Thanksgiving. Instead of giving thanks for these new regulations, taxpayers, consumers, and all web surfers will be given the bird by the federal government. Net neutrality is the wrong solution to a non-existent problem. “Net neutrality,” which is loosely defined as a system that allows information on the Internet to move freely without regard to content is in reality, a not so subtle attempt to regulate the Internet. The battle over net neutrality has typically been with proponents of net neutrality being on the left side of the political spectrum and those opposing being on the right side of the political spectrum. The reality is that opposing these regulations should be bi-partisan. Besides the potential cost to taxpayers and the lack of need to regulate a dynamic industry, the most compelling argument against net neutrality is what happened in Egypt ten months ago when the government denied Internet access to its citizens in the wake of their revolution.

Continue ReadingOpposing Net Neutrality Regulations Should be Bi-Partisan
Read more about the article U.S. News and World Report Cites TPA in its “11 Things Wrong With Congress.”

U.S. News and World Report Cites TPA in its “11 Things Wrong With Congress.”

To say that there is a high level of frustration with Congress is an understatement. In fact, a recent Fox News poll had Congress’ job approval at a whopping 11 percent. On September 28, 2011, U.S. News and World Report published it’s “11 Things Wrong With Congress” blog posting and there were very few surprises. Third on the list was “Gold-plated benefits.” According to the article, “A recent study by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a nonprofit research group, found that fringe benefits for members of Congress are worth about $82,000 per year—which raises total compensation to well over $250,000. There may be a retirement crisis in many parts of America—but not on Capitol Hill.” The $250,000 number is a reference to a July 27 report released by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and Our Generation (read full report here).

Continue ReadingU.S. News and World Report Cites TPA in its “11 Things Wrong With Congress.”
Read more about the article Senate Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 Contains Earmarks and Continued Funding for an Unnecessary and Expensive Program

Senate Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 Contains Earmarks and Continued Funding for an Unnecessary and Expensive Program

As the first group to uncover NASA earmarks in the 2011 Continuing Resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2011 and earmarks in the FY 2012 House Defense Appropriations Bill, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has found more earmarks, this time in the FY 2012 Senate Defense Appropriations Bill. TPA has preliminarily found 62 earmarks worth $2.8 billion. In addition, the Senate also funded the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). In addition to the other problems with MEADS (click here and here), according to language in the Senate bill, “The Committee is concerned with the historical management of the MEADS program and that it has taken the Department 3 years, following the 2008 program Preliminary Design Review, to conclude that with a production delay of at least 4 years and a U.S. investment of $1,160,000,000 required in addition to the $804,000,000 budgeted in fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the program was simply unaffordable. As such, the Committee echoes the concerns voiced in section 807 of S. 1253, the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2012, as reported.” The Senate Defense Appropriations Bill is funding unrequested earmarks and a project (MEADS) that the committee is concerned about. Not a smart way to fund the Department of Defense.

Continue ReadingSenate Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 Contains Earmarks and Continued Funding for an Unnecessary and Expensive Program
Read more about the article Food and Drug Administration Criticized for Possible Free Speech Violation

Food and Drug Administration Criticized for Possible Free Speech Violation

From having the power to initiate food recalls to approving new drugs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is quickly becoming one of the most powerful government bureaucracies. In fact, according to FDA budget documents, “The fiscal year (FY) 2012 President’s Budget request for FDA is $4,360,281,000. This represents a total program level increase of $1,076,215,000 above the amount enacted into law for FY 2010.” The FDA has also played an increasing role in squeezing the tobacco industry. The FDA has required that cigarettes contain health warnings on cigarettes since the 1960’s. It now appears that the FDA may have over played that hand with their crusade to “up their game” and put graphic images on cigarette packages to enhance the warning labels. According to a September 21, 2011 Associated Press article, “ A federal judge peppered a government lawyer with questions Wednesday expressing doubts about whether the Food and Drug Administration can force tobacco companies to post graphic images on their cigarette packages showing the health effects of smoking. In a two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon closely questioned Justice Department lawyer Mark Stern on whether the nine graphic images proposed by the FDA convey just the facts about the health risks of smoking or go beyond that into advocacy - a critical distinction in a case over free speech.”

Continue ReadingFood and Drug Administration Criticized for Possible Free Speech Violation
Read more about the article Free Market and Taxpayer Advocacy Groups Urge Congress to Reform the Universal Service Fund

Free Market and Taxpayer Advocacy Groups Urge Congress to Reform the Universal Service Fund

The Universal Service Fund (USF), which is supposed to bring telephone service to mainly rural areas, has its roots in decades-old laws that aimed to solve a problem that no longer exists. The Telecommunications Act of 1934 - yes, 1934 - aimed to subsidize the expansion of telephone service into rural America. The fund’s new goal is to shift the focus of universal service from telephone to Internet service. But Americans should be careful not to assume that refocusing a New Deal program on modern technology will promote innovation or efficiency. Unless we are careful, it might do little more than perpetuate an aging entitlement program by giving it a high-tech paint job. On September 21, 2011 the Taxpayers Protection Alliance joined with Americans for Tax Reform, the National Taxpayers Union, and Americans for Prosperity to urge congress to make sure that any USF reform focus on reducing costs (read full letter here).

Continue ReadingFree Market and Taxpayer Advocacy Groups Urge Congress to Reform the Universal Service Fund