Naughty and Nice

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) made a list, and we checked it (more than) twice. There have been plenty of naughty shenanigans by public officials this year, including runaway spending totaling roughly $4 trillion – or about $30,000 per household. The good news is that a few stalwart defenders of taxpayers and consumers have demanded accountability and refused to accept the surge of red ink. So, grab your cup of (hopefully spiked) eggnog, put on some season-appropriate tunes, and read TPA’s 2020 “Naughty and Nice” list below. Oh, and be careful when you stand under the mistletoe.

Naughty

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.)

By now, taxpayers are all-too-familiar with the dysfunctional federal budgeting process resulting in annual trillion-dollar deficits. Congress just put another $2.3 trillion on the national credit card, and lawmakers had just a few hours to read thousands of pages of the combined omnibus/COVID relief package. But, if Majority Leader Hoyer gets his way, these fiscal fumbles will only get worse. Recently, Rep. Hoyer endorsed bringing earmarks (formally banned since 2011) back into the budgeting process.

He “reasons” that earmarks give “people the sense that (Congress) does in fact focus on them. After all, every district sends a lot of tax money and (this) sends a lot back for specific projects.” This bizarre justification for (fully) bringing back earmarks ignores the most compelling reason for pork barrel spending: winning re-election. If lawmakers really cared about giving money back to their overtaxed constituents, tax cut and reform legislation would pass with overwhelming majorities. Rep. Hoyer vocally opposed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which delivered relief to about 90 percent of taxpayers. He’s also come out against payroll tax cuts, calling them a “non-starter.”

Hoyer does have a long history supporting earmarks, having repeatedly used the corrupt process to his benefit. In fiscal year 2010, Hoyer had a field day with earmarks, skimming $3 million of hard-earned taxpayer dollars for an agricultural research facility. He also steered $638,000 for “Foundry Sand By-Products Utilization,” $500,000 for “in-car video technology,” and $408,000 to study poultry diseases. Oh, and my personal favorite: $61,000 to study potato diseases. Other infamous earmarks spearheaded by members of Congress include $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa and $100,000 for the Tiger Woods Foundation.  Maybe lawmakers such as Hoyer should explain these bizarre, disgraceful votes instead of setting the stage for even more cronyism and corruption down the line.

Kanye West and Robert de Niro (and co.)

Few can deny the catchiness of Kanye West’s song “Lift Yourself” or flawlessness of Robert de Niro’s performances in classic mob movies (not including “The Irishman”). But there’s no need to directly or indirectly subsidize these well-off artists. Yet the de Niro’s and West’s of the world benefited handsomely from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was enacted in March to help struggling small businesses get back on their feet. Shortly after the disbursement of the loans, multiple media outlets reported that celebrities and politically connected individuals were able to steer taxpayer dollars toward their already well-capitalized pet projects. In July, it was revealed that West’s Yeezy fashion brand received anywhere from $2 to 5 million in forgivable PPP loans. Bear in mind that West (who has an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion) estimated that his brand is worth at least $3 billion. Perhaps West could have extended a personal loan to his fashion line instead of asking struggling taxpayers to foot the bill. And in July, The Hill reported, “A luxury restaurant chain co-founded by actor Robert De Niro received as much as $27.7 million through 14 taxpayer-backed loans.”

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg. At least nine lawmakers are known to have benefited in some way from the PPP program, a brazen conflict of interest that should have never been allowed to happen. And, a September study by law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner documented that 850 publicly traded companies received PPP loans. Astoundingly, 759 of these companies failed to return their PPP funds even after public pressure and scrutiny. These companies, celebrities, and pols may be flush with cash as a result, but they’ll certainly be receiving coal in their gold-plated stockings.

Nice

Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.)

America’s only Libertarian member of Congress has had quite the year, proving for the umpteenth time that he’s not afraid to take on politicians from either major party. Like many members of Congress, Rep. Amash got his start in politics by representing his constituents in state government. During his two years in the Michigan House of Representatives Rep. Amash started a practice that most elected officials never bother to do. The state lawmaker used his social media pages (Facebook and Twitter) to tell his constituents how he voted and explain the reasoning behind the positions he took. Rep. Amash also maintained a transparency website where he listed the taxpayer-funded salaries of his staff.

Upon getting elected to Congress in 2010, Rep. Amash hit the ground running, advocating for spending reform and transparency at a time of unprecedented “stimulus” spending. Rep. Amash was a powerful advocate for taxpayers in the House Budget Committee, championing a requirement that federal agencies publish budget request justifications at a central location on their websites. Rep. Amash also fought for a requirement that the Congressional Budget Office disclose the economic models used to score bills. Amash hasn’t always had the best of luck with his good government initiatives, and even got booted out of the House Budget Committee after his fellow GOPers didn’t share his enthusiasm for cutting spending.

But despite these setbacks, he’s proven remarkably steadfast and consistent as an advocate for minimum government and maximum liberty. He’s certainly going out with a bang by criticizing his old party and trying his darndest to end civil asset forfeiture. Rep. Amash is “Mr. Nice” for taxpayers and will certainly be missed in the next Congress.

Baltimore Inspector General (IG) Isabel Mercedes Cumming

There’s certainly nothing charming about the corruption gripping Baltimore City. Fortunately, the IG’s office is headed by an individual committed to protecting taxpayer dollars against Baltimore’s unscrupulous leadership. From the start of her career, Cumming was determined to hold crooks and cheats responsible for their misdeeds. In 1984, Cumming was hired by KPMG Peat Marwick in Baltimore City to examine and audit the finances of large financial institutions. She recounts, “I started working for KPMG during the Savings & Loan crisis, and I found fraud examining the most interesting part of the job. I truly loved it!… Back in the early 1980s, it was unheard of to have a career fighting fraud.”

This fraud fighting acumen would serve her well during her six-year stint as an Assistant State Prosecutor with the Maryland State Prosecutor’s Office. During that time, she helped take down prominent, corrupt public officials such as former Comptroller Jacqueline McLean, who was hiring and paying sham consultants and research groups and directing city leases toward properties she owned.

Days after being chosen as Baltimore’s IG in 2018, Cumming made clear that “nobody is off limits. Overtime situations, theft of time. Purchase cards. There are so many areas that need to be looked at…I love going after white collar criminals.” At the time, then-Mayor Pugh sung her praises, stating Cumming “knows how to operate independently to be fair and just.” Maybe Pugh would not have been so effusive if she knew that Cumming would be actively investigating the Mayor’s Office for fraud. After media reports revealed that then-Mayor Pugh had cozy financial ties to the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), the IG’s office began to take a closer look at the city leader’s money dealings.

Cumming and federal authorities helped bring Pugh to justice, but the IG certainly didn’t stop there. Over the past year, the IG has continued to examine questionable contracts and dealings among the city’s political elite. This has included detailing Baltimore’s shady, longstanding master lease agreement with Columbia-based finance firm Grant Capital Management. This year, Cumming has also saved taxpayers nearly $3 million. Hopefully, this nice deed does not go unrecognized.

In conclusion….

There’s plenty of naughty folks in political office. Fortunately, there’s a small cadre of decent public officials willing to fight for taxpayers and consumers. Naughty or nice, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2021, which will hopefully be nicer than 2020.