The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) would like to wish all of our friends and supporters a Happy Passover and Happy Easter. The past month and a half hasn’t been easy for anybody. Despite TPA’s physical distance with each other and our friends, we have been working diligently advocating for taxpayers and consumers during this difficult time. We have also had an opportunity to interview a number of our friends to highlight the great work they are doing. Click here to visit our YouTube page and see interviews with folks from Reason, ALEC, R Street, Center for Individual Freedom, and the Goldwater Institute. We have more interviews planned for the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned.
Profiles in Courage: Capt. Brett Crozier
This week’s Profile in Courage goes to a person in the military. This honor wasn’t awarded to Capt. Crozier because of his bravery on a traditional battlefield, but rather because of his bravery on a new battlefield: the Coronavirus pandemic.
Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on April 2 after sounding the alarm about dangerous conditions onboard his ship. Capt. Crozier knew of the likely consequences that his actions would entail, yet nonetheless acted quickly and decisively in the best interests of his sailors. And for that, Capt. Crozier is an upstanding Profile in Courage.
COVID-19 infections have been reported across the U.S. military where shared barracks and tight ship berths are the norm. By March 30, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt had been docked in Guam for three days and more than 100 sailors onboard had been infected with the deadly disease. To mitigate risks to the rest of the 4,000+ crew, Capt. Crozier frantically wrote to the USN requesting that infected sailors be quarantined in accordance with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. The Captain wrote, “With the exceptions of a handful of senior officer staterooms, none of the berthing onboard a warship is appropriate for quarantine or isolation. Thousands of ‘close contact’ Sailors require quarantine in accordance with guidance.” Capt. Crozier recommended off-ship lodging and isolation for the crew and a thorough disinfection of the ship in order to rid the aircraft carrier of COVID-19. The well-respected military man stated what should have been obvious to Navy top brass: “Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.” The San Francisco Chronicle published the letter on March 31, and Americans across the country voiced their concerns about the thousands of sailors trying to stay safe and healthy.
On April 2, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly announced that Crozier had been relieved of his command due to a loss in confidence. Modly claimed that he “exercised extremely poor judgment,” but Modly’s own lapse in judgment would eventually cost him his own job. On the weekend of April 4, the Acting Secretary abruptly traveled to the USS Theodore Roosevelt to address sailors following the firing of Capt. Crozier. Taxpayers paid an astounding $243,000 for the 35-hour round trip, but Modley simply could not resist to further insult the brave Captain he had fired just days earlier. In an address to sailors, Modley called Capt. Crozier too "too naive or too stupid" to maintain command of an aircraft carrier despite his demonstrated courage in sounding the alarm on Coronavirus infections. The Acting Secretary also charged that the Captain’s actions represented a “betrayal” to the Navy’s chain-of-command. In reality, Capt. Crozier was doing what any good leader should do by doing everything in his power to keep his crew out of harm’s way. Modly took responsibility for his reprehensible remarks and resigned from his command on April 7.
It’s important for the U.S. military to have a robust chain-of-command and captains should generally pay heed to their superiors. But, the armed forces and the entire federal government benefit greatly when individual members regardless of rank or General Schedule step up and act decisively on behalf of others. The U.S. military should take the lead in encouraging this selflessness and reinstate Capt. Crozier. In fact, the man needs a medal. Capt. Crozier showed the whole country the meaning of true courage for which he was punished. Congress needs to strengthen whistleblower protection laws to ensure that more people feel comfortable coming forward when they identify problems. Capt. Crozier is a true Profile in Courage.
WHO is a Taxpayer-Funded Mess…Not a Question, a Statement
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a mess and on April 7 President Trump declared, “We’re going to put a hold on the money sent to the WHO.” Needless to say, we were thrilled to hear this news. TPA and our project IGOWatch has been sounding the alarm on the WHO for many years. The WHO is a bloated bureaucracy that cares more about defending China and their own excessive travel budget than science or harm reduction.
The Coronavirus has exposed the WHO for its blatant kowtowing to the China Communist Party (CCP) with their defending the CCP’s handling of the pandemic even though the CCP imprisoned whistleblowers and covered up early Coronavirus cases. The WHO spends $200 million a year on travel. This is far more than what it spends on fighting hepatitis, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, with first class travel and $1,000 a night hotel rooms. In fact, the WHO spends $28,500 per employee per year on travel. In contrast, Doctors Without Borders spends just $1,162 per employee per year. WHO official Dr. Bruce Aylward spent more than $400,000 in travel during his tenure mismanaging the Ebola outbreak as he demanded private helicopters and refused to travel by jeep on “muddy roads” at a time when doctors working on the ground “couldn’t even afford basics like protective boots, gloves and soap.”
The WHO’s phony science affects consumers and taxpayers. The agency siphons off millions of dollars to fund an obscure “research” arm called the International Agency for the Research of Cancer (IARC). Since 1965, the agency has evaluated more than 1,000 substances to determine whether they are carcinogenic, finding that all but one (the material that makes yoga pants and toothbrush bristles) may be dangerous to humans. IARC also makes absurd judgments like placing bacon in the same category as plutonium. Unwarranted carcinogenic classifications scare consumers and raise prices in states and jurisdictions that take IARC’s fear mongering a tad too seriously. The WHO has rejected harm reduction products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn technology. The global bureaucracy prefers that people continue to smoke deadly traditional cigarettes rather than less harmful alternatives.
The coup de grace was when the WHO made genocidal tyrant Robert Mugabe a Goodwill Ambassador and praised Philippines President Duterte who likens himself to Hitler and whose death squads have killed thousands in the streets. WHO thinks that North Korea, where more than 3 million people starved to death in the 1990s, and 200,000 children are currently suffering from malnutrition, has a healthcare system worthy of praise for keeping obesity under control. Clearly, the WHO is out of control and it’s time to hold the opaque global bureaucracy accountable.
Blogs:
Tuesday: New York should buy ventilators, not crony “green” deals
Tuesday: Watchdog Urges President Trump to Reinstate CARES Act Inspector General
Wednesday: Protectionism Won’t Protect Patients or Healthcare Workers
Thursday: The World Health Organization Is Out Of Control
Friday: Profiles in Courage: Navy Captain Brett Crozier
Media:
March 31, 2020: The Tuscaloosa News (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Alabama’s pandemic emergency plan discriminates against people with disabilities.”
April 6, 2020: TPA External Relations Director Grace Morgan appeared on CraveTV to discuss the CARES Act and future relief bills.
April 6, 2020: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about the fourth Coronavirus-related relief bill.
April 6, 2020: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “New York should buy ventilators, not crony “green” deals.”
April 7, 2020: I appeared on 55KRC Radio (Cincinnati, Ohio) to talk about vaping, the Green New Deal, and the United States Postal Service.
April 7, 2020: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “Protectionism Won’t Protect Patients or Healthcare Workers.”
April 8, 2020: I appeared on KPLW 1220 AM (St. Louis, MO.) to talk about the fourth Coronavirus-related relief bill.
April 8, 2020: The Daily Signal mentioned TPA in their article, “Conservatives Call on Trump to Establish Free Trade Agreement With Taiwan.”
April 9, 2020: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about the delay in fiscal relief checks.
April 9, 2020: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “Federal government reaches resolution with Alabama over discriminatory ventilator guidelines.”
April 9, 2020: I appeared on “The Lars Larson Show” (nationally syndicated) to talk about the World Health Organization.
April 9, 2020: The Daily Bell ran TPA’s op-ed, “Harvard Study Finds Consumers Don’t Care if Businesses Are Licensed, but Do Consider Customer Reviews and Pricing.”
April 9, 2020: Law360 mentioned TPA in their story, “FCC's O’Rielly Ropes Trump Into Fight For Pentagon Airwaves.”
Have a great weekend, stay safe, and as always, thanks for your continued support.
Best,
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
1401 K Street, NW
Suite 502
Washington, D.C. xxxxxx
www.protectingtaxpayers.org
