Washington Reporter In our latest edition, we have an interview with Rep.
Darrell Issa, a piece about conservatives panning Kamala Harris’s inroads with
Goldman Sachs, and an exclusive poll on just how unpopular vehicle mileage
taxes are in southern California.

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September 23, 2024

In this edition


[1] Interview: Rep. Darrell Issa on Kamala, patent reform, and more
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[2] House and Senate updates
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[3] Heard on the Hill
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[4] Poll: Californians strongly oppose mileage tax
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[5] Kamala Harris and Goldman Sachs
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[6] FTC facing lawsuit and renewed criticism over PBMs
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[7] Op-ed: Derrick Anderson on the border and how it impacts Virginia
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[8] Op-ed: Isabel Soto: Americans can’t afford for telehealth options to expire
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[9] Op-ed: Tom Hebert: The United States Trade Representative’s election
season stunt <[link removed]>
[10] Op-ed: Sarah Hunt and Amelia Powers Gardner: Bipartisan opportunity for AI
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[11] What we’re reading
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<[link removed]>
A strong national defense is essential to protecting our American way of life.

Veterans On Duty continues the fight back at home, advocating for military and
national security policies that will keep America safe, strong, and free.

In our latest edition, we have an interview with Rep. Darrell Issa, a piece
about conservatives panning Kamala Harris’s inroads with Goldman Sachs, an
exclusive poll on just how unpopular vehicle mileage taxes are in southern
California, and more.






[1] Exclusive: Rep. Darrell Issa on Kamala Harris, Afghanistan, patent reform,
and sanctuary cities
By: Matthew Foldi

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif), a top Congressional watchdog, found his latest
calling supporting Gold Star families after 13 U.S. servicemembers were killed
by a suicide bomber during Joe Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal; which
he discussed, along with his bills on sanctuary cities and patent reform, in an
exclusive interview with theWashington Reporter.

Following the Afghanistan withdrawal, Issa helped spring one of the Gold Star
family members from jail after a senseless arrest
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, hosted several Gold Star families at anationally-televised town hall
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,defended
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one of the group’s organizers from media hit pieces, and more.

Click HERE
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to read more from Rep. Darrell Issa about patent reform, foreign policy, and
his oversight on our debacle in Afghanistan.



Finish Reading ➝
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[2]
House and Senate updates:

Upcoming House Hearings that caught our eye:

On Tuesday:
* Financial Services Committee: the leadership of the Securities and Exchange
Commission is testifying at an oversight hearing. On Wednesday:
* Judiciary Committee: holding a hearing on the weaponization of government.
On Thursday:
* Trump assassination task force: holding a hearing on the “Secret Service’s
reliance on state and local law enforcement.”
* Oversight Committee: holding a hearing on the “Biden-Harris cover-up” on
Medicare.
Senate:

On Tuesday:
* Judiciary Committee: holding a hearing on “the Supreme Court's immunity
decision.”
* HELP Committee: holding a hearing on “Novo Nordisk's high prices for
Ozempic and Wegovy for patients with diabetes and obesity.”
* Finance Committee: holding a hearing on examining “women's health care.”
On Wednesday:
* Banking Committee: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler
is testifying at an oversight hearing.
* Budget Committee: holding a hearing on “economic risks from housing
unaffordability, focusing on the costs of inaction.”
* HELP Committee: holding a hearing on “preparing workers for AI.”

[3] Heard on the Hill

What we're hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill – please send
us more tips <[link removed]>!

* Gensler week: The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission is
testifying in front of both the Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and the
Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. Expect strong criticism from R’s for
Gensler’s anti-crypto policies and his demands for massive data from financial
firms.
* Huizenga slams Gensler: Rep. Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.), who is running to
chair the Financial Services Committee next Congress, told theWashington
Reporter: “Under Chair Gensler’s stewardship, the SEC has continually steered
into uncharted waters only to be course corrected time and again in federal
court. Despite Chair Gensler’s repeated rhetoric, I am looking forward to
hearing from the full commission regarding recent actions by the SEC.”
* Second crack at Crenshaw: Joining Gensler in Tuesday’s hearing is SEC
commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, who has facedwithering criticism
<[link removed]> from
Republicans for her hostility to digital assets and prioritization of ESG
disclosure requirements for public companies. The hearing is another
opportunity for Republicans to get her on the record on these hot button issues
before she faces any Senate confirmation vote.
* Uyeda opportunity: Republican SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda recently unloaded
on Gensler in a Fox Business interview; Uyeda is a potential candidate to chair
the commission in a Trump administration, industry sources told theReporter.
* Pharma patent reform: The Reporter’s sources tell us to expect bipartisan
cooperation on legislation that cracks down on alleged patent abuse by drug
manufacturers, as the legislation is reported to “score well by CBO so we need
the savers.”
* Florida man: President Donald Trump is hosting another fundraiser at
Mar-a-Lago next month, per an invitationobtained
<[link removed]> by the Reporter.

Share ➝ <[link removed]>



[4]
Exclusive: Poll: Vehicle mileage tax in California garners 8 percent support
in Southern California district
By: Matthew Foldi

A now-shelved proposal by a regional California transit authority to track
and tax
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drivers on a per-mile basis only garnered eight percent support, according to
a poll that Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) commissioned.

The poll, first reported by the Washington Reporter, was commissioned in
Issa’s San Diego district. In order to ensure that southern California does not
ever see such a proposal enacted, Issarolled out
<[link removed]> the “No Track No
Tax Act” that would “ban mileage taxes and eliminate mileage trackers.” His
poll, which interviewed almost 3,000 of his constituents, found 94.4 percent
support for his measure.

With Vice President Kamala Harris, a former California senator likely to
easily win the Golden State, down-ballot Republicans are focusing on defeating
some of the state’s most progressive policies.

Click HERE
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to learn more about how policies from California Democrats are giving down
ballot Republicans ammo to win in November.

Finish Reading ➝
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[5] Kamala Harris’s Goldman Sachs support
By: Matthew Foldi

Goldmans Sachs has said that “Donald Trump’s plan would make the economy
worse,” Vice President Kamala Harris claimed during her recent presidential
debate against Donald Trump. Harris’s embrace of Goldman Sachs, and vice versa,
didn’t arise out of a vacuum, industry sources told theWashington Reporter.

A House Republican operative noted to the Reporter that “Goldman Sachs has
carried water for Kamala Harris, who has destroyed our economy and caused 40
year high inflation. Not to mention, it continues to push radical ESG policies.
Republicans do not trust Goldman Sachs. Period.”

David Solomon, Goldman’s CEO, pushed back on Harris’s claim after the debate,
saying
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that “the difference between the sets of policies that they've put forward is
about two-tenths of 1 percent.”

Click HERE
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to read more about the Hill’s backlash to Goldman Sachs’s inroads with Kamala
Harris’s campaign.

Finish Reading ➝
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<[link removed]>
A strong national defense is essential to protecting our American way of life.

Veterans On Duty continues the fight back at home, advocating for military and
national security policies that will keep America safe, strong, and free.


[6] FTC facing lawsuit and criticism over its handling of Pharmacy Benefit
Managers (PBMs)
By: Matthew Foldi

President Joe Biden’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is facing a lawsuit
<[link removed]> and heavy criticism
<[link removed]> from conservatives over
the commission’s years-long aggressive action against pharmacy benefit managers
(PBMs). The FTC continued its actions against PBMs with alawsuit
<[link removed]>
over insulin prices announced on Friday.

The FTC’s handling of PBMs is only the latest issue where the Lina
Khan-controlled FTC has led to legal challenges for the Biden-Harris
administration.

The FTC announced
<[link removed]>
an inquiry into PBMs — the companies that are hired by employers and health
insurance plans to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers for lower drug
costs — in 2022. Health care experts considered the FTC’s action against PBMs
unusual because it was areversal
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of a decades-long stance by the FTC that PBMs lead to lower drug costs.

Click HERE
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to read more about the latest legal headaches that FTC Chair Lina Khan is
causing the Biden-Harris administration.



Finish Reading ➝
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[7] Op-ed: Derrick Anderson: The southern border has gone from bad to worse,
and that’ll hurt my home congressional district
By: Derrick Anderson

I recently had the opportunity to go down to the southern border,
specifically Cochise County in Arizona. It reminded me of some of the places
I’ve been during my 6 tours overseas, and that’s not a compliment.

In fact, what you see on the news is nothing compared to what’s actually
going on down on the border.

I’m running for Congress, and my opponent’s name is Yevgeny Vindman. Some
community groups hosted a forum the other night and my opponent — who won’t
actually debate — was there.

Click HERE
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to read more from Derrick Anderson about what he learned from his recent trip
to the southern border, and how illegal immigration affects districts around
America.


Finish Reading ➝
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[8]
Op-ed: Isabel Soto: Americans can’t afford for telehealth options to expire
By: Isabel Soto

Americans are not as sharply divided as we might think, especially when it
comes to addressing the rising costs of health care.

Congress isn’t that divided either, and it has moved forward a bipartisan
solution to driving down costs and ensuring access to care.

Millions of Americans rely on telehealth to get the care they need. It is
crucial for treating mental health and ensuring access in rural and underserved
communities. But telehealth isn’t just for those who otherwise lack access. All
Americans are taking advantage of its availability. One in four adults have
used telehealth in the last month, and nearly four out of five intend to use it
in the future.

But this access could disappear in January if Congress doesn’t act soon.

Click HERE
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to read more from the LIBRE Initiative’s Isabel Soto on the importance of
telehealth for Americans.

Finish Reading ➝
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[9] Op-ed: Tom Hebert: The United States Trade Representative’s election
season stunt
By: Tom Hebert

When faced with the choice of standing up for American companies or colluding
with foreign governments to undermine American companies, the Biden-Harris
administration has consistently chosen the latter.

The United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) new trade dispute with Canada
is a pathetic attempt to paper over the Biden-Harris administration’s failure
to stand up for American economic interests abroad. If USTR head Katherine Tai
were serious about discouragingforeign freeloading
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on American success, she would not have waited until three months before the
November election to respond.

In a Labor Day weekend news dump, Tai announced
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that she will request a consultation with Canada under the United
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) about Canada’s discriminatory digital
service tax (DST) against American companies. Canada’s DST will siphon more than
$5.3 billion
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from American companies over five years. At least seven other countries have
DSTs that target American companies, draining the U.S. tax base and having a
ripple effect on hundreds of thousands of American workers and small businesses.

Click HERE
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to read more from Americans for Tax Reform’s Tom Hebert about the United
States Trade Representative’s election year stunt.

Finish Reading ➝
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[10] Op-ed: Sarah Hunt and Amelia Powers Gardner: Americans’ views of AI
policy are rare opportunity for bipartisan action now
By: Sarah Hunt and Amelia Powers Gardner

As the United States prepares for the upcoming November election, partisan
divisions are hardening. However, according to recent Rainey Centerpolling
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, there is a rare bipartisan opportunity in tackling issues related to
artificial intelligence (AI) policy: a majority of Americans agree that
sensible regulation is needed.

In our polling, we found that 75 percent of respondents believe that AI
advancement raises valid security concerns, demonstrating widespread concerns
over potential risks. Notably, older voters and college-educated voters are
most in alignment regarding their concerns about AI.

Click HERE
<[link removed]>
to read more from Sarah Hunt and Amelia Powers Gardner about policymakers can
hardness the potential of artificial intelligence.

Finish Reading ➝
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[11] What we're reading

Forbes
<[link removed]>
: ‘Keep Your Mouth Shut’: TikTok Whistleblower Claims Chinese Police Kidnapped
And Threatened His Father, by Emily Baker-White.

Washington Free Beacon
<[link removed]>
: 'Significant Confusion,' 'Lack of Supervision,' and 'Delayed Notification':
IG Report Skewers State Department's Handling of Robert Malley Suspension, by
Adam Kredo.

The Spectator
<[link removed]>
: The academic legacy of Donald J. Harris, by Marc Oestreich.

New York Post
<[link removed]>
: Cuomo personally altered report that lowballed COVID nursing-home deaths,
emails show – contradicting his claim to Congress, by Vaughn Golden.

National Review
<[link removed]>: Hezbollah
History Lesson, by Andrew McCarthy.

Washington Examiner
<[link removed]>
: FEC finally rules ‘phantom’ left-wing group filed false financial disclosures
in 2020, by Gabe Kaminsky.

CNN
<[link removed]>
: Angela Alsobrooks improperly claimed tax deductions on DC, Maryland
properties, records show, by Em Steck.

Washington Free Beacon
<[link removed]>
: US Trade With Iran Jumped Last Year as Tehran Wreaked Havoc Across Middle
East, State Department Report Shows, by Adam Kredo.

New York Post
<[link removed]>
: Kamala Harris’ tax plan would cost nearly 800K jobs: analysis, by Josh
Christenson.





****




About the Washington Reporter

We created the Washington Reporter to give Republicans in Congress an outlet
for insights to help you succeed, and to cover the toughest policy fights that
don't get the attention they deserve. We hope you'll send us tips, story ideas,
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