At the end of last week, President-elect Donald Trump named longtime Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr as the chairman of the FCC. Carr, a Republican, was initially appointed to the Commission by Trump in 2017, after having previously served as the FCC’s general counsel and as an aide to former chairman Ajit Pai when Pai served as a commissioner. Carr has been a strong advocate for light-touch rules and less red tape during his time on the Commission, a voice particularly needed the past four years during the Biden administration’s majority on the FCC. With Carr in the leadership role, the FCC can now end its unnecessary quest to impose utility-style Title II regulations on common internet carriers and focus on real solutions to close the nation’s digital divide, including easing impediments to providers’ ability to build out broadband infrastructure. We also applaud Carr’s concerns with the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which, as he notes, has yet to connect a single household to the internet. Under Carr’s guidance, we expect BEAD to focus less on price controls and unionized labor and more on ideas that will connect all Americans. Fiber, which can be too costly in many regions, is still an important piece of the connection puzzle. However, there are several other options available to connecting people and communities, such as increased availability of wireless spectrum and satellite broadband. We continue to encourage Carr and the entire FCC leadership to make preventing waste, fraud and abuse within the Federal broadband apparatus.

Thanksgiving Travel Turkey

This Thanksgiving, Americans will redeem their credit card rewards in various ways. Those travelling to see their families, will likely be cashing in miles to pay for their airfare. With Thanksgiving costs on the rise, it is likely that they will use benefits like cash back to offset other expenses. However, with the introduction of the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) led by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Americans may be stripped of this valuable lifeline. The bill, which is up for a hearing on November 19th , would heavily restrict or prohibit credit card companies from offering rewards programs. This proposal is not only misguided and based on specious factual assumptions but could deal a heavy blow to the American economy.

Proponents of the CCCA claim that credit card rewards are causing a “reverse Robin Hood” effect. They claim that low-income households have lower access to rewards credit cards relative to high-income households while still bearing the costs of interchange fees through higher prices at the counter. They also claim that these higher prices mean cash and debit users are also subsidizing high-earner’s rewards programs. Additionally, they also claim that low-income households are more likely to be charged a higher interest rate, so the cost of interest will offset the benefits of rewards programs. These claims are false. A recent study by the Electric Payments Coalition (EPC) revealed that low, middle, and high-income households all earn and redeem credit card rewards at similar rates. Additionally, rewards card offerings for lower-income households have increased to a point where low-income households are equally likely as higher-income households to have a rewards card in their wallets. The report also noted that there is little correlation between risk score and income levels, which means that lower-income households do not necessarily face higher interest rates. The study also tackled claims that rewards cards lead to higher overall prices at the counter. In reality, merchants oftentimes benefit from accepting rewards cards, making the need to compensate for interchange fees unnecessary.

Ultimately, the proposal would fail to obtain its stated objective. As past experiences have shown, removing card rewards has little to no effect in reducing prices, despite the removal or limitation on interchange fees. The first Durbin amendment, which effectively banned debit card rewards programs, had virtually no effect on retail prices. Instead of correcting course, the senator has decided to double down and extend this failed policy to credit cards. A restriction on these popular rewards could be incredibly damaging for the American economy, especially as consumers are increasingly relying on rewards to offset the impacts of recent surges in inflation. According to the EPC study, more than $38 billion in unredeemed rewards could be potentially lost if these programs were to be shut down. This would essentially pull the rug out from under millions of Americans who are relying in these rewards as a safety net for unexpected purchases, such as Thanksgiving dinner or a Black Friday purchase.

If the CCCA were to pass, the millions of Americans hosting Thanksgiving dinners or takin advantage of Black Friday sales might think twice before doing so. Policymakers across the nation should think twice before setting the American economy up for failure by passing such a misguided policy.

Make America Healthy Again By Cutting Red Tape

On the campaign trail, President-elect Trump ran on his record of expanding consumer and patient choice. He even went out of his way during his debate with President Biden to tout a 2018 law he signed giving terminally ill patients a “Right to Try,” promising medications unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, it remains unclear whether the President-elect will push the notoriously risk-averse FDA to get its act together.  Key Trump allies such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK, Jr.) seem to want even more FDA rules, despite scant evidence that costly regulations have made things any safer for consumers. The new administration should put consumers and patients first and reject calls for more red tape at the FDA. 

It’s hard to square the Trump deregulatory agenda with allies’ muddled messaging on FDA reform. RFK, Jr., who the President-elect who nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, believes too many medications with safety issues are being approved due to the unwarranted clout of pharmaceutical companies. He claims user fees place “bureaucrats' purse strings in the hands of the pharmaceutical industry,” resulting in a free-wheeling regulatory environment. This “Wild West” idea of drug approvals is not rooted in reality. Between 2017 and 2023, the FDA issued more than 230 denials of drug applications, citing everything from labeling issues to manufacturing deficiencies. Only 10 percent of medications that have made it to preliminary clinical trials will ever see the shelves of a pharmacy. In other words, there is no corporate-sponsored “golden ticket” to drug approval. 

It’s only reasonable to ask why so many medications are rejected by regulators. A few examples from recent years shine light on a deeply dysfunctional process. One poorly reasoned rejection centered around a medication called omburtamab, designed to treat a rare pediatric brain cancer. Agency officials expressed concern that the datasets used to study the drug were too old to be reliably interpreted, even though the FDA acknowledged that, according to the evidence, patients taking omburtamab live 7-12 months longer than their non-medicated peers. In January, the agency axed a drug called zolbetuximab, which holds significant promise in treating gastric/gastroesophageal cancer. The issue with the medication was neither safety nor efficacy, the two traditional benchmarks for drug approval. According to clinical trial results, the medication improved median progression-free and overall cancer survival by 2-3 months compared to just chemotherapy. The drug was held up because of “unresolved deficiencies following its pre-license inspection of a third-party manufacturing facility.”  These supposed “deficiencies” were not an issue for the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, which green-lit the drug in March. It took the FDA seven months after the Japanese approval to finally grant American patients access to the life-extending medication. In its October 18 press release announcing the approval, the FDA boasted that the application “was granted priority review, fast track, and orphan drug designation.” When the U.S. is still falling behind international approval times even after applying three different types of preferential treatment, there is clearly a need for reform. 

Meanwhile, drugs granted interim accelerated approval have been closely scrutinized by the FDA before being granted full approval. According to a 2022 study published in the journal Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science, only 14 out of 167 (8.4 percent) medications granted accelerated approvals by the FDA between 2012 and 2021 were withdrawn from the market. Far more medications (51) were ultimately granted full approval by the agency following large-scale evidence confirming the medications’ clinical benefits. The study authors conclude, “the accelerated approval program has been largely successful... recent FDA actions show that the agency is appropriately managing the program when a drug approved under accelerated approval fails to confirm a clinical benefit.”

The FDA should expand its accelerated approval programs and critically examine flawed drug rejection decisions. The Trump administration could kickstart this process, but only with the right agency leadership with the right mentality. President-elect Trump can make America healthy again by rejecting calls for greater regulation. 
 

BLOGS:

Monday: This Thanksgiving, Americans Will Be Thankful for Their Credit Card Rewards

Wednesday: Why We Can’t Afford to Let Disorderly State and Local Rules Disrupt Innovation

Thursday: 48th Great American Smokeout Must Embrace Tobacco Harm Reduction

Friday: Why a Border Adjustment Mechanism is a Bad Idea

Media:

November 14, 2024: OurCommunityNow quoted TPA in their article, “Maryland faces over $1 billion budget gap, could reach $2.7 billion by 2027.”

November 14, 2024: Citrus County Chronicle (Crystal River, Fla.) mentioned TPA in their article, “Taxpayers deserve better than wasteful defense contracts.”

November 14, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA for their story on funding for Baltimore’s Key Bridge.

November 14, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted me in their article, “What's behind budget gap facing Maryland?”

November 14, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Maryland’s budget and the city’s predicted financial issues.

November 15, 2024: Prescott eNews (Prescott, AZ) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers Deserve Better Than Wasteful Defense Contracts.”

November 16, 2024: Blaze Media ran TPA’s op-ed, “Smoking out, vaping in: A new CDC report offers cause for optimism.”

November 16, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Maryland’s budget and the city’s predicted financial issues.

November 16, 2024: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “What's behind budget gap facing Maryland?”

November 17, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted me for their story on funding Baltimore’s Key Bridge.

November 17, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Maryland’s budget and the city’s predicted financial issues.

November 18, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

November 18, 2024: The Blaze ran TPA's op-ed, "Smoking out, vaping in: A new CDC report offers cause for optimism."

November 19, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore taxpayers send millions to a youth fund. How much actually makes it to kids?"

November 19, 2024: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore taxpayers send millions to a youth fund. How much actually makes it to kids?”

November 19, 2024: The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore taxpayers send millions to a youth fund. How much actually makes it to kids?”

November 19, 2024: The Baltimore Post (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore taxpayers send millions to a youth fund. How much actually makes it to kids?"

November 19, 2024: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Millions sent to city youth fund don't go to kids. Less than two-thirds distributed as grants.”

November 19, 2024: Our Community Now quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore taxpayers send millions to a youth fund. How much actually makes it to kids?"

November 19, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Monse audit and Inspector General report about the Safe Streets program.

November 20, 2024: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “Schumer’s Misguided Plan to Hand AI Regulation to the Administrative State.”

November 20, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Monse audit and Inspector General report about the Safe Streets program.

November 20, 2024: WHO Premiere Radio Networks (Des Moines, Iowa) interviewed me for their segment on TPA’s Freedom of Information request to the IRS on the Pilot Direct File program.

November 20, 2024: WMT 600AM Fox News Radio (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) interviewed me for their segment on TPA’s Freedom of Information request to the IRS on the Pilot Direct File program.

November 20, 2024: The Gazette (Janesville, Wisc.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers deserve better than wasteful defense contracts.”

November 20, 2024: Issues and Insights ran TPA's op-ed, "Conservatives Shouldn't Embrace Statist Solutions for Digital Regulation."

November 21, 2024: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on the Monse audit and Baltimore’s Safe Streets program.

November 21, 2024: RealClear Markets ran TPA’s op-ed, “To Make America Healthy Again, FDA Must Cut Red Tape.”

November 21, 2024: Issues & Insights ran TPA’s op-ed, “Conservatives Shouldn’t Embrace Statist Solutions for Digital Regulation.”

November 21, 2024:  I appeared on WBOB 600 AM (Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about regulating Big Tech and tariffs.

November 21, 2024: LA Daily News ran TPA’s op-ed, “As Los Angeles prepares for the Olympics, transportation money gets shuffled towards fiber network.”

November 21, 2024: Whittier Daily News ran TPA’s op-ed, “As Los Angeles prepares for the Olympics, transportation money gets shuffled towards fiber network.”

November 21, 2024: Pasadena Star News ran TPA’s op-ed, “As Los Angeles prepares for the Olympics, transportation money gets shuffled towards fiber network.”

November 21, 2024: Daily Bulletin ran TPA’s op-ed, “As Los Angeles prepares for the Olympics, transportation money gets shuffled towards fiber network.”

November 21, 2024: San Gabriel Valley Tribune ran TPA’s op-ed, “As Los Angeles prepares for the Olympics, transportation money gets shuffled towards fiber network.”

Have a great weekend!



Best,

David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
1101 14th Street, NW
Suite 500
Washington, D.C. xxxxxx