Profile in Courage: Javier Milei

There’s been plenty of focus in the U.S. on America’s change in leadership and what that change might portend for the size of government and the economy. Fortunately, recent news from Argentina can guide President Trump on which policies would deliver the goods (cheaply) for taxpayers and consumers. As Reason staff editor Katarina Hall recently noted, “Argentina's annual inflation rate fell to 117.8 percent in 2024, marking a significant drop of 93.6 points compared to the record 211.4 percent inflation rate of 2023 ... December marked the third consecutive month in which prices rose by less than 3 percent.” This is a huge deal in a deeply unstable country helmed by a brave man resolved to end the misery. Argentinian President Javier Milei has dedicated his life to espousing the benefits of free markets and warning of the unintended consequences of a “grande” government. President Milei deserves plenty of credit for bringing inflation down and getting his country’s finances back on track.
For leading the charge for a better future in a deeply troubled country, Javier Milei is a Profile in Courage.

From the start, Milei has been a colorful character. Few politicians in any country could say they sang in a Rolling Stones cover band and played as a goalkeeper in a football club (no, the other fútbol). His curious political ideology also turned heads and raised eyebrows. While attending the University of Belgrano, Milei developed a keen interest in economics and political philosophy. Milei delved into the works of classically liberal thinkers such as Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman, who persuasively made the case that regulations and out-of-control spending and taxation were a recipe for ruin. These ideas had fallen on deaf ears in Argentina, where hyperinflation made (and continues to make) procuring basic necessities far too expensive and difficult. After earning his undergraduate degree and multiple master’s degrees, Milei made it his mission to bring free markets back to Argentina. His storied two-decade career as an economist included positions at HSBC
Argentina, Máxima AFJP (a private pension company), and Estudio Broda (a financial consultancy). Milei didn’t set out to collect fancy titles; the ardent libertarian contributed to the field with more than fifty academic papers. One paper from 2017 perfectly describes Argentina’s calamitous situation: “the country’s economic growth has been falling sharply....there is no creation of steady jobs and trade levels are down 20 percent compared to historical highs....a study of national competitiveness prepared by the World Economic Forum shows our country in 140th place in a sample of 141 countries, where we have only failed to surpass the formidable achievements of the Venezuelan model, which with so much effort (economic and social) we try to copy every day.”

But, unlike the politically stagnant Venezuela, Argentina chose to try something different and gave Milei an opportunity to right the ship. In what has been described as a “political earthquake,” Milei ran for president wielding a chainsaw and upset left-wing economic minister Sergio Massa in a runoff race. During the race and after his victory, Milei was unafraid to champion and implement his unorthodox ideas. “The Madman” sharply reduced spending right off the bat and achieved a fiscal surplus after just a month in office. He has also slashed distortionary energy and transportation subsidies, which artificially fueled demand and sent all the wrong price signals for production and consumption. President Milei also went on a deregulation bender, eliminating nearly two regulations each day. Argentina’s leader has dared to think outside the box, even championing a new way of certifying food safety. Instead of having costly government inspections of inbound food products, food imported and
already certified from countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Japan will be automatically deemed as safe under the Argentine Food Code. There will be no more superfluous inspections on taxpayers and consumers’ pesos. President Milei has only been in office for one year, but he has already turbocharged Argentina and given her citizenry a chance at a decent future. And, for giving his people hope for the future, “El León” is truly a Profile in Courage.

Shut Down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Donald Trump’s current mood seems to be a bellicose one as he faces down the alphabet soup of agencies in Washington, D.C. One agency that deserves to feel the horns of the bull-in-the-china-shop-in-chief is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an ugly mess of structural abnormalities and constitutional affronts. The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which created the agency, “delegate[d] effectively unbounded power to the CFPB, and couples that power with provisions insulating CFPB against meaningful checks,” C. Boyden Gray and Adam J. White wrote. According to the Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro, the agency enjoys latitude “beyond even ‘independent’ agencies like the [Securities and Exchange Commission] and [Federal Communications Commission].” The CFPB survived a potentially lethal constitutional challenge at the Supreme Court in 2024 in CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSAA). But that fact should not halt — nor even pause — Trump and congressional Rep
ublicans. As the saying goes, Congress brought the CFPB into this world, and it can take it out. The majority opinion in CFPB v. CFSAA was neither uncontested in its reasoning nor a sanction of the wisdom of the agency’s structure. Bad is not a synonym for unconstitutional. Not everything that violates the Constitution’s spirit violates its letter, or the dictates of prudence. After all, the Fourth Amendment can be put up for sale, bureaucrats can pressure industry (to a point), and tax policy can be perverted to effect economic planning.

The CFPB — by nature an executive agency — writes law with the pen of enforcement action and rulemaking, its authorities constrained only a little by Dodd-Frank. Congress unleashed the agency to pursue whatever projects it thinks might lie within the borders of its continent-sized statutory bailiwick. The agency has made full use of this (perhaps unconstitutional) discretion. To take a particularly extraordinary example, it moved recently to extend certain regulations of real-world bank accounts to video-game currencies. Moreover, the CFPB funds itself unilaterally — without Congress — setting its own budget and requisitioning funds from the Federal Reserve. In surrendering the power to pull hard on the CFPB’s purse strings, Congress gave the agency free rein. Never mind the hundreds of years the English-speaking peoples spent in periodic political resistance to ensure that, as a basic matter of accountability, executive officials remain fiscally beholden to elected legislators. Making
matters worse, the CFPB, as initially conceived, was not to be disturbed by oversight from the president. Before the Supreme Court’s ruling in Seila Law v. CFPB (2020), the bureau’s director had a thick layer of insulation from removal by the president. While correctly decided, this case merely chipped away at the agency’s most obviously unconstitutional protrusion. Fundamentally, the constitutional problems that plague the CFPB live in the fundamentals of its construction. The full task of restoring constitutional order can be accomplished only with a sledgehammer, not a chisel. The rotted structure must be razed, not merely remodeled.

The uses to which the CFPB has chosen to put its unique privileges evince the wisdom of James Madison’s warning. Under Joe Biden–appointed Rohit Chopra, businesses and consumers have found themselves harassed, hectored, and micromanaged. The New York Times summed up the license taken by the agency well, writing that “Chopra insists that he always follows the rules,” but “his view is that he’s simply more expansive than others in determining what those rules are.” As Chopra’s tenure shows, “more expansive” quickly expands into lawlessness. The CFPB’s misadventures are myriad and have proved economically costly. Much of the governance ecosystem in Washington, D.C., has strayed far from the simple and elegant tripartite system the Constitution prescribes. Administrative agencies exercise ever more power while Congress sits idle or gridlocked. Rule-by-unelected-expert was not the government for which the Founding Generation fought but the innovation of Progressive Era politicians in thrall
of the cult of “disinterested” and “enlightened” experts. They sought to smooth over the bumps and frictions of political negotiation in favor of the greased skids of “administration.” The CFPB — the brainchild of arch-progressive senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) — is not an old, venerated institution. It is a new, failed experiment (“experiment,” another watchword of Progressives). For its blunders and for the sake of sensible economic regulation and the American constitutional order, the CFPB deserves to be terminated.

BLOGS:

Monday: Taxpayer Watchdog Calls for Congress to Rein In Executive Tariff Powers ([link removed])

Tuesday: RFK Jr.’s Record as a Progressive Must be Reviewed by Senate Conservatives ([link removed])

Wednesday: NASA Bilks Taxpayers $6 Billion for Handful of Red Rocks ([link removed])

Thursday: State Bill of the Month – January 2025: Missouri HB 425 ([link removed])

Thursday: Federal Bill of the Month – January 2025: FAIR PREP Act ([link removed])

Friday: Profile in Courage: Javier Milei ([link removed])

Media:

January 23, 2025: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted me in their article, “Maryland ranks as one of the least competitive tax states, study finds.”

January 23, 2025: Our Community Now quoted me in their article, “Maryland ranks as one of the least competitive tax states, study finds.”

January 23, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Governor Moore’s plans for Baltimore.

January 23, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted me in their article, “Governor Moore's tax reforms face GOP backlash over alleged hidden hikes and fee increases.”

January 23, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted me for their story on Governor Moore’s tax reforms.

January 24, 2025: RealClear Markets ran TPA’s op-ed, “Congress Should Harmonize Tax Exemptions for Charity.”

January 24, 2025: KNBS 101.9 FM (St. Louis, MO) interviewed Lindsey about the WHO. and GoodCOP/BadCOP.

January 24, 2025: The Washington Examiner (Washington, D.C.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “The WHO should blame its own failures for Trump’s withdrawal.”

January 24, 2025: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Moore’s tax reforms face GOP backlash over alleged hidden hikes and fee increases.”

January 24, 2025: The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis, MD) quoted TPA in their article, “Moore’s tax reforms face GOP backlash over alleged hidden hikes and fee increases.”

January 25, 2025: Blaze Media ran TPA’s op-ed, “Evidence-based policymaking is dying in nanny-state America.”

January 25, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA for their story on Governor Moore’s tax reforms.

January 25, 2025: Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Why Utah's age verification law could harm free speech.”

January 26, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Governor Moore’s tax reforms.

January 26, 2025: WZTA (West Palm Beach, Fla.) interviewed me for their segment on the negative impact on political platforms.

January 27, 2025: Chestertown Spy (Chestertown, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Moore, Smoke and Mirrors.”

January 27, 2025: Governing quoted TPA in their article, “An Idea That Never Quite Disappears: Taxing Wealth.”

January 27, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “No, Baltimore County Schools’ budget spending proposal is not up 6%, it’s up 21%.”

January 27, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA for their story on taxes on tips.

January 27, 2025: The Maryland Gazette (Annapolis, MD) quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore County Schools’ budget spending proposal is not up 6%, it’s up 21%.”

January 27, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Baltimore’s education budget spending proposal.

January 27, 2025: The American Spectator ran TPA’s op-ed, “Removing Export Rules on AI Should Be a Priority for the Trump Administration.”

January 28, 2025: Florida Daily (Fleming Island, Fla.) quoted me in their article, “Biden says States Like Florida Had Bad Economies, Defending Billions Spent During His Term.”

January 28, 2025: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me for their story on Baltimore’s education budget spending proposal.

January 28, 2025: The Daily Caller ran TPA’s op-ed, “Wasting Time Tracking Down Unauthorized E-Cigs Actually Does More Harm Than Good For Americans’ Health.”

January 28, 2025: National Review ran TPA’ op-ed, “Abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”

January 28, 2025: IJR ran TPA’s op-ed, “Wasting Time Tracking Down Unauthorized E-Cigs Actually Does More Harm Than Good For Americans’ Health.”

January 28, 2025: The San Luis Obispo Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) quoted TPA in their article, “An Idea That Never Quite Disappears: Taxing Wealth.”

January 28, 2025: The Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.) quoted TPA in their article, “An Idea That Never Quite Disappears: Taxing Wealth.”

January 28, 2025: The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) quoted TPA in their article, “An Idea That Never Quite Disappears: Taxing Wealth.”

January 28, 2025: WCHS ABC8 (Charleston, W.V.) interviewed Johnny Kampis for their segment on broadband expansion.

January 28, 2025: WVLY Radio 1370AM (Wheeling, WV) interviewed Johnny Kampis for their segment on broadband expansion.

January 28, 2025: WAJR Radio 1440 AM (Morgantown, W.V.) interviewed Johnny Kampis for their segment on broadband expansion.

January 28, 2025: WEPM Radio 1340 AM (West Virginis) interviewed Johnny Kampis for their segment on broadband expansion.

January 28, 2025: WHIS Fox (Bluefield, W.V.) interviewed Johnny Kampis for their segment on broadband expansion.

January 28, 2025: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Baltimore County Schools' budget spending proposal is not up 6%, it's up 21%.”

January 28, 2025: KSL Radio 1160 AM (Salt Lake City, Utah) quoted TPA in their article, “Why Utahns might need to show ID in order to download apps.”

January 29, 2025: Investors Business Daily quoted me in their article, "The RFK Jr. Effect: Biotech Stocks Brace For 'Games' In Senate Hearings."

January 29, 2025: KSLAM ABC (Salt Lake City, UT) interviewed David McGarry for their segment on age verification for apps.

January 29, 2025: Utah’s Morning News quoted David for their story on age verification for apps.

January 29, 2025: Inkl (Austrailia) quoted TPA for their article, “The RFK Jr. Effect: Biotech Stocks Brace For 'Games' In Senate Hearings.”

January 29, 2025: MSN United States quoted TPA for their article, “The RFK Jr. Effect: Biotech Stocks Brace For 'Games' In Senate Hearings.”

January 29, 2025: KSLAM ABC (Salt Lake City, Utah) quoted David for their story on age verification for apps.

January 29, 2025: RealClear Markets ran TPA’s op-ed, “Congress Should Harmonize Tax Exemptions for Charitable Giving.”

January 29, 2025: Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah) quoted TPA in their article, “Why Utahns might need to show ID in order to download apps.”

January 29, 2025: Yahoo! News quoted TPA in their article, “ Why Utahns might need to show ID in order to download apps.”

January 29, 2025: RealClear Energy ran TPA’s op-ed, “Trumps decision to end Biden’s Home Appliance Micromanagement is Good News for Americans.”

January 29, 2025: The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Trump must stop his war on watchdogs.”

January 29, 2025: Utah’s Morning News quoted TPA for their article, “Proposed bill could lead to less transparency in Maryland government.”

January 29, 2025: Utah’s Morning News quoted me for their story about the new bill proposed to limit the Public Information Act.

Have a great weekend!

Best,

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

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