Tax Day has come and gone (finally) so it’s time to let out a sigh of relief, right? Not exactly. Spending plans are heating up with presidential hopeful Joe Biden releasing a “clean” energy plan that will cost $2 trillion over four years and Congress debating a new relief bill next week. Will Congress extend federal unemployment benefits? Will Congress approve another round of stimulus checks? Will states receive billions of dollars in bailout funds? So many questions, so few answers. Grab some popcorn because the summer is heating up and the drama to be played out in the next few weeks will be intense. Don’t forget to check TPA’s website for continued updates.
Biden’s Green Nightmare
Remember when Joe Biden was a moderate? Remember when Joe Biden talked about how extreme the Green New Deal is? That seems like a long time ago, but in reality, it was only 7 or 8 months ago and, my, how things have changed. Biden released his energy/environmental agenda and it’s a doozy with a price tag of $2 trillion (about $15K per household). Here are three major problems with the plan:
Ramping up taxpayer payouts to electric vehicles
Joe Biden proposes “investing” in 500,000 EV charging stations and having taxpayers foot the bill for battery research and endeavors such as the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program. Despite proposing these commitments to the EV industry, Biden never bothers to explain why these subsidies are the best use of taxpayer dollars. By all indications, subsidies to EVs merely benefit the wealthy few at the expense of poor and middle-class households across the country. In 2018, Dr. Wayne Winegarden of the Pacific Research Institute calculated that nearly 80 percent of EV tax credit subsidies flow to households with six-figure incomes. And for all the problems posed by Robin Hood-in-reverse policies, environmental gains are scant to say the least. Recent research by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Stanford University suggests that, depending on the state, EVs can be three times more polluting than conventional cars. There’s nothing “green” (or fair) about electric vehicle subsidies.
Subsidizing costly, underused public transit systems
Biden endeavors to “Provide every American city with 100,000 or more residents with high-quality, zero-emissions public transportation options through flexible federal investments with strong labor protections that create good, union jobs and meet the needs of these cities – ranging from light rail networks to improving existing transit and bus lines to installing infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclists.” That’s a hefty promise, especially considering that virtually every transit or bus line would like to expand operations. While it makes sense to expand service to accommodate increased demand, public transit in the U.S. has the opposite problem – declining ridership. This is not the result of purportedly crumbling systems; the trend follows for both extensive, well-maintained systems and old, worn systems. The pandemic has shown that working from home is now a viable option. Political candidates should respect that trend, rather than giving Americans more of a product that they are increasingly rejecting.
Creating a needless, new “green” research arm
Biden proposes creating a new “Advanced Research Projects Agency on Climate” which will supposedly target funding to “affordable, game-changing technologies to help America achieve our 100% clean energy targets.” This is likely to be a costly failure, given the problems of the existing Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E). According to a 2017 analysis by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, roughly three-quarters of ARPA-E funded projects designated as “completed” have no market engagement – such as private funding or companies formed around the research – to speak of. In addition, the analysis found that the majority (56 percent) of ARPA-E awards don’t even result in publishable findings. Unsurprisingly, money allocated for political reasons (i.e. with a “green” agenda in mind) doesn’t always result in the best scientific research.
Oh, there’s more, we just thought this was all you could handle for a Friday afternoon.
Georgia on Our Minds
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news these days, so I am happy to announce that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed an important bill to help patients who receive surprise medical bills. HB 888 (the “Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Act”), which was signed into law yesterday, is designed to protect patients who receive a surprise medical bill in the mail days or even weeks after being discharged from a hospital. The legislation prohibits medical providers from charging patients directly, and instead allows doctors and insurers to settle unresolved bills via an independent arbitration system. Under this model, which has bipartisan support, a neutral third-party would carefully evaluate the claims submitted by both sides and decide on a reasonable reimbursement rate.
The scourge of surprise billing is felt by thousands of Georgians and millions of Americans every year. Government regulations and mandates such as Obamacare have exacerbated the problem of surprise billing over the past decade by narrowing insurance markets and restricting reimbursements to doctors. And now, some policymakers at the state and federal level want to impose even more government rules and rate-setting to “solve” the issue of surprise billing. Fortunately, Georgia under the leadership of Gov. Kemp has rejected price-fixing in favor of a fair, flexible approach.
Georgia’s new, arbitration-based reform is based on a successful model that New York implemented in 2015. New York curbed the problem of surprise billing by taking patients out of the equation immediately. The Empire State then set up an arbitration process to help doctors and insurers come to an agreement on the remainder of unpaid bills. New York’s process has been widely lauded as fair and even-handed, winning the praise of doctors’ associations even as the data shows that health insurers win a narrow majority (59 percent) of all cases decided by the arbiter. And, in about a third of cases, the arbiter comes to a split decision that awards some concessions to both doctors and insurers. This approach is clearly preferable to government price-fixing.
It is more important than ever to strike the right balance in fairly compensating doctors and giving patients much-needed breathing room for surprise bills. The arbitration model does just that by having qualified, independent professionals examine difficult compensation issues. Gov. Kemp deserves praise for signing this pro-patient bill and rejecting rate-setting approaches that would only lead to more surprise bills.
Blogs:
Monday: This Tax Day, politicians should avoid costly protectionist proposals
Tuesday: This Tax Day, taxpayers need relief and reform, not higher rates
Wednesday: On Tax Day, Taxpayers Continue to Pay for Wasteful Spending
Thursday: Watchdog Praises Georgia Gov. Kemp for Surprise Billing Reform
Friday: Watchdog Slams Government for Undermining Property Rights
Media:
July 10, 2020: Intellectual Takeout ran TPA’s op-ed, “WHO Doesn't Deserve a Blank Check from US Taxpayers.”
July 11, 2020: The Chattanooga Times Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “'Return to work' bonus a tempting solution with significant pitfalls.”
July 11, 2020: La Fundación para la Educación Económica ran TPA’s op-ed, “La OMS no merece un cheque en blanco por parte los contribuyentes, especialmente después de su desastre con COVID-19.”
July 11, 2020: The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “FORUM 1: Should government pay Americans a return to work bonus? No: Tempting solution, but significant pitfalls.”
July 11, 2020: The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “‘Return to work’ bonus a tempting solution with significant pitfalls.”
July 13, 2020: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about Tax Day.
July 13, 2020: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “This Tax Day, politicians should avoid costly protectionist proposals.”
July 13, 2020: TPA Vice President of Policy Ross Marchand appeared on “Live with Jeff Stein” (KXEL 1250 AM, KFMW, KOKZ, and KPTY; Iowa statewide) to talk about Tax Day.
July 14, 2020: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “This Tax Day, taxpayers need relief and reform not higher rates.”
July 14, 2020: I was interviewed by Cox Television about the Social Security Administration trying to claw back money.
July 15, 2020: I appeared on WTCM Radio (580 AM; Traverse City, Mich.) to talk about Tax Day.
July 15, 2020: WSB-TV (Atlanta, Ga.) quoted TPA in their article, “Metro teens receive 6-figure bills from government saying dead father collected too much money.”
July 15, 2020: Ross appeared on “Two Way Radio” (WRTA 98.5 FM; Altoona, Penn.) to talk about Tax Day.
July 15, 2020: Ross appeared on “Morning News” (KGMI 790 AM and 96.5 FM; Seattle, Wash.) to talk about Tax Day.
July 16, 2020: Multichannel News mentioned TPA in their article, “Hill Warned Against Usurping FCC Authority.”
July 16, 2020: Ross appeared on “The Hard Question” (nationally syndicated) to talk about Tax Day.
July 16, 2020: I appeared on WBOB Radio (600 AM and 101 FM; Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about Joe Biden’s “clean” energy plan.
July 16, 2020: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about Joe Biden’s “clean” energy plan.
July 16, 2020: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “ACA ‘Enhancement’ Prioritizes Political Agenda Over COVID-19 Cure.”
July 16, 2020: Livingston Parish News (Denham Springs, La.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Better broadband mapping pushed by Congress will aid rural expansion.”
July 17, 2020: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “Phase 4 Relief Must be Targeted to Struggling Americans.”
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
