On September 10, 2001 I was at a meeting in the Pentagon talking about wasteful Defense spending. It was a relatively normal meeting considering what was about to transpire in less than 24 hours. My concern during that meeting was excessive and wasteful spending at the Defense Department. I had no idea a massive terrorist attack was about to take place. On September 11, I was at home waiting for a FedEx package to be delivered because I lost my wallet and the person who found it was sending it back to me. When I saw the news of the attacks, I was shaken to my core. I was horrified at the destruction that I saw. I was also very thankful that my meeting was the day before. Every year at this time I am reminded of how lucky I was and how unlucky thousands of people were on that day. I am also reminded of the sacrifices made by first responders, healthcare professionals, and our military and how the country came together after 9/11. With all of the current bitterness and anger in the country, I hope that we can reflect on what happened 19 years ago and not let our disagreements turn nasty or divisive. There are very different views on what the government should and shouldn’t be doing, but that shouldn’t divide us. We should use this time as a reminder of what we need to do to solve the fiscal problems in the country as one country, not two separate countries.
Taxpayers Need a Clean CR
Congress officially returned to town this week and they’ve got plenty of unfinished homework that has piled up since July. Lawmakers will likely need to pass a continuing resolution (CR) by September 30 to avert yet another government shutdown. Members of Congress have much to do with preciously few working days left in the fiscal year. For now, there appears to be a tenuous pact between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to pass a clean CR that would keep federal agencies funded through the election in November.
It’s time to put aside politics and pass a clean CR. Taxpayers and watchdog groups will recall that, a week before the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a multi-trillion-dollar bill was introduced in the House that included items that had absolutely nothing to do with coronavirus relief.
And, in June, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill was released in the House that included a bank-breaking $100 billion for broadband, $70 billion for “green” boondoggles, and $25 billion for the United States Postal Service. The bill promised to provide $100 billion to “promote competition for broadband internet infrastructure to unserved and underserved rural, suburban, and urban communities.” But the federal government under Republican and Democratic leadership has a horrible track-record in supporting and building out broadband infrastructure. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance has documented these disastrous projects at munibroadbandfailures.org.
The infrastructure proposal would also “invest” more than $70 billion in taxpayer funding to “transform the electric grid to accommodate more renewable energy” and bolster existing tax subsidies. But these subsidies overwhelmingly accrue to well-off households at the expense of hard-working Americans. According to 2018 research by Pacific Research Institute senior fellow Dr. Wayne Winegarden, roughly 80 percent of electric vehicle tax credit payouts go to households earning six figures. Instead of bolstering these costly, Robin Hood-in-reverse schemes, Congress should commit to a clean funding bill that gets the job done at the lowest possible cost for taxpayers. America is already up to its eyeballs in debt, and the red ink will not go away absent significant spending discipline. The government can be funded without endless boondoggles and misdirected priorities. Lawmakers have their work cut out for them and the clock is ticking.
Regulatory Reform at the FDA can Save Millions of Lives
Even for some conservatives, Donald Trump has been a controversial President. But, irrespective of one’s personal opinions of President Donald Trump, it is difficult to deny his tremendous success in cutting job-killing red tape holding back large sections of the economy. In his first three years in office, more than eight regulations were repealed for every new rule implemented. The result was nothing short of spectacular, with an unprecedented economic boom and employment figures virtually unparalleled in modern U.S. history. The benefits have disproportionately accrued to lower-and-middle income earners, as well as minority populations who experienced the strongest wage growth in decades. Despite large sections of the economy shuttering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, continued deregulation paved the way for the surge in new jobs in July and August.
Given this extraordinary track-record, it doesn’t make sense that President Trump would support a new regulation that would shutter 14,000 small businesses in the U.S., cost more than 100,000 jobs, and have sweeping negative impacts on public health. Yet these consequences are the inevitable outcome of a new directive by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that came into force on September 9. This new regulation makes it very difficult (if not impossible) for small vape shops to get their lifesaving products approved by the FDA. E-cigarettes are proven to be 95 percent safer than traditional combustible cigarettes. It’s easy to understand why – almost all carcinogens from smoking stem from the “burning” of tobacco. But because they still mimic the smoking experience, vapes have been found to be three times more effective than more traditional cessation therapies. As a result of these products, smoking rates have plummeted to their lowest level in history. In addition, regular smoking by high school students has become practically non-existent.
Starting on September 9, tens of thousands of small businesses selling e-cigarettes will need to undertake a costly, multi-year long scientific testing process for their products. This onerous ordeal will include human trials (!) for each and every variety of product sold, as well as separate tests for each product strength level. Each impacted small business has dozens, if not hundreds, of such products. The FDA conservatively estimates that the cost for each application would be “around $117,000 to around $466,000,″ resulting in total costs in the tens of millions of dollars per vape shop. This bill would prove impossible for a family business to pay. As a result, almost every single vape store in the United States would shut down and millions of people would return to smoking combustible cigarettes. And while some vapes would remain on the market, they would overwhelmingly be sold by companies who have the resources to pay compliance costs. President Trump, who has previously supported these lifesaving products, must now get personally involved. Doing so will save more than 100,000 jobs, millions of lives, and quite possibly his chance at re-election.
Blogs:
Tuesday: The Census Needs a Makeover
Wednesday: How One FDA Regulation Could Impact President Trump’s Re-election Chances
Thursday: Rioting bad for everybody, including the BLM movement
Media:
September 5, 2020: The Post Journal (Jamestown, N.Y.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Time For A Bipartisan Convention To Cut Spending.”
September 6, 2020: The Center Square quoted TPA in their article, “Texas tax incentive program has limits, supporters, critics.”
September 7, 2020: I appeared on Newsmax TV to talk about the cost of recent rioting.
September 8, 2020: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “How One FDA Regulation Could Impact President Trump’s Re-election Chances.”
September 9, 2020: I appeared on “Real Talk with Faune Riggin” on KZIM Radio (960 AM; Cape Girardeau, Mo.) to talk about the cost of recent rioting.
September 10, 2020: I appeared on WBOB Radio (600 AM and 101 FM; Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about the economy and latest unemployment data.
September 10, 2020: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about Governor Hogan’s broadband plan.
September 10, 2020: Townhall ran TPA’s op-ed, “Lawmakers Deliver Misinformation on Mail-Order Meds.”
September 10, 2020: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “Congress must pass a clean spending bill.”
September 10, 2020: Livingston Parish News (Denham Springs, La.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Rioting bad for everybody, including the BLM movement.”
September 11, 2020: Ross appeared on “The Steve Gruber Show” (WJIM 1240; Grand Rapids, Mich.) to talk about the cost of recent riots.
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
