The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has grown again. This week we welcomed MacKenzie Morales to the TPA team. MacKenzie is the new Director of Operations so she will be involved in a lot of what’s happening here at TPA. MacKenzie comes to us from Capitol Hill and is ready to put her expertise to work. Welcome MacKenzie!
Spaced Out – NASA’s Budget
America’s space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is entering a new administration better funded than it has been in 30 years. In fact, NASA pocketed more than $23 billion from the recently signed omnibus bill. But taxpayers have previously little assurance that the money won’t be squandered on wasteful projects and needless cost overruns. The Trump administration enabled a reckless spending culture at NASA by making unrealistic promises about going to the Moon by 2024. President Biden should create more realistic expectations about spacefaring and hold the agency accountable for irresponsible budgeting. America must avoid a black hole of profligate spending.
To top officials, such as former Vice President Pence, the previous plan of launching a lunar mission by 2028 is “just not good enough,” and stated that he wanted NASA to be back on the moon by 2024. Tight deadlines are tough when the agency in question has a long track-record of delays. For example, NASA has devoted considerable time and attention in recent years to the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, tasked with ferrying astronauts deep into space for manned missions. The program schedule has already slipped more than 3 years and further delays are likely after additional problems were found with the system. NASA opted to skip repairs because the risks of repair ostensibly outweighed any benefits of averting malfunction. For the program’s myriad delays and issues, taxpayers could be forgiven for assuming that the Orion Program is funded on a shoestring budget. In fact, NASA has spent more than $1.2 billion per year on this program – roughly 6 percent of the agency’s budget – since fiscal year (FY) 2012. In addition, the Inspector General (IG) found, “NASA’s exclusion of more than $17 billion in Orion‐related costs has hindered the overall transparency of the vehicle’s complete costs.” These problems are partly the result of Congress being asleep at mission control. An even larger cost-driver for NASA is the very idea of manned space exploration. Policymakers across the political spectrum seem to be obsessed with humans planting flags across the solar system, costs be damned. Robotic missions are a far more cost-effective way of discovering the skies above us. Cambridge Cosmology and astrophysics professor and astronomer royal Martin Rees rightly points out that, “the practical case (for human spaceflight) gets weaker and weaker with every advance in robotics and miniaturization.”
After years of overhyped manned mission-planning and spending waste, it’s time for President Biden to restore sanity to spacefaring. Biden can and should scrap the idea of astronauts going back to the moon, and instead prioritize probes to alien worlds. Amid shifting priorities, the new Congress needs to hold NASA accountable when spending caps are busted. America’s space agency can launch a bold new era in exploration – if our leaders take off the “space race” blinders. Read more here.
States' Drinking Problem
After an unusual year for state legislatures, lawmakers are returning to their respective state capitals for 2021 sessions. Undoubtedly, the single biggest issues to face each state – as well as the federal government – will be the economic damage brought forth by the coronavirus pandemic. One industry did well amid stay-at-home orders and Zoom Happy Hours – alcohol. Specifically, online sales of alcohol did particularly well. A 2020 report from the market research firm IWSR found that “alcohol e-commerce sales will approach $5.6 billion in 2020 … up from roughly $3 billion last year.” Further, alcohol consumption among adult Americans increased. Unfortunately, lawmakers have paid attention. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s 2021-23 budget proposal includes “an additional $0.25 surcharge on the sale of distilled spirits … beginning July 1, 2021.” The Democratic governor from the Beaver State is hoping to “generate an additional $20.4 million in General Fund revenues.” Additionally, lawmakers in Maryland have introduced legislation to increase the “sales and use tax rate for the sale of an alcoholic beverage,” with proposed generated revenues from the tax to be deposited into a fund to provide health care for low-income and rural Marylanders.
To address budget shortfalls, local and state governments are likely to turn to excise taxes, including raising taxes on a product that is COVID-proof, despite alcohol taxes being regressive and unfairly burdensome for lower income persons. Moreover, the gains made by the current increased consumption of alcohol are unlikely to remain stable as most Americans’ increased alcohol consumption is due to unusual local and state lockdown orders, as well as anxiety caused by the pandemic. As alcohol consumption tends to increase when income increases, alcohol taxes tend to be slightly less regressive than tobacco taxes. Nonetheless, lower income persons tend to spend greater percentages of household income on alcohol. A report from the National Center for Policy Analysis found that of three income quintiles, persons in the “bottom quintile of income earners spent 2.1 percent of income on alcohol products, on average, twice the middle quintile and more than three times the highest earners.”
Understandably, every state will be spending the 2021 sessions working towards economic recovery and figuring out how to manage budget shortfalls caused by COVID-19. It is imperative that policymakers look at sensible solutions that are proven to generate needed revenue without unduly harming lower income citizens and focus on lasting policies that can reconcile state budgets. Alcohol may have been COVID-proof, but lawmakers should not rely on the unusualness of American’s buzz as a long-term solution for bloated state budgets.
Blogs:
Monday: TPA Leads Coalition Letter Opposing the Abolition of the Filibuster
Tuesday: Lawmakers Must Examine Real Issues Plaguing the Postal Service
Thursday: Booze May Be COVID-Proof, But It’s Still A Regressive Way to Fund Government
Friday: Profile in Courage: Officer Eugene Goodman
Media:
January 22, 2021: Chris Woodward of American Family Radio (nationally syndicated) interviewed me about gas taxes.
January 24, 2021: Inside Sources ran TPA’s op-ed, “Booze May Be COVID-Proof, But It’s Still A Regressive Way to Fund Government.”
January 25, 2021: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about gas taxes.
January 25, 2021: Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger appeared on the Charlie James Show on 106.3 FM WORD (Greenville, S.C.) to discuss Biden’s first executive orders.
January 25, 2021: The Washington Examiner (Washington, D.C.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Eviction moratorium is sure to backfire.”
January 25, 2021: Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger appeared on Philadelphia’s Morning Answer on 990 AM (Philadelphia) to discuss Biden’s first executive orders.
January 25, 2021: Issues & Insights ran TPA’s op-ed, “Lawmakers Must Examine Real Issues Plaguing The Postal Service.”
January 26, 2021: I appeared on WGME-TV (Portland, Maine) to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse in the PPP program.
January 26, 2021: Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger appeared on Richmond’s Morning News with John Reid on 1140 AM/96.1 FM (Richmond, Va.) to discuss Biden’s first executive orders.
January 26, 2021: I appeared on 106.3 FM WORD (Greenville, S.C.) to talk about the filibuster.
January 27, 2021: Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger appeared on Rush to Reason on KLZ 560 AM (Denver) to discuss the antitrust coalition letter spearheaded by TPA.
January 27, 2021: The American Conservative ran TPA’s op-ed, “Time To Ditch The Global Bureaucracies.”
January 27, 2021: Inside Sources ran TPA’s op-ed, “Biden Must Avoid Black Hole of NASA Waste.”
January 27, 2021: I appeared on WSB-TV (Atlanta, Ga.) to talk about waste, fraud, and abuse in the PPP program.
January 27, 2021: Postal Consumers ran TPA’s blog, “Postal Price Hikes Are Tame…For Now.”
January 28, 2021: WBFF (Fox, Baltimore) interviewed me about tobacco taxes.
January 28, 2021: I appeared on WBOB 600 AM (Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about private prisons and Biden’s green energy plan.
January 28, 2021: I appeared on 93.1 FM WACV (Montgomery, Ala.) to talk about the World Health Organization.
January 28, 2021: Vice President of Policy Patrick Hedger appeared on After Hours on One America News Network to discuss Biden’s first executive orders.
January 28, 2021: The Daily Signal mentioned TPA in their blog, “Conservative Leaders Urge Senate to Preserve the Filibuster.”
January 29, 2021: True North Reports (Vermont) ran TPA's recent op-ed "Critics question New York’s approach to online sports betting"
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
