Congress is usually best when it does nothing. When doing nothing, they can’t spend money on ridiculous things and they can’t raise taxes. This is especially true for regulation. That is why the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation (TPAF) launched the App Security Project website. As there’s been a rise in cybersecurity threats to major companies throughout the world over the past year, we launched the project and website to educate the American people about what it means if Congress were to pass legislation that cracks open the secure software ecosystems of tech companies that consumers use daily. Don’t forget to follow our Executive Director Patrick Hedger on twitter for all of the latest updates on the project.
Protect the Filibuster
We agree with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). That’s not a typo. Ok, let me clarify, we agree with the 2005 version of Sen. Schumer who wanted to keep the filibuster when he said: “The ideologues in the Senate want to turn what the Founding Fathers called ‘the cooling saucer of democracy’ into the rubber stamp of dictatorship. We will not let them. They want – because they can’t get their way on every judge – to change the rules midstream, to wash away 200 years of history. They want to turn this country into a banana republic, where if you don’t get your way, you change the rules. It would be a doomsday for democracy if we do.”
The filibuster has been around since 1798 when it was inadvertently created by then-Vice President Aaron Burr. Burr held that Senators should not hold separate votes on ending debate, thus it became theoretically possible to prevent votes on legislative initiatives by extending debate for as long as possible. Naturally, Burr’s nemesis – and noted advocate for big, centralized government – Alexander Hamilton opposed the move. He also opposed any supermajority requirement to advance legislation and it was one of his objections to the Articles of Confederation. According to Hamilton in Federalist 22, the real purpose of such requirements “is to embarrass the administration [and] to destroy the energy of the government… It is often, by the impracticability of obtaining the necessary number of votes, kept in a state of inaction.” Hamilton’s objections are precisely why mechanisms like the legislative filibuster are so crucial today. Most of the framers understood an overactive federal government to be a threat to American liberty. The nation was structured in such a way so as to prevent the beliefs of the minority from being subjected to the tyranny of the majority. Only measures thoughtfully considered and obtaining some consensus ought to be passed into law. The necessity of this view is in action today.
When both political parties attempt to avert the filibuster/cloture process the Senate has in place today is when they are most boldly partisan. Most recently, congressional Democrats, with only 50 seats in the Senate tried to pass a multi-trillion dollar spending bill with a number of radical provisions and controversial voting rights legislation. It was by the grace of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) that these bills did not pass.
Postal Banking Failure
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has considerable financial expertise… in losing significant sums of money. America’s mail carrier has lost more than $90 billion over the past fifteen years, including a $4.9 billion net loss in fiscal year (FY) 2021. Undeterred by these dismal numbers, the USPS has been piloting financial services to sell alongside stamps and boxes. These efforts have gone as well as one might expect. On January 14, Government Executive senior correspondent Eric Katz reported that a USPS pilot to provide check cashing services at $5.95 per transaction resulted in just six sales totaling $35.70 for the agency. It’s time for the agency to end these lackluster attempts to move into postal banking and focus on delivering for the American people. From the start, it was unclear exactly what the USPS was hoping to accomplish with its check cashing experiment. Scarcely advertised and launched in only four post offices, the program was widely seen as the first step to provide financial services to Americans at a lower cost than can be obtained in the private sector. This justification may have made sense a few years ago, before banks started offering accounts with low/minimal fees, zero required deposits, and easy check-cashing capabilities.
According to the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, there are now more than 100 bank and credit union accounts that meet the low-fee national standards developed by the organization. Data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shows that the share of households without a bank account has declined by about 20 percent from 2015 to 2019, and the 5.4 percent of unbanked households have a variety of reasons for forgoing a bank account. But most of the underbanked minority do not cite bank fees or minimum balance requirements as the main reason for avoiding banks. It therefore seems unlikely that the USPS setting up a low-cost check cashing service would solve any pressing problem in the marketplace. And even if it could, the USPS’ check cashing fee of $5.95 is far too high to compete with banks’ low-cost offers. The agency’s pilot price even surpasses Walmart’s fees, which amounts to about $4 for checks up to $1,000. Some would be tempted to say that the USPS offered prices were simply too high, and they could find the “right” price that would allow them to compete with the private sector while covering expenses. But, the USPS hardly has the best track record with sound financial decision making. Indications abound that the agency has been underpricing packages for years via a wacky (and still mostly classified) cost attribution formula. And the agency has a real problem getting a lid on “controllable” costs such as equipment and fuel expenses. The costs and risks of services such as check-cashing can be particularly high, given the alarming (and increasing) volume of check fraud. The amount of money involved in check scams nearly doubled from 2016 to 2018, and this type of fraud, “makes up 60 percent of all attempted fraud against U.S. bank deposit accounts, according to a survey released by the American Bankers Association.” The idea that the USPS is somehow uniquely positioned to get a grip on this problem in a cost-effective way is simply wishful thinking.
The data is clear that the USPS is in over its head and should ditch the check cashing business. The agency should focus on how to effectively deliver mail while addressing the cost drivers and network overbuild that make these deliveries far too expensive. It’s time for a leaner Postal Service that focus on their core mission.
BLOGS:
Tuesday: TAXPAYERS PROTECTION ALLIANCE FOUNDATION OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES APP SECURITY PROJECT
Wednesday: Recent Testimony on Tobacco Harm Reduction and Taxation
Thursday: TAXPAYERS PROTECTION ALLIANCE FOUNDATION ON AMERICAN INNOVATION AND CHOICE ONLINE ACT MARKUP
Friday: Taxpayers Protection Alliance Calls for New Hearing of FCC Nominee
January 14, 2022: I appeared on WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) to talk about the indictment of Baltimore City State's Attorney Mosby.
January 14, 2022: The National Interest mentioned TPA in their story, “Inflation Reaches Its Highest Point In Four Decades.”
January 15, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about the indictment of Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
January 16, 2022: The Augusta Free Press (Waynesboro, Va.) mentioned TPA in their story, “Spanberger leading effort to prevent insider trading by members of Congress.”
January 17, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about IRS reform.
January 17, 2022: Patrick Hedger joined Wake Up Springfield w/ Tim Jones on 93.3 FM KWTO (Springfield, Mo.) to discuss record inflation.
January 18, 2022: Y’all Politics mentioned TPA in their story, “Conservative think tanks, business advocates call for income tax elimination in Mississippi.”
January 18, 2022: I appeared on Fox26, KMPH (Fresno, CA) to talk about California taxes and the economy.
January 18, 2022: The Livingston Parish News (Denham Springs, La.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Federal antitrust bill would grant 'sweeping new powers' to federal bureaucrats”
January 19, 2022: I appeared on 55KRC Radio (Cincinnati, Ohio) to talk about inflation and the filibuster.
January 19, 2022: The Denver Post (Denver, Col.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Right public policies can ensure wildfires are not the new normal.”
January 19, 2022: I appeared on ‘The Kevin McCullough Show’ (New York, N.Y.) to discuss the state of the economy.
January 19, 2022: The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “Postal service should ditch check cashing.”
January 20, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about the filibuster and voting rights legislation.
January 20, 2022: I appeared on WBOB 600 AM (Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about inflation, oil prices, and the Build Back Better plan.
January 20, 2022: The Daily Wire quoted TPA in their article, “Biden’s IRS Will Make Users Upload Pictures Of Their Faces To Access Tax Information.”
January 20, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their story, “Mosby's campaign spending in question.”
Have a great weekend!
