Late last year the Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation (the 501(c)(3) arm of TPA) launched the App Security Project (ASP). The goal of ASP is to educate policy makers at all levels of government, users, decision makers, and other stakeholders on how app software works and the importance of strong security and privacy protections for users. Government must promote innovation rather than weaken security standards that could ultimately end up hurting consumers. China desperately wants access to our devices.  Congress needs to ensure that doesn’t happen. We are proud to partner with Stop Child Predators to bring awareness to this problem. Be sure to check out ASP’s website for educational material on this issue.

Misguided Price Gouging Legislation

Congress almost always overreacts, or does the wrong thing, in response to a crisis. Case in point – high gasoline prices. The House recently passed H.R. 7688, the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act. The bill would authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to punish oil companies for ostensibly “gouging” consumers.  While the bill’s authors claim that the FTC would only penalize companies if there was substantial evidence of price gouging, the legislation is an open invitation for bureaucrats to grasp at straws and ignore the real causes of high gasoline prices. Instead of searching for non-existent evidence of “price gouging,” lawmakers must do everything in their power to increase energy exploration and embolden companies to meet market demand. Giving agencies carte blanche to punish companies for high prices will only result in more pain at the pump.
 
High Inflation is hitting lower- and middle-income people the hardest. Specifically, gasoline prices in the U.S. are extraordinarily high. As of May 17, the national average price for a gallon of gas is $4.52, and consumers in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington are paying more than $5 per gallon. Americans have never experienced this level of pain at the gas pump, and there’s little indication that prices will get under control anytime soon. It’s all-too-tempting to blame historically-high prices on amorphous concepts like “greed” and “gouging,” but there’s simply no evidence of a far-ranging corporate conspiracy to keep prices high. The truth is that there are preciously-few oil refineries, and refiners are working hard to satisfy soaring diesel and jet fuel demand while churning out gasoline supply. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with the resulting push by Western governments to shift away from Russian energy imports, certainly hasn’t helped matters. Add spiking summertime demand for gasoline, and the result is a perfect storm of sputtering supplies and sky-high prices.  Attempting to fix prices through federal fiat will only make this problem worse. If refiners are unable to recover the market cost of gasoline, they’ll simply respond by shifting even more toward producing other petroleum products. This will mean even less gasoline coming down the pike, and long lines at gas stations across the country. This will have dire ramifications not just for the current gasoline price crisis, but for future energy exploration and delivery. Companies will not expand their operations if they cannot be sure that they will earn a profit in an increasingly chaotic market.
 
Rather than resorting to failed, heavy-handed policies, policymakers should embrace solutions that would drive down the cost of gasoline. Lawmakers should work closely with energy companies and federal officials to lower regulatory hurdles to energy exploration and expand permitting programs. In addition, Congress should search for ways to keep taxes and fees at a minimum for energy producers. “Price gouging” legislation simply won’t work and will create an even worse experience at the pump for millions of consumers. Hopefully H.R. 7688 dies in the Senate.
 
Aluminum (Beer) Tariffs

When trying to fight inflation one option that is often overlooked is the removal of tariffs. A great illustration of the destructive nature of tariffs is beer.  The second full week in May is American Craft Beer Week. This frothy celebration has been happening since 2006 as a national week to celebrate “independent brewers and small breweries around the country.” This year, however, small brewers don’t have much reason to celebrate because the American craft beer industry has been burdened by Trump-era tariffs on aluminum, which have ultimately harmed small businesses and consumers, while not protecting American assets.  In 2018, then-President Donald Trump used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 “to impose a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.” Trump imposed the tariffs after a “review by the Commerce Department that concluded imports … posed a national security risk.” While certain countries were originally excluded, Trump would impose the tax on aluminum imports from all countries until the U.S. eventually reached deals with the European Union, Canada and Mexico as a pre-condition to remove the tariffs. 
 
Not only did the tariffs lead to retaliatory actions by other countries, but they have also pushed the cost of goods up for manufacturers and consumers – and this is no more apparent than in America’s craft beer industry. American craft beer companies have been disproportionately impacted by aluminum tariffs as cans “make up around 60 percent independent craft packaged volume.” In response to Trump’s initial tariff announcement, the Beer Institute (BI), “condemned” the tariffs and noted that they would “unnecessarily increase costs on American businesses and put jobs at risk.”
 
Aluminum producers have taken advantage of the tariffs and have imposed them on even domestic aluminum products. In an independent third-party analysis of the impacts of the tariffs one year after they went into effect, BI found that U.S. aluminum smelters and rolling mills had charged “end-users a tariff-paid price as if they entire product … consisted of imported primary aluminum.” BI reported they had heard from brewers across America that had seen “their aluminum costs drastically increase, even when they are using American aluminum.” The tariffs have cost the craft beverage industry billions of dollars. In April, BI published research examining the four years of tariffs, finding that “the U.S. beverage industry alone has paid $1.4 billion in tariffs” and those costs were undoubtedly pushed to consumers.
 
Overall, the aluminum tariffs have been disastrous policy that are disproportionately affecting consumers. Amid an inflation pandemic that is costing the average American family an extra $341 a month, tariffs on aluminum increase that burden. An analysis of the overall aluminum tariffs found that in 2021, the tariffs impacted “over $350 billion of imports and exports and increase consumer costs by roughly $51 billion annually.” Tariffs on aluminum products have severely impacted American craft brewers. Like many other small businesses, many craft brewers turned from making beer to hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic. And, like many other customer service-type businesses, brewers were disproportionately impacted by lockdowns and mitigation efforts.
 
BLOGS:
   
Monday: TPA Responds to Reports of IRS Destroying 30 Million Tax Documents
    
Tuesday: Don’t Blame Patents For the Pricey Nature of U.S. Drugs
 
Wednesday: TPA Sends Letter Urging Congress to Oppose the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act
   
Friday: Op-Ed: Celebrate American Craft Beer Week by removing tariffs on aluminum
 
 
MEDIA:
 
May 13, 2022:  I appeared on 55KRC Radio (Cincinnati, Ohio) to talk about inflation and baby formula. 
 
May 16, 2022: Patrick Hedger joined the KWOS Morning Show with Austin Petersen to discuss inflation and the baby formula shortage.
 
May 16, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about Nick Mosby’s problems with the Ethics Board.
 
May 16, 2022:  KAYU Fox28 (Spokane, Wash.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: KHQ NBC (Spokane, Wash.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022:  The Daily Post Athenian (Athens, TN,) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: KPC News (Kendallville, Ind.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: KPVI (Pocatello, Idaho) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022:  The Elkhart Truth (Elkhart, Ind.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: The Derby Informer (Derby, Kansas) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: The Princeton Daily Clarion (Princeton, Ind.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: Nolan Group Media (London, Ky.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 16, 2022: The Hartford City News Times (Hartford City, Ind.) ran TPA’s op-ed “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 17, 2022: The ePrescott News quoted TPA in their story, “Fiscal Watchdogs Warn Amtrak Gulf Coast Service Is a Taxpayer Train Wreck.”
 
May 17, 2022: Stone County Enterprise (Wiggins, Miss.) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”
 
May 17, 2022: The Olean Times Herald (Olean, NY) ran TPA’s op-ed, “Op-Ed: Taxpayers should not foot the bill for Amtrak’s Gulf Coast rail service.”

May 18, 2022:  The Center Square ran TPA’s op-ed, “Celebrate American Craft Beer Week by removing tariffs on aluminum.”

May 18, 2022: Issues & Insights ran TPA’s op-ed, “New Proposal Would Save Lives, Bolster Drug Approval Process.”
 
May 18, 2022:  Inside Sources ran TPA’s op-ed, “Sen. Warren’s New IRS Legislation Is out of Touch With Voters.”
 
May 18, 2022:  The NH Journal ran TPA’s op-ed, “Sen. Warren’s New IRS Legislation Is Bad News for NH Taxpayers.”
 
May 19, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about taxpayer money being used to fix Pimlico racetrack.
 
May 19, 2022: Patrick Hedger joined ‘Just the News, not Noise’ on Real America’s Voice to discuss inflation and TPA’s letter to Congress on the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act.