New inflation numbers were released yesterday and the news continues to be bad for consumers.  In particular, the consumer price index increased 0.4 percent for the month, more than the 0.3 that was expected.  That means inflation is at 8.2 percent.  The highest increases are airline fares at 42 percent, utility costs up 33 percent, and eggs up 30 percent. The worse news is that wages are not keeping pace with inflation. We were promised lower inflation after the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, yet here we are with no end in sight. And, while folks are trying to make ends meet, members of Congress are back in their districts trying to get re-elected. 

 

 

For many years, TPA has been tracking the dilapidated relationship between the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), congressional appropriations, the DoD and, in no uncertain terms, reality. Since February, lawmakers have been crafting and considering the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual bill that authorizes appropriations and enacts policy changes for the Department of Defense (DoD). One key area we have focused on is the Air Force (USAF) Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP), which seeks to replace the current F-35A’s F135 engine with an entirely new design. Here are some developments from the FY23 NDAA:

The Senate version (S. 4543) contains $353.6 million, in line with the President’s request, and a detraction of funds from FY22.

In keeping with budgeting guidelines, the House advanced their version of the FY23 NDAA on July 14, 2022. At earliest, the Senate will consider the NDAA when they return on November 14, 2022. Continuing to fund the AETP, especially at higher levels than requested is a wayward proposal. First, because it would jettison a currently unified parts supply chain, it would add more than $40 billion to life-cycle cost of the program, which already stands at $1.7 trillion.  This project earns the “award” of being DoD’s most expensive weapons program ever. Secondly, while the AETP offers a performance boost over the current F135 engine, the F135’s manufacturer offers an upgrade package that would provide similar performance upgrades and save $40 billion over the lifecycle cost. 

 

Investing in an expensive and experimental program should not be undertaken during a time of rampant, untamed inflation, especially for the F-35 program which costs the equivalent of 5.6 percent of the national debt and $3,500 for every man, woman, and child in America.

 

 

I am often asked why TPA writes and talks about telecom issues so much.  We do because the government is wasting taxpayer resources by building broadband networks that compete with established networks and then ultimately fail leaving taxpayers with the bill.  We are also concerned that the government isn’t making enough wireless spectrum available to help close the digital divide.  With the impressive deployment of 5G, a lot has been done, but there is more work to be done.  In fact, a recent report says that the federal government is holding too much spectrum that should be made available via auctions to help close the digital divide. In its study, Accenture identified spectrum in three key bands of 7/8 GHz (7.125-8.4 GHz), 4 GHz (4.4-4.94 GHz), and 3 GHz (3.1-3.45 GHz). The firm says those bands offer large, continuous blocks of spectrum and strong propagation characteristics, critical components for robust 5G use. Accenture found that government users have 12 times the amount of mid-band spectrum that licensed users hold in this key 3-8.4 GHz range. Accenture reports that this imbalance “could hinder the ability of wireless providers to keep up with projected growth and increased demand.”

 

Spectrum auctions are the best way to distribute the bandwidth to the greatest benefit of taxpayers by having private providers make the highest bid to earn the right to use the spectrum. But the federal bureaucracy has often fought to keep the spectrum it owns, delaying efforts to expand wireless internet infrastructure. In recent years, the Federal Communications Commission has fought other federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Defense, Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration over their concerns on such topics as weather-monitoring equipment, airplane safety and car vehicle safety. The concerns of the other agencies have largely proven unfounded and have only served to delay closing the digital divide. Accenture notes that the United States ranks 13th among 15 countries examined in the availability of lower mid-band spectrum for commercial use. This band has largely been used to support the development of 5G due to its higher capacity that helps to support the fifth generation’s needed technology standards. Accenture proposes in the study that enough government-held spectrum be auctioned off so that the amount held would drop to 1.3 times that held by licensed users.

 

The study warns that “if the relative imbalances in spectrum allocation are not addressed with more licensed spectrum made available to commercial wireless providers, (then) consumers, businesses and public services will bear the burden of the expected network strain — through diminished quality and availability of services, and an inability to deliver on the full promise of 5G use cases, which are poised to transform the economy and help tackle climate change.” As the Accenture report shows, the government needs to loosen its grip on the spectrum that will help meet the needs of continued 5G growth. A continued pipeline of spectrum auctions will ensure that providers can meet the needs of American consumers.

 

Deploying more spectrum for 5G will benefit consumers with faster speeds and lessen the need for taxpayers to fund financially questionable government-owned (taxpayer-funded) broadband networks.

BLOGS:
 
Tuesday: Lawmakers Fall Short Of Cybersecurity Awareness Month Promise
   
Wednesday: The Internal Revenue Service: A History of Overreach
 
Thursday: The UK Continues to Embarrass the FDA With New Proposals for Vaping on Prescription
  
Friday: FEMA Chief Creswell Doubles Down on Solar Funding for U.S. Virgin Islands
 
 
Media:
 
October 10, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about COVID relief funds being spent in Baltimore.
 
October 10, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) quoted TPA in their article, “Comptroller Henry's Office says they have no Safe Streets metrics for funding allocation.”
 
October 11, 2022:  Inside Sources ran TPA’s op-ed, “Government Needs to Loosen Grip on Spectrum.”
 
October 11, 2022: Issues & Insights ran TPA’s op-ed, “Lawmakers Fall Short Of Cybersecurity Awareness Month Promise.”
 
October 12, 2022: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) mentioned TPA in their story, “Cartwright: Bill would boost extreme weather prep.”
 
October 13, 2022: WBFF Fox45 (Baltimore, Md.) interviewed me about the Baltimore City Inspector General’s Advisory Board.
 
October 13, 2022: Townhall.com ran TPA’s op-ed, “The CDC’s Agenda on Vaping Data is a Corruption of Democracy and Ethics.”
 
October 13, 2022:  I appeared on WBOB 600 AM (Jacksonville, Fla.) to talk about inflation and oil prices. 
 
October 13, 2022: Patrick Hedger joined ‘Just the News, Not Noise’ on Real America’s Voice to discuss the latest inflation numbers.