Taxpayers Protection Alliance
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The Taxpayers Protection Alliance is a non-profit
advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...
based in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The group monitors federal spending and issues reports, research, and analyses on spending and taxation it believes to be in excess.


History

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) was founded in 2011 with David Williams as its president (a title he continues to hold as of June 2022). In November of that year, the TPA was one of five taxpayer advocacy groups to sign a letter calling for a 10% reduction in pay for Congress members. In April 2012, the TPA and other groups called on Republican presidential candidate,
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
, to relinquish his
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...
protection. Gingrich lost his protection the following week. Over the course of 2013 and 2014, the organization issued reports on topics like the public costs of
LEED certification Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...
. The group also began levying criticism against
municipal broadband A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
projects using
fiber-optic cable A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with p ...
s for connectivity. In September 2015, the TPA issued a report called "Sacking Taxpayers: How NFL Stadium Subsidies Waste Money and Fall Short on Their Promises of Economic Development" which detailed the amount of money spent by taxpayers on publicly subsidized
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
stadiums. Later that year, the organization issued a report (in conjunction with the Animal Justice Project) on the taxpayer costs associated with scientific experiments that administer narcotics to animals. The TPA also issued criticisms of the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
because it was operating in debt. In 2017, the group started a social media campaign to oppose a proposed municipal broadband project in
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, claiming that the cost outweighed the benefits. In July 2018, TPA president David Williams wrote an open letter to the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
that was critical of the Trump administration's issuance of
tariffs A tariff or import tax is a duty imposed by a national government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods or raw materials and is ...
as part of the United States' ongoing trade war with China. In April 2019, the organization itself wrote a joint letter (with Tariffs Hurt the Heartland) to
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, condemning the tariffs.


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Taxpayer groups Political advocacy groups in the United States Organizations established in 2011