Phil Kerpen - Phil Kerpen newsletter

PK 2009 Highlights

Phil Kerpen — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:21:24 -0600

In 2009 we saw a continuation of the unprecedented threats to economic freedom that emerged late in 2008--never-ending bailouts, unconstrained growth of government spending, enormous Fed money creation, and a crippling debt burden for our children and grandchildren.

We also, however, saw the emergence of a mass-based resistance that promises to restore fiscal sanity to our country, standing up to the big spenders in both political parties and saying that enough is enough. The grassroots uprising at tea parties and town halls and rallies gives me confidence that our democratic system will work and will right the fiscal ship.

Come to the AFP Defending the Dream Summit October 2 and 3!

Phil Kerpen — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:56:56 -0500

Things have been busy. Lots to update you on.

Lots of recent TV appearances, including quite a few regarding our now-erstwhile green jobs czar, Van Jones. You can see all my recent TV clips here: http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=taxonomy/term/66

I've also been writing a fair amount, mostly for Fox Forum, and if you haven't been paying attention please do come to www.PhilKerpen.com and take a look.

The main purpose of this email is to ask you to register for the 2009 Defending the American Dream Summit, sponsored by Americans for Prosperity Foundation: www.DefendingTheDream.org

I'm excited to be speaking to this gathering of free-market activists and especially excited to be speaking on the same program as some incredible world-class leaders in the fight for freedom and prosperity. Speakers like Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich, Jim DeMint, and my mentor: Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal.

We need to send Congress a strong message that we are paying attention and fighting back against big government power-grabs. This event will keep the momentum from the tea parties, town halls, and 9-12 march going strong into October when it will likely be crunch time on health care and possibly also on cap-and-trade.

The early registration price is only available for a few more days. Please register today at www.DefendingTheDream.org.

If you do register, please take a moment to reply to this email and let me know that I will see you there!

Yours truly,
Phil Kerpen

P.S. Please connect with me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/kerpen) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/PhilKerpen) if you haven't already! And listen to my daily 2-minute podcast, available on www.philkerpen.com or through iTunes (search "kerpen"). Thanks!

KerpenCast, Tea Parties, and Energy Taxes

Phil Kerpen — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:41:32 -0500

Apologies for once again going months between newsletters. I hope you've been checking out www.philkerpen.com from time to time, and I want to encourage you to stay tuned two other ways.

One is my new a daily podcast, just 1-2 minutes in length, that I started yesterday. You can check it out here:
http://kerpen.hipcast.com/rss/kerpencast.xml

The other is Twitter. Please follow me!
http://twitter.com/kerpen

Also, please do me a favor and forward this email to your friends and encourage them to sign up at PhilKerpen.com and check the site regularly!

1. Now, on to tea parties. I was a speaker at the DC Tea Party, which despite a pouring rain was a great success. I wrote a Fox Forum post about it on my cell phone from the scene, which here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/240

and I was on Fox twice last week talking about it, on Greta the day of the tea party:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/242

and on Cavuto (Asman guest-hosting) the day before:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/241

I also wrote this piece defending that the tea parties are genuine populism:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/239

and was quoted in a variety of newspapers. Several lefty outfits flatteringly accused me of being an evil architext of the whole tea party movement, but of course my real role was much more modest.

2. Energy taxes, a.k.a cap-and-trade
In my most commented-on Fox Forum piece to date (3200+ comments at last count) I explained the desperation and illogic behind MoveOn.org's latest effort to spend millions trying to convince the public that a tax is not a tax if you call it cap-and-trade. Check it out here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/243

Amazingly Obama and Pelosi are pushing forward with this huge new energy tax despite the fact that there is no environmental upside and the costs to ordinary Americans will be huge. Who stands to benefit? The same financial bad actors on Wall Street, like AIG and Goldman Sachs, at the center of the financial meltdown. I wrote about that in Washington Times here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/231

The good news is that we won a huge victory a couple weeks ago when the Senate rejected passing cap-and-trade through the back-door of budget reconciliation with only 50 votes. I helped lead that fight, and wrote about the victory here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/235

Yesterday's podcast was on this topic:
http://kerpen.hipcast.com/rss/kerpencast.xml

3. Unfortunately there is still a substantial risk of a government takeover of health care (including "cost-cutting" by refusing treatment to people judged too old or sick) being slammed through by the budget reconciliation trick. I wrote about that threat and the other budget gimmicks in the Congressional budget here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/237

4. Happy baseball season! Let's go Mets! (If you check the Cavuto clip I linked to above, you'll notice I wore a Mets tie.) Off to a slow start but still the time of year when hope springs eternal. Unfortunately, our new ballpark is still called Citi Field, named for a disgraced bailout bank. I wrote about that here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/238

I'll try to send these a little more regularly so they aren't so long. Please check out the podcast (http://kerpen.hipcast.com/rss/kerpencast.xml) and follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/kerpen). Thanks!

Yours truly,
Phil

P.S. I'll be speaking at the following events next week. Please attend if you can!

Date: Tuesday, April 28th
Location: Libertyville, Ill. (Austin’s Saloon)
Time: 6:00-8:00pm
What: Special Event with Fred Barnes
http://www.americansforprosperity.org/040709-afp-il-special-event-0

Date: Wednesday, April 29th
Location: South Bend, Ind. (St. Patrick’s Park)
Time: 9:00-10:30AM
What: AFP Hot Air Tour
http://www.hotairtour.org/index.php?content=south_bend

Date: Wednesday, April 29th
Location: Sterling Heights, Mich. (Sunnybrook Golf Course)
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 PM
What: AFP Hot Air Tour
http://www.hotairtour.org/index.php?content=sterlinghe

Stimulus Fight Can Be Won

Phil Kerpen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:32:47 -0600

First some personal good news--we're engaged! Joanna Enstice and I will be married this June.

Next some good news for America. The stimulus bill is not inevitable. Ignore what you've been told--it's a ploy to get us to give up the fight. We can win.

In fact, the bill's proponents are struggling, and President Obama is starting to distance himself from the unpopular Pelosi/Reid bill. If you haven't signed the petition yet at www.NoStimulus.com, I encourage you to do so. We'll be delivering the signatures soon to get them there in advance of the Senate vote, which will probably be this weekend.

On the www.NoStimulus.com site you can also find talking points and easy links to contact your senators in advance of this important vote.

I posted a column today answering the idea that this bill is inevitable. It isn't. That column is here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/208

We should also take note of the fact that the federal budget outlook is already the worst in all of U.S. history, with a $2 trillion deficit now within the realm of possibility. I analyzed the current budget outlook here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/207

You also may not have noticed yesterday that we already have the first tax hike of the new administration. I had a soundbite about this on Lou Dobbs last night, and wrote about it here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/206

Sorry for not sending these newsletters more regularly. Please do check out www.NoStimulus.com and get involved in the fight over this bill. The stakes are high and we can win!

Yours truly,
Phil Kerpen

Bridge to Nowhere, McCain Isn't Bush, Energy Freedom, AFP Summit

Phil Kerpen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:29:05 -0500

Congress is back for a mad dash to finish (as little as possible of) their work and get out of town. Expect possible action on the defense bills, extenders package, AMT patch, a highway-fund transfer bill, a continuing resolution, and little else. (Apologies to the handful of people who got this newsletter yesterday. There was a glitch and it didn't go to most people, so I used the opportunity to add a new item.)

Four items to note:

1. Palin, Obama, and the Bridge
Obama's flip-flop attack on Palin is crazy in light of his and Joe Biden's record of supporting the bridge, not once but twice, unlike John McCain, a consistent opponent of pork-barrel earmarks. My new column goes through the history of the bridge and Palin's role in pulling the plug.
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/193

2. The McBush Smear
I have a piece (note: not in an AFP capacity)in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that takes the offense against the Democratic theme that McCain is Bush. I argue that not only is the charge factually incorrect, but that it is a dirty campaign tactic that cuts against the Obama theme of hope and change. It's available here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/191

3. Energy Freedom Day is just 21 days away and counting.
The bans on offshore drilling and oil shale development expire at the end of this month. As the clock ticks down supporters of increased energy production will have to hold strong and avoid a bad compromise to allow the ban to expire as scheduled. The most likely path to victory is a strong veto threat from President Bush, which we still haven't seen. I recently wrote about this in the Washington Times:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/190

4. Have you registered for the Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summit?
If not, you should. This is sure to be a phenomenal event and will send a strong signal to the political class and the media that there is genuine grassroots energy behind limited-government reforms and a pro-production energy policy. The event will bring thousands of AFP citizen-leaders from around the country to DC to rally for limited government principles. Some of the speakers include George Will, Dinesh D’Souza, Senator James Inhofe, Edwin Meese III, John Stossel, Fred Barnes, Steve Moore, and Erick Erickson. If you sign up for the event please put my name in for how you heard about it--we're competitive about recruitment. For more information and to register please check out:
http://www.defendingthedream.org/

Yours truly,
Phil Kerpen

Special event discount and other updates

Phil Kerpen — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:22:50 -0500

Dear friends,

I have several items to update you on, especially a great deal on our national summit.

Register now for an incredible price of $24.50!! For a limited time we are accepting early registration for $49 per person. On top of that and for just the next couple days, you can use the code DREAM08 to get an additional 50% off! This offer only lasts until this Wednesday, July 2nd, so don't miss it! This event was a great success last year and we hope to make it an even bigger and better event this year. Go to www.defendingthedream.org now and register with the promo code DREAM08 to get 50% off our already discounted early registration price!

Please remember to type "Phil Kerpen" under "Other" where the registration page asks how you heard about the summit. We're competitive about recruitment! Again the site is: www.defendingthedream.org

2. RightOnline Summit in Austin, Texas, July 18th and 19th, 2008
This is another great event coming a little sooner, down in Austin. We're running a new media-focused, free-market counterweight to the DailyKos Netroots Nation conference, which will be taking place at the same time in the same town. I'll be there speaking on several panels about policy issues, and we have top-flight national speakers including Michelle Malkin, Barry Goldwater, Jr., Erick Erickson, Michael Steele, and Bob Novak. For more information and to register, check out: www.rightonline.com

3. Hot Air Tour and No Climate Tax
We've been out on the road with a hot air balloon to highlight the ballooning costs of global warming alarmism, and to keep the pressure on against environmentally ineffective and economically devastating cap-and-trade climate policies. To find out more about the tour and our upcoming stops next week in the Mid-Atlantic Region, check out: www.hotairtour.org

We also have begun a candidate pledge campaign to ask candidates for federal, state, and local office that they won't hide a net tax hike in a climate bill. Increases in the tax burden should be openly debated on their merits, not buried within feel-good environmental legislation. To learn about the pledge and ask candidates to sign it, check out: www.noclimatetax.com

4. Recent Television Appearances
I was on CNBC twice in last couple of weeks debating the issue of gas taxes. You can see the clips here:
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=c4fc2882-f1a1-45bf-b2f5-a2c3cf22f3d1
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=765478300

5. Recent Columns
Some analysis of the now-House-passed AMT patch bill, including several ill-advised tax hikes:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/173
Analysis of the payment card reporting provisions of that bill in particular:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/174

My take on carbon cap-and-trade, Lieberman-Warner-style:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/172

That’s all for now. Thanks.

Yours truly,
Phil Kerpen

AFP's Hot Air Tour

Phil Kerpen — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:36:06 -0500

Greetings!

Wanted to let everyone know about a major new project I've been working on at Americans for Prosperity--educating our members about the high costs (both economic and in lost freedom) of global warming energy taxes and regulatory schemes. Our first big event on the issue will be a kick-off of our Hot Air Tour, a national tour modeled on our Ending Earmarks Express effort that will launch in Washington on April 21st, then head out on the road with a hot air balloon and other high-impact visuals for its first swing through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. You can get more info on the launch event and register to attend here:
http://www.americansforprosperity.org/index.php?id=5330

For my take on the enormous costs of energy taxes and regulatory schemes, check out my recent column, Bad Time for Green Schemes:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/168

I also have recent pieces on an effort to impose price controls on credit card interchange fees:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/167

and about the renewed effort to regulate the Internet under a so-called network neutrality regime:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/165

On the earmark front, we had a victory of sorts a couple of weeks ago when all three major presidential candidates came out in support of a one year earmark moratorium by co-sponsoring an amendment by Sen. Jim DeMint. While that effort proved ultimately unsuccessful (failing on a vote of 29-71: http://tinyurl.com/ypkcwl) it was still very important in establishing a new anti-earmark political consensus, at least with respect to presidential politics. I wrote about it before the vote here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/166

If I've been writing a little less than usual of late it's because I've been spending a lot of time getting up to speed on the enormously complex global warming issue, which will be my major focus this year.

Yours truly,
Phil

Three Earmark Fights

Phil Kerpen — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:24:40 -0600

In the midst of three earmark fights, it seemed like a good time to send out an update and wish everyone a slightly belated New Year!

1. Earmark Executive Order
The omnibus appropriations bill that passed at the end of the 2007 session was stuffed full of about 9000 pork-barrel earmarks, which brought the total for last year to around 12,000, the second highest total in history and a far cry from the president's goal of cutting earmarks in half. Unfortunately, the president signed the bill. Fortunately there is an option available to the president to avoid funding all those earmarks, and force a more transparent earmarking process in the future: an executive order to disregard non-legislative earmarks. I wrote about this strategy here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/161
and started a Facebook group to promote it here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6925858183
The good news is--the White Hose may be listening! There are stories like this one in many media outlets recently, suggesting we might win on this:
http://thehill.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70668&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=32

2. Jeff Flake for Appropriations
One of the challenges in fighting earmarks each year is that we can't get any of the information about them until relatively late in the process, and have to rush to research them in time for their to be any congressional debate. Rep. Jeff Flake from Arizona has done yeoman's work identifying earmarks and sponsoring amendments to strip the most egregious ones each year, but he would be able to do much more if he were on the House Appropriations Committee, ground zero where all of the earmark requests are received and evaluated. Read more about why I support his bid here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/162

3. No More Gas Taxes for Earmarks
A proposed gas tax hike is back in the news, and it's still a bad idea. As I wrote back in August, it makes no sense to entrust Congress with another penny of gas tax dollars, let alone a whopping 40 cents, when they continue to squander highway funds on non-highway projects and earmarks. It would make much more sense to move in the opposite direction and cut the federal gas tax so that states could manage their own transportation priorities without an extra level of federal bureaucracy. That column from August is here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/149

Speaking Engagements
I will be speaking at CPAC on a panel about entitlement reform on February 8th, and will also be speaking at a series of AFP state summits. For information on the summits, check out:
http://www.defendingthedream.org/

Finally I want to close with a shout out to my beloved Pitt Panthers for their stunning shorthanded, wire-to-wire victory over Georgetown last night. Let's go Pitt!

Phil Kerpen News

Phil Kerpen — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:16:33 -0500

This newsletter contains an update on major tax threats and my recent work, some humor, and a reminder about AFP's phenomenal DEFENDING THE AMERICAN DREAM summit, which I strongly encourage you to attend.

* - * - *

Congress is back and this is going to be a very challenging fall for advocates of limited government, with a number of difficult tax fights underway and a looming showdown over appropriations. Here is a rundown of the major threats:

1. The carried interest capital gains tax hike. I continue to view this as the most significant tax fight of the year, not necessarily in its revenue impact (which would be minimal) but it its economic and market impact as well as its precedential value. House Ways and Means had a marathon hearing on this on Thursday, and the witnesses were stacked in favor of this tax hike. I was on CNBC again last week discussing the issue, and that clip can be seen here along with the rest of my work on the issue:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=taxonomy/term/5

I will be speaking about this issue at the Private Equity Roundup in New York on October 18th at the Marriott East Side Hotel. For more info on that event see:
http://www.almevents.com/privateequity

2. The Internet Tax Moratorium. If Congress fails to extend the moratorium before it expires on November 1st, state and local governments will be permitted to levy taxes on Internet access, email, downloads, and any number of other now-untaxed aspects of the Internet. Given the success of the Internet as an engine of prosperity under the existing tax-ban, that would be tragic. For more on this issue, see my recent column here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/150

3. A federal gas tax hike. Some powerful pro-tax members of Congress are poised to use the Minnesota bridge tragedy as a pretext for a tax grab on motorists. While it's clear that some urgent infrastructure priorities are not being met, however, the problem is not a lack of funding but poor priorities. Giving more money to a Congress that massively diverts gas tax money to earmarks and non-highway projects would be a mistake. For more on this issue, see my recent column here:
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/149

4. A federal cigarette tax hike. Both the House and Senate versions of the State Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization includes major hikes in the cigarette and cigar taxes. The cigarette tax is borne disproportionately by lower income Americans, making it particularly perverse to use a hike to pay for an expansion in a health insurance program from the poor to the middle class, as these bills would do. This appears stalled for now and there is a presidential veto threat, but a conference report could emerge some time this month.

5. The alternative minimum tax. This is the big daddy tax debates this fall. Without a patch, the tax, originally intended to target 155 high-income taxpayers, will instead ensnare over 20 million taxpayers. Most of them are in the high-income, high-tax coastal states, making them Democratic constituents. But the Democrats' PAYGO rules require a whole slew of tax hikes to offset the supposed costs of preventing this unintended tax.

* - * - *

Some tragicomedy:
http://www.larrycraigslist.org/

* - * - *

DEFENDING THE AMERICAN DREAM SUMMIT
I'm excited to invite you to the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Defending the American Dream Summit. The Summit will take place this October 4-5, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

At the Summit, presidential candidates Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Sam Brownback will join an all-star line-up of the nation's free market leaders
including: ABC 20/20's John Stossel, Bob Cochran (executive producer of the hit TV show "24"), U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza, Congressman Jeff Flake, former Maryland Lt. Governor and Chairman of GOPAC, Michael Steele, Reagan Budget Director, Jim Miller, and The Wall Street Journal's John Fund and Steve Moore, to name just a few.

I'll be moderating an excellent panel on the key policy challenges and opportunities for 2008.

For more information or to register today check out:
http://www.DefendingtheAmericanDream.org

If you do register, please let me know. Thanks!

Update and an invitation.

Phil Kerpen — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:45:36 -0500

Hello friends,

I am using the newsletter feature of my web site for the first time. If you are on this list and do not wish to be, I apologize for the inconvenience and direct you to the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this message. This will remain a low-volume list, no more than 1 or 2 messages per month.

** UPDATE **
On Monday I had an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the issue of capital gains taxation and the AMT patch. I argue that a cap gains hike for partnerships is bad policy and will also likely be revenue negative. A better approach would be to cut the corporate capital gains tax. That piece is here (excerpt and WSJ.com link to full text):
http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/144

I made three recent television appearances debating aspects of the issue. The clips can be seen in my blog: http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=blog/1

I had another major paper placement last month, when the Washington Post ran a piece I wrote advocating that district public schools dedicate resources to academic debate. That piece can be read here: http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/139

Most recently I wrote a column about the evisceration of Senate earmark reforms. That column can be read here: http://www.philkerpen.com/?q=node/145

You can always find all of my published work on philkerpen.com.

** INVITATION **
I'm excited to invite you to the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Defending the American Dream Summit. The Summit will take place this October 4-5, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

At the Summit, former Massachusetts Governor and candidate for President, Mitt Romney, will join an all-star line-up of the nation's free market leaders including: ABC 20/20's John Stossel, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza, Congressman Jeff Flake, former Maryland Lt. Governor and Chairman of GOPAC, Michael Steele, Reagan Budget Director, Jim Miller, and The Wall Street Journal's John Fund and Steve Moore, to name just a few.

Early registration is only $49 and $29 for students, and includes breakfast, lunch, and a special "Tribute to Ronald Reagan" dinner. Visit the Summit's website at http://www.DefendingtheAmericanDream.org or call me at 202-349-5880 if you would like more information.

To register today, go here: https://afp.browsermedia.com/csnc/registration/register?eventId=1

If you do register, please let me know. Thanks!