Domestic Policy Caucus Priorities
The Domestic Policy Caucus (DPC) is a coalition of American companies, workers, trade associations, opinion leaders, lawmakers and policymakers devoted to free market solutions, limited government, and consumer education. DPC takes on the issues and takes the heat for taking on the issues so that everyday Americans, whose livelihoods and social standing are at risk, don’t have to.
DPC’s guiding principles are as follows:
Protecting consumer choice ensures the most efficient allocation of resources.
Eliminating harmful bureaucratic constraints and institutions allows people to live freer, healthier, more prosperous lives.
Unleashing human potential requires economic freedom and freedom from bureaucratic red tape.
Leaving decisions to individuals who are affected by problems leads to more informed decision-making and stronger solutions to those problems than when government and quasi-state institutions intervene.
Government mission creep invariably ends up being detrimental to individuals and society, policymakers’ and bureaucrats’ good intentions notwithstanding.
Transparency is essential to the maintenance of limited, efficient, and effective government.
Venturing forward in the 21st century, America’s domestic strength requires commitment to individual freedom and self-determination. With no time for complacency, we must take swift, proactive steps to ensure that we are (re-)opening and protecting pathways for people to live freer, healthier, and more prosperous lives. DPC does this through research, education, and public engagement efforts.
Initiatives
Across Massachusetts, infrastructure is crumbling. Bridges are falling apart, water quality is degrading, and municipal budgets are facing higher costs to deliver basic services. All the while, taxes continue to increase, and the cost of living becomes less and less affordable. Municipal governments should get their priorities straight. Tax dollars should go to fixing our infrastructure, making housing affordable, and keeping our communities safe.
Government-owned broadband networks have a long history of failure, causing tax increases and leaving cities and their residents in debt. A study from University of Pennsylvania found that nearly 90% of government-run networks are financial failures because they can’t attract enough customers to cover expenses. Simply put, the government shouldn’t be in the business of business, especially when it comes to the Internet.
Politicians shouldn’t ban cars and trucks or the fuels they run on. Prioritizing American-made, American-grown fuels—fuels like Minnesota ethanol, biodiesel, gasoline and diesel—is crucial to keeping our communities alive. Bans are a recipe for higher prices and fewer choices. Our message to elected officials is simple: Don’t flush decades of investment in Minnesota fuels.
Meant to help low-income people afford their medicines, 340B is a federal mandate whereby hospitals and pharmacies are allowed to buy prescription drugs at a deep discount, and they are reimbursed by insurance companies at the full price. Yet, the financial benefits are accruing almost entirely to hospitals, clinics, and physicians while patients’ costs are increasing. State-by-state 340B expansion over the years has given more economic power to national chain pharmacies that have driven many local pharmacies out of business. It’s time to fix the 340B program.
The current state-based winner-take-all method of awarding electoral votes causes the voices and desires of voters in four out of five states to be ignored. The National Popular Vote will guarantee that every vote in every state will be politically relevant in every presidential campaign. It will make every American’s vote equal.
Tribal Sovereignty & Economic Development
The key to modernizing and expanding economic development for Native American Tribal Governments is leveraging technology and e-commerce. Doing so would allow them to overcome geographic and economic isolation, to implement better job training and education programs, to reduce dependence on businesses requiring face-to-face interactions, and to reduce unemployment.
Imposing interest rate caps on loans and restricting the credit options available to consumers are ill-conceived policies that do not achieve their desired outcome. Such policies unfairly target short-term, small-dollar loans that many disenfranchised and disadvantaged people use. People with subprime credit scores or “underbanked” or “unbanked” people often rely on these types of loans and other creative financing solutions to access credit for car repairs, to pay rent, or in a medical emergency.
