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Phil Kerpen

Credentials

Kerpen graduated from Stuyvesant High School with the class of 1997.¹
Kerpen attended the University of Pittburgh.²

Background

Phillip G. Kerpen is the president of American Commitment, a conservative 501(c)(4) group largely funded by Freedom Partners, a group controlled by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. He previously served as the vice president ofAmericans for Prosperity.³

Kerpen has previously worked with other key groups in the Koch network including the Free Enterprise Fund, the Club for Growth, and the Cato Institute. Kerpen also worked with Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity Foundation for over five years in various capacities including vice president for policy.⁴

:{Kerpen is chairman of the Internet Freedom Coalition (IFC), a group that opposes net neutralityregulation on Internet service providers (ISPs). According to IFC, there are “ three basic threats to Internet Freedom”—taxes, regulations, “and any attempt by the United Nations to manage the Internet.”

American Commitment is a member of the coalition, along with other conservative or libertarian groups including the American Conservative Union, American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Discovery Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, Heartland Institute, Independent Women’s Forum, Reason Foundation, and others.⁵ ^6 ^7}:

In 1999, Kerpen began as an intern at the Cato Institute working for Stephen Moore “whose work he admired.” Kerpen stuck close to Moore, describing his loyalty as part of his success. When Moore was being removed from an organization they both worked, Kerpen “immediately quit” and went with Steve. “Some others came over later, but I was the only one who quit on the spot. I’m proud of that,” Kerpen said in an interview. Kerpen eventually helped in the founding of the Free Enterprise Fund, started by Moore. (Moore’s controversial history led Trump to withdraw his name from contention for appointment to the Federal Reserve, though Kerpen defendedhim.)⁸ ^9 ^10

Kerpen and REINS

Kerpen has consistently written in favor of the the REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act of 2017. As *DeSmog* reported, REINS has long been a legislative priority for the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity and the Koch Industries and Koch-funded the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).¹¹

REINS dictates that a “major rule shall not take effect unless the Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval” and won’t become law if Congress does not pass that resolution by “70 session days or legislative days, as applicable.”¹²

“This radical departure from the longstanding separation of powers between the Executive and Legislative branches would delay and, in many cases, thwart implementation of statutory mandates and execution of duly-enacted laws, create business uncertainty, undermine much-needed protections of the American public, and cause unnecessary confusion,” OMB wrote in July 2015.¹³

“By replacing this well-established framework with a blanket requirement of Congressional approval, H.R. 427 would throw all major regulations into a months-long limbo, fostering uncertainty and impeding business investment that is vital to economic growth.”

Then-President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Kerpen, in what appears to be his first official statement on the record on the tobic about REINS:

“I will sign the REINS Act should it reach my desk as President and more importantly I will work hard to get it passed,” Trump said in a statement quoted in Kerpen’s December 30, 2016 op-ed in USA Today titled “It’s time to rein in regulators.”¹⁴

In his 2011 book Democracy Denied: How Obama is Ignoring You and Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America – and How to Stop Him, written while he still worked for AFP, Kerpen devoted an entire chapter in support of REINS.¹⁵

During that time, AFP also ran ObamaChart.com, a website DeSmog tracked down using internet archives, which depicted the REINS legislation as the solution for reversing “how it has become standard procedure in the Obama administration not to take no for an answer.”¹⁶

~Image ~credit: ~Way ~Back ~Machine

In the introduction to Democracy Denied, Kerpen says the book “is an extended commentary on the chart”:¹⁷

“Support for the REINS Act needs to be a basic litmus test for candidates for the House of Representatives, Senate, and president of the United States,” wrote Kerpen in his book. “Candidates who refuse to promise to restore accountability for legislative decisions to Congress are not worthy of support.”¹⁸

Kerpen and American Commitment later launched a social media campaignaround REINS, and purchased the web domain REINSAct.com in July 2015, and started an online petition campaign advocating for REINS’ passage. A January 14, 2018 update of the petition readsL “Senator Rand Paul has introduced the REINS Act! President Trump wants this bill on his desk, let’s make sure it gets there.”¹⁹

IFrame Content

On December 20, 2016, AFP included passage of the REINS Act in its list of “7 Things That Should Be On Everyone’s Wishlist for Our New Congress” and on January 4, the group published a press release calling for its passage, while Kerpen posted an article saying “We were never closer to seeing REINS Act become law.”²⁰ ^21 ^22

Koch Industries first began lobbying on the REINS Act in the third quarter of 2010. Along with like-minded groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Heritage Foundation‘s Heritage Action for America.²³ ^24

Stance on Climate Change

November 17, 2016

In an article urging President Trump to abandon the Paris climate treaty, Kerpen claimed models showed “minimal” global warming:²⁵

“The Midwest delivered the White House to Trump, who dominated among the working class voters who care far more about how much they are paying to fill up the gas tank and keep their lights on than they do about what United Nations computer models predict about the climate in decades or centuries – the results of which show minimal change anyway,” Kerpen wrote at American Commitment.

He added: “The Paris treaty is a magnificent example of the bad deals made for America that ultimately paved Donald Trump’s path to the White House.”

October 25, 2010

At an event hosted by the VIDCenter for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), before immediately pivoting to question the science:²⁶

“We don’t engage the science of global warming, or we try not to. […] The truth is, regardless of the climate sensitivity — and I do think there’s some question about the sensitivity — do you not? Do you think the GCMs [global climate models] are perfect in terms of the sensitivity to a doubling of CO2? […] I think that there’s actually a lot of questions […]”²⁷

Key Quotes

July 2018

Commenting on a carbon tax bill introduced by Republican lawmaker Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Kerpen was quoted in *The Hill*:²⁸

“There is no appreciation to be gained by the real Democrats by pretending to be a Democrat,” Kerpen said of Curbelo. “There’s a Republican consensus against this bill. It’s a bad idea, and any Republican who is tempted to embrace it will see very little friends on both sides of the aisle.”

August 2015

In an article entitled “Obama’s Draconian Carbon Caps ‘Will Bankrupt’ the Coal Industry,” Kerpen opposed cap-and-trade legislation in the Clean Powe Plan and urged state lawmakers to work against President Obama to block it:²⁹

“The Clean Power Grab similarly seeks to lock itself in permanently, even if eventually found illegal, by coercing states to do most of the dirty work of enacting draconian caps on fossil fuel use into state law,” Kerpen claimed in the article at CNSNews. “Those laws would continue in effect after the EPA rule is struck down, and would create permanent rent-seeking corporate cronies who benefit from emissions trading and renewables mandates that would make the laws almost impossible to repeal.”

“All state leaders should protect their citizens from higher electricity prices and job losses by rejecting the Obama administration’s call to submit a state plan,” he concluded.

September 2009

As *DeSmog* reported, celebrating the removal of Van Jonesfrom his position as a special advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Kerpen wrote on his involvement.³⁰ ^31

“It started July 9, when ‘FOX & Friends’ asked me if I’d come on the show the morning of July 10 to explain what ‘green jobs’ are. It meant an early morning the next day, but I was glad to do it, because exposing the green jobs scam is critical to fight cap-and-trade, my top legislative priority for the year. The producer asked me if I knew anything about green jobs ‘czar’ Van Jones. I didn’t but said I would find out.”

[…]

“I spent the next two weeks researching everything I could find about Jones and the Apollo Alliance (much of which is still to be published, including a forthcoming paper from the Capital Research Center next month), the national umbrella organization for coordinating between the environmentalists, the labor unions, and the social justice street organizers that Jones has served as a board member and a primary national spokesman for.”

[…]

“As I explained previously on the FOX Forum, the push for ‘green jobs’ has everything to do with funding the far-left political activities that Van Jones so adamantly believed in. Green jobs are not economic jobs but political jobs, designed to funnel vast sums of taxpayer money to left-wing labor unions, environmental groups, and social justice community organizers.”

Key Deeds

April 6, 2020

Phil Kerpen, representing American Commitment, is signatory to an American Energy Alliance letter to President Donald Trump supporting the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule which would scrap federal fuel economy mandates under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program.³²

Describing CAFE, the letter contends: “Those families and individuals who prefer or need trucks, SUVs, and crossovers pay more to subsidize those who buy smaller vehicles or electric vehicles under the existing mandate. This significant, needless, and unjust cost is a very real regressive tax on American families that has made our country worse off.”³³

July 11, 2019

Phil Kerpen, representing American Commitment, was a signatory to an American Energy Alliance open letter to President Trump, congratulating him for rolling back Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and urging him not to cut a deal with California to allow them to operate with separate regulations.³⁴

“Your efforts to reform this mandate will save consumers money, preserve their choices, and ensure that the federal government, and not a single state, sets national policy,” the letter reads.³⁵

“The existing mandate makes cars more expensive. … In short, because of the mandate, those consumers who prefer trucks, SUVs, or crossovers pay more to subsidize those who buy smaller vehicles or electric vehicles.”³⁶

June 2019

Phil Kerpen said his staff at American Commitment had sent a “large bulk submission”—amounting to nearly 1,600 comments—solicited from the group’s supporters supporting a freeze on fuel economy and emissions standards for vehicles proposed by the Trump administration, *The New York Times*reported.³⁷

“We can’t count on the automakers to carry this fight,” Kerpen said, echoing sentiments by Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). A set of emails released as part of a freedom of information request by the Sierra Club revealed Ebell and CEI “weighed in at a critical juncture in the policymaking process” to push Trump to roll back emissions standards.³⁸

“The automakers are not going to help and may be part of the opposition,” wrote Ebell in a May 2018 email.³⁹

“We understand that some in the automaker community have expressed concerns about your current plans to reform the program,” Ebell along with two other people that had assisted with the transition wrote in a May 10, 2018 letter to Trump. “Their main concern is the expected legal battle with California,” they wrote. “In fact, what many liberal California politicians really want to do is ban gasoline-powered cars altogether.” Their letter went on to say: “You should dismiss this concern. We agree that in an ideal world, California would negotiate with you in good faith, but we all know that is not a reality in this current political climate.”⁴⁰

May 15, 2019

Phil Kerpen wrote an op-ed for the AP News arguing that Congress should let the electric vehicle tax credit expire.⁴¹

May 9, 2019

Phil Kerpen of American Commitment was signatory to an open letter to Congress urging the discontinuation of the electric vehicle (EV) tax credit, *DeSmog*reported. The letter echoed a similar one from the previous September, which had also included many of the same signatories.⁴² ^43

“The American Energy Alliance (AEA) has organized a coalition to proclaim in one unified voice that there should be no expansion of the misguided electric vehicle tax credit,” Tom Pyle, president of the AEA and a former lobbyist for Koch Industries, wrote in a statement, first published by The Daily Caller News Foundation.⁴⁴

Notably, that statement was published at 5:10 am EDT on Thursday, before the letter could have been delivered. Evidently, the Koch-funded think tanks gave the Koch-funded website an advance copy. The Daily Caller News Foundation has received more than $2.6 million from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation since 2013.

April 24, 2019

Phil Kerpen wrote an article at CNSNews.com suggesting that Stephen Moore—who is also listed as a board member of the American Commitment Foundation—would be the best pick for the Federal Reserve.⁴⁵

“Stephen Moore would bring to the Fed decades of original economic thinking and an impressive track record of getting it right when so many others got it wrong. That’s why he’s the most qualified person for the job. And the most independent, too,” Kerpen claimed in the article.⁴⁶

Phil Kerpen. “Stephen Moore Does Not Lack Independence, Is Best Pick for Fed,” CNSNews.com, April 24, 2019. Archived June 5, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/OhtxI

March 18, 2019

Kerpen signed on to an open letter to President Trump supporting the creation of a proposed President’s Commission on Climate Security that would be led by climate change denier William Happer.⁴⁷

“The commission would consist of a small number of distinguished experts on climate-related science and national security. It would be charged with conducting an independent, high-level review of the Fourth National Climate Assessment and other official reports relating to climate and its implications for national security,” the letter claims.⁴⁸

“Among major issues that have been raised and that we hope the commission will scrutinize: the models used have assumed climate sensitivities to CO2 concentrations significantly higher than recent research warrants; the models used have predicted much more warming than has actually occurred; predictions of the negative impacts of global warming have been made based on implausible high-end emissions scenarios; the positive impacts of warming have been ignored or minimized; and surface temperature data sets have been manipulated to show more rapid warming than has actually occurred.”⁴⁹

April 23, 2018

American Commitment, represented by Phil Kerpen, was among 22 groups signed on to anopen letterasking President Trump to ignore recent criticism of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.⁵⁰

In a speech to the U.S. Senate, a group of Democratic senators identified the organizations as front groups for the Koch Brothers and other wealthy donors, nicknamed the “Web of Deceit.” The senators outlined how, in addition to funding from the Koch network, many of the groups use untraceable “dark money” funneled through groups like Donors Capital Fund and Donors Trust to influence legislation, particularly with regards to climate and pollution., represented by Lisa B. Nelson, was among 22 groups signed on to an open letter asking President Trump to ignore recent criticism of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.⁵¹

Senator Whitehouse outlined it as “a web of deceit conceived and bankrolled by the Koch brothers and other self-interested billionaires to advocate for very selfish and unpatriotic policies.” Whitehouse added: “This web of deceit has infiltrated and populated the Trump administration, and it is swamping the interests of everyday Americans.⁵²

March 28, 2018

Kerpen and American Commitment signed on to an open letter to then-EPA-Administrator Scott Pruitt calling for “the revocation of California’s waiver from the Clean Air Act, which allows the state to decouple from Federal policy and impose strict emission standards on automobiles.”⁵³

“Our coalition calls for the repeal of the Clean Air Act waiver in California, while encouraging market solutions over wasteful taxpayer funding,” the letter read.⁵⁴

When asked about this at the BNEF Future of Energy Summit, the chair of the California Air Resources Board, Mary Nichols,told *DeSmog*, “I don’t think they’re going to do that.”⁵⁵

February 12, 2018

Kerpen and American Commitment was part of a coalition led by Americans for Prosperity to oppose a federal gas tax increase. Groups joining AfP were groups including the National Taxpayers Union,Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Tax Reform, Club for Growth, Heritage Action, and numerous others.⁵⁶

“Raising the gas tax is a bad idea. It will make the burden of government on families and businesses heavier,” the coalition open letter read. While the Trump administration’s infrastructure proposal did not include a gas tax increase, AfP noted that several increases had been proposed.⁵⁷

July 12, 2017

American Commitment promoted a joint letter supporting the Davidson Climate Amendment that would prevent the Department of Defense from implementing policies or programs to combat climate change. American Commitment president Phil Kerpen was a signatory of the letter.⁵⁸

Other signatories included Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, E. Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance,John Droz of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions, and Craig Idso of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change.⁵⁹

January 12, 2017

Phil Kerpen was a signatory to a official letter of support (PDF) for Scott Pruitt,in which numerous groups, including The Heartland Institute, American Energy Alliance (AEA), and others, declared that the Senate should “swiftly approve his nomination” for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).⁶⁰

May 31, 2017

Kerpen in a discussion on [VID] ”:⁶¹

“I think the key point to understand is that the Paris treaty has no discernible impact on global average temperature, and therefore the alleged climate benefits are illusory,” Kerpen said.

“This is an agreement that if every country met its obligations according to the conventional EPA model would reduce global average temperature less than two-tenths of a degree in the year 2100. But of course, most of these countries are not meeting their obligations. […] The U.S. commitment would only avert an increase in temperature of about fifteen-thousandths of a degree by the year 2100.

So, there’s really not much upside here, but there’s tremendous downside because this agreement locks in those EPA regulations you were just talking about in the introduction—the Clean Power Plan—which increases electricity prices about twenty to thirty percent. That has a very negative impact on consumers across this country with no benefit to show for it.”⁶²

2012

American Commitment launched an initiative, KeystoneXLNow.com, calling for the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and opposing a carbon tax.⁶³

*DeSmog* reported on the launch of the then-new website in July 2012:⁶⁴ ^65

KeystoneXLNow.com invites users to send a message directly to the State Department to counterbalance “the crazy lefties [who] are already pouring in comments to give Obama an excuse to kill the pipeline.”The site calls on users to “push back by filling the official State Department docket with comments demanding they stop stalling and approve the Keystone XL pipeline now!” (emphasis added).⁶⁶

KeystoneXLNow.com now redirects to a subdomain of American Commitment. The website registration for KeystoneXLnow.com shows the site was registered by Phil Kerpen.⁶⁷

According to its website, American Commitment is “dedicated to restoring and protecting America’s core commitment to free markets, economic growth, Constitutionally-limited government, property rights, and individual freedom.”⁶⁸

October 2009

Kerpen, while working as AFP’s vice president of policy, moderated a panelat the AFP’s annual summit where the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Myron Ebelltold AFP members that global warming is “phony.”⁶⁹

The panel also included Phelim McAleer and Daniel Simmons.⁷⁰

Affiliations

American Commitment— President (Since Apr 2012).⁷¹
Internet Freedom Coalition (IFC)— Chairman.⁷²
Americans for Prosperity— Vice president, policy (Dec 2006 – Apr 2012).⁷³
Fiat Utopia, Inc.— Owner (Aug 1999 – Dec 2010).⁷⁴
Free Enterprise Fund— Policy director (Jan 2005 – June 2006).⁷⁵
Club for Growth— Policy analyst (Jan 2000 – Dec 2004).⁷⁶

Social Media

Phil Kerpen on LinkedIn.
@**kerpen on Twitter.
“Phil Kerpen” on Facebook

Publications

Phil Kerpen is listed as an authorat the conservative news source CNSnews.com. Below are some sample publications:

“Trump Should Waive Jones Act for Puerto Rico, Let Them Buy American Energy,” CNS News—Jun 24, 2019.
“Congress Should Let Electric Vehicle Subsidies Die,” CNS News—May 14, 2019.
“Stephen Moore Does Not Lack Independence, Is Best Pick for Fed,” CNS News—Apr 24, 2019.
“FCC Should Limit Locals from Piling Taxes and Fees onto Cable Bills,” CNS News—Mar 13, 2019.
“FCC Should Open Up 5.9 GHz Spectrum for Faster, Better WiFi,” CNS News—Feb 8, 2019.
“Trump Admin Must Not Adopt Foreign Price Controls for Prescription Drugs,” CNS News—Jan 16, 2019.
“Dems Should Support Trump in Making Sure Electric Vehicle Tax Break for the Rich Phases Out,” CNS News—Nov 29, 2018.
“Democrats Voted to Take Health Care Away from Millions,” CNS News—Oct 22, 2018.
“Obama Appointee Action on Student Loan Trusts Could Cause Massively Negative Ripple Effects,” CNS News—Sep 14, 2018.
“Trump Is Right to End Obama/California Backroom Fuel Economy Scheme,” CNS News—Aug 3, 2018.
“A Lesson for the GOP: Political Appeasement Doesn’t Work,” CNS News—Jul 26, 2018.
“Net Neutrality Is Really About Raising Taxes,” CNS News—Jun 14, 2018.
“Upcoming Farm Bill Should Reform More Than Just Food Stamps,” CNS News—May 14, 2018.
“FCC Should Open Up Faster, Better Wi-Fi Spectrum,” CNS News—Apr 3, 2018.
“FDA Tobacco Policy Faces Key Test,” CNS News—Mar 16, 2018.
“Hysterical Leftist Claims Proliferate Net Neutrality Myth,” CNS News—Dec 5, 2017.
“America’s Last Chance to Repeal Obamacare?,” CNS News—Sep 14, 2017.
“GOP Leaders Should Welcome Trump Move to End Congress’s Obamacare Bailout,” CNS News—Aug 14, 2017.
“FCC to Reverse Obama-Era Regulations, Restore Internet Freedom,” CNS News—May 22, 2017.
“Why Hasn’t Trump Canceled Obama’s Onerous Climate Deal?,” CNS News—May 19, 2017.
“Trump’s First 100 Days: Off to a Great Start,” CNS News—Apr 26, 2017.
“Net Neutrality Noise and Its Ultimate Goal: Total Government Control,” CNS News—Apr 18, 2017.
“Online Privacy Vote Is Not About What You Thought,” CNS News—Mar 30, 2017.
“Trump Should Pressure Congress, End Congress‚Äôs Illegal Obamacare Exemption,” CNS News—Mar 27, 2017.
“Trump Should Let Senate Kill Obama’s Paris Climate Treaty,” CNS News—Nov 21, 2016.
“New York Going Nuclear — Forced to Bail Out Bogged Down Nuclear Power Plants,” CNS News—Sep 14, 2016.
“UN Joins Green Group Activists in Anti-Energy Protest to Block N. Dakota Pipeline,” CNS News—Sep 2, 2016.
“Taxpayers on the Hook as Obamacare Exchanges Near the Edge of Collapse,” CNS News—Aug 12, 2016.
“Fed Set to Unload Explosive Student Loan Rule That Will Dump Billions on Taxpayers,” CNS News—Aug 8, 2016.
“Obama’s FCC’s Internet Takeover Would Reduce Internet to a Public Utility,” CNS News—Jun 15, 2016.
“Obama Admin Plans End Run Around Congress with Obamacare Bailout Scheme,” CNS News—May 3, 2016.
“Congress Should Flip the Switch and End Unauthorized Federal Spending,” CNS News—Mar 30, 2016.
“Speaker Ryan’s Disappointing Omnibus Spending Bill Has Free Speech Silver Lining,” CNS News—Dec 29, 2015.
“Obama’s Draconian Carbon Caps ‘Will Bankrupt’ the Coal Industry,” CNS News—Aug 7, 2015.
“Senate Amendment Could Destroy Your Car’s Trade-In Value,” CNS News—Jul 22, 2015.
“End the Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying Scam,” CNS News—Apr 9, 2015.
“Dragooning the States, EPA to Hide Global Warming Tax in Utility Bills,” CNS News—Mar 30, 2015.
“Death Tax Punishes Virtues, Rewarding Vice; Repeal Would Create Over 100k Jobs,” CNS News—Mar 18, 2015.
“America On the Brink of Losing Constitutional Form of Government Forever,” CNS News—Mar 5, 2015.
“Obama’s Plan to Regulate the Internet Risks Content Control,” CNS News—Feb 17, 2015.
“Supreme Court Can Save Millions from Illegal Obamacare Taxes,” CNS News—Feb 10, 2015.
“Out-of-Control Environmental Activists at EPA Threaten States’ Highway Funding,” CNS News—Jan 29, 2015.
“States Should Force Wasteful Fed. to Cut Gas Tax,” CNS News—Jan 22, 2015.
“Lifting Fed’s Oil Export Ban ‘Would Add 630,000 New Jobs’ and Lower Prices More,” CNS News—Jan 14, 2015.
“Keystone Fight Is About Much More,” CNS News—Jan 5, 2015.
“’Shameful’: 82.4 Percent of Medicaid Expansion Is Comprised of Childless Able-Bodied Adults,” CNS News—Dec 18, 2014.
“Questioning the Architect of Obamacare Deception, Jonathan Gruber,” CNS News—Dec 5, 2014.
“Obama’s Taxing Plan to Regulate the Internet,” CNS News—Nov 13, 2014.
“Stop Obama’s Internet Power Grab,” CNS News—Nov 10, 2014.
“First, Kill the Filibuster,” CNS News—Nov 5, 2014.
“Conservative Group Wins MoveOn.org/MayDay.us Video Contest by Landslide,” CNS News—Oct 20, 2014.
“Mark Warner Appears to Have Committed a Crime to Advance Obamacare,” CNS News—Oct 13, 2014.
“New York Fed: Extended Unemployment Benefits Beget Greater Unemployment,” CNS News—Oct 8, 2014.

Books

Democracy Denied: How Obama is Ignoring You and Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America – and How to Stop Him.BenBella Books (October 18, 2011).

Other Resources

“Phil Kerpen,” SourceWatch profile.
“Phil Kerpen,” LittleSis profile.
Phil Kerpen on Wikipedia.

Resources

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Phil Kerpen is vice president for policy at Americans for Prosperity, a free-market grassroots organization. For the past five years, Phil has been AFP’s principal policy and legislative strategist.

Phil is also an opinion columnist on FoxNews.com, chairman of the Internet Freedom Coalition, and a frequent radio and television commentator on economic growth issues. He previously worked at the Cato Institute, the Club for Growth, and the Free Enterprise Fund.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Phil currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joanna, and their daughter, Lilly.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/foxs-flagship-straight-news-show-promotes-bogus-covid-study-boost-republican

fox’s flagship “straight news” show promotes bogus COVID study to boost Republican policies

Right-wing apparatchiks want you to believe red states outperformed blue states during the pandemic — after they literally rewrote the death statistics

WRITTEN BY ERIC KLEEFELD

PUBLISHED 04/13/22

murdoch media outlets are promoting an economic report declaring that Republican-led states did better than their Democratic-led counterparts in the COVID-19 pandemic. But the supposed “study” is simply an engineered conclusion produced by a political front group, which gives extra credit to Republican policies to not implement public health guidance or restrict normal life. And on top of that, it manipulates the typically higher death rates in red states by artificially adjusting them downward, while dishonestly fabricating higher death statistics in blue states.

The report, with the grandiose title “A Final Report Card on the States’ Response to COVID-19,” is the brainchild of right-wing pundit Stephen Moore, along with conservative political organizer Phil Kerpen and libertarian University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan. (Both Moore and Mulligan served as political appointees in the Trump administration.) The report was released through theCommittee to Unleash Prosperity, a conservative group advocating the discredited principles of “supply-side” economics that has also promoted “pro-growth and liberty-based responses to COVID-19.”

The report, which is not peer-reviewed, also includes a note on the first page thanking Dr. Jay Bhattacharya “for his review of this study and his instructive advice.” Bhattacharya is a Stanford medical professor associated with the right-wing Hoover Institution, who has also informally advised Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) — a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2024 — and has appeared multiple times on Fox News and undermined the COVID-19 vaccines and public vaccination campaigns.Bhattacharya also co-authored the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a reckless libertarian proposal for loosening public health measures in the midst of the pandemic to achieve global “herd immunity.”

Fox’s Special Report covered this rigged “study” as if it were straight news

The study was touted on Monday’s edition of Fox’s flagship “straight” news program, Special Report with Bret Baier. A chyron on screen claimed, “Red states fare better on economic and health outcomes.” But as a close examination of the study reveals — briefly alluded to by Fox News correspondent Jonathan Serrie — this conclusion exists only after the authors made some creative adjustments “for age, obesity, and diabetes.”

Video Citation From the April 11, 2022, edition of Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier

Thestudy was also promoted in stories on Fox’s website, as well as in the editorial pages of the network’s corporate cousins: the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. FoxNews.com and the New York Post both mentioned the metric of “age-adjusted death rates,” while the Journal was a bit more forthcoming in noting that the study also made adjustments for “the prevalence of obesity and diabetes (leading co-morbidities for Covid deaths).”

The reports in these three Murdoch publications all pointed to the report’s praise of Florida as supposedly one of the best-performing states — a possible sign of Bhattacharya’s influence on both Florida’s policies and this report’s verdict. By contrast, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank has run through numbers from health care analyst Charles Gaba, which found that Florida is actually one of the worst-performing states in COVID-19 death statistics, even accounting for the state’s older population.

Moore also appeared on Monday morning’s edition of Fox Business’ *Varney & Co.*, during which he claimed, “The big takeaway is that the lockdown strategy was pretty much a total failure. … States that remained open did not have higher death rates from the virus than states that completely shut down.” Serrie later mentioned Moore’s study again, on Tuesday morning’s edition of America’s Newsroom.

Moore has built a career as possibly the worst economist in the media, making serially wrong pronouncements and false calculations in service of his political agendas.In March 2019, then-President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Moore to the Federal Reserve Board, only for Moore to eventually withdraw from consideration due to multiple controversies over his past political comments.

Committee to Unleash Prosperity rewrites death numbers in red states with a fake statistic: “Metabolic-health adjustment”

In order to arrive at the favored conclusion, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity report actually looked at more than just health outcomes. The group’s press release explains that it used three metrics for its findings — COVID-19 deaths, economic performance, and school openings — and declared they were “equally weighted” in the analysis. The result is that the question of saving lives accounts for only one-third of the calculation. The study also essentially just rehashes in pseudo-scientific form Moore’s long-standing contention that saving lives in the pandemic might not be “worth trillions of dollars of losses” and that simply allowing the virus to spread was “a better strategy” than enduring the economic costs of lockdowns.

The concept of age-adjusted deaths across populations is a tricky issue. While it is a legitimate line of inquiry, Fox News has exploited it ever since the start of the pandemic to create a nonchalant response to COVID-19 deaths among the elderly. Looking at this metric from a neutral source does show some interesting effects, but the ranks of worst-performing states would still be Republican-led ones such as Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Moore and his compatriots at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity have gone even further, however,by setting up a new metric in the fine print of their supposed study. They call it an adjustment for “metabolic health” in different populations — “the pre-pandemic prevalence of obesity and diabetes.” But what it really amounts to is a manipulation of the statistics to declare that higher death tolls should be discounted in populations that were less healthy to begin with, and toact as if public health responses can be separated from the overall health of the public.

Much of the discourse around the role of obesity in COVID-19 deaths has framed it as “another ongoing pandemic,” and the role of diabetes has been addressed in media as a “public health train wreck” and evidence of “America’s diabetes crisis.” But the Committee to Unleash Prosperity instead treats these deaths as somehow a mitigating factor in the public health responses of the states most affected. It’s almost as if, by the standards of Moore and his co-authors, the deaths of unhealthy people are not a problem at all.

As a result of this statistical chicanery, death rates in the South and some other Republican-led states were magically revised downward, while deaths were “adjusted” drastically higher in many Democratic states — skewing the data to make blue states look like the worst offenders.

“NV, NY, NJ, and DC were the four states with the highest metabolic-adjusted mortality, even though none is in the top four without the adjustment,” the report says — as if that were a good thing for the authors’ credibility — because those four places all have obesity and diabetes rates that are below the national average. By contrast, in the real-world statistics they began with, the worst contenders were all red states.

Fox News has waged a two-year propaganda campaign against public health, in which it has lied about COVID-19 vaccines, promoted fake cures, encouraged the spread of the virus, and turned people defying public health measures into culture war heroes even as their actions have gotten them killed. Fox also clearly does not believe any of what it preaches — see its own corporate vaccination and testing policies — but the network nevertheless pursues this framing because it is “great for ratings.”

Who knows, perhaps the network will be able to come up with a study showing that watching Fox News is good for surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, once the analysts can adjust for the comorbidities associated with watching Fox News.

---

LI 6 26 kerpen

Experience

[President American Commitment

Apr 2012 - Present · 14 yrs 3 mos

Washington, DC](https://www.linkedin.com/company/11070248/)

We are dedicated to restoring and protecting the American Commitment to free markets, economic growth, Constitutionally-limited government, property rights, and individual freedom.

---

[Vice President, Policy Americans for Prosperity

Dec 2006 - Apr 2012 · 5 yrs 5 mos](https://www.linkedin.com/company/43821/)

---

Owner

Fiat Utopia, Inc

Aug 1999 - Dec 2010 · 11 yrs 5 mos

---

Policy Director

Free Enterprise Fund

Jan 2005 - Jun 2006 · 1 yr 6 mos

---

[Policy Analyst Club for Growth

Jan 2000 - Dec 2004 · 5 yrs](https://www.linkedin.com/company/6114920/)

Skills (31)

RECS

Politics

Endorsed by Jonathan Collegio and 39 others who are highly skilled at this

Endorsed by 22 colleagues at Americans for Prosperity

99+ endorsements

---

Economics

Endorsed by John L. Chapman who is highly skilled at this

Endorsed by 4 colleagues at Americans for Prosperity

J.P. De Gance

Founder and President at Communio, Co-Author of Endgame: The Church's Strategic Move to Save Faith and Family in America

September 19, 2022

Phil Kerpen is easily the most brilliant regulatory policy thinker in DC and one of the most intelligent policy experts in the nation. More than that, this guy is a phenomenal strategist and tactician. When Phil speaks, the wise listen.](https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-p-de-gance-5998748/)

[

Katy A.

3rd](https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-abram/)

[

American Accountability Foundation, CompanyAmerican Accountability Foundation

148 followers](https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-accountability-foundation/)

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Economics, CompanyEconomics

400,790 followers](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skills-economics/)

---

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---

GGL 6 26

[### Koch-Trained Pundit Says London Fire Isn't Government's ...

EXPOSEDbyCMD

https://www.exposedbycmd.org › 2017/07/12 › megan-...](https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/07/12/megan-mcardle-koch-trained-pundit-grenfell-tower/)

Jul 12, 2017 — AFP and ALEC lobbied heavily for the bill, and former AFP staffer Phil Kerpen received a commitment from Donald Trump to sign the bill should it ...Read more

[### greenp eace.org /kochindustries

The New York Times

https://static01.nyt.com › blogs › greeninc › koch](https://static01.nyt.com/images/blogs/greeninc/koch.pdf)

PDF

Mar 12, 2010 — Ř September 2009: Americans for Prosperityős policy director. Phil Kerpen repeated the study's findings in online68 comments. ... Institute for ...Read more

[### The Kochtopus Media Network

Greenpeace

https://www.greenpeace.org › climate › koch-industries](https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/climate/climate-deniers/koch-industries/the-kochtopus-media-network/)

Carney also disclosed that he has been paid by the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) for speaking events. ... Tim Phillips and Phil Kerpen of Americans for ...Read more

[### Institute for Energy Research (IER)

DeSmog

https://www.desmog.com › Database Entries](https://www.desmog.com/institute-energy-research/)

Phil Kerpen. “Cap-and-Trade Energy Tax: Job-Killer With No Environmental Benefit,” American for Prosperity: Texas, AFP Texas Blog, July 30, 2009. Archived ...Read more

---

Conservative Op-Eds Argued Wrongly That China and India Are Not Taking Action

Right-wing op-eds falsely claimed that China, India and other developing nations were not committed to Paris goals.

In a syndicated column that appeared in USA Today and USA Today Network newspapers, Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment and a former vice president of Americans for Prosperity, wrote, "The Paris treaty effectively bans coal-fired power plants in the United States—while China has 368 coal plants under construction and more than 800 in the planning stage. India's coal production under the deal is allowed to double by 2020—and they are likely to have emissions much higher than what they promised." And in his anti-Paris op-ed in theBoston Herald, Loris wrote, "Developing nations want affordable, dependable energy to raise their standards of living, and countries such as India, China and Indonesia need to use a lot of coal to get there."

China and India are on pace to meet their emissions targets ahead of schedule.

The Washington Post recently reported that an analysis conducted by the Climate Action Tracker found that "China and India are on track to overachieve on their climate pledges" and quoted Bill Hare, CEO of the nonprofit science and policy institute Climate Analytics, saying that China and India "are going to slow the global growth in CO2 emissions significantly." A New York Times editorial discussing the same analysis noted, "The shift from fossil fuels has ... been much faster and more pronounced than most experts expected. China has reduced coal use for three years in a row and recently scrapped plans to build more than 100 coal power plants. Indian officials have estimated that country might no longer need to build new coal plants beyond those that are already under construction."

China and India are taking big steps to develop clean energy and scale back coal plants.

In January of this year, China announced that it plans to spend more than $360 billion through 2020 on renewable energy sources and is canceling plans to build more than 100 coal-fired power plants. Last year, India announced that it plans to get 57 percent of its total electricity capacity from renewable sources by 2027 and launch a $2 billion equity fund to boost renewable energy development. According to The Associated Press, a March report by the groups CoalSwarm, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace found that "construction starts for coal-fired plants in China and India were down by 62 percent in January from a year earlier while new facilities starting operation declined 29 percent." Additionally, a May 22 New York Times editorial noted, "Electric vehicle sales in China jumped 70 percent last year, thanks in large part to generous government incentives. India is much further behind in this area, but the country's minister of power said last month that all cars sold in the country should be electric by 2030.

Developing nations pushed for a strong Paris agreement and were "crucial" to its adoption.

Developing countries, including the least developed countries, were a key part of the "high ambition coalition" that called for tougher climate change policies and "was widely credited with ensuring the Paris meeting ended in agreement," according to Climate Change News. Far from pushing for a weak agreement and wanting leeway to burn coal, the developing nations have been insistent on the need for fast action to deal with climate change, and have sounded alarms about the role of corporations and lobbyists in UN climate negotiations, fearing that they might weaken emissions goals.

Developing nations committed to cutting emissions even though it's more difficult for them and they have less responsibility to do so.

The world's developing countries have emitted only a small proportion of the climate-warming gases that humans have sent into the atmosphere over the past 160 years, and so they're responsible for only a small proportion of the global warming the world is experiencing. And yet all but two of the world's developing nations signed onto the Paris agreement and submitted action plans, many of which experts said were ambitious. Yet developing countries face a tougher challenge reducing emissions than their wealthier counterparts do. As Robert Lempert of the RAND Corporation explained to the Chicago Tribune, "The richest countries have much of their economy in lower-emitting sectors. ... The U.S. can grow their economy and improve their quality of life without increasing energy use. But in developing countries, you can't do that."

Op-Eds Against the Agreement Pushed Climate Science Denial

Anti-Paris agreement op-eds spread climate science misinformation.

In an op-ed for The Washington Times, Princeton emeritus physics professor and climate denier William Happer wrote that the U.S. "should withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement," claiming, "For too long, well-meaning policymakers have been misled by propaganda, masquerading as science, that more atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) will harm the planet ... More CO2 is not a pollutant but is a benefit to humanity." In an op-ed in The Hill, Patrick J. Michaels of the Cato Institute attempted to undermine the scientific rationale behind the Paris agreement by disputing that human activity is the dominant cause of recent global warming.

Slate's Phil Plait: Claiming CO2 is not a pollutant is "ridiculous" and "in-your-face wrong."

In a Feb. 18 column, science journalist Phil Plait wrote in Slate that the frequently used climate-denier claim that CO2 is not a pollutant is "ridiculous," "in-your-face wrong" and a "typical denier distraction technique, trying to downplay or distract you from what's really going on." He summarized the overwhelming scientific consensus: While some carbon dioxide is necessary for plant life, burning fossil fuels and thus releasing excess carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is warming up the globe "too quickly for many living things to adapt." Carbon pollution is causing rapid changes to the Earth's climate, and, as Plait explained, that speed is the "danger; the rate at which we are heating the planet is unprecedented."

Humans are "by far" the dominant cause of global warming.

InsideClimate News reported in 2016 that "ninety to 100 percent of climate scientists agree that the planet is warming due to human activity, according to a peer-reviewed paper published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The study, called a 'consensus on consensus' synthesizes findings from prior published research." In 2013, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported, "It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century." The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines "extremely likely" as having 95 to 100 percent probability. A 2009 letter signed by 18 U.S. scientific organizations stated that "greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver" of climate change. In a 2012 literature review for the blog Skeptical Science, Dana Nuccitelli laid out the overwhelming evidence that humans are the primary driver of climate change, writing, "A wide variety of statistical and physical approaches all arrived at the same conclusion: that humans are the dominant cause of the global warming over the past century, and particularly over the past 50 years. This robust scientific evidence is why there is a consensus among scientific experts that humans are the dominant cause of global warming."

Reposted with permission from our media associate Media Matters for America.

REINS

---

https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/01/05/koch-reins-act-congress-trump

One of the first orders of business for the freshly convened 115th Congress — now that it's no longer attempting to gut an independent ethics office — is to pass a bill which could weaken the ability of federal regulatory agencies to do their jobs.

That law, the REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act of 2017, has long been a legislative priority for Koch Industries, Koch-funded advocacy groups such as Americans for Prosperity, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Its latest iteration, H.R. 26*, has the backing of Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) and 159 co-sponsors (five Democrats and 154 Republicans) and has reached full debate on the House floor.***

REINS dictates that a “major rule shall not take effect unless the Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval” and won't become law if Congress does not pass that resolution by “70 session days or legislative days, as applicable.”

President Barack Obama's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) came out against the 2015 version of the REINS Act.

The OMB pointed toward the myriad existing safeguards that already ensure regulatory agency accountability, including the federal court system, the fact that many regulatory proposals actually stem from laws passed by Congress, and the requirement for robust public commenting periods.

Image Credit: White House Office of Management and Budget

A DeSmog investigation shows that Koch Industries and its front groups have been behind the earliest pushes to pass the REINS Act.

“Obama Chart”

Tellingly, the only person President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to on the record about REINS is Phil Kerpen, president of the think-tank American Commitment.According to his LinkedIn profile, Kerpen worked for more than five years as Vice President of Policy for the Koch-founded and Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP).

“I will sign the REINS Act should it reach my desk as President and more importantly I will work hard to get it passed,” Trump said in a statement for Kerpen's December 30, 2016 op-ed.

“The monstrosity that is the Federal Government with its pages and pages of rules and regulations has been a disaster for the American economy and job growth. The REINS Act is one major step toward getting our government under control.”

Kerpen's post was titled, “It's time to rein in regulators.”

In his 2011 book Democracy Denied: How Obama is Ignoring You and Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America - and How to Stop Him, written while he still worked for AFP, Kerpen devoted an entire chapter in support of REINS.

Image credit: Way Back Machine

In the introduction to Democracy Denied, Kerpen says the book “is an extended commentary on the chart,” with the REINSAct serving as a panacea for the problem he claims exists.

Fast-forwarding to today, Kerpen and American Commitment have launched a social media push for REINS, purchased the web domain REINSAct.com in July 2015, and started an online petition campaign advocating for REINS' passage, which to date has garnered over 113,000 signatures.

[vid]

Koch Lobbying

According to lobbying disclosure forms, Koch Industries began lobbying on the REINS Act in the third quarter of **2010. Joining Koch were the likes of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Heritage Foundation's Heritage Action for America.

That same year, congressional Republicans issued their “Pledge to America” before the mid-term elections, which included the basic tenets of REINS and even included the word “rein.”

The Koch brothers spent millions of dollars to elect Republicans during that landmark electoral cycle, which saw Republicans take a majority in the U.S. House, pick up 680 statehouse seats, and win six gubernatorial elections.

“We will rein in the red tape factory in Washington, DC by requiring congressional approval of any new federal regulation that may add to our deficit and make it harder to create jobs,” promised congressional Republicans.

In 2012, the new congressional session introduced REINS once again, this time with much more backing from industry lobbyists. Koch, Heritage, and the Chamber of Commerce were joined this time around by Peabody Energy, Duke Energy, Arch Coal, Southern Company, ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil, and others.

Also in 2012, ALEC — which is funded by and which provides a corporate bill mill forum for all of these players — passed a model resolution in support of REINS.

For more recent versions of the bill, the oil and gas industry at large have now come on board through the American Petroleum Institute and the Western Energy Alliance (WEA).

“The bill provides common-sense ways to ensure regulatory accountability to the American people through their elected representatives and to reduce the unintended negative consequences of new regulations on economic and job growth,” wrote WEA in an April 2015 letter.

Coming full circle, KochIndustries and AFP lobbied for a state-level version of the REINS Act in 2015 in Wisconsin, according to the state's lobbying disclosure database. The bill, Assembly Bill 251, passed in the State Assembly but not in the Senate and was just re-introduced for the 2017 session.

During his presidential campaign, Trump referred to Republicans reliant on Koch money as “puppets” and said he turned down a meeting with the Koch brothers. Yet, the Trump administration is increasingly loaded with Koch allies.

“Dream About”

Not everyone, however, is thrilled with the REINS Act. In a January 4 letter written to Speaker Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Center for American Progress (CAP) said that if the REINS Act passes, it would be akin to a “shutdown” of federal regulatory agencies.

“By requiring an affirmative vote by Congress for a regulation to become effective, and allowing non-action to result, effectively, in a veto of those regulations, the REINS Act is for all intents and purposes a shutdown of the regulatory branch of the Federal government,” wrote CAP. “Congress should do its job and protect the public, not hand the government over to corporate and special interests.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council has also denounced the bill.

Ryan, however, feels his party has a mandate to pass legislation such as the REINS Act. In the address he gave after being announced Speaker of the House for the 115th Congress, Ryan called the three branches of GOP-controlled government a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

[img]

“This is the kind of thing that most of us only dream about. I know — because I used to dream about it,” said Ryan. “The people have given us unified government. And it wasn’t because they were feeling generous. It’s because they wanted results.”

*Update: On the U.S. Senate side of things REINS has also been introduced as S.21 and has 27 co-sponsors.27 co-sponsors.

**Update: Though it has yet to pass in the House, Koch-funded front group FreedomWorks already has a URL in placecelebrating the passage of REINS, which popped up via Google Alerts.

Review

“This is a must-read for everyone who values our nation’s bedrock principles. What Obama is trying to unilaterally impose on the American people is nothing short of regulatory tyranny. Phil Kerpen breaks down the Obama administration’s regulatory onslaught and shows those of us who love the Constitution what we can do about it.”

—Mark Levin, bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio host

“Phil Kerpen offers both a warning and a lesson about a radical minority and its concerted efforts to control the lives and voices of all Americans. Democracy Denied is a literal guidebook on the progressive game plan—now it’s up to us to heed the warning.”

—Glenn Beck, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Democracy Denied demonstrates how President Obama is packing federal agencies with handpicked liberal activists who are rewarding campaign allies, punishing opponents, and pushing the failed Keynesian fiscal policies Americans rejected at the ballot box in 2010. Phil Kerpen’s must-read book provides much-needed solutions to the unaccountable bureaucrats who seek to control what cars we drive, the foods we eat, and even the lights we use.”

—U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina)

“Obama is on a mission—to conceal his socialist record behind a veil of moderation. Phil Kerpen pierces that veil and shows the Obama beneath. He has broken the Obama code.”

—Dick Morris, Fox News contributor

“President Obama has sought from day one to bypass elected representatives in Congress and impose his liberal agenda by regulatory fiat. This unchecked regulatory assault is draining the lifeblood from our economy and eroding our liberties. Phil Kerpen’s book is an excellent tool for anyone seeking to understand the consequences of regulatory tyranny and the story of the REINS Act—the most important reform that, if passed, will restore accountability and balance to the regulatory process.”

—U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky)

“You know Team Obama is up to no good, but you don’t even know the half of it. Phil Kerpen takes you inside all the back rooms and back doors that these left-wing power-grabbers have used to subvert the will of the people—and trample the rule of law. Democracy Denied exposes you to the true size and scope of the Obama regulatory Leviathan. Kerpen’s comprehensive research will make your blood boil and stir you to action.”

—Michelle Malkin, Fox News contributor and bestselling author of Culture of Corruption

“The American people are the most innovative in the world, but they are being held back by the Obama administration’s extreme regulatory agenda. Phil Kerpen cuts to the heart of this problem and shows us the path forward.”

—U.S. Representative Mike Pence (R-Indiana)

“Federal regulations have the slippery tentacles of an octopus strangling businesses, families, and workers. Democracy Denied exposes the threats to economic freedom from Barack Obama’s gang of unelected regulatory zealots.”

—Stephen Moore, senior economics writer and editorial board member at The Wall Street Journal

“The Obama socialist juggernaut is attempting to ride roughshod over the will of the people, skirt existing laws, and sideswipe the Constitution. In Democracy Denied, Phil Kerpen masterfully articulates the challenges we face, and, most importantly, provides common sense solutions and strategies you need to know.”

—Jerry Doyle, nationally syndicated radio host

“As an elected city official, I have seen firsthand how the federal regulatory racket hurts local governments, citizens, and businesses. Phil Kerpen does an excellent job exposing abuses and offering constructive solutions to rein in the autocracy of unelected regulators.”

—Erick Erickson, Editor of RedState.com

“Phil Kerpen has accomplished the impossible: he’s given us a rousing polemic against President Barack Obama without being polemical. He exposes Obama’s hidden agendas with take-no-prisoners investigative spadework instead of conspiracy-theory guesswork. And he shows us from the forefront of the battle how to stop Obama with no-nonsense legislative and political strategies that any citizen can help with.”

—Ron Arnold, Executive Vice President of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, and bestselling author of EcoTerror

About the Author

Phil Kerpen is president of American Commitment, a free-market advocacy organization. He was previously Americans for Prosperity's principal policy and legislative strategist.

Phil is also an opinion columnist on FoxNews.com, chairman of the Internet Freedom Coalition, and a frequent radio and television commentator on economic growth issues. He also previously worked at the Cato Institute, the Club for Growth, and the Free Enterprise Fund.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Phil currently resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joanna, and their three children.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 352 pages

Publisher: BenBella Books (October 18, 2011)

BenBella Books is an independent publishing house based in Dallas, Texas. BenBella was founded by Glenn Yeffeth in 2001. It specializes in non-fiction books on popular culture,[1] health, and nutrition, along with books on science, politics, psychology, and other topics.

Smart Pop

The Psychology of Harry Potter (2007)

BenBella publishes the Smart Pop series, a line of essay anthologies on popular culture.[2] Titles include The Psychology of Harry Potter (2007),[3] Grey's Anatomy 101 (2007),[4] The Science of Dune (2008),[5][6] and The Science of Michael Crichton (2008).[7]

Democracy Denied has 16 ratings and 5 reviews. Trekscribbler said: Let ... Published October 18th 2011by BenBella Books (first published October 11th 2011).

Democracy Denied, by Phil Kerpen - :(style="background-color:#ffffffff"):}::{Capital Research Center

https://capitalresearch.org/article/**democracy**-**denied**-by-phil-kerpen/

Oct 26, 2011 - Phil Kerpen's acclaimed new book, Democracy Denied: How Obama ... Off American Taxpayers (WND Books, 2011), Vadum writes and speaks ...

trump:

And it's not just the transition team that's looking for help from Koch minions—it's Trump himself. As Steve Horn reported in DeSmog, the only person Trump spoke to on the record about a big anti-regulatory act that's been on the Kochs' agenda for years was Phil Kerpen, former vice president of policy for Americans for Prosperity. The REINS Act just passed the House on Jan. 5.

http://www.philkerpen.com/

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/27/kerpen-afp-thinkprogress/

pooley:

Beck uses kerpen, phil to go after VJ (afp) 411 a commie, and obama a

racist. VJ heartnened right that they could win by bs bullying 413

---

Phil Kerpen is policy director for the Free Enterprise Fund.

A biographical note states he is also the "publisher of Cross-X.com, the

leading web site for high school policy debaters." He has previously

worked as a policy analyst for the Club for Growth, the Woodhill

Foundation and the Cato Institute. [1]

Kerpen is quoted frequently in a variety of publications.

External links

* "Phil Kerpen", Free Enterprise Fund, undated, accessed July 2005.