Archives for June 2011

June 27th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement responding to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s proposal to increase taxes on small businesses:

“Rather than ‘shrink the overall size of government programs’, Treasury Secretary Geithner wants to raise taxes on small businesses, as if the reason the deficit has skyrocketed to $1.5 trillion is because tax rates were too low. It is not.

“The deficit has skyrocketed because spending has increased by more than $1 trillion since 2007. The other $400 billion of the increase in the deficit was because of slower economic growth and millions of lost jobs, which decreased revenue. Tax rates are pretty much the same they were before the recession.

“That means three-quarters of the solution to balancing the budget are spending cuts. The other 25 percent of the solution is to grow the economy and create millions of jobs, which will not occur by raising taxes on small business job creators.”

Attachments:

“Debt Cannot Be Paid With Tax Hikes,” By Robert Romano, ALG Senior Editor, June 24th, 2011 athttp://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?display=3447.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 24th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement commenting on an ALG studyestimating what the release 60 million barrels of oil over a 30 day period would save consumers about $.10 a gallon for gasoline:

“If one is generous and assume yesterday’s $4 drop was solely because of Obama and the International Energy Agency, at best it will save consumers $.10 a gallon for gasoline. That works out to about $1.50 per fill up, or $6 for the month the additional gasoline is available.

“In other words, Obama has jeopardized national security by drawing down the strategic reserves to, at best, save consumers about $1.50 per fill up when this ‘flood’ of new gasoline hits the market. To call this irresponsible would be an understatement.”

Attachments:

“ALG Estimate on Price Impact of Releasing Strategic Oil Reserves,” June 24th, 2011 athttp://www.getliberty.org/files/ALGEstimateonImpactofReleasingStrategicOilReserves.pdf .

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 23rd, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged the Senate to roll back a $100 billion expansion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was enacted in 2009.

“It is simply outrageous that the world’s largest debtor, the United States, is bailing out creditors in Europe that bet poorly on Greek and Irish debt,” Wilson said.

“We need to get our own fiscal house in order before we get in the business of bailing out the world from its own foolish overspending,” he added.

The expansion that passed in 2009 contained the SDR equivalent of $100 billion on the date of the agreement and increased the U.S. share in the IMF by Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 4.97 billion at a cost of $8 billion. This compares to the $10 billion line of credit to the IMF worth SDR 6.6 billion prior to the expansion.

The amendment, offered by Senator Jim DeMint, would roll back the $100 billion credit line to the IMF, and is expected to be voted on later today.

The expansion had fulfilled an Obama Administration G-20 pledge as part of a $550 billion global effort to bolster the international bank. The G-20 then approved a new $250 billion general allocation of SDR — the bank’s reserve asset.

Since then, the IMF expansion has been used as part of the European Union and European Central Bank’s (ECB) bailouts of international creditors of Greece (€110 billion), Ireland (€85 billion), and Portugual (€78 billion). “The IMF-EU-ECB bailouts are nothing more than kick-the-can refinance loans that do nothing to help these insolvent sovereigns to restructure their debts,” Wilson noted.

After receiving its €110 billion in refinance loans, Greece still cannot sell its debt privately, and that nation’s creditors are back for another bailout that could total anywhere from 80 to 100 billion.

Proposals that creditors instead take losses on their loans and allow these countries to restructure their debts have been overruled by bank ministers including the ECB Jean-Claude Trichet and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Wilson explained the danger, “Whichever states borrow money from these creditors are risking losing their sovereignty. They should be allowed to restructure their debts, the creditors should take their losses. Nobody forced them to lend the money.”

“Senators who refuse to rein in the IMF bailout of European creditors are foolish. They are enabling a new faceless global ruling elite of financial institutions to run roughshod over representative governments in Europe and elsewhere,” Wilson added, concluding, “The sad truth is American taxpayers, by financing the IMF, are underwriting the destruction of representative government in Europe that their fathers and grandfathers fought and sacrificed their lives to defend.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 22nd, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement commenting on the Congressional Budget Office’s latest long-term projections on the growth of the national debt:

“The debt crisis is worse than we are being told. The CBO analysis does not take account of the gross $14.344 trillion national debt, nor does it reflect the $430 billion in gross interest payments we are paying every year. In addition to ‘debt held by the public,’ there is debt owed to the Medicare and Social Security trust funds, and which interest is owed to as well.

“These are real liabilities that the American people are expected to honor, and do honor under CBO’s analysis. But they are not revealed until 2024 and 2036, when the trust funds are fully exhausted. Why? It’s just an accounting gimmick that hides the full extent of the debt crisis.

“Because those liabilities are not fully taken into account, even the dire scenarios that are presented to the American people are actually rosy. We cannot afford to wait 15 to 25 years to be honest about the debt burden we have taken on. It’s real, and the problem is now, not in 2021, nor 2024, nor 2036. It’s now.

“For example, the American people are not advised that the national debt will actually be larger than the entire economy in 2012 if not sooner. At $14.344 trillion, the national debt already represents 95.5 percent of the $15.010 trillion Gross Domestic Product. Yet the CBO reports the debt will not be larger than the economy until 2021.

“Nor are the people warned that total interest payments already exceed the 18 percent of revenue red flag level Moody’s has explicitly warned against as being unaffordable. Will Moody’s wait until 2024 and 2036 to discover that interest payments suddenly jumped?

“That said, the CBO’s projections are really, really bad. They point to the need for every member of Congress to take the ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ pledge, which would immediately cut spending by hundreds of billions, cap it at 18 percent of GDP, and send a Balanced Budget Amendment to the states for adoption. Time is running out for Congress to take meaningful action to avert a true crisis.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 21st, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson will be joining Senators Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio, Orrin Hatch, and House Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan tomorrow, along with other free market and limited government leaders at a press conference in support of the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” Pledge.

Wilson called on all members in Congress to take the pledge. “In exchange for any vote to increase the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling, it is imperative that Republican leaders demand hundreds of billions of immediate spending cuts, statutory spending caps to no more than 18 percent of GDP, and a Balanced Budget Amendment with strong tax and spending limitations,” he said.

The pledge is targeted to all federal elected officials as well as candidates for federal office including the presidency.

“With the national debt rapidly spiraling out of control, rising to more than $26 trillion by 2021, the nation’s obligations are becoming too large to finance without a printing press,” Wilson warned, adding, “Congressional Republicans need to use the leverage they have — now — before the debt gets too large to even refinance, let alone be repaid.”

Wilson praised Senators Jim DeMint, Orrin Hatch, Mike Lee, Jerry Moran, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Pat Toomey, along with Representatives Jason Chaffetz, Jim Jordan, Ron Paul, and Joe Walsh for being the first members of Congress to sign the pledge.

“The sovereign debt crisis is coming to America. One need only look at Europe to see what is in store for the nation, and these Senators and Representatives deserve the thanks of the American people for their courageous stand to restore order to the nation’s fiscal house,” Wilson said.

“There should be no vote to further increase the debt ceiling unless the American people have the assurance that it will not need to be increased again, and again, and again,” Wilson said, concluding, “Now it is time for Republican leaders in Congress to draw a line in the sand and take the pledge. The only way Republicans’ leverage on the debt ceiling will work is if they’re willing to not increase the debt ceiling.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 20, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued a statement urging the House not to cave in to calls to scale back its demands to make far-reaching spending cuts in exchange for any vote to increase the $14.294 trillion national debt ceiling:

“House Speaker John Boehner cannot afford to flinch in the debate over the debt ceiling. There is too much at stake. The debt ceiling is the battle of our time, and will determine whether the nation’s future is one of unsustainable debt, catastrophic default, and decline, like Europe, or one of prosperity, growth, and fiscal prudence.

“For Republicans to concede an increase in the debt ceiling without far-reaching spending cuts would be to sacrifice the only leverage they have to restore order to the nation’s fiscal house. Speaker Boehner must hold firm for the sake of all Americans.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 14, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement urging Senate Republicans to block John Bryson from being confirmed as the next Secretary of Commerce:

“While the Obama Administration says it wants to create jobs, the American people can no longer listen to what Obama says; they must look at what he is doing. John Bryson is a radical environmentalist who has explicitly advocated for policies that will have the effect of destroying jobs in the nation’s energy sector and raising energy prices for American families, including supporting the 2009 proposal to legislatively cap carbon emissions.

“Bryson also co-founded the radical Natural Resources Defense Council and even helped spearhead the United Nations climate change movement. If Bryson has his way, the U.S. will be restricted from producing energy domestically, and that will cost the economy even more jobs at a time when unemployment is already unacceptably high.

“Senate Republicans should do all in their power to block Bryson for Commerce Secretary, including placing legislative holds on his nomination and forcing a cloture vote. There is no place in the Commerce Department for an appointee who is explicitly against traditional sources of energy that are essential to a healthy American economy.”

Attachments:

“Obama’s Commerce Department—‘Spreading The Wealth Around’ Globally,” by ALG Chairman Howard Rich, June 6, 2011 athttp://netrightdaily.com/2011/06/obama%E2%80%99s-commerce-department%E2%80%94%E2%80%98spreading-the-wealth-around%E2%80%99-globally/

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 8, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement blasting the Obama Administration for offering that the U.S. would contribute to another bailout to debt-plagued Greece said to total €80 to €100 billion:

“Leaving the absurdity aside of the world’s largest debtor, the U.S., pledging financial assistance to troubled sovereigns like Greece, it is no less outrageous. The real reason for the U.S. intervention may be that American financial institutions like AIG may have sold credit-default swaps to some European institutions that bought Greek debt as insurance against default. If Greece defaults, then the swaps would pay out, and that would put companies like AIG and whoever else sold swaps on Greek debt in hot water.

“Moreover, German and French banks own about €15.5 billion and €10.28 billion of Greece’s €340 billion debt, meaning a default would hit them particularly hard, too. The European Central Bank too is on the hook directly for €45 billion in Greek debt, not to mention tens of billions of Greek debt it accepted as collateral when making loans. Of course these banks want another bailout. They cannot afford to take losses of that magnitude.

“Really, this is less about bailing out Greece than it is about bailing out international banks that have bet extremely poorly on sovereign debt in Greece and elsewhere. It must be made perfectly clear that American taxpayers ought not to be on the hook for the mistakes of European bankers and profligate spenders in Greece. Bailing out Europe is a crime against American taxpayers that will not soon be forgiven.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 6, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement in support of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to reform Medicare:

“The House Republican plan to phase out the current Medicare program, whereby those 55 years and older would stay in the current system, but those younger would be given more options to buy insurance policies across state lines will extend the solvency of the program. If nothing is done, the Trustees are reporting that the Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in 2024. At that point, benefits will automatically be cut 10 percent, increasing to 25 percent reductions by 2045, say the Trustees. So, it’s certainly better than the alternative.

“The reality will probably be much worse than that, since those projections are based on the premise of a robust economic recovery that still has not happened. Every year the economy continues to flounder, and revenues fail to recover to the Treasury, the life of Medicare is lessened. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan deserves credit for putting a proposal on the table that seeks to foster the program’s long-term solvency before it is too late and we simply run out of money to pay for it.

“It is irresponsible to demagogue potential solutions to the Medicare insolvency crisis when all of the alternatives discussed lead invariably to its insolvency. The House Republican budget, if it is to be criticized, can be said to not do enough to restore order to the nation’s fiscal house. But its proposals on Medicare are a good enough starting point. The alternative of doing nothing and kicking the can is no longer an option.

“The Obama Administration claimed that it ‘saved’ Medicare when it adopted ObamaCare. But as the Trustees report notes, the program is still on an unsustainable trajectory. Moreover, all ObamaCare does is take $57 billion a year in Medicare revenues and use it to expand government-run health care to more than 30 million non-seniors. In other words, all it did was to exacerbate the situation by attempting to provide similar services to millions of more people.

“The only alternative on the table at the moment besides doing nothing that Democrats appear interested in is raising taxes to pay for a program that even then will still not be sustained. That’s not a good investment in the future when reforms can be made today that will make tax increases unnecessary. Moreover, raising taxes into the teeth of this current recession will harm growth, destroy jobs, and worsen the nation’s fiscal picture by slowing the date of recovery.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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June 3, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson released the following statement on the unemployment situation in our nation:

“There should not be any remaining doubters that Obama’s big government spending and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policies are two of the most disastrous economic policies in American history.

“Almost 14 million people who want a job can’t find one, as the number of unemployed jumped by 167,000 people in the past month. Almost 20 percent of the workforce is either unemployed or working part time when they want a full-time job. Obama’s economic plan has been tried and has failed the American people and now we have to return to fiscal sanity in order to get our economy moving.

“The only people who don’t understand that we can’t continue digging to get out of the debt hole that is killing our country’s future are the President and Capitol Hill Democrats, who continue to cling to the very fiscal policies that have buried our nation in debt and are threatening to consign a generation of Americans to second-class status in the world.

“I hope that the good that comes out of the pain of millions of unemployed is that our nation’s elected leaders finally come to the realization that significant cuts must be made in our federal budget, job-destroying regulators like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) must be reigned in, and our highest in the world corporate tax must be lowered immediately to put America back to work.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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