Archives for October 2011

Oct. 31, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement warning that a series of unilateral executive actions by the Obama Administration would sidestep the political process, and thus the consent of the governed:

“These unilateral executive orders, whether on government-backed student loans and mortgages or FDA oversight, are intended to sidestep the consent of the governed, and as a result they overstep the President’s constitutional boundaries. Obama can rhetorically dress this up however he likes, but his actions are not predicated on the consent of the governed, they are fueled by his desire to maintain and expand power. This is not the rule of law, but the rule of man.

“Obama is just following the playbook of the Center for American Progress, which had argued for the White House to use executive orders and other regulations to advance its agenda after Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in the November elections. This is all designed to get around the political process, and has occurred repeatedly under Obama’s watch, whether with the EPA’s carbon endangerment finding or the unilateral implementation of management-labor forums for the federal civil service.”

Attachment:

“Obama to Rule by Decree Over Economy, ALG Responds,” Americans for Limited Government, Oct. 13, 2011 athttp://getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=773.

“ALG Urges Senate to Restore Separation of Powers by Repealing EPA Endangerment Finding,” Americans for Limited Government, June 10, 2010 at http://www.getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=470.

“Unions: Creating A Place At the Table,” By Mark Wohlschlegel, Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation, Oct. 20, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3773.

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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Oct. 31, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement commenting on a new GAO report finding government agencies and union health plans looting an HHS program that was supposed to be targeted at retirees:

“The Halloween horror story of ObamaCare continues to unfold as Senator Mike Enzi announced that a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report showed that a program designed to help early retirees has effectively been looted by 24 organizations. The Health and Human Services (HHS) program has paid out $2.9 billion with a majority going to government entities and union health plans.

“It is obscene that these Obama-favored institutions look at this and other programs like a trick-or-treater views an unattended candy bowl. Not surprisingly, the United Auto Workers Medical Benefits Trust received the largest amount of taxpayer largesse.

“It is time for Obama to end these payoffs to politically connected constituencies and return the remaining funds for the program to the U.S. Treasury. Taxpayers are tired of the gluttony of Obama’s union friends.”

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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October 28, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement warning that price inflation was playing heavily in reported GDP growth of 2.5 percent:

“There is a fundamental disconnect between what the government is telling us about the economy, and what people are feeling. When every underlying component points to economic pain, with little to no job growth and rising prices, and yet there is an irrational exuberance in the headlines reporting on economic growth, it is hard to reconcile. Unless one takes a look at consumerand producer prices, which are rising rapidly. Inflation, not the economy, is what is apparently really growing.”

Attachment:

“Pay No Attention to that Inflation Behind the Curtain,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, October 28, 2011 athttp://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3799 .

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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October 26, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a letter urged members of Congress to adopt legislation that would prohibit a U.S. bailout of European banks, whether through the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve, or any other institution.

“Key EU leaders like Germany are unwilling to heap the bad debts of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain (PIIGS) on the backs of their own taxpayers via the European Central Bank (ECB), and so wish to pass the buck along to the IMF, of which the U.S. funds a significant portion,” Wilson’s letter explained.

In Europe, member states are voting to leverage the €440 billion European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) to at least €1.4 trillion, with the IMF being considered as the primary vehicle for the leverage, Wilson warned.

“If the bailout financing comes from the IMF, U.S. taxpayers could be on the hook for more than 17 percent of the bailout: at least €170 billion, or $235 billion,” he wrote.

Wilson emphasized that the plan would make the U.S. responsible for Europe’s debts when it is already the world’s largest debtor with a debt of over $14.9 trillion.

Wilson concluded, “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.”

Attachments:

Letter to Members of Congress Against European Bank Bailout, Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson, Oct. 26, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/EuropeanBailoutLetter 10-26-11.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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October 26, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement condemning Obama Administration proposals to weaken government student loan and mortgage programs without any congressional authorization:

“Obama is changing the social contract, and the 49 percent of Americans who pay income taxes, pay their bills, and provide for their own families are being treated like fools. If the government is just going to sweep in and bail out every borrower with taxpayer money, why should anyone pay?

“By radically changing the terms of government-backed student loans and mortgages, it has the effect of costing the programs billions of dollars that is added to the national debt without any congressional authorization. No president should have the power to willy-nilly add to the debt to bail out favored constituencies no matter how desperate he is to be reelected. Congress should act to rein in this abuse as soon as possible.”

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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October 25, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement condemning an Obama Administration proposal to allow underwater borrowers of government-backed mortgages to refinance:

“By some estimates, a massive refinancing program for underwater borrowers of government-backed mortgages could cost as much as $85 billion a year. That would mean $85 billion less is collected in interest payments, resulting in those losses being imposed on Fannie and Freddie — on an annual basis. And since taxpayers are backing the GSEs, that will mean $85 billion added to the national debt every year. Assuming an average maturity of 15 years, that means the total cost of Obama’s new program could be more than $1.27 trillion.

“Moreover, this will do nothing about the more-than $700 billion of negative equity that is out there. Those who qualify will still owe more on their homes than they are worth. They will just have a slightly lower interest rate. It’s a bribe. The Obama Administration is attempting to shore up its wilting reelection prospects by throwing money at favored constituencies. It’s nothing more than a $1.27 trillion slush fund to reelect Obama.”

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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Oct. 21, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement praising 47 Senate Republicans, and Democrat Senators Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, and Mark Pryor for rejecting a $35 billion states bailout:

“Every single Senate Republican, as well Senators Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, and Mark Pryor deserve the thanks of the American people for blocking a $35 billion bailout of bankrupt states that refuse to get their fiscal houses in order. It is apparent Obama, with enthusiasm dying for his reelection, needs to discard his ‘pass it now’ speech when he cannot even get a simple majority with his own party in power in the Senate.

“Moreover, this was no jobs bill. It was legislation simply meant to prop up Democrat Party constituencies, with $30 billion specifically earmarked for public school teachers. $95 million of that would have wound up in the teachers union coffers to be given to help reelect Democrats.

“Now that states know there are no more bailouts coming, they will finally have to make the cuts necessary to balance their budgets. This idea that spending needs to remain at levels of the unsustainable bubble years is just insane. No more bailouts.”

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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October 20, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) today released a response by the Office of Management and Budget to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by ALG in 2010 revealing the close involvement of unions in drafting Barack Obama’s executive order 13522. ALG President Bill Wilson commented:

“The level of corruption revealed in these documents, wherein union bosses are openly being thanked by White House employees for their role in developing pro-labor executive orders is contemptible, and warrants congressional investigations by the House and Senate. Hearings should be held to get to the bottom of this outrageous conduct. This is rule by special interests.

“The executive order, which created management-labor forums for federal government civil service workers, favored unions by telling managers to discuss all workplace decisions with unions to reach joint decisions, even if the subject was not an allowed bargaining item. Therefore the order vastly enhanced union influence over the operation of the federal government. Every function in the civil service became a bargaining chip for the unions, which has had the contrary effect of making government more inefficient and costly.”

Attachments:

“Unions: Creating A Place At the Table,” By Mark Wohschlegel, Americans for Limited Government athttp://netrightdaily.com/2011/10/unions-creating-a-place-at-the-table/

FOIA Request to Office of Management and Budget, Americans for Limited Government, August 12, 2010 athttp://netrightdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/OMB-Labor-XO-FOIA-Letter.pdf 

FOIA Responsive Documents, Office of Management and Budget, September 30, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/09.30.11-OMB-responsive-docs1.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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October 19, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement responding to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s who recently said “it’s very clear that private sector jobs are doing just fine. It’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation’s all about” while promoting his plan to bail out states with another $35 billion from the federal government:

“It seems Harry Reid is forgetting who it is that pays for all these government jobs, and that is the private sector and individuals via taxation. Moreover, if he thinks losing 1.5 million private sector jobs since 2009 means the private sector is ‘doing just fine,’ he needs to get his head examined. While the national unemployment rate sits at 9.1 percent, the rate of workers unemployed in the government sector is only 4.7 percent.

“It is the private sector that has been getting crushed in the Obama-Reid economy. Meanwhile, it is the government sector that was protected by the Democrat-controlled Congress in 2009 and 2010.

“The fact is, since the housing bubble popped in 2007, states have been attempting to keep spending at unsustainably high levels, and for the past two years have been dependent on federal ‘stimulus’ monies. Bankrupt states like California, New York, Illinois, and others have gotten a combined $171 billion from Congress over the past two years to prop up public sector unions. These states refuse to get their fiscal houses in order, and that’s what Reid’s legislation is really about: kicking the can one more year from making the difficult decisions.”

Attachments:

“Harry Reid: Government jobs need to take priority over private sector jobs,” NetRightDaily.com, Americans for Limited Government, October 19, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/10/harry-reid-government-jobs-need-to-take-priority-over-private-sector-jobs/

“Democrats Push for $35 Billion States Bailout Which Will Funnel $95 Million to Help Elect Democrats,” NetRightDaily.com, Americans for Limited Government, October 18, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/10/democrats-push-for-35-billion-states-bailout-which-will-funnel-95-million-to-help-elect-democrats/

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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October 18, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement blasting a Senate Democrat plan to spend $35 billion to bail out state and local governments:

“This is like a horror story with endless sequels: ‘The Return of the States Bailout’. States already got $145 billion in the original Obama ‘stimulus’ in 2009, and another $26.1 billion in August 2010. Now, the Obama economic recovery has been so weak that states that refuse to clean their fiscal houses are still facing a $103 billion shortfall for this fiscal year as revenues fail to recover, and so Senate Democrats want another $35 billion.

“Senate Democrats project their plan will prop up 400,000 teachers’ jobs with $30 billion of the funding for that purpose. When you do the math, if you conservatively assumed only half them were unionized, with average contributions to state, local, and national unions combined about $475, it works out to a $95 million political slush fund to help Democrats, including Barack Obama, get elected.

“This plan to borrow-print-and-spend another $35 billion for the states is not about creating jobs. It won’t create jobs. It’s about propping up government worker unions, and funneling $95 million to help Democrats’ ailing campaign to get reelected. It is hard to think of a greater waste of taxpayer resources.”

Attachments:

“Democrats Push for $35 Billion States Bailout Which Will Funnel $95 Million to Help Elect Democrats,” NetRightDaily.com, Americans for Limited Government, October 18, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/10/democrats-push-for-35-billion-states-bailout-which-will-funnel-95-million-to-help-elect-democrats/

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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