Archives for November 2011

Nov. 29, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement urged the House to adopt legislation proposed by Rep. John Kline, Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, that would kill an NLRB proposed rule to shorten union elections in order to curtail the time businesses have to make their case to their employees:

“The NLRB is aggressively attempting to institute snap elections on behalf of unions, shortening the amount of time businesses will have to make their case to their employees. This has been on the top of big labor’s to-do list under the Obama Administration, and now the Board is attempting to proceed with the rule with just two members in favor.

“The agency is in such a rush to implement the rule prior to Craig Becker’s recess appointment expiring that Board Member Brian Hayes has not even been allowed to craft an official dissent to the rule prior to its adoption. This is simply outrageous, and goes against decades of precedent intended to protect the board’s legitimacy.

“Rep. John Kline’s legislation, HR 3094, should be adopted immediately to rein in this abusive power grab by the NLRB. However, the rulemaking is really unsurprising and should underscore just how out-of-control this agency really is.

“It is not enough to treat the symptoms of the agency’s overreaching quasi-judicial powers with mere stopgap measures. Congress must address this rogue agency in a comprehensive manner that will abolish its powers to serve as prosecutor, judge, and jury in favor of unions by also adopting HR 2978 by Rep. Austin Scott.”

Attachments:

“Treating the NLRB symptoms not enough,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, September 21st, 2011 athttp://netrightdaily.com/2011/09/treating-the-nlrb-symptoms-not-enough/.

the polling company™, inc./WomanTrend poll on behalf of Americans for Limited Government regarding National Labor Relations Board, Aug. 19-23, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/NLRBPoll8-19to8-23-11.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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Nov. 29, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement responding to the announcement that the National Labor Relations Board intends to move forward tomorrow with a “quickie” ruling in violation of all of their precedents and protocols in favor of snap elections:

“This obscene attempt to implement through regulation changes in union election laws that Congress has repeatedly rejected is an affront to our nation’s Constitutional separation of powers. The Obama appointees on the Board clearly intend to rush through a monumental change in the law intended to give advantage to organized labor at the expense of fair and honest union elections in the workplace. Unfortunately, the only speed bump in their path is if they are prevented from having a quorum through the resignation of the lone dissenting member, Brian Hayes.

“Mr. Hayes has served on the Board with distinction, but there is no honor in allowing the rule of law to be trumped by petty partisan politics. As difficult as this decision would be, the only honorable path for Mr. Hayes is to resign his seat and deny the rogue majority the quorum necessary to pervert the law of the land.”

Attachments:

ALG Urges Support for Kline Bill to Kill NLRB Snap Elections, Nov. 29, 2011 at http://getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=792.

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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Nov. 28, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement responded to Rep. Barney Frank’s decision not to seek reelection in 2012:

“Barney Frank has been a staunch defender of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac throughout the buildup of the housing bubble, even accusing critics of exaggerating the risks posed to the Government Sponsored Enterprises in the 2000’s. Under legislation Frank voted for in 1992, Fannie and Freddie only needed $900 of capital behind a $200,000 mortgage they guaranteed.

“From 2007 until the end of 2010, Frank was the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and when the crisis hit was blindsided by the bankruptcy of the GSEs. Frank led the House’s efforts to bail out Fannie and Freddie and other financial institutions in 2008. To his departure, American taxpayers say good riddance.

“When the time came to reform the financial system, Frank excluded Fannie and Freddie from his signature legislation, even though the GSEs were ground zero of the financial crisis. Frank ignored the warning signs of the crisis, and then when it hit, did everything in his power to cover for Fannie and Freddie. Meaningful financial reform would have been to unwind government involvement in housing finance, instead of affirming it.

“Frank leaves behind a disastrous record that will have consequences for years if not decades to come. His departure comes about twenty years too late.”

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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Nov. 23, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement praised Senate Republicans for blocking the confirmation of the recess-appointed Donald Berwick for head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, leading to him stepping down:

“As government continues to struggle to find a way to add 30 million people to the taxpayer-funded health care rolls thanks to ObamaCare in the midst of a sovereign debt crisis, Senate Republicans are to be praised for blocking the confirmation of Berwick, an official who believes rationing health care is inevitable. In 2009 he said, ‘The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.’

“Berwick also was a radical redistributionist, who believed the only way to have a ‘just, equitable, civilized, and humane’ health plan was to ‘redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate’. His doctrines were pure Marxism, and the only reason he even was allowed to serve was because he was recess-appointed by Barack Obama.

“Now Senate Republicans must be vigilant that whosoever Obama selects to replace Berwick is not just another radical extremist. The nation does not need anybody who believes it is just to take health care away from one person and give it to another as government sees fit.”

Attachments:

Donald Berwick Nominee Alert, May 2010, Americans for Limited Government athttp://www.getliberty.org/files/NomineeAlert%20-%20Donald%20%20Berwick%20-%20Administrator%20-%20CMMS%2005_04_10.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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Nov. 21, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement urged Congress to simply accept the sequestration option under the August debt deal:

“Given the alternatives, which were phony spending cuts and higher taxes on producers and job creators, sequestration is by far the better deal. There should be no discussion of revenue reform until there are actual spending cuts on the table. All we see now are reductions in the growth of spending. What a farce.

“Even under sequestration, the budget will still increase every single year from 2013 through 2021, albeit at a slightly slower rate. That is, if it even goes into effect. The only year that matters is 2012, when no changes in spending are slated. By the time the 2013 fiscal year rolls around, does anyone expect that even the modest reductions in the growth rate of spending under sequestration will ever be implemented?

“The only thing that has changed under this fiasco is that the national debt ceiling was increased without any real concessions. That’s more borrowing, more spending, and no reform. This is not what the American people voted for in 2010.”

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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Nov. 14, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued a statement praising the U.S. Supreme Court for taking up the case against Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation:

“The Supreme Court decision over ObamaCare’s individual mandate is one that will shape the future of the nation. Based on the outcome, we will either be a constitutional republic of limited powers, or an unlimited plutocracy of ever-increasing mandates on individuals. Government wants to force people to buy health care, U.S. treasuries, and to raid our pension funds — all to prop up the unsustainable entitlement state. That is not the America people believe in. It is authoritarianism.

“The Supreme Court is now the only thing that stands in the way of a government that can literally force people to do anything. No less is at stake in the case over ObamaCare’s individual mandate.”

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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Nov. 10, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson reacted to the release of e-mails by Judicial Watch from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) discussing its controversial decision to attempt to stop Boeing Corporation from building a production facility in South Carolina. The e-mails were released due to a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch.

“Acting NLRB General Counsel Lafe Solomon’s whining that he hasn’t received enough credit for his attacks on South Carolina workers reveals the shallowest of evil. Solomon clearly relishes destroying worker opportunities if it gets him notice in the media. It is unconscionable that someone who has been so instrumental in ‘screwing up the U.S. economy’ still has a job at all.

“Chairman John Kline should haul Solomon before his Education and Workforce committee to inquire as to why he thinks it’s so funny that Americans are losing their jobs. Government officials should not be making light of the fact that their decisions are wrecking the economy.”

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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Nov. 9, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a letter urged House Republicans to reject any tax increase deal that may come from the so-called congressional Supercommittee.

“The American people are deeply concerned that a gargantuan tax increase will be included in that proposal,” Wilson wrote.

He is encouraging members to sign a Republican Study Committee letter against more taxes so that “members of the Joint Select Committee understand that any tax increase will be dead on arrival in the House of Representatives.”

“We don’t have a problem that we tax too little, we have a problem that we spend too much,” Wilson wrote, noting that since 2007, spending has increased $1.043 trillion, but that revenues had only dropped $393 billion “[w]ith tax rates essentially the same,” accounting for an aggregate $1.436 trillion increase in the deficit since then.

“That means 72.6 percent of the problem is too much spending, and at least 72.6 percent of the solution must be dramatic spending reductions. The other 27.4 percent of the solution then must entail economic growth, job creation and encouraging investment here in America,” he wrote.

Attachments:

Letter to House Republicans, Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson, Nov. 7, 2011 atwww.getliberty.org/files/TaxIncreaseSuperCommitteeLetter 11-7-11.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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Nov. 7, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued a statement blasting Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for handing out $12.8 million in bonuses after costing the U.S. Treasury $170 billion:

“Fannie and Freddie have lost over $170 billion of taxpayer money since being nationalized in 2008, are still bleeding billions on a quarterly basis, and yet the companies have handed out $12.8 million in bonuses. There shouldn’t be any bonuses for these so-called companies. They ought to be liquidated.

“Government policies wrecked the GSEs by blowing up the housing bubble in the first place by weakening lending standards and pushing loans on folks who could not afford to pay back, overleveraging, and using a quota system for what turned out to be shoddy loans. Now government policies in the aftermath of the financial crisis have failed to unwind the failed enterprises, are attempting to loosen lending once again, and are pushing interest rates down even further, preventing the companies from ever returning to profitability.

“Congress should at long last pass legislation that will bring an end to government’s failed, catastrophic mismanagement of the U.S. housing finance sector, not reward that mismanagement with millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded bonuses.”

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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