Archives for November 2012

Nov. 28, 2012, Fairfax, VA—The Intellectual Property subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday in a hearing considered legislation by Rep. Jason Chaffetz that would compel the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to reassess royalty rates paid by Internet radio providers, bringing their costs more in line with fees paid by cable and satellite providers.

In a recent oped for The Daily Caller, Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson called the current arrangement “unfair, anti-competitive royalty rate discrimination” that favors satellite and cable radio.

“Rather than organically promoting supply and demand within the free market, the current system is based on the government imposing an unfair and discriminatory burden on one segment of the economy so that another might benefit,” Wilson added.

Wilson also fingered three foreign-owned record labels he said dominate the industry. “These three labels collectively control roughly 80 percent of the music that’s played over America’s airwaves — and for years they have relied on the CRB to impose music rate structures that guarantee the preservation of this monopoly,” Wilson wrote.

Urging the House to pass the legislation, Wilson called the Internet the future of radio. “The Internet has become a vibrant component of virtually every marketplace on earth — removing barriers, expanding consumer choices and enhancing economic competitiveness.”

In a statement Wilson said “It is not up to the government to preserve the legacy media and hold Internet providers back. This type of cronyism only suppresses innovation when it is time for government to get out of the way.”

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, 2012—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged the House to tie all pieces of the fiscal cliff into a single piece of legislation increasing the debt ceiling, making tax relief permanent, enacting entitlement reform, and balancing the budget within 10 years:

“The only leverage the House has on the fiscal cliff is the debt ceiling. If they are unwilling to use it, Obama will win, taxes will go up, and Republicans will get blamed. Leadership should tie all aspects of averting the fiscal cliff — including making tax relief permanent for all Americans and replacing any sequester cuts with entitlement and welfare reform — to a vote on the debt ceiling and balancing the budget within 10 years.

“And then Republicans should dare Obama to take it or leave it. He needs financing to fund his second term in office. If he wants it, he needs to sign whatever debt ceiling the House is willing to pass.

“But it will only work if the GOP is willing to stand on principle. Otherwise, it is going to lose this battle.”

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. 16, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Ding Dong, the company’s dead, the company’s dead, Ding Dong, the Hostess Company is dead.

You can almost hear the union bosses of The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union singing this song gleefully celebrating the destruction of one of America’s most enduring brands – Hostess – the maker of Twinkies, Cupcakes, Wonder Bread, and yes, the Ding Dong.

Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government (ALG), commented on this development:

“More than 18,000 workers are unemployed today because of the greed and short-sidedness of labor bosses and their followers who have chosen to destroy their own jobs rather than make concessions that would allow the company to survive.

“It is common for parasites to kill their hosts, but it rarely happens in a way where so many people can see it.  This union did what many others have done outside of the spotlight, they have forced a company to go out of business directly due to their irresponsible actions.

“No member of this union who is laid off due to this strike should receive a dime of unemployment compensation.  They are anything but victims, in fact, they are responsible for the demise of Twinkie the Kid.”

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, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement calling upon the Republican Governors Association (RGA) to oppose the implementation of Obamacare at the state level in response to a letter from the RGA requesting more time from the Obama Administration to make a decision on state exchanges:

“It is incredible that the Republican Governors Association is struggling trying to figure out what to do about Obamacare’s provision that states form a health insurance exchange.  If a majority of Republican governors simply followed Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s lead and refused to implement a state exchange, one of Obamacare’s most repressive mandates would fall apart.

“The statute provides that the enforcement of Obamacare’s employer mandate rests with the state health insurance exchange.  If a state refuses to establish the exchange, there can be no enforcement under the actual law that was passed by the Pelosi-Reid Congress and signed by President Obama.

“This effectively destroys the employer mandate, which is the lynchpin of Obamacare’s implementation.  The employer mandate dictates what health insurance businesses must provide their employees as well as cost sharing options with massive penalties for failure to comply that can only be imposed by state exchanges.

“The failure by the RGA to take a strong stand right now against the state health insurance exchanges brings into question their commitment against the federal takeover of our nation’s health care system.

“Incredibly, the RGA has already asked the Obama Administration to clarify issues regarding the state health insurance exchanges on two other occasions with little if any response.

“Clearly, the Obama Administration is playing chicken, and Republican governors should call their bluff by refusing to take any action to implement the federal statute.

“To do anything else would make Republican governors complicit in the extortion of their own private businesses through Obamacare.

“This is Obamacare’s last stand, and it’s time for every Republican governor to protect their own citizens from its effects.  Anything else is would make them equal partners in the destruction of our nation’s health care system.”

Note: Yesterday, ALG sent 26 letters to Republican governors either urging them not to implement, or praising for not implementing state exchanges in the health care law.

Attachments:

“Why governors should not implement state insurance exchanges under Obamacare,” By Bill Wilson, Nov. 14, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/11/why-governors-should-not-implement-state-insurance-exchanges-under-obamacare/ .

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. 2, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the October unemployment report:

“Today’s government unemployment report is meaningless and too late to save Obama.  The 22 million people who are unemployed or underemployed and their friends know their economic situation, and the only numbers that matter are the number of this group who vote on Nov. 6.  Will these millions of people vote to continue forward down a road of government dependency, or vote to break the soft chains that social welfare programs create?  Will they vote to extend benefits, or to have an economic policy that grows private sector jobs, and their personal opportunities to achieve their dreams?  How America votes on Nov. 6 will determine if in four years Obama’s new normal will take hold through the creation of a permanent dependency class, or if Americans will have a chance to thrive and compete based upon their initiative, hard work and ability?  No government-concocted reports will change this stark choice facing our nation.  It is decision time.

“One area in the report that sticks out like a sore thumb is that only 21,000 of the total number of jobs reported to have been created were in industries that create anything.  The rest are service industry jobs, many of which appear to be more related to protecting a company from the effects of government regulations than actually increasing a company’s financial health.  Defensive hiring to deal with big government is not healthy, as it is just another drag on businesses ability to fund expansion that results in real job growth.”

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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