Archives for June 2013

June 26, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government today delivered a letter to House Speaker John Boehner today signed by leaders of eight major organizations urging his “opposition to legislation that would drive up healthcare costs and line the pockets of trial lawyer by opening generic drug manufacturers to frivolous lawsuits.”

The letter signed by leaders of Americans for Limited Government, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, American Commitment, King Street Patriots, LessGovernment.org, Independent Women’s Forum and Congress On Racial Equality is particularly relevant given today’s Supreme Court decision in Mutual Pharmaceutical v. Bartlett.

One of the underlying cases for today‘s decision was the PLIVA, Inc  v. Mensing case in 2011 where the Court held that it was impossible for generics to change (much less strengthen) safety warnings to comply with state law and still comply with the federal law’s requirement that their labeling be “the same as” FDA-approved brand drug labeling.

Nathan Mehrens, president of Americans for Limited Government explained, “Attempts by the trial bar to open up generic drug manufacturers to liability because they followed U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeling standards are absurd on their face.  If Congress allows this to occur, those who depend upon low cost generics will likely see the prices skyrocket as attorneys across the nation go wild suing manufacturers for following federal law.”

The letter asks the Speaker to “actively oppose such legislation when it is introduced and stop any momentum that it might hope to gain.”

It is anticipated that legislation overturning Mensing will be introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

Attachments:

Letter to House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, June 24, 2013, at http://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Generics-Labeling-Legislation-Letter-6-26-13.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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June 25, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement praising the success of the Voting Rights Act over the past 48 years in eradicating voting discrimination on the basis of race:

“The Supreme Court has declared victory on the Voting Rights Act. As Census data revealed in the latest election, voter turnout among the races has achieved parity. Thus the circumstances that once justified the Act are no longer valid, the Court held, precisely because the Act was so successful.

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 implemented the 15^th Amendment provision empowering Congress to enact legislation enforcing the protection against voter discrimination on the basis of race. It was enacted during a time of literacy tests and other Jim Crow laws that have long since been banned nationwide. In effect today, the Act gave the Justice Department de facto veto power over nine state legislatures’ enactments of any changes to election law that states would otherwise have had the power to put into effect.

“To withstand scrutiny today, the government was required to show there was still significant discrimination at the ballot box. Lacking that, the intrusion into Tenth Amendment powers reserved to the states could no longer be sustained. This is a good day in American history, when the past of racial discrimination at the ballot box can finally be put behind us. The Voting Rights Act has succeeded in its primary aim.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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Constitutional separation of powers at issue.

June 24, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement responding to the Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari in the NLRB v. Noel Canning case:

“The fundamental checks and balances that our founders put into the U.S. Constitution are at the heart of this case, and the Supreme Court is commended for taking up this important issue.

“The case revolves around a decision by President Obama to place nominees onto the National Labor Relations Board without the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.  The nominees had only been recently nominated and within a month, the President placed them on the National Labor Relations Board using the claim that they were being appointed in an official Senate recess.

“The President’s action obliterated the foundational principle that the Senate has a responsibility to confirm or reject a nominee, a principle that has served as a means of protecting our nation from being ruled by the executive branch through administrative actions.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the President’s recess appointments were unconstitutional due to the failure to follow the Senate confirmation process.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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June 20, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government vice president of public policy and communications Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the failure of the $939 billion so-called farm bill in the House of Representatives that had included about $750 billion for food stamps alone:

“The failure of the farm bill is a boon to taxpayers, who were going to be on the hook for $750 billion for food stamps over the next decade. Increases in eligibility for the food stamps program in recent years has, combined with the current recession and high unemployment, led to an explosion of program participation. Now, more than 47 million Americans are on food stamps, yet the program has zero transparency, with neither taxpayers nor Congress having any idea what food stamps are even spent on.

“This should be a signal to Congress to at least separate the so-called farm bill in two. Farm subsidies and food stamps should each be considered on their merits. Both programs are in need of considerable reform.  It is time for Congress to begin considering what is in the best interests of taxpayers instead of constantly doling out corporate subsidies and expanding welfare without question.

“Americans for Limited Government thanks the 62 House Republicans who stood on principle against this wasteful legislation.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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June 17, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement in response to a call from International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Christine Lagarde for Congress to “repeal the sequester” because she says “the effect of the sequester and deficit reduction more generally are already affecting the economy… [by] shav[ing] 1.25 to 1.75 percentage points of growth”:

“Lagarde’s complaint that spending cuts lower GDP is simultaneously accurate and misleading, as government spending is proportionately included in the measure of the GDP. This is a bias of the first order in favor of government spending, because when government grows faster than the private sector, it appears to boost GDP and when spending is reduced, GDP appears to slow down. This is an illusion.

“The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports real growth annualized in the first quarter was 2.4 percent, but if government spending is excluded from the measure, the private sector grew by more like 4 percent. By that measure, the private sector is doing just fine even with sequestration.

“Moreover, it is only because of sequestration that S&P has been able to upgrade its outlook on the $16.7 trillion U.S. national debt from negative to stable. It is particularly insulting to taxpayers for the IMF to demand the sequester be repealed at the same time the Obama Administration has also asked for a $65 billion increase in the U.S. quota to the IMF. If anything, this is just one more reason the U.S. should defund the IMF in full.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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June 7, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement on the latest job numbers:

“It is surprising that the number of people reporting they have been unemployed for five weeks or fewer jumped dramatically in May exceeding the level of one year ago.  Recent Labor Department weekly unemployment filings created the expectation that the number of recently unemployed should have stayed stable, consistent with an economy that seems to be treading water.  The jump in recently unemployed combined with the just released report showing significant decline in the manufacturing sector is just another indication that the five year old promise of economic recovery remains elusive.

“Today’s report just reconfirms the idea that the government cannot spend its way out of this economic malaise, and the only path to prosperity lies with ending the Obama Administration’s regulatory assault on the private sector job creators.”

To view online:

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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June 4, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement calling attention to a 2009 National Treasury Employees Union contract agreement that forbade political coercion at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and stated “Employees should be protected against arbitrary action, personal favoritism, or coercion for partisan political purposes; and prohibited from using their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for election”:

“Obama’s IRS in Washington, D.C., by directing the political targeting by the agency against the tea party and other groups, may have compelled employees to violate their own contractual agreement. In part this is ironic, but it also perhaps explains why some Cincinnati employees had such strong misgivings about the targeting, as revealed recently in sworn testimony.

“This testimony and the agreement are a testament to the scrupulous standards that the American people expect from public employees, particularly from those enforcing the taxing power. Never again should such abuses be allowed to occur, and we urge more employees to come forward to ensure those who are directly responsible for the targeting are held to account.

“Moreover, since officials in the Obama Administration knew about the targeting long before it became public, a special counsel must be appointed to ensure that those who violated the public trust by engaging in political targeting are brought to justice.”

Attachments:

2009 National Treasury Employees Union contract agreement at http://www.nteu92.org/NA2.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at (703) 383-0880 ext. 103 or at media@algnews.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Nathan Mehrens.

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