Archives for July 2011

July 8th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the unemployment figures:

“Today’s unemployment report is further evidence that Obama’s continuing war on America’s free enterprise system is destroying our nation’s real job creators. It is time for this President to end his love affair with trillion-and-a-half-dollar deficits and higher taxes on those who produce jobs. Obama should immediately direct his agencies to return their budgets to Fiscal Year 2007 levels, end the NLRB’s crippling drive to force unionization on private sector employees, and stop the nonsense of attempting to raise taxes on those who produce jobs.

“Obama’s economic policies have failed, and our nation needs to change course now, or else, Obama’s 9.2% unemployment rate may become the new normal, and that is bad for our nation and the rest of the world, which depends upon a productive, vibrant U.S. 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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Fairfax, VA, July, 8th, 2011—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged passage of HR 2417, a bill that would repeal the federal ban on incandescent light bulbs that begins to take effect in Jan. 2012.

“The American people don’t want the federal government telling them which light bulbs they must use, and yet that is exactly what Congress did when it passed the ‘Energy Independence and Security Act’ in 2007,” Wilson said.

“The federal government has no power to micromanage the decisions of the American people, and to force them by dictate to use unsafe, mercury-laced bulbs,” Wilson added.

A poll released by ALG on the light bulb ban issue shows the ban remains exceedingly unpopular, especially amongst both core Republican and Independent likely voters. 72 percent of self-described Republican voters and 57 percent of the Independent voters oppose the ban.

“Unless you’re a leftist Democrat, there really is no support for a federal ban on light bulbs,” Wilson noted.

Conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, the survey showed that 46 percent of likely voters were aware that Congress had banned traditional light bulbs beginning in 2012, and 58 percent respondents opposed banning the bulbs.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote today on HR 2417, “The BULB Act.”

The June 21, 2011 survey measured the responses of 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

The topline responses to the three questions can be found at:
www.getliberty.org/files/LightBulbBanBillToplines6-21-11.pdf

The crosstabs can be found at:
www.getliberty.org/files/Crosstabs_20110621_Light Bulbs.csv

Wilson concluded, “It’s time for Congress to get out of the way and let individuals choose what kind of light bulbs they want, free of federal dictates.”

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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Fairfax, VA, July, 8th, 2011—A poll released today by the free enterprise group Americans for Limited Government showed the potency of the light bulb ban issue amongst both core Republican and Independent likely voters.

Conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, the survey showed that 46 percent of likely voters were aware that Congress had banned traditional light bulbs beginning in 2012, and 58 percent respondents opposed banning the bulbs.

The issue would repeal mandates in legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, which had the effect of banning the domestic production and sale of the incandescent light bulb in favor of fluorescent bulbs.

Controversy over the ban has intensified across the nation with Texas Governor Rick Perry signing a state law that allows incandescent bulbs to be manufactured in the state for sale only in the state. Similar legislation is also pending in South Carolina where it has passed one house of the legislature.

Bill Wilson, President of Americans for Limited Government called repealing the light bulb ban, “a big political winner for elected officials like Governor Perry with 72 percent of self-described Republican voters and 57 percent of the Independent voters opposing the ban.”

40 percent of respondents indicated that they would be less likely to vote for a politician who supported the light bulb ban.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up the ban next week when they consider HR 2417, “The BULB Act.”

The June 21, 2011 survey measured the responses of 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

The topline responses to the three questions can be found at:
www.getliberty.org/files/LightBulbBanBillToplines6-21-11.pdf

The crosstabs can be found at:
www.getliberty.org/files/Crosstabs_20110621_Light Bulbs.csv

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July 7th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) today launched an online petition urging citizen involvement in efforts to reform the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) today.

The campaign at www.reformthenlrb.com includes informative articles and videos relating to NLRB activities as well as a petition effort supporting reform efforts.

“ReformtheNLRB.com will provide citizens a voice in opposing the NLRB’s attempts to bypassing state legislation and push a Big Labor agenda that was rejected in both Congress and in state legislatures across the nation,” said ALG President Bill Wilson.

Wilson cited the NLRB’s recent actions against Boeing necessitating urgent action by Congress. Boeing’s planned creation of a second assembly line for their new Dreamliner aircraft in South Carolina has been challenged by the NLRB.

“The NLRB has challenged the private company’s right to build aircraft in the Charleston area due to the state’s laws which allow workers to choose whether to pay union dues or not,” said Wilson.

Wilson continued, “This worker choice, known as right to work, has been a target of labor unions for decades and the recent NLRB actions show that rather than being an independent agency, they have become nothing more than a front for organized labor.”

Reform efforts would restrict the NLRB’s power, and narrowly define the role that they are able to play in labor management relations.

ALG has urged passage of legislation seeking to protect states that have passed laws that protect their citizens’ right to secret ballot elections, the “State Right to Vote Act”. The bill, introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), seeks to ensure that the NLRB cannot bypass the role of state legislation in determining employer’s responsibilities.

Wilson called on the American people to sign the petition, saying, “We need the help of everyone to show the NLRB that the American people are tired of their job killing regulatory overreaches and want a change.”

“Now is the time to reject the job killing NLRB’s one-sided attack on our nation’s job creators by contacting their elected representatives using the www.reformthenlrb.com petition advocacy tool,” Wilson concluded.

You can follow the latest NLRB news on Twitter at @ReformtheNLRB.

Attachments:

“Craig Becker Should Recuse Himself from NLRB-Boeing Case,” Americans for Limited Government, July, 5th, 2011 athttp://netrightdaily.com/2011/07/craig-becker-should-recuse-himself-from-nlrbs-boeing-case/

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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July 6, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement warning the Obama Administration against invoking the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution to arbitrarily ignore the congressionally enacted $14.294 trillion debt ceiling:

“Any attempt by the White House to issue Obama bonds will trigger a constitutional crisis and call into question the validity of the new debt being issued. Even if one were to interpret that the Fourteenth Amendment applied to the validity all debt, and not just Civil War debt, it would not authorize the government to borrow as much as it likes.

“The amendment simply means that money, which has already been borrowed, shall be paid back on time and in full. Spending is not borrowing, but the Administration fails to make that distinction. It may wish that Congress would authorize more borrowing to pay for government’s reckless spending, but the fact remains that it has not yet. It is a political question with which Congress has discretion.

“Moreover, if one were to invoke the provision, the Fourteenth Amendment would actually tie the Obama Administration’s hands from borrowing more if the debt limit is not raised.

“That is because under the amendment, the validity of the existing debt cannot be questioned. So, the government would be required to pay interest first out of revenue since it is not allowed to voluntarily default. And existing debt would have to be refinanced up to the limit. After that, without the authority under law to borrow more, the budget would have to be balanced.

“Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole power to originate ‘the raising of revenue.’ And there is no question that new debt is new revenue. So, only Congress can authorize the government to borrow more money.

“This is actually confirmed by the Fourteenth Amendment, which only refers to debt ‘authorized by law.’ Congress has not authorized the government to borrow more than $14.294 trillion. Therefore, anything above that would be unauthorized borrowing, and would be nothing more than illegal junk bonds lacking the full faith and credit of the nation.

“The White House needs to consider carefully the consequences of issuing its own debt without any congressional authorization. The full faith and credit of the United States depends on the consent of the governed through their representatives to borrow more. Without that, there is no guarantee the unauthorized debt will ever be nor should it ever be repaid or honored.”

Attachments:

“The Empty Obama Ploy,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, July 5th, 2011 at http://netrightdaily.com/2011/07/the-empty-obama-ploy/.

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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