Archives for August 2011

August 8th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today responded to Barack Obama’s :

“Barack Obama is trying to reassure markets that somehow, his super-committee is going to seriously address the nation’s growing debt problem. And he’s calling for more tax increases on job creators, and yet more deficit-spending that will fail to get the economy going again and will only add to the debt. Obama has learned almost nothing from his failed policies that have led the nation to the edge of financial ruin.

“The debt is not out of control because we tax too little, it’s because we spend too much. The debt is growing much faster than the economy and Washington refuses to do anything about it — and that is the primary reason for the S&P credit downgrade.

“The reason the debt is growing so fast is because since FY 2007, the deficit has gotten completely out of control, rising from $160 billion to $1.5 trillion today. $1.1 trillion of the increased deficit was because of increased spending, and only $394 billion was because of less revenues even with the same tax rates in place. And then, the lost revenues were because of the downed economy, which Obama has failed to turn around.

“Failure to address the spending problem threatens the fiscal solvency of our nation. Barack Obama’s continued insistence to blame everything but the spending indicates that he is completely out of touch with the fiscal reality facing our nation. Congress should get back to town to seriously address the nation’s spending addiction.”

“S&P Downgrade Vindicates Tea Party Warnings,” by ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, August 8, 2011 athttp://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3561 .

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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Workers continue to leave the workforce

August 5, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson commented on today’s unemployment numbers, stating:

“Today the Labor Department’s announcement of the unemployment report showing 117,000 new jobs created is a testimony to America’s job creators who are fighting hard against the economic headwinds created by Obama’s bullheaded adherence to a failed 1930s economic philosophy.

“The drop in the unemployment rate to 9.1 percent though is a false signal as the drop is largely attributable to even more Americans giving up hope of getting a job and dropping out of the workforce. Since Obama has become president, Americans have been leaving the workforce in droves. For them, and the almost 14 million unemployed, Obama’s change has robbed them of hope.”

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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August 5, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson said the following about the U.S. credit rating being downgraded to AA+ by S&P’s:

“The reckless spending by Obama over the first two years of his presidency combined with his unwillingness to make the cuts necessary to stabilize our fiscal crisis has led to the first downgrade of U.S. debt in history. Congress needs to come back to D.C. now and finish the job they started with the debt ceiling increase by passing the cut, cap and balance legislation which would put us on a path to restore our nation’s credit rating.”

Interview Availability: If you would like to interview Bill Wilson, please contact Rebekah Rast at rrast@getliberty.org or (703) 383-0880.

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August 1, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s demands for the House of Representatives to return to Washington to work on the FAA reauthorization “a silly ploy.”

“The House acted on the FAA reauthorization months ago. It’s in the Senate. They can either amend it, or pass it as written. But the House is under no obligation to produce the bill that Harry Reid prefers just to avoid a conference committee situation,” Wilson said.

“This is an orchestrated government shutdown,” Wilson added, saying, “it is at odds with how the legislative process is supposed to function.” He said the issue centered on provisions in the House bill that would undo a May 11, 2010, ruling by the National Mediation Board (NMB) to repeal the so-called “Majority Rule.” Under more than 70 years of precedent that was overturned by the Board, it took a majority of an organizing unit voting “yes” to permanently organize a union.

Now, because of the NMB ruling, it only takes a majority of those voting, a considerably lower threshold. Wilson said the NMB’s decision clearly violates the law, and supported the House version of the FAA reauthorization.

According to Section 152 of the Railway Labor Act, “The majority of any craft or class of employees shall have the right to determine who shall be the representative of the craft or class for the purposes of this chapter.”

“The House has simply reaffirmed what the law already says, and rolled back the National Mediation Board’s arbitrary decision to make airlines and railways easier to unionize,” Wilson said, adding, “The Senate can take it or leave it.”

Wilson threw the ball into Reid’s court, saying, “The Senate is holding up the FAA reauthorization because it does not want to be seen as the shills for Big Labor that they really are.”

There is no emergency, he said, as essential government employees, like the air traffic controllers, are still working. “But Reid is holding thousands of furloughed workers hostage just to make it easier for Big Labor to unionize companies like Delta. Despite his preference, he can either pass or amend the House bill that has already been sent to him,” Wilson concluded.

Attachments:

National Mediation Board Rule Change Summary, Republican Senate staff, September 2010 atwww.getliberty.org/files/NMBRuleChangeSummary.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.

August 1st, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government today urged both houses of Congress to reject legislation to increase the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling, saying the deal “risks an unprecedented credit downgrade of the nation’s vaunted Triple-A credit rating, the continued weakening of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and higher interest rates.”

Wilson pointed to the weak economy as evidence the $900 billion in cut borrowing will not go far enough to restore the nation’s finances, writing that if the government’s projections for economic growth were wrong, the debt could grow to over $30 trillion by 2021.

The government projects the economy will nearly double in the next ten years. “But with anemic growth of 0.4 percent in the first quarter, and 1.3 percent in the second, we are nowhere near that pace,” he wrote in his letter.

“With assumptions so unrealistic, the mere $900 billion in savings under the bill will be easily erased by the slowing economy and lower-than-expected revenues,” Wilson predicted.

The legislation would also create a joint House-Senate committee to propose further “savings” that Wilson told members was an abdication of “the responsibilities of a representative government”.

He concluded, “The American people elected you to make these decisions, not convene another rigged commission whose findings will never be adopted.”

Attachments:

ALG Letter to Congress, August 1st, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/LetterDebtCeiling 8-1-11.pdf .

“The No Solution Deal,” By ALG President Bill Wilson, August 1st, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3545 .

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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