Archives for September 2013

Sept. 18, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement supporting passage of a new House Republican plan to reportedly include language defunding Obamacare in the continuing resolution, and urged members to remain firm in the face of Senate opposition:

“Americans for Limited Government remains opposed to any continuing resolution that allows Obamacare to be funded, and we are encouraged by today’s House Republican Conference meeting where a continuing resolution that defunds the health care law was announced. This is a good first step. The second step is to hold firm. We support passage of a continuing resolution that defunds the health care law in full, and urge members to remain resolved to see this through even in the face of Senate opposition.

“Even if Senate Democrats do not respond to labor union demands to fix or repeal the law, the House has no choice but to stick with this approach. If the plan is to just send this continuing resolution to the Senate to die, then that is unacceptable. When the Senate responds with a so-called ‘clean’ continuing resolution, the House needs to respond with another bill that funds the government except for Obamacare. If Obama and Reid want to shut down the government, that’s their choice.”

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

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Sept. 17, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today urged House Republicans to fight like Australians on defunding Obamacare, contending that if it came to a government shutdown, the outcome would not be as purveyors of conventional wisdom predict.

In a letter addressed to House members, Mehrens called attention to the recent landslide election of Tony Abbott in Australia. In 2009, Abbott became leader of Australia’s Liberal Party by one vote, defeating Malcolm Turnbull who Mehrens wrote “had agreed to go along with the leftist majority in Parliament and fund a carbon tax scheme in Australia.”

The carbon tax “was about as popular as Obamacare is in the United States,” Mehrens noted. In the 2013 election, Abbott promised to roll back the unpopular tax on emissions.

“He did not make the mistake of believing that the talking heads of the media’s opinion givers had anything to do with the views of the public,” Mehrens wrote. Instead, Abbott went against the grain and reclaimed the identity of his party, which in 2009 was acquiescing to the Labor Party’s agenda.

Similarly, Mehrens urged House Republicans to “put policy before politics and fund the government with the exception of Obamacare.”

“On Obamacare funding, the media opinion is unanimous that in a test of wills the President will win. After recent events in the foreign policy arena that conclusion is laughable.  Who with a straight face could believe that Obama will shut down his beloved bureaucracy for a prolonged period in order to save a program that is despised by the voters?” Mehrens asked.

For now, the media elite and political establishment in Washington, D.C. are of the view that a government shutdown over funding Obamacare would favor Democrats politically.

But a recent poll by Rasmussen Reports found “51 percent of voters favor having a partial government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans agree on what spending for the health care law to cut.”

Moreover, Mehrens wrote, “As in all government shut downs (i.e. weekends) essential government employees are kept on the job while the non-essential are furloughed.”

He continued, “When Obama realizes that this means his Environmental Protection Agency will be slowed down in its attempts to shut down power plants, the Department of Justice will be hampered in filing frivolous lawsuits, the Internal Revenue war on anyone who disagrees with him will be hampered, and various other of his efforts to transform America will be hindered, he will no doubt rush to the bargaining table.”

Meaning, a shutdown might not only win public support if it means cutting Obamacare, but that could force concessions by the Obama administration on the health care law.

In other words, it might actually work. “Good policy is good politics as the recent Australian election demonstrates,” Mehrens concluded.

Attachments:

Letter to House Republicans by ALG President Nathan Mehrens, Sept. 17, 2013 at http://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/LetterDefundObamacare-9-17-13.pdf

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

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Sept. 12, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement in support of legislation introduced by Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) that would fund the government and defund and delay implementation of Obamacare until 2015:

“Americans for Limited Government supports the Graves continuing resolution that funds the government and defunds and delays implementation of Obamacare until 2015. We urge all members to cosponsor this legislation and stand firm behind Rep. Graves’ effort. Continuing to fund Obamacare and allowing its implementation next year would be a disaster for the nation, and dangerous for the health and well being of the people.”

Attachments:

H.J.Res. 62, introduced by Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) at http://tomgraves.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Tom_Graves_HJRES62_Stability_Security_and_Fairness.pdf

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

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Sept. 12, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today blasted as a non-starter a new House Republican plan that would reportedly eliminate sequestration, increase the debt ceiling and still allow Obamacare to be implemented in 2015:

“Sequestration was the price of increasing the debt ceiling in 2011 by $2.1 trillion. Now, the Daily Caller reports some House Republicans are proposing that it be eliminated, and in exchange, they’d agree to increase the debt ceiling — no strings attached — and allow Obamacare to be implemented anyway, just not in 2014.

“At the end of the day, Obamacare will still be implemented. Instead, members should attach HR 2682, the Defund Obamacare Act, to the continuing resolution that denies funding for the Medicaid expansion, the insurance subsidies, and administrative implementation of the law. Make that the only option. If the Senate and White House want to fund the government, they have to defund Obamacare.

“If Republicans do not take a stand now, tens of millions of Americans will be funneled into government-run, taxpayer-funded health care. A majority of Americans will qualify for subsidized insurance under the law. If that’s an outcome House Republicans feel comfortable with, and provide the funds for it, they will own Obamacare’s socialized medicine every bit as much as the Democrats who voted it into being.”

Attachments:

“House Republicans consider tying debt ceiling raise to defunding Obamacare,” By Alexis Levinson, Sept. 11, 2013 at http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/11/house-republicans-consider-tying-debt-ceiling-raise-to-defunding-obamacare/

“Majority of Americans to qualify for Obamacare subsidies,” By ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, Aug. 9, 2013 at http://netrightdaily.com/2013/08/why-obamacare-always-was-a-public-option/

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

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Sept. 11, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today urged the House of Representatives to defeat a proposed continuing resolution for Fiscal Year 2014 that allows funding for the health care law:

“145 members of the House of Representatives have cosponsored and expressed support for legislation that would defund Obamacare, and now is the opportunity to prove it. This is do or die.

“House Republican leadership is proposing one of the most cynical political shell games seen in Washington, D.C. in years. Their proposal is to allow a symbolic vote on defunding Obamacare in conjunction with the continuing resolution that would fund the federal government, but not have that vote be binding on any Senate action to fund the government. This is a gimmick, and any member that votes for it, will own it.

“In real terms, Republicans can claim to their constituents they voted to defund Obamacare, when they voted to actually fund it. House members must take a stand against the law now before it fully takes effect in 2014.”

Attachments:

Cosponsors of HR 2682		Not yet cosponsoring
Brooks, Mo	AL-05	Young, Donald		AK
Crawford, Rick	AR-01	Bonner, Jo		AL-01
Griffin, Tim	AR-02	Roby, Martha		AL-02
Womack, Steve	AR-03	Rogers, Mike		AL-03
Cotton, Tom	AR-04	Aderholt, Robert		AL-04
Gosar, Paul	AZ-04	Bachus, Spencer		AL-06
Salmon, Matt	AZ-05	Denham, Jeff		CA-10
Schweikert, David	AZ-06	Valadao, David		CA-21
Franks, Trent	AZ-08	Nunes, Devin		CA-22
LaMalfa, Doug	CA-01	McCarthy, Kevin		CA-23
McClintock, Tom	CA-04	McKeon, Buck		CA-25
Cook, Paul	CA-08	Miller, Gary		CA-31
Royce, Ed	CA-39	Calvert, Ken		CA-42
Rohrabacher, Dana	CA-48	Campbell, John		CA-45
Tipton, Scott	CO-03	Issa, Darrell		CA-49
Gardner, Cory	CO-04	Hunter, Duncan D.		CA-50
Lamborn, Doug	CO-05	Coffman, Mike		CO-06
Miller, Jeff	FL-01	Crenshaw, Ander		FL-04
Southerland, Steve	FL-02	Mica, John		FL-07
Yoho, Ted	FL-03	Webster, Daniel		FL-10
DeSantis, Ron	FL-06	Nugent, Rich		FL-11
Posey, Bill	FL-08	Young, C.W.		FL-13
Bilirakis, Gus	FL-12	Ross, Dennis		FL-15
Rooney, Tom	FL-17	Buchanan, Vern		FL-16
Radel, Trey	FL-19	Diaz-Balart, Mario		FL-25
Kingston, Jack	GA-01	Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana		FL-27
Westmoreland, Lynn	GA-03	Latham, Tom		IA-03
Price, Tom	GA-06	Simpson, Mike		ID-02
Woodall, Rob	GA-07	Roskam, Peter		IL-06
Scott, Austin	GA-08	Davis, Rodney L		IL-13
Collins, Doug	GA-09	Shimkus, John		IL-15
Broun, Paul	GA-10	Kinzinger, Adam		IL-16
Gingrey, Phil	GA-11	Schock, Aaron		IL-18
Graves, Tom	GA-14	Whitfield, Ed		KY-01
King, Steve	IA-04	Rogers, Hal		KY-05
Labrador, Raul	ID-01	Camp, Dave		MI-04
Hultgren, Randy	IL-14	Upton, Fred		MI-06
Walorski, Jackie	IN-02	Miller, Candice		MI-10
Stutzman, Marlin	IN-03	Kline, John		MN-02
Rokita, Todd	IN-04	Paulsen, Erik		MN-03
Brooks, Susan	IN-05	Graves, Sam		MO-06
Messer, Luke	IN-06	Foxx, Virginia		NC-05
Bucshon, Larry	IN-08	Coble, Howard		NC-06
Young, Todd	IN-09	McHenry, Patrick		NC-10
Huelskamp, Tim	KS-01	Cramer, Kevin		ND
Jenkins, Lynn	KS-02	Fortenberry, Jeff		NE-01
Yoder, Kevin	KS-03	LoBiondo, Frank		NJ-02
Pompeo, Mike	KS-04	Runyan, Jon		NJ-03
Guthrie, Brett	KY-02	Smith, Christopher		NJ-04
Massie, Thomas	KY-04	Lance, Leonard		NJ-07
Barr, Andy	KY-06	Frelinghuysen, Rodney		NJ-11
Scalise, Steve	LA-01	Heck, Joe		NV-03
Boustany, Charles	LA-03	King, Peter		NY-02
Fleming, John	LA-04	Gibson, Chris		NY-19
Alexander, Rodney	LA-05	Hanna, Richard		NY-22
Cassidy, Bill	LA-06	Reed, Tom		NY-23
Harris, Andy	MD-01	Collins, Chris		NY-27
Benishek, Dan	MI-01	Boehner, John		OH-08
Huizenga, Bill	MI-02	Turner, Michael		OH-10
Amash, Justin	MI-03	Joyce, David		OH-14
Walberg, Tim	MI-07	Cole, Tom		OK-04
Rogers, Mike	MI-08	Walden, Greg		OR-02
Bentivolio, Kerry	MI-11	Kelly, Mike		PA-03
Bachmann, Michele	MN-06	Thompson, Glenn		PA-05
Wagner, Ann	MO-02	Gerlach, Jim		PA-06
Luetkemeyer, Blaine	MO-03	Meehan, Patrick		PA-07
Hartzler, Vicky	MO-04	Fitzpatrick, Mike		PA-08
Long, Billy	MO-07	Barletta, Louis		PA-11
Smith, Jason	MO-08	Dent, Charlie		PA-15
Nunnelee, Alan	MS-01	Pitts, Joe		PA-16
Harper, Gregg	MS-03	Murphy, Tim		PA-18
Palazzo, Steven	MS-04	Duncan, John		TN-02
Daines, Steve	MT	Black, Diane		TN-06
Jones, Walter	NC-03	Brady, Kevin		TX-08
Hudson, Richard	NC-08	Rigell, Scott		VA-02
Pittenger, Robert	NC-09	Forbes, J. Randy		VA-04
Meadows, Mark	NC-11	Cantor, Eric		VA-07
Holding, George	NC-13	Griffith, Morgan		VA-09
Terry, Lee	NE-02	Wolf, Frank		VA-10
Smith, Adrian	NE-03	Herrera Beutler, Jaime		WA-03
Garrett, Scott	NJ-05	McMorris Rodgers, Cathy		WA-05
Pearce, Steve	NM-02	Reichert, Dave		WA-08
Amodei, Mark	NV-02	Ryan, Paul		WI-01
Grimm, Michael	NY-11	Sensenbrenner, F. James		WI-05
Chabot, Steve	OH-01	Petri, Thomas		WI-06
Wenstrup, Brad	OH-02	Ribble, Reid		WI-08
Jordan, Jim	OH-04	McKinley, David		WV-01
Latta, Bob	OH-05	Capito, Shelley		WV-02
Johnson, Bill	OH-06
Gibbs, Bob	OH-07
Tiberi, Pat	OH-12
Stivers, Steve	OH-15
Renacci, Jim	OH-16
Bridenstine, Jim	OK-01
Mullin, Markwayne	OK-02
Lucas, Frank	OK-03
Lankford, James	OK-05
Perry, Scott	PA-04
Shuster, Bill	PA-09
Marino, Tom	PA-10
Rothfus, Keith	PA-12
Sanford, Mark	SC-01
Wilson, Joe	SC-02
Duncan, Jeff	SC-03
Gowdy, Trey	SC-04
Mulvaney, Mick	SC-05
Rice, Tom	SC-07
Noem, Kristi	SD
Roe, Phil	TN-01
Fleischmann, Chuck	TN-03
DesJarlais, Scott	TN-04
Blackburn, Marsha	TN-07
Fincher, Stephen Lee	TN-08
Gohmert, Louie	TX-01
Poe, Ted	TX-02
Johnson, Sam	TX-03
Hall, Ralph	TX-04
Hensarling, Jeb	TX-05
Barton, Joe	TX-06
Culberson, John	TX-07
McCaul, Michael	TX-10
Conaway, Michael	TX-11
Granger, Kay	TX-12
Thornberry, Mac	TX-13
Weber, Randy	TX-14
Flores, Bill	TX-17
Neugebauer, Randy	TX-19
Smith, Lamar	TX-21
Olson, Pete	TX-22
Marchant, Kenny	TX-24
Williams, Roger	TX-25
Burgess, Michael	TX-26
Farenthold, Blake	TX-27
Carter, John	TX-31
Sessions, Pete	TX-32
Stockman, Steve	TX-36
Bishop, Rob	UT-01
Stewart, Chris	UT-02
Chaffetz, Jason	UT-03
Wittman, Rob	VA-01
Hurt, Robert	VA-05
Goodlatte, Bob	VA-06
Hastings, Doc	WA-04
Duffy, Sean	WI-07
Lummis, Cynthia	WY

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

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Sept. 10, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement urging members of the House of Representatives to defeat the rule for the continuing resolution that will allow funding for Obamacare:

“House Republicans should stand firm against parliamentary tricks that allow the funding of Obamacare while providing ‘political cover’ through a meaningless vote to ‘defund’ the law that the Senate can simply ignore. Passage of a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare would make House Republicans 100 percent complicit in the implementation of the law. A vote for this rule is nothing more than an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people and is a direct assault on the promises House Republicans made in 2010 when seeking election to ‘fight efforts to fund the costly health care law.’”

Attachments:

“House GOP Leadership Plan Procedural Trick to Avoid Obamacare Funding Fight,” By Matthew Boyle, Sept. 9, 2013 at http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/09/Conservatives-Boehner-Cantor-cave-on-Obamacare-defunding-fight-seek-to-use-procedural-trick-to-pay-for-law

“House GOP Pushes New Gambit To Defund Obamacare,” By Sahil Kapur, Sept. 10, 2013 at http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/09/house-gop-pushes-new-gambit-to-defund-obamacare.php

“Still time to keep the pledge to defund Obamacare,” By ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, Sept. 3, 2013 at http://netrightdaily.com/2013/09/still-time-to-keep-the-pledge-to-defund-obamacare/

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

 

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Sept. 10, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement urging members of the House of Representatives to defeat a continuing resolution that reportedly will fail to defund Obamacare:

“This is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Separately passing a defunding Obamacare measure not tied to the continuing resolution that can simply be decoupled by the Senate is a useless gesture that does not merit serious consideration. Whoever votes for such a continuing resolution will be voting to fund Obamacare. This is nothing more than a trick by House leadership to pretend to defund Obamacare without actually doing so.”

Attachments:

“House GOP Leadership Plan Procedural Trick to Avoid Obamacare Funding Fight,” By Matthew Boyle, Sept. 9, 2013 at http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/09/Conservatives-Boehner-Cantor-cave-on-Obamacare-defunding-fight-seek-to-use-procedural-trick-to-pay-for-law

“House GOP Pushes New Gambit To Defund Obamacare,” By Sahil Kapur, Sept. 10, 2013 at http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/09/house-gop-pushes-new-gambit-to-defund-obamacare.php

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

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Sept. 6, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement in response to the latest job numbers:

“More than half a million more Americans are not in the labor force in August than in July.  The labor participation rate has dipped to levels last seen when Jimmy Carter was president in 1978.  No matter the happy talk about a lower unemployment rate, Americans are continuing to lose the expectation that they will find a full-time career.  Now, on top of this abandonment of the workforce by many potential employees, job creators are staring of down the barrel of the implementation of Obamacare unless the House of Representatives acts decisively to stop the law in its tracks by defunding it this month.

“Our economy is sick and the American workforce has become increasingly discouraged.  The myth that the declining participation rate is found in the aging population is dispelled in the boomerang college kids who are graduating from college and returning to their parent’s homes due to lack of opportunity.  It is time for the government to finally wake up and stop the regulatory assault on job creation that has had the perverse effect of stripping potential worker’s hope of ever finding a career.”

Attachments:

“Labor force participation continues to drop,” By ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, Aug. 30, 2013 at http://netrightdaily.com/2013/08/little-to-celebrate-this-laborless-day/

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

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