Thanks Boehner and McConnell for “leading the opposition during the first two dark years of the Obama presidency.”
November 3rd, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today thanked the American people for “doing their parts in the midterm elections to begin the process of rolling back the big spending of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s Congress.”
“The American people have spoken, and because of their efforts, House Republicans and a growing number of Senate Republicans have been offered a second chance to bring the nation’s fiscal house into order,” Wilson said.
“But the work is not over with a mere election,” Wilson added. “Now, the American people must hold the new Congress accountable for their pledges to pay down the debt, repeal ObamaCare, create jobs, and end the bailouts once and for all.”
Wilson urged tea parties and other citizen activists “to continue their patriotic efforts rein in what has been an unaccountable government, and to hold them responsible for what happens next.”
Wilson said the early indications are “favorable,” praising House Republican Leader John Boehner’s statement today, “Our pledge is to listen to the American people, and to focus on their priorities, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Boehner, in a joint press conference with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour outlined what he viewed as “the people’s priorities: creating jobs, cutting spending, and reforming the way Congress does its business.”
“It’s not just what the American people are demanding, it’s what they are expecting from us,” Boehner added. “The real question now is this: Are we going to listen to the American people?”
McConnell said that Democrats “may have missed the message” of the elections. “I get the impression that they’re thinking — their view is that [Republicans] have not cooperated enough. I think what the American people were saying yesterday that they appreciated us saying ‘no’ to the things that the American people indicated they were not in favor of.”
McConnell put the pressure back on Democrats and the White House: “So, I think the group that should, hopefully, get the message out of yesterday’s elections is our friends on the other side of the aisle. We hope that they will pivot in a different direction.”
Wilson said he thought Boehner and McConnell “struck the right tone.” In an oped published this morning, Wilson wrote that the two Republican leaders “deserve praise for leading the opposition during the first two dark years of the Obama presidency.”
Wilson oped continues, “It was not a foregone conclusion that Republicans would unite against the $812 billion ‘stimulus’, ObamaCare, the Dodd-Frank financial takeover, and the Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax. But they did, and it gave the American people confidence that they had representation — that they had a voice.”
Wilson urged Republicans to “continue their principled opposition to the Obama statist agenda.” He said that a key battle would be the budget: “House Republicans have an opportunity to present their budget to the American people, and to the Congress for consideration. They should balance it and set the stage for fulfilling their pledge to pay down the debt.”
Wilson said the new Congress would “need the American people’s help,” concluding, “Although the election is over, the work has just begun for the American people, to hold this new Congress accountable to the highest possible standard. They want Congress to rein in government from its excesses, and now their voices must be louder than ever.”
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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