Dec. 16, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill and $550 billion tax extenders bill:
“The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill effectively funds 9 of the last 12 months of the Obama agenda at higher spending levels in exchange for very little. The bill includes by virtue of not defunding it, funds for the implementation of Obamacare, executive amnesty for illegal immigrants with U.S.-born children, Planned Parenthood, the resettlement of refugees from the war in Syria and Iraq, the EPA’s war on coal and so forth. They even managed to inexcusably reinstate the wind turbine tax credit through 2020 that had previously expired this year.
“Failure to defund some of these big ticket items could have been somewhat offset by achieving smaller policy victories to limit the size and scope of government, but frankly these are very few and far between, and do not advise a yes vote for those representatives committed to reducing government’s role in the lives of the American people. Sadly, there simply is very little in here for conservative members of Congress to hang their hats on, and Americans for Limited Government strongly urges a no vote.
“Notably, this was Speaker Paul Ryan’s first and likely his only real chance to demonstrate that he was going to use the power of the purse to rein in President Obama’s rogue initiatives. Rather than roaring like a lion by leveraging Democrats to accept provisions that tied Obama’s regulatory hands, Ryan meekly rolled over on his back and waved a white flag, making any pronouncements in the coming year about his vision for restoring Congress’ Article One constitutional authority meaningless.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.
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