ALG urges House Republicans to keep the Pledge to America to cut $100 billion.

March 15, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to double whatever proposed spending cuts the White House puts in its budget tomorrow:

“President Trump is taking the first important step to draining the swamp in his proposed FY 2018 budget. According to sources familiar with the budget, the president’s plan will eliminate the HUD Community Development Block Grant program thereby ending federal intrusion into local zoning decisions, it kills the Green Climate Fund, it slashes the federal workforce by thousands including the weaponized, recalcitrant EPA, and it will improve services for our nation’s veterans.

“There is little excuse for Congressional Republicans not to build upon this restructuring of the government by insisting that all unnecessary spending be cut even further. House Republicans were elected in 2010 by a promise to cut spending by $100 billion. Now is their opportunity to make good on that seven-year-old campaign pledge by upping the ante and at least doubling any proposed cuts.”

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.

###

March 15, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today in a statement noted how the debt ceiling coming due presents an opportunity for the White House and Congress to implement reforms that limit the size and scope of government:

“One of the great frustrations when former President Barack Obama controlled the debt ceiling was you never knew when he was going to bring it up. Now, President Donald Trump has the political high ground and the advantage on any debt ceiling fight, because he controls the timing, simply by declaring that the Treasury is now implementing so-called ‘extraordinary measures’ as the suspension of the debt ceiling ends today. The debt ceiling now provides a unique opportunity to create real reforms on a must-pass vote, giving Trump and Republicans in Congress another vehicle to reduce the size and role of government and drain the swamp.”

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.

###

 

March 13, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising President Donald Trump for issuing a new executive order for departments and agencies to draw plans for running more cost-effectively:

“President Trump’s ordering agencies to develop streamlining plans to make best use of taxpayer dollars is exactly the type of forward thinking one can expect from a business executive determined to force government to begin living within its means. With the U.S. already near $20 trillion in debt, and entitlement spending set to spiral out of control, the pressure comes on the bureaucracy to pare back. You can have entitlements for Baby Boomers or you can have a massive bureaucracy, but you cannot have both sustainably. When paired with Trump’s anticipated budget cuts, the president appears determined to create a leaner federal government workforce that crushes the self-sustaining administrative state and meets America’s priorities.”

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.

###

March 10, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement after the health care bill has passed out of two House committees with only a single amendment of a technical nature passing:

“The so-called Obamacare repeal and replace has now gone through two House committees and the only amendment that has passed was an amendment of a technical nature offered in the House Energy and Committee by the chairman. This creates the appearance that this is already the final version of the bill and that changes will not be tolerated by leadership. To avoid a floor battle, Republican leaders must work with conservative members to include changes in this bill before it gets to the floor. If there are no changes made to it, it will be impossible to argue that this was not jammed down the American people’s throats.”

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.

###

March 8, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting an unnamed federal agency outlined in a March 7 New York Times report for illegally outsourcing parts of a tax investigation into Caterpillar to Dr. Leslie Robinson, accounting professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College:

“It is illegal for the federal government to outsource tax investigations to non-government personnel due to the highly confidential nature of tax records. This leaked report meant to embarrass a company that President Trump recently praised was illegally leaked for political purposes, but what it reveals was that a federal agency, unnamed at the moment, apparently shared tax information with a Dartmouth College professor to go after Caterpillar. This continuation of the left’s use of the government as a political weapon almost two months in to the Trump presidency is beyond troubling.

“Notwithstanding the law, in 2015, the IRS issued a regulation that dramatically expanded the persons who could review tax information in the course of a tax investigation. This episode of a contractor’s report being leaked emphasizes why not only this was a bad idea, but why it still violated the law. This regulation should be defunded by Congress and enforcement suspended.

“If there was an effective ‘Taxpayer Advocate’ these abuses might be identified and stamped out, but unfortunately, the culture of corruption at the IRS and other agencies, with their surrogate outside consultants remains intact. It is time for the Trump Administration to enforce the law against the use of outside contractors to conduct tax investigations. What’s more, Congress needs to seriously question what the so-called Taxpayer Advocate has been doing besides lobbying for increased IRS appropriations?”

Attachments:

“I was provided with all documents available to the case agents assigned to the investigation.” Dr. Leslie Robinson, accounting professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, quoted from report from tax investigation into Caterpillar, March 7, 2017 at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/business/caterpillar-tax-fraud.html

Letter from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, May 13, 2015 at https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/hatch-questions-irss-outsourcing-of-taxpayer-examination

The IRC authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make inquiries regarding tax liability, and permits the Secretary to delegate this authority to “officers or employees of the Treasury Department….”[1] 26 U.S.C. §§ 6201 [ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6201 ]

This authority includes both the examination of “books, papers, records, or other data[,]” and the taking of testimony under oath.[2] 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a). [ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7602 ]

While the Secretary has broad powers to delegate authorities, any delegation is limited to an “officer, employee, or agency of the Treasury Department” unless Congress expressly grants broader authority.[3] 26 U.S.C. § 7701(a)(11)(B), (12)(A). [ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7701 ]

In addition to limitations on who can carry out these functions, Congress also created safeguards around the use of confidential taxpayer information by prohibiting officers and employees of the United States from disclosing taxpayer information except in limited circumstances.[4] 26 U.S.C. § 6103. [ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103 ] By enacting these provisions, Congress made clear that certain revenue functions may be carried out only by specified officers of the Treasury Department and that taxpayer data can only be disclosed in limited circumstances.

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.

###

March 8, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement to Breitbart.com yesterday, bringing attention to a new web ad by Americans for Limited Government that urges Congressional Republicans to keep their campaign promises and repeal all of Obamacare:

“It is catastrophic and disappointing that House GOP Leadership along with Chairmen Brady and Walden are pretending that their proposal is an Obamacare repeal, when it fails to even reach the minimum repeal standard passed by Congress in 2015 and vetoed by then President Obama.

“Congressional Republicans have been entrusted with leadership largely due to their oft-repeated promise to repeal Obamacare, the Ryancare bill accepts the underlying principles of the failed health care law, and attempts to fix it. The Ryan bill is indefensible both from a policy and political perspective.

“Americans for Limited Government produced this video to remind Republicans of their promise to repeal all of Obamacare. It is crazy for the GOP to try to go back to the American people and tell them that the rules of Congress prohibited them from re-establishing state based health care solutions, and instead they should be happy with a mutant national health care plan. For the first time in six years, Nancy Pelosi sees a pathway to holding the Speaker’s gavel again, ironically through the GOP’s planned failure to keep their Obamacare repeal promise that defeated her in 2010.

“President Donald Trump needs to take a step back from the Ryancare abyss and listen to those of us who supported him. This legislation must be retooled to rip all of Obamacare out by the roots, followed by a replacement bill that respects the American people and the Constitution by returning authority over health care to the states.”

Attachments:

Exclusive — New Web Ad Targets Paul Ryan’s Obamacare 2.0, Questions If Republicans Will Keep Promise to Repeal, By Matthew Boyle, March 8, 2017 at http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/08/exclusive-new-web-ad-targets-paul-ryans-obamacare-2-0-questions-republicans-will-keep-promise-repeal/

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.

###

 

March 3, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following call for President Donald Trump to cut former presidents’ access to classified information, including former President Barack Obama’s:

“Given the New York Times report of Obama’s apparent operation to expand access to classified intelligence including innocuous contacts with Trump campaign officials and Russians, we can no longer trust that former President Barack Obama will treat classified intelligence information as anything but political fodder. Until the leak investigation is completed, all former presidents should be cut out of the loop of classified information under federal rules and by revising Executive Order 13526. They have no need to know.”

To view online: http://getliberty.org/2017/03/obama-former-presidents-should-be-cut-out-of-loop-of-classified-information/

Attachments:

32 CFR 1909.5 Requirements as to who may apply at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/32/1909.5

(c) Former Presidents and Vice Presidents. Any former President or Vice President may submit a request for access to classified CIA information. Requests from former Presidents or Vice Presidents shall be in writing to the Coordinator and shall identify the records containing the classified information of interest. A former President or Vice President may also request approval for a research associate, but there is no entitlement to such enlargement of access and the decision in this regard shall be in the sole discretion of the Senior Agency Official.

32 CFR 1909.12 – Termination of access at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/32/1909.12

The Coordinator shall cancel any authorization and deny any further access whenever the Director of Security cancels the security clearance of any person who has been granted access to classified CIA information under the part; or whenever the Senior Agency Official, or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, determines that continued access would no longer be consistent with the requirements of this part; or at the conclusion of the authorized period of up to two years if there is no renewal under § 1909.11.

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.

###

March 2, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of H.R. 850 by U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), the Agency Accountability Act, legislation that would require that fees, fines and other revenues independently collected by agencies be deposited in the Treasury general fund:

“Representative Palmer’s Agency Accountability Act ends the practice of Agency’s compiling slush funds that allow them to operate independently from Congress’ funding oversight.  This legislation is a great step forward in restoring Congress’ Article One Constitutional authority and Americans for Limited Government urges its passage. From 2010 to 2015, $83 billion of fines, fees and other revenue were collected by agencies, money that Congress alone should have authority in appropriating.”

Attachments:

Restoring the Power of the Purse: Shining Light on Federal Agencies Billion Dollar Fines Collections, Nov. 30, 2016, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a Majority staff report at https://oversight.house.gov/report/oversight-report-reveals-83-billion-collected-agency-fines-penalties/

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.

###

Feb. 28, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to at least repeal as much of Obamacare as was repealed last year when it was vetoed by former President Barack Obama:

“There is no excuse for not repealing Obamacare by as much as it was last year. Any attempt to merely spray the health care law with perfume and declare it a victory betrays every promise the GOP Congress and President Trump made during their successful 2016 campaign. Obamacare does not need to be reformed, it needs to be repealed.”

Attachments:

“Time for Congress to do its job and repeal Obamacare,” By Peter Hong, Feb. 28, 2017 at http://netrightdaily.com/2017/02/time-congress-job-repeal-obamacare/

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.

###

Fiscal responsibility vital to national security.

Feb. 28, 2017, Fairfax, Va.–Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today in a statement responded to Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) complaint that President Trump’s proposed defense spending is not large enough, “With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than President Obama’s budget. We can and must do better”:

“President Donald Trump, in proposing a $54 billion increase in defense spending over the coming years, has done the fiscally responsible thing and found $50 billion of offsetting non-defense budget cuts to help pay for it. If McCain wants an additional hike of defense spending by another $37 billion this year, why doesn’t he identify $37 billion of cuts to make this year elsewhere in the budget? Perhaps look at the Pentagon itself. McCain has never seen a war that he didn’t want to put American soldiers into the midst of. The Department of Defense needs to conduct a complete audit and wring out the social engineering spending that Obama embedded in their budget including the inefficient and costly biofuel program. This refocusing will mean more planes, tanks and ships to protect American interests for the same dollar spent.

“While increasing defense spending is important for national security, it is equally important the Pentagon get more bang for its buck too. The fact is, the number one constraint on future defense spending will be the ballooning $20 trillion national debt. This year alone, it is projected by OMB that gross interest on the debt will be $511 billion, just $100 billion shy of the entire defense budget. It is this future expense budget that will consume all others, and make it impossible for the U.S. to meet its security commitments globally.

“We urge Sen. McCain to follow President Trump’s prudent example in proposing spending cuts to pay for his proposed increase in defense spending. As Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. McCain is uniquely positioned to identify inefficient defense programs and unneeded armaments to meet the needs of a sound peace through strength doctrine.”

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.

###