Repeal not dead yet

July 28, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement noting the fact that the House-passed American Health Care Act has not actually been defeated in the Senate:

“For all the talk, the House health care bill is in fact still alive in the Senate. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just need to find a way to get one more vote, and that should be negotiable.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Do the skinny repeal plus the Cruz Amendment

July 27, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Senate to bring legislation to the floor that repeals the individual and employer mandates, the medical device tax and including the amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that allows insurers to sell lower cost plans in states where they offer Obamacare-compliant plans:

“The people who choose to opt out of the Obamacare after the individual mandate is repealed should have lower cost market based alternatives available. With the Obamacare regulations in place, that’s impossible. Therefore, the Cruz amendment should be included in any package the Senate is considering, including the so called skinny repeal of the individual and employer mandates plus the medical device tax.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Senate Six threaten GOP Senate future with vote against Obamacare repeal

July 26, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting six Republican Senators who voted for repealing Obamacare in 2015 but who have now changed their votes:

“It is sad to see six Republican Senators, John McCain, Shelley Moore Capito, Dean Heller, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman and Lamar Alexander who voted in 2015 to repeal most of Obamacare have now decided to change their votes when it actually mattered and there’s a president in the White House who wanted to sign the bill. This betrayal of their constituents’ trust threatens to leave the failed Obamacare system in place.

“This is outright fraud. These senators have repeatedly lied to the American people about where they stood on one of the signature issues facing the nation.

“Obamacare has failed. Premiums are higher than ever and the options on insurance marketplaces are dwindling. In the meantime, the employer mandates still create a disincentive against hiring full-time employees and Medicaid expansion is bankrupting state budgets.

“The American people have become all too accustomed to politicians who say one thing and do another. The Senate Six have proven that the public’s cynicism about politicians is well-placed, for if they had just kept word, Obamacare would be history. The days ahead will prove whether the GOP majority in the Senate is able to keep their election promises. If they fail, fantasies of a 60-vote Republican Senate will be replaced by fears of a Democrat majority.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Senate should confirm Christopher Wray as FBI Director immediately

July 26, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Senate to confirm Christopher Wray as FBI Director before the August recess:

“Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has done his job in moving President Trump’s nominee for FBI Director Christopher Wray with unanimous positive recommendation. The next order of business after health care that the U.S. Senate should address is confirming Wray as FBI Director immediately. It’s time to get the temporary and politically tainted acting director Andrew McCabe out of the director’s chair so the FBI can begin the process of restoring its credibility with the American people.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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House Ways and Means should publicly take advertising tax ‘off the table’ for tax reform bill

July 26, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the House Ways and Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to take the advertising tax off the table in upcoming discussions on the tax bill:

“House Ways and Committee Chairman Kevin Brady wisely chose against the inclusion of an advertising tax in his initial tax reform proposals. Advertising is an immediate business expense and should continue to be allowed to be deducted as such. Other than looking for a pot of money, there is no economic rationale for changing the way advertising is treated in the tax code, and Brady should make this absolutely clear that an ad tax is off the table.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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House should still vote on 2018 budget by Chairwoman Black, cancel August recess

July 26, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the House to vote on the budget offered by House Budget Committee Chairwoman Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) that cuts mandatory spending by $203 billion over 10 years before going on August recess:

“It would be unthinkable that the House would not pass a budget resolution or even consider one prior to going on their August recess. How have they gone all the way to the end of July without dealing with the budget? The August recess should be cancelled and all the work of the Congress, including passing all the appropriations bills, should be completed.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Trump should stick by Scott Garrett appointment to head Ex-Im Bank

July 25, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging President Donald Trump to stand by his nomination to head the Export-Import Bank of the United States, fprmer U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.):

“President Trump made an outstanding appointment to head the Export Import Bank in former New Jersey Representative Scott Garrett.  Garrett’s experience overseeing and indeed opposing the continuance of the Ex-Im Bank will allow him to work on ensuring that the Bank operates as intended under the law, while separating itself from the crony capitalism that has been the hallmark of its existence.

“It is to be expected that Boeing Corporation through its D.C. association proxies would be concerned about reforms that Garrett might institute given the widely held view that the Ex-Im Bank is Boeing’s personal source of government guaranteed loans for overseas sales, but that is simply too bad.  President Trump came to Washington to drain the swamp and his appointment of Garrett to run the Ex-Im Bank is emblematic of his pledge to attack corporate welfare. Scott Garrett is the right choice. Trump should stand by his nomination and Garrett should be confirmed by the Senate.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Senate vote to proceed on Obamacare repeal ‘important first step’

July 25, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the U.S. Senate for voting to proceed to legislation that would replace Obamacare:

“The Senate took the important first step needed to begin the process of repealing and replacing Obamacare. The next vote on the 2015 partial repeal language will demonstrate which Senate Republicans were serious about repeal and who was just playing politics. The Obamacare system has failed. There is absolutely no excuse not to sweep it away in its entirety and replace it with a market-based approach that will drive down consumer costs by finally creating real competition.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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ALG urges Yes on Motion to Proceed to Obamacare repeal

July 24, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Senate to vote Yes on the motion to proceed to legislation on alternatives to Obamacare:

“The Senate should vote yes on the motion to proceed to consider alternatives to Obamacare. If nothing else, the motion to proceed will be followed by a repeat of the 2015 partial repeal bill. This will force every Senator who voted to repeal in 2015 to recast that vote now that it matters. There is simply no excuse after seven years of voting, complaining and campaigning for Senate Republicans to not take this opportunity to put their money where their mouths are, and end the failed Obamacare system.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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Washington Post should show work on anonymous sources used against Sessions, or be ignored

July 24, 2017, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting the Washington Post for its use of unverified, anonymous sources for its July 21 hit piece against Attorney General Jeff Sessions:

“It is unacceptable for supposed news outlets like the Washington Post to continue a war on the Trump Administration using anonymous sources reading from top secret documents that the reporter never even sees to check the veracity.  It is clear that in the case of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that he is making substantive changes at the Justice Department that many Obama holdovers despise.  The Attorney General has clearly stated under oath what the content of various conversations he has had are, and has vigorously denied ever talking to the Russian ambassador about the election campaign.  It is normal for opposition campaigns to provide counter narratives, but if the Washington Post wants to maintain even a shred of journalistic respectability, they need to show their work, or they should be ignored.

“The Post put out another of their unsourced, somebody read something to me over the phone so it must be true, stories on Friday evening attacking Attorney General Sessions over his brief contacts with the Russian ambassador that occurred during the course of business last year. Attorney General Sessions has vigorously denied, under oath, that these conversations were in any way related to the election. Yet, a deep state unnamed U.S. intelligence source continues to feed false information to the Post in an attempt to stop Sessions’ efforts to root out these bad actors who have repeatedly fed fake news to the anti-Trump media.

“The Post has a new slogan, ‘democracy dies in darkness,’ which they hang their hats on while pretending to be the neutral light. The irony of course is that they report out of darkness when they continue to use anonymous sources which have embarrassed them time and again when the full truth comes out, and not just the filtered spin they are being fed.

“Attorney General Sessions is doing a great job in restoring faith in the rule of law and cleaning up the mess left behind by the politicized Obama Justice Department.  He is going after the MS-13 illegal alien gangs that Obama allowed to infiltrate our nation, and deporting them. He is working hard to refocus the Justice Department to actual criminals rather than being at the vanguard of trying to Administratively change our national culture.  I strongly encourage him to keep up the good work, and not be deterred by Jeff Bezos’ political gnats working under the pretense of journalism.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 100 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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