Dec. 12, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement criticizing the speed with which the budget deal is being rushed through the House of Representatives:

“In order to prevent anybody from even having an opportunity to analyze and comment on this budget deal, it is being rushed through the House in a day. This is how Nancy Pelosi ran the House, and Republicans swore up and down they would be different. How good does that promise look now?

“The Republican Pledge to America has again been broken. You get 72 hours to read a bill before it’s voted on? No. They’re going to cut $100 billion? Since 2010, outlays are only down by $3 billion, and that is only thanks to the sequester. Now, this budget deal will increase spending by $57 billion over the next two years, canceling roughly a third of the sequester in 2014 and 2015. It allows funding for Obamacare to continue. These are the types of policies Republicans opposed while in the minority. This continued breach of faith with those who entrusted them with power is wrong.

“At least going into the 2014 elections, the American people should not be deluded into believing that anyone who votes for this bill truly is seeking to cut the size and scope of government. Without this central promise, it is hard to imagine what incumbent Republicans have to offer in November besides a vague warning that it could have been worse.

“There will be those who point to the fact that government spending in real terms has been reduced since 2010 by about $3 billion. This good news is now being negated by a compromise enthusiastically embraced by Senate Democrats and President Obama, which now sets the stage for more of the sequester to be rolled back down the road.

“Is it any wonder why a president determined to grow government would herald the Ryan compromise that reverses a three year trend of cutting the size of government? Taxpayers would have been better off with a basic continuing resolution that changed nothing.”

Attachments:

“The Ryan budget fraud is even worse after you read it,” by ALG senior editor Robert Romano, Dec. 12, 2013, at http://netrightdaily.com/2013/12/ryan-budget-fraud-even-worse-read/

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.

###

Dec. 10, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement blasting the budget deal that will cancel the $65 billion sequestration over the next two years:

“It is disappointing that House Republican Budget Chairman Paul Ryan would bust the $65 billion sequestration and raise government fees and other assessments, in return for other supposed cuts in the out years that likely will just be rolled back later. The sequester needed restructuring as it disproportionately hurt our national defense capabilities, but Ryan’s plan to raise taxes is unacceptable, and the supposed out year cuts are simply a cynical insult to taxpayers who now know that when push comes to shove, the cuts will not be kept.

“This is just one more example of how out of touch our national leaders are to the real priorities of the American public. It must be defeated by those who believe in keeping the size and scope of government under control.”

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.

###

 

 

###

Dec. 6, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government vice president of public policy and communications Rick Manning, a former Public Affairs Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Labor, today issued the following statement praising House leaders including committee chairmen Rep. John Kline and Rep. Dave Camp for investigating allegations that the unemployment numbers are being manipulated at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau:

“The House Education and Workforce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee have taken a vital first step in getting answers from Labor Secretary Thomas Perez on news reports that monthly jobs data has been manipulated.

“The December 3 letter from Chairmen John Kline, Dave Camp, along with the three relevant subcommittee chairmen charged with overseeing the Labor and Commerce Departments demanded that Perez provide the Committees, ‘a description of all instances in which the Census Bureau reported to BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) its data were found to be inaccurate.’

“In the context of ongoing legitimate concerns that the unemployment numbers have been willfully and deliberately manipulated, the Labor Department’s report that the unemployment rate has dramatically declined to 7 percent is evidence that it is now time for Congress to end extended unemployment benefits and restore the normal 27 week eligibility period that existed prior to 2008.

“It is also clear that the Federal Reserve should immediately begin tapering the $85 billion a month in mortgage backed securities purchases as this data, and that previously reported, demonstrate that it is unnecessary.  In fact it would be the height of irresponsibility for the Fed to continue on the reckless course of continuing the Quantitative Easing program at all.”

Attachments:

House letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, Dec. 3, 2013 at http://edworkforce.house.gov/uploadedfiles/12-03-13-dol-bls_statistics.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.

###

Dec. 4, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement condemning a new IRS regulation that will severely restrict the constitutionally protected speech of 501(c)4 tax-exempt organizations:

“The Obama Administration is acting as if Citizens United never happened. Now, instead of targeting the tea party and other 501(c)4s for selective discrimination, the IRS wants to codify the practice in regulation. This is nothing more than an effort to defy the Supreme Court and implement rules that violate the First Amendment’s protection of the freedom of speech by drawing up rules dramatically redefining the criteria to be a (c)4 — all without any vote in Congress.

“Citizens United lifted restrictions on electioneering communications by groups. Now, very similar limitations are once again being proposed for groups, including blackout windows 60 days prior to a general election and 30 days prior to a primary. The IRS even proposes expanding the restrictions to include anything that even mentions a public official who happens to be candidate, even if such communications does not contain express advocacy, if they constitute a majority of the group’s activity.

“This tightens the ability of non-profits to engage in public discussions on areas of interest if a candidate for political office happens to be involved in that area; it will make voter registration drives more difficult; and it will generally make it harder for organizations to comment on issues of public concern, especially during certain parts of the year.

“Also, of note, the proposed regulation does not apply to labor organizations, although the proposal states that the Administration is considering a regulation in this area.  Thus, a likely result is that a final rule will be promulgated further restricting non-profit speech and activities long before any comparable regulation is promulgated on the activities of labor organizations.  The net result will be more restrictions on the rights of conservative leaning organizations while the same restrictions on left leaning labor organizations remain unfinished.”

Attachments:

“Obama expands war on political speech,” By ALG senior editor Robert Romano, Dec. 2, 2013 at http://netrightdaily.com/2013/12/obama-expands-war-political-speech/

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.

###

Nov. 21, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government vice president of public policy and communications Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting the Senate Democrat Majority for violating Senate rules in order to change rules and eliminate the filibuster:

“Standing Rule XXII of the Senate clearly states that to amend Senate rules requires a two-thirds majority, and yet Senate Democrats have done so with just a simple majority to eliminate the filibuster on presidential nominations except for the Supreme Court. Legality aside, now that this new precedent has been set, it would be foolish for Republicans to rescind it should they regain control of the chamber in 2014, or to agree to future reinstatement when a Republican eventually becomes president again.

“This precedent that a simple majority can impose its will in the Senate forever shatters the cooling saucer of theformerly most deliberative body, and it is only a matter of time before the filibuster is dismantled entirely. The concept of minority rights has been forever altered. Harry Reid’s Senate is now little more than a rubber stamp for presidential nominations.”

 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.

###

Nov. 19, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement urging Rep. John Kline, chairman of the House Health, Education and Workforce Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to investigate allegations by an anonymous whistleblower that unemployment jobs data in the current population survey conducted by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is manipulated to political ends:

“The Oct. 5, 2012 jobs report may have been too good to be true after all — it showed a 0.3 percent drop in the unemployment rate just in time for the election, getting it down below 8 percent for the first time in 43 months, an Obama administration ‘stimulus’ pledge. To get there, the survey found a miraculous 873,000 new jobs in the household survey, even though the establishment survey of employers only showed a total of 114,000 jobs created. At the time Americans for Limited Government warned the data was wrong, or worse manipulated.

“With the whistleblower disclosure in the New York Post in a story by John Crudele, now it has been alleged that this report, and others, have been manipulated all along to help President Obama to get reelected — and worse, that the practice continues to date. To get to the bottom of this, the whistleblower identified in the Crudele story must be allowed to testify in front of the appropriate House committees. If true, major reforms will be needed.

“Financial markets and economic policy makers all over the world depend on the integrity of jobs data to make informed decisions. This is extremely serious. If it cannot be collected without a propaganda motive in mind, then perhaps the government should cease collecting it altogether. This is a case where distorted data will result in distorted policies that harm the well being of the global economy.”

Attachments:

“Unemployment rate contradicted by job growth report,” Oct. 5, 2012, Americans for Limited Government statement, at http://getliberty.org/unemployment-rate-contradicted-by-job-growth-report/

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.

###

 Nov. 18, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement praising Rep. Jim Bridentstine (R-Okla.) for a proposal to repeal the 16^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that created the national income tax:

“The income tax constitutional amendment has been a one hundred year disaster for constitutionally limited government and Representative Jim Bridenstine deserves praise for beginning the process of repealing it.

“The income tax has become little more than a Christmas tree of breaks, deductions and special interest subsidies which the powerful with lobbyists manipulate for their own interests and to damage those of their competitors.  It is time for Congress to repeal the failed 16th Amendment experiment.”

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.

###

Nov. 14, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government president Nathan Mehrens reacts to Obama declaring that now people can keep their existing health insurance:

“Congress needs to dismantle the entire Obamacare debacle.  This concept that the letter of the law is nothing more than a pretext for governing is ruinous to the basic Constitutional principles that guide our nation.  Obama can begin the process of rescinding his regulations that have effectively disqualified many health plans, but even that requires a legal process.

President Obama’s disregard for the rule of law is legendary, but this attempt to by-pass Congress takes the cake.”

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.

###

Nov. 13, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement urging the House to scrap its plans to vote Friday on legislation dealing with keeping existing, opting instead for legislation that would suspend the health care law in full:

“House Republicans are letting vulnerable Democrats off the hook on the issue of millions of Americans losing their health plans, by offering legislation that merely shifts blame from those who supported Obamacare to insurers that are merely trying to follow the law.

“Senate Democrats led by Mary Landrieu, seeing an opportunity to save their electoral chances in 2014, are upping the ante by offering a bill that will force insurers to reinstate coverage that they had originally legislated out of existence. This will be a political winner for Democrats, because the House bill has no such requirement on insurers.

“Not accepting the Senate bill would leave Republicans in the unenviable position of defending health insurance cancellations on the grounds that businesses cannot be compelled to offer a product that may be no longer financially viable. And so, Fred Upton who authored the Republican plan has already come out to praise the Senate Democrat approach.

“But the reason these plans are being cancelled is because of new, burdensome requirements under the law. The solution is to eliminate those new requirements. Forcing insurers to provide plans that are no longer viable without eliminating the new costs being imposed on them is suicidal. Next thing you know, House Republicans will be supporting increasing insurer subsidies to offset the cost.

“Americans for Limited Government strongly urges House Republicans to cease and desist from pursuing the Upton bill, allowing the Senate to act first, and then responding with either a full-year delay or an indefinite suspension of the entire law. This is the perfect opportunity to make the case for stopping implementation of the law itself before it does any more damage to the America’s health care system.”

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.

###

Nov. 12, 2013, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today issued the following statement in response to a Washington Post report that the Obama administration is padding its Obamacare enrollment figures with those “who have a plan sitting in their online shopping cart but have not yet paid”:

“The amount of people actually signing up via Healthcare.gov must really be terrible if the Obama administration is already resorting to accounting gimmicks to boost its so-called ‘enrollment’ figures. Seven million people are supposed to sign up by March via the exchanges for 2014, 13 million by 2014, and 22 million by 2016 according to the Congressional Budget Office. If only 50,000 have signed up in the first month, as the Wall Street Journal reports, the administration will be lucky if it gets a million in the next year, far short of its target.

“The implications of this failure cannot be overstated. To the extent that the administration fails to enroll millions of uninsured in the exchanges, everyone’s models of how large the insurance pool ought to be will undoubtedly prove to be wrong. Which, because the minimum coverage requirements have increased so substantially under the law for existing plans, when the non-enrolled millions are not paying premiums into the system to offset the cost, it will mean everyone else will have to pay more.

“No amount of padding its numbers with false enrollees by the Obama administration will change the reality of higher premiums for everyone else. This really is going to be the unaffordable care act.”

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.

###