Nov. 28, 2012—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged the House to tie all pieces of the fiscal cliff into a single piece of legislation increasing the debt ceiling, making tax relief permanent, enacting entitlement reform, and balancing the budget within 10 years:

“The only leverage the House has on the fiscal cliff is the debt ceiling. If they are unwilling to use it, Obama will win, taxes will go up, and Republicans will get blamed. Leadership should tie all aspects of averting the fiscal cliff — including making tax relief permanent for all Americans and replacing any sequester cuts with entitlement and welfare reform — to a vote on the debt ceiling and balancing the budget within 10 years.

“And then Republicans should dare Obama to take it or leave it. He needs financing to fund his second term in office. If he wants it, he needs to sign whatever debt ceiling the House is willing to pass.

“But it will only work if the GOP is willing to stand on principle. Otherwise, it is going to lose this battle.”

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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Nov. 16, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Ding Dong, the company’s dead, the company’s dead, Ding Dong, the Hostess Company is dead.

You can almost hear the union bosses of The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union singing this song gleefully celebrating the destruction of one of America’s most enduring brands – Hostess – the maker of Twinkies, Cupcakes, Wonder Bread, and yes, the Ding Dong.

Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government (ALG), commented on this development:

“More than 18,000 workers are unemployed today because of the greed and short-sidedness of labor bosses and their followers who have chosen to destroy their own jobs rather than make concessions that would allow the company to survive.

“It is common for parasites to kill their hosts, but it rarely happens in a way where so many people can see it.  This union did what many others have done outside of the spotlight, they have forced a company to go out of business directly due to their irresponsible actions.

“No member of this union who is laid off due to this strike should receive a dime of unemployment compensation.  They are anything but victims, in fact, they are responsible for the demise of Twinkie the Kid.”

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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Nov. 14, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement calling upon the Republican Governors Association (RGA) to oppose the implementation of Obamacare at the state level in response to a letter from the RGA requesting more time from the Obama Administration to make a decision on state exchanges:

“It is incredible that the Republican Governors Association is struggling trying to figure out what to do about Obamacare’s provision that states form a health insurance exchange.  If a majority of Republican governors simply followed Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s lead and refused to implement a state exchange, one of Obamacare’s most repressive mandates would fall apart.

“The statute provides that the enforcement of Obamacare’s employer mandate rests with the state health insurance exchange.  If a state refuses to establish the exchange, there can be no enforcement under the actual law that was passed by the Pelosi-Reid Congress and signed by President Obama.

“This effectively destroys the employer mandate, which is the lynchpin of Obamacare’s implementation.  The employer mandate dictates what health insurance businesses must provide their employees as well as cost sharing options with massive penalties for failure to comply that can only be imposed by state exchanges.

“The failure by the RGA to take a strong stand right now against the state health insurance exchanges brings into question their commitment against the federal takeover of our nation’s health care system.

“Incredibly, the RGA has already asked the Obama Administration to clarify issues regarding the state health insurance exchanges on two other occasions with little if any response.

“Clearly, the Obama Administration is playing chicken, and Republican governors should call their bluff by refusing to take any action to implement the federal statute.

“To do anything else would make Republican governors complicit in the extortion of their own private businesses through Obamacare.

“This is Obamacare’s last stand, and it’s time for every Republican governor to protect their own citizens from its effects.  Anything else is would make them equal partners in the destruction of our nation’s health care system.”

Note: Yesterday, ALG sent 26 letters to Republican governors either urging them not to implement, or praising for not implementing state exchanges in the health care law.

Attachments:

“Why governors should not implement state insurance exchanges under Obamacare,” By Bill Wilson, Nov. 14, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/11/why-governors-should-not-implement-state-insurance-exchanges-under-obamacare/ .

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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Nov. 2, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the October unemployment report:

“Today’s government unemployment report is meaningless and too late to save Obama.  The 22 million people who are unemployed or underemployed and their friends know their economic situation, and the only numbers that matter are the number of this group who vote on Nov. 6.  Will these millions of people vote to continue forward down a road of government dependency, or vote to break the soft chains that social welfare programs create?  Will they vote to extend benefits, or to have an economic policy that grows private sector jobs, and their personal opportunities to achieve their dreams?  How America votes on Nov. 6 will determine if in four years Obama’s new normal will take hold through the creation of a permanent dependency class, or if Americans will have a chance to thrive and compete based upon their initiative, hard work and ability?  No government-concocted reports will change this stark choice facing our nation.  It is decision time.

“One area in the report that sticks out like a sore thumb is that only 21,000 of the total number of jobs reported to have been created were in industries that create anything.  The rest are service industry jobs, many of which appear to be more related to protecting a company from the effects of government regulations than actually increasing a company’s financial health.  Defensive hiring to deal with big government is not healthy, as it is just another drag on businesses ability to fund expansion that results in real job growth.”

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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Oct. 26, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ advance estimate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the 3^rd quarter showing 2 percent growth:

“Today’s report shows that the GDP grew by $190.1 billion at a 2 percent rate in the third quarter. There’s only one problem. $38 billion of that, or 20 percent, was an increase in government spending. That means without government included, the private sector only expanded by a tepid 1.6 percent. This is the best the Obama economy can do: increase government spending, meanwhile the private economy continues to flounder.

“This dismal reality poses daunting challenges to restoring full employment in the U.S.  Only 22 million Americans work for government at the federal, state, and local level, just 15 percent of the 143 million people who have jobs.

“There will be no recovery from this depression without a robustly growing private sector, because we cannot all work for the government. It is time for new leadership on the economy from somebody who knows how to get the private sector moving again — because that is the only way out of this mess.”

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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Oct. 25, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson commented on the release of the following info-graphic highlighting the length of Obamacare’s regulations.

“Our Counsel John Vinci has noted that Obamacare’s regulations are now 2,864,094 pages long. That’s about 700,000 pages more than when last reported at the end of February.  This is 620 times the length of the U.S. Constitution.

“If Obamacare is not repealed it threatens to strangle America’s economy with so much red tape that no small businessman could ever comply.  While a boon for lawyers it is disastrous for the 23 million people who hope to find a job in the years ahead. Repeal must be job No. 1 in January.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson or Counsel John Vinci.

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Oct. 24, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government Bill Wilson today issued the following statement commenting on today’s report by the U.S. Census Bureau showing 389,000 new home sales

“To call 389,000 of new home sales annualized the ‘highest since April 2010’ is a lot like saying 7.8 percent unemployment is the lowest since January 2009. It tells you nothing about how such numbers compare to a healthy economy. In September 2003 — when home values were roughly where they are today — new home sales annualized was more than 1.1 million.

“Put another way, new home sales are about 66 percent below what one would consider healthy in a robust recovery. Home values are still 31 percent below their April 2006 highs. All this talk of a housing recovery is like going to a car dealer and saying you got a great deal on a four-wheel drive vehicle that only has first and second gear because two out of five gears ain’t bad. Meanwhile, the dealer assures you by saying at least it’s not stuck in reverse.

“We’re applauding the housing market hitting the recession levels of spring 2010, a time when everyone was saying that the weak market was still a major drag on economic growth. We’re scraping the bottom here. Those enthusiastic about today’s housing report are grasping at straws. We still have a long way out of this mess.”

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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Oct. 19, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, who released findings showing that means-tested welfare spending topped $1 trillion in 2011 in 83 different programs at the federal and state level:

“Barack Obama is putting America on welfare. In the meantime, hopes for a real economic recovery fade as growth remains anemic and the nation stands on the precipice of another recession. This addiction to spending and government checks is weakening our nation, and breeding a cycle of government dependency not easily escaped from.

“Senator Sessions is to be praised for exposing this marked increase in government dependency, which has risen by almost 30 percent since Obama took office. All told, federal welfare spending has increased by $183 billion, including a $73.5 billion increase in Medicaid spending, a $41.7 billion rise in food stamps, and a $28.9 billion increase in the making work pay and earned income tax credits.

“The best social program is a job. No success can be measured when more Americans than ever are becoming enrolled in these welfare programs, including an increase from 31 million to 46.3 million on food stamps alone. Obama will be remembered not for putting America back to work, but for putting it on the dole. This administration has failed by every conceivable measure.”

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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Oct. 17, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement calling for CNN to fire last night’s debate moderator Candy Crowley:

“Last night’s debate moderator Candy Crowley broke the basic rules of her job when she went beyond taking sides in the debate and at one point effectively called Governor Mitt Romney a liar; only to admit after the damage was done that Romney was correct.

“Crowley’s behavior goes beyond despicable as it was a blatant attempt to influence the presidential election.  If CNN wants to maintain any shred of credibility as a ‘news’ organization, they should fire Crowley immediately for her gross violation of whatever remains of journalistic standards.

“If CNN continues to employ Crowley, they should be required to register as an Obama supporting SuperPAC, and any responsible guest should boycott appearing on their air.  CNN’s limited viewership shows that the market has already deemed them to be an unreliable source of news, so the change in their legal status from journalist to advocate would just reflect the verdict that has already been rendered about their content.”

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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