Feb. 9, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement blasting an Obama Administration regulation forcing religious-affiliated institutions to provide contraception in violation of their own doctrines:

“Whether one agrees with the use of contraception or not, forcing religious institutions to pay for a practice that violates their doctrines is a gross misuse of government power and a violation of the First Amendment. This policy was not even a part of the law that Congress voted on, it was a regulation issued from on high by HHS and the White House. It initially applies to religious-affiliated institutions like hospitals, colleges and charities, but if it stands, there will be nothing in the way to also directly force it onto churches and houses of worship in the future.

“Obama is tearing down the constitutional firewalls between state and church, and imposing his will alone. This is a consistent pattern of ignoring and breaking the law to enact his political agenda and it must not be allowed to stand.”

Attachments:

“Above the Law,” ALG President Bill Wilson, Mar. 29, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?display=3200

“Obama’s Radical Non-Recess ‘Recess’ Appointments,” ALG President Bill Wilson, Jan. 5, 2012 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3982

“Did Congress Authorize the Obama Refi’s?” ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, Nov. 2, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3811

“Obama’s executive orders overstep,” ALG press statement, Oct. 31, 2011 at http://getliberty.org/content.asp?pl=10&sl=5&contentid=778

“Tyranny with a whisper,” ALG President Bill Wilson, Sept. 29, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3714

“More calls for tyranny over America,” ALG President Bill Wilson, Oct. 17, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3762

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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Feb. 6, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement urging Congress to restore unemployment benefits extensions back to 27 weeks:

“It’s time for Obama to put up or shut up on unemployment benefits extensions up to 99 weeks. He wants to claim that the apparent drop in the jobless rate means the economy is turning a corner. If he really believes that the emergency is over, then it is time to rescind these extensions that have cost taxpayers an additional $275 billion since 2009.

“A failure by Congress to roll back this welfare program will be seen as an acknowledgement that the most recent jobs report is much weaker than Obama is suggesting. 4.7 million Americans who were a part of the labor force have simply given up on looking for work since Obama took office, which is artificially keeping the unemployment rate down. If those people were included, the real rate of unemployed working age adults would be 11.01 percent, and the underemployed would be 17.6 percent.

“Even if one were to look at the data honestly, 99 weeks of unemployment benefits have already run out for millions Americans anyway and the program should be repealed. The welfare state has failed to restore real growth to the economy.

“The solution to the problem is not perpetual extensions of welfare, but for government to enact pro-growth policies that will have a job-creating effect. These include rolling back the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, undoing the harsh regulatory climate in health care, the environment, and energy, lifting restrictions on capital creation, and restoring sound money.”

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

Feb. 3, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the latest unemployment report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Today’s announcement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that approximately 240,000 jobs were created by the engine of the U.S. economy, America’s private sector businesses and entrepreneurs. These job creators are moving forward because they trust that the Republican led House of Representatives will stop Obama’s threatened tax increases that would suck the very money that they are using to create jobs out of the economy and into Washington, D.C.

“The private sector job creation also vindicates Republicans who are seeking to end the emergency extensions of unemployment benefits from the normal 27 weeks to the current 99 weeks. With jobs being created, there is no longer any excuse to further extend these cuts that are estimated to cost $44 billion for the rest of the federal 2012 fiscal year. It is time for the American taxpayer to get a jobs dividend by ending these extended jobless benefits.

“The downside of the unemployment report is that the percentage of working age eligible people who participate in the job market has continued a free fall down to 63.7 percent. Since Obama took office fully 2 percent of Americans who are eligible to work have dropped out of the economy – a stunning 4.7 million people. That loss of hope is Obama’s true jobs legacy.”

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

Feb. 3, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the continued decline of the civilian labor force participation ratethat dramatically alters the unemployment outlook by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

“Once again, the civilian labor force participation rate has declined, from 64 percent to 63.7 percent in a single month. Since January 2009, it has declined from 65.7 percent, resulting in approximately 4.7 million people no longer being counted towards the unemployment rate. If they were included, the real rate of unemployed working age adults would be 11.01 percent, and the underemployed would be 17.6 percent.

“Overall, that includes the 12.7 million people that BLS says are actually unemployed, and then 4.7 million who have given up looking for work, plus another 10.5 million who can’t find full-time work. All together, there’s 28 million working age adults who simply cannot find work in the Obama economy.

“It is hard to separate the continued obfuscation of this harsh reality by the government from the fact that we are now in an election year.”

Attachments:

“Obama’s Lost Labor Force,” By ALG President Bill Wilson, Jan. 6, 2012 at http://netrightdaily.com/2012/01/obamas-lost-labor-force/ .

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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Feb. 1, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens’ plan to move the nation’s vehicle fleet to natural gas is creating excitement in the White House.

President Obama has already unveiled a tax break for commercial trucks that run on natural gas. And this is just the beginning of his plan; he hopes that other tax breaks and subsidies will result in natural gas stations opening up all over the U.S. ALG President Bill Wilson had this to say:

“While using natural gas is in the country’s best interest given the enormous supply available, why should taxpayer dollars be used to encourage vehicle manufacturers to make the switch as well as benefit big politically connected investors?” says Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government. “This resource is already in demand and the free market will take care of the investment side of the equation. So why does the federal government need to get involved?”

Wilson continues, “As we’ve seen in several occasions, when the federal government props up a specific industry that industry doesn’t seem to last—in the last few months one green energy company after another has gone bankrupt. Natural gas is a positive and plentiful resource available to this country. Let the free market designate its purpose and profitability—not the government.”

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

Feb. 1, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement praising the Virginia Legislature for passing legislation in both houses that eliminates mandatory project labor agreements imposed by state agencies on contractors:

“For years, Virginia agencies have forced contractors to enter into project labor agreements with union bosses, imposing significant additional costs on taxpayers. Now, that is coming to an end. The Virginia Senate is to be praised for passing Senator Mark Obenshain and Representative Barbara Comstock’s legislation that will eliminate mandatory project labor agreements imposed by state agencies on contractors.

“Senator Obenshain and Representative Comstock have shown their dedication as loyal servants of the Commonwealth’s taxpayers. No longer shall big labor have an exclusive monopoly on taxpayer-funded contracts. If contractors or subcontractors wish to enter into project labor agreements, that’s fine and the proposal would still allow for that. But no business should be forced to enter into such an agreement to qualify for taxpayer funds.

“Now that this legislation has passed, it should be signed by Governor McDonnell immediately.”

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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Jan. 27, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement reacting to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) release by the Bureau of Economic Analysis:

“In 2011, the economy slowed down considerably to a tepid snail’s pace of 1.7 percent for the year. The housing bubble popped in August 2007, and the economy contracted in its aftermath. Here we are, four years later, and the economy is still very weak, unemployment remains unacceptably high, consumer inflation is still rising, and the cost of doing business in America remains among the highest in the developed world. Have we really turned the corner?

“Interestingly, the Bureau points to a slowdown of government spending in 2011 as leading the drop in GDP, even though at the federal level spending still increased last year. This proves that the ‘stimulus’ of 2009 and 2010 merely created some artificial demand for goods and services, which, once it ran out, did not create a virtuous cycle of growth as promised. The only thing that was apparently accomplished is that now the debt is nearly larger than the economy. Obama has failed.

“The Obama administration said ‘stimulus’ needed to be ‘timely, targeted, and temporary,’ and then all would be well. But because the underlying government-created problems in housing, the financial and monetary system, the burdensome regulatory environment, the restrictions on capital creation, and the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world remain unaddressed, all the spending, borrowing and printing produced was a temporary sugar high.

“This is the 1930’s all over again, when, no matter how much borrowing, spending, and printing the government did, the economic doldrums persisted through the decade, and meanwhile, government became considerably larger. It is time for a new way forward that will address the supply side of the equation and reduce the cost of doing business stateside, which is the only long-term solution to sustainably grow the economy and create new jobs. We need real growth, not more debt.”

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

Jan. 26, 2012, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in a statement responded to the bankruptcy of yet another “green” energy company that had received taxpayer money, Ener1:

“As early as 2008, an investment advisory firm Citron Research had issued dire warnings about Ener1, saying the company was ‘just a corporate shell company with a long history of failed businesses based on exaggerated promises’, citing the company’s long and shady history. When it was proposed that the ‘stimulus’ be used to give $118.5 million to Ener1, Americans for Limited Government worked with media to help expose this bogus firm for what it was. Predictably, it turns out those warnings were correct, unfortunately for taxpayers.”

Attachments:

Citron Reports on Ener1, July 16, 2008 at http://www.citronresearch.com/index.php/2008/07/16/citron-reports-on-ener1-amexhev/

Fed money may benefit Russian-backed firm, by Jerry Seper, Washington Times, July 5, 2009 at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/5/us-tax-dollars-may-aid-russian-earmark-eyed/print/

Obama sends stimulus aid to foreign firms, by Jerry Seper, Washington Times, Aug. 6, 2009 at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/06/stimulus-to-aid-foreign-battery-builders/print/

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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