August 5, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson said the following about the U.S. credit rating being downgraded to AA+ by S&P’s:

“The reckless spending by Obama over the first two years of his presidency combined with his unwillingness to make the cuts necessary to stabilize our fiscal crisis has led to the first downgrade of U.S. debt in history. Congress needs to come back to D.C. now and finish the job they started with the debt ceiling increase by passing the cut, cap and balance legislation which would put us on a path to restore our nation’s credit rating.”

Interview Availability: If you would like to interview Bill Wilson, please contact Rebekah Rast at rrast@getliberty.org or (703) 383-0880.

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August 1, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today called Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s demands for the House of Representatives to return to Washington to work on the FAA reauthorization “a silly ploy.”

“The House acted on the FAA reauthorization months ago. It’s in the Senate. They can either amend it, or pass it as written. But the House is under no obligation to produce the bill that Harry Reid prefers just to avoid a conference committee situation,” Wilson said.

“This is an orchestrated government shutdown,” Wilson added, saying, “it is at odds with how the legislative process is supposed to function.” He said the issue centered on provisions in the House bill that would undo a May 11, 2010, ruling by the National Mediation Board (NMB) to repeal the so-called “Majority Rule.” Under more than 70 years of precedent that was overturned by the Board, it took a majority of an organizing unit voting “yes” to permanently organize a union.

Now, because of the NMB ruling, it only takes a majority of those voting, a considerably lower threshold. Wilson said the NMB’s decision clearly violates the law, and supported the House version of the FAA reauthorization.

According to Section 152 of the Railway Labor Act, “The majority of any craft or class of employees shall have the right to determine who shall be the representative of the craft or class for the purposes of this chapter.”

“The House has simply reaffirmed what the law already says, and rolled back the National Mediation Board’s arbitrary decision to make airlines and railways easier to unionize,” Wilson said, adding, “The Senate can take it or leave it.”

Wilson threw the ball into Reid’s court, saying, “The Senate is holding up the FAA reauthorization because it does not want to be seen as the shills for Big Labor that they really are.”

There is no emergency, he said, as essential government employees, like the air traffic controllers, are still working. “But Reid is holding thousands of furloughed workers hostage just to make it easier for Big Labor to unionize companies like Delta. Despite his preference, he can either pass or amend the House bill that has already been sent to him,” Wilson concluded.

Attachments:

National Mediation Board Rule Change Summary, Republican Senate staff, September 2010 atwww.getliberty.org/files/NMBRuleChangeSummary.pdf.

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

August 1st, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government today urged both houses of Congress to reject legislation to increase the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling, saying the deal “risks an unprecedented credit downgrade of the nation’s vaunted Triple-A credit rating, the continued weakening of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and higher interest rates.”

Wilson pointed to the weak economy as evidence the $900 billion in cut borrowing will not go far enough to restore the nation’s finances, writing that if the government’s projections for economic growth were wrong, the debt could grow to over $30 trillion by 2021.

The government projects the economy will nearly double in the next ten years. “But with anemic growth of 0.4 percent in the first quarter, and 1.3 percent in the second, we are nowhere near that pace,” he wrote in his letter.

“With assumptions so unrealistic, the mere $900 billion in savings under the bill will be easily erased by the slowing economy and lower-than-expected revenues,” Wilson predicted.

The legislation would also create a joint House-Senate committee to propose further “savings” that Wilson told members was an abdication of “the responsibilities of a representative government”.

He concluded, “The American people elected you to make these decisions, not convene another rigged commission whose findings will never be adopted.”

Attachments:

ALG Letter to Congress, August 1st, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/LetterDebtCeiling 8-1-11.pdf .

“The No Solution Deal,” By ALG President Bill Wilson, August 1st, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3545 .

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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July 29th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government today issued a statement urging the House of Representatives to pass the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act” again with even more cuts:

“There is no need for the House to pass anything today that the Senate simply wants to modify anyway. If the House feels it must pass something, it should just stand its ground and pass ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ again with even more cuts to 2012 than before. And urge the Senate to vote on it up or down. If Congress cannot get a balanced budget amendment now, cap spending, and make immediate cuts, we may never get our fiscal house in order.

“The bill should include a revenue prioritization when the debt ceiling is reached, instructing the Treasury to pay interest on the debt and otherwise refinance debt up to the limit. This will take default or withholding Social Security checks out of the equation, and begin an honest debate without a loaded gun in Obama’s hands.”

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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July 29th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government’s Bill Wilson called for Speaker Boehner to put the “Cut, Cap and Balance” debt extension legislation back on the floor with additional up front cuts and provisions directing the Administration to pay our nation’s creditors, military and seniors first.

In a letter that compliments the Speaker for his leadership in passing debt extension legislation that would keep the United States’ Triple-A credit rating by providing real budget deficit reducing cuts, Wilson encouraged the Speaker to push the bill through the House again stating, “Rather than continuing down the path which doesn’t have the votes in the House, we strongly encourage you to re-vote ‘Cut, Cap and Balance’ with two amendments.”

The amendments Wilson suggests would increase the cuts in Fiscal Year 2012 by 10 percent in response to the continuing European fiscal crisis that is a precursor to what America faces if real spending cuts are not enacted, and including legislation by Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina into the bill. The Gowdy legislation would direct the Treasury to pay the nation’s creditors first, preventing a default, and also pay the seniors and military. Remaining money could then be divided among the most essential services the government provides.

In separate comments, Wilson reminded listeners about the 1995 government shutdown crisis which was over a Republican demand that President Clinton provide Congress with a balanced budget proposal. Former Clinton press secretary George Stephanopolis revealed in his book about the Clinton presidency that the White House was one day from breaking and providing the budget that the Republicans demanded, when the Republicans lost heart and caved.

According to the memoir, All Too Human, here is what was going on in the White House at the time: “Publicly, the President was resolute; privately, he was wavering… But during the two government shutdowns that occurred in November and December, the Republican leaders themselves were our secret weapon. As much as I would love to think that we were the sole authors of our success, their self-inflicted wounds and tactical blunders made the crucial difference.”

“We were literally one day away from putting our nation on a permanent path to fiscal sanity in 1995. Congressional Republicans need to remember this lesson and stay firm now, and force Harry Reid and his Democratic majority in the Senate to explain to the American people why they support spending plans that consign our nation to economic decline,” Wilson said.

The letter was sent to every Republican member of the House of Representatives.

Attachments:

ALG Letter to U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, July 29th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/LetterDebtCeiling 7-29-11.pdf.

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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In an interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, S&P head David Beers said a failure to raise the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling “would not be default so long as the government is continuing to pay its debt as it matures and its interest payments.”

“The head of S&P has reminded America that rating agencies merely rate the ability of a country or company to repay its debt. And he refused to say that a U.S. default is imminent based on Obama’s arbitrary August 2nd deadline,” ALG President Bill Wilson said.

Wilson concluded, “Default would be a choice by Obama. Not the result of any action by Congress. As the Executive, it is Obama’s responsibility to choose which bills to pay. To ensure Obama doesn’t choose to default, Congress needs to take action immediately in support of Representative Trey Gowdy’s push to put a credit prioritization bill on Obama’s desk that would instruct the Treasury to pay interest and refinance debt up to the limit, as well as pay Social Security, Medicare, and the military.”

Attachments:

“Obama’s Loaded Gun,” By ALG President Bill Wilson, July 25th, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3525.

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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July 27th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged all Republicans to avoid personal criticisms of House Speaker John Boehner:

“Political rhetoric should not be directed at Speaker Boehner, but instead should focus on the deeply flawed legislation that he has offered as a solution to the credit crisis facing our nation. Americans for Limited Government strongly urges House Republicans to vote no on the plan that has been presented on the Speaker’s behalf. The last available information on the plan revealed that it only cut $1 billion in fiscal year 2012.

“Conservatives need to stand together in favor of keeping the spending cut promise of the 2010 election, but should maintain our focus on the legislation and not personalities. Likewise, we hope dissenting conservative voices will continue their vital role in working to protect our nation’s future.”

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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July 27th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged all Republicans to avoid personal criticisms of House Speaker John Boehner:

“Political rhetoric should not be directed at Speaker Boehner, but instead should focus on the deeply flawed legislation that he has offered as a solution to the credit crisis facing our nation. Americans for Limited Government strongly urges House Republicans to vote no on the plan that has been presented on the Speaker’s behalf. The last available information on the plan revealed that it only cut $1 billion in fiscal year 2012.

“Conservatives need to stand together in favor of keeping the spending cut promise of the 2010 election, but should maintain our focus on the legislation and not personalities. Likewise, we hope dissenting conservative voices will continue their vital role in working to protect our nation’s future.”

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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July 27th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement analyzing two “competing” plans offered by the House and Senate to increase the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling:

“The only vital difference between the House and Senate plans is Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate plan places a cap on spending which includes war spending, and the House plan allows the discretionary spending cap to be adjusted to pay for the war. So, while the House has been saying the Senate uses illusory savings from winding down the theaters in the war, the House plan actually includes provisions to allow those operations to be funded above the spending cap, according to the CBO. Therefore, the savings are not illusory per se.

“If the Iraq/Afghanistan savings were included in the House plan, the two bills would be nearly identical.”

Attachments:

CBO scoring on Reid plan:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/123xx/doc12338/SenateBudgetControlAct.pdf

CBO scoring on Boehner plan:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/123xx/doc12336/HouseBudgetControlAct.pdf

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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July 26th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today warned that neither the House nor Senate plans raising the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling would avert a credit downgrade by rating agencies:

“Conspicuously missing from both the House and Senate plans to raise the debt ceiling is any assurance that merely cutting $3 trillion in spending will avert a credit downgrade now threatened by rating agencies. Without that assurance, leaders are risking our creditworthiness in order to deliver a political solution to a math problem. Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch have said fiscal consolidation needs to at a minimum cut borrowing by $4 trillion, and neither proposal meets that threshold.

“Washington is getting caught up in meeting Obama’s arbitrary August 2nd deadline for increasing the debt ceiling, and is therefore not focused on putting a proposal on the table that would actually preserve the nation’s Triple-A credit rating. Now, the metric being used is whether a proposal can pass, not whether it is sufficient to set the nation on a fiscally sustainable path.

“A downgrade will crash markets, weaken the dollar, and result in higher interest rates for federal, state, and municipal debt. This in turn will make even greater cuts necessary down the road than are being contemplated now, and make a national default more likely. Higher rates will also hurt the housing market and result in lower home values. With all that can go wrong, one might expect both houses of Congress to be putting proposals forward that most certainly would prevent a downgrade.

“Now it is up to the leadership of both houses to allow amendments to these flawed proposals so that they can be fixed prior to becoming law. We should not wait for a downgrade or worse to begin getting our fiscal house in order.”

Attachments:

“$3 Trillion is Not $4 Trillion,” By ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, July 26th, 2011 at http://blog.getliberty.org/default.asp?Display=3529 .

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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