April 13th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the new Obama budget:

“The new Obama budget is just like the old Obama budget. It’s just smoke and mirrors. A charade. Just like the old budget, under the new budget, every single year, spending will increase, taxes will rise, and the government will expand. The national debt will increase by about $1 trillion a year such that by 2021, the debt will be more than $24 trillion. It never anticipates a balanced budget, nor does it foresee ever paying down the debt, which will soon become too large to even refinance.

“The Obama Administration once again has proven that it cannot be taken seriously when it comes to restoring order to the nation’s fiscal house. If elected officials cannot find a way to balance the budget sometime during their terms of office, their claims of ‘fiscal responsibility’ truly are preposterous.”

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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April 12th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on a proposed increased in the $14.294 trillion national debt ceiling:

“A big lie being perpetrated by the Obama Administration and mainstream media is that if Congress does not raise the $14.3 trillion national debt ceiling, the nation will default on its obligations. This is nothing more than a scare tactic. Just like a consumer credit limit, if the debt ceiling is reached, this will simply mean that the Treasury cannot issue new debt. The existing debt could still be refinanced, but interest owed on the debt would have to be paid out of revenue and the budget would also have to be balanced immediately. That is not a default.

“The Obama Administration needs to stop lying about the debt ceiling, and level with the American people about the dire fiscal catastrophe the nation faces with a debt so large that it cannot be paid.”

Attachments:

“The Debt Ceiling Dilemma,” ALG President Bill Wilson, January 7th, 2011.

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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April 9th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement praising House Speaker John Boehner for getting $38.5 billion in more cuts to the 2011 budget in a deal that will fund the military through the year and averts a government shutdown:

“Speaker Boehner is to be congratulated for forcing through more real budget cuts in the midnight deal to prevent a shutdown than even his own Appropriations Committee initially proposed. This is a good first step toward restoring fiscal sanity in our nation.

“As our nation faces a real government shutdown in just a few weeks as we reach the limit on how much money the federal government can borrow, we urge the Speaker to keep the pressure on to create institutional changes that permanently pull our nation back from the brink of financial disaster before agreeing to any increase in the debt ceiling. Speaker Boehner has the political momentum, and the American people will no longer stand for giving the politicians in DC a blank check.

“It is our hope that the Speaker will force the Senate and House Democrats to at a minimum send the Balanced Budget Amendment proposed by Senators McConnell and Hatch to the states for ratification in exchange for an increase in the government’s credit limit. Our nation can no longer afford to keep borrowing and a strong balanced budget amendment would force fiscal sanity and preserve our nation’s historic greatness.”

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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April 8, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today praised passage of a bill by South Carolina State Representatives Bill Sandifer and Dwight Loftis that would allow the manufacture and purchase of incandescent light bulbs in South Carolina that are subject to a federal ban that begins to take effect in Jan. 2012.

“The South Carolina House has taken the lead in protecting the rights of South Carolina consumers. Nobody wants the federal government telling them which light bulbs they are allowed to use,” Wilson said.

The legislation passed 76-20 on Thursday and now goes to the State Senate for passage. “Now it’s up to the Senate to do its job, because this is about more than just light bulbs. It is about the personal choice and liberty of individual citizens,” Wilson said.

In a recent interview with Americans for Limited Government, bill sponsors Representatives Bill Sandifer and Dwight Loftis promoted the bill prior to passage:

“The basic concept of the bill is to allow the citizens of South Carolina to be able to continue to buy incandescent light bulbs,” said State Representative Bill Sandifer, Chairman of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee.

“It is my strong belief that the feds have overstepped the Tenth Amendment, and now are venturing into telling us what kinds of lighting we can have in our homes,” Sandifer added.

But how can the federal government ban light bulbs? “They are trying to use again as they have so often done, the Commerce Clause. But I have a real problem with Big Brother intruding in how I live in my home,” Sandifer declared.

Wilson explained, “Since the bulbs would be made entirely in South Carolina and sold in South Carolina, the federal government has no power to regulate it under the Interstate Commerce Clause.”

Loftis blasted the federal ban on incandescent light bulbs, saying, “On the one hand, the feds say we need to do something about cleaning up the environment, and on the other hand, they impose requirements that we use this particular light bulb that has hazards with the disposal of it.” The new fluorescent bulbs are laced with mercury, raising concerns over the costs of proper disposal and over mercury seepage back into the environment.

Loftis said that passage of the bill may depend on how environmental groups respond to it. “What side are they going to take?” Loftis asked. “Are they going to take the side of clean disposal? Or are they going to take the side of potentially putting some of the hazardous materials in the landfill or back out into the environment?”

Wilson said the issue came down to protecting the rights of consumers to be free to make their own choices, concluding, “The federal government is attempting to control the decisions of consumers and the South Carolina House is saying not so fast. The people have a right to decide what kind of light bulb they wish to buy. This is a first step, and we encourage other states to follow South Carolina’s lead in protecting consumer choice.”

The federal legislation effectively banning incandescent light bulbs, the “Energy Independence and Security Act,” was enacted in 2007.

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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April 7th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the Obama Administration’s veto threat of a House resolution that will fund the military through the fiscal year:

“Barack Obama has broken faith with those he purports to lead, the men and women of the armed forces, by threatening to veto a House continuing resolution that funds the military through the end of the fiscal year. The bill will also fund the rest of government for another week, and save taxpayers another $12 billion, bringing 2011’s total cuts up to $22 billion.

“Harry Reid’s inaction and Obama’s failure to lead on the budget are positively outrageous. While House Republicans are funding the military through the end of the year, Reid and Obama want to use them as a bargaining chip. There is absolutely no excuse to hold the nation’s fighting men and women hostage to save funding for NPR and other Democrat pet projects.

“It’s time for Harry Reid and Barack Obama to do the right thing. It’s time for them to do their jobs.”

Attachments:

“Put on the big-boy pants, Harry,” by ALG Communications Director Rick Manning, April 7th, 2011.

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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April 6th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal for the 2012 budget:

“The House Republican 2012 budget proposal is to be commended for what it does right. It will reduce spending by $5.8 trillion from the current baseline. It deals with the out-of-control growth of Medicaid and ObamaCare spending. It starts the discussion on entitlement reform including making Medicare sustainable. Its mandatory budget caps will restrict the growth of spending going forward by requiring any increases above the ceiling be offset by cuts elsewhere.

“The proposal correctly diagnoses the risks that the unsustainable growth of the $14.2 trillion national debt to more than $25 trillion by 2021 poses to the American way of life. However, this budget does not fully address those risks, and that is where it comes up short in terms of bringing the nation’s fiscal house into order. Even if implemented in full, the budget would still require deep cuts.

“The proposal won’t balance the budget any time soon, if at all. It starts out with $110 billion in initial cuts when the spending caps goes into place. The fact is, by Chairman Ryan’s own numbers, the proposal will add more than $8 trillion to the gross national debt over 10 years. If $500 billion of initial cuts were made for 2012 instead of $110 billion, and then Ryan’s spending cap was implemented, instead of an average deficit of $508 billion under the proposal, the average deficit would be reduced to $130 billion, and the budget would be practically balanced by 2018.”

Attachments:

“Compound Savings,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, April 6th, 2011.

House Republican 2012 Budget, April 5th, 2011.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan Proposes “More than $4 trillion” in savings in 2012 budget, FOX News Sunday, April 3rd athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anUaVUp17fQ and http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/rep-paul-ryan-previews-gop-budget-sen-marco-rubio-debt-crisis-libya.

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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April 4th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today in the following statement praised House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to rein in so-called “mandatory” entitlement in the 2012 budget by “more than $4 trillion”:

“Budget Chairman Ryan’s proposal to rein in so-called ‘mandatory’ spending by ‘more than $4 trillion’ in the 2012 budget is one that all Americans can understand. This is a savings plan. The fact is, tens of millions of households across the country balance their budgets every year and save for the future and for their children. But we have not been doing that as a nation.

“If nothing is done, the national debt will grow from $14.2 trillion now to over $25 trillion by 2021. That’s so large that it will increasingly become problematic to refinance the debt, let alone repay it. That must not come to pass.

“Chairman Ryan is correct that the real driver of the debt is ‘mandatory’ entitlement spending, which will grow from $2.17 trillion this year to over $3.45 trillion annually by 2021. Over the next decade, the government will spend a total of $27 trillion on entitlements. If the laws requiring that much money be spent are not amended to restrict their growth, there will be no way to prevent the coming debt crisis here in America.

“Overall, if nothing is done, the nation faces a catastrophic default, a collapse of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and a global economic collapse. The Ryan savings plan is one that will save future generations from being chained to a mountain of debt that cannot possibly be paid, and that will set the nation on a sustainable and prosperous path.”

Attachments:

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan Proposes “More than $4 trillion” in savings in 2012 budget, FOX News Sunday, April 3rd athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anUaVUp17fQ and http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/rep-paul-ryan-previews-gop-budget-sen-marco-rubio-debt-crisis-libya.

ALG Letter to Senate Endorsing Balanced Budget Amendment, March 31st, 2011 atwww.getliberty.org/files/LetterBalancedBudget3-31-11.pdf.

Sen. Orrin Hatch Introduces A Balanced Budget Amendment, Video, Americans for Limited Government, March 31st, 2011 athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-hCiKDbxJk.

Senate Proposal to Balance the Budget, March 25th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/BBA 032511.pdf.

One page fact sheet on Balanced Budget Amendment, March 25th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/BBA One Pager 032511.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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March 31st, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government’s General Counsel Nathan Mehrens is testifying in front of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions today on the damage the Obama Administration is doing to the Labor Department’s ability to enforce the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA).

Mehrens testifies that, “even before President Obama was sworn in there were signs that the new Administration would work aggressively to reduce the staff and resources [to enforce the law] as well as to rollback the improvements in transparency that were promulgated under President George W. Bush and Secretary Elaine L. Chao.”

Citing the Obama Labor Department’s immediate freezing of the effective dates of the union transparency reporting requirements, and the rescinding of these requirements, Mehrens makes a compelling case that the Obama Administration was more interested in helping their political allies hide their financial dealings rather than ensure that union member dues monies were used in conformance to the law.

The LMRDA was co-sponsored by Senator John F. Kennedy and was passed in response to union corruption scandals of the 1950’s.

Nathan Mehrens served as counsel to the Labor Department agency responsible for overseeing labor elections and ensuring that labor union member dues were not misused during the George W. Bush administration.

Mehrens is available for media interviews following his testimony. The testimony is available at:www.getliberty.org/files/NPMTestimonyHouseEduWorkforceHearing03-31-11.pdf.

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March 31st, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today praised Senate Republicans’ proposal for a Balanced Budget Amendment and urged speedy adoption before “a catastrophic default on the $14.2 trillion national debt and the collapse of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.”

“If something is not done to bring the nation’s fiscal house into order, soon the debt will become too large to even refinance, let alone be repaid,” Wilson wrote in his letter to U.S. Senators.

Senate Republicans present their amendment to the public at 3:30PM on Thursday.

Wilson noted that total interest payments on the debt were already spiraling out of control, reaching $413 billion in 2010 and rising to $430.4 billion in 2011. “Moody’s has warned that when interest owed on the debt reaches 18 to 20 percent of revenue, the nation’s gold-plated Triple-A credit rating will be downgraded. The trouble is that the Office of Management and Budget projects total interest owed for 2011 to be $430.4 billion, which is already 19.79 percent of the projected $2.174 trillion of revenue,” Wilson wrote.

“The total interest is a real obligation that requires real borrowing to meet, and cannot be readily discounted as revenue to the entitlement programs when it is in fact a liability to taxpayers,” Wilson warned, alluding to an accounting trick by the federal government to hide the nation’s total interest obligations by subtracting interest paid to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds from the total figure.

Wilson warned that the government was currently meeting its obligations by relying on the Federal Reserve to increase its U.S. debt holdings, which will rise to $1.5 trillion by June. Currently, the Fed is the largest lender to the U.S. in the world, more than China or Japan.

“Printing money to refinance the debt cannot continue for long without very severe consequences, including a potential collapse of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, hyperinflation, and a complete default on the nation’s obligations,” Wilson cautioned.

Wilson warned that American citizens may not be fully aware of the dangers posed by the spiraling increase of the debt. “The American people must be advised of these cataclysmic risks of inaction. There is a very dangerous misconception that the nation can just continue borrowing and printing money perpetually. It cannot. Nor will it long endure as the world’s foremost economic and military superpower if it tries to.”

Wilson continued, “Besides a failure to meet our fiscal obligations, a national default will mean that the U.S. will be unable to meet its security obligations around the world, destabilizing whole regions, and threatening national security.” He pointed to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who has described the debt as the single biggest threat to national security.

ALG urged Senate Republicans to condition their support of an increase in the $14.294 trillion national debt ceiling to passage of the Balanced Budget Amendment, and to take their case directly to the American people. “If you will take a courageous stand to save this nation from certain ruin, the American people will surely stand with you,” Wilson concluded.

Attachments:

ALG Letter to Senate Endorsing Balanced Budget Amendment, March 31st, 2011 atwww.getliberty.org/files/LetterBalancedBudget3-31-11.pdf.

Sen. Orrin Hatch Introduces A Balanced Budget Amendment, Video, Americans for Limited Government, March 31st, 2011 athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-hCiKDbxJk.

Senate Proposal to Balance the Budget, March 25th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/BBA 032511.pdf.

One page fact sheet on Balanced Budget Amendment, March 25th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/BBA One Pager 032511.pdf.

Soundbites:

Sen. Hatch on where American would be today if a balanced budget amendment would have passed in 1997:www.getliberty.org/files/hatch1_1-2.mp3

Sen. Hatch on the probability of passing his balanced budget amendment: www.getliberty.org/files/hatch2_1-2.mp3

Sen. Hatch on why Democrats should want to pass this amendment: www.getliberty.org/files/hatch3_1-2.mp3

Sen. Hatch has introduced a balanced budget amendment 26 times: www.getliberty.org/files/hatch4_1-2.mp3

Bill Wilson on the balanced budget amendment: www.getliberty.org/files/wilson on balanced budget_1-2.mp3

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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March 30th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised Senator Marco Rubio for his “courageous stand” against increasing the $14.294 trillion federal debt ceiling.

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Senator Rubio outlined his conditions for approving any increase in the ceiling, which will be hit between April 15th and May 31st according to U.S. Treasury estimates.

“I will vote to defeat an increase in the debt limit unless it is the last one we ever authorize and is accompanied by a plan for fundamental tax reform, an overhaul of our regulatory structure, a cut to discretionary spending, a balanced-budget amendment, and reforms to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” wrote Senator Rubio.

Wilson said Rubio’s conditions were “reasonable.” He explained, “Look, with a national debt that has already soared above $14 trillion that will become larger than the entire economy, soon the debt will become too large to even refinance, let alone ever be repaid.” By 2021, the Office of Management and Budget projects the national debt will soar to over $25 trillion.

“If Senate Republicans cannot use their leverage on the debt ceiling vote to achieve significant concessions, including a Balanced Budget Amendment, to turn the Ship of State around now, will assuredly sink into the Abyss in the not-so-distant future,” Wilson warned.

Currently, the $14.2 trillion national debt already stands at 95.5 percent of the nation’s $14.8 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Wilson said it was unclear at what percentage of debt-to-GDP that the debt becomes too large to refinance, but that “the warning signs are already there that we cannot even meet our current obligations honestly.”

“Right now, we’re currently meeting our financing obligations by having the Federal Reserve simply print money to buy debt. Anyone ever heard of the Weimar Republic? How’d that work out for them?” Wilson asked.

The Weimar Republic experienced hyperinflation in 1920’s as it attempted to print money to honor its war debts and reparations, destabilizing the country and leading directly to its fall.

Pimco reports that in 2009, 80 percent of treasuries were purchased by the Federal Reserve, and in 2010, it had to buy 70 percent, bringing its current U.S. debt holdings to $1.3 trillion. “The Fed is the largest lender to the U.S. government in the world, more than China or Japan. When the Fed ends QE2 in June, it will likely keep a high water mark of $1.5 trillion in treasuries holdings. That means it will still be buying U.S. debt to aid in refinancing,” Wilson explained.

“Republicans need to do a better job of explaining the fiscal catastrophe we face, and what will happen if the debt is allowed to become too large to even refinance,” Wilson noted.

“If the GOP cannot articulate what will happen to this country, specifically, if Congress fails to act and the debt soars to over $25 trillion in a decade, it will undercut their case for real fiscal reform,” Wilson explained. “Either the debt will become too large to service, or it can continue to grow forever with no danger. If members truly believe that indeed it can get too large, then Senate Republicans’ time to act is now.”

Wilson concluded, “This is not just about getting an up-or-down vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment. This is about actually making certain that the debt ceiling never needs to be increased again. Senator Rubio’s stand is an example all members should emulate. He’s trying to save his country before it’s too late, and we applaud him for that.”

Attachments:

ALG Praises Senate Republicans for Standing Tall on Debt Ceiling and Proposing Balanced Budget Amendment, March 25th, 2011.

Senate Proposal to Balance the Budget, March 25th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/BBA 032511.pdf.

One page fact sheet on Balanced Budget Amendment, March 25th, 2011 at www.getliberty.org/files/BBA One Pager 032511.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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