March 22nd, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement praising the New Hampshire House for passing legislation that would allow municipalities to enact tax and spending caps (HB 341) that had been overturned by the state’s Supreme Court:

“The New Hampshire House has acted appropriately to return control over municipal fiscal and budgetary matters where it properly belongs: with the municipalities. In 2008 and 2009, then-mayor of Manchester, Frank Guinta, now Congressman Guinta, spearheaded and fought to enact a strict caps on taxes and spending to an index of inflation for his city.

“Thanks to Guinta’s leadership, such laws have been enacted in a total of seven towns and cities in New Hampshire, until the Supreme Court intervened under specious grounds to block the municipalities from deciding what’s in their own charters. Now, the House bill offers an opportunity for the state’s elected representatives to right that wrong.

“The bill proceeds to the Senate for action and then to Governor John Lynch to sign. This must not be blocked. Members should pass the legislation and return authority to the citizens of New Hampshire to decide what limits they wish to place on their own governments. A vote against this bill is a vote against self-government.”

Attachments:

“The Conservative Conundrum,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, November 4th, 2009.

“A Fundamental Right to Limit Government,” by ALG Senior Editor Robert Romano, November 21st, 2008.

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 21st, 2011, Fairfax, VA— Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised Bloomberg News’ victory at the Supreme Court today, and demanded the Federal Reserve comply with a court order to disclose the recipients of some $2 trillion of loans it made at the height of the financial crisis requested by Bloomberg News in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

“The Federal Reserve has exhausted all of its avenues of appeal, and now it must disclose who received over $2 trillion in secret emergency loans. The American people have a right to know the full extent of the Fed’s relationship with financial institutions, foreign banks, and foreign central banks really is,” Wilson said.

The central bank has thus far refused to comply with Bloomberg’s FOIA request despite a Southern District Court of New York order that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors comply with Bloomberg News’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to produce the details of some $2 trillion in emergency loans that were made. This includes who received the $2 trillion of loans, the terms under which they were received, and what collateral was taken by the Reserve branches in exchange for the loans.

The Fed had appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but the court decided not to hear their appeal, according to Bloomberg News.

“Just because control over the nation’s monetary policy has been outsourced to essentially private financial institutions does not shield those institutions from public scrutiny,” Wilson said, concluding, “The banks’ resistance in this case to transparency reminds the American people of why Congress needs to regain control of those policies.”

Attachments:

ALG Blasts Fed Refusal to Comply With Court Ruling to Disclose $2 Trillion in Bailout Loans (August 24th, 2010)

ALG Urges Senate to Condition Bernanke Reappointment on Fed Compliance with Court Ruling (August 26th, 2009)

ALG Calls Upon House to Enact Fed Audit Bill (May 28th, 2009)

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 17th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement responding to threats against Wisconsin business owners by public sector unions, including police and firefighters unions:

“In a thinly veiled threat to business owners that have supported Governor Scott Walker, police and firefighter unions imposed a March 17th deadline for those businesses to publicly denounce recently enacted legislation signed by Walker eliminating collective bargaining for health care and pension benefits paid for by taxpayers. If they refuse, the public sector unions have promised a boycott of those businesses. This is essentially ransom.

“When those tasked with protecting society are willing to publicly target individuals simply for their political beliefs, it is clear that this debate has headed into dangerous waters. Any public safety employee that engages in such activity should be fired.

“Taxpayers should not have to live in fear for demanding accountability and fiscal responsibility from the public sector, the expansion of which has drowned states like Wisconsin in a sea of red ink. Making threats complete with deadlines against businesses and individuals who believe that the public sector must be scaled back to avert a fiscal catastrophe likens these unions’ tactics to what one would expect from gangsters or terrorists.”

Attachments:

Letter from Wisconsin Public Sector Unions to Wisconsin Businesses, March 10th, 2011 at http://radioviceonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/union-wisconsin-letter.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 15th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement urging Senate Republicans to filibuster the nomination of Susan Carney for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals:

“Serious questions have been raised about Susan Carney’s lack of integrity during her tenure at Yale University as Deputy General Counsel. When it was revealed that a Dongguk University professor, Shin Jeong-ah, had not received a doctorate degree from Yale, Carney allegedly engaged in a cover-up to prevent information from surfacing showing that Yale had confirmed to Dongguk that Shin was indeed a Yale graduate, as revealed by court documents filed by Dongguk.

“Carney said the confirmation fax sent by Yale was ‘not authentic,’ even though it was. She didn’t even competently investigate Dongguk’s claim until the U.S. Justice Department issued a subpoena, and failed to even attempt to verify the authenticity of the fax, according to the plaintiffs. Then Yale drug its feet before Carney finally admitted what she learned from the investigation, saying that she had ‘inadvertently provided one piece of incorrect information.’

“Dongguk has sued Yale for $50 million in damages caused by the scandal, which they say would have been mitigated if Yale had simply admitted its error up front. While Carney was publicly denying Dongguk’s factual assertions in the scandal, her internal memorandum indicates that she advised that the assertions may be true.

“Carney’s dishonorable willful disregard for the truth and promotion of a falsehood disqualifies her from consideration to a lifetime appointment to the second highest court in the land. Someone in her position of responsibility should not have acted so irresponsibly. She flatly denied the authenticity of a document while privately confirming that it may be authentic, and later being forced to admit the error. For anyone else, Carney’s reckless actions would have warranted being fired.

“Senate Republicans should do all in their power not to allow the Carney nomination to go through unchallenged. We urge all Senators to block Carney, including placing legislative holds on her nomination, which would require she receive 60 votes in order for her nomination to move forward. The Senate is under no obligation to support Carney, whose ethical lapses and incompetence in this scandal cannot be overlooked.”

Attachments:

Susan Carney Nominee Alert, Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation, March 2011 atwww.getliberty.org/files/SusanCarneyNomineeAlert.pdf.

Dongguk v. Yale, Plaintiff’s Docket Complaint, March 24th, 2008 at http://washingtonalert.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/DonggukvYaleDocketcomplaint1.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 10th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the Senate rejection of competing continuing resolutions to keep the government operational for the remainder of the fiscal year:

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is finally conceding to cut spending after being embarrassed on the floor of the Senate by getting less votes for his proposal to only cut $6.2 billion than Senate Republicans got for theirs to cut $57 billion.

“The result was ironic because to date, Harry Reid and his Senate Democrat colleagues have been missing in action, not unlike their Wisconsin comrades who had holed up in Rockford, Illinois, to avoid a vote balancing that state’s budget. Our nation’s budget deficit crisis demands adult leadership, something that has been sorely lacking as the Reid-Pelosi Congress of last year never even tried to pass a budget, creating the current government shutdown threat.

“Harry Reid’s failure to do his job has led to the current stalemate and the potential government shutdown, a scenario he apparently favors considering his failure to also deliver enough votes for his preferred continuing resolution. It looks increasingly that Democrats are attempting to orchestrate a government shutdown, hoping to lay blame at the feet of Republicans, not unlike the 1995-96 shutdown.

“The fact is, however, that the House led by Republicans has done its job and passed legislation that avoids a shutdown. Now, it is time for the Senate to do its job, and cut spending. Failure to do so will leave both the blame for being fiscally irresponsible and shutting down the government at the feet of none other than Harry Reid.”

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 10th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the Wisconsin State Assembly vote to protect taxpayers by eliminating many public sector union collective bargaining powers:

“The courage of the Wisconsin state legislators to stand up to the threats and thuggery and protect Wisconsin’s taxpaying private sector workers from the avaricious demands of their public sector unions is a model for the rest of America. Wisconsin is leading the nation in responsible fiscal leadership. Governor Walker, Republican Senators and State Assembly members who have stood firm in spite of vicious personal attacks and even death threats are truly 21st century patriots.”

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 9th, 2011, Fairfax, VA— Americans for Limited Government Bill Wilson issued the following statement regarding the Obama administration asking the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite a ruling on federal judge Roger Vinson’s decision declaring ObamaCare unconstitutional:

“Today is a major victory for Judge Vinson and the American people. Judge Vinson’s recent ruling in Florida declaring ObamaCare unconstitutional has forced the Administration to fast track the decision on the legality of the law, instead of playing their planned stall game. Judge Vinson should be praised for forcing the Obama administration to recognize the legitimacy of his ruling.”

“We look forward to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding Judge Vinson’s decision that declared ObamaCare unconstitutional.”

See Vinson’s Ruling, Obama’s Decision for more on the ruling that forced the Obama Administration’s hand.

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 8th, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today in a letter urged members of the Senate to support the year-long House continuing resolution that defunds the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the parent company of National Public Radio (NPR).

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and National Public Radio, could get along just fine without at taxpayer funding,” Wilson wrote in a letter to Senate members, pointing to a newly released undercover video report by James O’Keefe, NPR’s Senior VP for Development, Ron Schiller said, “It’s very clear that we would be better off in the long run without federal funding.”

Schiller explained why NPR would be better off without taxpayer funding: “I think for independence, number one. Number two, is that our job would be a lot easier if people weren’t confused about—because we get federal funding, a lot of Americans, a lot of philanthropists, actually think we get most of our money from the federal government, even though NPR, as you know, gets 1 percent and the station economy as a whole gets 10 percent.”

Wilson said Congress needed to get its budget priorities straight: “With a $1.65 trillion budget deficit projected by the Office of Management and Budget this year, and a $14.1 trillion national debt that cannot be paid back, taxpayers no longer can afford to fund luxuries like public broadcasting.”

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting currently receives $420 million in taxpayer funding.

In an exclusive interview with Americans for Limited Government, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), the original House sponsor of CPB-defunding legislation, has called the Corporation “low-hanging fruit” that can be cut.

Lamborn explained, “Why should taxpayers spend $420 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is the parent of NPR, when it could survive on its own? It could be out there in the private marketplace, and compete along with everyone else. Why should government be in the broadcasting business at all?”

Senator Jim DeMint, who has introduced similar legislation in the Senate, has agreed, noting that PBS’ brand, Sesame Street, is a commercially viable entity that needs no public funding. “Shows like Sesame Street are thriving, multimillion-dollar enterprises,” he wrote. “According to the 990 tax form all nonprofits are required to file, Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 — nearly a million dollars — in compensation in 2008. And, from 2003 to 2006, Sesame Street made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales. Big Bird will be just fine without his federal subsidies.”

“The Corporation for Public Broadcasting only gets about 13 percent of its total budget from federal taxpayers, which the corporation itself is quick to point out. They can finance themselves via donations, or move toward a profit model if they choose, but taxpayers should not be obligated to pay for programming,” Wilson concluded.

ALG last year launched a national petition drive defund public broadcasting in the wake of National Public Radio’s firing of Juan Williams. The petition is at: www.defundpublicbroadcasting.org.

Background:

“It is Time for Big Bird to Fly on His Own” by Rebekah Rast, ALG News Contributing Editor, March 8th, 2011.

Letter to the Senate, March 8th, 2011.

“Defund Public Broadcasting Once and For All,” by ALG President Bill Wilson, October 25th, 2010.

ALG Praises Boehner’s Call to Defund Public Broadcasting, October 22nd, 2010

“Where to cut, you ask?” Video by Frank McCaffrey on Doug Lamborn’s legislation, October 19th, 2010.

“The Bare Minimum,” by Rick Manning, ALG Communications Director, October 20th, 2010.

“Time to Stop Funding Luxuries, Like Public Broadcasting,” by Rebekah Rast, ALG News Contributing Editor, June 14th, 2010.

“Is Public Broadcasting Hurting the Arts?” by Robert Romano, ALG News Senior Editor, June 15th, 2010.

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 3rd, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the enactment of a two-week continuing resolution containing $4 billion in spending cuts:

“Because the House did its job to keep the government funded and yet reining in spending, even modestly by $4 billion over two weeks, it has bought the Senate time to do their job. Now Senate Democrats need to join House Republicans, who have already demonstrated their commitment to avoid a government shutdown by passing the continuing resolution for the remainder of the fiscal year with $61 billion of spending cuts.

“Senate Democrats now face a choice: Accept the cuts, or shut down the government. If it shuts down, it will be wholly the responsibility of Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats. The fact is, Congress will need to cut at least that much to help rein in the nation’s fiscal house and reduce the $1.65 trillion budget deficit.”

Attachments:

Bill Wilson sound bite 1: www.getliberty.org/files/Bill Wilson sound bite1.mp3

Bill Wilson sound bite 2: www.getliberty.org/files/Bill Wilson sound bite2.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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