Correction: Ireland would get $15 million for the International Fund for Ireland, not $15 billion to the International Monetary Fund for Ireland.

December 15th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on $1.27 trillion omnibus spending bill under consideration in the Senate:

“This $1.27 trillion omnibus monstrosity will fully fund ObamaCare for a year and contains over 6,600 outrageous earmarks, favors, kickbacks, and handouts from lawmakers to favored special interests totaling more than $8 billion. That includes $349,000 for swine waste management, $3.5 million for termite research in Louisiana, $6 million for parkland acquisition in Hawaii, and $15 million to the International Fund for Ireland. And yet, at least 4 Senate Republicans are considering supporting this bill: Senators Kit Bond, George Voinovich, Susan Collins, and Bob Bennett.

“The support of Senators Bond, Voinovich, Collins and Bennett would be enough to push this $1.27 trillion omnibus bill across the finish line, and would come in spite of a Senate Republican conference moratorium against earmarks. If Republicans cannot keep their promise to stop spending now, the American people will rightly question their credibility on fiscal matters. The American people have every right to be outraged, but they will pillory any Republican that votes for this. Republicans should stand with the American people against this waste.

“The American people have handed control of the House back to Republicans, and increased their numbers in the Senate, to more than anything else, stop the spending. But Republican support for the $1.27 trillion omnibus bill tells the American people that the decisive verdict they rendered in the November elections has gone unheeded.

“The nation is quickly going broke, and yet Congress continues to spend and pretend that there is nothing wrong. A vote for this omnibus is a vote for another trillion-dollar deficit in 2011. Where are the spending cuts the American people were promised?

“Americans for Limited Government supports Senator Judd Gregg’s amendment for a 45-day continuing resolution. If the current members of Congress have no political will to cut spending now, then the job should fall on the next session. It is time for Senate Republicans to stand for something. But nobody will believe the GOP stands for anything, if they cannot in fact stop anything. The vote on the $1.27 trillion omnibus monstrosity, if it goes through with Republican support, will be a repudiation by Washington of the outcome of the November elections.”

Attachment:

“Sovereign Debt Crisis Can Happen Here,” ALG President Bill Wilson, December 14th, 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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December 14th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the budget continuing resolution under consideration in the Senate:

“The current continuing resolution is a transparent ploy by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to negate the impact of the November elections. The current continuing resolution under consideration in the Senate will lock in the $3.5 trillion budget at current levels for a whole year without any spending cuts. Congressional Democrats should have no power to set in the nation’s budget priorities right now, having been so soundly rejected by the American people in November.

“Despite the dire fiscal crisis the nation faces, with a $13.8 trillion national debt that cannot be paid, and in spite of the American people who are demanding action to cut spending, Congress is busy voting to kick the can for yet another year. A vote for the continuing resolution is a vote for another trillion dollar-plus deficit, and that is simply unacceptable to all Americans. Any politician in Congress that has ever promised to reduce the deficit should vote ‘no’ on this continuing resolution.

“The proper course of action is to instead block the proposed continuing resolution and either propose a new one that locks in FY 2007 levels of $2.7 trillion across the board, or pass a 3 month continuing resolution that will give the new Congress an opportunity to cut spending for FY 2011. A recent International Monetary Fund study shows that successful fiscal consolidation programs around the world have relied primarily on spending cuts, not tax increases. If the current members of Congress have no political will to cut spending now, then they are a failure. They should just get out of the way, and hand the tough job ahead to the new Congress with a short three-month continuing resolution.”

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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December 14th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the possible downgrade of the U.S. Aaa credit rating by Moody’s:

“Because the tax deal now under consideration does not include drastic spending reductions, there will likely be a $1.5 trillion deficit in 2011. As a result, Moody’s is once again warning the U.S. that the agency may switch the outlook on US debt to negative next year if the deal passes as proposed. Because there is a strong bipartisan consensus not to increase taxes during a severe economic downturn and risk a double-dip recession, our fiscal house can only be brought into order, and the $13.8 trillion debt reined in, with spending cuts.

“The warnings from sovereign credit ratings agencies could not be more clear. If Congress passes the tax deal without cutting the budget deficit, the likelihood of a credit downgrade increases substantially. A credit downgrade will increase borrowing costs, threaten the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, and risk another global financial meltdown. Is that the legacy lawmakers really want on their consciences? Is that the account they want their grandchildren to read in the history books in twenty years?

“Nobody can claim with a straight face that the spiraling national debt is a ‘long-term’ or even a ‘mid-term’ problem. The debt is an imminent threat to the nation’s prosperity. Now is the time to cut spending. A recent International Monetary Fund study shows that successful fiscal consolidation programs globally have relied primarily on spending cuts, not tax increases. The choice is clear for lawmakers going forward. Either Congress cuts spending now, or else the U.S. will become the latest, largest victim of the sovereign debt crisis. It can happen here.”

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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December 13th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement praising the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson to find ObamaCare’s individual mandate unconstitutional:

“The decision today by Federal Judge Hudson to invalidate the individual mandate in ObamaCare is a tremendous step forward. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli deserves the praise and thanks of all Americans. Hopefully, future courts will finish the job and completely find ObamaCare to be unconstitutional.

“It is an unprecedented step forcing all Americans to purchase health insurance individually or through employers, obtain it from the government, or else pay a fine. Never before had Congress enacted a law forcing Americans to buy anything. As Judge Hudson said in August, ObamaCare’s individual mandate ‘literally forges new ground and extends Commerce Clause powers beyond its current high watermark.’ This means the Obama Administration was completely wrong when it asserted that ‘there is a pretty longstanding precedent on the constitutionality of this.’

“Without the individual mandate, ObamaCare loses a lot of its teeth. The mandate was supposed to be the mechanism to force millions of out-of-work Americans onto Medicaid. Without it, the path to a completely government-run health care system has run into a wall.”

Attachment:

ALG President Bill Wilson on Individual Mandate Being Invalidated, December 13th, 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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December 7th, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today praised the discontinuance of a federally-subsidized bond program for states and local governments, which he said “has been used to bail out bankrupt states like New York and California.”

According to Bloomberg News, the extension of the Build America Bonds program was omitted from a deal struck between the White House and congressional leaders on preventing imminent tax hikes on all Americans. The program is set to expire at year’s end.

“The so-called ‘Build America’ bonds are really state bailout bonds, a federal subsidy of interest payments for state and local governments, should be discontinued, because they create a disincentive for troubled states to make the hard decisions to cut spending,” Wilson said.

According to the Bloomberg report, under the program, “More than $173.6 billion of the taxable securities have been sold since April 2009, making it the fastest-growing segment of the $2.8 trillion municipal market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The U.S. pays 35 percent of the interest on the debt.”

“These bonds are really a mechanism to nationalize the unsustainable spending of insolvent states and local governments, which are hampered with uncontrolled public pension and health care costs,” Wilson said.

Wilson said blocking the continuance of the program was “a step in the right direction,” but that “the danger now exists that some other entity, like the Federal Reserve, will intervene to bail out state pension funds and budgets.” He urged members to cosponsor and approve HR 6484, a bill that would ban any federal agency, including the Federal Reserve, from bailing out state and local pension systems.

The bill was introduced by Representative Devin Nunes. In a recent letter to Nunes, Wilson wrote, “Your legislation’s unequivocal declaration that the federal government won’t bailout these state and local big spenders ends the state public employee pension bailout debate before it starts, and you are to be commended for this pro-active action.”

The bill also would create a transparent database at the U.S. Treasury of state and local municipal pension systems so that the total unfunded liabilities would be known to taxpayers. In an exclusive interview with ALG, Nunes said that it was necessary for taxpayers “to find out what they owe to the people that work for them, the public employees.”

Right now, state pensions could be facing a $1 trillion shortfall of unfunded liabilities, according to Pew Research. But some analysts, including Northwestern University Professor Joshua Rauh and Pacific Research Institute’s Steven Greenhunt, foresee as much as a $3 trillion shortfall. Wilson said that without an explicit prohibition, “the Fed could arbitrarily act to prop up certain states, including their $3 trillion of unfunded pension obligations.”

“It’s time for states to stand on their own two feet. It’s bad enough the Fed is papering over the national debt by buying treasuries. The last thing we need is for the central bank to step in and start bailing out states by buying municipal bonds or propping up the state pension systems. Congress needs to adopt Representative Nunes’ bill to prevent that from happening,” Wilson concluded.

Attachments:

Letter to Representative Devin Nunes, December 1st, 2010.

Video Interview with Representative Devin Nunes, December 2nd, 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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December 7th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the reported deal struck between the White House and congressional leaders on the lame duck session of Congress’ consideration of preventing imminent tax increases on all Americans:

“Two-year extensions of the income tax, capital gains tax, and dividend tax rates, and a reduction of the estate tax to 35 percent may not be ideal, but they are better than the alternative, which are tax increases on all Americans. After all, the unemployment rate has been at or above 9.4 percent for 19 consecutive months, the worst economic climate since the Great Depression. We need to create jobs, not increase the tax burden for American businesses at a time when the U.S. is already globally uncompetitive.

“A deal to block the imminent tax increases is a step in the right direction, but more must be done. When Congress returns next year, it should get to work on permanently restructuring and flattening the tax code to remove tax subsidies, corporate welfare, exemptions, and lower overall rates. The corporate tax should be eliminated all together to help the U.S. become more competitive in the global economy. This would encourage more businesses to set up shop here in America and create jobs.

“However, the perpetual extension of unemployment benefits past two years should be rejected. It’s not paid for and will only add to the national debt. It’s no longer a temporary program; it’s become a welfare program. If these benefits cannot be paid for with offsetting cuts elsewhere in the budget, they should be rejected. We’re going broke, and the budget will not be balanced ever without spending cuts.”

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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December 6th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson issued the following statement on the rejected recommendations of the Obama National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform:

“The only credible way to seriously address the debt crisis is through spending cuts, not tax increases. A recent International Monetary Fund study makes this point, writing, ‘the tax burden is already high in several advanced economies, which means that a large part of the adjustment will have to take place on the spending side’ in order to achieve debt sustainability. And as noted by the American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin Hassett, based on that study, the most successful fiscal consolidations consisted of at least two-thirds spending cuts.

“In contrast, the Obama deficit commission did not contemplate a balanced budget until 2035, nor did it contemplate ever reducing overall spending. That means, under the proposal, spending would still have increased year-on-end. Therefore, it never contemplated reducing the overall $13.8 trillion debt, which would have continued to grow under the proposal. That is unacceptable to the American people, who want to pay down and retire the national debt, not continue to grow it. We don’t have 25 years to balance the budget. We have to do it now.

“Fortunately, the half-measures of the Obama deficit commission were rejected by that very commission. Unfortunately, the insolvency crisis the United States faces still looms above all other issues. If Congress does not act to balance the budget and begin reducing the debt immediately, next year the Federal Reserve will become the number one holder of U.S. debt, and thedebt will soar past 100 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in just a few short years. By 2018, if not sooner, our Triple-A credit rating will likely be downgraded.

“We cannot grow ourselves out of this mess alone, although robust economic growth must be restored through permanent tax relief. We cannot tax our way out, although revenues would begin to recover with robust economic growth. But even those are not enough. The only way to stop this death spiral any time in the near future is to cut spending immediately. Any balanced budget plan that does not contemplate severe spending cuts is delusional and will not work.”

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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