May 2, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement on the latest jobs numbers, urging Congress to extend and expand the 2017 Trump tax cuts:

“The unemployment level inched up to 7.16 million in April, the highest it has been since October 2021, now up 1.4 million since its January 2023 low of 5.75 million. If you look closer at the non-rounded unemployment rate, it edged up ever so slightly from 4.15 percent to 4.18 percent, still near historic lows. And, the unemployed-to-job-openings ratio reached .984 in March — job openings data lags a month — its highest level since April 2021, a figure that usually rises after peak employment at the end of the economic cycle, and has been rising since 2022 along with unemployment. In the meantime, those saying they have jobs increased to 163.94 million, an all-time high. With inflation data continuing to cool and payroll employment slowing down too on its trend (which is usually does at the end of the cycle), the only question is whether the economy is in for a so-called ‘soft’ landing or a ‘hard’ one.

“Congress should not take any chances. It has before it a tax cuts bill that if everything the President has proposed is included, including no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security, along with factory expensing to incentivize businesses to make their products in America, will set up the economy for long-term growth if the worst should happen. If there is any good news about the labor shortages brought on by the Baby Boomer retirement wave, wherein almost 1 million of those 65 years old and older are leaving the labor force every year, it is that when we do get to the next recession, there will be fewer people to lay off and so hopefully unemployment does not go so high. It could just be that because of the retirements, we either skip the next recession or if we get one its shallow. Hope springs eternal. Either way, whatever is on the horizon has been years in the making following peak inflation in 2022, and so all Congress can do is set the U.S. up for future success as best as it can. It’s time to extend the tax cuts.”

Attachments:

“Go Big Or Go Home! Weekly Jobless Claims Reminder For Congress To Extend Tax Cuts Plus Factory Expensing And No Tax On Tips, Overtime And Social Security” By Robert Romano, May 1, 2025 at https://dailytorch.com/2025/05/go-big-or-go-home-weekly-jobless-claims-reminder-for-congress-to-extend-tax-cuts-plus-factory-expensing-and-no-tax-on-tips-overtime-and-social-security/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 30, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement in response to the latest GDP numbers for the first quarter of 2025:

“The small decrease of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product by an annualized rate of 0.3 percent is largely unsurprising for two reasons. First, it came primarily on the heels of companies boosting inventories ahead of expected tariff increases earlier this month, which the Treasury Secretary had indicated yesterday. And the truth is, President Donald Trump inherited a weak economy from former President Joe Biden, that saw peak inflation at 9.1 percent in June 2022, and in increase of unemployment from 5.7 million in January 2023 to 7 million now, a 1.3 million increase, almost all of which occurred during Biden’s term. Which is what usually happens after peak inflation, given the historical inverse relationship between the two factors. Coupled with contracting consumer credit which predates Trump’s tenure in office, eventually something has to give economically. Every bout of peak inflation in the postwar era either coincided with or was followed by a recession, so if we get one (or if we had one that wasn’t already booked), that too would be unsurprising. The good news with any slowdown is prices and interest rates are coming down, bringing much needed relief to the American people, with further decreases expected as global growth and demand expectations cool.”

Attachments:
“As Producer And Consumer Prices Fall, Is Inflation Finally In The Rear-View Mirror?” By Robert Romano, April 11, 2025 at https://dailytorch.com/2025/04/as-producer-and-consumer-prices-fall-is-inflation-finally-in-the-rear-view-mirror/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 29, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement in support of the House Oversight Committee’s reforms to the federal employee retirement system that will result in $50 billion of savings for American taxpayers:

“The House Oversight Committee is acting responsibly to find savings for American taxpayers in the 2026 budget, with $50 billion of proposed cuts. Since 1987, federal employees have been able to opt for early retirement via the federal employee retirement system, allowing them to collect an additional annuity for up to five years prior to qualifying for Social Security at the age of 62. Additionally, there is no reason federal employees hired before 2014 should pay less into the retirement plan than the 4.4 percent newer employees must pay. These are one of a kind benefits that most Americans in the private sector do not get to enjoy. It’s time that all federal workers pay their fair share and tighten their belts just like the rest of us.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 23, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement supporting careful consideration of proposals to boost birth rates provided they actually boost birth rates:

“Consumer prices are up 988 percent since Jan. 1960. Median income are up from $5,600 in 1960 to $80,610 in 2023, a 1,339 percent increase. So, over the past 65 years, income has increased more than prices by the measures we tend to rely on, but fertility is still way down to 1.61 births per woman in 2023, a record low. That’s because the cost of living is not the exclusive cause of low fertility.

“Instead, birth rates are down because of the approval of birth control by the FDA in 1960 and the expansion of higher education that incentivized young women to join the labor force and pursue degrees, careers and higher incomes. The average cost of a college degree is about $80,000 and the current scheme of financial aid and loan programs subsidize that. Clear majorities of men and women go to college, but maybe wouldn’t if there were no support programs, therefore the incentives have succeeded in changing behavior.

“So, if anything, a $5,000 ‘baby bonus’ now under consideration might not be large enough of an inducement to change women’s behavior. If put into place, ‘baby bonuses’ have to compete with college, career and lifetime earnings that women would get if they didn’t have children. If the baby bonuses can’t compete because Congress tries to boost fertility on the cheap, it could just wind up subsidizing the 3.5 million births that would have happened anyway, costing $18 billion without boosting birth rates.

“Again, if ‘baby bonuses’ are not big enough it will just be a subsidy for people who were already going to have kids without actually increasing the fertility rate. Young women can get tens of thousands of dollars in financial aid and loans to get a degree and career and a higher income. And a $5,000 one-time subsidy might not be enough to change the calculation. If the goal is to prevent population collapse and prevent financial ruin — the $36 trillion national debt would be much, much lower today if birth rates had remained at 3.6 per woman as they were in 1960 — there needs to a cultural shift in incentives that could be beyond what Congress is politically capable of achieving. Congress should carefully consider proposals to boost birth rates provided they actually boost birth rates.”

Attachments:

“President Trump Says It’s Time To Get Busy: ‘I’ll Be Known As The Fertilization President!’ But Will The Baby Bonuses Be Big Enough?” By Robert Romano, April 23, 2025 at https://dailytorch.com/2025/04/president-trump-says-its-time-to-get-busy-ill-be-known-as-the-fertilization-president-but-will-the-baby-bonuses-be-big-enough/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 10, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today released the following statement in response to the latest inflation numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing prices fell 0.1 percent in March:

“Inflation is falling in spite of repeated, embarrassing predictions by opponents of President Donald Trump’s tariffs of both parties that prices would rise in response to his tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China and the rest of the world. It simply has not happened, with inflation the past 12 months now at 2.4 percent.

“Of course, they need only have read Milton Friedman who taught us that ‘inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon’ with the critical factors being the money supply, which has not increased since 2022, and production which has been rising after the Covid-led production lockdowns. Tax rates and tariffs do not determine inflation per se. The global supply crisis has been easing, but so too has demand as American households maxed out their credit. Total credit owned and securitized has actually declined by 1 percent the past 12 months, according to data compiled by the Federal Reserve. Additionally, unemployment had already risen by more than 1 million before President Trump was even sworn into office, which is what always happens as inflation slows down along with demand, usually leading to a slowdown or a recession historically.

“It could be we already had the recession but it just hasn’t been booked yet, with unemployment not moving too much because of the ongoing labor shortages thanks to the Baby Boomer retirement wave with more than 900,000 Americans over the age of 65 leaving the labor force every year and accelerating or that there is still something on the horizon. Either way, this has all been years in the making. Inflation has been slowing, it just didn’t slow down fast enough to help Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2024, who had to run on a record of inflation outpacing incomes.

“As it is, the effective federal funds rate set by the Federal Reserve, currently at 4.3 percent, has been above the consumer inflation rate now at 2.4 percent for about two years now, which also should have told everyone what they need to know about the direction inflation continues to move in. Aren’t higher interest rates generally used to push inflation down? Isn’t that the whole point?

“Finally, very little analysis has been done about how trade partners have continually been devaluing their currencies to gain trade advantage to cheapen exports to the United States, which has the impact of strengthening the dollar. For example, the Mexican peso has devalued more than 18 percent against the dollar the past year, making imports from Mexico relatively cheaper. The dollar has nominally strengthened 3.9 percent in the past 12 months. And so, the strong dollar usually accompanies commodities prices in producer prices taking a hit, which they have.

“But this is not the first time tariff-centric views have dominated economic and political discourse to the absence of all other factors, with most pundits still ignoring competitive devaluations during the Great Depression as trade partners came off the interwar gold standard as a very good example. When we consider inflation or deflation, we should always be considering the supply of money, the level of production and the relative value of the currencies of trade partners.

“And everyone now must be surprised prices are falling because tariffs and Donald Trump are the center of the universe in their eyes. Now if prices continue falling and unemployment ticks up more that will be because of tariffs when they were making the opposite argument for three months. This is not how we do analysis or set policies. If we have erroneous discussions about inflation, as Congress continues to have, we could wind up with erroneous, knee-jerk policies we have seen this month, that could wind up tying President Trump’s hands to carry on economic relations with nations abroad and as he campaigned on to get better deals for the American people, Main Street and working families. Let’s let President Trump do the job he was elected to do.”

To view online: https://getliberty.org/2025/04/inflation-is-falling-not-rising-embarrassing-anti-tariff-politicians/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 9, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement urging the House to pass the budget bill:

“In 2024, President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans ran on using budget reconciliation to advance the GOP’s legislative agenda of making the Trump tax cuts permanent, passing no taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security, and securing the border. Since that time, hundreds of billions of potential savings have also been revealed by the White House Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that should provide additional room in the reconciliation bill for Republicans to achieve their mutual objectives if they are booked as outright rescissions and future budget cuts. As negotiations occur between the House and the Senate, the DOGE cuts should be put in there.

“This is not even the final bill or negotiation, this is just the framework initiating the reconciliation process so that both chambers can work together to get the ‘one big, beautiful bill’ that President Trump and the 77 million people who elected him are looking forward to and were promised.

“After peak inflation as we saw in 2022, the U.S. economy almost always goes into a slowdown or recession after the economy overheats and American households max out on their credit. Now is the time to lock in the Trump tax cuts and give certainty to households and small businesses that relief is on the way, come what may economically. If Congress fails to act, a tax hike is guaranteed to occur at the end of the year, which is the last thing we need headed into a potential slowdown that has been years in the making following the inflation of the Biden years. Work through whatever differences there are and act now while the House majority lasts, Mr. Speaker. Keep your promises! When we get to the midterms, the first question everyone is going to ask is what have Republicans accomplished in Congress?”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 9, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement urging the House to enact S.J. Res. 18 that disapproves of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Dec. 30, 2024 midnight rulemaking on overdraft fees:

“On its way out the door the Biden administration enacted a number of midnight regulations, one of them being the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rushed rulemaking imposing price controls on overdraft fees. Overdraft fees serve an important function in banking when bank customers need to cover transactions that exceed their current balance, acting as a temporary loan to the customer as the transactions are covered. Without the fees, banks might not be able to broadly provide overdraft services, which serve as a vital backstop when customers are temporarily short on cash. Americans for Limited Government strongly urges House passage of S.J. Res. 18 to do away with CFPB’s misguided regulation that would only further limit consumer options in financial services.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 4, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano issued the following statement in response to the latest jobs numbers:

“Nobody should be surprised by the latest jobs numbers. As the economy unwinds the post-Covid inflation bubble, the unemployment rate once again ticked up to 4.2 percent as demand continues to soften. This is what historically, almost always happens after the economy overheats from inflation: Households max out their credit cards, purchases slow down and so does the economy until finally, unemployment rises, the cycle ends and begins anew. Since Jan. 2023, unemployment has increased 1.3 million, almost all of which has been during the Biden administration, although there is likely more to come. The hope should be that with ongoing labor shortages amid the Baby Boomer retirement wave, it won’t go too high.

“The first signals of a slowdown or recession came in 2022 when the spread between 10-year and 2-year treasuries first inverted, and then the signal for higher unemployment came in 2023 when the inversion began narrowing until the yield curve normalized in 2024. As interest rates continue collapsing amid the current flight to safety along with commodities prices collapsing, inflation expectations are predictably dropping, which is the good news.

“When prices increases slow down as much as they have, historically, that has always coincided with recessions and higher unemployment, the only proven method of ending inflation. This is years in the making. In 1981, Ronald Reagan and Paul Volcker triggered a recession with double digit interest rates and prices came tumbling down. They ripped off the band-aid and did what was necessary, although it was not popular at the time as unemployment rose, but the economy took its medicine. Well, here comes the airplane…

“Politically, getting inflation down is more important than avoiding a recession in the first year. Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all had recessions either occur or that were ongoing their first years in office, and all went on to get reelected relatively easily. Whereas, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Joe Biden all had inflation outpace incomes during their terms, and all were one-term presidents. Choose your poison.”

Attachments:

“Commodities, Interest Rates Collapse After President Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs Announcement. Didn’t Democrats Say Prices Were Supposed To Go Up?” By Robert Romano, April 3, 2025 at https://dailytorch.com/2025/04/commodities-interest-rates-collapse-after-president-trumps-reciprocal-tariffs-announcement-didnt-democrats-say-prices-were-supposed-to-go-up/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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April 2, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order levying reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners:

“Thank you, President Trump, for putting America first and finally once and for all levying the same tariffs on trade partners that they have levied mercilessly on the United States for decades. This was not an easy decision to make, but one that is long overdue with a record $1.2 trillion trade in goods deficit in 2024 after the failed rule of former President Joe Biden. For too long, the world was taking advantage of America, dumping their products here as our factories were outsourced and our industrial base was hollowed out, hurting working families and endangering our national and economic security, all the while presidents and Congresses did nothing to respond.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, America will be the industrial and technology leader of the world, with commitments for hundreds of billions of investments in the United States. For countries that want to avoid the tariffs, it’s simple: Build in America.

“Today, our leaders would never have had the moral courage to abolish slavery as they have looked the other way for years as we rewarded abhorrent labor practices by buying the slave-made goods. Forcing American companies to compete with countries with far lower wages and sometimes child and forced labor is not only unfair, it is immoral. But it has been allowed to be perpetuated under the false allure of profits. Until now. Thank you again, President Trump, for your leadership in restoring reciprocity in trade and for having the courage that all of our other leaders have lacked.”

Attachments:

“2025 National Trade Estimate Report on FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program,” U.S. Trade Representative, March 31, 2025 at https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/Press/Reports/2025NTE.pdf

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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March 28, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement in support of H.R. 34 by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar that will take revenues from lands under Interior Department jurisdiction to shore up the Social Security trust fund:

“Americans for Limited Government strongly supports the efforts by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar in H.R. 34 to shore up the Social Security trust funds with revenues generated from lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior. With the Social Security trust funds due to run out in less than a decade, Congressman Gosar’s legislation is timely and essential, and I urge immediate consideration by House leadership. This works very well with President Donald Trump’s plans establishing a long overdue sovereign wealth fund for the U.S. that can also be used to help save Social Security and Medicare and maybe even help to balance the budget just by getting a better rate of return for taxpayers. For too long, elected representatives have overlooked the need to shore up the trust funds and so I thank Congressman Gosar and President Trump for their leadership and bold ideas to keep America’s promise to seniors.”

Attachments:

President Trump’s Tariffs And Sovereign Wealth Fund Can Restore American Economic Primacy, Cut Inflation, By Robert Romano, March 27, 2025 at https://dailytorch.com/2025/03/president-trumps-tariffs-and-sovereign-wealth-fund-can-restore-american-economic-primacy-cut-inflation/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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