Congress needs to stop spending to staunch rapid inflation rise

This sustained and substantial increase in the producer cost of final goods is akin to finding a dead canary in the mine shaft of government spending excess.

Fairfax, Va. – The prices that suppliers are charging businesses and other customers rose again last month, adding to inflation pressures bubbling through the U.S. economy.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that its producer-price index rose 0.8% in May from the prior month, up from the 0.6% increase in April from March. The average rise between 2017 and 2019 was 0.2%.

The producer -price index is an inflation measure of what it costs those who make or produce the goods, services and equipment we consume, and as such, it is generally seen as a precursor to future inflation in the economy.

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning offered the following analysis and policy recommendations:

“The unadjusted producer-price index increase of an annualized 6.6 percent in May, is up from 1.6 percent when Joe Biden took office. This sustained and substantial increase in the producer cost of final goods is akin to finding a dead canary in the mine shaft of government spending excess.

“America is out of the low demand driven deflationary cycle experienced during the pandemic-induced economic shutdown, and now faces a dangerous price surge which is a function of the rapid increase in the money supply.

“Congress can and should act now to stop this obvious trend in its tracks by freezing federal spending at the normally appropriated levels of 2020 as well as ending all new and unspent COVID emergency spending. By stopping our nation’s double digit money supply growth, lawmakers would undercut the primary inflation driver.

“Inflation is dangerous because it is the ultimate hidden tax. Inflation means that our money becomes worth less, making the cost of things we purchase more expensive. The result right now is that real wages (how much you make versus how much it costs to buy the same things with that money) are going down and the higher the inflation rate the less a paycheck will buy. Naturally, that causes people to demand higher wages, which has the perverse effect of increasing the cost of goods and services creating a vicious cycle that is directly due to the federal government’s money supply increase.

“America had to do what was necessary to fight the Chinese lab originated virus, but now the war is against the ravages of that spending on our economy. To win that war, Congress must reinstate the sequestration policies that the Republican House of Representatives forced upon the Obama administration just ten years ago, which lowered federal government spending, and led to dramatic drops in the budget deficit. In 2019, regularly authorized and so-called mandatory spending by the federal government was just under 4.5 trillion dollars, a level which should stand as the pre-pandemic baseline that Congress should strive to achieve when approving spending bills this year.”

For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen 703-478-4643 or cmortensen@getliberty.org.

Fly Your Flag, Piss off a Liberal

Fairfax, Va. – In recognition of Flag Day in the United States, Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement:

“Flag Day is more important today than ever before in history.  We have a concerted attack by the left on America as symbolized by recent challenges on what our flag stands for by those who revel in the protection of people who burn it in the streets while viewing those who fly it proudly as a national problem.  After Memorial Day, Mara Gay, a New York Times Editorial Board member complained on MSNBC about the amount of flags she witnessed on Long Island stating, ‘…I was really disturbed. I saw, you know, dozens and dozens of pickup trucks with expletives against Joe Biden on the back of them, Trump flags, and in some cases just dozens of American flags, which is also just disturbing … Essentially the message was clear. This is my country. This is not your country. I own this.’

“Americans for Limited Government strongly encourages every American to fly their American flag today and every day as a reminder to their neighbors that they are not alone in their feeling of pride in the United States of America, and also as a reminder to those who are disturbed by flying the flag that they are a small, narrow minority of elitists who hate American freedoms and the God-given individual liberties that have made our nation unique and a beacon of freedom for the rest of the world.

“Fly your flag and piss off a liberal.”

For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643, or cmortensen@getliberty.org.

 

Time to end national economic emergency measures

May’s drop in unemployment makes clear the economic emergency is over.

Fairfax, Va. – Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s May unemployment report which showed a drop in unemployment from 6.1 percent to 5.8 percent.

“As states continue to reopen their economies, it is having the obvious anticipated impact of lowering the unemployment rate. The number of people on temporary layoff declined by 291,000 people in May accounting for about 60 percent of the drop in the number of people unemployed.

“However, the fact that more than a million additional people still remain on temporary layoff status when compared to February 2020, prior to the Chinese lab originated pandemic, continues to prove that big, blue state governors economic shutdown policies have been a disaster for American workers. The ten states with the highest unemployment rates are all run by Democrat governors.

“We can anticipate that positive employment numbers will keep growing through the summer as blue states continue to open up. Another positive impact this summer will be the decision by almost half of the states to drop the federal government extended unemployment benefit which has discouraged workers in these recovered states from coming off the sidelines and taking a job. Next month’s unemployment report should reflect this important policy shift by increasing labor participation.

“It is clear that the economic emergency is over. Congress should take immediate steps to end economic measures that no longer make sense. The job market challenges that remain are largely due to the actions of state governments governing by fear rather than science. These challenges no longer require a one-size-fits-all federal government response. It is time to end national economic emergency measures.”

For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643, or email at cmortensen@getliberty.org.

Fire Fauci!

Americans for Limited Government loses faith in Fauci and calls for his removal

Fairfax, Va. – Americans for Limited Government (ALG) is promoting an online campaign urging our members and supporters to support  the Fauci’s Incompetence Requires Early Dismissal (FIRED) Act.

The bill would impose a retroactive 12-year term limit on the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci’s official post. The top scientist has held the job since 1984, so if the bill were to be signed into law he would be forced out of his job.

ALG President Rick Manning issued the following statement calling for Fauci’s removal:

“Dr. Fauci’s response to this pandemic has been a disaster and he must be dismissed. Fauci has not been open and transparent with the American people about the origins of the deadly Covid-19 virus. His muddled messaging on the value of masks has cost him credibility. Now, as more evidence emerges that the virus may have come from the notorious Wuhan lab, something Fauci denied was even possible, it is clear that Fauci is part of the problem. Clearly Fauci knew there was a strong possibly the virus could have emerged from the Wuhan lab which he had funded. Fauci must be fired. He has spent the last year scoffing at and denying the Wuhan lab-leak theory and as a result we haven’t had an honest investigation, possibly costing millions of lives. An intense investigation into the origins of the virus will be essential to preventing future pandemics. Unfortunately, due to Dr. Fauci’s decision that ousting Trump was more important than getting to the truth, we are 13-15 months behind in preventing another world-wide pandemic that experts fear.”

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who introduced the FIRED Act, told ALG, “Dr. Fauci represents everything that President Eisenhower warned us about in his farewell address: the scientific-technical elite steering the country toward their own ends. Americans have had decades of Dr. Fauci’s leadership, and he publicly failed to respond appropriately to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time for him to step aside so that new leadership can ‘follow the science’ and start reopening America.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE DIGITAL CAMPAIGN ASKING OUR MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS TO EMAIL THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS URGING THEM TO SUPPORT the FIRED Act.

Thank you, Mitch McConnell for protecting America from the Woke Mob in Congress

Fairfax, Va. – Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in reaction to the defeat of a measure in the Senate that would have resulted in a partisan witch hunt against Trump supporters:

“Thank you Senator Mitch McConnell for working to make certain that the one-sided Pelosi Star Chamber on the January 6th Capitol break-in is not moving ahead.  After hundreds of FBI and other law enforcement officials using the full power of the federal government investigated and continue to investigate what happened, as well as the House impeaching the President with a full Senate acquittal, there is nothing to be served by another investigation but political theater.

“Ironically, if Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi truly wanted to get to the bottom of what happened, they would be investigating why the House Sergeant at Arms (who is directly controlled by the Speaker) refused requests leading up to January 6, by the head of the Capitol Police to have National Guard protection for the Capitol in spite of intelligence indicating that trouble might be brewing.  What’s more, they would investigate why the Capitol Police falsely claimed that Officer Brian Sicknick died from a head wound caused by a fire extinguisher when the coroner determined that not only was there no head wound, but his untimely and unfortunate passing was a completely natural event due to a stroke suffered on January 7th.  Finally, it would be important to discover what prompted a Capitol Police officer to shoot and kill Ashli Babbitt with the same kind of investigative fervor that is used in other police shootings of private citizen.

“America owes a debt of gratitude to Leader McConnell for his courage in standing up to the mob which wants to continue to politicize the tragic events of January 6.  His determination to bring national healing should be hailed from ocean to ocean. For those who love America and want our nation to thrive, moving ahead rather than being continually divided by those who seek to use their governmental powers against their political opponents, I say, thank you Leader Mitch McConnell, thank you.”

For media availability, contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643 or email at cmortensen@getliberty.org.

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Memo to Biden: Stop Spending!

Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement responding to President Joe Biden’s proposed $6 trillion budget:

“Memo to President Biden: The emergency is over, stop spending as if we were at the height of the Covid crisis. President Joe Biden’s $6 trillion budget would make permanent the spending from Covid and then some — a 36 percent increase ($1.6 trillion) above the pre-pandemic 2019 outlays levels of $4.4 trillion.

“The $1.8 trillion deficit that results effectively removes any illusion that the federal government will ever rein in spending. Biden’s plan would increase government dependency, crowd out private investment, and make permanent the economic damage wrought by the Wuhan-lab-originated virus.

“House and Senate GOP members should coalesce with Democrats who claim to be moderates and declare this budget dead on arrival, and to create a realistic plan to end the destructive government gravy train emergency Covid spending. Congress needs to send a direct message to Biden: stop spending. It’s time to allow America to recover.”

For media availability, contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643 or email at cmortensen@getliberty.org.

 

Biden attempts to deflect from his administration’s shut down of Trump-era investigation into Covid origins

In response to a CNN investigation that found the Biden administration terminated a Trump-era probe into the possibility of Wuhan lab leak as the origin of the deadly Covid-19 virus, President Biden today released a statement attempting to deflect from his administration’s attempted cover-up.

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in reaction to the breaking news:

“Today’s statement by Joe Biden is a tacit admission that his administration canceled and then covered up a legitimate State Department investigation into the origins of the Wuhan virus. Biden’s dramatic change in direction clearly shows that his administration is finally taking seriously the calls of Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Tom Cotton, and Rep. Bill Posey that an investigation must occur. However, having Covid-origin deniers in the administration who have already engaged in a coverup running any investigation is unacceptable. They have already proven they are politically motivated, cannot be trust to run an honest investigation.

“This is why Americans for Limited Government supports HR 834, a bill that would create a non-partisan commission to get to the bottom of the deadly virus that has now killed more than 3.3 million people worldwide.”

For media availability call Catherine Mortensen at 703-478-4643 or email at cmortensen@getliberty.org.

 

TOWNHALL GUEST COLUMN: Election Integrity Threatened by Newly Confirmed Head of the DoJ’s Civil Rights Division

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOWNHALL

By Rick Manning

The newly confirmed assistant secretary of the Justice Department’s Civil Right Division is a far-left radical who has pushed racially divisive politics her entire career. Kristen Clarke, who was confirmed in the Senate Tuesday by a vote of 51 to 48, supports cop-killers, is anti-police, consorts with bigots, and accuses black single mothers of raising criminals. Not someone fit to lead the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice.This matters to you because Clarke will be responsible for enforcing federal statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and religion. These federal laws prohibit discrimination in education, employment, credit, housing, public accommodations, voting, and in certain federally funded and conducted programs, among other areas. In addition, the division prosecutes actions under several criminal civil rights statutes that are designed to preserve personal liberties and safety according to the  U.S. Department of Justice website.With all of the furor over the Biden administration’s attempt to federalize the nation’s elections, if successful, it would be Clarke who would lead the agency which would make every election law decision nationwide.While that may seem like hyperbole, the swing Democrat vote in the Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has already declared that he has problems with passing the expansive S.1 federal election takeover legislation, but favors an alternative bill by Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-Vt.) which would hand control over state election laws through a nationwide expansion of the Voting Rights Act.

While the Leahy bill creates a complicated legal trap to ensure that left-wing lawfare groups like the ACLU can thrust every state into needing to get pre-clearance for all election laws from Clarke’s Justice Department Division, Manchin cuts to the chase by saying he favors that every state be thrown under federal control from the outset.

So, the question is, who is Kristin Clarke?

As the head of the Civil Rights Division, she surely must be an even-handed arbiter who will seek to protect individual voting rights while respecting the right of the people to determine their own voting laws. Surely, she recognizes that the ability of people of all races to vote has gotten dramatically better than 1965.

Judge for yourself.

While in Columbia Law School, Clarke forwarded a racist screed to a professor for inclusion in a program she was planning that states, “The Klan is now the police, with blue uniforms replacing sheets and hoods.”

The forwarded diatribe went on to declare, “That’s why Revolutionaries understand that the fundamental question of revolution is the seizure of state power, and once in power the people can use this instrument as a weapon to put the major industries, banks, transportation, communication under democratic public control and repress the present ruling class so that People’s Democracy and eventually socialism can emerge, and since there are still classes and class struggle under socialism, wield this weapon, the state, to ensure the evolution of a Classless society, which is called communism.”

Clarke did not write this, but here is the note from her to her professor which accompanied it, “Manning, here is the piece for magazine and Panel 3 – Race and the Death Penalty Mumia, Lynch Law and Imperialism.”

A clear endorsement of the inclusion of the document in a panel she was putting together for her professor.

Hardly a comfort that the person now entrusted with the state power was not appalled at the notion of using that power as a weapon against her perceived enemies.

If Democrats are successful in federalizing our elections, either through S1 or Sen. Leahy’s John Lewis Act,Clarke would oversee all state and local elections.

While there are many other instances where Clarke demonstrated her unsuitability to serve in this position of authority, President Joe Biden picked her and the Senate confirmed her, so she now holds the reins of power.  A cudgel over our nation’s electoral system due to the on-going authorization of the Voting Rights Act, even with the 2013 Supreme Court intervention to stop unwarranted application and expansion of the law.

The Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice has enormous power granted under existing law on a wide range of topics. Now that Clarke heads it, these powers must be curtailed before they are abused, and it is unthinkable to expand her authority over every aspect of state and local election laws, from voter identification and absentee ballot rules to the placement of individual polling places.

With Clarke in the lead, it would be a tragic mistake to hand massive discretionary power over our nation’s elections to the federal government division she runs.  It is time to put a stake through the heart of the Democrats federal election law takeover dreams by just saying no to both S1 and the Leahy bill.

Rick Manning is President of Americans for Limited Government.

Alarming inflation rate calls for immediate halt to Biden’s socialist agenda

Biden, Pelosi, Schumer Need to Reverse Course Immediately

Fairfax, Va. – Today’s data from the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics shows annualized inflation has jumped to 4.2 percent. Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement blaming the alarming inflation rate on the socialist spending and regulatory policies of President Joe Biden and the Democrat-controlled Congress.

“Inflation is back, courtesy of the wild spending spree by the Biden administration in the face of supply limitations that, at least partially, are the result of continued limitations instituted by state governments.  When Joe Biden took office, the annualized inflation rate was 1.4%, and the January inflation rate had ticked up to .3 percent. Just released inflation data from the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics shows annualized inflation has jumped to 4.2 percent with the previous three months showing increases of .4, .6 and in April .8 percent.  While an imperfect calculation as the inflation numbers build upon themselves, the previous three months annualize out to an inflation rate in excess of 7 percent and rising.

“As those who lived through the hard times of high inflation in the 1970s and early 1980s, prices increasing faster than wages is devastating both to the economy and to the nation’s psyche as the feeling that ‘the harder I work, the further I fall behind’ takes hold.

“Congress needs to quit messing around with the left’s attempt to federalize our election laws and impose a socialist wish list on America and behave responsibly.  This means killing Biden’s latest $1.9 trillion spending bill outright, and rescinding the excessive unemployment benefits that are stifling the labor markets.  Because much of the inflation has been fueled by high energy costs which drive up costs for the delivery of goods around the country, the administration also drop their regulatory attack on oil and natural gas.

“At the start of Biden’s term, our nation was energy independent, enjoyed low inflation and a booming employment market which was held back only by Democrat state governors’ Covid lockdowns. In his first 100 days, Biden has rescinded the Trump prosperity program and replaced it with a government-before-people agenda that is directly responsible for this inflation burst.

“The difficult piece of this puzzle is that once the inflation genie is out of the bottle, a number of other ills follow including higher interest rates which impact home and car purchases, but also the amount the U.S. taxpayer has to pay to service our $28 trillion debt.  The Biden, Pelosi, Schumer team need to reverse course now before they kill the goose that laid the golden egg.”

For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen at 703-479-4643 or cmortensen@getliberty.org.

Cheney leadership ouster unites Republicans towards the future

May 12, 2021, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement reacting to the ouster of U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as House Republican Conference Chair:

“Liz Cheney continued to choose to look backwards at the Trump presidency rather than fight the dangerous leftward lurch by Biden-Pelosi-Schumer that harms all Americans. It is her failure to have a vision for the future and how to lead against the big government, corporatist threat against freedom that made her ouster as House Republicans’ lead communicator necessary. Republicans made the right choice to turn towards a new leader who is capable of focusing on the challenges ahead, rather than sowing division through relitigating lost internal battles of the past. This is why Nancy Pelosi recently referred to Liz Cheney as her favorite Republican. With the move today, House Republican leadership can act as one as they fight for common sense, limited government principles.”

For media availability please contact Catherine Mortensen at cmortensen@getliberty.org or 703-478-4643.

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