Aug. 13, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the latest unemployment insurance claims published by the Department of Labor:

“President Donald Trump predicted a fast recovery from the COVID-19, and now it is continuing at a rapid clip with fewer than 1 million new jobless claims for the first time since March, and another 624,000 came off continued claims the week of Aug. 1.

“As a reminder, in Feb. 2020, unemployment was at a 50-year low with fewer than 6 million Americans unemployed and it was the unleashing of the Chinese coronavirus that drove those numbers through the roof. Now, the President’s balanced approach to reopening America while continuing to battle the virus has led to an unprecedented recovery, with 9 million to 10 million jobs recovered in the past three months.

“No President has been as focused on private sector job creation in generations, and it stands in stark contrast to the Obama-Biden so-called shovel-ready jobs promise that paid off public employee unions but did little for Americans who were actually out of work.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 12, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praises a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirming Qualcomm’s intellectual property rights:

“Intellectual property includes the ability to negotiate licensing deals for others to utilize and benefit their customers while ensuring that the person or company which invented the technology receive a contractually agreed upon compensation for their genius. There is no requirement that an inventor must license their product for use by a competitor or cannot engage in exclusive licensing agreements.

“Believe it or not, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals three judge panel got this basic principle right in vacating a radical decision by a California Bay area federal circuit judge which effectively destroyed the licensing business model.

“This is not just a great victory for Qualcomm, the victim of the Obama Federal Trade Commission driven lawsuit, but for all inventors as it effectively affirms that inventors have the right to control their own inventions.

“Intellectual property is the foundation of America’s free enterprise system, and the attempts by the Federal Trade Commission in partnership with their star witness – Chinese Communist Party controlled – Huawei – to destroy and collectivize the product of individual minds was an affront to the core values of our great country.  When even the notoriously liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gets this right, it is a day to celebrate that freedom still rings.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 11, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement responding to former Vice President Joe Biden’s choice for running in Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.):

“Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris to be his successor in the highest office of the land is a perfect example of someone failing up.  Harris has proven herself to be little more than a nasty partisan who only appeals to far-left coast socialists.  Her performance during the confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh revealed the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for Vice President to be little more than a wild eyed radical devoted to the politics of personal destruction, and just as Democrats overwhelmingly rejected her in their primary for president, Americans as a whole will reject her as the next in line to the presidency. In picking Harris, Joe Biden chose the Antifa wing of the Democratic Party, making the stark differences between the two visions for America crystal clear.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 10, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting the Chinese Communist Party arrest of Jimmy Lai, and urging President Donald Trump to instruct Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia to bar private pension investments in non-transparent Chinese state-owned companies just like the U.S. has done for federal employees:

“The arrest by the Chinese Communist Party of Jimmy Lai, a man who has put his wealth and liberty at risk through his defense of freedom for Hong Kong, must be answered by more than words.  Two weeks ago, Americans for Limited Government and about 240 other freedom lovers across our great country submitted a letter to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia calling for the divestment of U.S. private retirement accounts from Chinese investments. The letter signed by luminaries like former Vice Admiral John Poindexter, former Attorney General Ed Meese, former Senator Jim DeMint and former Congressman Frank Wolf made both the legal and moral case for divestment writing, ‘By allowing investments into these [Chinese] companies, the Labor Department is effectively making individual 401(k) owners or pensioners parties to and profiteers from the exploitation of the victims of such cruel abuse. This is wholly repugnant and unacceptable.’

“The United States government needs to create a proportionate response to the Chinese Communist Party’s crushing of a free press in Hong Kong, and it is no longer tolerable or acceptable to allow Wall Street appeasers to put our nation’s retirement accounts at risk keeping afloat what can only be termed an ‘evil’ government. Beijing understands dollars and depends upon U.S. capital investments to continue to prop up its house of cards economy.  President Trump should announce immediately that he is instructing the Labor Department to begin this divestment process to be completed by December 31, 2020.  It is the moral and legally correct way forward, and the blood and courage of Hong Kongers like Jimmy Lai demands it.”

Attachments:

“If risky Chinese investments are unsuitable for federal pensioners, they’re unsuitable for private pensioners, too.” By Rick Manning, July 10, 2020 at http://dailytorch.com/2020/07/if-risky-chinese-investments-are-unsuitable-for-federal-pensioners-theyre-unsuitable-for-private-pensioners-too/

“Why are American pensions and mutual funds investing $251 billion in Chinese equities and bonds built on child and slave labor?” By Robert Romano, Aug. 3, 2020 at http://dailytorch.com/2020/08/why-are-american-pensions-and-mutual-funds-investing-251-billion-in-chinese-equities-and-bonds-built-on-child-and-slave-labor/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 7, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the latest jobs numbers:

“President Donald Trump continues to lead a dramatic rebound in the jobs economy as America added 1.46 million new private sector jobs in July with the retail, hospitality and health care sectors leading the way.  In other great news, 1.4 million fewer Americans were unemployed in the month than in June.  The impact of the economic shutdown driven by the Chinese-originated and unleashed virus pushed our nation from having the greatest jobs economy in more than sixty years with fewer unemployed in February of 2020 than at any time since early in 2001.  The rapid recovery is a testimony to the President’s keeping his eye on the ball and fighting the virus while also working every day to make certain that it didn’t permanently squash the hopes and dreams of Americans from all backgrounds and age groups.  Even more good news is that in the past three months since the economy began to re-open, between 9.3 million and 10.1 million people have found work cutting the unemployment rate by 4.5 percent.”

Attachments:

“Trump was right. U.S. economy produces 10 million jobs in three months amid speedy recovery since April as Covid cases decline,” By Robert Romano, Aug. 7, 2020 at http://dailytorch.com/2020/08/trump-was-right-u-s-economy-produces-10-million-jobs-in-three-months-amid-speedy-recovery-since-april-as-covid-cases-decline/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 6, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising President Donald Trump’s leadership on trade and blasting former Vice President Joe Biden:

“Joe Biden never found an American job he didn’t want to send overseas. Thanks to President Donald Trump’s leadership on trade, the 12-nation Obama-Biden Trans-Pacific Partnership was ended, NAFTA which Biden voted for was finally replaced with the renegotiated USMCA trade deal and the U.S. has gotten tough with China for the first time since Beijing entered the WTO in 2001. President Trump is the first president in a generation to put America first on trade, while Biden wants to go back to bowing President Xi.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 5, Fairfax,Va.—Americans for Limited Government will be taking to the airwaves opposing President Trump’s proposed Executive Order tying U.S. drug prices to those dictated by foreign socialist governments.

The $2.2 million dollar first phase cable TV ad buy starts on August 6^th focusing upon Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement regarding the TV ad buy:

“No one has been a bigger fan of President Donald Trump than I have been.  I have repeatedly defended him against repeated attacks from never Trump ne’er-do-wells, and will continue to do so.  But the issue of socialized medicine and the ramifications of the President’s proposed Executive Order are too serious to ignore.

“It is my firm hope that the President will reconsider this draconian step. Drug prices are a symptom of a deeper problem related to the high cost of bringing medicines to market ($2.6 billion according to the latest Tufts University study) and the length of time it takes to bring those treatments to market.

“The ad is respectful but extremely firm in making people aware of the danger of presidentially mandated prices based upon the whims of foreign governments.

“President Trump gets so much right, Americans for Limited Government implores him to reconsider this mistake.”

Background:

ALG statement, Executive order on drug pricing would be a disaster for future generations, July 23, 2020 at https://getliberty.org/2020/07/executive-order-on-drug-pricing-would-be-a-disaster-for-future-generations/

Government creates the high drug costs it then seeks to fix, By Rick Manning, July 28, 2020 at http://dailytorch.com/2020/07/government-creates-the-high-drug-costs-it-then-seeks-to-fix/

ALG’s Manning Attacks neverTrump grifters, July 5, 2020 at  https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/bush-biden-trump-richard-manning

ALG’s Manning hits Bolton book, June 18, 2020 at https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/john-bolton-book-trump-rick-manning

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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Aug. 4, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement endorsing U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for Congress:

“U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar is the most effective conservative Congressman in Washington, D.C. The news this week that the Trump Administration is abandoning the Obama-Biden era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing attack on local zoning is another victory for Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar. Rep. Gosar led the charge more than five years ago to defunding implementation of the rule that dictated local decisions by Washington, D.C. bureaucrats at the Department of Housing and Urban Development using nothing more than Census maps. This was not an easy fight, and at times it was lonely. But it was Paul Gosar who stopped this federal abuse of power in its tracks. This is just one many instances where Congressman Gosar has taken on the tough battles while succeeding in passing substantive legislation. Arizonans can be proud to call Paul Gosar their Congressman.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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July 31, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today in a statement praised the nine members of Congress who jointly signed a letter to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia urging the end of private retirement investments into risky Chinese companies:

“Nine members of the House of Representatives took a bold stand in a letter to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia asking that the Secretary ‘consider amending the proposed rule to require any company seeking eligibility for any retirement or pension investment meet U.S. statutory and regulatory transparency standards.’

“The letter led by Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) was signed by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (R-Ariz.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Rep. Bill Hagedorn (R-Minn.).

“National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray have been unambiguous about the dangers to both our national security and financial security posed by China with O’Brien and Kudlow urging divestment of Chinese assets by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.  O’Brien and Kudlow also led the way for stopping the federal employee 401(k) plan, known as the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), from investing in Chinese assets.

“The Congressional letter boldly reminded Labor Secretary Scalia of his own opposition to the TSP plan to invest in Chinese assets when the Secretary wrote that these investments ‘would place millions of federal employees and retirees and service members in the untenable position of choosing between forgoing any investment in international equities or placing billions of dollars in retirement savings in risky companies that pose a threat to U.S. national security…’

“In the future those who stood up against child and slave labor in places like China will be hailed as heroes, even as today there are those on Wall Street who worry more about relationships with those who run the slave shops.  It is time for America to divest our nation’s retirement accounts from Chinese assets in their entirety.  Not only are they unsuitably risky due to their lack of any basic transparency standards, but they are also immoral.

“Reps. Webster, Gohmert, Rooney, Perry, Gosar, King, Riggleman, Posey and Hagedorn have shown that they are unafraid of standing on the side of both freedom and retirement security and in doing so, they are on the right side of history.”

Attachments:

Letter to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia by nine House Republicans, July 30, 2020 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/MOC-Letter-to-DOL-RE-Proposed-Rule-FINAL.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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July 30, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—A group letter urging divestment of private pensions from Chinese state-owned companies was sent to U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia today with signators headlined by former Attorney General Ed Meese, former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, former Congressman Frank Wolf, former Reagan National Security Advisor Vice Admiral John Poindexter, retired Lt. General Steven Kwast and more than 230 others.

“The investment of private retirement funds into Chinese companies that do not comply with basic transparency standards, and in many cases rely upon child- and slave-labor, is incompatible with fundamental American values and must be discontinued,” the letter states.

The diverse group includes religious leaders like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association to business leaders like Capital Management CEO and President Keith Sirois and USA Radio Network CEO Fred Weinberg as well as China critics Dr. Xiaoxu Sean Lin, the Executive Director of the Global Alliance Against Communist Propaganda and Dr. Jianli Yang, founder of Citizen Power Initiatives for China.

The letter urges Secretary Scalia to amend a proposed Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments rule to explicitly disallow any private retirement funds from investing in non-transparent assets which are not subject to the rigorous independent auditing requirements faced by U.S. public companies.

Rick Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government and a former Labor Transition team member for President Trump, previously sent another letter directly to Secretary Scalia on July 9 arguing for ending private retirement investments in China writing:

“I want to assure you that I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment and decision on excluding risky Chinese assets from the federal employees 401(K) Thrift Savings Plan. Your statement that stopping the inclusion of Chinese assets was necessary because it, ‘would place millions of federal employees, retirees, and service-members in the untenable position of choosing between forgoing any investment in international equities or placing billions of dollars in retirement savings in risky companies that pose a threat to U.S. national security’ is exactly on point.

“The obvious question is if these assets are too risky for inclusion in the federal TSP, why would they be allowed to be included in private 401(K) investments where the same argument directly applies? The answer is that they are not, and under ERISA it is the Labor Department’s job to protect private sector retirement specific investments or pensions from choices that are unsuitably risky.”

The letter itself points to the repugnant practice of making unwitting private U.S. retirees investors in Chinese companies which use child- and slave-labor, “effectively making individual 401(k) owners or pensioners parties to and profiteers from the exploitation of the victims of such cruel abuse.”

The comment period for the Labor Department regulation ends today, and Americans for Limited Government implores that it reflect the fiduciary concerns about the security of investments in Chinese assets by disallowing them under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Attachments:

Letter to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, July 30, 2020, from 240 conservative leaders, https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/China-Pensions-Letter-7-30-20.pdf

Letter to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, July 9, 2020, from Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning, https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DOL-Letter-Private-Pension-Investment-China.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org.

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