Fairfax, Va– Today Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia thanking him for recognizing the plight of the oppressed Uyghur Muslims in China on International Religious Freedom Day. Manning also urged further action by the Trump administration to ensure that U.S. investors are not unwittingly funding Chinese human rights abuses.

“The Labor Department has a fiduciary responsibility to end all private retirement investments in dangerous Chinese investments by amending the current pending “Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments” regulation  to disqualify all companies that do not adhere to the transparency requirements of Dodd-Frank and Sarbannes-Oxley, and to divest the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation from China as well,” wrote Manning. “Chinese assets and other risky non-transparent assets that enslave our fellow man have no place in America’s retirement portfolios.”

Scalia noted in his statement to the press that “many people around the world do not enjoy the freedom to practice their faith, but instead face persecution for their religious beliefs. We particularly recognize the Uyghur Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities in China who have been forced into state-sponsored labor and re-education camps by the Chinese Communist Party.”

The growing push to divest U.S. retirement accounts from non-transparent, child and slave-owning Chinese companies gained momentum last week when  Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting the federal government block human rights-abusing companies from American investment eligibility.

“Based on the ongoing threat investments in these companies pose to American retirement security, I ask you to consider expanding existing regulations on fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to include a prohibition on investment in certain types of Chinese investment vehicles by private retirement plans subject to ERISA,” Loeffler wrote.

“Loeffler’s support is a game-changer because of her background in the financial sector and Wall Street,” added Manning. “She brings tremendous credibility to this issue and I hope other national leaders will take notice and join us in the calls to divest from China.”

Last month, the Department of Labor took steps to combat these exploitive labor practices by releasing its biennial list of goods produced under conditions of forced labor. China topped the list at 17 goods – four more than any other country. The list and the Department’s “Comply Chain” and “Sweat & Toil” smartphone apps, help governments, companies, and consumers fight back against abusive labor practices and, by doing so, protect individuals impressed into forced and child labor because of their religious beliefs.

In August, a top State Department official warned college and university governing boards served notice that the value of Chinese stocks and bonds are likely to be decline as a result of U.S. government action and that they should, therefore, divest from China.

In May, the Department of Labor halted all investing of federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) assets in Chinese companies. The TSP is a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees and members of the uniformed services.

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Oct. 27, 2020, Fairfax, VA – Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement in reaction to the latest revelations of Joe and Hunter Biden’s self-dealing and corruption:

“The Tucker Carlson interview with former Hunter Biden partner Tony Bobulinski is a credible full-blown indictment of Joe Biden. The former vice president illegally cashed in on his elected office. Equipped with emails, texts, recordings and other records, Bobulinski’s accusations are damning beyond belief of the elder Biden, who was known as the ‘Big Guy’.

“It is almost criminal that around 40 percent of Americans have already cast their ballots without the benefit of information that disqualifies Joe Biden from serving in the office of the president, and most assuredly guarantees a bi-partisan impeachment unless he resigns.”

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

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Where’s Joe?

Oct. 26, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting the Biden campaign for refusing to campaign:

“It is unprecedented in modern campaign history for a major party presidential candidate to effectively disappear from the campaign trail in the week leading to the election. While Joe Biden’s past campaign events with people in crop circle like containment for fear of catching any enthusiasm has been weird, the idea that Biden’s basement is the place where voters can be found is outright offensive. It’s clear that Joe Biden is afraid of a virus that the rest of us have to learn to live with and adapt to and afraid of explaining the large amount of evidence that indicts his family as being engaged in blatant pay-for-play while he was Vice President with China, a Ukrainian natural gas company and a former mayor of Moscow’s widow, among others. America wants a President who will fight to get the job, and if Joe Biden won’t ask for your vote now, why would he pay attention to you after the election?”

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

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Oct. 23, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting former Vice President Joe Biden for allegedly taking a 10 percent stake in a Chinese hedge fund deal via his son, Hunter Biden’s business dealings:

“Former Hunter Biden business partner’s statements that Joe Biden knew and profited off of his son’s foreign business deals corroborates the emails that were released to the New York Post showing the Bidens selling the VP office. Joe Biden is a crook. ‘The Big Guy,’ as he was known, allegedly received 10 percent of the multimillion dollar Chinese hedge fund deal, which gives almost total and indisputable creedance to the concern that the former Vice President is fully and completely compromised by the oppressive Communist Chinese regime. We challenge the formerly legitimate press corps of the United States to give this as much attention as they did as the fake news Russiagate.”

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

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Competence versus false promises

 

Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement reacting to the presidential debate:

“President Trump clearly showed why he should be re-elected to a second term as he demonstrated a much stronger understanding of the issues and how government works than Joe Biden who has spent his life sitting in a Senate seat and for eight years as Vice President. The most compelling question asked all night was by President Trump to Biden when he asked, ‘So Joe, why haven’t you done it?’ The entirety of the Biden campaign pretends that Joe just dropped in from outer space and is now going to fix problems that he has spent the past 47 years either creating, ignoring or not recognizing.

“What was particularly stunning in the debate was the complete inability of Biden to defend his record in politics.  He denied ownership of the 1994 mass incarceration act which he authored as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.  He was not able to come up with a single thing he did to help anyone during his entire tenure in the Senate, and wasn’t able to offer anything new even on the federal government response to the coronavirus other than what the President has already done.  What’s worse, while Biden has said he would ‘listen to the scientists’ if they said to shut down the economy he would, tonight he ran away from that statement because it doesn’t poll well.

“The President’s vision of helping America recover from the coronavirus was also powerful and clear. A common-sense plan which protects the most vulnerable while ending the devastating impacts of the blanket shutdowns in largely Democrat run states.

“The President talked about continuing the historic recovery that will benefit every American without regard to the hyphens associated with them.  It is a fact that in February of 2020 before the Chinese virus was fully unleashed upon America, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and women employment was at all-time highs.  In spite of Joe Biden lying again about the trade deficit with China, it is fact that the trade deficit in 2020 is $31.7 billion lower than it was in 2016.

“Today, President Trump made me proud to be a supporter of his, and I believe that his straight talk and proven ability to get things done is needed now more than ever, particularly when his opponent has a lifetime of collecting government paychecks without earning them by getting anything productive done.”

 

Oct. 22, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement debunking former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim that the trade deficit with China is higher when it isn’t:

“The U.S. trade in goods deficit with China is $31.7 billion lower in the first eight months of 2020 than it was in the first eight months of 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Former Vice President Joe Biden is simply lying, just like he did in the first debate. The Trump administration has levied 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods and another 7.5 percent on the remaining $300 billion of goods, and even got China to agree to a phase one trade agreement while leaving those tariffs in place. Trump got tough on China. Biden, in contrast, voted for permanent normal trade relations with China, and helped close a sweetheart deal with a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding with China that let 156 Chinese companies to be listed on U.S. exchanges with a market cap of $1.2 trillion. If Biden wins, it will just be same old Joe, making bad deals with China and selling out the American people.”

Attachments:

Debate Fact Check: Biden Wrong on China Trade Deficit, By Robert Romano, Sept. 30, 2020 at http://dailytorch.com/2020/09/biden-is-wrong-trade-in-goods-deficit-w-china-was-higher-in-2015-when-he-was-vp/

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

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told 60 Minutes he wants to appoint a bipartisan commission to reform the Supreme Court system.

Watch more of @NorahODonnell‘s interview with Joe Biden, Sunday. pic.twitter.com/wJmb8MatVg

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 22, 2020

Americans for Limited Government president Rick Manning had this reaction:

“Joe Biden’s Supreme Court proposal is seeking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. The only reason Biden wants to change the Supreme Court is because he’s unhappy with the philosophical makeup of the court. No matter how you shine it up, Biden’s proposal is nothing more than an attempt to legitimize his court packing scheme.

“Remember, the Constitution sets up the process for approving Justices and the only recommendation that any commission could make without a constitutional amendment would be to change the number of Justices. This is court packing for political purposes and no commission can serve as Joe Biden’s hiding place from this basic fact.

“This is why Americans for Limited Government strongly supports Sen. Ted Cruz in his effort to amend the Constitution in order to keep nine Justices and prevent political manipulation of the court.”

Oct. 20, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement today in support of Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s (R-GA) action to protect Americans’ retirement accounts from risky Chinese investments. Yesterday Sen. Loeffler sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting the federal government block human rights-abusing companies from American investment eligibility. Manning praised Sen. Loeffler, stating:

“Sen. Kelly Loeffler brings important momentum to the Divest China Now campaign aimed at divesting the more than $250 billion Americans have invested in high risk Chinese companies. Because these companies do not comply with the same transparency and oversight regulations that American companies are required to follow, no one knows their true value. Perhaps more important, many of these companies rely on child and slave labor. Some of these companies are known to participate in organ harvesting. Other are part of the Chinese military industrial complex aimed at destroying America.”

“Americans for Limited Government is part of a nationwide coalition seeking to safeguard American investors and end human rights abuses in China. The DivestChinaNow.org campaign is urging federal and state authorities to rid their public pension funds and other accounts of Chinese investments and to have the Department of Labor deem that non-transparent Chinese state-owned companies are unsuitable for 401(k) and other pension investments under Employee Retirement Insurance Investment Security Act.

“In May, that coalition succeeded in getting the Trump administration to immediately halt all investing of federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) assets in Chinese companies. The TSP is a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees and members of the uniformed services.

“Loeffler’s support is a game-changer because of her background in the financial sector and Wall Street,” concluded Manning. “She brings tremendous credibility to this issue and I hope other national leaders will take notice and join us in the calls to divest from China.”

Attachments:

Chinese concentration camp survivor tells her story, Oct. 14, 2020 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQGBJqglfSM

Who is Really Funding China’s Military Buildup? Oct. 5, 2020 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vnz1QKXJCE

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

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Oct. 19, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Marth McSally (R-Ariz.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) for introducing the Keep Nine Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to fix the number of Supreme Court justices to nine:

“The Keep Nine Amendment to the U.S. Constitution fixes the number of Supreme Court justices to nine and cannot be added to or subtracted from without another constitutional amendment. At a time when the left is attacking the idea of filling a Supreme Court vacancy as ‘court packing,’ the public needs to be assured that Congress will fight any attempt to do just that.  Changing the number of justices on the Supreme Court to fit political whims is the end of constitutional protections for minority rights and the rule of law, where the best way to get a legal stamp of approval will no longer be to push constitutionally limited and restrained regulations and policies, but instead to ensure that judges favorable to those policies hear those cases. The Keep Nine Amendment will preserve the Constitution and individual rights, and is an appropriate limit on the power of the President to appoint justices to the Supreme Court.

“Americans for Limited Government is proud to stand with Senators Ted Cruz, Kelly Loeffler, Marth McSally, Thom Tillis, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith in this historic effort to preserve the independence of our Judiciary.  While many in Washington, D.C. talk about important issues, these Senators have taken a powerful first step in keeping the Supreme Court free from politically motivated expansions or contractions which strip the blindfold off of Lady Justice.”

Attachments:

Letter to the U.S. Senate in favor of Keep Nine Amendment, Oct. 16, 2020, https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Keep-Nine-Constitutional-Amendment-Letter-10-16-20.pdf

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

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Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement today in reaction to Joe Biden’s remarks yesterday to autoworkers in Ohio.

“Joe Biden did something remarkable in a speech to select autoworkers in Ohio yesterday, he lamented the death of the Delaware auto industry, which began in the early 1990s. The shutdown of a once-thriving Newark, Delaware auto plant culminated with the December, 2008 shutdown of the once thriving Chrysler plant which had been the second largest employer in his state.  This plant reached its peak with 5400 workers before Sen. Joe Biden voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994.  A Chicago Federal Reserve article by Thomas Klier reports that while Joe’s beloved Delaware auto workers were eliminated in the first fourteen years of the agreement, Mexico’s auto industry has more than tripled as of 2018.

“And what of Chrysler? According to Klier, “… in anticipation of NAFTA, three full-scale assembly plants were opened during the early 1990s (one each by Chrysler, GM, and Nissan),” additionally Chrysler chose to manufacture the PT Cruiser exclusively in  Mexico during its nine year run, while shutting the Newark plant during that same span.

“Why does this matter? Simply because while Biden was Senator for the entirety of the decline and death of the Delaware auto industry, he effectively loaded the gun through his support for NAFTA and the Permanent Normalized Trade Relations agreement with China.  Biden is either completely unaware of the connection between his Mexico/Canada first trade policy and the export of U.S. auto jobs from Delaware, or he is one of the most audacious liars in the history of politics. Auto workers trusting Joe Biden to stand up for their jobs is like chickens putting their protection in the hands of Colonel Sanders.  I suspect that America’s autoworkers won’t be fooled by someone who has spent almost fifty years worshipping at the altar of globalism and traded away thousands of their fellow union members livelihoods.

“As Biden himself might say, ‘C’mon man, you know me.’  Unfortunately for Biden, they do.”