Oct. 17, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in opposition to H.R. 3, “Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019”:

“Nancy Pelosi’s Drug Pricing bill, H.R. 3, would be a disaster for those praying for the next medical cure, as it punishes those who are making and democratizing the latest medicines.  Currently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is specifically prohibited from negotiating prices with drug companies for the very reason that they have market power to force manufacturers to drive prices below break-even points with the result being higher prices for non-government health care dependent users.

“Pelosi’s ulterior motive with H.R. 3 is to create this exact disparity while using the lower cost that those on government health care pay for medicines as a universal health care talking point.  The reality is that Pelosi knows that her bill will inevitably result in a system where those who, like her, are extremely wealthy will continue to get the latest medicines, while those are not, will not.  In fact, the natural outcome of the Pelosi bill is for pharmaceutical companies to avoid mass distribution of new, more effective medicines until they have a generic alternative, and this loss of revenue generated by these new medicines will cut bottom line research and development costs.

“If Pelosi wants to cut the cost of medicines, she should pass legislation streamlining the approval process.  Various studies have shown that the average time for a medicine to go from invention to the drug store is twelve years with average cost estimates ranging from $1 billion to $2.6 billion according to a Tufts University study.

“Creating cures and treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other deadly and debilitating diseases is not cheap, but decreasing the time to market would significantly lower the underlying costs and as a result prices as drug companies will want their product to reach as many people as possible and know that higher costs are a barrier for many in using their health inventions.

“Yet Speaker Pelosi through H.R. 3, would not only make it unprofitable for certain popular drugs, but would create a pricing disincentive to broadly market a medicine to Medicare and Medicaid patients that could become one of the 125 most costly medicines to CMS, putting the drug into the CMS lottery of pain, where the loser has their new, successful cure made unprofitable with the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen.

“Anyone who is evenly mildly sentient would know that four outcomes are guaranteed to occur under these circumstances: 1) research and development will slow dramatically particularly for medicines that target diseases disproportionately afflicting the elderly, 2) prescription drug costs for those who use private health insurance or purchase their drugs out of pocket will escalate dramatically to offset the extorted and artificial lower costs provided to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, 3) companies will seek to avoid marketing new medicines and covered treatments to physicians, hospitals and medical groups which have a significant Medicare and Medicaid clientele and finally, 4) Nancy Pelosi, one of the richest women in the world, will still get her meds even if you cannot.”

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

###

Oct. 16, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement thanking House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) for his Oct. 8 statement that “it is time for the Senate to inquire about corruption and other improprieties involving Ukraine” and inviting Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to testify:

“The House of Representatives has engaged in one of the most outrageous abuses of power in our nation’s history through its pretend impeachment effort that is merely an excuse to conduct a secret, partisan investigation against the President dependent upon media animus toward Donald Trump to drive selectively leaked information derived from testimony that is not subject to bi-partisan scrutiny and questioning.

“It is with this backdrop in mind that Chairman Graham’s promise to begin honest, open hearings into the origins of the false Russia collusion issue focused on facts which many in the previous administration will likely find embarrassing is a breath of fresh air.  Allegations out of Ukraine and indeed from former Vice President Joe Biden’s own book and statement before the Council on Foreign Relations certainly raise alarm bells about whether Biden’s actions toward Ukraine to have presidents and prosecutors general removed have been above board.

“Perhaps even more importantly, the apparent actions of the foreign service, including the former ambassador to Ukraine Yovanovitch, to stop anti-corruption Ukrainian officials from traveling to the United States to provide evidence of malfeasance of U.S. officials in their country to the U.S. Justice Department warrant investigation to determine if they were illegal, unseemly or perhaps justified.

“Chairman Graham, thank you for opening this investigation, providing the minority rights to ensure real participation and debate, as it is important to show the nation what a fair inquiry looks like, in contrast to the travesty that continues in the House.  While I have little hope that the bevy of Democratic presidential contenders on your Committee will avoid trying to turn hearings into a circus, in the end everyone will know who was the ringmaster and who were the clowns.”

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

###

Oct. 16, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the House to support a motion to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) offered by U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.):

“From the beginning, Adam Schiff has abused his power as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee through his false reading of what he wished President Donald Trump had said to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, rather than what President Trump actually said, and ought to be censured. Schiff’s deliberate fairy tale has done damage to the credibility of the House of Representatives and there’s no place for a chairman of a committee as important as the Intelligence Committee to demonstrate such a complete disregard for the truth.

“Every member of the House who believes in due process should support Rep. Biggs’ motion to censure Schiff, who is conducting a proceeding in secret behind closed doors without transparency, without the ability of the accused to have counsel present and without the right to cross-examine witnesses, overturning the precedents of every impeachment inquiry in modern history. Without due process, this inquiry lacks legitimacy and is nothing more than another witch hunt because Democrats couldn’t beat President Trump at the ballot box.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

###

 

 

Oct. 15, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to a report from Bloomberg stating that China may be already breaking the trade deal agreed to over the weekend, changing the terms and demanding removal of tariffs:

“Bloomberg is reporting that once again China is attempting to move the goal posts on a trade deal. The latest phase one deal with China would include the purchase of $40 billion to $50 billion of agriculture, a monetary accord, intellectual property provisions and opening Chinese markets to the financial services sector. Predictably, China has already begun to change the terms of the verbal agreement, according to Bloomberg, which reports it will only buy the agriculture in return for removal of tariffs. They did the same thing in May. If true, President Trump should immediately reaffirm that the existing tariffs on all Chinese goods are permanent, and suspend negotiations, with new tariffs above and beyond the current levels. Setting this permanent floor on tariffs will send a clear message to multinational Chinese exporters that need to diverse and move supply chains to the United States out of the Middle Kingdom. Any sense that exporters can wait out the Trump tariffs should be put to bed once and for all.

“China has repeatedly proven that they are neither honest nor even willing trade partners, and as a result, if the Bloomberg report is correct, their access to U.S. markets needs to be restricted until they prove otherwise.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

###

 

Oct. 14, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement joining with conservative leaders urging President Donald Trump to nominate former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for Department of Homeland Security Secretary:

“Americans for Limited Government joins dozens of other conservative leaders in urging President Trump to name former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“The joint letter sponsored by the Conservative Action Project praises Cuccinelli as ‘uniquely qualified to navigate the complexities of the numerous statutes and regulations DHS is tasked with enforcing.  He understands law enforcement priorities and the importance of securing the nation’s homeland.  Additionally, he brings an outsider’s perspective to a bureaucracy of nearly 250,000 people, and will offer fresh insights in processes and redundancies in need of streamlining of a huge federal agency.’

“It is clear that President Trump will be seeking a leader for Homeland Security who shares his vision of the need to enforce our nation’s laws and secure the border, General Cuccinelli is the right person for the job.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

###

President Trump is right in protecting those who work for the executive branch and him from a transparent attempt at entrapment.

Oct. 9, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of White House Counsel Pat Cippolone’s letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calling out the impeachment inquiry as lacking basic due process protections for the accused and witnesses:

“We spent three years with the Mueller investigation where people who supported Donald Trump were prosecuted had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers on completely fictitious grounds, a conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign worked with Russia, and to subject Trump officials to similar costs and liabilities without them being afforded basic legal protections is a travesty of justice. It is clear that there are no grounds for impeachment and that this Speaker-driven kangaroo court is designed to create those grounds through claims of obstruction of justice. This is not dissimilar to Mueller’s witch hunt, whose investigation was what generated the prosecutions on process crimes unrelated to the original inquiry. America deserves better than a politically driven attempt to remove the President from office and President Trump is right in protecting those who work for the executive branch and him from a transparent attempt at entrapment.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

###

Oct. 7, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in opposition to the Fair Sugar Policy Act:

“The hallmark of the Trump trade agenda is fair and reciprocal trade. The Fair Sugar Policy Act misses this mark and reverts to the failed policies of unilateral trade disarmament. The only way to eliminate sugar or any other agricultural subsidies and trade restrictions fairly is to do so reciprocally with other nations. The Foxx-Davis-Shaheen-Toomey legislation would unilaterally remove supports for American sugar farmers, opening U.S. markets up to be flooded. This will kill domestic production of sugar, not foster it.

“Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho has introduced zero-for-zero legislation that will end all sugar subsidies contingent on other nations ending theirs, creating a truly free market. Any unilateral attempt to disadvantage American sugar producers is guaranteed to fail as U.S. interests are put second to global sugar subsidizing countries.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview.

###