ALG calls for the Department of Education to strip the ABA of its authority to accredit law schools

Dec. 5, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Department of Education to terminate its recognition of the American Bar Association to accredit law schools:

“It is inappropriate for a lawyers’ association to accredit law schools; this is a prime example of crony capitalism. There is an inherent conflict of interest when lawyers are allowed to regulate the entrance of competitors into their field. Due, in part, to the ABA’s numerous requirements of law schools and its restrictions on the practice of law, millions of Americans are unable to afford legal services and are forced to represent themselves in the bewildering legal system. While it is hard to argue that the world needs more lawyers, the ABA accreditation system, by design, limits the number of opportunities to attend law school with the result being the capping new entrants into their field, a clear conflict of interest.  As such, the Department of Education should end the American Bar Association’s credentials to provide law school accreditation.”

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

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Pelosi impeachment push hurts Americans with surprise medical bills

Dec. 5, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to get to work on addressing surprise medical billings by considering legislation establishing third-party independent mechanisms for billing dispute resolution:

“Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the House of Representatives is continuing its farcical impeachment push should be extremely disappointing to everyone who was hoping that Congress would focus on important issues like surprise medical billing, which catches families off guard with unanticipated medical costs after getting treatment out-of-network. There is a relatively easy, bipartisan legislative fix to this issue that hammers the pocketbooks of too many Americans, and those bills offered by U.S. Rep. Phil Roe and Senators Bill Cassidy and Michael Bennet, that creates an independent decisionmaker to settle billing disputes between doctors and insurance companies, taking powerless patients out of the bill collectors’ crosshairs. The question Nancy Pelosi should ask herself is how many Americans are going to be bankrupted by surprise medical bills because she is engaged in personal partisan impeachment vendetta.”

Attachments:

“Surprise medical billing should be addressed by independent neutral third party boards, not price fixing,” By Robert Romano, Nov. 26, 2019 at http://dailytorch.com/2019/11/surprise-medical-billing-should-be-addressed-by-independent-neutral-third-party-boards-not-price-fixing/

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

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AG Barr needs to investigate Schiff spying, phone records protected by federal law

Dec. 5, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Justice Department to inquire how confidential phone records protected under federal law were obtained by House Intelligence Committee without a law enforcement request from phone carriers:

“Attorney General William Barr should open an investigation into whether federal telecommunications privacy laws were violated when Adam Schiff subpoenaed confidential phone records from Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jay Sekulow, U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, and journalist John Solomon. Federal law only permits law enforcement agencies to obtain such records upon a warrant, and otherwise Congress required phone companies to keep the records secret. Which law enforcement agency made this request? Were they cooperating with Congress?

“If none, then Barr needs to look at Congress and the phone carriers roles’ in illegally transferring phone records. Civil libertarians’ darkest fears are coming to light with the revelation that Schiff either alone or in collusion with others engaged in warrantless surveillance and was able obtain private records outside of the statutory protections written by Congress. It is incumbent upon the Department of Justice to rapidly get to the bottom of this blatant abuse of power.”

Attachments:

Pelosi and Schiff conduct warrantless surveillance on Nunes, Solomon, Sekulow and Giuliani, By Robert Romano, Dec. 5, 2019 at http://dailytorch.com/2019/12/pelosi-and-schiff-conduct-warrantless-surveillance-on-devin-nunes-john-solomon-jay-sekulow-and-rudy-giuliani/

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

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Trump SNAP rule puts America back to work

Dec. 4, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising President Donald Trump’s reforms of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:

“Today’s Trump administration announcement that the SNAP system will conform with statutory requirements that single, work capable people with no dependents between the ages of 18 and 49 are required to work in order to qualify for benefits. Our nation is fortunate to have an abundance of jobs and record employment, which virtually assures those who seek a job can find a job. The current economy has moved 6.3 million off of the food stamp rolls since Jan. 2017, which is great news. However, the food stamps program was never intended to be used for permanent dependency by able-bodied young people with no dependents, and the Trump administration actions will help launch those who have fallen into the trap of government dependency.”

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

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Congress is not the FISA Court and cannot conduct warrantless surveillance

Dec. 4, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting the House Intelligence Committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for using Congressional subpoena power to obtain phone records without a warrant to conduct such surveillance from a federal court:

“The revelation that Adam Schiff and the Democrats in control of the House Intelligence Committee using warrantless surveillance spied on the Devin Nunes, the minority ranking member, John Solomon, a member of the press, and Rudy Giuliani, the President’s personal attorney, is an astonishing abuse of power. If the executive branch were to obtain such surveillance, it would be with a court order, probably from the FISA court. The Fourth Amendment is a general prohibition on the entire federal government, including the legislative branch, guarding against warrantless seizures without judicial oversight. This disclosure transforms the Schiff impeachment sham into an inquisition that would make Torquemada blush. If Nancy Pelosi as the leader of the entire House of Representatives authorized the spying of one member upon another, she should be removed from office immediately. Congress is not the FISA court. This is a gross violation of the Fourth Amendment. Should the impeachment proceed to the Senate, it is incumbent upon Senators to dismantle Adam Schiff and those behind this grotesque violation of basic rights.”

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

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Trump imposes tariffs on Brazil and Argentina, ALG reacts

Dec. 3, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from Brazil and Argentina:

“It is unfortunate that Argentina and Brazil have engaged in currency manipulation to such an extreme extent that the Trump administration was compelled to impose additional steel and aluminum tariffs on those two countries. But President Trump has to put America first when considering U.S. trade relationships abroad and currency devaluations on this scale cannot be tolerated.  The real story in Brazil is about soy beans, where the Chinese have purchased the growing, transporation and shipping supply lines in an attempt to fully exploit Brazil’s agriculture resources. It is our hope that President Trump and Brazilian President Bolsonaro can create a mutually beneficial trade agreement.”

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

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Upward GDP revision for Q3 tells Pelosi it is time to pass USMCA, not sham impeachment

Nov. 27, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the upward revision of GDP for the third quarter from 1.9 percent to 2.1 percent growth:

“The Trump economy continues to grow in spite of the best efforts of Speaker Pelosi with the latest upward revision to 2.1 percent inflation adjusted growth in the second quarter. But Nancy Pelosi Adam Schiff who would rather play partisan, sham impeachment games than do the business of the people. It is time for the House to pass the USMCA fair trade agreement as negotiated and take the cheap labor anchor off of Americans backs.”

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

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ALG urges Transportation Secretary Chao to look into D.C. speed trap on 295

Nov. 21, 2019, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Chao informing her that the Washington, D.C. government is using a speed camera along 295 to shake down motorists in an alleged work zone. He requested that Chao take action to end this abuse of drivers.

Manning wrote, “Earlier this year, the D.C. government arbitrarily lowered the speed limit from 50 mph — which was already low — to 40 mph along a six-mile stretch of 295.  Although there is no sign of construction — no workers, no construction equipment, and no cones — the D.C. government asserts that the area is a construction zone. The D.C. government intends to keep this absurdly low speed limit in place until December of 2021. Conveniently, there is a speed camera located along this stretch of highway that enforces the speed limit 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Those who miss the speed limit sign are subject to tickets costing as much as $800. Since its installation, that single camera has generated over $30 million in revenue.”

The letter continues, “Many have complained about the speed limit on this highway and about the speed camera, but the Democrat-run D.C. government refuses to listen. The greedy local politicians clearly do not care about the hardship their highway robbery scheme is inflicting on the families of unsuspecting motorists. Of course, with Do-Nothing Democrats controlling the House, we know that they will continue to do nothing to solve this problem.”

Manning concluded his letter by stating, “For these reasons, we ask you, as the senior federal transportation official, to do whatever you can under law to put a stop to this unconscionable abuse of power in the federal district.”

To view online:

Attachments:

Letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Nov. 25, 2019 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ChaoLetter-11-25-19.pdf

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

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Democrats must not have the votes for impeachment

Nov. 25, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s statement on CNN that “I want to discuss this with my constituents and colleagues before I make a final judgment on this…”:

“Adam Schiff attempted to walk back his demand for impeachment this weekend on CNN in one of the most transparent political act of capitulations in recent memory. Schiff and his Democratic cohorts have been attempting to impeach and delegitimize President Trump since before the 2016 election. And for the past three years have sought to undermine President Trump at every turn. The damage Schiff has done to our nation is incalculable through his abuse of the very serious impeachment clause in the United States Constitution. Now there is talk in Washington of pushing for a meaningless censure of the President in the House of Representatives while putting President Trump on double not-so-secret probation for a future impeachment.

“Three things are clear. Democrats don’t have the votes for impeachment in the House. The American public is telling Speaker Pelosi to start passing legislation like the proposed USMCA, budget cuts and border security. And, the administrative state’s coup against the President has been rejected once exposed to open hearings. It’s time for Congress to stop their efforts to undo the results of the 2016 election and focus on the business of the American people.”

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

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Sen. Johnson letter proves no quid pro on military aid, exonerates President Trump

Nov. 22, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to a Nov. 18 letter from Sen. Ron Johnson detailing a conversation he had with President Donald Trump on Aug. 31 when the President said there was no quid pro quo on military assistance, long before the anonymous CIA so-called whistleblower complaint ever became public:

“According to Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson, he directly asked President Trump on Aug. 31 if there was a quid pro quo for Ukrainian military assistance to be released. The President told Johnson, ‘No way. I would never do that. Who told you that?’ This was the day before Vice President Pence met with Ukrainian President Zelensky, after which out-of-the-loop U.S. Ambassador Sondland ‘presumed’ and suggested a quid pro quo to a Ukrainian presidential aide that became ground zero for the whole quid pro quo confusion.

“The simple fact that President Trump told Chairman Johnson on Aug. 31 long before the so-called whistleblower complaint was ever made public that there was no quid pro quo and alluded to the probable release of the aid, stating ‘We’re reviewing it now, and you’ll probably like my final decision,’ indicating he would support it, which he did on Sept. 11, effectively ends every conspiracy theory laden timeline that Adam Schiff has concocted. Every person who testified to Schiff’s committee was asked about a quid pro quo, and every witness who thought there was one, and Senator Johnson too received their second-hand information from Sondland, who was demonstrably wrong. The idea that the President craftily shifted his position when the political heat rose, is blown away by the fact that he told Johnson our policy position was no quid pro quo, demonstrating that the hold on the aid was truly an evaluation of whether Ukraine’s corruption made the aid ill-advised and what Europe could to provide more on its end. The impeachment egg that Schiff and Pelosi find on their face can be directly traced to patient zero Ambassador Gordon Sondland, fueled by their partisan desire to impeach Trump at all costs making them willing to believe anything without verifying the facts.

“The impeachment inquiry is damaging our nation, and this clear exoneration of President Trump should be used by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to stop this partisan sham and get back to work.”

Attachments:

“Sondland: ‘No one told me directly that the aid [to Ukraine] was tied to anything. I was presuming it was.’” By Robert Romano, Nov. 22, 2019 at http://dailytorch.com/2019/11/sondland-no-one-told-me-directly-that-the-aid-to-ukraine-was-tied-to-anything-i-was-presuming-it-was/

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

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