July 7, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the latest jobs numbers:

“The Labor Department’s unemployment report signals a slowing of the jobs economy in June.  The most troubling number was the significant increase in people reporting that they had become part-time employees due to slowing or slack economic conditions.  Employers moving their workers to part-time status is the typical cost-cutting path that businesses are forced to pursue as the economy slows.

“It is fair to say that predicting recession off of this one report is unreasonable, but it is important to note alarm bells that go off when reading beyond the top-line unemployment rate numbers.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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June 8, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland for indicting former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner in 2024, and urged the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against Biden and Garland for this unprecedented abuse of power:

“Major allegations related to President Joe Biden’s taking a $5 million bribe in exchange for getting a Ukrainian prosecutor fired just hit American news outlets today. Just an hour and a half after this bombshell, very credible allegation of bribery, the Justice Department leaped into action and indicted former President Donald Trump for having classified documents that any reasonable reading of the law and Constitution indicates he had every right to have because they were declassified. Joe Biden over the past four years has repeatedly stated that his presidency is about the soul of the country. If what’s happened on June 8, 2023, with this massive abuse of power for a sitting president to imprison his political opponent doesn’t convince you that our nation’s soul is at stake, nothing will.

“The Trump indictment represents a threat to constitutional governance. We are in a battle over whether the Constitution and Declaration of Independence even matter anymore, and it is incumbent upon the House to exercise its Article I responsibility to rein in an out of control executive and begin impeachment proceedings against both Biden and his Attorney General immediately.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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June 6, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging opposition to expected legislation by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would impose new regulations on credit card processing fees:

“Woke retailers like Target are lining up in support of what last year I called ‘smash and grab’ legislation worth billions of dollars by mandating changes to how credit cards are processed. Senator Dick Durbin succeeded in getting language put into the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill that imposed massive new regulations on the banking industry which changed the processing of debit card transactions.  Guess who got and kept the windfall in lower processing fees?  If you answered the big box retailers, you are right.

“Why would anyone in the Senate jump on board legislation which would give uber-woke retailers like Target millions of dollars a month in free money? That’s the question Americans should be asking Senator Durbin who is expected to reintroduce his stale, failed legislation to give Big Box retailers a bigger cut on credit card swipe fees.

“As always, Durbin and Target lobbyists promise that the savings in processing fees will find their way to the consumer.  As the legendary British rock group The Who once sung, ‘we won’t be fooled again.’

“In fact, a 2017 study by the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE), found that big box stores like Target were the big winners from the Durbin debit card processing fees amendment, and main street stores along with lower income consumers were the losers.

“And a previous 2014 analysis by ICLE also found that ‘although the Durbin Amendment had generated benefits for large box retailers, it had harmed many other merchants, especially those specializing in small-ticket items, and imposed substantial net costs on the majority of consumers, especially those from lower-income households.’

“The 2017 ICLE study also found ‘… that the passage of time has not ameliorated the harm to bank customers from the Durbin Amendment; to the contrary, earlier adverse trends have solidified or worsened. Nor do we find any indication that matters have improved for small merchants or retail consumers: Although large merchants continue to reap a Durbin Amendment windfall, there remains no evidence that small merchants have realized any cost savings — indeed, many have suffered cost increases. Nor is there any evidence that merchants have lowered prices for retail consumers; for many small-ticket items, in fact, prices have been driven up. Finally, we identify a new trend that was not apparent when we examined the data three years ago: Contrary to our findings then, the two-tier system of interchange fee regulation (which exempts issuing banks with under $10 billion in assets) no longer appears to be protecting smaller banks from the Durbin Amendment’s adverse effects.’

“Shocker.  The 2010 Durbin amendment benefitted Durbin’s big retailer donors and harmed small businesses.

“What’s more, the study finds that bank consumers with low balances endured higher bank fees in order to offset the losses suffered by the banks increasing the number of unbanked Americans.  Effectively, Durbin’s last venture into the transfer fee arena created the perverse effect that the poorest consumers suffered a funds transfer into the largest and wealthiest big box stores.

“Now, you know why Durbin is desperately seeking a GOP Senator to co-sponsor his recycled credit card transfer fee legislation.  It is also why he is looking in the ranks of the newly elected Republican freshman class, like Ohio’s J.D. Vance, for someone who doesn’t realize that this idea has been tried and has failed.

“It is easy to understand why Illinois’ Dick Durbin would want to fill the pockets of woke retailers like Target with unearned cash, what is impossible to fathom is why any GOP Senator would join him.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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June 5, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting FBI Director Christopher Wray for refusing to turn over the Form FD-1023 that alleges President Joe Biden was bribed when he was Vice President for $5 million by a foreign national in exchange for influence over policy decisions:

“FBI Director Christopher Wray continues to act as if the agency he leads has zero responsibility to Congress.  His failure to comply with a subpoena by the House Government Oversight and Accountability Committee for an unclassified document containing allegations of a $5 million bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden is just another example of Wray’s abuse of power, and on-going failure to do his job when it comes to corruption allegations related to the Biden family.  From hiding, denying and lobbying news and social media companies about the veracity of Hunter Biden’s laptop to suppressing efforts to unwind foreign contributions to the Biden family, Christopher Wray has proven to be the worse FBI Director in the Agency’s history.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. Attorney of the District of Columbia will ignore any contempt of Congress citation issued, much like then Obama Attorney General Eric Holder skated in spite of ignoring Congressional oversight related to the Justice Department’s ‘Fast and Furious’ gun running scandal which led to the death of an Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

“Americans are getting pretty sick of the unequal application of justice in the country, and unfortunately, Wray’s obstruction of a congressional investigation furthers the growing belief that liberal politicians and their relatives are above the law.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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June 1, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) amendment to cut 5 cents out of every dollar spent dollar of federal spending excluding Social Security:

“Americans for Limited Government urges passage of Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) amendment to the Biden-McCarthy Debt Deal to cut five cents out of every dollar spent by the federal government, while restoring Congress’ Article One Constitutional control over federal spending. Senator Paul’s alternative leaves Social Security untouched while forcing our elected representatives to make real choices about how taxpayer dollars are spent.

“Americans are tired of empty balanced budget promises from politicians.  The Paul amendment lays a pathway to balance, something nowhere to be found in the debt ceiling bill passed by the House of Representatives yesterday in spite of bi-partisan opposition.”

Attachments:

“Debt Deal: Disaster or Disappointment?” By Rick Manning, May 30, 2023 at https://dailytorch.com/2023/05/debt-deal-disaster-or-disappointment/

“McCarthy says debt deal ‘largest spending cut’ in history. Is he correct?” By Robert Romano, May 31, 2023 at https://dailytorch.com/2023/05/mccarthy-says-debt-deal-largest-spending-cut-in-history-is-he-correct/

“House easily passes debt ceiling increase and spending caps 314 to 117, Senate passage expected — debt will still rise to more than $49 trillion by 2033” By Robert Romano, June 1, 2023 at https://dailytorch.com/2023/06/house-easily-passes-debt-ceiling-increase-and-spending-caps-314-to-117-senate-passage-expected-debt-will-still-rise-to-more-than-49-trillion-by-2033/

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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May 26, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA that overturned an Obama era regulation, the Waters of the U.S.:

“The federal government can no longer turn a drainage ditch into a regulated waterway as the Supreme Court decided in Sackett v. EPA that attempts by the Environmental Protection Agency exceeded their regulatory power.

“Thank goodness common sense is being restored somewhere in America.  No one in their right mind would consider a drainage ditch on a farm to be a regulable body of water under the Clean Water Act, yet federal regulators subjected a couple in Idaho to $40,000 a day fines over whether they could operate farming activity around a ditch.  Prior to the Supreme Court opinion, the EPA interpretation of the Clean Water Act effectively gave the federal government operational control of much of the land in America. Freedom lovers have been given another ray of hope that the U.S. Constitution and the liberties it guarantees still survive in American, even as the rotting administrative state continues to thrust itself into every aspect of our lives.  One would think that with the West Virginia v. EPA case and now the Sackett decision clearly cutting the bureaucracy’s reach that radical regulations would be on the downturn, but unfortunately the Biden administration continues to produce regulation after regulation disconnected from the laws passed by Congress and the Constitution in an attempt to direct the economic future of the country through red tape intimidation.

“Given the U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Congress should take action against agencies like the EPA which continue to do violence against the will of Congress by cutting funding to the regulation writers within that and other recalcitrant agencies.  With pending regulations seeking to end natural gas powered stoves, internal combustion powered vehicles and the electricity generating power plants which create about 60 percent of our nation’s electricity, ending funding for those who are actively defying the clear intent of the Court is Congress’ only responsible course of action.

“After all, the Biden strategy is to ignore legal rulings they don’t like and while using their interpretations of the law as a cudgel over the heads of anyone who disagrees with them, all in their battle for the ‘soul of America.’”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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May 23, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the U.S. House of Representatives to pass S.J. Res. 11, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards”:

“America has been racked with supply chain disruptions throughout the Biden Administration. Some of these were a result of production failures in China and elsewhere, some were the result of California laws impacting the delivery of products from the docks to the rest of the country, and some were a result of the time it took to get the supply system flowing again after Covid.  However, there is no excuse for the Biden administration to put forward a regulatory standard which deliberately sabotages the ability of our nation’s trucking system to function in the future.

“It is not the EPA’s job to destroy and distort markets as this regulation would do, and Americans for Limited Government strongly urges the House to join the Senate in disapproving the ‘Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards’ regulation by passing S.J. Res. 11.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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May 18, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in support of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act” by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.):

“AM radio in vehicles is both a critical part of the national emergency broadcast system, but it is also one of the few reliable communications tools available to reach rural America.  Due to AM radio’s unique suitability for transmission over long distances and its usage for news/talk formats, AM’s presence in vehicles is as essential today as it was forty years ago.

“AM radio connects our nation and Senators Ted Cruz and Ed Markey are right to recognize through their joint introduction in the Senate of the ‘AM for Every Vehicle Act’ that auto manufacturers have a responsibility to include AM in the auto fleets of the future.”

Attachments:

“AM for Every Vehicle Act,” by Sens. Ted Cruz and Ed Markey, May 18, 2023 at https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/0B6AFBF2-8E91-4AD4-952C-7DB69CD908EB

“Sens. Cruz, Markey Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition on New Bill to Keep AM Radio in Vehicles,” Senate Commerce Committee, May 18, 2023 at https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2023/5/sens-cruz-markey-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-coalition-on-new-bill-to-keep-am-radio-in-vehicles

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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May 9, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Senate to pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act:

“With inflation still elevated, regardless of tomorrow’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report, with the Federal Reserve having recently increased interest rates again, it is safe to say that interest costs on the $31.4 trillion national debt will continue to mount. Since government spending in recent years has been one of the primary drivers for too much money flooding the system, coming at a time of economic lockdowns and production halts from Covid, it was chasing too few goods.

“Since Covid ended in 2021, interest rates on 10-year treasuries have increased from about 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent at a time when the U.S. has been accumulating trillions of dollars of new debt, which has increased by $8.5 trillion since Jan. 2020, $7.8 trillion of which is publicly tradeable debt. In the meantime, in the next year alone, $7.1 trillion, or about 29.1 percent of the $24.6 trillion publicly tradeable debt will be coming due, according to the latest data from the U.S. Treasury.

“That is why the House Republican-offered Limit, Save, Grow Act is a reasonable approach to begin getting our spending under control. Over the next 10 years, interest owed on the debt alone will total more than $10 trillion, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget. The House plan would shave just $547 billion off of that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, in addition to another $4.3 trillion of real spending cuts. Consider that, $4.3 trillion of cuts only gets you $547 billion less debt service. This is why Limit, Save, Grow is just the first step in getting our fiscal house in order. It also why the Grow portion of Limit, Save, Grow is essential, because aggressive economic growth is the only way out the massive debt abyss that threatens to engulf us.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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