You can’t drain the swamp unless you fire the swamp

Dec. 11, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to attach the language of H.R. 559, the MERIT Act, to the December spending bill as a rider to expedite the firing of bad federal employees:

“Nancy Pelosi is poised to assume control of the House of Representatives in January, so this is the last chance to rein in the out of control federal bureaucracy. By attaching a rider to the December federal government spending bill, Congress could make it easier to fire bad federal employees while preserving due process. This rider would institute the same reforms that were implemented at the Veterans Administration to several other elements of the federal bureaucracy. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has passed revised language for the MERIT Act (H.R. 559) which accomplishes this swamp draining mission.

“Under current civil service rules, it can take years just to complete a single firing, resulting in a pathetic 0.5 percent firing rate which lags far below that of the private sector. Under the VA reforms, firings rose 26 percent initially in the department, and real accountability has been restored. The same could be done for more of the federal workforce. If the MERIT Act passes now as a budget rider, the GOP will have at least created an opportunity to drain the swamp rather than wallowing in it for the eight additional Cabinet level agencies that would be covered.”

Attachments:

Letter to Congress in favor of MERIT Act, Dec. 11, 2018 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/MERITActLetter12-11-18.pdf

“Abuse and inefficiency rampant within U.S. civil service,” By Natalia Castro, Sept. 4, 2018 at http://algresearch.org/2018/09/abuse-and-inefficiency-rampant-within-u-s-civil-service/

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

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Dec. 7, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the latest jobs numbers:

“Despite economic headwinds, labor force conditions remain very strong in the U.S., with the number of unemployed having dropped by more than 600,000 in the past year while 2.8 million more people say they have jobs, outpacing population growth among those over the age of 16. Overall, 4.7 million more Americans have found work since President Donald Trump took office, similarly outpacing population growth. That is simply great news as it continues to drive up labor participation and the employment-population ratio.

“Labor participation among 16-64-year-old working age adults has risen from 72.76 percent in Jan. 2017 to 73.66 percent today, with 2.9 million more included in the working economy. What was a lost generation is now becoming a work-hard generation. There is still a ways to go to return to pre-recession labor participation levels, and while it is hard to say where we are in the cycle, these steps in the right direction show that amount of potential growth left in the economy is great. As the nation turns its sights on Christmas, the American people can feel confident that the President’s tax cuts, deregulation and pursuit of fair and reciprocal trade deals that put America first are having a definite impact.”

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

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Dec. 5, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement remembering the legacy of George H.W. Bush:

“George H.W. Bush dedicated his life to public service and as Vice President and then President oversaw the end of the Cold War. The strength of President Bush’s character and his love of country was beyond question. Bush reminded us that government does not and can never replace what individuals, churches and local voluntary service organizations can do to lift up communities, and that commitment to individual volunteerism is his enduring legacy. As a nation mourns President George H.W. Bush, it is this spirit of individual leadership that needs to be rekindled as the ultimate memoriam to his legacy.”

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

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Dec. 2, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising President Donald Trump for reaching a trade agreement with China that avoids additional tariffs, keeps existing tariffs but retains the possibility of implementing them if China does not follow through on its commitments:

“President Trump’s trade policy toward China has forced the Chinese to blink by agreeing to the beginning of a framework that would protect intellectual property and end forced technology transfers on U.S. companies seeking to enter the Chinese market.  The art of the deal is working. Additionally, the Chinese have agreed to an immediate resumption of Chinese agriculture purchases while lowering their pre-existing tariffs on other U.S. goods is a step in the right direction toward lowering the half a trillion dollar a year trade imbalance between the U.S. and China.  And once again, the naysayers on the President’s trade policy who sought to undercut the tariffs put on Chinese goods have been proven wrong.  The Chinese need the U.S. market much more than the U.S. needs the Chinese, and only President Trump had the strength and desire to transform the world’s economy to provide a level playing field for U.S. workers to force the Chinese to change.  If China fails to follow through they know that additional tariffs on their goods will be put into place, because President Donald Trump keeps his word.  Now, it is up to President Xi to keep his promises so the beginnings of an honest trade relationship can be established between our two nations.”

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

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Nov. 30, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) for her work in defunding the use of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation to make changes to local zoning laws:

“Senator Susan Collins made certain that local zoning authority is not usurped by the federal government through her efforts to include language in the Housing and Urban Development funding which prohibits HUD from conditioning community development block grants on making changes to local zoning.  Her efforts protected local communities in Maine and around the country from being subjected to federal oversight over property zoning decisions that are so important to the local character of our counties, towns and cities.

“Once again, this year Senator Collins’ local zoning protection language is in the Senate version of the HUD appropriations package and the people of Maine owe her a debt of gratitude for fighting to keep D.C. bureaucrats from regulating local zoning decisions.  Americans for Limited Government is working hard to ensure that the Collins zoning protections remain in the HUD funding bill when it passes Congress, and expresses our gratitude to Senator Collins for her leadership on this important issue.”

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

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Nov. 29, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Plans to use the opportunity to reform multiemployer pensions but in a way that allows the plans to transition over time to the new system:

“The joint committee has a special opportunity to reform distressed multiemployer pensions. Any deal must have union skin the game on any risk pool created. Full transparency including external audits for all affected multiemployer pension plans should be included, and there must be a way for companies to exit and decertify the union by replacing the lump sum payment. Ideally, legislation will transition distressed multiemployer pension plans to a defined contribution model.

“Additionally, when considering appropriate interest rate assumptions for these multiemployer plans, the committee should develop transition rules that permit the plans to properly adjust to the new realities overtime.  There is no need to rush, and the medicine, while necessary, should be administered over a period of time so that it doesn’t kill the patient.”

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

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Nov. 27, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the Special Counsel investigation:

“If history is written by honest men and women, Robert Mueller’s, Inspector Clouseau-like investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign for President will go down as one of the darkest moments in history as the conflicted former FBI Director’s focus has been more concerned with protecting the FBI that he loves than our nation.  Somehow Mueller to date could not see the collusion between foreign intelligence agencies, the FBI, Department of Justice, the Democratic National Committee, their law firm Perkins Coie, and the Clinton campaign, instead choosing to focus his very small magnifying glass on a couple of low level campaign aides who the Clinton cabal appears attempted to set up in an attempt to take down the Trump campaign and then after the election, the President himself.

“As the left-wing press eagerly awaits the release of Mueller’s report, the truth of his failure to investigate the criminal politicization of our nation’s intelligence services is the only important indictment that is produced. An unfortunate indictment of Mueller himself where his failure to honestly perform his duties will forever ruin his personal legacy, but more importantly, will leave an indelible stain on the credibility of our vital intelligence and federal law enforcement agencies that will take a generation to blot out.”

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

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Nov. 19, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement on the imminent release of recommendations by the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Plans to address 114 of the nation’s 1,400 multiemployer pension plans covering 1.3 million workers being underfunded by $36.4 billion:

“There should be no action by either the joint committee or Congress to put taxpayer money at risk without union financial contributions into the system, whether that be through a new risk pool or through compelled direct contributions to the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The cost-sharing is an incentive for unions to guarantee the longevity of their own pensions and to make certain there is no bailout. That is why the committee should be looking at, in addition to skin in the game cost-sharing by the unions, annual external audits for affected plans and a sound mechanism for companies to exit and decertify the union, replacing the lump sum payment with payments over a longer period of time.

“Benefits for the beneficiaries of multiemployer pension plans which require assistance should be limited to the same levels as other failing defined benefit pension plans at 55 cents on the dollar, and future employer and union negotiations should be subject to oversight by the PBGC to ensure that pension funding levels are sufficient, or the promised benefits brought into alignment with the actual ability of the plan to pay.  The unsustainable defined benefit formula is one of the reasons the multiemployer pensions are suffering in the first place, and so the committee should take the opportunity to phase it out to protect taxpayers from potential future bailouts.”

Attachments:

“Taxpayers will get a better deal on multiemployer pensions now than in 2019 when Nancy Pelosi is House Speaker,” By Robert Romano, Nov. 14, 2018 at http://dailytorch.com/2018/11/taxpayers-will-get-a-better-deal-on-multiemployer-pensions-now-than-in-2019-when-nancy-pelosi-is-house-speaker/

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

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