March 27, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the Trump administration for already achieving major concessions from South Korea on the steel and aluminum tariffs:

“Professional naysayers and worry warts claimed doom was upon us when President Trump announced his steel and aluminum tariffs. They were wrong. South Korea’s announcement that they will end dumping steel into the U.S., and double U.S. automobile quotas into their country in exchange for an exemption from the increased steel tariffs is a clear-cut victory for the Trump trade agenda. Not surprising to anyone outside of academia, the obvious outcome of Trump’s steel tariff announcement was that countries would come to America wanting to make a deal, transforming the landscape towards more international trade on a reciprocal basis, evening out the playing field. Hopefully this will result in a reevaluation by those whose knee-jerk reactions always get it wrong.

“The Trump trade agenda is wildly popular across party lines, particularly with blue collar voters. That’s why Trump won in 2016. It is time for Republicans in Congress to catch up with the President on this important economic policy that puts America first.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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March 23, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement expressing disappointment in President Donald Trump signing the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill:

“Disappointed. The President’s signature on the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill accepts Congress’ verdict that buying military material to be sent around the world is more important than defending our own border. It’s clear that the President understands the bad bargain he was given, and the staff responsible for negotiating it should be fired because they failed.

“Any reasonable observer of D.C. politics over the past decade can now predict that in September, Congress will present the President with a continuing resolution, which continues the exact funding priorities he is bemoaning in the current bill as not being fully met. If the President is to keep his promise never to sign a bill like this again, he must demand full funding of the government on his desk by September 15 to avoid government shutdown drama. Funding the government at levels that Obama would never have dreamed of is not an option and a continuing resolution in September will merely continue the astronomical funding levels. Therefore, the President must insist Congress put 13 individual appropriations bills on his desk with the military funding first so we no longer have the extortion axe of not funding the military over the nation’s head, or else veto it.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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March 23, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement outlining the consequences of not vetoing the omnibus spending bill:

“The President’s decision of whether or not to veto the omnibus spending bill will set the tone for his administration for the remainder of his tenure in office. It is irrefutable that this Congress will not fund the wall that President Trump promised the American people unless he vetoes this bill. It is also clear that Democratic leaders have been busily taking victory laps over the corpses of their fallen, former rivals in the GOP Congress. A Trump veto will save the Republican Congress from themselves and reset the debate. If nothing else, expecting members of Congress to evaluate a 2000-plus page bill in 48 hours that covers every aspect of funding the government is a breach of faith with the American people.

“Now that the President has put the veto squarely in play, the consequences of backing away are enormous. The veto threat proves that the omnibus spending bill failed to meet the President’s key priorities, and now he must follow through or else he will have effectively surrendered the high ground he just staked out, ending any hope of getting a real wall built and any part of his immigration policy being enacted.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

 

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March 20, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in strong support of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao:

“I have great respect for the work of Peter Schweizer, but he misses the mark badly in his mischaracterization of family money then Labor Secretary Elaine Chao received in 2008.  Anyone who worked with her at that time was aware that her mother was gravely ill. Unfortunately, when she passed, her estate was dispersed and the Secretary received some portion of that money.

“Any attempt to characterize this as anything but a normal generational transfer of wealth is misguided. And as anyone who has lost a parent will attest, any inheritance is small compared to the hole in your heart left by the loss.

“Secretary Chao’s story encapsulates the American dream. Her father fled Communist China and as he gained the means brought his wife and children to America from Taiwan over time. The Secretary has spent her life in public service and has made a true difference for our nation. It was a great honor for me to serve under her leadership at the Department of Labor in the Bush administration, and Mr. Schweizer owes her an apology for miscasting the inheritance she received during this trying time in her life.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

 

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March 20, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising introduction of the STRONGER Patents Act by Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.):

“The protection of intellectual property has been central to America’s success as an economic and innovation leader in the world.  Our founders understood the importance of intellectual property and enshrined it in our Constitution.  Unfortunately changes in recent years have weakened those protections and the U.S. has begun to lose its place as the innovation capital of the world.  The STRONGER Patents Act introduced today by Reps. Stivers and Foster — along with the Senate version introduced by Sens. Coons and Cotton — begins to lay out the framework to restore America as the best place in the world to protect intellectual property.

“Through changes, such as reforming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board process, which is stacked against patent owners, and ending the diversion of patent fees, this bill will boost U.S. competitiveness and strengthen property rights protections for innovators. These reforms are long overdue and deserve the support of those who want to advance economic growth and prosperity.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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March 19, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement noting that the firing of former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe had nothing to do with him losing his pension:

“Andrew McCabe will not lose his pension unless and until he is convicted of a crime. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to fire McCabe was based solely on the recommendation of the Office of Professional Responsibility after reported misconduct by McCabe as an employee. It must be noted that the OPR is headed by someone appointed to the position by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder in 2010. While some want to focus on whether McCabe will be able to collect his taxpayer-funded government pension, the real question is whether McCabe engaged in criminal acts while employed by the people. Our nation cannot stand if the intelligence services are turned against the electorate and are politicized as appears to have happened under McCabe’s watch.

“Obviously McCabe like all Americans should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, there is a growing body of evidence that the fired former Acting Director of the FBI may have played a central role in a plot to take down the duly elected President of the United States and overturn the result of the 2016 election.”

Attachments:

“The left is going crazy over the Andrew McCabe firing, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions got it exactly right,” By Rick Manning, March 17, 2018 at http://dailytorch.com/2018/03/the-left-is-going-crazy-over-the-andrew-mccabe-firing-but-attorney-general-jeff-sessions-got-it-exactly-right/

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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March 13, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement expressing continued concern that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s direction of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is well outside the scope of the 2016 election campaign:

“If, per Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, Special Counsel Robert Mueller is ‘not an unguided missile,’ then we can safely assume that Rosenstein has signed off on all of Mueller’s prosecutions, including those that fall outside the scope of the 2016 election campaign. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ original recusal was for anything to do with the 2016 election. Given Rosenstein’s expansive view of the recusal, it’s time for the Attorney General to have a direct conversation with him and explain that Mueller does not have free rein to investigate anything before or after the elections and related the campaigns.

“Rosenstein, by his own admission, approved the targeting of Michael Flynn for legal activities that occurred after the election, and whose only crime was telling the truth to the FBI and running out of money to defend himself from a political prosecution. This is particularly troubling given reports that the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe he lied. Attorney General Sessions’ recusal was the right thing to do from a legal perspective, but only in the narrow scope of the campaign. We’re far beyond that now. Rosenstein’s guided missile at the President is flying well outside the space where it was sanctioned. It is time for Rosenstein to either confine the scope of Mueller’s seemingly unending investigation to the period of the election or step aside. This is particularly true given the House Intelligence Committee’s impending conclusion that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, putting an end to Rosenstein’s stated rationale for the special counsel. It’s time for the country to move forward.”

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.

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