ALG urges Congress to defund DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency disinformation analysis and dissemination to private sector authorities

April 29, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to defund part of 6 U.S. Code § 121(d)(6), which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to disseminate information to the private sector including social media to combating disinformation:

“Members of Congress who are outraged by the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board are right. Unfortunately, Congress made a grievous mistake in 2018 when it unanimously passed legislation which allows the Department of Homeland Security to be prosecutor, judge and jury on political speech under the guise of combating disinformation. And now, it’s up to Congress to rip the sections of law which allow political speech to be censored by DHS out by the roots by defunding this activity until the law can be more fully amended.

“The existence of this unholy alliance between government and social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, etc. explains their unified messaging on Covid, Russiagate and perhaps even the Hunter Biden laptop, which was labeled Russian disinformation by former intelligence officials. One wondered how it was possible that the social media giants fell in lockstep on many controversial issues in banning unapproved speech, and deplatforming Parler, former President Donald Trump, frontline doctors and many others, and now we know who’s responsible.”

Attachments:

“To disseminate, as appropriate, information analyzed by the Department within the Department, to other agencies of the Federal Government with responsibilities relating to homeland security, and to agencies of State and local governments and private sector entities with such responsibilities in order to assist in the deterrence, prevention, preemption of, or response to, terrorist attacks against the United States.” 6 U.S. Code § 121(d)(6) https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/6/121

“The [Mis, Dis, Malinformation] MDM team serves as a switchboard for routing disinformation concerns to appropriate social media platforms and law enforcement. This activity began in 2018, supporting state and local election officials to mitigate disinformation about the time, place, and manner of voting. For the 2020 election, CISA expanded the breadth of reporting to include other state and local officials and more social media platforms. This activity leverages the rapport the MDM team has with the social media platforms to enable shared situational awareness.” https://www.cisa.gov/mdm

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

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April 26, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging a no vote on Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya:

“Americans for Limited Government urges a no vote on Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya. While the FTC is an obscure agency to many, it is actually one of the most powerful in the U.S. government with the capacity to destroy corporations with antitrust actions. With the hard left devastated by Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, now the pressure on the Biden administration to salvage Twitter’s censorship algorithms through any means available. The FTC has the power to investigate and disrupt virtually any transaction like Musk’s under the guise of antitrust. The partisan balance of power at the FTC (and also the SEC) is at stake, and no senator should trust the Biden administration not to use the full weight of the federal government to restore the left’s censorship regime. Bedoya was discharged from committee without any evaluation of how he would deal with this particular issue. If nothing else, his nomination should be sent back to committee for further evaluation. Absent that, there is no excuse for voting to confirm Alvaro Bedoya to the FTC.”

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

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April 21, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and the Utah Congressional delegation for demanding that S&P withdraw Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) consideration in issuing state bond ratings:

“We praise Utah Governor Spencer Cox and the Utah Congressional delegation for standing up against the political weaponization of state and municipal bond ratings from S&P and other credit rating agencies. A political calculation of a state’s bond rating based on arbitrary Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors has nothing to do with a state’s ability to service its debt. Every governor across the nation should join Governor Cox  in demanding that S&P Global end the political weaponization of the bond rating process. Additionally, every state and municipality should withdraw any public employee pension investments or other state investments that are primarily rated based upon their ESG ratings.”

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

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April 7, 2022, Fairfax—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next Supreme Court Justice by a 53 to 47 vote:

“We are disappointed that the U.S. Senate chose to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next Supreme Court Justice. Jackson will join the Court upon the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer at the beginning of July. It is disturbing that the Senate did not compel the Biden administration to provide tens of thousands of relevant records prior to confirmation given there was zero time pressure to act.

“Notably Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined Republican Senators Susan Collins, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski in voting for a nominee who has been characterized as the most radical nominee in American history and who Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said “the Biden Administration let the radicals run the show” in choosing. For the sake of America, I hope the radical left is ultimately as disappointed in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as conservatives are with Chief Justice John Roberts.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or media@limitgov.org.

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April 5, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s call for federal gun control after a shooting in Sacramento, California left six dead:

“President Joe Biden’s predictable call for gun control in the wake of the murder of six people in Sacramento, California demonstrates that the President does not have any actual functioning tools in his anti-crime toolbox. California has amongst the most restrictive requirements regulating the individual ownership of firearms in the nation, and to try to mirror those laws on a national level in response to their failure in the Golden State is beyond absurd. Perhaps the President should reevaluate the turnkey criminal justice system advocated by himself and his political allies that puts police on trial rather than criminals in order to get to the root of the dramatic increase in homicides and gang activity since he took office and to reestablish the rule of law in America.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or media@limitgov.org.

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April 4, 2022, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement calling on Congress to reject any reauthorization of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund:

“Congress needs to stop Covid spending now. The crisis is over and additional spending to bail out restaurants again will only accelerate inflation, which is already eating a hole through American paychecks.

“Americans for Limited Government supported the original small business forgivable loans program in 2020 when government policies shut down those companies with no other recourse for them to survive, but 2022 is a different time. The economy is open. Many restaurants are still struggling, but it is largely because the business model and the restaurant industry have changed after Covid, including experiencing labor shortages. Consumers have become used to food delivered to their homes. Some remain uncomfortable eating in a restaurant setting, and these factors may become permanent.

“Unfortunately, those restaurants unable to adapt to consumer expectations in 2022 may fail. However, the resulting damage to the economy from more spending and the inflation it creates impacts every business and every American, and the time to end it is now. If Congress wants to do something to stop inflation now, they need to stop spending on frivolous special interest bailouts. That will do more to help restaurants and other small businesses to survive than another D.C. helicopter money program.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or media@limitgov.org.

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April 1, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) for opposing radical attempts to impeach Justice Clarence Thomas over protected speech by his wife, Ginni Thomas:

“All legislators should join U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney in strenuously opposing efforts by the fringe elements of the Democratic Party like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to impeach Justice Clarence Thomas over legal personal contacts between Thomas’ wife, Ginni, and members of the Trump White House and other administration and elected officials. Mooney is right that holding judges or elected officials to account for First Amendment protected speech by their spouses would set a dangerous precedent.

“House Democrats continue to attempt to water down the seriousness of the Constitution’s impeachment process. It is absurd to even consider or mention impeachment of a public official over the legal exercise of their spouse’s rights, and anyone who does not want the politics of personal invective to even further infest Washington, D.C. must now decry these vicious attacks on Clarence and Ginni Thomas.”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 or media@limitgov.org.

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