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Posts Tagged ‘Rob Bishop’
April 13th, 2016 at 11:37 am
CFIF’s Response to House Natural Resources Committee re: PROMESA
Posted by Print

Linked here and below is a letter to House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, which serves as our response to his invitation for CFIF’s Timothy Lee to testify at today’s legislative hearing regarding HR 4900, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).

Read the letter here (PDF).

March 12th, 2016 at 10:09 pm
Tell Representative Rob Bishop to Say No to Obama’s “Super Restructuring” Bailout of Puerto Rico
The Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) today launched a radio advertisement in Utah warning against the dangers posed by the Obama Administration’s “Super Restructuring” proposal for Puerto Rico.

Right now, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) is considering the creation of an unprecedented restructuring regime to address Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. This restructuring mechanism, proposed by the Obama Administration, goes far beyond the authority that states possess under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code by allowing Puerto Rico to stiff bondholders who now enjoy constitutional guarantees of repayment in favor of bailing out government pensions.

Such a blatant and dangerous violation of Puerto Rico’s Constitution is neither a credible nor conservative solution to the Puerto Rican debt crisis.

As multiple governors have noted in letters to Congress, the precedent set by such a “Super Restructuring” regime would have major consequences for states, including Utah. Borrowing costs would skyrocket for state governments, harming their ability to finance critical services and infrastructure projects, and the value of retirement funds that hold Puerto Rico and other guaranteed state bonds would plummet.

Perhaps even more alarming: If enacted by Congress, this plan could pave the way for a series of Puerto Rico-like events to occur across the country. If Congress demonstrates a willingness to rewrite bankruptcy rules to bail them out, high-spending, debt-ridden states will be even less likely to cut spending and balance their budgets.

CFIF’s radio ad urges all Utahns to call Representative Bishop’s office at (801) 625–0107 and tell him to protect taxpayers and bondholders by saying “no” to the Obama Administration’s “Super Restructuring” bailout of Puerto Rico’s bloated, irresponsible government.

June 21st, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Interior Dept. Using Environmentalism to Hinder Border Patrol

Some articles must be read in their entirety in order to believe them, and that certainly qualifies for this gem at Fox News.  Mindboggling is the only word that seems appropriate to describe the pay-to-play scheme involving annual negotiations between the Department of Interior and the Border Patrol where the latter winds up paying $50 million just to get access to the border!

What in the name of the Sierra Club is going on?  It’s an unholy alliance between the Environmental Left and the open-borders crowd that drains the Border Patrol of access and money.  The effect is an unauthorized transfer of Congressional appropriations that has the Border Patrol paying for studies on its officers’ impact on the environment.

Republicans are calling it extortion.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said the kicker in the multimillion-dollar tradeoff is that the money doesn’t even guarantee the Border Patrol open access to the land. Agents still have to follow particular rules to drive into wilderness areas to pursue suspects or set up routine patrols.

“That conflict has got to be resolved,” he said. “If the Border Patrol was allowed to have free access to patrol the borders at will … it would have the same effect that they’re doing in other areas.”

Bishop in March called on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to stop “extorting” the money from Homeland Security. “Money appropriated for border security should only be spent on making our borders more secure, and not diverted to unrelated DOI spending projects,” he said in a statement at the time. According to Bishop’s office, Salazar has not responded.

Looks like British Petroleum isn’t the only “BP” with Secretary Salazar’s boot planted firmly on its neck.