FREEDOM WORKS 07/10/2014

1. Be Careful What You Ask For
I strongly oppose the new Common Core curriculum for K-12 and all-day kindergarten that are in the process of being implemented into Region 16. Contrary to what proponents are saying, Common Core will dumb down our students' education; it is important that parents and taxpayers understand this.

First, I will point out that Common Core is unconstitutional because it is a federal take-over of education when education is the responsibility of parents with their local communities. In addition, Common Core is bad for parents, teachers, taxpayers, as well as students. Read more here...

2. NSA Collects Significantly More Data on Non-targets than Actual Targets
A recent Washington Post investigation has made its rounds across major U.S. news outlets, revealing more information about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive surveillance efforts. Fears of privacy rights activists are further confirmed by the study, which used intercepted intelligence attained by whistleblower Edward Snowden to show that the NSA gathers significantly more data from non-targets than legitimately sanctioned national security targets:
Nine of ten account holders found in a large cache of intercepted conversations, which former NSA contractor Edward Snowden provided in full to The Post, were not the intended surveillance targets but were caught in a net the agency had cast for somebody else. Read more here...
3. The EPA's New Water Rule Leaves the Economy High and Dry

When the Clean Water Act was first conceived, the EPA could only restrict entrepreneurs when they attempted to pollute bodies of water that were used by their fellow businesses, or what the EPA calls ‘navigable waters.’ However, its original mission is far too modest for modern-day bureaucrats.
In March the EPA unveiled their proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule. If finalized, this rule would expand the federal government’s regulatory authority over millions of acres of wetlands and millions of miles of streams. It would place virtually all bodies of water, no matter how small their size or impact on commerce, under EPA authority. Read more here...

4. Harry Reid Tries to Overrule the Supreme Court
I’ve written before about the way Harry Reid runs the Senate like his own private club, refusing to allow amendments from Republicans and employing the nuclear option to undermine the rights of the minority party. Now it appears as though he wants to extend his authority into the third branch of government as well, overruling the Supreme Court and taking over their function of deciding what is and is not constitutional.
In the wake of the Hobby Lobby decision that has been whipping liberals across the country into sputtering, incoherent wrath, Sen. Reid has declared cryptically that he plans to “do something about the Hobby Lobby legislation.” From this, one can infer that he will attempt a legislative override of the Court’s decision. This is not as impossible as it at first sounds, given the nature of the majority opinion in the Hobby Lobby case. Read more here...
In Liberty,
Jackie Bodnar
Director of Communications, FreedomWorks