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1. ObamaCare Spending Will Balloon to Nearly $2 Trillion Over the Next Decade - by Jason Pye One of the ways the Obama administration managed to get ObamaCare through Congress was by keeping the cost of the law under $1 trillion. This was accomplished through various budget gimmicks and backloading costs in years at the end of the original budget estimates. These deceptive tactics are how the administration managed to get a score from the Congressional Budget Office purporting that ObamaCare would reduce the deficit by $124 billion. According to the CBO's latest report on the federal budget, the cost of ObamaCare's coverage provisions -- including subsidies and Medicaid expansion -- will cost nearly $2 trillion between FY 2015 and FY 2025. Tax provisions -- including the individual and employer mandates and the Cadillac tax -- will bring in $677 billion over the same timeframe. Read more here... 2. Restoring Local Control of Education: A Silver Bullet for Common Core - by Logan Albright The massive unpopularity of Common Core education standards has served as a rallying cry for concerned parents and teachers to get involved in politics—sometimes for the first time in their lives. Nothing galvanizes grassroots activism like the realization that the government is failing our children. These efforts have been remarkably successful, with three states repealing Common Core outright last year, and many state-level bills already being introduced in the new Congress. This has been a great and inspiring movement, yet even in states like Indiana that passed a full repeal of Common Core, parents have been frustrated by the implementation of new standards that are different in name only, and require much of the same backwards pedagogy and excessive testing as Common Core. Read more here... 3. Capitol Hill Update, January 26, 2015 - by Josh Withrow House & Senate/Schedule: Both House and Senate will remain in session until the week of February 16th. Senate/Energy: The Senate will finally wrap up its consideration of the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, S. 1. A noteworthy accomplishment – Senate Republicans have been operating under a much more open process than under Senator Harry Reid, to say the least. Last week, 24 amendments to S. 1 were allowed to come to a vote – more amendments than were allowed in all of 2014! See more here...  4. Support the REINS Act to Return Lawmaking Power to Congress - by Matt Kibbe As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and senators today and urge them to support the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.” Sponsored in the Senate by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and in the House by Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.), As our Founding Fathers understood, it is dangerous for any branch of government to have unchecked power. In Federal 51, James Madison acknowledged that checks and balances are “necessary to control the abuses of government.” In Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, the process of creating a new law is outlined and clearly given to the legislative branch alone. Today, unelected bureaucrats in the executive branch repeatedly disregard these limits by enacting new rules without the approval of Congress. Read more here... 5. Divided Government Has Kept Budget Deficits In Check, But a Spending Explosion is on the Horizon - by Jason Pye The Congressional Budget Office has released its annual budget outlook for the next decade, showing that the budget deficit will continue to fall in the current fiscal year, as well as next year, before gradually beginning to rise steadily again, thereafter. The media mostly talking about this aspect of the report. The Associated Press, for example, ran with the headline: "CBO: Budget deficit to shrink to lowest level since Obama took office." This is certainly good news, and the White House will almost certainly claim credit for it. It's worth noting, however, that President Barack Obama's budget, if wasn't rejected by Congress last year, would've increased budget deficits relative to current law. Perhaps that is the real takeaway from the CBO report -- divided government is key to keeping short-term federal spending in check. Read more here... 6. Rise Up, Millennials! - by CJ Pearson What truly matters to Millennials? The struggle to find a job after college? Student Loans? Youth Unemployment? All these issues have hit our generation extremely hard, and it's time we rise up and engage our elected officials to find solutions to these very important issues. We can't continue to be bystanders if we want meaningful change. We must fight for that change! I’m a huge indication that age doesn't matter in politics, but it's simply the drive and dedication to make a difference in our government. I'm 12 years old and have worked on half a dozen campaigns, founded my very own political organization, and have been more politically involved than some adults. Why? Democracy isn't passive, it takes active citizens, on both sides of the aisle, to ensure productivity in our country. If you sit on the sidelines, you're not a part of the solution, you're simply the problem. So young people, make your voice heard! Read more here... 7. Common Core Roundup: What Are States Doing for Education Freedom? - by Logan Albright It’s a new year, and the state legislatures have come roaring back into session chock full of ideas to stop the Common Core education standards that are damaging school systems all across the country. Last year, we saw Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina withdraw from the standards, and 2015 looks to be off to a good start. Here is a roundup of anti-Common Core legislation introduced in the first month of 2015. Read more here... 8. Williams-Yulee vs. The Florida Bar: Free Speech is Worth Full Protection - by Michael Greibrok While we may not agree with all speech we come across, it is important for liberty-minded individuals to defend all constitutionally protected speech. If we do not protect speech that we may not agree with, or that is of limited importance to us, there will be fewer people willing to defend speech that we care deeply about. Also, once the Supreme Court rules some speech can be restricted and still withstand constitutional scrutiny, it becomes easier for the Court to rule other speech can be restricted as well. Read more here... In Liberty, Jackie Bodnar Director of Communications, FreedomWorks 
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