FREEDOMWORKS 03/05/2015

1. Activists Rally Outside King v. Burwell - by Mike Love On the morning of March 4th, conservative activists from FreedomWorks and elsewhere braved the decidedly raw D.C. weather to make sure their voices were heard on King v. Burwell. As the case was argued inside the Supreme Court, activists who were outside heard from FreedomWorks’ Executive Vice President Adam Brandon, other conservative leaders, and Representatives Gohmert, Blackburn, and Heulskamp. At stake in this case is the provision in ObamaCare that makes subsidies available under the law. Should the court rule in favor of King, citizens in states that did not set up their own exchanges would lose subsidies that had been illegally granted to them by the IRS. Read more here... 2. The IRS Can't Write Its Own Laws - by Jackie Bodnar If you think Obamacare is a disaster now, just wait until the courts enforce the law as it was actually written. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case of King v. Burwell, the appeal of a decision that allows the IRS to implement health care subsidies in states that did not set up insurance exchanges. The issue at hand: There is no language in the president’s health care law that specifically empowers the IRS to implement those taxes and subsidized premiums in states that did not set up their own exchanges. In fact, they intentionally left that language out in order to incentivize states to participate in Obamacare. Read more here... 3. Don't Blame King v. Burwell for ObamaCare's Failures - by Logan Albright via Watchdog.org The King v. Burwell Supreme Court case, beginning oral arguments in March with a likely ruling by the end of June, is stirring up considerable controversy among those who pay attention to health care policy. The key to the case is whether the federal government can offer insurance subsidies to states that failed to set up insurance exchanges as directed by the law. If the Court finds for the plaintiffs, the subsidies—currently being handed out by the IRS—will stop, revealing just how expensive ObamaCare has actually made health insurance. Read more here... 4. FCC's Net Neutrality: Fixing a Nonexistent Problem - by Michael Greibrok Last Thursday the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to regulate broadband internet as a public utility. This decision to regulate the internet was made mostly through secret meetings without public comment and less than a decade after the FCC declined to regulate the internet because there was no necessity. Even worse, because the 300-plus page new rule has not been made public yet, we still do not know exactly what is in the rule. Since the Federal Trade Commission already has the authority to protect consumers from anticompetitive business practices, the FCC’s new rules are another example of government trying to fix a problem that is nonexistent. The new rules may in fact harm consumers both by limiting competition, and by preventing the FTC from filing charges against internet providers once they are determined to be common carriers. Read more here... 5. Common Core Testing Sparks Walkouts - by Logan Albright In New Mexico, hundreds of high school students are walking out of class in protest of the new Common Core-aligned tests just implemented in the state. This is part of larger movement nationwide by parents and students to protest the standards, while without waiting for state legislatures to act. The students are concerned that the increased focus on testing is detracting from more meaningful education goals - a concern that is very much justified. Read more here... 6. Empower NC Tour with Rev. C.L. Bryant - by Garry Terry Hello Patriots! FreedomWorks launched a series of Empower townhall events here in North Carolina featuring Rev. C.L. Bryant. These townhalls are an opportunity to have a frank discussion about topics entrepreneurship, criminal justice reform, school choice, financial literacy, and growing the economy in urban communities. You can read more about the tour here. The events with Rev. C.L. Bryant were a huge success and absolutely fantastic!The message and delivery was powerful, clear and he touched the audience. Everyone really enjoyed it and want more freedom from higher taxes and government regulation. Thank you to Allen Page and Kathy Hartkopf for arranging this wonderful evening! And a Big Thank You to FreedomWorks! -Garry Terry, Chairman Bertie County Republican Party. Read more here.... 7. Common Core: a Major Deciding Factor for Independent Voters in 2016 - by Daisy Belden On the first day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, a panel, moderated by Sabrina Schaeffer of the Independent Women’s Forum, met to discuss what’s next for Common Core. Their conclusion: Common Core will be a very important platform stance in the 2016 election. They are completely right. With public support for Common Core standards steadily declining, and more and more states pulling out of Common Core, in addition to teachers resigning over the federal standards, attitudes towards a single policy have never been more clear and uniform. Teachers hate having their freedom to teach restricted, parents want their children to be taught, not taught how to take a test, and children want to be treated like individuals, not statistics. Recent protests of the standards and walkouts on Common Core testing have indicated that increasing opposition to Common Core will not be silenced, and will not go away. Read more here... Make freedom work, Jackie Bodnar Director of Communications, FreedomWorks