FREEDOMWORKS 04/07/2015

1. Senators Demand Education Reform - by Logan Albright Education is - both traditionally and constitutionally - a local issue. Yet for many years, the federal government through the Department of Education has been bullying states into taking certain actions. For example, the adoption of common standards and testing requirements, in exchange for grants or waivers. As long as these incentives are in place, it is very difficult for states to independently and meaningfully repeal Common Core, as we saw with Indiana’s faux-repeal that was actually just a rebranding of the standards. This is a problem. States and municipalities need the flexibility to design their own standards, curricula, and tests to meet the needs of local parents, students, and teachers. Fortunately, there are those in the U.S. Senate who recognize this. Read more here... 2. Taxpayers Shouldn't Be on the Hook for Baseball Teams' Stadiums - by Jason Pye In the 1989 movie, Field of Dreams, Terrance Mann, a reclusive civil rights hero played by James Earl Jones, gave a passionate speech in the climax of the movie in which he described the love-affair Americans have with baseball, our national pastime. "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again,” Mann said. Though other sports have gained popularity over the years, Americans still have a passion for baseball. Though average attendance per game took a hit after the 1994-1995 strike, it has steadily risen, exceeding 30,000 in 2005 for the first time in since 1993. Professional clubs are, however, putting at risk the goodwill they have with their fans. Read more here... 3. 5 Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank - by Anthony Kang 4. Boeing and the Ex-Im Bank: A Love Story - Nate Russell From the moment Boeing laid eyes on the Export-Import Bank, it was love at first sight. Boeing has benefited from the Ex-Im Bank far more than any other company--especially last year when it secured 68.3 percent of all of the bank’s long-term loan guarantees. Their crony relationship has only strengthened over the years, to the point that people now refer to the Ex-Im as “Boeing’s Bank.” Public emails between the two reveal just how inseparable they have become: In 2012, officials at Boeing were given access to write a new Ex-Im loan rule for their own benefit. Read more here... 5. Next ObamaCare Challenge: The Origination Clause - by Michael Greibrok When Chief Justice Roberts cast the deciding vote in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012), the Court ruled that ObamaCare was a constitutional practice of Congress’s Taxing Power. However, what the Chief Justice and the Court failed to address was how the Origination Clause might affect the law’s constitutionality. The Origination Clause requires that all bills for raising revenue originate in the House, ObamaCare, for all intents and purposes, originated in the Senate. ObamaCare started in the House as H.R. 3590, a three page bill that dealt with housing for veterans that was unanimously passed on October 8, 2009. Senator Harry Reid, the Majority Leader at the time, had an urge to pass ObamaCare, and pass it quickly. On November 19 he deleted the text from H.R. 3590, renamed the bill the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” and added the hundreds of pages of ObamaCare text. ObamaCare was born! Read more here... 6. Opposition to Common Core a Bipartisan Issue - by Logan Albright Common Core education standards are such bad policy that they have done what many thought impossible - brought Democrats and Republicans together. Last week, two Washington State Senators hosted a legislative meeting to discuss what can be done to remove the standards from Washington schools. Sen. Maralyn Chase, a Democrat, and Sen. Pam Roach, a Republican, were able to put aside their political differences and work together for the sake of protecting the interests of children across the state. Read more here... Make freedom work, Iris Somberg Press Secretary, FreedomWorks