FREEDOMWORKS 04/21/2015

1. The Tax Code Has the IRS Understaffed, Not a Tight Budget - by Wayne Brough via RealClearMarkets By April 15th, all American taxpayers should have filed their taxes with the Internal Revenue Service. This year, two issues gained prominence in the filing process. First, this year's tax returns included a new section addressing the individual health care mandate created in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Second, between budget cuts and internal issues, the IRS claims it is woefully understaffed and underfunded, making it difficult for the agency to complete its statutory duties with respect to revenue collection. Read more here... 2. Capitol Hill Update April 20, 2015 - by Josh Withrow House & Senate/Schedule: Both the House and Senate are in town this week through Thursday. The House will next recess for the week ofMay 4th, while the Senate will remain in town through May 25th. Legislative Highlight of the Week: The House is going to spend much of this week on a pair of cybersecurity bills that contain major privacy concerns. The two bills are H.R. 1560, the “Protecting Cyber Networks Act” and H.R. 1731, the “National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act”. Both bills try to facilitate the sharing of cyber-attack data between private companies and the government and vice-versa. Unfortunately, neither bill appears to adequately prevent “personally identifiable data” from being among the data shared with the government, and both facilitate the sharing of this data among government agencies – including the NSA. Both bills also allow the governments to use the collected data to investigate crimes beyond just cyber-attacks, which as cybersecurity expert Greg Nojeim said about H.R. 1731 “makes the legislation, intended to be a cybersecurity bill, look much more like a cyber-surveillance bill.” Read more here... 3. House to Vote on Cybersecurity Bills with Major Privacy Issues - by Josh Withrow Next week is "Cyber Week" in the House, and two deeply flawed bills are heading to the floor that would further undermine the privacy of every American's data. These bills are intended to address the very real problem of companies having their databases hacked and their information stolen, but fail to adequately ensure that your personal information is protected when companies send information about these cyber attacks to the government. Hackers are a real menace, stealing sensitive business files and millions of Americans' passwords, financial records, and other sensitive data. The proponents of these bills argue that they will facilitate communication between companies that suffer these attacks and the government agencies that fight back against these often state-sponsored and well-funded cyber criminals. The two House bills that are supposed to accomplish this are the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act (H.R. 1731) and the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (H.R. 1560). Read more here... 4. Why Should You Care About Justice Reform? Neill Franklin, a retired major in the Maryland State Police, sits down with FreedomWorks to explain his personal revelation against the War on Drugs, and why justice reform is both a moral and fiscal responsibility for the nation. Watch here... 5. Rand Paul to Barack Obama: Do You Support Civil Asset Forfeiture and Loretta Lynch's Unconstitutional Theft? - by Jason Pye Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), in a Facebook post on Saturday, responded to President Barack Obama's sharp criticism of Senate Republicans for the delay of a final confirmation vote for his Attorney General nominee, Loretta Lynch. "I have to say, that there are times where the dysfunction in the Senate just goes too far. This is an example of it," Obama said at a press conference on Friday. "It’s gone too far. Enough. Enough. Call Loretta Lynch for a vote, get her confirmed. Put her in place. Let her do her job. This is embarrassing, a process like this." Read more here... 6. Republicans with Law Enforcement Backgrounds Lead on Justice Reform in Illinois - by Jason Pye It may sound counterintuitive, but two Republicans in the Illinois House of Representatives with law enforcement backgrounds are leading the charge for justice reform in the Land of Lincoln, guiding legislation through the chamber that will give nonviolent offenders an opportunity to change the direction of their lives. Justice reform has predominantly, though not exclusively, been a Republican cause over the last several years. Traditionally red states, such as Texas and Georgia, have passed and implemented programs focused on treatment and job-training for nonviolent offenders. These programs have had a proven track record of success, helping lower crime and repeat offender rates while reserving limited prison space for the violent criminals and saving taxpayers money. Read more here... 7. EPA Taken to Court Over Its Clean Power Plan- by Michael Greibrok A group of states and energy companies have joined to sue the EPA over the agency’s Clean Power Plan. The two cases, State of West Virginia v. EPA and In re Murray Energy Company, were combined and oral arguments were heard before the DC Circuit this Thursday. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan was proposed last year and is expected to be finalized this summer. The plan requires cuts in carbon emissions by 30% of 2005 levels by 2030. There are intermediate standards that must be met starting in 2020. Similar to ObamaCare, the plan calls for state to establish their own measures to meet the standards. But if the state fails to create its own plan, the federal government will set up a plan for them. Read more here... Make freedom work, Iris Somberg Press Secretary, FreedomWorks