The Alabama Legislature, on Friday, gave final passage to a comprehensive bill aimed at reducing overcrowding in state prisons. The legislation would deal with offenders in a responsible way by creating a new class designation for nonviolent offenses and placing a bigger emphasis on community supervision programs designed to reduce the likelihood of an offender becoming a repeat offender.
Alabama faced some tough choices this legislative session. The state was looking at the very real possibility of federal interference due to severe prison overcrowding. In 2012, the Alabama Department of Corrections explained that "[t]he overall occupancy rate of Alabama Prisons is 189.3%—a rate that is very close to double of the designed capacity of all State owned facilities." Some facilities had occupancy rates that exceeded 300 percent, posing a serious safety threat to inmates and prison employees. Read more here...
2. Capitol Hill Update, 11 May, 2015 - by Josh Withrow
Capitol Hill Update, 11 May, 2015
House & Senate/Schedule: Both chambers are back in town this week, and both will recess next for the week of Memorial, 25-29 May.
Legislative Highlight of the Week: This Wednesday, the House is scheduled to vote on the USA FREEDOM Act, H.R. 2048. Sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), this bill reauthorizes section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act for over 4 years. However, USA FREEDOM does attempt to rein in the mass collection of Americans’ telephone data, which the NSA has been conducting using Section 215 as its legal justification. Read more here...
3. Civil Asset Forfeiture "The True Highway Robbery" - by Trey Grover
4. Advocacy Groups and Companies from Across the Political Spectrum Support Bill to End 'Backdoor Search Loopholes'
Washington, DC — Today, 28 groups, including Demand Progress and FreedomWorks, released a letter in strong support of HR 2233. Introduced by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Ted Poe (R-TX), the bill would explicitly address "backdoor search loopholes" under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and pursuant to Executive order, and it would prohibit the government from searching databases of collected communications for those of a U.S. person absent a court order or special circumstance. The bill would also prohibit the government from requiring any entity build back doors into its products or services that would facilitate electronic surveillance.
The House overwhelmingly passed a similar measure to cut funding for NSA back doors in 2014 as an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill, with a vote of 293 to 123. Ultimately, that amendment was not included in the "CRomnibus," despite overwhelming support. Read more here...
5. On King v. Burwell, the Administration Has No Plan - by Logan Albright
As the Supreme Court mulls over arguments in the King v. Burwell case that could unravel key portions of the president’s signature health care law, the Obama administration has adopted an attitude that is remarkably cavalier.
To recap, the issue at hand is whether the IRS can issue health insurance subsidies to states that did not set up their own insurance exchanges, a practice which a strict reading of the law would forbid. If the Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, the administration will no longer be able to conceal the true cost of its expensive health insurance plans by issuing subsidies contrary to the law’s text and intent. Read more here...
6. Watch Tom Borelli On The Steve Mazberg Show NewsmaxTV
Negative news continues to swirl around the Clinton Foundation and not coincidently, Hillary Clinton is hiding from the media.
Is the Clinton Foundation scandal too big of a story for the liberal media to ignore?
Tom Borelli discussed Hillary Clinton, Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) plans to run for president and the latest jobs report on NewsmaxTV. Watch more here...
7. Are State ACA Exchanges Breaking the Law Just to Keep Afloat - by Nate Russell
The 16 states with ObamaCare exchanges have each had access to hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money from the federal government to help establish a successful marketplace. And yet, many are finding themselves struggling with high deficits and low enrollment.
This has led the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a warning that states may be using the federal grant money illegally. Section 1311 of the Affordable Care Act not only requires state exchanges to be financially self-sustaining this year, but it also prohibits states from covering any operational expenses with the federal grant money. But since states are facing such dismal financial conditions, the Inspector General suspects that some states have no other alternatives to keep their exchanges afloat. Read more here...
8. Is the Supreme Court the Supreme Law? - by Michael Greibok
It has been assumed that once the Supreme Court issues a decision, the other courts in this country are bound to follow the decision for all future cases that fall within the announced rule. However, it can be argued that in most circumstances, neither the Constitution nor federal law requires other courts to follow the Supreme Court. Indeed, it has been the Supreme Court itself that has demanded that their decision be binding on future cases. This seems to be the type of usurpation of power is the type our Founders detested and the Constitution was meant to prohibit.
The traditional view has held that once the Supreme Court makes a decision, that decision becomes the law of the land and cannot be overturned, except through an act of Congress or constitutional amendment. Until Congress acts, lower courts are believed to lack the authority to rule counter to the Supreme Court’s decision. Read more here...
9. Government Abducts Your Children When It Doesn't Agree with Your Parenting Style - by Logan Albright
Children are unique little snowflakes. Each one is different, with their own strengths, weaknesses and personalities. What’s more, they’re flexible, meaning that there’s not a single approach that works best for any given child. There are a wide variety of educational styles that can work equally well in molding a functional and successful young adult, right?
Nope. Not if the government has anything to say about it.
When it comes to education, you’d better do things the way the government tells you, because if you don’t, they’ll rob you of your children like the sadistic Pied Piper of Hamelin. Read more here...
Make freedom work,
Iris Somberg
Press Secretary, FreedomWorks
Press Secretary, FreedomWorks
No comments:
Post a Comment