FREEDOMWORKS 09/10/2015

1. Barack Obama Threatens a Government Shutdown if Congress Doesn't End the Budget Caps - by Jason Pye
President Barack Obama drew a line in the sand on budget caps during his weekly address to the country. Citing the latest employment report to argue that the economy has improved, he threatened to veto any budget produced by the Republican-controlled Congress that keeps spending in check.
Most Republican presidential candidates have expressed a willingness to get rid of the budget caps put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Likewise, as Josh Withrow recently explained, Republican leaders in Congress are looking for ways to undermine the caps. While the Budget Control Act was not perfect, it is the only meaningful accomplishment since 2011, when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, that limits government. Read more here...

2. Student Privacy & Parental Rights w/ Mark Finchem



3. Keep the Internet Tax Free! - by Logan Albright
Since the early days of the internet, all levels of government have operated under a self-imposed ban on the taxation of internet access. The Internet Tax Freedom Act was first signed into law in 1998, and since then has been repeatedly reauthorized to ensure that Americans have unhampered access to the most powerful tool for information and innovation since the Gutenberg printing press.
On October 1, the internet tax ban is set to expire, opening the door for government-imposed restrictions on internet access for the first time. Given the abbreviated schedule for September, this gives Congress just about 10 working days to reauthorize the ban before it expires. If the act is allowed to expire, there are multiple states and localities who would waste no time in enacting new taxes on what they view as an untapped revenue stream. Read more here...
4. Activists Rally at Rep. Meadows Town Halls - by Allen Page
In the past week, FreedomWorks activists participated in two Town Hall meetings sponsored by Congressman Mark Meadows. On Friday night, we attended the Town Hall meeting held in Hendersonville, NC at 6:30pm. The following Tuesday night, we attended the Town Hall meeting held in Lenoir, NC at 6:30pm with approximately 70 constituents that attended. FreedomWorks hosted a sign wave on the curb near the entrance to the auditorium. Congressman Meadows drove up and yelled for us to "wait right there for him". He parked and joined us on the curb, thanking us for "all we do" and expressing how much he appreciates us! At both forums, issues of importance to FreedomWorks were discussed. Congressman Meadows fielded questions about Common Core, energy, and the need to "Fire John Boehner". Read more here...
5. Surprise! Small Employers to Be Hit With a Tax for Helping Employes with Health Care Costs - by Jason Pye

Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may be exempt from ObamaCare's employer mandate, but they still could face fines for helping employees cover the costs of their health insurance coverage. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) promulgated the rule against "coverage reimbursement arrangements," which took effect on July 1.
The tax is $100 per day, per employee, or $36,500 annually for one employee, and applies to small businesses that do not offer health insurance coverage to employees, but instead offer compensation to employees to help cover the cost of their health care. To put the absurdity of this tax into content, businesses with 50 or more full-time employees who work at least 30 hours a week that fail to offer insurance coverage face a punitive $2,000 per worker tax. Read more here...
6. Empower with Dan Bongino

Iris Somberg

Press Secretary, FreedomWorks