Sunday, September 13, 2015

FREEDOMWORKS 09/13/2015

Tell Your Representative: Support Rep. Gosar's Resolution to Impeach EPA Director Gina McCarthy
- by Adam Brandon
As one of our more than 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative today and ask him or her to support Representative Paul Gosar’s resolution, H. Res. 417 to impeach EPA Director Gina McCarthy for multiple instances of making false and misleading statements before Congress.
Under Director McCarthy, the EPA has brought forth some of the most wide-ranging, economically devastating regulations in its history, including the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Congressman Gosar has documented how, in testimony before Congress about the WOTUS rule, Director McCarthy made several outright false statements about the scope of the rule, its scientific basis, and its legal footing. Read more here...


The Sad State of the American Worker
- by FreedomWorks Senior Economic Contributor Stephen Moore via The Washington Times
My 22-year-old son lives at home, still depends on his old man for spending money, and my profoundest fear is that like Will Ferrell in the “Wedding Crashers,” he will never leave the nest. I’m not alone. There are some 20 million college grads living at home. A 2014 study reported by CNN Money found that half of kids who are two years out of college rely on their parents to pay some or all of their bills. It’s the new normal for 20-somethings.
Gee, parents sure are getting a great financial return on the $150,000 they’ve shelled out for four years of college. Read more here...
Student Privacy & Parental Rights with Mark Finchem
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Student Privacy Is in Danger, but Arizona Is Fighting Back   

-by Logan Albright via The Blaze
One of the most pernicious aspects of Common Core is the data collection that has come hand-in-hand with the standards.
The Department of Education has been extremely tight-lipped about what kind of information schools are actually collecting, but we know from anecdotal evidence that students are being asked to surrender all sorts of personal details without parental knowledge, much less parental consent.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has stated that he wants to be able to track students from preschool all the way to their careers using personally identifiable information (PII), and a report from the Department of Education presented a wish list of data collection, including the terrifying concept of monitoring facial expressions and eye movements for diagnostic purposes. Read more here...
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...
Lesson of the Week
FWU Lesson 2
Judge Andrew Napolitano explains that, even among the Founding Fathers, there was some disagreement over where our rights come from. Do they come from government, or are they intrinsic to our humanity? The ten amendments in the Bill of Rights were crafted to clarify that our rights and freedoms are natural, and cannot be taken away by any government. Read more here...
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...
Activists Rally at Rep. Meadows Town Halls
- by Allen Page
Meadows Rally
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...
The NLRB's Labor Ruling Is Another Blow Against Job Growth

- by Logan Albright
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a decision that could have severe implications for many types of businesses across the United States. Essentially the ruling states that companies are responsible for labor practices between contractors and subcontractors. The higher-level companies will be considered “joint employers” with their independent contractors.
What this means, on a practical level, is that it is suddenly much more costly and dangerous for a company to hire a contracting firm, knowing that they could be on the hook for all sorts of labor disputes over which they have little or no control. This could involve getting dragged into collective bargaining agreements with subcontractors, or even being the target of litigation. Read more here...
Galt Gulch
The Federal Government Threatens States Considering Comprehensive Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform

- by Jason Pye
The Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury are interfering in a debate over a piece of legislation currently in the California Assembly that would close a loophole in the state's civil asset forfeiture laws. The loophole allows law enforcement to circumvent protections in the state's forfeiture laws by pursuing forfeitures in federal courts, which creates a serious problem for innocent property owners.
Unlike most states, California's forfeiture laws offer more protections for innocent property owners, such as a high standard of evidence. Additionally, the burden of proof falls on the government. State and law enforcement have gotten around these protections by seeking forfeiture of property under federal forfeiture laws, which require a much lower standard of evidence and place the burden of proof on the property owner, who may never be charged with a crime. Law enforcement can receive up to 80 percent of the proceeds through the Department of Justice's Equitable Sharing Program. Read more here...
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