Ever since John Boehner's parting "gift" in August, another horrible, bloated omnibus spending package was pretty much inevitable. Now, with days to spare before the new year, we can see the result. Predictably, friends of limited government won't like it much. The spending increases alone are bad, but the combination of policy riders that did and did not make the final bill sealed the deal. Thus, on behalf of our millions of activists nationwide, FreedomWorks opposes this year's omnibus spending bill, and will score against it on our Online Congressional Scorecard for 2015.
Before getting into the multitude of bad parts of the omnibus that have led us to oppose its passage, it is only fair to acknowledge a few of its positive attributes. Read more here...
2. CISA: The Cyber Security Information Sharing Act
3. Republican Debate Reveals Sharp Divisions on Surveillance - by Logan Albright
Last night’s Republican debate drew a sharp contrast between candidates on the question of how surveillance ought to be used to fight global terrorism. Tempers flared as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio engaged in a heated back and forth over the wisdom of bulk spying in general, and the USA Freedom Act in particular.
The issue of contention is whether the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records - without the need of securing individual warrants - makes us safer. Of course, the fact that such collection is not constitutional under the Fourth Amendment is also extremely important, but since the debate focused on pragmatism rather than principle, let’s start there. Read more here...
4. FreedomWorks Joins Coalition Urging Speaker Paul Ryan to Remove Cybersecurity from Spending Bill
Following the release of a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan signed by four
free market organizations urging him to remove the Cybersecurity Act
from the omnibus appropriations bill, FreedomWorks Legislative Affairs
Manager Josh Withrow commented:
“The supposed cybersecurity provisions that this Congress has been advancing are riddled with privacy and due process concerns. At the very least, the final draft of this complex new program should be considered on its own, separate from the omnibus appropriations bill. Attaching cybersecurity information sharing to the omnibus is a cynical move that ensures that Members of Congress will have little opportunity to evaluate and understand the changes that have been made in the final product.” Read more here...
“The supposed cybersecurity provisions that this Congress has been advancing are riddled with privacy and due process concerns. At the very least, the final draft of this complex new program should be considered on its own, separate from the omnibus appropriations bill. Attaching cybersecurity information sharing to the omnibus is a cynical move that ensures that Members of Congress will have little opportunity to evaluate and understand the changes that have been made in the final product.” Read more here...
It’s a well known fact: the internet is filled with idiots spewing vile, obnoxious, offensive, frequently violent bilge water from the safety of their parents’ basements. Most of these people are harmless blowhards, reveling in their anonymity to say things online that they would never say in person. A few of them are legitimate criminals who mean to harm others, and it’s not always easy to tell the difference.
In the current climate of global terrorism and mass shootings, there has been increasing concern over the internet’s potential to allow extremists of any stripe to organize and coordinate. This has led to some frankly alarming calls for internet censorship from people who really ought to know better. Read more here...
6. The 'Fascist' Left in America - by FreedomWorks Senior Economic Contributor Stephen Moore via The Washington Times
It’s hard to find a self-respecting liberal these days who doesn’t denounce Donald Trump as “a fascist.” if you Google “fascist” the first thing that pops on the screen is a photo of Mr. Trump.
Those in the media or the university professors or Democratic pundits who don’t call him a fascist resort to over-the-top sneering terms like “racist,” “repellent,” and even “Nazi.” After Mr. Trump’s call for a moratorium on Muslim immigration, here were a few of the choice words for those tolerant people on the left:
“He is running for president as a fascist demagogue.” - Martin O’Malley, Democratic presidential candidate. Read more here...
Jason Pye
Communications Director, FreedomWorks
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