- via Politico
The House Freedom Caucus wants a seat at the tax reform table, and members are crafting a bill so they don’t show up empty handed.
Mark Sanford, a caucus member from South Carolina, told POLITICO he is already identifying areas of disagreement with the House leaders' tax plan. The health care bill that passed Thursday proved better for conservatives, Sanford said, so they’re aiming to have greater influence on the tax reform process from the beginning.
“Rather than react, then stop something, and then go in fits and starts forward, we can constructively engage at the front end and say this is more of what we believe,” he said. “Let’s ... avoid the kind of dislocation that we saw in this particular [health care] bill about a month ago.” Read more here...
WATCH NOW: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Sits Down With FreedomWorks to Discuss Internet Freedom
In Our Lost Constitution, Senator Mike Lee tells the dramatic, little-known stories behind six of the Constitution's most indispensable provisions. He shows their rise. He shows their fall. And he makes vividly clear how nearly every abuse of federal power today is rooted in neglect of this Lost Constitution. Get your copy here...
Sen. Mike Lee Introduces Bill to Ensure Internet Innovation- via Deseret News
Sen. Mike Lee introduced a bill Monday to nullify the Federal Communications Commission's 2015 open internet order and stop the FCC from issuing a similar rule in the future.
Lee argues that the rule threatens business growth because it puts federal bureaucrats in charge of engineering the internet's infrastructure.
Lee argues that the rule threatens business growth because it puts federal bureaucrats in charge of engineering the internet's infrastructure.
"Few areas of our economy have been as dynamic and innovative as the internet,” he said. "This is largely because the federal government has taken a hands-off approach that has allowed permissionless innovation to deliver unthinkable technological advances in such a short amount of time." Read more here...
Freedom Caucus Comes to Save ObamaCare Repeal, Not Bury It- via Washington Examiner
President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan led the Rose Garden celebration, but the Freedom Caucus came out of Thursday's healthcare vote big winners.
The group of conservative lawmakers had been derided as an obstacle to Republican unity, good only for killing legislation or forcing it to be passed with Democratic votes. But this time, the Freedom Caucus was instrumental in shaping a bill partially repealing Obamacare that could get to a majority in the House with only Republicans.
"I think they ultimately made the bill better," Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., told the Washington Examiner about his fellow conservatives' Obamacare efforts. "I think the trajectory of the bill has been changed in regard to real world savings in the individual marketplace, which I think will be very important not only from a political standpoint but from a policy standpoint as well." Read more here...
ALEC-FreedomWorks Legislator of the Week- via ALEC
Representative Christina Hagan is a native Ohioan and was born in Marlboro Township, Ohio. She received her B.A. in Business Administration from Malone University. She is currently seeking election in 2018 to the U.S. House to represent the 16th Congressional District of Ohio.
In 2011, Rep. Hagan was appointed to the Ohio House of Representatives to serve the 50th House District. Her early and successful work in the legislature led to her being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2016. Rep. Hagan is also an active member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). She has focused her legislative efforts on restoring Ohio’s reputation as a national economic leader by working to create a strengthened business climate that can sustain a strong private sector job market. Read more here...
Here Are The Cuts to Make Tax Reform Work
- via Reason
Without major tax and spending reforms, debt will continue to rise to unsustainable levels, yet Congress perpetually fails to take serious action.
It would, of course, be nearly impossible, politically and procedurally, to seek spending cuts to make up for every dollar in tax changes. But to abandon the idea outright would be unacceptable. Obvious cuts abound.
The Government Accountability Office's 2017 study of duplication and fragmentation identifies at least $20 billion in potential savings per year. Past estimates by former Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn have been as high as $95 billion per year. For our purposes, let's assume a conservative total of $25 billion year or $250 billion over a decade in savings.
Back in January, news broke that the Pentagon buried an internal report that found administrative waste alone could be reduced by $125 billion over a 5-year period, without requiring layoffs or personnel reductions. There's another $25 billion per year from the country's biggest discretionary department. Read more here...
Showdown Looms Between Congress, Police Over Civil Asset Forfeiture- via Fox News
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of forfeiture laws in the early 1800s, they remained largely dormant until the 1980s, when the practice saw a tremendous expansion that has lasted to this day. While the Obama administration took some measures to curb the practice, the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Fund in 2014 took in $4.5 billion and last year the Drug Enforcement Administration hauled in more than $4 billion.
The controversial practice has now pitted local, state and federal lawmen – who argue that forfeitures swiftly cut off proceeds to criminals like drug traffickers while injecting much-needed money into underfunded law enforcement agencies -- against a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress who see the practice as an abuse of Fifth Amendment rights and public trust.
“There are over 200 editorials arguing to do away with civil forfeitures. It was part of both the Democratic and Republican platforms at last summer’s conventions,” Darpana Sheth, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, told Fox News. “I can’t think of any other issue that enjoys such cross-aisle support.” Read more here...
FreedomWorks in Action
For Freedom,
Jason Pye
Director of Public Policy, FreedomWorks
Director of Public Policy, FreedomWorks
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