FREEDOMWORKS 04/23/2015

1. Tennessee's Common Core Repeal Bill is Weak, but an Encouraging Start - by Logan Albright
It appears that Tennessee will be next state in line to repeal the increasingly unpopular Common Core education standards, joining South Carolina, Missouri, and Oklahoma. This week, the state House passed HB 1035 unanimously, a bill that calls for Common Core standards to be repealed and replaced with standards designed by the state. The state Senate followed shortly thereafter, passing the bill by a vote of 27-1.
As Common Core repeal bills go, this one could certainly have been stronger. There is no language in the bill about testing requirements or the student data collection that is concerning to many parents, and the multi-commission process for replacing the standards will seem overly bureaucratic to many. Moreover, there is nothing in the bill forbidding standards common to a large number of states, or partnerships with the federal government on standards. Read more here...

2. How the Federal Government Controls Public Education - by Trey Grover

3. Jeb Bush says the "Best Part" of Obama's Presidency is the NSA's Unconstitutional Domestic Spying Program - by Jason Pye

Jeb Bush continues to defend the National Security Agency's unconstitutional domestic spying program, telling a conservative talk show host that this gross encroachment on the Fourth Amendment is the "best part of the Obama administration."
There's absolutely no evidence that the National Security Agency's domestic spying program has prevented a terrorist attack in the United States. This is a conclusion reached by the New America Foundation and the White House Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology. ThePrivacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board could "not identif[y] a single instance involving a threat to the United States in which the program made a concrete difference in the outcome of a counterterrorism investigation." Read more here...

4. Civil Asset Forfeiture: Changing the Way the Police Police - by Michael Greibrok
Law enforcement’s main duties are to keep the public safe and protect our persons and property. In many states, civil asset forfeiture creates a perverse incentive which can change the priorities that law enforcement pursues.
In nearly half the states, law enforcement keeps all the proceeds that are gained through civil asset forfeiture. In total, 39 states allow law enforcement to keep over 50% of all proceeds from civil asset forfeiture. These laws incentivize law enforcement to go after cash because any cash seized will increase their bottom line. This incentive has especially shown itself in how law enforcement polices our highways. Today, it is not uncommon for one of the first questions an officer asks to be whether the driver is carrying any large amounts of cash. Read more here...
5. Iowa Lawmakers Should Go Big on Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform - by Jason Pye
William Davis and John Newmer­zhycky were traveling through Iowa in April 2013 on their way to Las Vegas from a World Series of Poker event in Illinois when they were pulled over by Iowa State Patrol in a drug interdiction stop. The state patrolman who pulled them over falsely claimed that Newmer­zhycky, who was driving, failed to turn on his turn signal when changing lanes.
It appeared to be a routine traffic stop, but the state patrolman told Newmer­zhycky that he appeared nervous and asked if he had "something illegal in the car." The two poker pros possessed just over $100,000 in cash, their bankroll for poker events. The patrolmen, believing Davis and Newmerzhycky were involved in drug trafficking, found the cash during an illegal search and subsequently seized it under Iowa's civil asset forfeiture laws. Read more here...

6. Did GE Threaten to Move Jobs Overseas if the Export-Import Bank is Defunded? - by Tom Borelli
Big business executives can be as arrogant and dishonest as politicians.
General Electric (GE) continues to depend on government regulations and financial assistance to support its businesses and the prospect of losing financial backing from the Export-Import Bank has one GE executive throwing a tantrum.
The Ex-Im Bank provides companies with loans, loan guarantees or other financial mechanisms to boost U.S. exports. Read more here...
Make freedom work,
Iris Somberg
Press Secretary, FreedomWorks