Thursday, June 4, 2015

FREEDOMWORKS 06/04/2015

1. Passing the USA Freedom Act: A Difficult First Act in the Great Surveillance Debate by Josh Withrow
After sometimes-dramatic and often-tense several weeks, the USA Freedom Act finally passed the Senate. The act’s passage brings the government’s telephone data surveillance program under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act back from its brief retirement, but with reforms that stop its worst abuses. Although the USA Freedom Act was certainly not the level of reform that many had hoped for, it passage nevertheless sent a clear signal that the days of Congress simply rubber-stamping endless surveillance programs are over.
Even this modest reform would likely have stood little chance of passing if Senator Paul had not drawn out the debate as long as he did, leaving the defenders of the NSA’s dragnet spy programs with little choice but to accept the USA Freedom Act or nothing. Just as importantly, the much larger community of reformers in the House, led by Reps. Justin Amash and Thomas Massie, made it clear that an even more watered-down version of USA Freedom would have difficulty passing the House. Read more here...

2. Concerned Mother On Common Core
CC Concerned Mother
3. Legislation on the move in California to protect innocent property owners from abuse of civil asset forfeiture - by Jason Pye
The California Senate is set to vote on a bill that would close a big loophole in the state's civil asset forfeiture laws that currently permits state and local law enforcement to use federal statutes to go after property believed to be connected to illicit activity.
A rarity in the states, California provides innocent property owners with some essential protections against abuse of civil asset forfeiture by overzealous law enforcement. In the Golden State, the burden of proof falls on the government, which must present "clear and convincing evidence" that seized property is connected to a crime -- a standard that is just below the proof needed to secure a criminal conviction. Real property, such as a home, cannot be forfeited without a criminal conviction. Read more here...
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4. Freedom of (some) Information (for those who can afford it) - by Sarah Gompper
On June 2nd, the House of Representatives Committee on oversight and Government Reform began a hearing on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The hearing spanned two days and was aided by three panels of witnesses. In effort to ensure transparency, the congressmen assessed how government agencies currently view FOIA and deal with requests for information. My takeaway? FOIA is a joke and government agencies are the worst.
Thankfully, it seemed as if everybody in the room agreed. Chairman Chaffetz opened the hearing with an impassioned speech, showing his investment in fixing the broken way government agencies repeatedly ignore and deny requests for information in complete disregard for the law. Chaffetz noted that there is a 20 day required response period, yet most requests never yield responses unless lawsuits are filed. Furthermore, when requests are denied, it is usually without a valid (or legal) exemption, and often times no justification is given at all. Chaffetz bravely questioned, “If they are hiding this, what else are they hiding?” Read more here...
5. Common Core Update: State and Federal - by Logan Albright
As the Senate prepares to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), a bill which could have big implications for the American education system, state legislatures and governors have been busy tackling their own reforms to Common Core education standards. Here’s what’s been going on in several key states.
Louisiana
The Louisiana legislature is currently working on a three bill “compromise package” that supporters are saying would allow for the repeal of Common Core standards in that state. However, there are concerns that this package is toothless, merely calling for review of the standards without clear prohibitions on adoption and implementation of federal mandates. Read more here...
6. OCO Funding: A Congressional Slush Fund - by Michael Greibrok
Realizing spending was getting out of hand, Congress passed the 2011 Budget Control Act to cap spending on both defense and non-defense discretionary spending. However, Congress being Congress, they have become adept at finding ways to increase spending beyond the caps without technically going above the caps.
One of the ways Congress is doing this is by increasing funding for overseas contingency operations (OCO). This alternative form of defense funding started in 2001 to provide emergency supplemental funds to help fight the War on Terror. These funds were originally designed to be used for true emergencies, such as supporting combat missions or securing embassies, but as major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down, we have not seen a corresponding decrease in OCO funding. Read more here... 
Make freedom work,
Iris Somberg
Press Secretary, FreedomWorks

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