Secret Deals for Special Interests: Sue-And-Settle and the Regulatory State
- by Kenny Stein
A federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is supposed to govern how regulations are developed and implemented. The APA requires providing notice to the public of the content of regulations at several steps during the regulatory process and giving the public an opportunity to participate in the regulatory process. This is intended to allow scrutiny of regulatory actions and prevent secret negotiations among regulators behind closed doors.
But the regulatory state does not like this public scrutiny and is always looking for ways to circumvent it. Under the Obama administration, one such backroom regulatory tactic that has seen extensive use is known as “sue-and-settle,” where special interests sue the federal government with a demand for regulation and friendly regulators reach a secret settlement to undertake the demanded regulation. Read more here...
FreedomWorks at the 2016 Republican National Convention
FreedomWorks' Book Club Spotlight: "Our Lost Constitution: The Willful Subversion of America's Founding Document"
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...
Economic Growth Has Stagnated Under Obama
- by FreedomWorks Senior Economic Contributor Stephen Moore via The Washington Times
This week the Democrats officially coronate the battered Hillary Clinton as the torch bearer for the party. She has slouched to the finish line. She is tired and the country is tired of her. Sorry, Democrats, no do-overs. You’re stuck with her.
But it isn’t just Hillary who is out of touch and in tragic decline, it’s the whole Democratic Party. My friends at the American Enterprise Institute reported last week that the Democratic platform is silent on “economic growth.” Maybe that is because across the country during the past eight years of Obamanomics economic growth has been silent. Read more here...
Incentives Are All Wrong in the Federal Justice System
- by Sarah Gompper
The ever-growing federal justice system is broken. Archaic policies from the 80s and 90s encourage corruption, waste taxpayer money, ruin the lives of nonviolent criminals, and ultimately contribute to the very problems they address.
Traditionally, the federal system has only prosecuted a specific set of crimes, such as espionage, crimes against federal officials, and crimes that take place across state borders. However, the federal justice system has been growing out of control over the past few decades, with prosecutors going after less serious cases. Today, there are more than five times as many federal prosecutors as there were in 1980, and the number of federal crimes has increased by 50 percent. There are also about 30,000 criminal regulations on the books. Federal prosecutors feel an immense amount of pressure to go after people and hit stats. In fact, their paycheck depends on it. Read more here...
Leaked Emails: The Democratic Party Has No Idea What to Do About Common Core, Will Ignore It
- via Reason
The Common Core national education standards are deeply unpopular with conservatives and left-leaning teachers unions. But since it's not a wedge issue, the Democratic Party has no idea how to exploit it for political gain.
Instead, the party is simply ignoring Common Core altogether, according to internal emails recently leaked by Wikileaks. Eric Walker, a communications director for the DNC, explicitly told staffers that they "should not be touching it at all." Here's the relevant section of his email: Read more here...
Civil asset forfeiture is a practice that allows law enforcement to seize property if they suspect it was involved in a crime. It is then up to the property owner to prove their innocence, even if they are never charged with a crime. This inverts the classic American principle of innocent until proven guilty, and denies citizens their Fifth Amendment right to due process. Watch it here...
Congress Must Impeach The IRS Commissioner
- by Reps. Jim Jordan, Tim Huelskamp, and John Fleming via Breitbart
Today Americans see two sets of rules: one for the powerful and politically connected and another for ordinary Americans. They view the system as rigged — and they’re not wrong.
There’s a roster of Obama administration officials that have abused their offices and not been held accountable.
Former Director of the Exempt Organizations unit of the IRS Lois Lerner engaged in systematic targeting of conservative individuals and organizations for their political views. When it came to light, she first lied when she falsely blamed agents in Cincinnati. She then refused to answer questions in a Congressional hearing. And as a result, she was held in contempt of Congress. Read more here...
ObamaCare's CO-OP Disaster: Only 7 Remain
- via Forbes
July has been rough for Obamacare’s non-profit co-op health plans. Four closed after running out of money — three in just one week. Just seven of the original 23 co-ops are still standing. Those seven all lost money last year — and may yet go out of business before the calendar turns to 2017.
All that failure has been pricey. Taxpayers are out $1.7 billion in federal loans that these co-ops will never pay back.
The co-ops stand out as perfect examples of how Obamacare’s idea of government-managed “competition” is doomed to fail. Read more here...
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