FW Newsletter:Supreme Court shouldn't save ObamaCare

King v. Burwell Could Free Millions from Government Mandates - by Logan Albright With the King v. Burwell decision expected to drop in only a couple of weeks, many in the media are whipping themselves into a frenzy over the consequences of vanishing subsidies. Depending on who you believe, between 6 and 7 million people could be affected if the Supreme Court rules that words mean what they mean, and Republicans have proposed several plans to bridge these people gently away from ObamaCare. But there is another side to a ruling in favor of King that is largely being ignored. In addition to eliminating insurance subsidies from the IRS, the ruling would also clarify that the individual mandate that demands individuals purchase health insurance would no longer apply to the 34 states that declined to set up their own insurance exchanges. Read more here... 2015 Activist Boot Camp a Major Success! - by Remso Martinez This past weekend, fifty-five of FreedomWorks top activist were flown out to our Washington D.C headquarters for an exclusive “Activist Boot Camp” in order to help arm them with the resources, connections, and knowledge to engage in their communities. The issues discussed ranged from criminal justice reform in terms of civil asset forfeiture and mandatory minimum sentencing, to the effort to eliminate Common Core, to how the grassroots can help put an end to ObamaCare once and for all. Read more here... FreedomWorks Activist Fly-in 2015  - by Anthony Kang Justice Department Responds to FreedomWorks on Bulk Spying  - by Logan Albright With the passage of the USA Freedom Act, many hoped that we had seen the last of bulk collection of Americans’ telephone data, but government never gives up its power without a fight. So when the Obama administration asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to continue collecting data during the 180 day transition period authorized by USA Freedom, we were ready with a legal response. On June 5, FreedomWorks and former Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli filed a motion to stop this data collection on the grounds that it violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and that a federal court has already ruled that the program was illegal under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.  Read more here... A handful of states could set up ACA Exchanges after King v. Burwell  - by Nate Russell  It’s been difficult not to notice that a lot of states are having terrible experiences with their ObamaCare exchanges. In fact, a recent Washington Post article reports that “Nearly half of the 17 insurance marketplaces set up by the states and the District under President Obama’s health law are struggling financially.” In a previous post, we mentioned that this fact should hinder attempts from state officials to establish a state exchange in the event that King v. Burwell eliminates the federal subsidies. Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, nothing will change for the 16 states already running their own exchange. Also, Arizona recently passed legislation prohibiting the establishment of an exchange, so that 17 states will not be directly affected by King. Read more here...   Register for FreedomFest and get $100 off with the promo code FWFF15 today: http://freedomfest.com/register-now/ Grassroots Spotlight: Civil Rights Activist Clarence Henderson - by Kathy Hartkopf Clarence Henderson is a FreedomWorks activist who participated in the Woolworth Sit-In in Greensboro, N.C. in 1960 and is a United States Army Veteran and retired entrepreneur. I was pleased to be able to sit down with him and talk about his experiences and views on empowerment. **What was the first political cause you rallied for? ** Two years ago, I volunteered with the GOP in Greensboro. I was involved in the Woolworth Lunch Counter Sit-In. On February 1, 1960, Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan) was in a group of three black men who sat at the Woolworth lunch counter and asked to be served. On February 2, Ezell came to find me in the library of A&T University. He told me what had happened the day before and asked me to participate. I agreed to sit with them at the lunch counter. Read more here... Empower: Michigan to Baltimore - by Trey Grover A Former federal law enforcement officials to Congress: Get big government out of the courtroom  - by Jason Pye With members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, under the watchful eye of Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), working on long overdue sentencing reforms, a group of 130 former federal prosecutors, judges, and other law enforcement officials sent a letter urging action on the Smarter Sentencing Act. The Smarter Sentencing Act (S. 502/H.R. 920) would not eliminate any mandatory minimum sentences, but it would reduce them for low-level, nonviolent offenders by half. The bill would also expand the "safety valve" exception to these sentences for eligible offenders. This would give a judge discretion to consider an offender's circumstances before handing down a punishment, rather than taking sentencing orders from big government in Washington. Read more here... Kelo v. New London: Central Planning Does Not Work, Ruins Lives  - by Michael Greibrok Last Thursday, the Cato Institute held an event foreshadowing the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Kelo v. City of New London decision and celebrating the release of Ilya Somin’s new book, The Grasping Hand: “Kelo v. City of New London” & the Limits of Eminent Domain. There was an impressive cast of presenters with welcoming remarks by Richard Epstein, keynote delivered by Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) and panelists which included attorneys that represented both sides in oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The speakers discussed the ruling of the Court, how the Court should have ruled, the public’s response to the ruling and what obstacles to full property rights we still face today. Perhaps the most disheartening topic discussed was what has happened to the property since the Court’s decision. Read more here... President Obama: Stay out of Entrepreneurship - by Daisy Belden As Ronald Reagan famously said, “the nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.’” While champions of limited government are in favor of entrepreneurship, do we really want the federal government to decide on which companies to invest in? After President Obama’s announcement that the White House plans to invest in entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad, what should we expect? The Spark Global Entrepreneurship coalition plans to raise $1 billion in private funding for entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad by 2017. At face value, this may seem like a fine idea – but this is actually very bad news. Read more here... Sign up for the FreedomWorks Morning Update If you want an update like this newsletter twice a week, be sure to sign up for the FreedomWorks Morning Update! The Morning Update is your tool to keep up-to-date with all the threats to your freedom. Sign up here. Make freedom work, Iris Somberg  Press Secretary, FreedomWorks           Forward To A Friend | Update Your Email Preferences 400 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 765 Washington, DC 20001