FW Newsletter: Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and... - by Senior Economic Contributor Stephen Moore via The New York Sun Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. That might as well be the new theme for the American economy. Washington, the White House, Congress, housing agencies, and the Fed, none of them have learned from the housing bubble of 2007-08. So here we go again. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders keep blaming the last crisis on Wall Street greed and malfeasance, and, sure, there was plenty of that. The enabler was government through easy money, housing policies that pushed people into low down payment loans many could never repay, and a deluge of debt. Read more here... Vocal Constituents Complicate GOP's Search for a Speaker - via The Wall Street Journal The group—many of them retirees—is now a focal point as the rebels who have toppled the House Republican leadership prepare for the next stage of battle, in which they want to elevate Florida Republican Daniel Webster to the speakership. FreedomWorks, a network of 6.9 million conservative activists, helped arrange the event for Mr. Massie as part of a larger campaign to shore up members they fear will face retribution for shaking up Washington. Mr. Massie himself is not in the Freedom Caucus, though he also backs Mr. Webster for speaker. “We are pretty sure the establishment is going to at least come after some of these guys and we’ve got their back,” said Jason Pye, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, which dispatched an organizer to the event to sign up new members for the conservative cause. The group has also bought television ads to support three members they see as particularly vulnerable to primary challenges. Read more here... Four GOP Candidates to Speak at 'Rising Tide Summit' in Cedar Rapids - via The Des Moines Register Four Republican presidential candidates have made commitments to speak at the "Rising Tide Summit" on Dec. 5 in Cedar Rapids, according to announcement by U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-Dubuque, and FreedomWorks, an advocacy group that backs lower taxes and less government. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum will attend. Blum said he expects others to make commitments to attend as well. Read more here... On Debt, the Ceiling is Less Important Than What's Underneath - by Logan Albright The ever-shifting horizon on when the federal government is scheduled to reach its borrowing limit has most recently been set at November 3rd, just days after John Boehner is scheduled to resign his office. What this means is that no new leadership will save us from yet another increase in the debt ceiling, although there will always be a principled few who will want to resist. The problem with the debt ceiling fight is that by the time we get around to having it, it’s already too late. A popular talking point runs: “we’re just paying bills for things we’ve already bought.” As inane as it is, there’s some truth there. Congress operates by committing to spending increases that we don’t have enough money to pay for, trusting that by the time the bills come due, the threat of default will drive almost everyone to unthinkingly vote to lift the debt ceiling and borrow the money we need. Read more here... Asset Forfeiture 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. Read more here... Obama's 'Behavioral Data' Order Has Sinister Implications   -by Logan Albright via The Blaze If I had to sum up the Obama administration in a single word, I think that word would be “arrogance.” The president has always regarded himself as the smartest guy in the room, with an ego that has been relentlessly stroked by the press and the people he surrounds himself with. He has refused to work with Congress, preferring instead to dictate his agenda to them and expect absolute compliance, or else. He opines about national news before knowing the facts. He expects foreign leaders to bend to the force of his personality in lieu of actual negotiations. He even promised to roll back the tides and heal the planet, as though Mother Nature herself would bow to his raw charisma and mighty intellect. Read more here... Historic State of Chaos FreedomWorks Applauds Utah House GOP for Rejecting ObamaCare Expansion Following news of the rejection of ObamaCare expansion by Utah House Republicans on Wednesday, FreedomWorks National Grassroots Director Noah Wall commented: "Utah House Republicans saw the cost of ObamaCare expansion and wisely declined, despite political pressure from Governor Herbert and Republican leaders in both chambers. This plan would have been costly for Utahns." Read more here...  Thomas Massie on Grassroots Success: Speaker's Race and Open Process - by Alex Bales On Wednesday evening, FreedomWorks was proud to host a town hall meeting with Congressman Thomas Massie in the Cincinnati suburban community of Erlanger, Kentucky. The event was co-hosted with the Northern Kentucky Tea Party, a group of local grassroots activists fighting for fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. Mr. Massie has a lifetime FreedomWorks score of 94%, indicating a pristine pro-liberty voting record. In introducing Mr. Massie, FreedomWorks’ National Director of Grassroots Noah Wall described his leadership, standing strong for conservative principles against a congressional establishment content with the status quo of cronyism and big government. In conjunction with the House Freedom Caucus, those efforts recently began to come to fruition -- first, with the recent resignation of John Boehner from the Speaker’s chair; then, with establishment favorite Kevin McCarthy’s withdrawal from the leadership contest. Read more here... California Helps Pave the Way for Digital Privacy Reform - by Marc Dupont As attempts to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) are continually stalled out in Washington, California took the initiative, and Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed a new bill into law last week. CalECPA or S.B. 178 greatly strengthens state privacy standards compared to federal requirements under ECPA. Most importantly, the legislation mandates that state authorities must obtain a warrant to access any private emails, regardless of age. This is a notable change from the previous standard, which allowed authorities access to the same content without a warrant as long as the emails were dated past 180 days. Additionally, the bill would also require California authorities to obtain a warrant not only for emails, but for digital records, texts, and a user’s geographical location as well. Even further, the protections provided in this bill would be applied to online storage services in addition to electronic devices. Hopefully this passage of legislation will be a call to Washington and to Congress in order to spur some action on an issue that already has massive bipartisan support. “This is a landmark win for digital privacy and all Californians,” said Nicole Ozer, Director of Technology and Civil Liberties Policy at the ACLU of California. “We hope this is a model for the rest of the nation in protecting our digital privacy rights.” Read more here... 84% of Pennsylvania Voters Support Forfeiture Reform - by Jason Pye The main principle behind civil asset forfeiture reform legislation introduced in both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly is widely embraced by voters in the Commonwealth, according to a survey released on Thursday. The legislation would require a criminal conviction before property can be forfeited to the state. Currently, a property owner does not even have to be charged with a crime before their property can subject to forfeiture. Pennsylvania's forfeiture laws undermine due process and property rights. Property merely suspected of a connection to illicit activity can be subjected to forfeiture based on a very low standard of evidence. The burden of proof falls on the property owner, who may never be charged with a crime. Read more here... FreedomWorks in Action 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, Jason Pye Communications Director, FreedomWorks           Forward To A Friend | Update Your Email Preferences 400 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 765 Washington, DC 20001