The Big Picture

FreedomWorks Foundation is urging the IRS to protect donor privacy from threats and physical intimidation. Don’t let leftist mobs prevent you from donating to the causes that matter to you and your family. Make your voice heard HERE.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to oppose the so-called “For the People Act,” H.R. 1. Introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), the For the People Act would deter political free speech and federalize elections. This is one of the more bold-faced assaults on the First Amendment that has come through Congress in quite some time.

Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are renewing the push for their bill, The Free Flow of Information Act of 2017, H.R.4382, to protect our First Amendment rights. It is identical to a bill that then-Congressman Mike Pence co-authored in 2007. This legislation must be passed in order to ensure the legitimacy of our media, and to protect journalists from government abuse.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has created a secret watch list of individuals who they claim pose potential threats to airport security. This ridiculous “safety precaution” allows the TSA, an unaccountable government agency, to get away with unnecessary and invasive searches and violates travelers’ privacy rights.

Free speech on college campuses has become a significant issue. From the riots at Berkeley over Milo Yiannopoulos, to the use of harassment of Charles Murray at Middlebury College, there have been cases of individuals being silenced to stop them from speaking their thoughts on various issues. However, one pressing issue has been administrative support to silence dissent and prevent opposing viewpoints from being heard. This flies in the face of actually learning, of which colleges are supposed to be a bastion.

In a blow to Internet freedom, a federal appeals court has given a green light to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Open Internet Order, a plan to impose net neutrality rules on the Internet. Most disturbingly, the ruling yesterday by a 3-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit affirmed the basis for the Order, the FCC's determination that it can apply utility-style regulations – intended for telephone companies under the Communications Act of 1934 – to land-based and wireless Internet service providers (ISP). In one of the most egregious instances of overreaching by federal agencies under the Obama Administration, the FCC used the determination to grant itself sweeping power to regulate the Internet, opening the door to a plethora of burdensome Internet regulations.

This week, the House will consider a bill that would stop the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from collecting identifying information about donors to tax-exempt organizations. The IRS, in repeatedly using tax disclosures to create political targets, has prompted a chilling effect on First Amendment rights and political free speech.