Saturday, June 18, 2016

Legal Aid, Cuba, Net Neutrality, Weapons, GOP Agenda

On June 16, 2016, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ, 5th) announced the tenth bill in his 2016 Shrink our Spending Initiative to highlight and cut wasteful taxpayer-funded programs. Upon introduction of his latest bill to eliminate the duplicative and wasteful Legal Services Corporation, he said, “Legal Aid services are a very common mechanism to assist our society’s poor who need legal representation. But these programs are funded at the state and local level, and connected directly to the people they serve. The Legal Services Corporation was chartered to be a federal variant, but in recent years it has been abused as a way to line the pockets of wealthy, well-connected lawyers who use its funds to lobby for new government programs, and then sue to expand them. And let’s not even mention the bogus charges for booze and travel. Let’s give the taxpayer a break and put an end to this waste.”

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The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to the Senate Financial Services Appropriations bill that would allow travel to Cuba.

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The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals just issued its long-awaited decision striking down the FCC’s network neutrality rule. This is the second time in four years that this court struck down the FCC’s attempt to adopt a network neutrality rule. It is now legal for AT&T or Verizon to block Slate, your blog, or any other site. You can read more about this by clicking HERE

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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA, 28th), the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, sent a letter to President Obama urging the Administration take a small step to help prevent future attacks like the Orlando massacre. Schiff encourages the Administration to consider providing F.B.I. agents with the discretion to place a tag on someone who had been under a terror investigation that would generate a hit when they go to purchase a weapon. Schiff also reiterated his support for “No Fly No Buy” legislation to prevent known or suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms or explosives.

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House Republicans Unveil Bold Agenda to Restore Balance of Powers, Reassert Congress' Unique Constitutional Role. Check out "A Better Way" by clicking HERE