"YES" on the Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act
What is the conservative fight? Conservatives are fighting for freedom and limited government -- the Founders' vision for a country where We the People have inalienable rights not granted to us by government. Take the gun debate, for example. Underlying the gun debate is a coercive, top down vision for America. The politicians will have access to armed security, the wealthy will be able to hired armed guards, and the...
Washington - This afternoon, the Senate defeated the Schumer-Toomey-Manchin Amendment. Heritage Action released the following statement from CEO Michael A. Needham: Today, the American people dealt a devastating blow to the left's attempt to undermine the Second Amendment. The Schumer-Toomey-Manchin Amendment was an ineffective Washington solution crafted behind closed doors that has no place in our political system. Heritage Action will continue to oppose any bill that infringes on the...
"NO" on Schumer-Toomey-Manchin Amendment
"NO" on the Marketplace "Fairness" Act
1. Shop China. According to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), "the way this bill is going to work, people are going to end up calling it the shop Canada bill or maybe the shop Mexico bill or, what is even more ominous, the shop China bill." 2. Taxation without Representation. As Heritage President Jim DeMint explains, the internet sales tax "violates the classic American principle of 'no taxation without representation.' Retailers...
Nothing strikes more fear in heart of employers and employees alike than the dreaded audit. Under a bill working its way through the Senate, audits could become commonplace for many small, online businesses. With the way the bill is going to work, people are going to end up calling it the Tax Audits from Hell Act of 2013. Under the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act, online retailers would become tax collectors...
Washington - This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2013 (S.607). The bill, sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Lee (R-UT), would amend a 1986 law to improve provisions relating to the privacy of electronic communications. Heritage Action released the following statement from communications director Dan Holler: "The Leahy-Lee bill brings much needed parity to our nation's communication privacy laws. These...
"YES" on the Full Faith and Credit Act
May 6 may be a somber day for budding businesses and for some of the fastest growing industries in the country. That is the day the Senate is expected to vote the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act, which would require a myriad of online businesses to collect and remit the applicable sales tax for their customer's home state. This new internet tax cartel would be a massive burden to these businesses...
Background: The Senate will soon consider the so-called "Gang of 8 bill," a comprehensive package of reforms to the nation's immigration system. The legislation (S. 744) provides amnesty to roughly 11 million illegal aliens within six months of enactment by granting them temporary legalized status. The Heritage Foundation defines amnesty as follows: The term "amnesty" is often used loosely with reference to aliens unlawfully in the United States. Sometimes it...
The Northern Route Approval Act (H.R.3) would approve the construction, operation and maintenance of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. As the Heritage Foundation has explained: "Given the need for jobs and more oil on the global market to offset high prices, the permit application had been moving along positively with bipartisan support without much attention until environmental activists made blocking the Keystone XL pipeline their issue to rally around for...
According to a Congressional Budget Office estimate, the Toomey-Shaheen amendment would have saved $82 million over the next ten years by making changes to America’s dysfunctional sugar policy. Specifically, the Toomey-Shaheen Amendment would have repealed the Feedstock Flexibility Program that requires the government to buy up surplus sugar if the price of sugar falls below a certain target price and then requires the government to sell that surplus sugar to...
The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2013 (S.601) would authorize federal spending on an array of water resource projects, including for ports, harbors, inland waterways, beaches, and wetlands, most of which are run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that S.601 outlays will be $12.2 billion over the fiscal year 2014-2023 period, though the substitute amendment will drive that cost significantly higher.
The bill would require the Treasury Secretary to pay the principal and interest on America’s debt obligations and make Social Security payments before any other payments in the event the debt ceiling is reached. In effect, the bill begins the process of prioritizing federal spending.
While often referred to as an “Internet sales tax” bill, the legislation has far broader and more complex implications, especially with regard to states’ rights.There is no Internet exemption from sales taxes; in fact, sales taxes are already collected for the vast majority of online sales. Instead, the proposal concerns the power of states over businesses outside of their borders. Specifically, the proposal would overturn a Supreme Court decision setting...
"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices," Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations One of the main justifications made by the proponents of the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 743) is that it remedies an unfair tax advantage that online businesses enjoy over their brick-and-mortar counterparts under current...
Heritage Action joins the Conservative Action Project, chaired by former AG Edwin Meese, as well as the CEO's of over 100 organizations representing all major elements of the conservative movement to oppose the Internet Sales Tax and to call on Congress to reject the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act. Washington, D.C. -- Current Event: On April 25, the U.S. Senate passed a key procedural vote to consider S. 743--the so-called Marketplace...
Washington - Today, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) introduced the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2013 (H.R. 1847), which would amend a 1986 law to improve provisions relating to the privacy of electronic communications. The bill is identical to the Leahy-Lee bill (S.607), which recently passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. Heritage Action released the following statement from communications director Dan Holler: "ECPA reform will bring much needed parity to...
Washington - Yesterday, Reps. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Tom Graves (R-GA) introduced the Email Privacy Act (H.R. 1852), which would amend a 1986 law to improve provisions relating to the privacy of electronic communications. Heritage Action released the following statement from communications director Dan Holler: "Momentum is growing to protect the individual freedoms we are guaranteed by the Constitution. By bringing parity to our nation's communication privacy laws, ECPA reform...