Hundreds of thousands could lose food stamps as states restore limits

About 45 million people receive benefits in the food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning research and advocacy group, estimates that 500,000 to 1 million people will lose benefits this year.
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26 states ask Supreme Court to halt Obama’s carbon emissions plan

This should be interesting. One state after another have been pushing back on the new EPA carbon emission guidelines, with many of them refusing to file a plan for compliance until the courts have weighed in. Now some of the biggest energy producing states are trying to bring the situation to a head well in advance of the normal challenge and appeal process.

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Wealthy donors on left launch new plan to wrest back control in the states

A cadre of wealthy liberal donors aims to pour tens of millions of dollars into rebuilding the left’s political might in the states, racing to catch up with a decades-old conservative effort that has reshaped statehouses across the country. The plan embraced by the Democracy Alliance, an organization that advises some of the Democrats’ top contributors, puts an urgent new focus on financing groups that can help the party regain influence in time for the next congressional redistricting process, after the 2020 elections. The blueprint approved by the alliance board calls on donors to help expand state-level organizing and lobbying for measures addressing climate change, voting rights and economic inequality.


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Supporting The Transfer Of Public Lands Act: Klamath County The ‘Tip Of The Spear’ In Oregon

By Dennis Linthicum, Sept. 28, 2014: This month, Klamath County, Oregon, became the “Tip of the Spear” as they are the first county in Oregon to formally support the Transfer of Public Lands Act (TPLA). The TPLA would properly transfer federal land jurisdiction to the respective state bodies. The Board of County Commissioners issued a proclamation expressing the county’s support for the full and present implementation of the Transfer of Public Lands Act. ✧ In essence, the TPLA would codify independent and sovereign control over the public lands within respective state borders. More importantly, it would limit federal overreach and bureaucratic control over public lands that are rightfully within a state’s jurisdictional boundaries. These managerial and operational changes would positively impact state and county economic opportunities while improving habitat management and reducing the danger from wildfires and insect infestation.

Read more and see Infographic from the American Lands Council at The News Doctors Read More......

Tax code cronyism - Oregon one of worst offenders

In late July 2014, The Center for State Fiscal Reform released a groundbreaking new report that exposes tax code cronyism in the States. ✧ The report reveals how state governments manipulate their tax codes to create unequal playing fields for businesses; Maryland, Illinois, Oregon and New Jersey are among the worst offenders that pursue tax carve-outs. Download The Unseen Costs of Tax Cronyism: Favoritism and Foregone Growth. ✧ Full 50-state table included in the report. Read More......

Idaho County commissioner: Shutdown proves state should manage public lands

Idaho County Commissioner Skip Brandt isn’t pointing fingers at Democrats or Republicans in Washington for the fact that national wildlife refuges, Bureau of Land Management campgrounds, boat ramps, visitor centers and other developed recreation sites, national forest developed areas and all national parks are closed. ✧ “Federal employees have decided to make their furloughs as painful as possible for the public,” Brandt wrote in an email. ✧ “So apparently the ‘Federal’ lands/ facilities are not 'true public' lands/ property after all, but rather are the bureaucracy’s property,” Brandt wrote in a email. “Thus if the bureaucrats/ Federal employees do not have a pay check the properties are off limits to the ‘subjects’” ✧ Brandt has a solution: “It is time that the Federal lands become managed/ accountable State lands.” Read more at Idaho Statesman
(Hat tip: Jo Rae Perkins for U.S. Senate) Read More......

Why We Should Care About America's Fading Economic Freedom

The Economic Freedom Team at Economic Freedom.org writes, "The word at the water cooler is that the U.S. has fallen to 18th in economic freedom. So what’s the big deal? Professor Antony Davies of Duquesne University explains in U.S. News & World Report that economic freedom benefits just about everyone. ✧ The conclusion is simple: Economic freedom yields beneficial results. ... data bears out what Americans know intuitively: The United States is less free than it once was, and our lives are the worse for it. The way to improve our lives as citizens is to return to our birthright as citizens: liberty." Read the full article at U.S. News & World Report... Read More......

Illinois Governor proposes federal bailout for his state

Illinois is one of the public union states that will one day need a federal bailout because of their pension shortfalls. Governor Quinn has now made that official by pointing out in his budget proposal that, “significant long-term improvements” in that debt will come from “seeking a federal guarantee of the debt.” ✧ Wonder how the governors of other states that have taken fiscal responsibility for their spending or “right to work” states will enjoy subsidizing undisciplined public union states like Illinois and California? Read more at the Rockford Register Star...

Related:
Wall Street Journal: An Illinois Pension Bailout? - Governor Quinn wants you to guarantee his state's pensions.
State Budget Solutions: Block any pension bailout now to force reform By Frank Keegan Read More......

RGA: America's Comeback

From the Republican Governors Association

"Washington is increasingly trouncing on your freedoms. Its time to fight back from the states. Join America's Comeback by visiting governorsalliance.com." See more videos from the RGA here. Read More......