August 8, 1997 #47
by: Doug Fiedor fiedor19@eos.net
----------------------------------------------------------
Previous Editions at: http://mmc.cns.net/headsup.html
----------------------------------------------------------
Anybody see Slick Willie on the news talking about new budget agreement and the line item veto? Everyone who did probably remembers that he admitted not reading the budget bill before signing it.
Ditto for Congress. Some Members of Congress read parts of the budget bill. But not one of them studied the whole bill before voting to approve. They couldn't have, because there was only one copy -- and it kept getting changed every few minutes.
That's our government at work, folks. That's why they all get paid the big bucks! Slick Willie will not bother wasting his time on reading such things. He'll get briefed on the important parts of the bill sometime before his new line item veto power expires (five days). But he will have no personal knowledge of exactly what is in there.
And as for Congress. . . . Well, like a bunch of high school kids on the last day of school, all they could think about was getting out of there! Consequently, there is probably no elected official who knows exactly what they voted to accept. And for sure, there is no elected official who took the time to study the full ramifications on what they voted to accept.
That is how they get the really bad laws passed. Last year it was two un-Constitutional (and anti-American) gun laws. What will it be this year? We'll find out later. Or . . . some of us
will, anyway. When a prosecutor charges someone with something, it may make the news.
This is negligence in office personified.
For instance, many of us would say that having the right to defend self, family and home against attack by an intruder would be a good thing. Even more of us would agree that the freedom to move around and function in society however we wish and with whomever we wish, so long as we do not bother others, would be a good thing. And almost everyone will agree that the possessions we work for and acquire legally are ours to do with as we please.
So, when Washington, Franklin, Madison, and the boys got together to set up a government designed to protect our right to life, liberty and property, we say that was good. And still today, we say that Constitution, written way back then, is still the best Constitution ever written. That's because it is designed to support the freedom of the people: Our individual liberty.
What, then, is the corresponding evil?
Any type of government that restricts freedom would be one correct answer. We can call it communism, socialism, or statism. The name is not important. If a "good" government is the type of government that protects the individual freedom of the people, then any government restricting the freedom of the people must be on the other side of the coin.
Whoops. This is getting a bit inconvenient. Perhaps we had better work on defining "freedom" and "liberty" a little more.
We know what the Founding Fathers meant by freedom and liberty. A good number of them were lawyers, and the law book of their day was Blackstone's Commentaries on the Law. Blackstone defines Liberty as, "the power of locomotion, of changing situation, of moving one's person to whatever place one's own inclination may direct, without imprisonment or restraint, unless by due course of law."
Today, law books define Liberty as: "the ability to enjoy all the rights granted by the United States and a particular state's constitution, as well as other rights such as the right to earn a living, the right to acquire knowledge, the right to marry, etc.; refers to the fullest scope of freedoms one has but at the same time limits those freedoms so as not to interfere with another person's exercise of them."
That's not bad for a modern (1984) law dictionary. However, it is certainly not completely correct. We citizens are the keeper of all rights. Our Constitution gives us no rights. We already had them. Nor does our Constitution take away any of our individual rights. Rather, it instructs government to "protect" our individual rights -- and, it orders that our rights not be infringed by the federal government.
Limiting our rights of association, assembly, arms, contract, knowledge, locomotion, property, religion, self-defense, speech, etc., etc., is not something a "good" government would do. In the United States, it would be an outward violation of the Constitution for federal government to limit these rights. So, the question is, how much restriction does government have to apply on the people before the people begin thinking of that government as evil?
If "good" is the Constitution and the original intent of the men who wrote it, then "evil" must be every law that oppresses our freedom in direct violation of that document's intent.
And, while we are at it here, shouldn't there be some method of publicly shaming those members of government who propose oppressive anti-freedom restrictions on American citizens? Because, if the answer to that is no, then maybe we have given up and all freedom is lost.
Brent Baker of the Media Research Center sent out a report this week that is both interesting and informative -- albeit somehow not really surprising. Some of us have been calling CNN the "Clinton News Network" for quite some time. And folks, it looks like it ain't going to get any better.
Below is the first paragraph of the Media Research Center report:
"CNN has tapped Rick Kaplan, a Friend of Bill who advised him on how to overcome the Gennifer Flowers revelation and was rewarded with a stay in the Lincoln Bedroom, to take control of its news operation. A top ABC News producer who has run Nightline, Prime Time Live and World News Tonight, Kaplan was named President of CNN on Tuesday. And who picked Kaplan? Tom Johnson, a Democratic activist turned President of CNN who now has the title of Chairman of the CNN News Group. Tom Johnson served as Deputy Press Secretary and later Special Assistant to President Lyndon Johnson in the late 1960s."
That sure says a bunch in one paragraph! No wonder it's getting harder and harder to believe anything presented by the major news networks.
Newspapers wonder why subscriptions are down. TV news networks wonder why viewer numbers are down. Yet, the more conservative programs and publications are all gaining. It seems as though the major publications and news programs would get the hint, but they haven't yet.
Advertisers should, though.
One thing we left out was that many of these groups are also what is called "Non-Governmental Organizations" (NGO). Which means, they are closely aligned with the United Nations and UNESCO. And needless to say, the regulators are very happy that we left that part out!
Nevertheless, the resulting mail was interesting. There are some very creative writers over there in the far left. One thing they did not write, however, is that we were wrong about our "revolving door" accusations. Because, it's true. And they know it. From the top on down, many, many people in the federal regulatory agencies are also proud members of far-left organizations outwardly working to change our form of government into a socialist state.
The information is in their bios. And it is often in their press releases when they get hired. They're proud of it. Consequently, we have a whole stack of clippings to back up what we write. Also, unbeknownst to some of them, this writer reviewed a few of their grant applications a few years back when they were in "other" positions.
Worse yet, what we've got working in the federal government regulatory agencies are quite a few people who align themselves with the very same groups that are out there are "spiking" trees, and other such harmful activities. Therefore, it is no surprise that the federal environmental regulations are so inconsiderate and uncompromising when you consider who is writing them. So, we say again: These people are the ones writing and enforcing the federal regulations (law) that you must obey.
They're good writers, though. Actually, we got a real kick out of reading some of the letters. Cause, as the deer eat our grass, the (wild) rabbit feels comfortable sitting on our front steps (right in front of us) and the coon acts like we're disturbing him every night when we yell to get him out of the trash can, these ding-dongs write to say how we must really hate nature for opposing the biosphere program! (expletive deleted)
Not even our Great Dane guard dog bothers the little critters around here. They all seem to know each other and are friendly. But, that's not to say that this is a Biosphere Reserve. This is country. That's all.
The U.S. & UNESCO Biosphere Reserve program, however, is a creature to be slayed. Not because the concept is completely wrong. But because of the way it is forced on an 'unsuspecting' American people.
They just come and make the things. No one ever asks the surrounding residents if they will want it nearby, or if they will accept more land-use regulations. No one consults, or even informs, the state legislatures. And, no one has formally informed (or asked permission of) Congress. They think that they are so much better than all other Americans that they can just go ahead and restrict American land without so much as a thank you to any American citizen.
They got away with it for a long time, too. And, in the last few years, they have bothered thousands of people with their foolishness. Today, there are 94 biosphere reserves in the United States, encompassing a total land area the size of the State of Colorado. And, they still want more land -- a lot more!
Originally, when we started this series, we said that it ends in Kentucky. It will. But, it ends "for" everyone, not just Kentucky.
The fact is, folks, we caught them with their proverbial pants down. There is no authorization for the U.S. & UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Committee to even exist. That said, there is no authorization for the MAB program to impose restrictions on American citizens. Also, they have no authorization to collect or spend taxpayer money. And most certainly, they have no authorization to enter into agreement with a foreign entity, such as UNESCO.
Yet, they did all of these things for thirteen straight years!
Now, it's time for them to pay the piper.
Listen for the tune, folks. It starts next week, and you (hopefully) will be involved. This time, we get plenty of help from the elected ones, too.
Early Monday morning, the American Constitutional Campaign Committee (ACCC) will issue a press release notifying the media that, next week, complete documentation is to be presented to a large (two to three thousand) group of state legislators interested in Tenth Amendment and property rights issues.
Of that group of legislators, we expect that at least 10% will actively participate in informing the public about the true scam of biospheres in this country. They will also demand an end to the U.S. & UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program and an open and public Congressional investigation.
Better yet, if all goes well at that meeting, the group as a whole will contact Congress demanding an end to the biosphere program and an open Congressional investigation.
But, that doesn't leave us voters out. We suggest handwritten postcards to each of your three Members of Congress. Then, in September, follow that up with a telephone call to their local office. More on this next week.
There will also be a speakers group available for radio talk shows. Quite a few shows are already scheduled around the country, but there will be knowledgeable people available for more. Any radio talk show host interested may send a message here or to ACCC at: ACCC@bng.mindspring.com
We implied last week that there is a developing plan afoot, and there is. But, it gets a little hard to accurately define this plan in writing when so many people keep signing on. That's the good problem. The hard part is to insure that everyone speaking publicly has information that is totally accurate, and can be backed up with the data we have at hand.
We can stop this land grab scheme if we all do our own little bit to "inform" our Members of Congress that we want definite action. The people running the MAB Program imposed their will -- backed up by the full force of the United States government -- on American citizens with absolutely no legal authority to run that program. And, they did it in collusion with UNESCO, which our government has had no agreements with since 1984.
Clearly, legal action is warranted. And your action is needed to make this happen.
Look for more information early Monday morning.
One Trillion Dollars annually is what those regulations cost us. That number is too big to mean much, so lets put it another way: Federal regulations cost the average American family between seven and eight thousand dollars a year in hidden costs. And, as with everything government does, it gets worse every year.
The cost of regulation enforcement alone is budgeted at $17.2-Billion for next year.
For example, EPA has an annual budget of $5.2-Billion -- up 30% last year. And, what do they do with that money? Bother us, of course. On top of everything else we have to pay, their new clean air standards are expected to cost the American public about $100-Billion each year -- or, about an extra $800 per taxpayer each year in hidden charges for products.
The Center for the Study of American Business (CSAB) has a few very interesting studies documenting the rapid growth of the federal regulatory bureaucracy and the resulting huge costs imposed on the American population. You can find CSAB at: http://csab.wustl.edu/
Don't go there if you have a weak heart, though. CSAB reports that the cost of compliance for rules promulgated by certain regulatory agencies has increased seventy times (not seventy percent, seventy TIMES) in the past few years.
Anyone care to take a guess which agencies these might be, and which non-governmental organizations (far left activist groups) they trade personnel with frequently?
Also, there's a little matter of Constitutional authority for federal regulatory agencies. There ain't any! Lately, even the Supreme Court is starting to say there is a definite problem with all this federal regulating. Check out the July 4 issue of Heads Up for more on that.