Citizens Guide to Revolution of a Corrupt Government
Thursday, November 26th, 20091. Starve the Beast. Keep your money.
2. Vote out incumbents.
3. If steps 1 and 2 fail?
PREPARE FOR WAR - LIVE FREE OR DIE
Billboard on I-70 in Missouri
Archive for the ‘Constitutionalism’ Category
‘Continental Congress’ abolishes income tax
Thursday, November 26th, 2009Citizens mobilize in spirit of ‘76 to help return U.S. to its roots
Modeled after the assembly of colonial leaders that formed the original governing body of the U.S., a grass-roots organization has concluded a “new Continental Congress” it hopes will be a catalyst for citizen action that will help return the nation to its roots.
‘New Continental Congress’ delegates meeting in St. Charles, Ill.
Meeting Nov. 11-21 in St. Charles, Ill., delegates from across the nation gathered to publicly debate the government’s “abuses of the Constitution and to consider practical strategies which can bring about compliance with our Freedom documents, not only in our government at all levels, but in our individual lives.”
The delegates produced Articles of Freedom which assert “the time has come to reassert our God-given natural rights and cast off tyranny.”
“Let the facts reveal – the Federal Government of the United States of America, which was instituted to protect the rights of individual citizens, instead – threatens our life, liberty and property through usurpations of the Constitution; and emboldened by our own lack of responsibility and due diligence in these matters, has exceeded its mandate, and abandoned those founding principles which have made our nation exceptional,” the document declares.
The organizers emphasized their “grass-roots proceedings” are not a Constitutional Convention, which the delegates strongly oppose, because it would “only serve to limit our unalienable rights.”
The Congress passed a number of resolutions, including measures against the income tax – recognizing it as unconstitutional – and against federal gun-control legislation.
The president of the session was Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party’s candidate for president in 2004. Dan Gonzales, the Constitution Party’s Florida chairman, was the session’s vice president.
Robert Schulz Sr., chairman of the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education, was a chief organizer.
The organizers, who state they seek to “legally end certain violations of the federal Constitution,” said their next step is a 14-year process by citizens to hold their state and federal elected officials accountable to the federal Constitution.
They say they have “exhausted their administrative and judicial remedies” and now wish to “exhaust their constitutional remedies, as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence and the Accountability Clause of the First Amendment.”
“When the People are up against unjust and uncivil government and laws and they are entitled to reform they will achieve it if they are pro-active, non-violent and have a mass-movement,” they declare.
Charging the government has violated the Constitution’s tax, money, war, general welfare, privacy and other clauses, the organizers have posted petitions for redress regarding the war powers clauses, gun control laws, federal income tax, federal reserve, USA Patriot Act and illegal immigration and a North American Union.
The organizers emphasize the Constitution affords citizens much more than the right to merely send “complaints” to the government, which are usually ignored.
“The Right of Petition embodies the profound Right to enforce the Right to Petition by withdrawing support from the Government until Redress is secured,” they state.
The Continental Congress 2009 sought to “take the process of holding Government accountable and restoring the Constitution to the next level by first creating a formal record of the vast violations of the Constitution and Individual Rights now suffered by the People.“
The members debated and decided on a series of practical “Civic Actions” citizens can undertake to restore their liberty.
The assembly adopted, for example, formal “Remedial Instructions” to be served on federal and state officials, ordering them to cease and desist their official abuses and giving them formal notice as to the “Civic Actions” of peaceful resistance the people can carry out if their petitions are ignored.
The Income Tax Instruction to the United States Congress adopted by the assembly cites “irrefutable documentation” establishing that the 16th Amendment is void because it was not properly ratified and arguing any direct, unapportioned tax on the labor of any American is unconstitutional.
The resolution cites the U.S. Supreme Court holding that labor and its fruits are “the most sacred and inviolable” property of the citizens of the nation.
The tax resolution also calls for Congress to immediately stop imposition of the withholding of earnings from citizens’ paychecks.
WorldNetDaily Exclusive
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
References | Resources | Related Material
- Continental Congress ‘09
The Next Step For A Free People
http://www.cc2009.us/
Posted Petitions for Redress:
Source: ‘Continental Congress’ abolishes income tax
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=116996
Continental Congress 2009 - The Next Step For A Free People
Friday, October 30th, 2009CC2009 IS NOT A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. This process is to restore obedience to our Constitution AS IT IS. Your Constitution & Republic Needs You!
CC2009 DATES: November 8 - 22, 2009
LOCATION: Pheasant Run Conference Center; St. Charles, IL
Our Nation Is Out of Control
Constitutionally, Economically & Ethically
Billion dollar bailouts, federal spending into debt that enslaves our children, trillions spent on wars in places most Americans can’t find on a map or tell you why we are there, the Bill of Rights — intended to protect our God-given individual rights as a free people — now ignored on a daily basis, have eroded our Republic.
Your 1st Amendment Solution Denied
All Three Branches of Government Refuse to Respond
Brave Americans have done their duty as free men and women and exercised our most profound 1st Amendment right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” For 14 years and counting, Bob Schulz and the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education have been serving Petitions for Redress to the Judicial, Executive and Legislative branches of our government. The lengthy record of these unanswered grievances and violations makes CC2009 necessary.
What Is Continental Congress 2009?
Tradition, Necessity & Legal Process Merge
For two weeks in November, delegates representing The People of the fifty states will join together in the tradition of the Founding Fathers and their Continental Congress of 1774. Continental Congress 2009 will convene as a national assembly of We The People and attest to the increasing abuses of our Governing Documents. Together, we will decide what peaceful, legal steps can be taken to bring about compliance with our Freedom documents.
References | Resources | Related Material
- Continental Congress ‘09
The Next Step for a Free People
http://www.cc2009.us/
- Give Me Liberty!
Home of We The People Projects and Information
http://www.givemeliberty.org/
- Jekyll Island Project
Bringing Together the Leaders of the Constitutional Movement
http://www.jekyllislandproject.com/
- We The People Foundation
The People are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.
http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/
- We The People Congress
Institutionalized Citizen Vigilance, Defense of the Constitution and Education of Our Nation
http://www.wethepeoplecongress.org/
Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiwtfk_uAhQ
YT User: www.youtube.com/user/cc2009us
Continental Congress 2009
Friday, October 30th, 2009The We The People Foundation is committed to educating Americans about their Fundamental Rights and the history, meaning and power of the Constitution, and the essential Principles of Liberty.
Where our servant governments have abused the limited authorities that the People have delegated, the Foundation confronts and holds these governments accountable to the federal and state written Constitutions.
Clear and Present Danger, Rise of the Fourth Reich
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009A Warning From Kennedy And Eisenhower
This video highlights speeches made by Kennedy and Eisenhower about the ever present danger of government takeover by fascist forces from within. It poses questions to current members of our armed forces as to whether they will stand up against such forces and defend the Constitution to which they swore.
Brothers in arms, renew your vows to the Constitution and take a stand against tyranny.
Citizens, do your Constitutional duty and stand up to tyrannical laws by exercising your right to nullify unjust prosecutions. Learn about your jury rights by reading this pamphlet put out by Regent Law School.
References / Links:
Visit: OathKeepers.org/oath/
Regent Law School Pamphlet: www.fija.org/docs/JG_Jurors_Handbook.pdf
Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=78yukFnngdU
YT User: www.youtube.com/user/suedeslounge
A Constitution in FULL Crisis
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009By JB Williams
America’s extreme left tricked American moderates into supporting their candidate last November by campaigning on post-partisan cooperation and transparency in government. Six months after the election of a freshman senator with a blank résumé, a laundry list of evil associates and a life more secret than your average CIA agent, Obama’s entire history remains a mystery and his administration is the most hardcore partisan dictatorship ever experienced in the USA.
Washington DC partisanship has turned into outright Obama-Pelosi dictatorship. The so-called “Commander-in-Chief” is fast losing control of his military, which is increasingly and viciously divided between those who are refusing to take orders from an overt enemy of the Constitution, and those who foolishly defend Obama’s right to destroy that which they took an oath to protect and preserve.
Obama should have ended the divisions over his ineligibility long before it reached the ranks of American fighting forces. He chose not to, and instead to allow the issue to fester into a powder keg that even Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod are ill-prepared to extinguish.
The US Constitution is in FULL Crisis
The US Constitution is the contract between the people and their respective states, and the federal government established by it. The document was written to form a representative republic limited in power and scope to the matters and authority delegated and ratified in the Constitution. That contract has been breached by a runaway Fed…
Decades of outright destruction of the Constitution have left the nation on the brink of economic, political and social collapse. The 2006 and 2008 election cycles placed the Constitution in full crisis and the people are growing increasingly desperate for a peaceful means to restore their Constitutional Republic.
An administration which does not meet constitutional standards is expected to protect and defend a contract which it does not even recognize, much less respect. The contract either stands, or it doesn’t. Based on the 2008 election, and every policy put in place since, the contract does not stand at present. If the Constitution no longer stands, then the federal government which it established, no longer stands in authority. Tyranny reigns…
The States Take Action
Ignored by federal public servants and cut off from any access to peaceful means of redress in congress or the courts, the people and their states are forced to take matters into their own hands.
A “constitutional” interpretation of the Constitution is in order, as the people begin to demand that a runaway Fed blatantly acting against the best interest of its people, return to a constitutional foundation, or risk being stripped of all power and abolished.
The federal government is the product of the Constitution, the contract between the people and their states which established and assigned specific limited powers to the federal government, which is to serve at the pleasure of the states and the people.
If the Constitution no longer stands, then there is NO federal government. The federal government exists only as a result of the Constitution. A very real crisis is at hand…
As a result, more than 32 states are rushing to pass Tenth Amendment legislation intended to remind the federal government of this reality. But the Obama regime is not listening.
Many of those states are also passing Second Amendment protections for their citizens, making it illegal for the Fed to threaten private gun rights, even in cases of “Martial Law.” But the Fed has rejected all such state bills, claiming that “federal laws supersede state laws.”
Reacting to an “unconstitutional” letter from Obama’s ATF, which puts Tennessee on notice that the Fed will not recognize laws passed by the individual states under Tenth Amendment rights, Tennessee State Rep. Matthew Hill points out, –
“Montana, Tennessee and all others, are SOVEREIGN states not subservient to the federal government. The Fed can send us letters all day long and it doesn’t change the fact that we are allowed to govern ourselves, under the 10th amendment of the US Constitution.”
A “constitutional” interpretation of the Constitution
All constitutional text must be read within the context of Amendment Ten… which clearly states,
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
Does the Constitution delegate the power to “confiscate and redistribute private wealth” to the federal government?
Does it delegate power to force “Cap and Trade” or so-called “Universal Health Care” upon the people and the states?
Does it delegate the power over private industry, such as banking, auto manufacturing, energy and the likes? – Or the power to disarm American citizens under any set of circumstances, real or imaginary?
No such powers were delegated to the federal government under the US Constitution. Unlike many ill-informed US citizens, Obama & Co. knows it. But they don’t care…
Since no clause exists in the Constitution which specifically assigns any of these powers to the Fed, Amendment Ten applies…
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
The Second Amendment Example
Each clause of the Constitution must be read within the context of the Tenth Amendment. Power and authority is either specifically delegated to the Fed in the text of the Constitution, specifically withheld from the Fed by way of the Bill of Rights, or in the absence of any such reference to power and authority, the Tenth Amendment applies.
In the case of gun rights, the Founders specifically denied the Fed any power via the Bill of Rights, specifically prohibiting the Fed from playing around with the people’s right to keep and bear arms.
“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
Yet, operating in direct contradiction to this Second Amendment language, the federal government has assumed a power not assigned to it by the states, to regulate the right of the people to keep and bear arms. A case of the people’s past silence, being intentionally misinterpreted as their consent, which allowed the fed to step across boundaries it is specifically prohibited from crossing in the Bill of Rights.
As a result, the states have been forced to restate their border sovereignty and state rights in new state sponsored legislation, including Second Amendment protections for their citizens who wish to keep and bear arms, whether anti-second amendment leftists in Washington DC like it or not.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
My home state of Tennessee passed both Tenth Amendment and Second Amendment legislation, supported in such number as to override our Democrat governor’s attempts to veto.
But Obama’s Fed responded by issuing a letter, under his Justice Department headed by Obama buddy Eric Holder, on the letterhead of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms signed by Assistant Director Carson Carroll, advising the state that “federal laws supersede states laws.”
Like hell they do!
The states DO NOT serve at the pleasure of the Fed. The Fed exists and serves at the pleasure of the states, a FACT that most states seem in a rush to point out to Obamanation.
The US Constitution supersedes both state and federal laws. Don’t confuse the US Constitution with federal laws, passed by congress or passed by judicial fiat via the courts. Federal laws take precedent over state laws ONLY in matters specifically delegated to the federal government in the Constitution. If no such authority is assigned to the Fed, then no such power exists at the Fed.
When the federal government makes laws pertaining to matters NOT assigned to it under the US Constitution, which it has had a habit of doing for decades now, both in congress and in the judicial branch, the states are in NO WAY bound by those laws. Those laws are by definition, unconstitutional, no matter how they were passed.
As the Second Amendment makes it quite clear that the federal government has NO power to regulate the people’s right to keep and bear arms, and the Tenth Amendment clearly states that
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
Obama’s Fed, Justice Department and ATF, have NO constitutional authority over the states in the matter…
Tennessee State Rep. Matthew Hill is exactly right. They (the Fed) can send threatening letters all day long and those letters are completely irrelevant, as they are at odds with the Constitution. The ATF letter relates to federal laws written on matters NOT assigned to the federal government to begin with, matters therefore reserved to the states and the people under the Tenth Amendment.
Even the overly politicized US Supreme Court has recently defended Second and Tenth Amendment rights in its related rulings.
The Question of Enforcement
Clearly, Obama and Co. think they won the right to run roughshod over the states and the people last fall. If our Founders had given us a pure democracy, they would be right. But in a Constitutional Representative Republic, they are dead wrong!
Still, it’s also clear that they intend to force their will upon the masses, regardless of public or state dissent, or constitutional limitations. The “silent majority” has been silent for so long, that modern leftist think that they are now the new majority, free to run roughshod over the new “silent minority.”
Under this fantasy, they proclaim the right to ram their leftist agenda down everyone else’s throat. “We won - you lost—so shut up and take it!”… is the general sentiment displayed by O-bots on message boards across the blogosphere…
That sentiment has now reached within the ranks of the US Military, where a growing number of soldiers are beginning to challenge Obama’s right to issue orders and Obama minions are publicly attacking them with a vengeance. The heated chatter got so vicious on Military.com last week, that the publication removed ALL comments on the subject from its web site before the discussion could spin out of control.
Active duty soldiers are refusing Obama orders. Reservists are refusing recall and deployment orders. Retired Navy Commander Walter Fitzpatrick has filed criminal “treason” charges against Obama. Flight Surgeon, Lt. Col. Dr. David Earl-Graeff has sent a letter to Sec. of Defense Gates, stating the following…
“Enough is enough! You must be aware at this point of the tempest brewing among the Rank and File. I am writing you in an effort to appeal to your sense of concern for the Military; a concern we share not only for the Military as a whole but for each and every individual who wears the Uniform in the Service of our Country. I am in this regard specifically asking you for your help. I implore you to not wait until the “pot boils over” and we find ourselves in total disarray. –
I am convinced, beyond any doubt, that the moral well being and efficiency of our fighting forces to defend our Country is soon to be hanging in a precarious balance if not already. In my humble estimation this is NOT a theoretical possibility to construct a thesis or a contingency plan about. It is a reality and is happening right now. Resolution of this issue must be accomplished in the most expeditious manner available at your disposal to gain immediate relief to those of us who are struggling to fully comply with our sworn Oath to the Constitution while being conflicted by questions relating to the qualifications of the POTUS to hold the office in full and absolute compliance with the Natural Born Citizen Clause.”
So, how does Obama plan to enforce his global vision upon the masses when the US Constitution which provides for a federal government, delegates no such authority and an increasing number of soldiers and law enforcement are taking a stand against a “potential domestic enemy” in an effort to uphold their oath to protect and defend the US Constitution?
Once Silent running out of Tolerance
Convinced that the Constitution is under constant threat from within today, Americans normally happy to avoid the subject of politics altogether are building a head of steam to thwart the current constitutional crisis. They are erecting lines of defense at the state borders before Obama can capitalize on one of his many manufactured disasters by removing the people’s right to stand opposed.
His Department of Homeland Security has already redefined “domestic terrorist” to include anyone who disagrees with Obama. His minions have already labeled anyone concerned with the Constitution, “birthers,” in a childish name-calling effort to silence the dissent. His left-wing press has affixed the title of “racist” to anyone who dare doubt Obama’s anti-American Marxist agenda, or his mystery messiah status.
Pelosi has made certain that Republicans have no voice in congress and Holder has made certain that the people will not find a legal forum to resolve Obama’s overt agenda or hidden past in any court.
Growing increasingly desperate to restore the Constitution and fast running out of peaceful means of doing so, the people find themselves in a very real Constitutional Crisis.
Peacefully Forcing the Fed to Reverse Course
With a tone deaf Fed, the people are turning to their state legislators and the states are moving to close down the Fed. Led by the Tenth Amendment Center, state legislators are rushing to reclaim freedom and liberty on behalf of their citizens.
- Step One – Tenth Amendment Affirmation
- Step Two – Second Amendment Affirmation
- Step Three – Kicking the Fed out of the States
- Step Four – Shutting down the Fed by cutting off 97% of Fed funding by repeal of the 16th Amendment
- Step Five – Repeal of the 17th Amendment, removing every current member of the senate and sending new representatives of states right to establish a new constitutional senate.
- Step Six – cleaning house in Washington DC and establishing a constitutional limited government which will once again serve at the pleasure and benefit of the states and the people
Unlike drug rehab, it doesn’t take twelve steps to reinstate a constitutional Fed, although it could take a twelve step program to break many modern Democrats addiction to free-stuff from the public trough.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
If the people fail to quickly alter a Fed run wild, via their state legislatures, they will be left with no option but to abolish and start over from scratch.
Republicans in Washington DC have either lost their way or lost their nerve. As a result, they have lost all power.
But Republicans, Independents and even Blue Dog Democrats across the nation in state legislatures, are acting in defense of their citizens and the Constitution, and the people MUST take a stand with those state legislators, immediately.
Visit the Tenth Amendment Center for an up-to-date picture of where your state stands in the march to reclaim states rights and reign in the runaway Fed.
Contact your state legislators and get behind their efforts to affirm state sovereignty and rights. Even Obama does not have the power to force his will upon fifty states who stand united and opposed!
JB Williams Most recent columns
JB Williams is a business man, a husband, a father, and a writer. A no nonsense commentator on American politics, American history, and American philosophy. He is published nationwide and in many countries around the world. JB Williams’ website is jb-williams.com.
JB Williams can be reached at: JB_Williams@comcast.net
Source: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/13119
Visit: www.tenthamendmentcenter.com
Attorney General to Classify Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Americans as Terrorists
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009By NWV News writer Jim Kouri
An amendment to a bill swiftly moving through the US Congress will allow the Obama Administration’s Attorney General to classify Americans as domestic terrorists if they are pro-life, pro-gun and anti-big government.
Impeached Florida judge — now a Democrat Party member of the House of Representatives — Rep. Alcee Hastings introduced what some claim is a disturbing piece of legislation. Hasting’s amendment calls for the Attorney General to have discretion over who is called a terrorist and what groups will be treated as terrorist groups.
“This is arguably one of the worst pieces of legislation to come down the pike in a long, long time. In essence Attorney General Eric Holder — a Bill Clinton retread — will have the discretion to label Americans terrorists. Hastings is a dangerous man and should be forced to resign from congress. He’s also proposed the creation of “emergency camps” that are nothing more than prisons,” warns political strategist Mike Baker.
“This amendment is part and parcel of the trend in this country to suppress dissent by patriots by calling them domestic terrorists,” he added.
In an unclassified report entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and her agency included the following description of “extremists:”
“Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”
Last Thursday, Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) made the following remarks on the House Floor regarding Congressman Alcee Hastings’ (D-FL) amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill:
“The Hastings Amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill (which now is being considered en bloc) prohibits the recruitment, enlistment, or retention of persons with known affiliations to “groups determined by the Attorney General to be of a violent, extremist nature.”
“Members on both sides of the aisle support the purpose of this amendment because we recognize that there are legitimate concerns about the enlistment of persons who may seek to use their military training to cause harm to innocents, but we should take pause to consider the breadth of this amendment carefully. I just want to express concern about the language of this amendment, and my concerns are shared by many in this House,” said Rep. Franks.
“While the amendment seeks to keep gang members and members of violent groups out of the military, the amendment by its language is much more broad. Specifically, it confers upon the Attorney General the ability to categorize groups as hate groups, and this sounds an alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as “extremists,” warned Franks.
“I take extreme offense that the federal government — through a report issued under the authority of a Cabinet-level official — would dare to categorize people who are “dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition or abortion or immigration” as “right-wing extremists” and it begs the question of whether the Attorney General, under Mr. Hastings’ Amendment, can look to the Napolitano report to decide who is an extremist, or can make the same categorization of the majority of Americans as extremists who may then be kept from joining the military, or who may be discharged,” said Rep. Franks.
“I want to state unequivocally that I believe that it is not the intent of this Congress to label pro-lifers, federalism proponents, and pro-immigration enforcement groups and their affiliates as extremists under the bill. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle should make a strong effort to assuage these concerns and make our intentions clear. If the intent of this amendment is to go after citizens because of their political views and moral convictions, then the amendment is unconstitutional. I hope that the sponsor of the Amendment will make clear tonight that this is not the intent,” he added.
Rep. Alcee Hastings also introduced what many say is another disturbing piece of legislation. That new bill calls for the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to build at least six facilities that can be designated as “emergency centers. Hastings rationale for such facilities is to gather and “house” civilians on what are basically detention centers guarded by armed soldiers or paramilitary troops.
The House bill (HR 645) — National Emergency Centers Establishment Act — is not even on the radar of members of the elite media. According to critics of the plan, if passed the government will create camps or centers that by their nature restrict the activities of US citizens herded into them.
In fact, one provision — Section 2 (b) (4) — states: “[To] meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
One critic, political strategist Mike Baker claims the idea of such detention center smacks of the type of concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany, Americans find repugnant.
“Why aren’t the news media covering this story? Could it be because they fear being the first occupants of these so-called emergency installations? Where is the outrage by our nation’s Fourth Estate?” asks Baker.
Hastings bill is suspected of attempting to help expand the President Obama’s military and law enforcement powers. While Hastings pushes this bill, even Republican congressmen are hesitant to remind one another and the nation that this Florida congressman was impeached while he sat on Florida’s federal court bench.
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, he became the first African-American federal judge in the state of Florida, and served in that position for ten years. He’s still called “Judge” by some of his colleagues, but one would think he’d rather forget his days on the federal bench.
In 1989, Judge Hastings was impeached by the US House of Representatives for bribery and perjury. The Democratic-controlled Senate convicted Hastings of accepting a $150,000 bribe in 1981 in exchange for a lenient sentence and of perjury in his testimony about the case. Hastings said the charges against him smacked of racism.
Even Rep. John Conyers, who is also black, said he “found no trace of racism during the investigation.” He urged his colleagues to remove Hastings from the bench. He said, “[Hastings] is unfit to serve.”
When the ultra-liberal Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi nominated Hastings for the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, even members of her own political party balked.
“The prospect of Rep. Alcee Hastings becoming the chairman of the House of Representative’s Intelligence Committee was proposed by Congressional Black Caucus, who had been pressuring the new House Speaker Pelosi to appoint blacks to key leadership positions and Hasting benefited from the pressure on the radical left Pelosi,” said former Detective Sidney Frances (NYPD-ret.), himself an African-American.
While Hastings did not become chairman of that committee, he is a ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
July 5, 2009
© 2009 NewsWithViews.com
Source: http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news152.htm
Other Sources:
H.R. 2647: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010
A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.
GovTrack.us: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2647
OpenCongress.org: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2647/show
Amendment to H.R. 2647
http://www.rules.house.gov/111/AmndmentsSubmitted/hr2647/hastings82_hr2647_111.pdf
H.R. 645: National Emergency Centers Establishment Act
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers on military installations.
GovTrack.us: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-645
OpenCongress.org: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h645/show
“Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment”
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf
Alcee Hastings Trial and Impeachment:1983 & 1989 - The Alleged Plot, The Trial, Phase Two, The Impeachment Trial, Hastings Rebounds
http://law.jrank.org/pages/3376/Alcee-Hastings-Trial-Impeachment-1983-1989.html
Rep. Alcee Hastings
Replaced Videos
Saturday, June 27th, 2009S 787 Near Complete Takeover of Private Land by out of control Government
Sunday, June 21st, 2009IT IS TIME TO REALLY, REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT DISREGARD CONGRESS HAS FOR OUR PROPERTY RIGHTS AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT WE THINK!
You need to read this! This will be a near complete takeover of private land in the US by our out of control Government.
If you think food is high now or energy, just wait this this kicks in… We are getting change alright!
- Bob Parker
I’LL KEEP MY GUNS, FREEDOM, & MONEY…
YOU CAN KEEP THE “CHANGE!”
* * *
Message from R.J. Smith regarding:
S.787 Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA)
Hope many of you had a chance to watch democracy in action. In a mere one hour and seventeen minutes the EPW sailed through the CWRA S.787 (actually a slightly modified alternative amendment worked out yesterday by Baucus-Klobuchar-Boxer.) The Baucus “compromise” was largely window dressing, maintaining the existing CWA exemptions for some agricultural activities in the new CWRA. This was to lure farmers into supporting the CWRA. At best it might have gained them one farm organization.
S. 787 as amended passed and was reported favorably to the Senate. The vote was 12-7 on straight party lines.
Senators Inhofe, Vitter and Barrasso were heroic in their efforts to defend private property rights and states’ water rights and prevent most of the American land and water from effectively being Federalized/nationalized.
Inhofe made an excellent opening statement and subsequent comments. Said the bill was not fixable, but that there was no way to stop it in committee. He vowed a very robust effort to defeat it on the floor. Said it is a dagger aimed right at the heart of rural America.
Vitter noted this bill is a radical change in the CWA moving from regulation of navigable waters to regulation of all waters of the US. He submitted two amendments.
One to allow the president to override the CWRA in the case of natural disasters such as hurricanes, so that recovery efforts would not be delayed or halted. Boxer said public health would be compromised if exemptions were provided. Carper said Vitter’s amendment would undermine the intent of the bill.
Boxer and Carper argued they weren’t expanding any government authority — simply returning to the authority of the CWA prior to the SWANCC and Rapanos decisions, i.e., restoring the authority of the CWA. (Boxer repeated that theme over and over.)
Vitter responded that it restores nothing that was ever in the CWA — instead it returns to the vastly expansive definition of navigable which federal bureaucrats had achieved in order to usurp powers not grated to the Federal government (such as the migratory bird rule, the “glancing goose test”), which was why the Supreme Court had to step in and point out that navigable meant navigable.
It was defeated on a voice vote.
Vitter offered another amendment to include language that the use of mosquito control pesticides would never be required to obtain permits under the CWRA. Worried about this preventing control of diseases such as West Nile. Said FIFRA already adequately regulates their use. There have been movements to require such permits and there are currently cases in court. Boxer responded that Obama has issued a two-year stay or moratorium on such regulations — so nothing to worry about. Vitter insisted that it was necessary to resolve the uncertainty and a temporary stay was insufficient.
Defeated on a voice vote and a roll call vote.
Barrasso then offered a series of amendments, basically aimed at restricting the vast new “wetlands” listed as waters of the US.
First was to prohibit the Federal government from taking all streams and intermittent streams within a state. Said there was no authority for the US to seize jurisdiction over state streams. “No one in WDC has the right to seize and control our streams.” And they were already adequately protected under state laws. And that streams that only flowed when storm water runoff filled them would be placed under control of Washington. Defeated on voice vote.
Next amendment to prevent Federal government from taking all mudflats in the 50 states. Boxer objected to saying the environmentalists were special interest groups, they were just trying to protect our beautiful places. Defeated on voice vote and on a roll call vote by 13-6. I believe it was Voinovich who crossed. (It was difficult to hear the clerk announce the roll call vote and the votes themselves.)
Next amendment to prevent US takeover of all prairie potholes in the states, with vast numbers being on private farmland and ranchland. Voice vote sounded close so Boxer asked for a roll call vote. 13-6 against.
Next Barrasso amendment to prohibit Federal takeover of all wet meadows. Defeated on voice vote.
Next amendment to prevent EPA takeover of all natural ponds. It nationalizes all natural ponds on private lands. Defeated by voice vote.
Boxer asked Barrasso if he had any more amendments. He responded yes. She replied “Boy you are a glutton for punishment.” (So much for respect for property rights and the Fifth Amendment.)
Next amendment. To protect and exempt agriculture under the CWRA. Boxer said this would create an enormous loophole for pollution by famers. Defeated on voice vote.
Next amendment prohibits controls on animal farming: cattle, sheep, goats, fish, crawfish, etc. Defeated on voice vote.
Last Barrasso amendment required that specific language be inserted in the bill to clearly exempt ground water from the regulatory authority of the CWRA. Said while the findings suggest that ground water is not included, that was insufficient. Need unambiguous language. Boxer replied that doing so would weaken the bill! Defeated on voice vote and then on a roll call vote. Inhofe then asked that his name also be attached to all of the amendments.
Then Boxer called for the vote on S.787 as amended and it very quickly passed 12-7.
Now we wait to see what happens in the Senate and what Rep. Oberstar does in the House.
Senator Inhofe said in committee that there is no chance of the CWRA passing on the Senate floor. And in a post-mark-up press release reiterated that “The CWRA faces certain demise if it ever reaches the Senate floor.”
Also Senator Crapo placed a hold on the bill.
Let’s hope that Senator Inhofe’s optimism is well founded.
Meanwhile it is important that anyone who has examples of CWA horror stories of landowners — or any projects — tied up in years of costly red tape and permits, staggering court costs, and fines or imprisonment for carrying out legitimate activities on private land — please submit them to us. Especially if you have documentation such as newspaper stories.
The supporters of the CWRA are arguing that it is simply an attempt to return to the innocuous CWA pre-SWANCC, when the law did nothing but make our waters safe for drinking, swimming and fishing.
We need additional stories similar to those of the imprisonment of Ocie Mills and his son in FL for 21 months; John Pozsgai in PA for 18 months as part of a three-year sentence; Bill Ellen in MD for 6 months; etc., to demonstrate the vast overreach of the CWA and precisely why the Supreme Court had to step in.
And that returning to those unlimited powers — and in fact giving the Feds ever broader authority to regulate anything and everything would be a disaster.
Remember the case of the Gaston Roberge and his wife in Maine. They had owned a 2.8 acre commercial lot in the town of Old Orchard Beach for 20 years. Purchased originally to pay for their retirement.
In the mid-1970s they had allowed the town to deposit excavated dirt from a sewer line project on one half acre. When they attempted to sell the lot in 1986 the Corps told them it was a wetlands and they had violated the CWA by illegally dumping fill on it and were order to remove it.
They spent 8 years fighting through the green tape and with mounting frustration and costs finally went to court. In the discovery process they located an internal Corps memo recommending “Roberge would be a good one to squash and set an example” — in order to create a climate of fear among landowners and developers. Subsequently the Corps dropped the charges and paid some compensation to Roberge — but nowhere near enough to make him whole.
That attitude of the Federal bureaucrats of squashing people to set an example demonstrates the CWA had long ago been converted from water protection to an exercise in naked political power.
If you have such horror stories please send them to rsmith@nationalcenter.org. Or mail them c/o NCPPR, Capitol Court, N.E., Suite 200, Washington, D.C 20002.
And for information on the CWRA, many documents and papers and links to other sites visit the National Center’s CWRA webpage: http://www.nationalcenter.org/CWRA.html.
S 787 Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA)
Friday, June 19th, 2009hmm… let’s see… they want to control the food. They want to control the water. They want to control development. They want to control what people make. They want to control health care. They want to control our automakers. They want to control our money supply and our banks.
Their new carbon taxes and cap and trade will devastate America.
They have destroyed our manufacturing and small farms with imports, regulations and ID programs.
They have taxed everything under the sun and still don’t have enough money.
I want my old American back. God, guts, guns, mom and apple pie.
I need to find a John Wayne re-run to make me feel better….
Anybody else about had enough of this???
The bad thing about socialism is pretty soon they run out of other people’s money… then they want your land, your rights, and your Freedom…
- Bob Parker
* * *
Water is necessary for sustaining life as well as growing food, and should not be something that we are forced to pay for or go without. S 787, introduced by Senator Russ Feingold, attempts to make all waters that fall from the sky onto our land property of the Federal Government. This is unnacceptable.
Let me put it another, more direct way. If water falls out of the sky and into a pool of water on my property, I’ll be damned if I am going to pay the Feds, Corp USA, one red cent to drink it. Do you hear that Senator Feingold? You can take your S 787 and shove it!
(read the rest of her article here: http://farmwars.info/?p=764)
- Barbara H. Peterson
* * *
With the Democrats having nationalized the financial, banking and automobile industries — bringing a strong layer of socialism to the key portions of the US economy, they are now moving to nationalize the American land and water.
Under the Clean Water Act the Federal government only had the authority to regulate “navigable waters” and control the discharge of pollutants and dredge and fill activities within those navigable waters.
The so-called Clean Water RESTORATION Act restores nothing. That is a hoax. Instead it removes the restrictive and limiting terms “navigable” waters and unconstitutionally extends the Federal regulatory authority over ALL waters of the United States. This includes the driest desert areas that may only hold water for a few weeks a year during summer monsoon rains. And it includes completely isolated prairie potholes (small ponds and marshes) with no connection whatsoever to any other waters.
Furthermore, the bill will now prohibit ALL activities affecting all waters of the United States. This means that anything a landowner, a business, a county roads department, a waterfowl conservation program undertakes that could conceivably affect anything that is wet — will be subject to the discretionary jurisdiction of Army Corps or EPA bureaucrats. They will then be able to make the lives of family farmers, ranchers, tree farmers, home builders — almost anyone and everyone — literally impossible. They will have the total power to force every farmer or rancher or ordinary business owner to run a gauntlet of permits, red tape, delays — that will delay projects long enough and cost so much as to essentially shut down or bankrupt even the most necessary and innocuous projects.
There are copious examples of wetlands horror stories over the last 20 years where people have been imprisoned and fined staggering amounts for simply building their own home, cleaning up dumps, or creating habitat for waterfowl. And that occurred under the CWA restrictions of “navigable waters” and prohibitions only on discharging pollutants and dredge and fill activities.
Once those constraints are removed by the CWRA, life will quickly become a bureaucratic nightmare with no exit — particularly so throughout all of rural America. This bill would be much more honestly named The Rural Cleansing Act of 2009.
This will be a tough battle given that the E&PW Committee make up is 12 Ds and 7 Rs (which includes Senators George Voinovich and Lamar Alexander.)
It is especially important to enlist the help of the agricultural community, especially county and state farm bureaus. Request that they notify not only the members of the Senate E&PW but also the Senate Agriculture Committee.
It is also vital to contact Rep. Collin Peterson Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and request that he ask for oversight hearings on the impact of the CWRA on America’s farmers and the nation’s food production.
You should also request that the farmers and ranchers you know and your county and state farm bureaus and cattlemen’s associations contact the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association asking them to strongly oppose the CWRA.
by R.J. Smith
Track the Progress of S.787 Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA)
- The Library of Congress
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:s.00787: - S.787 Clean Water Restoration Act on OpenCongress.org
www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s787/show - Full bill text of S.787 Clean Water Restoration Act as introduced in Senate on OpenCongress.org
www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s787/text - Real-time Tracking on GovTrack.us
www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-787