Showing posts with label State and local government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State and local government. Show all posts

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Then and Now


While cleaning a storage space last week, I found this pamphlet I'd published when I ran for PA General Assembly sometime in the late 70's or early 80's. For the most part, my positions haven't changed, although I do have a little better understanding of what is going on than I did then. For instance, I said here that we would lose our freedom. That came from a naïve viewpoint. I now realize we lost our freedom in 1913 – maybe we never really had it. I also no longer believe it is enough to simply throw out those who do not listen to us. The only choices the Republican and Democratic Party give us are the same and more of the same. The Republican wing of our ruling party could give us a choice this time in Ron Paul, but they won't. He speaks too much truth for the powers that be to tolerate, so he is ignored as much as possible. We will be offered lily white Zionists to replace the off-white Zionist we have. Whoever we elect will remain steadfastly loyal to Israel and send our young people to die for her just as the Tories sent our young to die for England in two world wars. Besides, when we throw “the rascals out”, those they served will have nice, well paid jobs for them as a reward for the service rendered and for betraying America, the people, and the people of the world.

One other important thing. I was completely taken in by the Commie vs. us dog and pony show. I now realize that Communism, like the other major socialisms, Fabianism, National Socialism, and Fascism is totally owned and operated by the financial capitalists and used as a tool to herd all of us. The enemy has been within since Hamilton and Washington set up the national bank against the advice of Jefferson.

Here are my positions. It should be obvious that I wasn't expecting to get many votes. Human nature being what it is, most people will go down the list and, no matter how many things they agree with, they will find something they disagree with that will cause them to vote Republican or Democrat. After all, the Reps and Dems stood firmly for Baseball, Motherhood, and Apple Pie. What American could disagree with those?


RICK

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
141st DISTRICT

The following are my views on issues which I believe are among the most important facing us.

I have straddled no fences. I have presented a straight forward stand on each issue.

In each case, my stand is founded on principle and is not subject to change for political expediency.


EDUCATION
General- I believe we, as parents, must bear a large part of the blame for the failures of our educational system. We have not payed enough attention to our children's progress (or lack of progress) nor have we voiced sufficient objection to the havoc being wreaked by the so called "progressives" in our educational system. We must stop teaching children how to analyze and find fault with themselves and their parents and teach them how to read and write and to have confidence in themselves and respect for their parents.
Busing- I am militantly opposed to busing for integration, either by direct means or by underhanded methods such as magnet schools. The busing orders issued by the courts are illegal. Even the unconstitutional "Civil Rights Act of 1964" states, "desegregation shall not mean the assignment of students to public schools in order to overcome racial imbalance." I firmly believe that if we are too weak to fight for the safety and well being of our children, then we no longer deserve, and most certainly will lose, our freedom.
State and Federal Aid? to Education- A nice phrase meaning interference with and control of our schools. I think it should be stopped. It is interesting to note that public schools are spending more and more money but are teaching less and less, while private schools are maintaining their high standards with comparatively less money. State and federally mandated programs are wasting our money and hurting our schools. We are selling the right to control our schools locally for our own tax money. If the state and federal governments have revenue to "share" then they are taking too much to begin with. I favor repeal of the state income tax and a reduction of the sales tax. The Federal Government should reduce taxes and institute a voucher system. These measures would aid all schools and taxpayers without sacrificing control over our schools and our children.

MASS TRANSIT
I am opposed to a state subsidized mass transit system. One SEPTA mess is too much. Regardless of whether we use the system or not, we pay part of the fare for those who do. I believe each of us should pay his own way. The inevitable result of a government operated, taxpayer subsidized mass transit will be the limitation of auto ownership to a wealthy elite. You and I will ride the bus or walk.
LAND USE AND PLANNING
This is a local matter best left to the people who know their community and not to the "masterplanners" in Harrisburg. I strongly resent the forced growth and land grab programs being forced on us by Washington and Harrisburg.

ABORTION
I am against abortion except in life for life situations. It is curious that the same "liberals" who cry out for mercy for convicted cold blooded murderers, who call the death penalty for monsters such as Manson "cruel and unusual punishment," can advocate imposing the death penalty on unborn, innocent babies. They say a woman has a right to do what she wants with her own body. That's fine, but I know of no woman who would submit her own body to the torture that the infant is subjected to when aborted. It is not her body that is cut to pieces or pickled alive, it is the body of an unborn child that receives such treatment. I realize that unborn children have no vote, but I intend to fight for the child's right to live, the women who would abort will have to look elsewhere for representation.

CRIME
I believe in severe penalties for serious crimes, including the death penalty for murder. It is another curious matter that the politicians who said that the death penalty was not a deterent, passed laws permitting the death penalty for those who murder, you guessed it, politicians. Sounds like Orwell's "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

WELFARE

Welfare is a monster that feeds on itself. The larger the welfare lines grow, the worse our economic situation becomes and the longer the welfare lines grow, in an unending circle. New York City has shown this. I favor a gradual cut-back of all state welfare programs to the barest minimum necessary to support those who truly cannot support themselves. I would cut the number of offices for complaints in half immediately.

GUN CONTROL
The worst thing the American people can do is allow the government to take away their right to keep and bear arms. Without that right, all other rights become privileges, extended or retracted at the whim of the government. Crime is on the rise, not because we have guns, but because the courts are playing "Patty-Cake" with convicted criminals.

VOTER REGISTRATION
Personal- I am registered and active with the Constitutional Party. I joined the Constitutional Party when I realized that there was little hope of clearing the muddy, polluted waters of the Republican and Democratic Party.
General- I think the high number of unregistered people is a disgrace. I realize that many people are disgustedwith what is happening but that is no excuse for not register-ing or not voting. The American way is to fight harder when you are down, not to quit. Politicians don't give a damn what we think if we are not registered. They'll behave only if they know that if they don't, then we will work hard to throw them out. We must stop waiting for someone to "give" us good government. Like everything else worthwhile it must be earned. We can earn it by becoming informed, registering, and voting in every election. We should work for and actively support the candidates of our choice and, if we are not satisfied with those who are running, then we should run ourselves.

CONGRESS
I believe that the candidates offered by the Republican and Democratic Party are carbon copies of those who have put us in the hole. If we don't start throwing the grave diggers out of Washington, they will soon bury us. We need strong, courageous, and consistant foreign policy to win back our friends and regain our lost position of world leadership. At home we need to get "big brother" off our backs and return to sound economic policies rather than Utopian daydreams. I feel that the Constitutional Party candidate, Bob Graham, is the only candidate for the 8th District who is both able and willing to work toward a sensible solution to our foreign and domestic problems.

THE RECORD
The elected and appointed officials from the Republican and Democratic Party have compiled the following record:
-Government created inflation which has destroyed the value of the savings and pensions of our old people.
-Virtual bankruptcy of our cities, states, and federal governments and the amassing of huge deficits which will be borne by our children.
-Neglect of our National Defense and slandering and deserting our allies while aiding our enemies and helping to build their military might.
-The murder of our sons in deliberate no win wars that sap our strength, weaken our will to resist, and encourage the Communists to further their global plans of aggression.
-Rapidly increasing crime in our streets caused by leniency in the courts and in the penal system.
-Busing of our children into hostile neighborhoods against our wishes.
-Stealing between 40% and 50% of our incomes and literally taxing us out of our 
homes.

The next time a politician says he is running on his record, hit him with an egg.

****

One last thing. This was not on the pamphlet. I ran as an independent to support our Constitutional Party candidate for Congress. The election laws are so written that, even if a third (second?) party does get on the ballot, it will be almost impossible to maintain that ballot position unless they have a lot of money behind them. In this case, we didn't have sufficient registration for us to run a candidate in my district, nor did we have the funds to conduct a registration drive.


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Monday, January 2, 2012

Pizza Registration

The office of the White House Press Secretary today announced the plan of President Obama to issue an Executive Order requiring all Pizzas made for sale in the United States to be registered with the DOJ's Counter Terrorism Unit. This coming in the wake of an increase in acts of terror being committed by Pizza wielding extremists.

The President is not ready to release details on his E.O., because, as in the case of the Health Care bill, the Order will be a skeleton that will be fleshed out by agencies, existing or created, that will be responsible for formulating, implementing, and executing the plan established. For this President Obama has called an emergency meeting of the heads of all existing departments involved.

Tops on the list of things to be discussed is limiting the size of pizza to 6” in diameter and creation of a microchip to be embedded in each pizza sold. Preliminary requirements for the chip have already been released to Intel and AMD so they will be able to make proposals at the proper time. Each has been given a ten billion dollar grant for research and development. The value of the contract that will be awarded is expected to be in the Trillions. Most of the cost, according to the Office of Management and Budget, will eventually be passed on to the Pizza Restaurants and the consumer.

Minimum requirements have been set for the embedded chip. It must blend into the cheese and be easily swallowed. To facilitate tracking of potentially harmful ingredients such as explosively hot pepperoni, the chip must survive the trip through the digestive system until it exits the body. It must continue to be fully functional until destroyed by the processes used in sewage treatment facilities.

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will be addressing the next meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. She is expected to appeal for a world-wide Anchovy Proliferation Treaty.

[Obviously, the above report is false. I just wanted to see if I could come up with fiction more absurd than fact. I failed miserably.]

The story that beats my fiction by a mile comes from Bob Unruh of World Net Daily via David Theroux at The Beacon, http://blog.independent.org/2011/12/28/public-school-clamps-down-on-ten-year-old-for-pizza-gun/ the blog of the Independent Institute http://www.independent.org

....
In the past, a gunmaker’s name on a pen and a drawing of a space weapon have been enough to bring down school officials’ wrath on students; now it’s a piece of pizza.

At an elementary school in Smyrna, Tenn., student Nicholas Taylor, 10, has been ordered to spend lunches for the rest of the semester at the lunchroom’s “silent table” because he allegedly picked up a piece of pizza and waved it around like a gun.

According to a WKRN television report, school officials say Taylor “threatened” other students “with a piece of pizza with bites out of it so it looked like a gun.”

The station said his mother, LeAnn Taylor, described the punishment as “absolutely ridiculous” and said her son never said anything derogatory or anything about shooting.

“The kid across the table from him said it looked like a gun so he picked it up and started shooting it in the air,” she said, according the television report.

A school official, James Evans, said the punishment actually is because “some students reported he was making some threatening hand gestures, that he was shooting at other kids at the table, and they reported it to a teacher.”

. . . .

“In addition to the stigma of silent lunch, Nicholas was required to meet with the school resource officer to learn about gun safety. I submit that the school should have further required that the child … meet with the dietitian to discuss pizza safety.”

The controversy developed, according to the WKRN report, a few days ago at David Youree Elementary School in Smyrna, a part of the Rutherford County School District.

Evans wrote, “I realize some might say we are going overboard but the principal is just trying to use an abundance of caution and send the message that we don’t play about guns and it’s not something we joke around about.”

Taylor told the station the school made it clear if her son eats his pizza into the shape of a gun again and there is another incident, he would be suspended.
....

See the whole story at http://www.wnd.com/2011/12/381781/ including a TV interview of two Tennessee representatives. Can you pick the airhead?

Let's just be thankful it wasn't a piece of French Bread Pizza. School officials might have thought it was a rocket launcher and poor Nicholas would already be in Gitmo.


Saturday, May 22, 2010

Boycott Seattle

“City Council backs Arizona boycott,” News, May 18. So read a headline concerning the actions of the Seattle City Council. They were, of course, completely out of line.

According to an Associated Press release printed in the Seattle Times, the Seattle City Council voted 7-0 Monday to boycott Arizona. In so doing they've joined cities such as L.A., San Diego, and Austin in urging boycotts or protests against Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law.

The Times notes the hypocrisy in the Council's boycott. It was written, says the paper, “to protect the only substantial contract Seattle has with an Arizona company - a $106,000-a-month deal with American Traffic Solutions.”

Seattle, sitting “Way Up North” can have no idea of the problems illegal immigration causes a border state like Arizona. True, Washington is also a “border” state, but the “flood” of illegal immigrants seeking to escape Canada for a better life in the U.S. has not yet become such a serious problem to Washington as the Mexican illegals have become to Arizona. Arizona is bearing the brunt of the invasion, having to fight, not only the illegal immigrant traffic, but the drug trafficking that accompanies it. Naturally, the cry “racism” can be heard. Trying to stop people from entering the country illegally is now “racist.”

Also emulating the Boy Who Cried “Racist,” the Los Angeles' resolution claims that the Arizona law “encourages racial profiling.” May we presume this could be solved by instructing police to stop only Eskimos to see if they are illegal Mexican aliens?

Many Seattle residents have written letters to the editor opposing this action of the council. They say, and rightfully, that neither the city of Seattle nor the State of Washington has any right to interfere in the laws of another State. Some have even suggested that under the circumstances other States and cities might boycott Seattle and/or Washington State. I think that's a great idea!

I, for one, will never drink a cup of Starbucks coffee again. I'd like to add that I will never travel to Seattle, but—who would want to? Maybe rain wear or umbrella manufacturers might want to hold a convention there, but other than that the place is only fit for ducks.

I believe I saw this “joke” in Reader's Digest. A woman moves to Seattle. It rains every day for a week. She looks out of her apartment window and sees a little boy sitting on the building's steps in the rain. Frustrated to the point she can hardly bear it, she calls down, “Little boy! Does it ever stop raining here?” The little boy answers, “I don't know, lady. I'm only six.”

I will also try to avoid products of L.A., San Diego, and Austin.

The url for the Seattle Times is: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Please don't use it unless you absolutely have to!

While we're boycotting the creep cities, how about giving some support to the Arizona Cattlemen's Association whose members are manning the front line in the American people's war against illegal invasion. They're fighting a tough fight with illegals in front and traitors at the rear.

Thursday, May 20, 2010
RESTORE OUR BORDER -In honor of ROB KRENTZ
Please go to the web site below and endorse the Restore Our Border (ROB) plan named for Rob Krentz who was murdered by an illegal alien on his own land. The Arizona Cattle Growers need lots of endorsements.

Thank you for your consideration.http://www.azcattlemensassoc.org/rob-plan-endorsement-form.html

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A SMALL VICTORY - MAYBE!

Globalist Enemy of America Defeated in New Jersey


A Small Victory.....Maybe!

The voters of New Jersey, a state affectionately referred to by many freedom fans as “The People's Republic of New Jersey,” rejected the re-election bid of Governor John Corzine, Globalist Bilderberg attendee.

In a rally in which Uncle Tom Obama boosted Corzine, Corzine announced that he planned to reduce spending in New Jersey by consolidating local governments. Consolidation of local (and state governments) is sought by those advancing world government because it will facilitate a merger of the United States into such a world government or into a regional super-state (North American Union) as a first step. Part of the plan, ongoing since at least the early 1920's, can be found in the “Regionalism – Death of the American System” post in this blog.

I say “maybe” a victory because a very real possibility exists that the people just replaced one traitor with an identical political twin. New Jersey also had a Republican governor, Christie Whitman, who was a Bilderberg attendee. Understand that people are not invited to Bilderberg meetings unless they share a globalist philosophy.

A “change” from a Democrat to a Republican or from a Republican to a Democrat is very rarely a change at all. Christie will have to be watched closely by the people of New Jersey or he, too, will likely try to rob them of their local governments while siding with those who would rob us all of our Republic and our Constitution.

Speaking of the Constitution brings us to something of vital importance. There are those who, while pretending to be friends of our Republic and limited constitutional government, support, even promote, a constitutional convention to rewrite the Constitution. Those in power have long been seeking to legalize the crimes against the Constitution and the people that they have already committed. Only fools and wishful thinkers could believe that we, the people, would have any control over the product of such a convention.

Regionalism, the destruction of our State and local governments, is one of the crimes many seeking a convention hope to legalize. The following is taken from The Don Bell Report, May 20, 1977. Bell quotes Col. Archibald Roberts:

“The Federal Regionalism Concept...has a flaw...which is never questioned by the press, by elected officials, or by the people. That flaw is this: The Federal Regionalism Concept is unconstitutional.”

Roberts quotes from the Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, 2nd Section, 177:

“An unconstitutional statute though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but wholly null and void and ineffective for any purpose. It imposes no duty, confers no rights, creates no office, bestows no power or authority on acts performed under it. No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional statute and no courts are bound to enforce it.”

Bell warned us that those seeking to impose this unconstitutional Federal Regionalism on us know that it's unconstitutional. He tells us that Barbara G. Culver, then president of the National Association of Regional Councils, was quoted in their official publication as saying “In 10 short years, without any authority or power, regional councils have changed local government relationships with each other and relationships with the Federal system.”

Yes! They know that what they (the government and the criminal element in it) are doing is illegal. What they want to do is rewrite the Constitution to make their crimes legal after the fact. Trust no one who calls for a Constitutional convention. While some of them may be naïve enough to believe that supporters of limited government could control such a convention, remember what happened when the first one was called. It was authorized to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead, we were given a blueprint for a national tyranny and only alert men like Methacton Smith, Jefferson, and Richard Henry Lee slowed down the quest for power with the First Ten Amendments.

Bell lists New Dealer Rexford Tugwell as one who had written a new constitution to replace our “outmoded” Constitution. This is the slight of hand enemies of our Republic often use to justify usurpation of powers never granted by the Constitution. They say, “times have changed,” and say the Constitution must be changed to fit the times. But the Constitution wasn't written to govern times, it was written to govern men and men have not changed. There are still those among us who would reduce their fellow man to slavery and they are doing a damned good job. They are succeeding because we did not listen when Jefferson warned us to “bind them down with the chains of the Constitution.” The enemies of our Republic have broken the chains and are now fastening them to us and to all the peoples of the world.

Bell felt that, because of the difficulty those undermining our country may face in getting a new constitution ratified, they might prefer to continue to erode it through Supreme Court decision. Still, if that is blocked, they will go for the convention.

I strongly recommend reading Bell's article. It does the subject greater justice than I can. Some, who will not learn from history or who would dissuade others from learning, will whine that it's not valid today because it dates from 1977. As I pointed out in “Regionalism – Death of the American System” , regionalists have been attacking our State and local governments on behalf of the globalists at least since the early 1920's. In many respects, they've been attacking them since the Constitution was reported out of the Convention, maybe not on behalf of globalists, but certainly on behalf of interstate commerce interests who wanted all power to lie in a central government.

Because I couldn't find the PDF version on the site from which I copied it, I've reproduced it here in text format.

* * * * * * * * * *

Don Bell Reports
Year Twenty-Four---------------------Number Twenty-----------------May 20, 1977

THE ATTEMPTS TO MAKE REGIONALISM CONSTITUTIONAL

THE NEW FEDERALISM CONCEPT AND THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

“The Federal Regionalism Concept . . . has a flaw . . . which is never questioned by the people. That flaw is this: The Federal Regionalism Concept is unconstitutional.”

So Wrote Col. Arch Roberts in “The Republic: Decline and Future Promise.*” He then cited pertinent parts of the United States Constitution that were violated by the Federal Regionalism Concept, and concluded the statement by quoting from Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, 2nd Section, 177, which reads:

“An unconstitutional statue though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but wholly null and void and ineffective for any purpose. It imposes no duty, confers no rights, creates no office, bestows no power or authority on acts performed under it. No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional statute and no courts are bound to enforce it.”

So much for the Law and the Constitution which upholds the Law. It is also important to know that those persons who are forcing this unconstitutional Federal Regionalism Concept upon us also know that it is unconstitutional!

Barbara G. Culver, current president of the National Association of Regional Councils, is quoted on the front page of the Dec.-Jan. Edition of the organization's official publication, as stating: “In 10 short years, without any authority or power, regional councils have changed local government relationships with each other and relationships with the Federal system.”

Rexford Guy Tugwell, the old New Dealer who has written the new constitution that he and the Trilateral Commission intend to use as a replacement for our “outmoded” U.S. Constitution, points out in his book promoting the Newstates, that:

“Regionalism now is being carried out without any real constitutional authority, but is based on flimsy court-rulings.”

In addition, there is the testimony of Mr. Clem Marley, president of the Legislative Research Associates of Springfield, Illinois, an organization opposed to regionalism. Mr. Marley refers to a position paper that was delivered by the multinational corporation capitalist, Fletcher Byrom, chairman of the board of Koppers, Inc. Byrom “recommended that there must be more and more economic planning in tthis country as a method of improving the economy. He recommended a national constitutional convention, saying, 'abolition of our sovereign states may be one way to improve the economy'.”

Quoting now from Illinois Common Sense, publication of the Legislative Research Associates, April 1977:

“At first Marley was puzzled as to how abolition of the states could 'improve the economy.' Then he realized that by creating huge impersonal regions under the direction of schooled appointees the way would be paved for all kinds of regional projects, and all to be paid for largely from imposed property taxes. No longer having states and counties and townships, and no longer having meaningful referendum on tax issues would mean that there would no longer be any barrier on government building projects. Thus the economy would be 'improved'.”

“Here we have...in the very shadows of the Capitol Building,” concluded Mr. Marley, “deadly serious regional planners advocating the elimination of state governments. Without state government where will your legislators be? Where will any of us be when not only the state government but also municipal, county and township government become things of the past and huge impersonal regions run by appointees take their place?” (Condensed from the testimony of Clem Marley prepared for the State Committee hearing on Regionalism, March 17, 1977).

SUMMARY: The Regionalists would prefer to do away with our present Constitution. But, that would require a Constitutional Convention and ratification of the newstates constitution and the long, tedious and very questionable act of ratification. So, the easier way would be to install Regional Governance while slowly eliminating State and County Governments, while making such action appear to be constitutional!
[My comment: Since this was written by Bell, we've had over thirty years of conditioning of our youth in what is euphemistically called our “educational system.” It may not be so difficult to get such a new constitution ratified. Also, we now have electronic “voting.” - Phree]

So, while Jimmy Carter has popular support for his plan of remodeling the federal government structure, he is to strengthen the Regional Governance power and authority over established State and County Governments, so that Regionalism becomes irreplaceable. At the same time:

The United States Congress will be induced to pass legislation which will promote the Federal Regionalism Concept. Once the Congress has given its stamp of approval to Carter's Regional Reorganization plan, the presently constituted Supreme Court will declare the Federal Regionalism Concept to be “constitutional,” and the Regionalists can proceed unmolested with the program of converting the Regionalized United States into one “Region” of a Regionalized World Government (or “Global Community,” if we use the new name made popular by the Trilateral Commissioners.”

CARTER CARRIES THROUGH

In accordance with the above programming, Jimmy Carter the Candidate addressed the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) in October, 1977, telling the convened Regionalists: “I believe that regional organizations should be strengthened. If elected President, I intend first to upgrade the role of regional councils representing the federal government to assist state and local officials, as well as private citizens, in dealing with federal agencies....I also intend to encourage the development of regional councils representing state and local governments.”

Note the deceptiveness of this statement: Carter stresses the importance of “state and local” regional councils because, if it can be made to appear that the “state and local” councils are willingly and voluntarily co-operating with the federal regional councils, then the impression will be made that Federal Regionalism is “constitutional.” Of course, there is no mention of the fact that every “state and local” council must gain the approval of the respective federal council before it can proceed with a project; and it must abide by the federal agency's guidelines if it is to be granted any “revenue sharing” or other federal funds. Thus, the “state and local” councils are merely captive agents of the federal bureaucracy, and the state and local individuals involved are usually prompted by the money or political influence, or both, which it gives them.

When Carter became President he followed through on his commitment to NARC. He sent a memorandum to the heads of all departments and agencies, again stressing the importance of cultivating and developing the “state and local” regional councils. Here are quotations from the memorandum, dated February 25, 1977:

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

State and local sectors constitute the delivery mechanisms for most of the actual services the federal government provides. State and local concerns, as well as their expertise, should be considered as programs are being developed in order to ensure the practicality of and effectiveness of the programs. Such early participation by state and local officials in our planning process will help ensure broad-based support for the proposals that are eventually developed. It will ensure that priorities developed at the federal level will work in conjunction with, and not at cross purposes to, priorities at the state and local level....

In order to assure that these objectives are met, please include any major policy, budget or reorganization proposal which has significant state and local impact, a brief description of how you fulfill this commitment on my behalf. It is not necessary to hold large and time-consuming public hearings, or to establish large task forces to accomplish this goal. Selecting state and local officials expert in a particular issue and asking for their assistance in developing a program will often serve our purpose.
(end of quotation)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

From The American Sunbeam of May 16, 1977 we learn that yet another memo was sent by President Carter, this one to the Secretaries of the Cabinet-level Departments. It said:

“I would like you to form a working policy group on urban and regional development. The purpose of the group will be to conduct a comprehensive review of all federal programs which impact on urban and regional areas; to seek perspectives of state and local officials concerning the role of the federal government in urban and regional development; and to submit appropriate administrative and legislative recommendations.”

The “working policy group” was to include representatives from the Treasury, Commerce, Labor, Health, Education and Welfare, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation; and was to be headed by Jack Watson, assistant to the President for inter-governmental relations, and co-chaired by Stuart Eizenstat, President Carter's assistant for domestic affairs.

According to the Congressional Quarterly of April 8, 1977, Jack Watson was to coordinate a comprehensive review of the 10 federal regional councils. Also, W. Harrison Wellford, Deputy Associate Director for reorganization and management for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was said to be spending considerable time on a review of the regional councils.

It seems that, in the eyes of Carter and his Trilateral Commission advisers, the Federal Regionalism Concept began to languish and lose effectiveness after Richard Nixon ran into difficulties with his sponsors and was replaced by Gerald Ford. Carter intends to revive and give greater authority to the Federal Regionalism Concept, and the strengthening of the Regional Councils in the ten Regional Capitols, is the first step. Hence the creation of this “working policy group” which is already on the road and working.

We have a report of the group's first official stop: at Boston, the Capitol of Region No. 1. This report is by Lou Cannon of the Washington Post, appeared in that paper's edition of Snday, May 15, 1977. For reasons that need not be detailed at this time, we doubt the authenticity of the report and suspect that it is slanted to a considerable degree. However, the article does indicate that Jack H. Watson is doing exactly what the boss ordered: increasing the importance and adding clout to the Commission which rules Federal Region Number One. Here are brief quotes from the article.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
REGIONAL COUNCIL'S ROLE
BEING REASSESSED
-By Lou Cannon

Boston – Jack H. Watson, the President's assistant for intergovernmental relations, came to town last week to find out how the Federal Regional Council in New England was doing. Among other things he learned that Boston Mayor Kevin White didn't know what a Federal Regional Council was. It turned out that the Boston mayor was not alone . . . . All this is a far cry from the blare of trumpets that greeted the creation of the councils by the Nixon administration . . . .

One of Carter's directives in reorganization of the federal government was that Watson assess the 'federal regional presence' and report to him on the options. That report, still unwritten, is scheduled to be sent to Carter this week for his decision . . . . But the view Watson heard over and over again in Boston . . . was that some sort of federal regional coordinating mechanism is badly needed . . . .

One widely discussed proposal for change is to chair every council with a presidential appointee who would be solely concerned with coordinating the federal agencies in the region and helping them relate to state and local governments. At present the chair of each council is rotated among regional directors of the different agencies. They serve part-time and are usually loyal to their own agency. An independent chairman presumably would be (a) person attuned to the politics of his region, perhaps a former mayor or governor. This would give local government officials access to an important federal official in their own region who in turn would have access to the White House . . . .
(end of quotation)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Making local officials feel that they really have some authority over regional programs, and making them believe that they have a direct access to the White House; this is the Carter formula for strengthening the Federal Regional Governance system, while at the same time making the local politicians happy at being puppets controlled by the strings of revenue sharing and federal guidelines.

With such a formula, Regionalism is bound to replace the representative republican form of government we once enjoyed; this especially so long as the Supreme Court continues to affirm the “constitutionality” of administrative law (federal rules and regulations made by federa agencies and not by the Congress), and so long as that same Supreme Court declares that federal agencies have the right to try their cases without a Federal Judge presiding and without a jury of one's peers determining the guilt or innocence of the accused.

When Carter's concept of “Human Rights” replaces the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, then almost anything can be called “Constitutional,” including Regional Governance.

LEGISLATIVE REGIONALISM
While the Executive Department under Carter is striving to strengthen and solidify the concept of regionalism as a new level of government, certain members of Congress are busily promoting legislation which would make regional governance official and legal (though is will still be unconstitutional.) This action is centered in what is called the “Intergovernmental Coordination Act of 1977.” It was introduced in the Senate by Magnuson (D.-Wash-) and Mathias (R.-Md.) and was given the number S. 892. In the House the bill was introduced by Rep. Ashley (D.-Ohio) and is known as H.R. 4406. This is its second time around: the bill was originally prepared by NARC (the same to which candidate Carter made his commitment in October, 1976) and it was introduced in the 94th Congress by Magnuson and Mathias; but action on the bill was never completed. So, they're trying again and, this time, there is an excellent chance that it will pass and that President Carter will sign it into law. Thus, the unconstitutional activities of the Regionalists and their appointees will have become “legal” and binding.

S.892 is “A bill to establish a national policy on areawide planning and its coordination, to encourage the use of organizations composed of local elected officials to perform federally assisted or required areawide planning, to require use of planning districts established by States in Federal planning programs, to require certain Federal land use actions to be consistent with State, areawide, and local planning, to authorize the Office of Management and Budget to prescribe rules and regulations thereto, and for other purposes.”

The “land use” section of this bill reads as follows: “Sec. 501. It is the purpose of this title to promote more harmonious inter-governmental relations and to encourage sound planning, zoning, and land-use practices by prescribing uniform policies and procedures whereby Federal agencies or departments shall acquire, use, and dispose of land in order that land transactions entered into by such Federal agencies of departments shall, to the greatest extent practicable, be consistent with zoning and land use policies and practices and shall be made to the greatest extent practicable in accordance with planning and development objectives of the State and local governments concerned.” Under this title, whenever the Federal government decides to “acquire real property,” it must notify the State, the appropriate areawide agency, and the local unit of government of the intent to acquire such property; unless . . . “the head of a Federal agency or department determines that such advance notice would have an adverse impact on the proposed purchase . . . , then notification would be required after the acquisition of the land.

The bill is filled with such loopholes, and it is made very clear that Federal assistance will be withheld unless certain criteria are met. Furthermore, quoting again from the bill: “The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish rules and regulations governing the formulation, evaluation, and review of areawide development plans. Such rules and regulations shall include clear criteria which will provide for achievement of the objectives of the development assistance policies of the Inter-governmental Cooperation Act of 1968 . . . and shall also require that to the greatest extent practicable the areawide development plans to be consistent with national urban growth and rural development policies.”

Behind this barrage of verbiage that seems to promise cooperation between the various levels of government, in this bill there lies the clear intent to give the Federal government, through its regional agencies, the ultimate control over State and local affairs, and to reinforce the power of the Federal government, through administrative rules and regulations, to set the standards and goals of any State or local government policy.

“Federalism-old style-is dead. Yet Federalism-new style-is alive and well and living in the United States. Its name is intergovernmental relations.” So wrote a liberal professor of political science. He might have added that “intergovernmental relations” really means centralized control by the federal government operating through regional councils, with State and local governments becoming nothing more than administrative agencies of that centralized federal government.

Because the United States Constitution stands in the way of any such Regional Governance, the “New Federalism” seeks to amend the Constitution through Supreme Court decisions (such as rescinding the 7th Amendment), and through Congressional legislation (such as this Intergovernmental Coordination Act of 1977).

This “New Federalism” makes it clear that the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers no longer exists. Now it is busy destroying that balance of power that once existed between the Sovereign States and their agent, the Federal Government. Federal Regionalism is the basic ingredient of the New Federalism; and if the Constitution stands in the way, then a new constitution has been prepared to replace it.

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