Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Lies Won't Stop

I received this mistitled email from Congressman Patrick Murphy. My responses are in brackets.

March 23, 2010

Mr. Rick Lutz
Levittown, PA 19057


Dear Mr. Lutz,


Yesterday, we passed one of the most important bills in a generation.

[One of the most destructive.]

Despite the confusion and outright lies that have surrounded this bill, make no mistake: health insurance reform will provide crucial protections to ensure that Americans get the healthcare that they and their children need.

[This is, of course, one of the biggest lies. Promoters have been making myriad wild claims about the benefits of this “plan,” but, no one can say honestly if this will provide any benefits at all. As I pointed out in my post “Healthcare Obamanation,”, it's just the skeleton that will be fleshed out by bureaucrats and healthcare dictators. The very “envelope” this email came in was a lie. It was titled “Reply From Congressman Patrick Murphy.” To my shame, I never sent an email to the Congressman (Gauleiter?), although I don't know what good it would do since he has already said he doesn't care what his constituents want. I did write a letter to the editor of the local rag.]

Forty million American families and four million small businesses will benefit from the largest middle-class healthcare tax credit in history. Barbara in Feasterville worked hard for forty years before losing her job at the age of 58. Overnight, Barbara was facing $1,300 in monthly premiums - more than her pension and more than she can afford. Her healthcare plan? Hope that she doesn't fall seriously ill before she qualifies for Medicare. This tax credit protects Barb, and millions like her, by ensuring access to high-quality and affordable insurance.

[More benefit lies coupled with the vilest form of demagoguery--sob stories designed to deflect rational thought with emotion. I have several from the other side in my collection. These tell of the hardships of those living under similar government run healthcare programs who are forced to leave their homelands to seek care in the U.S.A. I was above using them in my blog.]

Small businesses are not required to purchase insurance but will get tax credits if they do. Insurance reform provides $40 billion in small businesses tax credits to help companies cover up to half the cost of providing insurance for their workers.

[More than likely small businesses will find themselves driven under as has so often been the case with government “reform.” Their businesses will be absorbed by the giant chains and corporations.]

Seniors will see stronger and improved Medicare benefits. And you don't have to take my word for it: AARP has endorsed the bill stating that it "cracks down on insurance company abuses and protects and strengthens guaranteed benefits in Medicare, the program millions of our members depend on and in which millions more will soon enroll."

[I was a member of AARP for maybe a year. I joined to get discounts that might be voluntarily offered by businesses I deal with. I soon started receiving mail from AARP touting some lobbying efforts they were making to get more from the taxpayers for “seniors.” I quickly concluded they were nothing but a bunch of socialist gimme gangsters out for what they could steal. I dropped my membership. An endorsement from them is hardly a confidence builder. BTW, you can find the AARP in the list of corporate members of the CFR, Americas Ruling Party, in my americasenemies blog.]

Tony in Levittown needs an expensive medication to treat his thyroid condition and is pushed into the Medicare Part D donut hole earlier and earlier each year. Tony, along with 11,200 other seniors in Bucks County, will benefit from lower prescription drug costs, as the Part D "donut hole" is closed. And seniors' Medicare program is put on a stable financial footing, ensuring this vital program will be there to serve seniors today and those of future generations.

[Many of us who are “seniors” now may not be alive to see the eventual “fruits” of this bill, or rather of the plan that will be written by the Healthcare Commissioner and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, if it hasn't already been written, as I suspect, by the largest insurance companies in the nation and maybe the world. I do believe that those of future generations will be able to confront Murphy with “Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!]

Insurance companies no longer have free reign over our health insurance system, as we prohibited the egregious practices they've gotten away with for far too long. Insurers can no longer turn people away, or charge more, because someone has arthritis, diabetes, is a cancer survivor, is pregnant - or has any other "pre-existing condition." And they can no longer pull the rug out from families by taking away their coverage just when someone gets sick and needs coverage the most. These important changes will benefit everyone and those on the frontlines of our healthcare system agree: the doctors, nurses, and hospital associations have all endorsed the bill.

[Egregious is a good word to apply to both the demagoguery and ignorance of the insurance business displayed by this paragraph. Insurance companies not covering pre-existing conditions has been a big part of “Uncle Tom” Obama's inflammatory rhetoric. If the politicians understood how insurance works they would know that insurance companies can't cover pre-existing conditions. The whole idea behind any insurance program is shared risk. We buy insurance to cover things that might happen to us that could be financially ruinous and hope we never have to use it. Some people decide to take the risk and spend their money on other things. If insurance companies are forced to take people who wait until they have a problem to get insurance, then there is no incentive for anyone to buy insurance. All anyone would have to do is wait until they're sick. This would ruin the insurance industry. It simply couldn't operate that way. I would ask the Congressman and Obama this, if I die tomorrow, and my wife applies for a $250,000 life policy on me the day after tomorrow, can the insurance industry refuse to write the policy on the grounds of a pre-existing condition? But maybe that's the reason for the police-state mandate that all must have health coverage. Incidentally, I've yet to find a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or any other healthcare worker who thinks this is a good plan. More than likely the "leadership" of their associations has been bought.]

And children will be able to stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26 years old, helping out recent high-school or college graduates like Valerie from Dublin who is unable to find a job that offers benefits.

[Poor Valerie! If only she could have grown up in a free society where the economy had not been destroyed by big government she might have had other options than flipping burgers or, if she has her masters, managing a flipping location for a burger chain.]

When my two kids grow up, they will know that their dad stood up to the special interests to fight for Barb, Tony, and every middle-class American family whose wallets are being stretched thin by crushing healthcare costs. They will be able to look upon yesterday as the day Congress stopped kicking the can down the road and finally tackled one of the greatest challenges of our day.

[Why you hypocritical windbag. Our wallets have already been emptied by you big spenders in Washington who toady to those special interests while ranting about fighting them. You who have already looted our wallets, pockets, closets, and anywhere else we might have hidden a dime to transfer it to those special interests through bailouts and cap and trade. I would imagine your benefits package for serving Daddy Big Bucks will include health benefits for your whole family – maybe for life. When you've crushed healthcare for the rest of us, you'll probably still be able to get care in special hospitals not open to us peons.]

If you'd like to learn more about what this bill means for you and your family, I encourage you to visit my website at www.patrickmurphy.house.gov. There you can read the legislation, find detailed summaries of the bill, and find out more about what's in it for you. Also, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can help in any way. You can reach my office in Washington at (202) 225-4276, or either of my district offices in Doylestown at (215) 348-1194 or Bristol at (215) 826-1963.

[Thanks, but I'll opt out of the extra helping of meadow muffins at your website for now. However, if you are sincere about helping me in anyway, how about this:

  • return some of the money the Federal government has stolen from us over the years

  • cut the government in half (as a starter) to permit business, especially wealth producing businesses like manufacturing, farming, construction and the like to flourish once again

  • restore Republican principles, not the principles of the Republican party which I know is as unprincipled as the Democratic, but the principles of representative government

  • end special privileges for collectives such as corporations and unions and treat all citizens equally

  • kill the leader principle that you and the Democratic party seem to have embraced so that it might finally be buried as it should have been in 1945 along with The Leader*

  • restore the Constitution as the supreme law of the land]

*[To be fair, despite all of the fanfare about opposition when they knew, as we did, that it would pass, the Republinazi party was no better under Adolph Bush than is the Demonazi party under Adolph Obama.]


Sincerely,


Patrick J. Murphy

MEMBER OF CONGRESS

PJM/lm


Was the Congressman ”replying” to this letter to the editor or was his email just labeled that way to keep it out of the spam folder where it belonged?


Editor
Bucks County Courier Times


Dear Editor:


John W. Whitehead's commentary on Tuesday points to similarity between the willingness of the German people to follow “The Leader” and the willingness of the American people to accept, almost without question, the dictates of an overblown and uncontrolled government in Washington and to follow our “leaders” like sheep.


A guest opinion in the same issue praises Patrick Murphy for leadership and for “fighting for us.” If “us” is the money powers, then his votes for bail-outs, cap and trade, and the healthcare obamanation supports the latter assessment. I can attest to the accuracy of the former. He has said it was his “duty” as a “leader” to vote as he chooses despite the wishes of his constituency. He has rebuked the republican principles on which our country was founded and embraced the leadership principle that destroyed Germany. Murphy should be reminded he is elected to represent us and not to lead us.


Sooner or later we must decide if we want Congressmen to represent us or Gauleiters to lead us. The decision may soon be out of our hands...if it isn't already.



Rick Lutz
Levittown, PA 19057


I plan to list all who voted for healthcare ruination in my americasenemies blog. Murphy has earned special mention in that post.


[A copy of this post, less this comment, will be sent as an email answer to the Congressman.]


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Friday, March 19, 2010

HEALTHCARE OBAMANATION


I started to write this several months ago, but I have been having difficulties with motivation for about five months. When I do sit down to write, I have difficulty. The reason I'm saying this is because a number of changes have been bounced back and forth since I analyzed the bill myself, but I'm confident the changes made little material difference.


My experience with counter-political groups in the past, particularly with their legislative committees, leaves me little concerned that any significant change has taken place. In cases of “controversial” legislation like this, laws the people don't want but the money powers do, a great show is usually made about changes being made to the bill and different versions being sent back and forth between committees and between the Senate and the House. These changes are usually cosmetic, but they give Senators and Representatives (Gauleiters?) an opportunity to go back to constituents with claims that they fought hard to stop the bill in its original form. In the end, they “compromised” and voted for this “improved” plan as the only means to stop the original. This show also makes it extremely difficult for those of us who have lives to lead to keep up with those minor changes. It gives those pushing the bill a chance to attack opposition on insignificant “errors” in their analysis created by those minor changes. Knowing fully that I will be vulnerable, I'm still publishing this based on my original analysis of an earlier house Bill with some updates from other sources.


A lot has been written by both sides of the argument about “Obama's” healthcare plan. Each side tries to analyze it from its own perspective and explain what is in it and what it will do. All is futility.


The plan, as represented by the Bill passed by the House of Representatives*, can't be analyzed in terms of content or effect. It is a grotesque skeleton that will be fleshed out later by the new monstreaucracy it creates and by the courts that will hear what is likely to be a storm of lawsuits to try to limit or to expand its meaning and scope.


Much of the job of fleshing out; that is, actually creating the “health care” system falls on two people and the massive bureaucracy that will by necessary to do the actual work. When I first examined this atrocity, I thought it set up what was, in effect, a Health Care Dictator. A “Health Choices Commissioner” is created and is mentioned over 200 times, usually establishing his/her considerable powers, discretions, and dutes. However, as I delved further into the bill, I found that the Commissioner, while having incredible power in his own right, may be subservient to a higher level dictator – the “Secretary of Health and Human Services.”


Again, the “Health Care Commissioner and his duties are mentioned over 200 times in the bill. Among those duties are:

  • defining what a “dependent” is, - the bill doesn't even define something as basic as a dependent

  • establishing rules for Exchange-participating health benefits plans

  • establishing a “grace period” whereby, for plan years beginning after the end of the 5-year period beginning with Y1, an employment-based health plan in operation as of the day before the first day of Y1 must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan [so much for not effecting your current plan]

  • specifying age categories wherein limited age variation [premium] is permitted

  • specifying, in consultation with State insurance regulators, variations permitted by premium rating area [note that it requires such consultation but doesn't require the Commissioner to listen to the State regulators – it will probably be left to the courts to settle any jurisdictional arguments]

  • specifying conditions for family enrollment variations (such as variations within catagories and compositions of families) as specified under State law and consistent with rules of the Commissioner [no specification in the bill as to which takes priority creating an area for ongoing legal battles]

  • defining a “medical loss ratio” that must be met by a qualified health benefits plan


This is just a very small sampling. The defining, establishing, and specifying, not to mention requiring reports and, in turn, writing reports, goes on for most of the 200 plus times the Commissioner is mentioned.


As regards reports required of the “qualified health benefits plans,” I found this section fascinating.


The Health-care Commissioner is charged with establishing standards with which a “qualified health benefits plan” must comply “for the accurate and timely disclosure of plan documents, plan terms and conditions, claims payment policies and practices, periodic financial disclosure, data on enrollment, data on disenrollment, data on the number of claims denials, data on rating practices, information on cost-sharing and payments with respect to any out-of-network coverage, and other information as determined appropriate by the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall require that such disclosure be provided in plain language.” According to the bill, “plain language” means “language that the intended audience, including individuals with limited English proficiency, can readily understand and use because that language is clean, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices of plain language writing.”


I find this section fascinating for several reasons:


  • Firstly, the number and nature of things the plan providers, and presumably, the health care providers must keep statistics on and report to the Commissioner. How can anyone even guess what the cost of this record keeping and reporting is going to be? Estimates of the cost of this bill have ranged from $800 million to $2 or 3.5 trillion. Is that just for the medical coverage or does it includes this massive record keeping and reporting? Is it only for the record keeping and reporting? I doubt that even the people who made the estimates could tell us.

  • Secondly, and this I find both fascinating and enlightening, is that “plain language” is defined as language that an intended audience which would include those whose English no so pretty much good. Would that include illegal aliens? Is ability to speak English not a requirement for naturalization? It must not be for the users of the system. What use would most patients have for such statistics? Is it intended for the health care providers? Maybe they've already anticipated driving all American doctors from the field and having to replace them with foreign doctors. On the other hand, maybe this is just a smokescreen to hide the inability of the bureaucrats and elected officials who are promising to “reform” health care and the insurance industry to speak the language of either.

  • Finally, and this should be good, the Commissioner is charged with developing and issuing guidance on best practices of plain language writing. Isn't that a kicker? These people, famous for unintelligible bureauese, will be providing “guidance” for plain English writing. Of course they might be planing to subcontract the writing to technical writers in China or India. You know—the ones who wrote the manuals for your computer, home appliances, and the items you bought that said “some assembly required.” Maybe they're planning to make Henry Kissinger Secretary of Plain English.


The “Secretary” is mentioned close to 1100 times. Again, when mentioned, the bill does not give detailed instructions to the “Secretary,” rather, as in the case of the “Commissioner,” it specifies the powers and duties of the “Secretary” which again entail considerable discretionary latitude.

A couple of examples:

  • the Secretary is given the power to define and develop methodology for “Interim Rules for determining how to calculate the medical loss ratio which will subsequently be built on by the Commissioner

  • receives recommendations from the Health Benefits Advisory Committee on benefit standards [Behold! A bureaucracy within a bureaucracy!]


There are then several paragraphs regarding the Secretary accepting or rejecting the recommendations which he apparently must do as a package. If he/she doesn't accept, the package is sent back to the committee for revision. Most of those paragraphs is written in “plain English” I suppose, so I have no idea what they are saying. But finally, we get to this:

  • the Secretary shall, through the rulemaking process consistent with subsection (a), adopt an initial set of benefit standards. [anyone want to guess what the “rulemaking process” is?]


There have been many articles written on this subject. I'm afraid if I try to summarize the ones I have it will be months more before I publish this. I'll just include this summary of a Fred Lucas article in cnsnews. Lucas debunks many of Obama's claims.


According to Obama, abortions would not be funded, but according to Lucas, the House bill mandates that government-run insurance exchanges provide at least one plan that covers abortion. Even if this interpretation is not correct, a number of amendments that would have specifically excluded abortion from government (taxpayer) subsidies have been rejected.


When asked if her amendment added to a Senate version of the bill would fund abortion , Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md) replied, “It would provide for any service deemed medically necessary or medically appropriate.” Apparently, all it would take is for a “doctor” to say carrying a child to full term would have adverse affects on the mother's mental and/or physical health and, regardless of how strong your religious beliefs may be against the unnecessary taking of a human life, you will be forced to be an accessory through your tax dollars.


Then there is the Obama claim that the “healthcare” plan will be “deficit neutral.” The Office of Management and Budget has estimated the bill and the bureaucratic monstrosity it creates will add over a trillion dollars to the budget over the next ten years. Since that estimate, OMB has reduced its projection to some 800-900 billion. Supposedly, this is due to some changes in a possible compromise bill.



But, not content to let one lie stand alone, it now claims a deficit reduction will occur. I think I recall a number in the 1 to 2 hundred million. If that's the case, then Congress should try to expand the bill to create a ten year cost in thousands of trillions of dollars. In ten years our national debt could be wiped out.

Back to reality. It is highly unlikely Obama plans to cut spending in other areas, so the only way to avoid added deficits to fund this outrageous program is to increase taxes. Obama said from the beginning of his campaign that he wanted change. I have said that his predecessors, Republican and Democrat alike, have stolen all of our dollars. Now Obama wants our to steal our change to fund his scheme.


Lucas points out that Obama claims of the number of uninsured Americans are overstated and gives evidence to support his contention. Interestingly, in a town meeting in Portsmouth NH in August, Obama said “nearly 46 million Americans don’t have health insurance coverage today,” but also said “46 million of our fellow citizens have no coverage.” Given that Obama, questions of birth certificates aside, said in Berlin that he is “a citizen of the world,” the two statements may not be synonomous.


Obama also claims that charges that illegal aliens will receive benefits are false and, in fact, the bill does exclude illegals, but attempts to introduce amendments to require verification of legal status have been rejected.


Obama also gave this half-truth to assure people that they would not have to change plans if they liked what they have: “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” Obama said. “If you like your private insurance plan, you can keep your plan. Period.” While it is true that the bill does not coerce change, Lucas says that it does provide incentives to employers to change their plans covering their employees. You can read the entire article at:

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53695



Just a couple of more points:



I regret I can't give credits for this. I received it in an email that did not give the source.














From the Bucks County Courier Times
Friday March 12, 2010


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Monday, February 8, 2010

Hen House Safe – Fox In Charge of Security


According to the UK's Financial Times, a “respected financial expert,” Peter Hancock, vice-chairman at KeyCorp, has been appointed executive vice-president in charge of, among other things, AIG's “risk.” According to Times reporter Francesco Guerrera, his new role will “position” him to succeed current CEO, Robert Benmosche. Benmosche is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Hancock is not on any of the lists I have. Can he fill Benmosche's spot at AIG without filling his spot on the CFR?

Certainly, the new “fox” has some experience in risk management. The Times credits him with being one of the inventors, while at JPMorgan, of the credit derivatives that played a dominant role in the current collapse. Mr. Hancock's lieutenants helped protect JPMorgan from the brunt of the collapse. Morgan even gained some advantage from the collapse reports the Times. What a surprise. Those with a suspicious nature might start thinking Morgan set the whole thing up. Personally, I get a distinct scent of the Savings & Loan fiasco that wiped out most of the commercial banks' competition. Anyone have the heart to tell George Bailey that it's not such a wonderful life here in the United Pottervilles of America?

Anyway, Mr. Hancock is apparently feeling remorse for the horrible financial mess into which he's put us and most of the world. He's practically working pro bono on this job. Those “familiar with the matter” says the Times, say he'll only receive a compensation package of up to $7.5 million. Reports are that Kenneth Feinberg, Obama's “pay tsar,” has signed off on the package.

At least with Morgan and Hancock doing so well, those who lost their life savings, their pensions, businesses, homes, and other livelihoods can feel some consolation in knowing not everyone is doing so badly.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0df37f30-142d-11df-8847-00144feab49a.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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Saturday, June 20, 2009

A Prophecy from England


I received an email from a friend of liberty containing the prophetic words of an Englishman awakened to all the “benefits” of the EU. I say “prophetic” because this will also be our fate if we allow the traitors without and within our government to continue to push for the North American Union. Don't believe for an instant that it'll just be a trade union. Remember that the EU began with the Common Market, then went to a common currency, and now complete loss of liberty and national sovereignty. Remember, too, that the NAU will not stop with merger into Canada and Mexico, but will include Central America and Greenland at a minimum. That is the case unless the plan the globalists outlined in 1941 has changed. That is unlikely. It will be the case unless we, the people, get off our butts and stop it.

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A cry of pain from a great Englishman.

To U.S. citizens,

This should be a warning against allowing REGIONAL UNIFICATION of sovereign nations, especially in so-called Common Markets and/or Free Trade Agreements. These were the schemes used that eventually brought Great Britain and other European nations into a European Union, run from its capital in Brussels.

-----------------------------------------------

Politicians cannot be in doubt about the reasons for low turnouts at elections.

The reasons are numerous but basically built upon distrust. Ever since entry into the Common Market we have been spoon fed propaganda and outright lies no matter whichever party has been in government. It is not only committment to the undemocratic EU that is at fault but the poor quality of so many of our self centred elected representatives added to class divisions.

The majority of national politicians have proved ineffective or unwilling to stop the rot that has undermined our Parliament. They have allowed a system to dominate alien to our own Constitution and ignored the wishes of the public more than half of the public who now want to be out of the EU. The fact that the Labour executive now governs through the media and not through time homoured democratic institutions and Parliamentary procedures fills me with dismay. The near empty benches of the Commons for all but half an hour each week, the bullying power of the Whips, the growth of Select Committees also often poorly attended, the near farce of the European Scrutiny Committee, the growth of political correctness and supression of freedom of speech, the planting of questions, the avoidance of our unelected Prime Minister to answer except by waffle, the selection process of MP candidates to guarantee submission to executive will, the growth of corruption, the disgraceful yahoo atmosphere within the Commons on Wednesdays, the increase of holidays, the "fact finding" tours abroad, all saddened me and make me wonder how long it will take to restore the authority of our Parliament and the right to govern our own country free from alien jurisdiction.

It would appear that the most influential politicians of all main parties have conspired for years to take the Great out of Great Britain by reducing morale in the UK and making more and more of our young people want to leave this country of ours.

The answer, and surely there is one, is for more people to exercise their vote and not to give career candidates and sitting MPs the means to further deny us our rights whilst they arrogantly ignore us. We have to at the next general election set aside tribal allegiances to all parties and thoroughly consider the character, ethics and determination of individual candidates. The will of the British public will only be carried in the next Parliament by sending to Westminster people of the right incorruptible character determined to vote on their own consciences and the will of their constituents, let alone honour their mandate so badly betrayed in the past by all the main parties.

Surely we have had enough of our lives being dominted by Brussels just as we have watched our Crown, Parliament, Courts and people being bye-passed by legislation we cannot prevent ever since Edward Heath introduced Clause 2:1 in the 1973 EC Act which gave blanket approval for all such legislation to be made law in the UK "without further encactment."

I find it hard to believe the suffering that our ancestors endured to fight for liberty and freedom throughout Europe at such high cost to our country and families only to see those freedoms given away.

When I speak of my dismay I strongly object to those questionnable people who are parachuted into the Lords either to enable them to sit in Cabinet or as a reward for services to trade unions That service caused our trade unions along with the 1970s and 1980s Labour party to turn away from not wanting to be in the Common Market because people like Jacques Delors promised them a future future which they now find to their great financial advantage by sitting on the red leather in the House of Lords. If we are to reform the Lords let us start by stop using the place as a political dustbin now accommodating people such as the Kinnocks and Mandelson to name only three.

It is within the power of every British person to rescue our Parliament once they begin to understand that sovereignty and power rests with the British people and that we all decide to whom we lend that pwer ever five years or so. Let the hoodwinking, spin and propaganda be brought to an end by casting out of Parliament at the next general election those who pretend but will not listen to the British people to act upon our right to make our own laws. This is not "isolationism" or "xenophobic" for we continue to be at the heart , not of the EU because that is another fabrication, but at the heart of democracy, freedom and liberty, maintaining friendly relationships with other countries whilst respecting national. political, legal, cultural and religous differences.

To put the Great back into Great Britain is not to infer any superiority but simply to assert our values, traditions and customs built over centuries often by the blood shed by our people and Commonwealth allies willing to die in defence of those principles.

Our children and too many adults were deliberately not taught our Constition at school. Here we are now with an entrapment EU Constitution on our threshhold and a new and p[otentially dangerous Constitution Reform Bill to come soon before Parliament.

Whether we are soon to see an end to Britain as we have known it in the past or a new beginning is yet to be seen but it will rest upon the British people and not by what we have been shackled these past thirty years or so. Those who have done nothing to protest will hopefully soon be stirred to take democratic action rather than do nothing as though "politics" has nothing to do with them or the future of their children.

George West
Chairman
Campaign for an Independent Britain

www.eurosceptic.org.uk

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Friday, May 1, 2009

The Revolution Was

I thought it appropriate to follow propagandawerks' post with this excerpt from Garet Garrett. He dates the revolution that killed America to the New Deal era. The full story can be found at these and other sites.

http://mises.org/story/2726#4
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/revolutn.html

THE REVOLUTION WAS
by Garet Garrett

1938

There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom.

There are those who have never ceased to say very earnestly, "Something is going to happen to the American form of government if we don't watch out." These were the innocent disarmers. Their trust was in words. They had forgotten their Aristotle. More than 2,000 years ago he wrote of what can happen within the form, when "one thing takes the place of another, so that the ancient laws will remain, while the power will be in the hands of those who have brought about revolution in the state."

Worse outwitted were those who kept trying to make sense of the New Deal from the point of view of all that was implicit in the American scheme, charging it therefore with contradiction, fallacy, economic ignorance, and general incompetence to govern.

But it could not be so embarrassed and all that line was wasted, because, in the first place, it never intended to make that kind of sense, and secondly, it took off from nothing that was implicit in the American scheme. It took off from a revolutionary base. The design was European. Regarded from the point of view of revolutionary technic it made perfect sense. Its meaning was revolutionary and it had no other. For what it meant to do it was from the beginning consistent in principle, resourceful, intelligent, masterly in workmanship, and it made not one mistake.

The test came in the first one hundred days.

No matter how carefully a revolution may have been planned there is bound to be a crucial time. That comes when the actual seizure of power is taking place. In this case certain steps were necessary. They were difficult and daring steps. But more than that, they had to be taken in a certain sequence, with forethought and precision of timing. One out of place might have been fatal. What happened was that one followed another in exactly the right order, not one out of time or out of place.

Having passed this crisis, the New Deal went on from one problem to another, taking them in the proper order, according to revolutionary technic; and if the handling of one was inconsistent with the handling of another, even to the point of nullity, that was blunder in reverse. The effect was to keep people excited about one thing at a time, and divided, while steadily through all the uproar of outrage and confusion a certain end, held constantly in view, was pursued by main intention.

The end held constantly in view was power.

In a revolutionary situation mistakes and failures are not what they seem. They are scaffolding. Error is not repealed. It is compounded by a longer law, by more decrees and regulations, by further extensions of the administrative hand. As deLawd said in The Green Pastures, that when you have passed a miracle you have to pass another one to take care of it, so it was with the New Deal. Every miracle it passed, whether it went right or wrong, had one result. Executive power over the social and economic life of the nation was increased. Draw a curve to represent the rise of executive power and look there for the mistakes. You will not find them. The curve is consistent.

At the end of the first year, in his annual message to the Congress, January 4, 1934, President Roosevelt said: "It is to the eternal credit of the American people that this tremendous readjustment of our national life is being accomplished peacefully."

Peacefully if possible — of course.

But the revolutionary historian will go much further. Writing at some distance in time he will be much less impressed by the fact that it was peacefully accomplished than by the marvelous technic of bringing it to pass not only within the form but within the word, so that people were all the while fixed in the delusion that they were talking about the same things because they were using the same words. Opposite and violently hostile ideas were represented by the same word signs. This was the American people's first experience with dialectic according to Marx and Lenin.

Until it was too late few understood one like Julius C. Smith, of the American Bar Association, saying: "Is there any labor leader, any businessman, any lawyer or any other citizen of America so blind that he cannot see that this country is drifting at an accelerated pace into administrative absolutism similar to that which prevailed in the governments of antiquity, the governments of the Middle Ages, and in the great totalitarian governments of today? Make no mistake about it. Even as Mussolini and Hitler rose to absolute power under the forms of law... so may administrative absolutism be fastened upon this country within the Constitution and within the forms of law."

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Good Summary of Our Current Condition


[I regret that the article is no longer available at "propagandawerks" blog. The blog has moved to word press and apparently much of the old posts of value have been lost. The author says he is taking a different approach. Unfortunately, the nude woman seems to have taken a more prominent position, so, with regret, I've removed the blog from my favorites.] [Note added 3/29/10]


I stole the following verbatim from "propagandawerks" blog. (See my favorite blogs list) I tended to shy away from this site at first because some of his (her?) posts seemed a little crude, especially the one with the nude photos of a woman with a thinly veiled suggestion that it's Obama's mother, but, what the hell. The enemies of liberty may put up a air of politeness and decorum, but that doesn't stop them from stealing everything we have and murdering our sons and daughters and the sons and daughters of the many peoples of the world in their wars for global empire. An ally is an ally, and I think this ally is a good one. Let's make bare knuckle fighting respectable again! BTW, my answer to his question is: "My America died in 1913."


http://propagandawerks.blogspot.com/


"Is America dead? I have to ask this question because the answer may have serious ramifications to our lives. Each successive generation does not know what it has lost from the previous generations. This country has been in a steady decline to the point we find ourselves now.

This country as of this moment represents absolutely none of its former glory. Think about that for a moment and what that means. We are no beacon of light to the world. Oh sure, third worlders view our nation as an improvement, but to a roach... a kitchen is Shangri La.

People have been under an organized attack for a long time, and due to our lack of resistance they have been taking our liberties slowly and deliberately. Our state of affairs is so poor that our flag should be flown upside down in a state of emergency. Our constitution is so weak from our lack of interest that it barely protects us anymore.

Inch by inch America is being overthrown. September the 11th was the incident that put an already in motion agenda on a fast track. We are one step away from total chaos with tyranny looming in the background.

What is their one big dilemma? How to get an armed society to surrender it's guns and submit to a high tech nanny state. Take off your shoes citizen, your flip flops may be wired. Get chipped citizen, your identity must be known. Give up your sovereignty citizen, the global community awaits.

Citizen slave. This is your reward for not giving a shit, for not resisting, for caring more about Paris Hilton than your own freedoms, for allowing yourself to be divided on every issue. And it's not just this generation. This result is the outcome of the apathy of our parents and grandparents as well. For allowing the Central Banks to steal our gold standard from us in the dark of night, to waging bogus wars for empire in our name... on and on.

Get pissed off and fight. Not against smokers or old cars that smoke... but for your freedom. Fight for America not in foreign lands, but here at home. Take your own oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Don't accept being put on a terrorist watch list for some trumped up reason you don't even know of. Stop acting like a caged animal and identify what freedom means to you and fight for it. What do you have to lose? A bunch of shit you don't own anyway? A night without American Idol?"

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