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Category Archives: Government Overreach

John Anthony: You Trust Your Government. Don’t You? 4 (1)

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Leave a comment

by John Anthony

I told my friend of Trudeau’s remark that anyone who did not vote to extend his emergency powers was indicating they “don’t trust the government to make incredibly momentous and important decisions at a very difficult time.”

She laughed. “Maybe that’s because the government created that very difficult time!” she said.

We got a good chuckle because everyone knows here in the US, you can’t trust a word the government says…or do they?

I was stunned to find 25% of parents have already rushed their 5 to 11 year-olds to get fully vaccinated in spite of growing evidence of increased injuries and teen deaths following the jab.

Why would anyone trust a government that is cotinually wrong?

“Experts” estimate without lock downs 14X as many Americans would have died from COVID-19 a completely absurd number given the PCR test the government used was incapable of identifying the SARS-2 virus.
By attributing a host of deaths from other causes to COVID-19 the government catastrophized what now appears to be an over-hyped bad flu season. Flu deaths miraculously dropped by 97% during the pandemic and none of the experts could explain it! Must be “social distancing”, “hand washing”, “people stayed home” they rambled on.

It’s not only that our bloated government are incompetent bunglers. Often they intentionally hide information.

When the public demanded the FDA release the Pfizer vaccine trial data we were told it would take 75 years. Yet the same agency assures us it took only 108 days to conduct a robust and thorough investigation of all the data before issuing Pfizer’s emergency use authorization.
Perhaps the FDA was reluctant to show the data because the initial release showed more than 50,000 serious adverse events and 1223 people died following the vaccine within 90 days of the rollout.
Recently it was discovered the CDC is hiding massive amounts of granular data that would enable doctors and patients to make better vaccine decisions. Their excuse is that people are incapable of properly interpreting the information and it might lead to “vaccine hesitancy.”

The bigger question is why anyone would accept at face value what this government says. And yet, many do.

Is it possible the ubiquitous extent of government disinformation is too big for most Americans to get their arms around? Is it that we are desperate to believe someone to relieve our own anxiety? Or is it that we have become so fractionated we are willing to rationalize complete twaddle to remain in good standing with our socio-political tribe?

Secrecy and dishonesty permeate the government.

Though “everyone knows” the 2020 election was not stolen, the administration urged federal judges not to release any damning information about the controversial Dominion voting machines. They only want to hide the information, they say, to “protect election security.”
Despite claims videos from January 6^th could resolve questions about the incident, the Speaker of the House declared sovereign immunity to prevent the public from suing for their release.
Instead of public hearings as in the Nixon case, The September 2019 Trump impeachment was partially conducted in private in the basement of the capital where none of the public could hear the sworn testimony.
Underage migrants are quietly flown to U.S. cities under cover of night.

The government is not a reliable source for information. Like an errant spouse caught cheating, they hide, dissemble, and blame. They may not lie about every issue, but the federal government is so massively dishonest that the only reasonable response is to question all they say and look for the source material.

Still think you can trust the government?

On July 8, 2015, the House passed HR-5 to reauthorize the states’ education money. The bill contained an astounding section enabling the federal government to gain control of local public education and of your child’s public education if the state accepted the money.

Several of us called Representative Kline’s office who denied knowing the clause was there but agreed to remove it. Instead, they moved it ahead 25 pages. You can read the section highlighted on pages 564-565 under “Restoration of State Sovereignty Over Public Education and Parental Rights Over the Education of Their Children.”

Governments have always been about power. Over time “serving the people” becomes a means to expand that power. Lies and treachery are the tools that enable moves like “every vote counts” (especially the illegal ones), vaccines for all, and the Great Reset.

Our Founders knew that, and it is why our original documents severely limit federal authority.

They also knew politicians could be clever and persuasive. After all, Trudeau ended his plea for more power by equating totalitarianism with democracy!

SFL: https://sustainablefreedomlab.org/2022/02/27/you-trust-your-government-dont-you/

John Anthony is a patriot and a conservative blogger. Read his commentary along with other interesting information at Sustainable Freedom Lab.

Peter Rykowski: Congress Debates Expanding Draft to Women 4 (1)

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Leave a comment

by Peter Rykowski

Congress is seeking to pass legislation extending the military draft to women.

On July 22, 2021, the Senate Committee on Armed Services voted 21-5 for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022. This amendment, if enacted into law, would require women to register for the Selective Service, opening the door for young women and mothers to be drafted into military combat positions in the event of a national emergency.

Only five Republicans voted against extending the military draft for women, while eight Republicans joined every Democrat in voting for the amendment.

Feminists and other leftists have been pushing for the removal of all distinctions between men and women in the military — and in general society — for decades. This latest attempt is occurring after a congressionally created national commission recommended that the draft be extended to women.

Multiple reasons exist against allowing — or mandating — women in military combat roles, including the significant biological and physical differences between men and women that make women unsuitable for military combat. However, the Left is more interested in advancing its cultural Marxist agenda than in improving and preserving U.S. military readiness.

Former Congressman Ron Paul has described the military draft as “one of [the] worst violations of individual rights committed by modern governments.”

Considering that the draft literally enables governments to involuntarily take command over their citizens, denying them of their God-given rights, Paul’s statement is accurate. Accordingly, if Congress were concerned about adhering to the Constitution and protecting individual liberty, it would vote instead to entirely abolish the Selective Service system. Two bills have been introduced that would do just that: S. 1139 and H.R. 2509, both titled the “Selective Service Repeal Act.”

In the coming months, it will become clear which path Congress will take; Americans should watch closely.

To urge your U.S. representative and senators to oppose expanding the draft to women and to instead entirely abolish the draft, visit The John Birch Society’s legislative alert here.

NA: https://thenewamerican.com/congress-debates-expanding-draft-to-women/

Alex Newman: TN to Parents-Do NOT Watch Kids’ Online Classes 4 (1)

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Leave a comment

by Alex Newman

Government education bureaucrats in Tennessee are under fire again after asking parents to sign a form pledging not to watch their children’s online public-school classes, drawing suspicion and criticism from across America. When outrage ensued, officials backed down, but still asked parents not to record or share the lessons.

The nationwide scandal over the requests comes as multiple government-school teachers have been publicly fretting on social media about parents finding potentially out what their children are being exposed to amid virtual classes. It also comes right after Tennessee officials were forced to walk back a plan to send swarms of government agents to perform “wellbeing” checks on every child in the state.

The form in question attempts to justify the bizarre request that parents stay away by claiming that it was about protecting “student privacy” to “the greatest extent possible.” However, with government schools deliberately obliterating privacy rights of children for data-mining and other purposes, and sharing that data with practically anyone, few analysts believe the dubious excuse.

“RCS strongly discourages non student observation of online meetings due to the potential of confidential information about a student being revealed,” explained the form sent home by the Rutherford County Schools district that was obtained by The Tennessee Star. “Violation of this agreement may result in RCS removing my child from the virtual meeting.”

In short, if a parent decided to check on what their child was being taught, that child could be removed from the virtual classroom. According to “educators” who have expressed concerns about parents seeing what is going on, major concerns are that parents might disagree with or even interfere with the indoctrination on gender, sexuality, LGBT, race-mongering, history, and other controversial subjects.

Philadelphia teacher Matthew Kay, for instance, publicly expressed a common concern among teachers recently. “So, this fall, virtual class discussions will have many potential spectators — parents, siblings, etc. — in the same room. We’ll never be quite sure who is overhearing the discourse. What does this do for our equity/inclusion work?” he wondered without explaining why he was doing “equity/inclusion work.”

“I am most intrigued by the damage that ‘helicopter/snowplow’ parents can do in honest conversations about gender/sexuality,” he continued after saying race “conversations” are in his “wheelhouse,” even worrying about leftist parents being upset. “If we are engaged in the messy work of destabilizing a kids [sic] racism or homophobia or transphobia — how much do we want their classmates’ parents piling on?”

Naturally, parents and citizens were incensed at the form in Tennessee asking them to stay out. The outrage forced the school district to walk back the demands, but officials still insisted that parents would not be allowed to record or share the content. “We are aware of the concern that has been raised about this distance-learning letter that was sent to parents,” district spokesman James Evans told the media.

Claiming that the intent was not to prevent parents from being involved with their children but to “protect” supposed “academic privacy,” Evans said the district has now shifted its policy. “We have issued new guidance to principals that parents can assist their children during virtual group lessons with permission of the instructor but should refrain from sharing or recording any information about other students in the classroom,” he said.

The bizarre request is especially ironic considering that just last week, Tennessee parents were boiling over a plot to send government agents into every family home to check on the “wellbeing” of every child in the state, including homeschoolers. The plan called for the agents to try to speak with the children without parents to check on whether their “needs” were being “met.” Parents who resist would have their information placed in a database.

Apparently phony Republican leaders in the state of Tennessee believe they have a right to propagandize “our” children without interference from parents. Parents, by contrast, have no right to raise their own children without interference from government. Only a massive, nationwide outrage campaign that included furious legislators speaking out forced Governor Bill Lee and “Education” Commissioner Penny Schwinn to go back to the drawing board.

THE TAKEAWAY

Government is growing increasingly arrogant in its war against families and parents over control of the raising and upbringing of children. Because molding the minds of the next generation is such an awesome power, tyrants everywhere have desperately sought it out. Only educated and active parents will be capable of pushing the tyrants back. They must. Liberty literally depends on it.

TNR: https://freedomproject.com/the-newman-report/1527-tn-to-parents-do-not-watch-kids-online-classes

Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, education, politics, and more. He can be reached at anewman@thenewamerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU or on Facebook

Mike Maharrey: While You Were Obsessing Over Impeachment 0 (0)

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Leave a comment

by Mike Maharrey

Well, they did it!

The House impeachment hearings were little more than political theater — a partisan fistfight with the majority party coming out the “winner.” In the process, it created the illusion of deep division and disagreement. Devoted Democrats and Republicans are both convinced that their team is fighting for their interests against a determined foe on the other side of the aisle.

But while everybody obsessed over the political theater playing out on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, they completely missed the sideshow that could actually impact their lives. Even as Democrats and Republicans engaged in a contentious public spectacle in the media spotlight, they worked in concert behind the scenes to steal your liberty and your wealth.

While you argued over the gory details of impeachment with your friends on Facebook, Congress passed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The nearly 3,500-page bill authorizes $738 billion in defense spending in Fiscal Year 2020. It creates a “Space Force,” so the U.S. can expand its empire into the cosmos. And Congress rejected a provision that would have made it just slightly harder for the president to unilaterally send American troops into combat. In other words, Congress agreed that it would not bother to do its job and declare war before sending the U.S. military to conduct offensive combat operations as required by the Constitution. It will continue to let the president make that call on his own. You know – the president the House just impeached.

Even worse, the current iteration of the NDAA extended provisions written into the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that effectively authorize government kidnapping. The vaguely worded sections purport to authorize the arrest and “indefinite detention” of anybody the president decides might be associated with “terrorism” and subject them to the law of war. In effect, the government can deem you a terrorist and lock you away without due process. Government kidnapping may sound like hyperbole, but that’s exactly what the NDAA authorizes in effect.

Speaking of war, while all eyes were glued to the three-ring circus in D.C., the Washington Post released documents revealing that the U.S. government has been lying to us about the war in Afghanistan for decades.

“A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”

As one three-star general put it, “What are we trying to do here? We didn’t have the foggiest notion of what we were undertaking. If the American people knew the magnitude of this dysfunction .?.?. 2,400 lives lost.”

This seems, maybe, just a tiny bit, significant. But the news barely saw the light of day. It was completely buried under an avalanche of impeachment reporting.

The sad truth is that these papers that have been mostly ignored provide legitimate grounds for impeachment – not just of Donald Trump, but Barack Obama and George W. Bush to boot. But when it comes to war, Congress maintains a bipartisan consensus supporting the endless, unconstitutional foreign interventions and the presidents who run them. And the media is complicit, focusing on the fake wrestling matches on Capitol Hill instead of reporting on real wars

And while we’re on the subject of bipartisan consensus, let me remind you that Congress reauthorized sections of the Patriot Act in the latest stopgap spending bill. This means the federal government will be able to continue to spy on you without a warrant and in complete disregard of the Fourth Amendment. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) predicted it would happen.

Today, while everyone is distracted by the impeachment drama, Congress will vote to extend warrantless data collection provisions of the #PatriotAct, by hiding this language on page 25 of the Continuing Resolution (CR) that temporarily funds the government. To sneak this through, Congress will first vote to suspend the rule which otherwise gives us (and the people) 72 hours to consider a bill. The scam here is that Democrats are alleging abuse of Presidential power, while simultaneously reauthorizing warrantless power to spy on citizens that no President should have… in a bill that continues to fund EVERYTHING the President does… and waiving their own rules to do it. I predict Democrats will vote on a party line to suspend the 72 hour rule. But after the rule is suspended, I suspect many Republicans will join most Democrats to pass the CR with the Patriot Act extension embedded in it.

And indeed they did.

And finally, while Congress-critters battled it out on the House floor, behind the scenes, congressional leaders worked with the Trump administration to hammer out a $1.4 trillion spending agreement. According to an Associated Press report, the deal “fills in the details of a bipartisan framework from July that delivered about $100 billion in agency spending increases over the coming two years instead of automatic spending cuts that would have sharply slashed both the Pentagon and domestic agencies.”

So, let’s review. While America was mesmerized by the pro-wrestling event on Capitol Hill, Congress agreed to maintain the government’s “authority” to kidnap you, to keep spying on you without a warrant, to continue unconstitutional wars, and to spend you deeper into debt.

Political theater makes for splashy headlines and heated debates, but it really has very little impact on your life. The political class, including the mainstream media, would prefer you pay attention to the fluff, not to the things that really matter. Perhaps instead of obsessing over impeachment or the latest debate over a Trump tweet, you would be better served to pay attention to what they don’t want you to pay attention to.

TAC: https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2019/12/20/while-you-were-obsessing-over-impeachment/

Michael Maharrey [send him email] is the Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He is from the original home of the Principles of ’98 – Kentucky and currently resides in northern Florida. See his blog archive here and his article archive here. He is the author of the book, Our Last Hope: Rediscovering the Lost Path to Liberty. You can visit his personal website at MichaelMaharrey.com and like him on Facebook HERE

Kathleen Marquardt: Freedom Cannot Exist In an Administrative Form of Government 0 (0)

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Leave a comment

Freedom Cannot Exist In an Administrative Form of Government – “All of the aspects of central planning are scary, but the carbon neutral addition is really scary.”

by Kathleen Marquardt

Freedom cannot exist in an administrative form of government. -H. Lamb

Because so many of us who are trying to stop the theft of our private property and the destruction of local control of our communities have been in this battle for so long, we forget that it is only recently that many American citizens have begun learning of some of the tactics being used just for that.

A few months ago, I took over answering phone and email questions on policy for APC. One of the first emails I responded to was from a couple in Hermosa Beach, California. Hermosa Beach is in the process of finalizing their so-called unique community plan for 2031. I just skimmed over it at first because I am sick of looking at these ‘unique’ community plans that have all the same details, other than maybe one has a beach, one has mountains, and one is pretty much urban. But then I saw the words ‘carbon neutral.’ This is new, but should not have been unexpected.

From their website

You can read for yourself both about the new addition of carbon neutrality and also note that, while the Hermosa Beach plan is not a carbon copy (no pun intended) of every other ‘visioning plan’ across the nation, you’d have a hard time telling them apart if they didn’t put in the little idiosyncrasies of the local terrain.

Some of the goals:

Goal 2. Hermosa Beach is a Carbon Neutral Community by 2040. Climate change, often cited as the environmental crisis of our generation, poses a threat to the safety, health and welfare of the community. The City of Hermosa Beach is committed to being a leader of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has engaged in a number of innovative efforts to move toward carbon neutrality.

Policies 2.1 State targets and goals. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with State targets and goals, and achieve carbon neutrality as a community no later than 2040.

2.3 Diversify GHG reduction strategies. Pursue a diverse mixture of greenhouse gas reduction strategies across the transportation, energy, waste sectors, commensurate with their share of the community’s greenhouse gas emissions.

2.4 Land use and transportation investments. Promote land use and transportation investments that support greater transportation choice, greater local economic opportunity, and reduced number and length of automobile trips.

2.5 Carbon offsets as needed. When necessary, purchase carbon offsets to achieve the community carbon neutral goal.

2.7 Discretionary projects. Require discretionary projects to substantially mitigate all feasible greenhouse gas emissions, and offset the remainder of greenhouse gas emissions produced to meet annual thresholds.

2.8 Ministerial projects. Encourage ministerial projects to directly offset potential greenhouse gas emissions generated.

The City Council accepted the Municipal Carbon Neutral Plan and adopted a goal to be carbon neutral by 2020 for municipal facilities and operations. The Plan identifies a pathway to achieve this goal through a combination of implementation measures and offset purchases.

PLAN Hermosa will set the city on a trajectory for a more sustainable future. To do so, this Plan informs and is implemented by the City’s various ordinances, specific plans, programs, and ongoing activities. It sets the City’s overall policies and priorities for how to use and manage its physical, social, and economic resources.

…Hermosa Beach residents will utilize the Plan to understand the predominant community consensus regarding how, when, and where the City should develop and change as a place to live, to work, and to invest. Current and potential business owners can utilize the Plan to understand economic development priorities and available resources, while developers use it to understand the City’s development needs, preferences, and desired physical parameters. P 9

This is pretty much the same in every consensus plan devised today:
The community’s desire to advance sustainability, enhance economic vitality, and preserve the eclectic beach character, was further reinforced through the Community Dialogue process in 2013 and 2014. The community engaged in setting the vision and defining the unique qualities for Hermosa Beach.

The Community Dialogue process culminated in the creation of a Decision-Making tool that aims to: 1. Enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our government. 2. Identify and optimize opportunities for residents and businesses to improve our quality of life in Hermosa Beach. 3. Create a culture of innovation, so that our challenges become our opportunities and our opportunities enhance our community brand. 4. Ensure the values and priorities of all residents and business owners are considered during the analysis and deliberation of actions. 5. Deliver transparency to the decision-making process so that the public can make informed decisions.

Thus, PLAN Hermosa was developed under a broad sustainability framework that aims to: • Link environmental performance with economic vitality; • Enhance coastal protection and sea level rise best practices; • Leverage collaborative partnerships; and • Advance implementation of sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction legislation. Once adopted by the City Council, PLAN Hermosa will form the City’s overarching framework for decisionmaking, with subsequent plans, programs, and activities designed to carry out the community’s vision, goals and policies.

The updated Plan will guide how the City should develop and change, and where funds and resources for infrastructure, services and programs should be directed in a manner that most effectively achieves the community vision. P 16

I used the Hermosa Beach plan as an example because it has the added carbon neutral aspect. All of the aspects of central planning are scary, but the carbon neutral addition is really scary. You cannot legislate invention, yet government keeps trying. What Hermosa Beach is doing is getting rid of gas before there are viable, economical replacements. This is insane. Given time, this might work; when this is feasible, communities can move forward with this kind of planning.
An important thing to understand about these ‘visioning’ plans for our communities is that they encompass numerous counties in the plan. Perhaps, like here in Knoxville, TN (planET), they started out with a small number of counties, here 5 Counties, One Vision. After the plan was presented and then supposedly it went away, the powers that be added 11 counties that never had a say-so in the visioning (perhaps I should say, they never had a ‘blue smoke and mirrors’ audition). This is the precursor to declaring the regional planning in the area. What’s wrong with regional planning? Wouldn’t it save money and add benefits to areas?

Let the late Henry Lamb explain it succinctly:

So what’s wrong with regional governance? Nothing – unless you value the republican form of government and individual freedom – and detest autocracy in all its forms. Regional governance evolved as a way to get around the obstacles presented by multiple local governments, all of which may have a stake in the region, but often disagree on what the region needs.

Regional governments, and their initiatives, are driven by government, not by the people. Government, by its very nature, seeks to increase its power and overcome any obstacle of disagreement. Once successful method is Regional Governance, which diminishes the power of local governments by conferring increasing levels of authority on the executive branch, which implements its authority through appointed bureaucrats.
In very short order, it is the unelected bureaucrats who wield the power; elected officials become little more than a rubber stamp whose approval provides “official” respectability to the bureaucracy.

(Citizens) . . . across the nation, should realize that once these regional (plans) are in place, there will be no way to return to the republican form of government that allows citizens to expect their city councilman or county commissioner to consider their wishes. The consent of the governed will no longer be a factor in public policy. Virtually all human activity will be subject to the approval of a professional bureaucracy that first creates a plan it thinks is a utopian community, and then requires every person to live when the plan dictates; to travel in a vehicle approved by the plan, to a job allowed by the plan – whether you like it or not. From Sustainable Development Manual (DeWeese).

To watch an enjoyable and elucidating video on how Hermosa Beach residents responded and how other communities might want to respond: https://youtu.be/Isa5HyLiHwk

APC: http://americanpolicy.org/2017/03/06/freedom-cannot-exist-in-an-administrative-form-of-government/

Read Kathleen Marquardt’s Biography