American Policy Center » 2003 » August
- Total Surveillance Equals Total Tyranny
- Sovereignty Movement Gaining Steam! 74 U.S. Congressmen Vote to Get U.S. Out of U.N.
- Losing Our Liberty in the Name of Fighting Terrorism
- American Farm Bureau Federation SELLS OUT to Green Land Trusts!
August 25, 2003
By Tom DeWeese
In the name of fighting terrorism a new kind of government is being implemented in Washington, D.C. We are witnessing the birth of a powerful multi-billion dollar surveillance lobby consisting of an army of special interest groups, Washington lawyers, lobbyists, and high-tech firms with wares to sell.
The personal rights of American citizens, protected until now by the Bill of Rights, are the farthest thing from their minds as they seek to fill their pockets while enabling government to monitor and control our lives to a degree unheard of prior to September 11, 2001. This army seeks riches as it pushes for laws and regulations to spy on and control the lives of law-abiding Americans.
The Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA) reports that there are more than 100 federal entities involved in forging the largest conglomeration of government-private contractor interests since the creation of the Pentagon. GEIA represents hundreds of corporate members seeking to cash in on the Homeland Security-citizen-surveillance-spending spree.
GEIA told the news media that the “needed technologies include those providing digital surveillance, data mining, advanced encryption, smart cards, censors and early warning and profiling tools.” In September 2002, dozens of major high tech companies formed the “Homeland Security Industries Association”. A key objective of the association is to win a piece of the action for the creation of national ID cards for travelers.
The November 25 edition of Business Week reported that the SAS Institute is among many corporations scrambling to launch a whole new line of anti-money laundering software designed to help insurance companies, investment banks and brokerage firms spy on their clients’ financial activities on behalf of the government in compliance with the Patriot Act.
According to Bert Ely, the head of a consulting company for financial institutions, the new anti-money laundering provisions of the Patriot Act will do nothing to stop the financing of international terrorists. At best, he says, the new provisions will actually provide evil doers with a road map to avoid detection.
What the new Patriot Act provisions are really about, says Ely, is to have the United States fall into line with an international campaign being waged by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Financial Action Task Force against countries that serve as tax havens. The newly enacted regulations are being applied in the name of fighting terrorism, but are really about a different agenda.
In mid-September 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of Homeland Security held an exposition in Washington. Medium and small firms from across the nation were invited in to showcase the very latest in citizen surveillance wares. This tradeshow and others like it have attracted hundreds of corporations who’ve shown their high-tech products to top government planners responsible for creating and implementing new restrictions on privacy in the name of “national security.”
PoliticalMoneyline says that 444 groups and individuals have registered as lobbyists to deal with “terror” and “security” issues.
IBM has opened a “Government Solutions Center” in Vienna, Virginia. The high-tech Unisys Corporation has established a similar exhibition for inspection by federal surveillance planners, called the “Homeland Security Center for Excellence.” Both corporations are racing to cash in on billions of dollars for facial recognition systems at airports, and in anticipation of “trusted traveler” cards, a high-tech ID tied to extensive background checks and biometric identification.
In February 2003, it was discovered that the Department of Justice was drafting legislation to radically expand the reach of the federal government into the lives of every American citizen. The official title of the document is the “Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. It’s been given the nickname, Patriot 2. The bill has not yet been introduced in Congress and only a very few key government leaders including Vice President Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert have reviewed it.
It is suspected by many that the delay in officially offering the bill to Congress is a direct result of public attacks on the bill by privacy advocates, but it is feared that the Justice Department would get very bold in rushing it through should another terrorist attack occur.
Here are just a few of the more frightening provisions of Patriot 2. By definition in the bill, almost any American citizen can arbitrarily be designated a terrorist. Section 101 of this act will give the executive branch the power to declare any American a “foreign power” and therefore not a citizen. Those designated will be exempt from the protections of the Constitution.
Keep in mind that the Patriot Act was passed by Congress, sight unseen, in the middle of an Anthrax scare. Every member of Congress was warned that if they failed to pass it then the next terrorist attack would be on their hands.
That’s why the Patriot Act allows for wiretaps without warrants. And it’s why all the other surveillance a-go-go is in full swing. In the name of fighting terrorism, our government has gained the ability to see our every movement, inspect every transaction, and walk into our homes without our knowing it.
For those of you who feel protected; who feel the government is just doing its job to defeat terrorism, I’m very sad to tell you that our government is not being honest with us. Terrorism is the excuse, not the motivation, for the massive drive toward Big Brother.
We are not being protected. We are being wrapped in a cocoon of tyranny. All of the signs are there. Consider the power which we have now granted to the federal government twenty years down the road, driven by more technological developments that we can’t even pretend to foresee.
Imagine the America that you are allowing the government to create for your children. What will their lives be like? Will they know freedom or oppression? We are making those decisions for our children today.
The only way to make sure that government doesn’t abuse its power is to not grant it in the first place.
August 15, 2003
By Peyton Knight
On July 15th, a historic vote took place. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act (H.R. 1950) that would have withdrawn U.S. membership in the United Nations. The amendment read:
“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act, may be obligated or expended to pay any United States contribution to the United Nations or any affiliated agency of the United Nations.”
In other words, this was a vote on Rep. Paul’s American Sovereignty Restoration Act (H.R. 1146), and had this amendment passed, the U.S. would have been rid of the entangling mess that is the U.N. Our sovereignty would have been restored on this front.
Unfortunately, the amendment was voted down 350-74, HOWEVER, 74 votes are the most that H.R. 1146 has ever received! That’s 12 more votes than last year! We have much work ahead of us, but sovereignty advocates are clearly making headway, as more and more elected representatives are hearing the cries of the public to get the U.S. out of the U.N.
Moreover, the 74 who voted in favor of Rep. Paul’s amendment represent a strong coalition for sovereignty, as all but two of them (Reps. Mark Foley and David Obey) voted one week later to bar U.S. funding for UNESCO—another Ron Paul amendment. This clearly indicates that these were solid, principled votes to end U.S. membership in the U.N.
Here’s what Rep. Paul had to say about the vote:
“We’re making progress. The number of Americans—and elected officials—who understand that participation in the United Nations is incompatible with our Constitution is growing. In seeking U.N. support for the war in Iraq, the administration provided us with a vivid lesson in just how political the U.N. really is. People are starting to understand that the UN not only egregiously wastes taxpayer money, but also is actively hostile to America.”
Here is the complete list of Representatives who voted for U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations. If you see your Representative on this list, be sure to call and thank him! If your Representative did NOT vote to withdraw the U.S. from the U.N., call to let him know how he should vote next time! You may call your Representative using the Capitol Hill Switchboard: (202) 225-3121. Simply ask for your Representative by name.
These are the Congressman who stood up for your sovereignty:
Rep. J. Gresham Barrett (R-SC)
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)
Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
Rep. John Boozman (R-AR)
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN)
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT)
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. John Carter (R-TX)
Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC)
Rep. Mac Collins (R-GA)
Rep. Phillip Crane (R-IL)
Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY)
Rep. John Culberson (R-TX)
Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA)
Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
Rep. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. John Duncan (R-TN)
Rep. Terry Everett (R-AL)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL)
Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA)
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
Rep. James Gibbons (R-NV)
Rep. Virgil Goode (I-VA)
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC)
Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN)
Rep. Ernest Jim Istook (R-OK)
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Rep. Stephanie Jones (R-OH)
Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL)
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-IL)
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Rep. Robert Ney (R-OH)
Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA)
Rep. David Obey (D-WI)
Rep. Butch Otter (R-ID)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)
Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA)
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Rep. Edward Royce (R-CA)
Rep. Jim Ryun (R-CA)
Rep. Edward Schrock (R-VA)
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ)
Rep. Bud Shuster (R-PA)
Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI)
Rep. Clifford Stearns (R-FL)
Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK)
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Rep. Gene Taylor (R-MS)
Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)
Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)
Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
August 6, 2003
By Tom DeWeese
America may have reached a turning point on July 22, 2003 in the battle to restore and protect civil liberties threatened by the Patriot Act. On that day the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass two amendments that restore the rule of law by denying the Justice Department the ability to sneak into private homes and peek at private records without a warrant.
The House also unanimously passed an amendment to prohibit the Justice Department from forcing libraries and bookstores to turn over records of books read by their patrons.
These are important victories for the forces of liberty in the battle to keep an all-powerful Big Brother government from invading every aspect of our private lives under the excuse of fighting terrorism.
However, the victory may be short lived because the Bush Administration is applying pressure on Senate leadership to keep the provisions intact. As a result, the Senate may fail to support the amendments in its version of the bill, voiding the House action.
To protect our liberty, Americans must understand the threat posed by the Patriot Act and take action to assure that the Senate also passes the amendments. The fact is, Americans who have blindly trusted the government to protect them from the terrorist threat are not safer. However using that excuse, American liberty is under serious threat from our own government.
No one, after 9-11, can doubt that our nation and our personal safety have been attacked by Islamic fanatics bent on imposing their religion via “jihad” or holy war. Our government has been energized to fight the terrorism that has taken more than 3,000 lives here in America. Unlike previous conflicts, we are not dealing with a nation, but with a shadowy, global movement.
As free Americans, however, we must ask some serious questions. Are the tactics implemented here necessary? Are they effective? Are our liberties protected? Is there a separate agenda being pursued?
We have been told that the grandest weapon created in the war against terrorism is the Patriot Act. Its aim, according to the Justice Department, is to give federal law enforcement agencies the surveillance and investigative tools they need to prevent future terror attacks. Given the failure of agencies such as the FBI and CIA to detect and prevent 9-11 with all the laws and tools at their disposal, is it reasonable to say we need to now ignore the Constitution in order to provide more protection?
The quick, emotional passage of the Patriot Act only weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks allowed little time for scrutiny of its measures. In fact, most members of Congress did not read it before voting. As a result, it deprives Americans of protections that are the very essence of the Constitution.
The Act expands the capability to obtain warrants and conduct searches without disclosing them immediately. Under the Act, law enforcement can gain access to your home and take records without you knowing they were there. A warrant must be obtained, but you may never know about it. This is one of the provisions the House is now trying to repeal.
The Patriot Act changes the definition of terrorism, allowing even legitimate protestors, such as pro-life activists, to be at risk of being labeled “terrorists” if violence erupts at their events.
Coming in October is a new provision of the Act that requires fuller identification of bank customers. In the year before 9-11 more than 150,000 Americans protested these very provisions in a scheme by the FDIC called “Know Your Customer.” Americans said those provisions were too invasive of their privacy, but now, special software will help firms in 25 finance-related industries to compare millions of customer records with thousands of entries on federal blacklists. Businesses such as car dealers, insurance companies, investment brokers, lenders and real estate firms will be required to file “Suspicious Activity Reports” to the Treasury Department.
Massive government data banks, camera surveillance, and national ID cards are just the tip of the iceberg of the schemes being cooked up behind closed doors in Washington. Left unanswered is whether government is protecting us from terrorists or is government using 9-11 as a pretext to establish a massive system of government control over our lives?
In February 2003 it was discovered that the Department of Justice was drafting legislation to radically expand the reach of the federal government into the lives of every American citizen. The official title of the document is the “Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003.” It’s been given the nickname, Patriot Act #2. The bill has not yet been introduced in Congress, and reportedly only a very few key government leaders including Vice President Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert have reviewed it.
It is suspected that the delay in officially offering the bill to Congress is a direct result of public attacks on the bill by privacy advocates, and it is feared that the Justice Department would get very bold in rushing it through should another terrorist attack occur.
Here are just a few of the more frightening provisions of Patriot Act #2. By definition any American citizen could be arbitrarily designated a terrorist. Section 101 of this act will officially give the executive branch the power to declare any American a “foreign power” and therefore not a citizen. These newly created “foreign powers” are exempt from the protections of the Constitution.
It is important to note that most of the surveillance provisions in the act are not restricted to terrorism, but to any kind of criminal investigation. Section 501 expands the ability of the federal government to designate American citizens as “enemy combatants.”
Section 102 makes “collecting intelligence” a terrorist crime, “regardless of whether it is illegal” (according to a Department of Justice analysis). This can be interpreted to mean that reading foreign newspapers online and saving them to your hard drive is a terrorist act.
Sections 103 and 122 give the executive branch the power to engage in electronic surveillance of Americans without a court order for up to 15 days, whenever the US is under a state of emergency. For the record, the United States has been under a continuous state of emergency since Franklin Roosevelt declared it during World War II. Every president since then has signed executive orders to continue it. Section 106 exempts federal agents from liability for engaging in surveillance of suspects without a court order.
Section 110 removes the “sunset” provisions on some surveillance clauses in the first Patriot Act. Those “sunset” provisions were the guarantees that initially built support in Congress to pass the Patriot Act. Americans were assured that the issue was fighting terrorism and when that battle was over we would then restore any liberties that had been trampled on.
Government almost never gives back power.
Section 123 expands the time limits on wiretaps and gives judges less power to demand progress reports on wiretaps. Section 126 gives federal agents the power to secretly obtain credit reports and other consumer information. This destroys the firewall between private sector and government information collection and lays the groundwork for another invasive government snoop called Total Information Awareness.
Section 313 lifts civil liability from businesses that report “suspected terrorists” to the federal government, no matter how illegitimate or malicious the tip is. It means you lose the right to sue if someone falsely accuses you, ruins your reputation, costs you your job or your family or your freedom. This lays the groundwork for one of the most insidious ideas yet to come out of this government – TIPS – a Gestapo for squealers and busybodies to turn in their neighbor. Just hope nobody hates you that much.
This bill amounts to little more than an unofficial declaration of martial law. It is just short of repeal of the writ of Habeas Corpus, the very root of the rule of law that grants all Americans the protections of the American justice system.
Both Attorney General Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Ridge have expressed support for repeal of the Posse Comitatus law that bans the merger of civilian police forces with the U.S. military. That means instead of having your home raided by the local S.W.A.T. team, you may expect a visit from the 101st Airborne.
We are told that there is a delicate balance between liberty and security and that we just have to make sacrifices to be safe. What they are asking us to sacrifice are the very foundations of our liberty.
We are not being protected. We are being wrapped in a cocoon of tyranny. All of the signs are there. We are witnessing the erosion of American liberty in the name of fighting the most primitive force on earth. Americans, however, must ask themselves who is invading their lives more, the government or the terrorists? Who is the greater long-term threat?
John Adams said it best when he wrote, “A constitution of government, once changed from freedom, can never be restored; liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” Adams and all of the founders are watching us now and they know one truth that we must all relearn very quickly. The only way to make sure that government doesn’t abuse its power is to not grant power in the first place.
That’s why the U.S. Senate now must follow the lead of the House and begin to repeal the worst offenses in the Patriot Act.
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American Farm Bureau Federation SELLS OUT to Green Land Trusts!
August 6, 2003
Action Alert! Action Alert!
APC is in possession of a very controversial letter.
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and their high-priced lobbyists have SOLD OUT their members, farmers and property rights advocates. Rather than fight they have decided to CAVE to The Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Alliance and the rest of the land grab lobby.
Recall that the Senate passed President Bush’s “faith-based initiative,” otherwise known as the CARE Act (S. 476) AND included a nasty little provision in the bill that would UNDOUBTEDLY put a limitless amount of property and farmland into the hands of land trusts and government agencies. The provision in S. 476 gives the seller of any property a 25% capital gains tax cut—ONLY if he sells his land to an environmental land trust or government agency! This only benefits organizations like the multibillion-dollar Nature Conservancy as they will get to swoop in, offer the seller a LOWER price for his land citing the 25% tax break on the profits, and UNFAIRLY ELIMINATE all other competitive bidders.
Property values would plummet.
Schools, churches and other “faith-based” organizations looking to purchase land would be NO MATCH for The Nature Conservancy and their greedy little land grabbers armed with an UNFAIR TAX ADVANTAGE.
Farmland would be snatched up in gigantic swaths and shut off from agricultural use as the government and greens add to the pieces of the Wildlands Project.
Most importantly, more and more land will be taken out of private use and locked away and controlled by government.
And we all know that FARMLAND LOST IS FARMLAND LOST FOREVER.
NOW, the House of Representatives’ version of the CARE Act (H.R. 7) does NOT include this unfair tax advantage for green land grabbers and big government agencies. HOWEVER, big-money green lobbyists are pushing hard to get this unfair tax advantage included in H.R. 7.
You would think the Farm Bureau would fight the radical greens—the same land grabbers who are destroying the property rights of farmers nationwide—RIGHT???
WRONG!
The Farm Bureau’s lobbyists and their national headquarters are RUNNING SCARED and selling out commonsense property rights in the process! According to a letter from AFBF President, Bob Stallman:
“Farm Bureau supports excluding a percentage of the gain from the sale of permanent conservation easements and from land sales to an entity that intends to keep the land in a conservation use.”
In other words: The Farm Bureau supports making it IMPOSSIBLE for anyone but the government and the billion-dollar environmental movement to purchase land.
Were Farm Bureau members consulted before this terrible, anti-property rights decision was made???
Were local state Farm Bureau agencies informed???
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
WE MUST ACT NOW!
** ACTION TO TAKE**
1. Contact your local state Farm Bureau office and ask them if they even knew about this decision! Tell them that you do NOT support unfair tax favoritism for wealthy land trusts and government agencies and neither should they! You can locate your state Farm Bureau by going to: http://www.fb.org/state/
2. Call American Farm Bureau Federation Headquarters and DEMAND that the Farm Bureau RESCIND its endorsement of tax favoritism for land trusts and government agencies! Express your outrage that they would even CONSIDER backing such an anti-property rights, anti-farming boondoggle! Phone: (847) 685-8600. Fax: (847) 685-8896.
3. Click here: 
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