'Tis Only My Opinion!

June 2007 - Volume 27, Number 6

Taking Back the United States of America!

Flag Raising at Iwo Jima ... the Greatest Generation!

 The silent majority needs to get off its backside and stand up for what it believes in or we shall see America continue its slide into a country with no moral center and no vision of the future. 

 The men and women who were responsible for our winning the first and second World Wars would have a hard time recognizing the values of the country which they served today.  America was a nation that had a firm faith in God and was not ashamed to publicly acknowledge that fact. The country had a strong commitment to the principles of freedom and independence. Through major wars, threats, and terrorist attacks, we never surrendered the principle that our Creator had granted us liberty. The country has seen many changes that now threaten to destroy the values which existed until then in this country. 

 The melting pot which made this country great has now morphed into a society where political correctness and diversity are rampant.  Moreover, those immigrants both legal and otherwise are extremely reluctant to learn the English language.  Do you know of any other country of the world that does not require citizens to vote using ballots written in anything other than the national language? 

 Liberals cultivate diversity … but from the root word, another meaning can be easily derived … divisive and our country is becoming much less cohesive today than it was a few decades ago. 

Emergency Powers transcend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

Most citizens believe that we live in a democratic society when our constitution, or what is left of it, is theoretically a constitutional republic.  

 However, since World War I with the Trading with the Enemy act and the depression period of the 1930’s, the constitution of the U.S. has been circumvented in many ways by Congress and the Executive Branch.  

 The U.S. is a country that believes it is a democratic society despite the fact that the national emergency declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 9, 1933 remains in effect and has not been terminated as well as the 1918 Trading with the Enemy Act.  In addition, there have been additional national emergencies declared by several subsequent Presidents’ including President George W. Bush which remain in effect. 

 In essence, under these national emergency declarations, the President can:

seize property; organize and control the means of production; seize commodities; assign military forces abroad; institute martial law; seize and control all transportation and communication; regulate the operation of private enterprise; restrict travel; and, in a plethora of particular ways, control the lives of all American citizens.

 In the last half of the 20^th century, the concept of individual responsibility for one’s actions and life situation has been replaced by the nanny-state.  The concept of standing up and risking personal safety in order to resist the threat of bodily harm has been almost forgotten.  It would appear that we would rather call 911 and be killed waiting for the police to arrive than to fight. 

 Today’s populace allows our government through the Patriot Act, and various agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, and the Transportation Security Administration to require many  restrictions and attacks upon our privacy and liberty because we are afraid and thus, willing to believe the promises of protection from a government bent on destroying our sovereignty.  However, in reality, most of the restrictions and government programs are just window-dressing to make the public feel-good but have little or no real deterrence value.

 The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America destroys sovereignty.

 Under the cloak of hidden agenda’s stands the drive to create a North American union of Mexico, Canada and the United States.  Using the NAFTA framework, President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and political entity which the President is quietly forming, much as the European Union was brought into being.

  The blueprint President Bush is following was laid out in a 2005 report entitled "Building a North American Community" published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The CFR report connects the dots between the Bush administration's actual policy on illegal immigration and the drive to create the North American Union:

At their meeting in Waco, Texas, at the end of March 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin committed their governments to a path of cooperation and joint action. We welcome this important development and offer this report to add urgency and specific recommendations to strengthen their efforts.

 The plan is contained in a "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" little noticed when President Bush and President Fox created it in March 2005:

 In March 2005, the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States adopted a Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), establishing ministerial-level working groups to address key security and economic issues facing North America and setting a short deadline for reporting progress back to their governments. President Bush described the significance of the SPP as putting forward a common commitment "to markets and democracy, freedom and trade, and mutual prosperity and security." The policy framework articulated by the three leaders is a significant commitment that will benefit from broad discussion and advice. The plan proposes the creation by 2010 of a North American community to enhance security, prosperity, and opportunity.

 The boundaries of the North American union are to be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter within which the movement of people, products, and capital will be legal, orderly and safe. Its goal will be to guarantee a free, secure, just, and prosperous North America.

 More information about the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North American (SPP) can be found at www.spp.gov.   Read it and kiss the sovereignty of the U.S. goodbye to the New World Order envisioned by the elite.

 Today's politics is about power, not ideas!

 The political parties have become dominated by their extremes of left and right.  Despite the rhetoric, in the final analysis, outside of trying to gain power, the political directions of either major party do not offer any solution to the major domestic, foreign or economic problems facing the country in 2007.  

 In the Constitution, there are three separate and equal parts of the federal government … the Congress, the Executive and the Judiciary.  In recent years and particularly with the current Democratic Congress, the division between the Congress and the Executive branch has become very contentious.  Congress with the Democratic party holding a slim majority of one in the Senate and a multi-millionaire woman Speaker in the House have continually attempted to dictate to the Executive branch.   

 Despite not being approved by the White House, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, made a recent trip to the Middle East in which she violated the Mann Act and should have been arrested immediately upon her return to the U.S.

 A major problem for the Republican Party is that it was a minority party for years and when they became the majority, they failed to use their mandate to change the fundamental differences between the parties.  Today, it is difficult to see which party is ready to reform the tax laws, provide solutions to the Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid problems, enforce our immigration laws, and reduce spending to prudent levels.

 The farce of immigration reform

 In recent weeks, we have heard the dubious claim that illegal immigrants in the U.S. might number 12 million.  The validity of this estimate is seriously in doubt.  The website (www.immigrationcounters.com) suggests that the actual number is in excess of 20 million with some estimates as high as 40 million.  Moreover, the number of illegal immigrants in 2004 was estimated to be 4 million according to a report from the US Border Patrol apprehension statistics quoted by John McCain in a letter to a constituent.  Certainly, the number is more than the 12 million citied most frequently by the politicians and the press.

 Returning to the Constitution and the values of our fore-fathers!

 Hence, I am proposing the following for consideration by the silent majority before they allow this country to become nothing other than a third-world back-water country. 

1.       Elimination of any national emergency legislation currently on the books of the U.S. and return the country to a constitutional republic.  Also, the sovereignty of the U.S. will not be subjected to review by other international bodies including the North American Union nor the Hague Court or the World Trade Organization.

2.       Ask the United Nations to move its headquarters outside the U.S. and resign from membership in the organization.  The U.N.’s results in many areas fail to meet the needs of various oppressed people and the scandals that have arisen in many area’s including the Oil for Food program in Iran have resulted in a highly ineffective organization today of over-paid bureaucrats.

3.       Make border security a high priority project.  A fence needs to be built from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California. In addition, members of the Armed Forces should patrol the fence.

4.       Prosecute the elected officials in “so-called sanctuary cities and counties” for failing to enforce the laws of the United States of America.  Selective law enforcement only breeds contempt for the law.  We must return to the concept that the legal process shall treat each and every citizen equally. Any sanctuary city should immediately lose all forms of federal funding immediately.

5.       With the current stated federal debt level once again approaching the $9 trillion debt limit, there exists a real need to address the entire accounting problem of the U.S.  The stated federal deficit in FY 2006 was $248 billion according to the government standard accounting practices that if used by private industry would see all the politicians serving jail sentences re Enron.  The GAAP deficit for FY 2006 was $4.6 trillion, or almost 15 times higher, than the “stated federal deficit.”  Moreover, Treasury Secretary Paulson refused to sign a clean accounting statement even of the $4.6 trillion deficit citing “material weaknesses in internal control and other scope limitations resulted in conditions that prevented GAO (Government Accounting Office)  from forming and expressing an opinion on the Government’s consolidated financial statements for the years ended September 30, 2006 and 2005.”  In other words, because of problems in many agencies, no one really knows how bad the government financial picture is!. 

6.       Revoke the charter of the Federal Reserve Bank and return all those functions to the U.S. Treasury. Since its founding, the Federal Reserve Bank has helped reduce the value of U.S. currency by 94% and has converted our currency from a hard dollar system to a fiat system.  In conjunction with that change, mandate that all funds (currency, Treasury bills, bonds and Federal Reserve notes) held by U.S. Citizens can be exchanged in a five day window for new U.S. dollars.  Any other currency, Federal Reserve notes, U.S. Treasury bills, U.S. Treasury notes, U.S. Treasury bonds and funds held outside the U.S. that are not converted by physical conversion at designated banks in the U.S. shall be declared worthless.  With over 50% of all Federal Reserve Notes located outside of the U.S. borders, the U.S. Treasury would receive a substantial windfall.

7.       Resign from the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements and require repayment to the U.S. of all gold which was placed on deposit until an accurate and transparent audit has been made.

8.       Conduct an independent audit of all U.S. gold reserves including the gold bullion confiscated from Japan in the Philippines, the gold and other valuables confiscated from Japan after the occupation and the Nazi loot recovered in Europe which was used to fund a worldwide American political action fund used by the CIA and various other U.S. agencies to fight the Cold War.

9.       Mandate that the only language to be used in official federal, state and  local government papers is English.

a.      Require proficiency in English (both written and spoken) as a requirement for citizenship as well as graduation from any secondary school.

b.      Eliminate all English as a second-language programs.

c.      Require that all ballots be only available in the English language.

10.  Return our public school education goals to academics as opposed to outcome based education.  Outcome based education is largely responsible for the decline in our students education ranking in the world.  The concept behind outcome based education is flawed despite the backing of the NEA, state and federal education bureaucrats.   The education of students must be governed by parents and not by the state. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that the cost of education at the public and private school was in excess of $1.14 Trillion with 76.6 million enrolled at all levels.  Despite the highest per capita expenditure for education, the results are dismal …  the U.S. ranks in the middle of the pack.  Obviously, outcome education is not providing results commiserate with the money spent.

11.  Provide for positive photo, fingerprint and retinal identification of current U.S. citizens.  Voters in the U.S. must provide a positive ID issued by a governmental agency before being allowed to vote.  For each election, the voter will only be allowed to vote once.  Cross-referencing the Social Security death index database will eliminate voters who are no longer alive.  This is a relatively quick fix.

a.      If financial institutions and credit card companies can instantly upgrade their records for transactions, there is no reason the same technology can not be used by all levels of government to assure voters are qualified.

b.      Also require that any electronic voting machine must also have a paper trail that can be audited in case of a dispute.

12.  Enforce the immigration laws by using all levels of law enforcement.  Individuals to assist in the enforcement of our laws.  Individuals found without proper documentation will not be released on their own recognizance but will be deported after making a photo, retinal and fingerprint scan which will be placed in a national data-base.

a.       If they are subsequently found in the U.S. illegally, they should be treated as a terrorist and shot.

b.      If a child is born in the U.S. with parents who are not citizens, deny U.S. citizenship.

c.      Utilize a green-card program for workers but require that after the work permit expires, the worker must return to their home country. The holder of a green-card must have sufficient funds on deposit to provide transportation costs to return to the home country.

d.      Expand the skilled workers visa program to enable the U.S. to maintain its competitive edge. In the science and engineering disciplines, over half of our graduates are foreign-born students who are unable to obtain work visa’s in the U.S.  As a result, these highly-trained graduates are forced to return to their home countries and become our technological competitors.

e.      Provide a method by which people of wealth can obtain citizenship. Perhaps, a million dollar net worth would suffice if they have not been convicted of a felony crime.  However, if the applicant is convicted of any felony in the U.S., the citizenship would be revoked and the applicant would be deported to his native country.

f.        Force all citizens with dual-citizenship to give up one of those citizenship papers.

g.      Implement a visa tracking system for all visitors to the U.S. that will enable the Department of Homeland Security to know when a visitor has overstayed the visa and immediately, begin the process to track the visitor down for deportation.

13.  Remove the free ride that illegal immigrants now get with our welfare and social security programs.  Illegal immigrants should not become students in our schools, nor have free medical care and welfare hand-outs. If they are illegal, they should be deported along with every member of their family who is not a citizen of the U.S.

a.      Eliminate the “birthright” exception of citizenship where both parents are not U.S. citizens and make it retroactive to 1986 when the previous amnesty act was enacted into law..

b.      Remove the “anchor baby” exemption that allows members of the “birth-right” citizen to have other family members brought to the U.S. and make it retroactive to 1986 when the previous amnesty act was enacted into law.

c.      If an illegal person commits a felony, return him to his host country rather than send the individual to jail at our expense. However, if the individual returns to the U.S. and/or its possessions, the individual will be immediately executed without trial.  If the person is in the country, that is prima facie evidence for execution.

14.  Tax at a 25% rate any remittances which a holder of a green-card makes back to his native country.  Green-card holders also do not have to pay social security taxes but also will not receive social security payments.

15.  Eliminate the use of “eminent domain” to force citizens to sell property for private development purposes rather than for building roads, schools or a courthouse.

a.      Eliminate public financing and tax abatements for essentially private businesses including sports stadiums and to entice companies to locate in certain locales.

b.      Use of eminent domain to increase tax revenues available to a city, county or state will not be allowed.

16.  Overhaul the federal tax system and adopt the “Fair Tax” proposals based upon consumption and eliminate the income tax and the IRS.

a.      Require all government agencies to provide budgets based upon GAPP accounting rules.

b.      Cut all government budgets by 10% immediately.

c.      Eliminate any special pension and medical programs for members of Congress.

d.      Remove Secret Service protection for former President’s after two years. 

e.      Eliminate the ability of governmental workers to obtain double-dip (or more) retirement and medical payments.

f.        Increase the pay of enlisted military personnel by 15%.

g.      When armed forces personnel are on active duty overseas, hearing on family court matters will be postponed until the individual returns to the U.S. and has access to legal advice.

h.      Require all citizens upon graduation from high school or if they drop out to serve either two years in the Armed Forces or some form of government service like the Peace Corps or the old WPA project of the 1930’s.  If they drop out, require that they obtain a GED before they are allowed to leave the program of their choice.  The GED shall be based on academic performance and not outcome based education.

17.  Acknowledge that the War on Drugs is a total failure and legalize the use of all drugs. Estimates of the total annual cost of drug enforcement ranged from $20 billion to $30 billion in the 1990’s and are undoubtedly higher today. Over 70 million Americans now use illegal drugs occasionally – particularly marijuana. The vast majority are not addicts, but moderate social users. The small percentage who really are addicts deserve our compassion and help, not persecution and imprisonment.  However, any person who uses today’s illegal drugs should be removed from access to government programs like Medicare and Social Security.

a.       Allow U.S. farmers to grow crops including those from which today’s illegal drugs are made under governmental control.

b.       Under "Zero Tolerance," which targets casual drug users, police confiscate cars, homes, bank accounts and businesses without trial from at least 2,000 innocent people a week. These seizures take place without search warrants, without probable cause, and without due process. Most property is sold at public auction, with the proceeds used to hire more drug police.

c.      Up to 80% of street assaults, murders and burglaries are drug-related. Drug gangs have spread their power to every city and town. Many police have been corrupted, courts are overcrowded, and prisons are bursting at the seams.

d.      Release from confinement all individuals convicted of being illegal drug users and expunge their criminal records. The U.S. has the highest percentage of its population in prison than any other country.

e.      The number of black criminals in prison vastly exceeded the number of white criminals despite the fact that black make up only about 13% of the population.

f.        At the end of 2005, there were 3,145 black male sentenced prison inmates per 100,000 black males in the U.S., compared to 1,244 Hispanics and 471 white males.  Clearly, the disparity between the races has a major culture effect on the black social strata.

g.      With the legalization of drugs, the need for SWAT teams and the mentality that develops within the law enforcement community might be replaced with something like “protect and serve officers” rather than the jack-booted image of many of today’s citizens.

Conclusion

 With the two major political parties no longer representing the views of the silent majority nor the values upon which this country was founded, it is now time for a new political organization to emerge and begin to restore the principles upon which this country was founded.