August, 2014 Update: Will The Center Hold, Part 1: The Country Fights EPA, Gun Control, and Government Spying Tyranny

On a periodic basis we have been examining a unique phenomena in this country, namely the fact that state and local governments and individual citizens are standing up against the overreach and tyranny of the Federal government and the Washington political class. Under the hypothesis, “Will the Center Hold?”, we have examined the rather radical but growing possibility that very soon Washington and the Federal government will enact a law, an executive order, some type of regulation, etc. and the rest of the country will simply ignore the action.

And what happens if that should come to pass? Will we continue to be a republic with a central Federal government or does the whole shebang start to come apart with states and others doing as they please and treating anything out of Washington as merely a suggestion and not a requirement?

Issues that have been discussed where states and individuals have pushed back against the Feds include gun control, Common Core education standards, Obama Care regulations and requirements, Federal program enrollment such as Medicaid, and other large issues. To review past discussion on this topic, just enter the search term, ‘will the center hold” in the above search box to see how widespread but underreported this push back against Federal tyranny and oppression has become.

Today will be one of several updates to this movement as we continue to give examples have how the center might not hold in the face of an overreaching, ineffective, and inefficient Federal government and bureaucracy.

1) One of the many Federal government bureaucracies that is out of control is the EPA. They have been directed by the President to impose strict air quality restrictions on coal powered power plants in a futile attempt to reverse climate changes. I see futile since any restrictions on the use of coal in this country will have an absolute minimal effect on global climate change since the rest of the world, especially China, is exponentially increasing its use of coal. All the EPA restrictions will do is reduce economic activity and growth, increase unemployment, and severely increase the cost of electricity in his country.

That will happen if the EPA is allowed to do so but some people and state governments are fighting back against this EPA overreach. Recent news reports have reported that West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is leading a coalition of states to overturn 2011 actions by the EPA, actions in which the EPA granted itself the power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions coming from power plants.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt recently joined the anti-EPA coalition: “Our system doesn’t allow federal agencies to ‘improve’ or ‘fix’ laws to advance an agenda. That is what happened here: the EPA made a promise in 2011 to expand its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants.”

The coalition has gone to court with a lawsuit is to hold the EPA accountable to current laws and keep them from overstepping their boundaries: “Fortunately, the law doesn’t allow the agency to do what it wants. This lawsuit is about holding the EPA accountable to following the environmental statutes as passed by Congress. Oklahoma will continue to challenge the EPA – or any other federal agency – when it takes actions that undermine our system and the rule of law.”

So ask yourself: what if 12 states, 24% of all states, decided to just ignore EPA directives that it found to be outside the realm of established law? What would the Federal government do, if anything? Throw twelve governors and their attorney generals in jail? Impose martial law and forcibly place their own reps into those state offices? Interesting times.

2) Gun control has been a big area of state government pushback and ignoring of Washington’s wishes relative to the Second Amendment, that “the right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”. 

The state of Missouri has been very active in the forefront of the gun control nullification movement, with its state government passing numerous resolutions on that issue. However, Missouri recently took a giant step towards making the nullification of Federal gun control laws official state policy.

State voters in Missouri overwhelmingly approved a Constitutional Amendment that “obligates” the state to protect and defend the right to keep and bear arms against any and all infringements, as part of their Primary election on August 5th, according to the Tenth Amendment Center.

Amendment 5, which got the approval of about 64% of voters, asked Missouri voters: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to include a declaration that the right to keep and bear arms is an unalienable right and that the state government is obligated to uphold that right?”

Missouri’s Constitution will now include Amendment 5, which will affirm “the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, family and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned. The rights guaranteed by this section shall be unalienable. The state of Missouri shall be obligated to uphold these rights and shall under no circumstances decline to protect against their infringement.”

Michael Boldin, Executive Director for the Tenth Amendment Center, a leading organization in support of individual and state rights vs. an oppressive central government, stated that: “Under no circumstance’ is not beating around the bush. When the federal government attempts to enforce a law, order, rule or regulation that violates the right to keep and bear arms, the state of Missouri is now required to step in and defend against that.”

What happens when a Federal ATF agent or agents are arrested in Missouri trying to restrict the Second Amendment rights of Missouri citizens? What does the Obama administration do when Federal ATF agents go on trial in Missouri for violating a local citizen’s Second Amendment rights? 

The dangerous aspect of state nullification of Federal government gun control restrictions is that both sides could come to the party toting guns, each trying to enforce their respective government entities’ gun control edicts and laws. Although once thought impossible, it is now a possibility, although a small possibility, that at some point we could have Federal and state law enforcement officials both staring down at each others’ gun barrels, a scenario that is not likely to end well.

3) The Personal Liberty Digest website recently had an update on many of the state government nullification efforts against the Federal government. As you will see, this movement is widespread, growing, and being waged on many fronts:

• First, though let’s get a definition of what the website defines as nullification: “Any act or set of acts which has as its result a particular law being rendered legally null and void, or unenforceable in practice."
• In Missouri, state citizens will have the chance to support the #YesOn9 campaign and vote to approve Amendment 9. This change to the State constitution would give “electronic data and communications” the same State constitutional protections as “persons, houses, papers and effects.” This specifically prohibits State agencies from accessing it without a warrant in most cases
• In New Hampshire, recently enacted laws ban state and local law enforcement from searching an electronic device without a warrant and also prohibits a small category of what the Federal NSA entity has been doing with the warrantless data it collects.
• A California law that would create a legal process for turning off material support and resources (like water and electricity) to Federal agencies engaged in unConstitutional warrantless surveillance programs is close to be signed into law by the state governor
• Similar privacy, anti-NSA legislation is expected in states like Utah, Texas and Washington
• In Idaho, a new law would nullify future Federal gun laws by prohibiting State enforcement of any future Federal act relating to personal firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition. The encouraging aspect of this legislation is that it passed unanimously in both houses of the state legislature.

In just a few paragraphs today we have summarized three fronts on which state governments are trying to protect ourselves from the freedom destroying and liberty limiting actins of the federal government. An EPA out of control, the continuous attempt to shred the Second Amendment, and the continuing effort to prevent the government, at all levels from snooping in on ourselves and destroying our privacy, i.e. shredding the Fourth Amendment, without due cause.

I cannot remember anytime in our history when there was such a widespread and deep disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country, its state governments, and its citizens. As we have shown many times in this blog, approval of the Obama Presidency, Congress, and the Federal bureaucracy has never been lower and continues to trend downwards. Nullification and the potential for serious clashes as a result of ignoring Washington edicts is growing stronger and more widespread every day. 

This is just a start of this month's review of the question: Will the center hold if at some point in time we just start ignoring whatever comes out of Washington? More nullification updates and stories tomorrow. Will the center hold?

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

The Corurption and Hunger Games Mentality of the Political Class, Part 1: The Many Facets of Obama Care Corruption

Since we have spent so much of the past week or so reviewing the many disasters and hardships coming out of the Obama Care legislation, we have neglected the latest non-Obama Care disasters, corruption, and idiocy that has been produced by the American political class. We will try to remedy that in the next several posts.

In the past we have done a number of series on political class corruption including the following well read posts:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2012/07/washington-corruption-train-keeps-on.html

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2011/01/amateur-hour-in-dc-part-3-three-forms.html

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2012/05/wasteful-government-spending-week-pimp.html

These are just a sample of popular past corruption posts. Reviewing our Political Class insanity series at the beginning of every month is another rich source of political class corruption.

We have also done a unique series of political class corruption and decadence that uses the theme of the popular “Hunger Games” books and films to depict the pompousness and disgrace of the Washington political class and elite. The Hunger Games’ theme looks at a fictitious nation where the elite live in opulent life styles in the capital city where those citizens outside of the capital live in poverty, drudgery, and basically forced servitude to support the ruling class. 

We make the case that present day Washington is not too far away from the Hunger Games theme in a series of posts that began with the following post:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2013/02/washingtons-hunger-games-approach-to.html

This week we will try to intertwine the themes of corruption and Hunger Games together to weave a tale of how poorly we are governed by a set of politicians whose only concerns are self enrichment, perpetual reelection, ego gratification, and control of Americans in so many different ways. This puts them totally out of touch with ordinary Americans who have to experience the consequences of their idiocy.

The overarching string connecting all of our posts will be the varying definitions of “corruption” as defined by the online Webster dictionary and how well the political class executes the different definitions of corruption in their daily lives. The Webster definitions of corruption that need to be kept in mind include the following facets:

a : impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle : depravity 

b : decay, decomposition 

c : inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery) 

d : a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct 

Today’s post on corruption will center on Obama Care and the frequent, illegal, and un-Constitutional delays that the Obama administration has unilaterally and arbitrarily imposed on the nation. These actions fall into line with the fourth variation of corruption, a departure from the original from what is pure and correct.

In this country, the pure and correct way to govern is to pass legislation that has been approved by two houses of Congress, representing the will and intentions of the voting public, and which was signed into law by the President. Any needed changes or unforeseen circumstances that the legislation invokes or causes need to be addressed by new legislation that has been approved by the two houses of Congress, representing the will and intentions of the voting public, and which is signed into law by the President. That is the correct and pure form, the non-corrupt form, of governing in this nation.

However, this Presidency violates the correct and pure form by unilaterally deciding what portions and dates within the Obama Care law it wishes to do without going back through Congress, which would act as representatives of the voters, to make the necessary changes in the proper way. This corrupts our concept of liberty and freedom in this country, turning us from a republic into an arbitrary dictatorship.

As an example of the long road map of corruption that the Obama administration has paved, consider some recent history analysis from the Heritage Foundation, based on work done by Bloomberg News. They produced a timeline of changes to Obama Care that were not done in a pure, correct and non-corrupt way but were done 1) in an un-Constitutional manner to suit the political needs of the President’s allies and cronies and 2) to cover up the ineptness and incompetence of the Federal bureaucracy and this administration to carry out its own program and forced legislation.

Whenever you are using the words cover up, cronies, un-Constitutional, ineptness, and incompetence to describe any process, you can be sure that process has been corrupted from its pure or correct form. Obama Care mismanagement has raised corruption to the high standards of the Webster dictionary, as the following proves.

According to the Heritage analysis: Obamacare is now four years old. But unlike most 4-year-olds, it still can’t walk on its own. It’s been tripping and falling over itself for years.

Just in the last year, the Obama administration has delayed or changed so many parts of the law—not to mention the technical “glitches”—it’s tough to keep up. Bloomberg Businessweek looked at the law’s recent track record…

And they found the following major illegal and un-Constitutional changes to the Obama Care legislation:

April 1, 2013: The White House announces the Obama Care marketplaces won’t be able to handle the menu of health plans originally promised and required by the legislation.

July 2, 2013: Obama Care’s employer mandate that requires all employers with 50 or more employees provide coverage to full-time workers gets delayed one year.

September 26, 2014: The Obama administration announces that small businesses won’t be able to buy coverage in the online small business marketplace until November. later than the date required by the legislation.

October 1, 2013: HealthCare.gov launches with major glitches, and Americans and Congressional investigators face a wall of silence from bureaucrats when looking for explanations. The ability to do online enrollment in Obama Care is essentially delayed indefinitely beyond the date required by the legislation.

October 23, 2013: The deadline to buy Obama Care coverage without a penalty gets pushed to March 31. Way beyond the date required b y the legislation.

November 14, 2013: The President presents a “fix” for the millions of Americans who received insurance cancellation notices because of Obama Care. His solution would allow 2013 insurance plans “to be grandfathered in,” an option not allowed by the legislation.

November 27, 2013: Obama Care’s online small business exchange is delayed another year, way beyond the date required by the legislation.

December 1, 2013: HealthCare.gov is re-launched and “fixed,” two months beyond the date it was required to b e operational by the legislation.

December 12, 2013: The White House extends the deadline to December 23 to get coverage that begins January 1. It also announces requiring insurers to accept payments until December 31, in clear violation of the dates set in the legislation.

December 23, 2013: The White House moves the deadline to enroll for January 1 coverage again—to the next day, December 24, in violaiton of the legislation.

December 24, 2013: Consumers who encountered technical difficulties and could not complete their applications on HealthCare.gov by December 24 are given more time, in violation of the legislation.

February 10, 2014; The Obama administration announces that businesses with at least 50 full-time employees (but fewer than 100 full-time employees) won’t be subject to the employer mandate until 2016 if they meet certain conditions, beyond the date required by the legislation.

March 5, 2014: The millions of Americans who lost their individual insurance because their health plans didn’t meet requirements in Obama Care can keep their old plans (if they’re still available) as late as October 2016—avoiding a new round of cancellations during the 2014 election season, beyond the date required by the legislation.

These were the major changes, there were other, less far reaching changes to the legislation’s requirements that were just as blatant and just as corrupt. These multitude of changes has corrupted much of the original, properly passed legislation into a highly corrupt form, a severe departure from the original or from what is pure or correct. 

But over the early weeks of March, 291r4, at least the administration repeatedly assured the nation that the major deadline of Obama Care, the fact that the legislation clearly requires EVERY American to have purchased health insurance by March 31, 2014, is sacrosanct and will not be changed from its original form:

"We have no plans to extend the open enrollment period. In fact, we don't actually have the statutory authority to extend the open enrollment period in 2014." — Health and Human Services (HHS) official Julie Bataille, March 11, 2014.

“Once that 2014 open enrollment period has been set, they are set permanently.” – HHS official Michael Hash, March 11. 2014.

"March 31st is the deadline for enrollment. You’ve heard us make that clear." – Press Secretary Jay Carney, March 21, 2014.

“There is no delay beyond March 31.” – HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, March 12, 2014

There was to be no delay, it was a hard deadline…until there was a delay and there was no longer a hard deadline. The Washington Post reported this past week that March 31, 2014 is not, in fact, the final day to have health insurance. 

To get more time, you are now on the honor system and able to tell the Federal government that you haven’t been able to sign up yet, in clear violation of the legislation:

Under the new rules, people will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline. This method will rely on an honor system; the government will not try to determine whether the person is telling the truth.

How corrupt and out of integrity is this administration when for months they unilaterally and illegally change the passed legislation until it resembles nothing like the original? How corrupt and out of integrity is this administration when the head honor of the whole Obama Care operation, Kathleen Sebelius goes public to say “There is no delay beyond March 31” but in less than two weeks implmetns a delay in the deadline” Pathetic and corruptible.

The Heritage Foundation had a nice and accurate summary of this corruption: 

So the administration’s word means nothing, but officials expect the rest of America to operate on the honor system. After years of Obamacare delays and changes, the administration has lost all credibility.

Americans deserve better. You deserve patient-centered health reform that is true to its purpose: giving you more choices and better value. You deserve to control your own health care—and not to have to worry what the whims of government bureaucrats will be tomorrow.

When we are governed by whims the potential for corruption skyrockets and effectiveness of planning and legislation is minimized by the lack of leadership and integrity of those in office.

More corruption to follow, you will see over the next week or so that corruption has infested just about every aspect of American political life, making us no better than most other secondary countries around the world.

If you want to do something to combat the rampant corruption we will be discussing in the political class this week, consider joining our effort to enforce term limits on all Washington politicians because really, how much worse could it get if we got rid of every politicians today and replaced them with new people who corruption level probably could not be any worse:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w