Untitled Document

The battle now moves to the Senate. I am told that one Senator can put a hold on this bill and prevent its moving forward. President Bush has also said that he will veto all of these bloated pork barrel bills. We need to contact Senator Sessions, Senator Shelby and President Bush now. Ask them to stop this wasteful and destructive bill. There is no way to know exactly when HB-1483 will come up for approval in the Senate. It could be soon! We need to start calling now and continue to call regularly until this monster is defeated.

Last week the Omnibus National Heritage Site Bill (HB-1483) was PASSED in the House of Representatives. This massive 135 million dollar “Pork Barrel” bill passed by a 292 to 122 margin, even though several of the Representatives who had started this whole process recognized the dangers posed by this greatly expanded bill and pleaded to be excluded (they were denied the right to withdraw) and spoke very strongly against the bill in debate. The National Park Service said that there had NOT been sufficient study given to many of these heritage sites and advised delaying action. But since, in the minds of many politicians, federal dollars sent back home equate to votes back home, shamefully, with the exception of Rep. Robert Aderholt, ALL of our Alabama Representatives voted in favor of HB-1483. Whether this was due to lack of understanding on their part or motivated by pure self-interest, I cannot say. But I do know that those voting for HB-1483 failed to defend their constituents. Make no mistake, this fifteen million dollars coming to the Muscle Shoals site and being administered by an unelected board, is only “seed money” to establish the framework whereby regulatory land use, development and WATER restrictions will be implemented. This program will become a funnel for federal dollars used to restrict citizen’s rights and to remove private property from productive use.

Representative Aderholt needs to be thanked for his courageous stand against this destructive bill but all our other Alabama Representatives, especially our Republican Reps. who are supposed to be for limited government and fiscal responsibility, need to be chastised severely for their actions.

For many settlers, choosing the water route to reach lands west of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River in North Alabama was the end of the line. The shoals consisted of a series of jagged rocks and rapids that halted all river passage west and were reported to destroy anything attempting to traverse them, short of “a good green log.” The shoals derived their name from the fresh water muscles (clam-like creatures) that clung to every wet rock, like a bureaucrat to federal grant money.

Pioneers by the thousands seeking “free land” and the freedom that went with it, floated down the Tennessee River on flatboats and log rafts, first south until they rounded the southern tip of the Appalachian Range, then westward toward the promised land until they reached the shoals where they were stopped. Here they had two choices, disassemble their craft, portage around the shoals and reassemble it again below the rapids or leave the Tennessee and settle on forested lands north and south of the river in the fertile Tennessee Valley. Most chose to settle.

Pioneering was a hard and dangerous existence but it was a free existence where husband and wife could raise their families as they saw fit, worship their God as they chose and live without interference from kings, tyrants or governments. They were self-reliant, rugged individualists who only wanted a chance to prove themselves in this new “land of opportunity.” They asked nothing more of their fellow man than a fair deal. Most succeeded through hard work and tenacity, some faltered and turned back and a few died in the attempt. But they were all part of the stock destined to create the greatest nation in the history of the world.

Though many pioneers may have never heard the words, “God-given inalienable rights,” they instinctively knew and fully understood the meaning of those words. They knew that God had given them the right to be free, to own and use the fruits of their labor and to succeed or fail based on their own merit.

Such people would have risen in revolt had anyone tried to steal their homes or land or take from them what they had fought to create with their own hard work and sacrifice. Had someone told them that someday their own government would come to take their money through taxation and then use that money to deprive them of their property, and prevent them from using the very land they owned and held title to, they would have issued a “call to arms.” They would not have believed that any “free people” would tolerate such a government.

Our ancestors did not risk the perils of a mighty river nor create a mighty nation by riding a pork barrel or giving up their freedom for government handouts. They certainly would not understand or approve of this proposed “Muscle Shoals National Heritage Site,” which will supposedly be dedicated in their honor, but which in truth represents everything they despised and moved west to escape.

The great critic and political writer, H.L. Menchen, once wrote, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed - and thus clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” (Can anyone say man-made Global Warming?) Nowadays, under our “entitlement mentality,” the other side of this coin is to tempt the populace with “good fairy” social programs in the name of the “greater good.” Most of these programs, too, are imaginary, their true purpose being to pay back campaign supporters and reelect politicians. But Snollygosters also know that if the whirlwind of federal dollars is big enough, some of those dollars will land in their laps.

But there is a much more sinister aspect of these “Big Brother” programs than just the narcissistic tendencies of political elites. The real danger is the systematic transfer of control of our natural resources: our land, our water and our sources of energy to unelected boards and commissions, thereby creating a governing body beyond the control of the voters or even the elected officials who created them. The guiding principles within these so-called “sustainable development” programs outline “governance” (as opposed to government) policies, which in reality establish rule by unelected bureaucrats through regulations and ordinances, and give them the force of law, up to and including fines and imprisonment. This is not constitutional government by the will of the people. In fact, it is a way to circumvent the Constitution and oppress American citizens.

To clarify what is happening - picture in your mind the typical Snollygoster - expensive suit, broad artificial smile, sitting on a pork barrel while whispering in your local official’s ear. “Now,” says he, “what we want to do is clearly unconstitutional” (because it violates those rights reserved to the states or to the individuals themselves), “but - I will give you local boys this bag of money (federal grants) if you will pass local regulations and ordinances doing what we want.”

Thus, what is clearly illegal, had the federal government done it directly, becomes legal through avarice and subversion.

Case in point: recently I watched the live debate and vote on HR-1483, the “Omnibus National Heritage Site Bill,” in the House of Representatives. Representative Bishop of Utah led the debate against HR-1483. He listed countless flaws in the bill: its massive size, its lack of oversight, its absence of property rights protections for citizens trapped within heritage boundaries. He pointed out very ably that this bill was “pork barrel” at its worst. Representative Bishop earned my respect and admiration by his presentation of the facts and his understanding of his duty to his constituents.

Representative Bud Cramer of Alabama, on the other hand, who, to paraphrase Will Rogers, apparently “never met a pork barrel project he didn’t like,” spoke in favor of the omnibus bill. (Cramer was also the Sponsor of the original Muscle Shoals Heritage Bill.) And then Representative Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), who is Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and who led the debate in favor of HB-1483, made the most amazing and revealing statement of the day, when he hung his head piteously and said, “Well, I guess I don’t have to tell anyone in this body about our low approval ratings these days. I feel that a bill like this would go a long way toward improving our image.”

What Chairman Rahall was referring to, of course, is the fact that for months now the approval rating of the Congress has held steady at about 11%. This 11% “approval rating” is a polite way of saying that 89%, that is, nine out of ten of the American people think that Congress is doing a lousy job of representing their wishes. Do our so-called representatives not realize that programs like this Heritage Bill, which only benefits a few special interest types and oppresses the vast majority of ordinary citizens, is the very reason for the distain with which our citizens view Congress?

Never in my lifetime and probably never in our history, has there been such a disconnect between the people and the government that supposedly represents them! What these “disapproval” ratings really mean is that 90% of the American voters are smarter than the Congress believes and that 90% do not believe the Congress. It also means that many Representatives and Senators don’t really care what the citizens want as long as they can buy enough good will (with your money and money borrowed against your children’s futures) to flim-flam the public into keeping them in office.

What we are witnessing among elected officials today is the vast difference between statesmen and politicians. One does what is good for his country. The other just tries to make it look good. One is a friend to patriots, the other cohort to Snollygosters. Ourcitizens recognize the difference even if our government does not.

I know that it is difficult to convince a politician that the best thing that they can do for their constituents is to NOT SEND federal dollars back home to be used as ammunition against them, but that is what we must do. With the exception of Robert Aderholt, our Representatives have failed us. The battle has now moved to the Senate. But the greater truth is that the outcome of this attack on your property and your rights lies completely in your own hands. If these politicians do not hear your voices calling them from back home, then they will surely hear the Snollygoster whispering in their ear. If you do not take back control of your government, then “governance” will take control of you.

Senator Sessions: - 202-224-4124 Senator Shelby: - 202-224-5744 sessions.senate.gov/email/contact.cfm senator@shelby.senate.gov

PS: Please listen to this excellent commentary about the real effects of CO2 on the earth.

Copy and paste: http://www.borntowin.net/radioprograms/real_global_warming.mp3

(Part Three)

"The one thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee ... was a nation governed by professional politicians who had an interest in getting reelected. They probably envisioned a fellow serving a couple of hitches and then eagerly looking forward to getting back to the farm." -- Ronald Reagan

Contrary to popular belief among modern-day professional politicians, an elected official’s primary job is not to get reelected. Neither is it to create money by monetary expansion, borrowing against future generations or increased taxation in order to “bring home the bacon,” i.e. “federal pork barrel dollars” for some imagined public good. It is not to take one citizen’s property and give it to someone else of the government’s choosing or control through regulations how one uses what is rightfully his. In summary, it is NOT to create artificial needs that can only be satisfied by more money, bigger government and more regulations, and which results invariably in loss of one’s freedom and independence, in order to enhance political image and garner votes.

“What is their real job, then?” you ask. It is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty and property and to help them live free; that also means free of tyrannical governmental policies.

Under our founding documents, politicians are limited to only those powers granted them in the U.S. Constitution. All other powers (those not specifically stipulated within the Constitution) reside in the states or to the people (Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution). The Alabama Constitution in Article 1, Section 35, (under the purpose of government), clearly states: “That the sole object and only legitimate end of government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and when the government assumes other functions it is usurpation and oppression.”

Our federal officials swore an oath to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution from “all enemies foreign and domestic” (including Congress). Our state officials swore to defend both the U.S. Constitution and the Alabama Constitution. Apparently, either our federal and state officials did not read the documents before they swore or they didn’t mean it when they swore. For time after time they have taken the part of “big contributors” or their own self-interest against the best interest of their constituents. Most politicians and the do-gooder social engineers who influence them, seem to justify their actions based on the belief that “public apathy” is the same thing as “public ignorance” and that only they, the enlightened ones, know what is best for you.

C.S. Lewis probably summarized it best, "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.”

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Once again, with this National Heritage Program (HB-1483), our elected officials have created a smoke screen by burning the Constitution. With a deceptive title and in the name of “the public good,” they continue to chip away at the freedoms our ancestors bled and died to preserve for us.

We are a nation founded by pioneers, a people who were willing to risk everything to bring their families out of tyranny and oppression - a nation once honestly proclaimed throughout the world as the land of the free and the home of the brave. Is there nothing left of that pioneer stock, who when confronted with the rough waters of Muscle Shoals, turned their rafts into wagons, loaded up their families with their dreams and blazed a trail into the promised land?

There are dangerous waters ahead. Will you, as your ancestors before you, stop and change course before it is too late or will our citizens continue to take the easy path, go with the flow, and watch the American dream be swept into oblivion?

It has been said that there are three types of people in the world, “those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who say, what the heck happened?” Which will you be?

If you believe, as we do, that our freedom and our nation are worth fighting for, then you need to join us in this battle against despotism and creeping socialism. You need to take action, contact your Representatives and Senators again, again and again, and demand (politely, of course) that they stop these National Heritage Programs. Your children’s futures depend upon your actions.

Please contact:

Senator Sessions: - 202-224-4124 Senator Shelby: -202-224-5744 sessions.senate.gov/email/contact.cfm senator@shelby.senate.gov

Ask them to stop this terrible, wasteful and anti-property rights bill-

HB-1483 (the Omnibus National Heritage Site Bill)

Ken Freeman, Chairman - Alliance for Citizen’s Rights

www.alabamapropertyrights.org

and
www.keepourrights.org

What do nine counties in Alabama, three counties in Tennessee and two counties in Mississippi have in common? Nothing. Nothing that is except that historically, as Southerners, our ancestors and our heritage, have been attacked by carpetbaggers before. Now we have all been targeted again. This time for a huge land grab called the “Muscle Shoals National Heritage Site.” Should this heritage designation bill pass, the property rights of landowners and homeowners within this huge area, covering practically all of North Alabama, will be under attack from federal dollars and environmental extremist groups.

This Heritage designation will become a gigantic funnel for federal dollars (your own dollars by the way), fifteen million initially, to develop, design and implement zoning and land use regulations that will deprive landowners of the use of their property and steal the value of their hard earned equity. To add insult to injury, property owners will be required to spend additional money to maintain what land they have left in the manner that the “commission” decides is best for the “public good.” Landowners will have no way to opt out because their property lies within congressionally designated boundaries.

Because the site covers parts of three different states, no local government, or even state government, can have jurisdiction over the area. This allows for the appointment of un-elected boards and commissions who will operate without the oversight of our elected officials, and beyond the control of the voters and property owners of the affected areas.

“But that is in North Alabama,” you say. “That doesn’t affect me.” Well it will, sooner or later. Remember that these are the same do-gooders who have already been talking about “taking” 100,000 acres in the Alabama Black Belt below Montgomery for a proposed “ National Grassland.” Under this plan, houses would be bulldozed, most trees would be cut down and the area would be “control burned” every two to three years to establish and maintain an artificial “prairie grassland,” complete with buffalo herds and bird watching trails. Another recent article proposed a “National Heritage Corridor” for the Black Belt. Remember that a corridor by definition connects one area to another. What else, or rather who else’s property, do they intend to take on each end of the so-called corridor? How will all this be accomplished? By eminent domain takings of course. But not to worry, I am sure that all you landowners will be delighted to give up rights to your homes and property for some bureaucrat’s vision of the “public good.”

In addition, a huge section of southwest Alabama surrounding the Mobile area has been listed under the “Southeastern Biodiversity Framework” as prime “Black Bear Habitat.” How long before a “Black Bear National Preservation Area” or the like will be nominated for enactment in order to steal even more property from Alabama citizens?

As you can see, we are all in this battle together. We must stop this outrage now before this monster has grown too big to defeat.

Representatives in the U.S. Congress from several states have been trying to fight back, but when local groups and the elected officials representing them objected to these Heritage Sites, the Democratic majority on the House Resources Committee ignored their wishes and instead rolled all the sites into one “omnibus bill” which includes the creation of six new heritage sites and reauthorizes and increases funding to nine existing sites. The dissenting 15 members of the House Natural Resources Committee called the majority bill a “ thumb in the eye to private property rights advocates and fiscal responsibility.” They further opposed the bill because of pork-barrel earmarks and incomplete feasibility studies.

This combined bill will cost taxpayers over 135 million dollars in direct costs and will eventually result in billions of dollars being stolen from honest, hard-working American land and homeowners. What is worse, it will most likely deny our children the inheritance that we have saved for them and their futures.

This omnibus bill, designated H.R.1483, is an attempt to steamroll over our elected officials and landowners and to impose the will of a few elitist individuals and organizations upon us.

Believe me, I know that it is difficult to convince politicians that the best thing that they can do for the citizens they represent is “NOT to bring those federal dollars home.” But this is what we must do. And we must do it now!

On Wednesday or Thursday of this week (October 24th or 25th), the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on this massive national heritage area bill, H.R. 1483.

Call your Representative today at 202-225-3121. If you do not know who your Representative is, the operator will assist you. Call and ask that they oppose H.R. 1483 and continue to call until victory is won. There may not be a second chance.

Additional in-depth information about H.R. 1483 can be found on the web sites below:

* To read what The Heritage Foundation has to say about the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, read: “Another Federal Assault on Property Rights: The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area Act,” which can be viewed here: http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/bg2025.cfm

* The National Taxpayers Union’s testimony in opposition to H.R. 1483 (the testimony was actually delivered prior to H.R. 1483’s massive expansion to include the creation of six additional heritage areas) can be viewed here: >http://www.ntu.org/main/testimonies_detail.php?testimony_id=41