A Senate committee unanimously approved major cybersecurity legislation which would allow Brother O to shut down Internet networks, block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries, and force private websites to comply with broad cybersecurity measures.

Last Thursday the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee agreed to send the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 to the Senate floor for a vote. The Act will create a White House Office of Cyberspace Policy and a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) center to adopt cybersecurity policies related to federal and private sector networks.

The legislation, crafted by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Tom Carper (D-DE) is aimed at bringing the Internet under the regulatory power of the federal government. Lieberman’s “Kill switch” bill parallels last year’s legislation by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) granting the government power to disconnect certain websites.

“We need this capacity in a time of war…. for the president to say, ‘Internet service provider, we’ve got to disconnect the American Internet from all traffic coming in from another foreign country, or we have to put a patch on this part of it’.” –Joe (Droopy Dog) Lieberman on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley

Droopy Dog’s “Kill switch” bill would hand Brother O absolute power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight. His loosely worded bill also gives DHS’ new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) “significant authority” to monitor the “security status” of private websites, ISPs and other U.S. net-related business, and critical internet components in other countries.

“Companies would be required to take part in ‘information sharing’ with the government and certify to the NCCC that they have implemented approved security measures. Furthermore, any company that ‘relies on’ the internet, telephone system or any other part of the U.S. ‘information infrastructure’ would also be ‘subject to command’ by the NCCC under the proposed new law.” — Andy Chalk

Privacy and civil liberties groups fear that Droopy Dog’s “Kill switch” bill would grant Brother O the power to declare a “national cyber-emergency” at his discretion, which could force private Internet service providers and search engines to limit or cut off a whistle-blowing or political site’s connection to the Web for blaming or criticizing the Bread and Circuses administration.

“We have seen through recent history that in an emergency, the Executive Branch will interpret grants of power very broadly.” –Gregory Nojeim, from the Center for Democracy and Technology, a group that promotes Internet freedom

“The way it seems to be worded, the bill could easily represent a threat to free speech.” –Wayne Crews, vice president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute

Droopy Dog is pushing his “Kill switch” bill “at lightning speed” because he says the country’s “economic security, national security and public safety are now all at risk from … cyber-warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals.”

“The need for this legislation is obvious and urgent.” –Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

“We cannot afford to wait for a cyber 9/11 before our government realizes the importance of protecting our cyber resources.” –Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)

Ginning up fears to rush legislation helps to mask the “Kill switch” bill’s real purpose, which is to keep the alternative Internet media from exposing the mainstream media propagandists in their whitewashing of government favoritisms, cover-ups, and atrocities. After all, the fear card worked to rush through and hide the real agenda behind the Wallstreet/Automotive industry bailouts, the Porkulus package, and the ObamaCare bill.

Interestingly, the communist Chinese also claim the need to police and censor the Web to maintain security and combat cyber warfare, but the totalitarian government’s real agenda is to silence those who criticize it. It would appear that Droopy Dog, whom Glenn Beck heralds as a man of honor, wants to add a technological iron curtain to quell America’s ambiance.

“Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too.” –Lieberman told Crowley

First Iran shuts down the Internet to quash a revolution, then Pakistan shuts down Facebook and Google to blackout “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day,” and now members of the U.S. Senate are mimicking communist China’s censorship and coercion policies to stifle Internet media outlets and bloggers who are quickly displacing the statists’ mainstream press organs.

Lieberman, whom Sean Hannity embraces as a friend and a “good guy,” declares his bill is “not a big deal,” and that his critics are over reacting and “intentionally peddling misinformation.” According to the conscience of the Senate, the President already has the authority under the Communications Act to close any facility or station for wire communication, “So I say to my friends on the Internet, relax.”

In the wake of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) floating of the Drudge tax as a way to fund mainstream newspapers and to tax out of existence their competitors in the alternative media, George Orwell’s discernment might be better suited for Lieberman than either Hannity’s or Beck’s.

“Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Lieberman: China Can Shut Down The Internet, Why Can’t We (2:04 Video)

Competitive Enterprise Institute — Lieberman-Collins-Carper Bill Threatens Nation’s Cybersecurity

Brother O has signed an Executive Order designed to control people’s lives under the guise of disease prevention and health promotion. The Order establishes the “National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council,” an interagency council to interact with the departments of HHS, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Transportation, and others to implement national prevention and health promotion policies.

“In order to create a true, wellness society and rein in chronic disease, all federal agencies must be engaged. … The President … in signing this executive order … mark[s] another significant milestone in our goal of coordinating federal efforts and improving the health and wellbeing of our society.” –Leftist Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Actually, the Council’s principal purpose involves “lifestyle behavior modification” for some Americans who do not practice “healthy behavior.” Section 6 (c) of the Order focuses on Brother O’s desired lifestyle behavior modifications: 

• smoking cessation,
• proper nutrition,
• appropriate exercise,
• mental health,
• behavioral health,
• sedentary behavior (see Sec. 3 [c]),
• substance-use disorder, and
• domestic violence screenings.

The Order also creates a 25-member “Advisory Group” of hand-picked medical experts from public health fields and other areas of expertise in the private sector to modify the lifestyles and behaviors of people the government deems unhealthy. 

According to Section 4 (b) of the Order, lifestyle behavior modification advisors will actively carry out: 

• worksite health promotion,
• community services, including community health centers,
• preventive medicine,
• health coaching,
• public health education,
• geriatrics, and
• rehabilitation medicine.

Brother O’s “lifestyle behavior modification” Order is open-ended in areas of “mental” and “behavioral” health, “proper nutrition,” “sedentary behavior,” and “appropriate exercise” so that some Americans will think and act and eat and drink for the “health and wellbeing of our society.” 

However, Brother O seems to have omitted the unhealthy sexual practices of some Americans from the list of lifestyle behavior modifications. The diseases associated with Americans who engage in anal sex include: HIV, anal cancer, typhoid fever, Tuberculosis, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Herpes simplex, Amoebiasis, Cryptosporidiosis, E. coli infections, Giardiasis, Human papillomavirus, Lymphogranuloma venereum, Salmonellosis, and Shigella. 

Medical doctors know that the shape of the bowel is not designed for sexual intercourse. The bowel lining is a single cell layer, and the anal sphincter muscle has to be forced open during anal intercourse, which results in trauma and tearing. The action of intercourse damages the bowel lining making it easy for bacteria and viruses to enter the body. 

The health risks to heterosexuals and homosexuals engaging in anal sex have been hushed up by political correctness and a reluctance to speak about the subject. 

I am politically incorrect … I am unreluctant … 

For additional information on Brother O’s National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council, see Obama Issues Executive Order Mandating “Lifestyle Behavior Modification” from the Nanny State Liberation Front.

Federal agencies proliferate like a creeping plague. The burden is upon you, but they are never publicized. This is unbelievable. Take a coffee break courtesy of Glen Beck…

Elimination of our Bill of Rights will be disguised as an emergency measure for the public good in response to a manufactured crisis. This is a two-step process, originally described by Cloward and Piven:

• Use a real or manufactured crisis to induce public fear.
• Enact draconian laws (or take Orwellian measures) to remedy the crisis, preying on that fear to leverage increased government control and decreased personal freedom that the public would not normally accept.

Many readers responded to our earlier article, Obama Just Got His Private Army, by noting that this was merely an expansion of the public health service. Here are examples:

“…I just read through the cited section and, IMHO, it refers to the U.S. Public Health Service, not to a private army.”

“This is an amendment of a law that is 60 years old. This so-called army is a disaster relief effort.”

“This section of the bill seeks to expand the Public Health Service which has existed in one form or another since 1798.”

The funding channel and prior implementation for the quasi-military force expanded under the recently passed health care bill does indeed grow out of the historical “surgeon general’s army” which ostensibly responds to health crises. But there are no safeguards to limit it to this use. Note the exact wording (page 1314) from the Affordable Health Care Bill:

(B) be available and ready for involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises, similar to the uniformed service reserve personnel;….

Civil unrest in response to gun confiscation, seizure of our retirement funds, etc. would be such a national emergency, against which the “surgeon general’s army” could be deployed. An Army brigade has also been tasked with controlling citizens. See Brigade homeland tours start:

“They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control…”

Using the Cloward Piven strategy, Marxists will manufacture a crisis and use it as an excuse to control the civilian population. Note also that health care has been previously used by the Democrats as a rationale for abrogating the Second Amendment, a strategy that has direct bearing on this effort.

Socialist/Marxist Barack Hussein Obama nationalized the major American banks within less than four months of his inauguration, using the “manufactured crisis” approach. He did the same for the major automotive manufacturers. The mainstream media said nothing and the American people didn’t understand what this means. He deliberately used economy-based fears to usher in each phase of his plan without incurring public protest. He performed a Chavez-style socialization of our domestic product, now further augmented by the health care bill.

With the declaration of a national emergency, Obama has given the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to detain the civilian population of the United States. Citizens can be rounded up and forced into internment camps.

Most citizens are unaware that the Constitution has long since been effectively set aside by a series of Executive Orders, which grant the sitting president sweeping dictatorial powers. As far as personal freedom is concerned, we have been living on borrowed time.

Another thing that most folks don’t realize is that elected officials have had a plan to protect themselves against armed insurrection by an outraged populace when the situation is discovered. On March 13, 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives held a secret closed door meeting, with attendees sworn to secrecy. Ostensibly to work out Electronic Surveillance of Terror Suspects, the meeting actually dealt with the possibility of civil war in the United States.

In writing the previous article, I tried to keep the scope focused. Apparently many readers were not able to connect the dots. I hope this helps.

Related:

Canada Free Press — Hitler’s and Obama’s health enabling acts

President Hitler signed a shockingly similar bill with similar tactics used to get it signed….threats, harassment, false promises, intimidation, invented crises…. On that fateful day, March 23rd Hitler signed into law the National Law for Removing the Distress of the People bill. It was also called Hitler’s Enabling Act….

It is horrifying how similar both acts are.

First of all, understand Hitler was a brilliant, charismatic speaker who said things in style, lied through his teeth and manipulated whatever he had to, to get a vote and power. His big dagger in the heart of the German people and constitution was to somehow get the vote by Parliament to pass his Enabling Act, which, due to contrived crises and manipulated need would give him total power, full power without the need of any more votes or Parliament.

Obama also seduced 60% of the nation, congress and most the media into not asking real questions and just believing his countless lies.

What did Hitler do? He first manufactured the need and crises.

Hitler promised Health care for everyone, jobs for 100% of the German people and protection from what he called the beginning of a widespread uprising. This was the mythological uprising he and his Nazi party created by burning down the German government building, causing huge panic and rage in the people. Hitler at the time blamed the horrific burning on the communists, thus he needed a vote for his Enabling Act to stop this out of control terror in Germany….

The Obama administration continues to increase governmental power and authoruity to regulate our daily lives. Czars Cass Sunstein and John Holdren — special advisors to the President — have especially bizarre ideas about limiting your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And most of this is happening through executive orders. Whatever happened to the legislative process and representative government?

The latest Obama power grab would restrict the coastal and inland waters of the United States according to the zoning model of the United Nations. The plan, titled Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, was prepared quietly below the radar this past December. It creates new government regulatory agencies to control every drop of water — even your own private lake contained entirely on your property that you own. You can read it here.

Now view this new regulation in light of Sunstein’s animal rights agenda and you have a recipe for disaster in hunting and fishing:

Sunstein has made no secret of his devotion to the cause of establishing legal “rights” for livestock, wildlife, and pets. “[T]here should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, scientific experiments, and agriculture,” Sunstein wrote in a 2002 working paper while at the University of Chicago Law school.

One of the expected outcomes is limiting the right to fish. This week’s featured article in Outdoor Wire explains (note that Outdoor Wire does not provide links to their individual articles so we’re including the whole piece which we normally don’t do):

Can’t Walk But Will Tread On Water
by Jim Shepherd

Public opinion polls demonstrate that absolutely no one believes the current administration can walk on water. In fact, it seems that many Americans believe the current administration has a track record of bad ideas.

It seems, however, our peerless leaders are forging forward with another bad idea. OK, it’s not as bad as health care or the economic stimulus plans- at least not yet – but bad enough to keep their streak of bad ideas intact.

The Obama administration’s now suggesting we use the United Nations principles of zoning of coastal and inland waters. Anything using a UN model almost instantly conjures up rules that bad guys ignore while they’re being used to curtail the rights of law-abiding citizens.

In this instance, the law-abiding citizens are anglers.

When I heard this administration speak of “fundamentally changing” water management in the United States, I heard “so long fishing”. There is more than a little evidence to indicate justification for those concerns.

And the $82-billion dollar fishing industry’s not exactly overjoyed at the idea of a management theory based on restriction of access.

In the United States, the right to fish is definitely one of those “unenumerated rights” we consider covered by the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. Personally, I think it’s covered under “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” and I’m not too jacked-up at the idea of blue helmeted fishing patrol officers wagging their third-world fingers under my nose and telling me “sorry, off limits.” Especially when I’m hoping to wet a line in my own small pond.

That’s why the new Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force has the fishing industry and recreational anglers concerned. This group of policy wonks says they’re going to benefit the fishing public by “managing ecosystems in their entirety rather than by individual uses such as fishing, shipping or oil exploration.”

The “entirety” referred to here means all waters, fresh and salt, public and, yes, private.

Based on the Marine Life Protection Zones model in California, that sounds as suspect as PETA offering me a recipe for blackened catfish.

Whenever a governmental group gets together these days, you can bet it’s overloaded with people whose idea of conservation begins with “first, remove all human access….”.

The official line for this is “marine spatial planning.”

According to the United Nations, that means “a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that usually have been specified through a political process.”

Personally, that kind of language gives me the creeps. When I hear phrases like “one global sea” – I imagine Elton John starting to sing “Circle of Life” – followed shortly thereafter by signs that tell me the old fishing hole is now considered part of some government protection area.

Plainly stated, the idea of “one global sea” instead of managing each bit of water by the American user-funded conservation model seems a bit bass-ackwards to me. Our systems have preserved our waters, lands and wildlife considerably more effectively than our global brethren. Other models, to use the description used by Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs at Shimano are “the lowest common denominator.”

And President Obama’s assurances that he will follow the guidance of former presidents who have protected the rights of recreational fishermen don’t do much for my discomfort.

His ties to environmental groups with anti-use policies -and a proven propensity for taking “we’re smarter than you so we’re changing the game” actions regardless of the will of the majority, unfortunately, don’t do much to assuage concerns.

Neither do the nine proposed regional planning areas:

Alaska/Arctic Region (Impacting Alaska)

Caribbean Region (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands)

Great Lakes Region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin

Gulf of Mexico Region (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas)

Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia)

Northeast Region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont)

Pacific Islands Region (Hawaii, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and Guam)

South Atlantic Region (Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina)

West Coast Region (California, Oregon, and Washington)

Other than having the same basic molecular compound, the waters encompassed in these nine groups are as dissimilar as you could imagine.

For some reason, I’m not altogether comfortable with much of anything in the draft of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. But that’s probably just me. -and individual tackle manufacturers and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and a host of other recreational fishing-focused groups.

As is the custom in emotion-based legislation, there are overstated examples of conflicts, and it seems the study is determined to create solutions to problems that – like global warming – might not really exist.

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and U.S. Recreational Fishing and Boating Coalition have made their concerns known to the administration. Jeff Crane, CSF president said “some of the potential policy implications of this initial framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers.”

Those same anglers contribute billions of dollars annually that support fisheries conservation and, as Crane says “are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethic.”

More than one million jobs are the result of recreational fishing, but there is little – if any- recognition of that fact in the draft plan. Not recognizing and evaluating recreational fishing’s impact on our overall economic engine is foolish. The idea that engine could be shut off by a bad recommendation and a single signature on an Executive Order should concern us all.

Seems it’s time for the silent majority to kick up another fuss – while there’s still time.

Related:

The Coffee Shop — Bad News

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters….

The Feds are looking for ways to seize retirement plans, IRAs, and 401Ks to finance their deficit spending. We first posted about this last August, when Republican US Representative John Carter (TX-31st) brought up the subject at a Tea Party Town Hall with his constituents.

Representative Carter informed the crowd that talk has been bandied about Congress to appropriate every state’s pension plans into the bankrupt Social Security System.

The current plan is much more egregious. The administration is looking at private plans, which are vulnerable to government takeover because they were developed under federal tax deferment guidelines. While this may seem preposterous, most of us would have thought that government seizure of banks and auto companies was preposterous before Obama redefined civil liberty.

Talk show host Neal Boortz posted about this in today’s Nealz Nuze:

THE GOVERNMENT WANTS YOUR RETIREMENT

….This, to me, is one of the most dangerous schemes currently slithering through the crevices and dark spots of the Imperial Federal Government in Washington. What am I talking about? What I believe to be plans by the Obama administration to, in effect, seize your retirement funds and use them to finance their deficit spending. Remember … there are more than $3 trillion dollars sitting out there in individual retirement, IRA and 401K plans. Politicians just cant stand the idea of this much money sitting out there in private investments … out of the grasp of politicians. So …. Something needs to be done. And sure enough, something is going to be done. The Treasury Department and the Department of Labor were going to start taking comments on ways to promote the idea converting 401(k) savings and IRAs into annuities or other steady payment streams….

A Request for Information Regarding Lifetime Income Options for Participants and Beneficiaries in Retirement Plans under the Freedom of Information Act was filed by Phyllis C. Borzi, Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor and others on January 27, 2010. A copy of that document (the request) has triggered the current discussion. You can read it here. Ostensibly, she is concerned about the welfare of the workers:

The purpose of this notice is to solicit views, suggestions and comments from plan participants, plan sponsors, plan service providers and members of the financial community, as well as the general public, to assist the Agencies in evaluating what steps, if any, they could or should take, by regulation or otherwise, to enhance the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a stream of lifetime income after retirement.

Let us deconstruct this. Here’s how it would work. The government would seize the $3 to $4 trillion in assets currently invested in retirement plans. The government would now own all the assets, having taken them out of the private sector. That would be in return for a promise that the government would make timed payouts — monthly or whatever — to the pensioners over the coming years. The government has already betrayed the public trust by spending the assets in the social security trust fund, leaving worthless IOU’s as placeholders. Now they want to do this with our employee retirement plans and our personal retirement investments.

Are they actually talking about seizing the assets? Yes. Here are the thinly disguised words:

The Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (the “Agencies”) are currently reviewing the rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the plan qualification rules under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to determine whether, and, if so, how, the Agencies could or should enhance, by regulation or otherwise, the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a lifetime stream of income after retirement….

This plan may appeal to many timid souls, who are concerned about seeing their retirement assets shrink in a declining stock market. They may prefer to give a lump sum to the government now, in return for a promise of a fixed annuity that they can depend on. That is, of course, the traditional rationale for purchasing annuities. But the government can, at will, print money like it was toilet paper, so that although the dollar total of the annuity payment remains the same, its real value and purchasing power are substantially eroded.

So it is “six of one and half a dozen of the other.” Either you try to manage your own assets and watch the stock market decline, or you trust the government and let them shrink the value outside of your control. Either way, the government is the culprit robbing the people of what they have earned. The only way out is to keep control of your own assets, and replace the thieves in Washington with some fiscally responsible legislators.

The idea has been around for awhile. The filing of the information request in late January has revived the discussion. We should never let our guard down!

Related:

Washington’s Blog — Will Obama Seize Americans’ 401k and IRA Funds?

There is a rumor floating around that Obama will seize Americans’ retirement funds, like Argentina and some other countries have done. Two investment newsletters – Green Chip Review and The Mining Speculator – have recently claimed that the 401k seizure is a sure thing.

Bob Bauman — Obama: Curbing American Freedom

Long term Obama needs trillions more to finance his comprehensive program transplanting European-style socialism to America. That includes government-run health uncare, federal control of education, handing over faltering auto companies to unions, selectively bailing out his Wall Street campaign contributors and buddies, nationalizing banks, confiscating private pension funds and stimulus for all.

Carolina Journal — Dems Target Private Retirement Accounts

Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts “including 401(k)s and IRAs” and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration…. The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.

US News & World Report — Would Obama, Dems Kill 401(k) Plans?

I hate to use the “S” word, but the American government would never do something as, well, socialist as seize private pension funds, right? This is exactly what cash-strapped Argentina just did in the name of protecting workers’ retirement accounts… Now, even Uncle Sam isn’t that stupid, but some Democrats might try something almost as loopy: kill 401(k) plans.

House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created “guaranteed retirement accounts” for every worker.

Politics Daily — Obama, Dems Seek to End 401(k) Plans

Democrats want to seize the money that workers currently invest in their 401(k) plans and replace the popular retirement savings accounts with a one-size-fits-all government sponsored retirement account. Under the scheme, Americans would be forced to transfer all of their hard earned retirement savings from their 401(k) to the government.

And here is some material appended from our earlier post — It’s Not a New Idea:

From the Friday, January 29, 1993 issue of the Washington Post we have this article (archived by the Seattle Times) — Budget Cuts Vs. Social Security — Tap Pension Funds Worth $4 Trillion, Panel Tells Clinton — Employers Sense Danger ‘Once They Get Taste Of This’:

A bipartisan government commission yesterday recommended to the Clinton administration that it launch an aggressive effort to tap the retirement funds of millions of Americans to help pay for rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges and highways and give the economy a lift.

President Clinton has indicated past support for the concept, which would represent an unprecedented effort by the federal government to deal with its budget woes by turning to the more than $4 trillion in cash, stocks and other investments held by pension funds.

Some opponents in the pension industry, who worry about protecting retirees, said they fear Congress might revoke the generous tax treatment afforded pensions if they actively oppose the initiative.

The recommendations by the congressionally chartered Infrastructure Investment Commission, which has had the strong support of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., include establishing the National Infrastructure Corp. It would be a new government-sponsored corporation that would encourage at least $30 billion in investment by pension funds. Several billion dollars in seed money for the new corporation would come from a new energy tax now under consideration.

Energy tax. Sound familiar?

And two people who watched the Democratic convention in 1996 said:

I was absolutely horrified to hear the Democrats propose at their convention that the government should take money out of private pension funds to sink into yet more federal programs.

The Democrats have already raided the Social Security fund to pay for their unending government spending. We do not need them ruining our pension funds the same way!

This is another Democrat scheme to take even more of our money without having to face public opposition to tax increases. We already have to work over four months a year just to pay the taxes on our wages – we should not have to sacrifice our pensions, too!

Vote against the Democrats and Clinton while you still have money in your pension fund, or you may not have any pension fund left when you retire.

The Argentine government seized control of the private pension funds in that country last fall. At that time the Telegraph considered the possibility that other countries would follow suit — Argentina seizes pension funds to pay debts. Who’s next?, October 21st, 2008:

Here is a warning to us all. The Argentine state is taking control of the country’s privately-managed pension funds in a drastic move to raise cash.

Should we worry about our pensions?

It is a foretaste of what may happen across the world as governments discover that tax revenue, and discover that the bond markets are unwilling to plug the gap. The G7 states are already acquiring an unhealthy taste for the arbitrary seizure of private property….

10:19PM  Full Metal Patriot — Congress is planning to raid EVERY state’s pension funds to prop up Social Security. This blogger has done some background research, and reminds us of earlier attempts to “redirect” retirement assets:

This rumor definitely caught my attention. After doing a little investigation, it looks like it’s entirely true. Last year, House Democrats were contemplating abolishing 401(k) tax breaks and redirecting those funds into a new system of government-controlled retirement accounts to which all workers would be forced to contribute. And more information about the Democrats’ immoral plans to ransack every American’s personal retirement has been reported on CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Carolina Journal. Now that they control both houses of Congress and have a big-government socialist in the White House, it looks as though Democrats are ramping up their machinations.

Update August 23, 9:13AM:  A reader sends this link, possible reason for the federal government to get into a fight with the states; from the Financial Times — Pension funds back buy-out fight over bank deals:

A coalition of large US state pension funds has backed the private equity industry’s opposition to new rules on takeovers of troubled lenders, saying the plan would have a “chilling effect” on attempts to revive the country’s banking system.

The warning by funds from states including New York, New Jersey and Oregon, which manage billions of dollars on behalf of public workers and are big investors in private equity, will strengthen the buy-out industry’s lobbying against the proposed measures….

Update August 23, 9:13AM:  Canada Free Press — Government seizing your IRA and/or 401k and rolling it over into the bankrupt Social Security Administration: And Then They Came For My IRA:

….when one mentions the idea of this government seizing your IRA and/or 401k and rolling it over into the bankrupt Social Security Administration, the usual reaction — even after all the evidence of the last six months — is scoffing. “They wouldn’t dare,” I heard from one individual. “There would be a revolt,” said another. Still someone else commented, “If you think there was outrage over this health care bill, let them try that!”

Well, maybe, but given the arrogance of these Statists, that is a natural next step. It is one that has been floated before, and don’t think that it has gone away. Consider that individual retirement accounts, be they private or corporate, have been accumulated tax free. In the eyes of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, et al, that translates into you getting away with something. Somehow you got “free” money. We’re talking about accounts totaling hundreds of billions (possibly trillions) of dollars! Believe me, they’re salivating….

After what we have witnessed so far this year, anything is possible today in America. And even if they don’t actually do it, imagine how much windfall revenue would accrue to the federal government if the American people only thought they were going to do it. An executive for a large Midwestern company told me: “I would pull every dime out of my 401k, pay the taxes and penalties and stick the cash in my mattress before I would let those (expletive deleted) have it!”

Could that be the plan?

By executive order, Obama moved toward seizing control of the state national guards on January 11, trampling posse comitatus. This power grab went unremarked by the mainstream media, and created little stir in the Blogosphere. (I only learned about it from a link on a Danish website that aggregates tweets, which I happened to check out because an American Daughter article was linked there.)

A press release was posted on the White House website — President Obama Signs Executive Order Establishing Council of Governors. At the time of announcement, the Executive Order was not given a number, which kept it below the radar, but it should be #13528. The innocuous title would trigger no alarms, and apparently few journalists have delved into the legal text:

The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Defense or the Co-Chairs of the Council to exchange views, information, or advice…. Such views, information, or advice shall concern … matters involving the National Guard of the various States; … synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and … other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities….

One blogger caught this as soon as it was posted. From The Left – Watch What They Do, Not What They Say! — Breaking News – Obama Signs Martial Law Executive Order (January 11):

It looks as though President Obama today has taken his first step towards martial law in America. I just pulled this piece off the wires which indicates the issuance of his new executive order. This order sets up the framework for the use of federal troops and the combination of state and federal agencies under the Defense Department. This is startling news for many reasons. Why now? Why now?….

The next day one of Ron Paul’s supporters mentioned it in their forum, Daily Paul Liberty Forum, — Breaking News – Obama Signs Martial Law Executive Order (January 12).

Two days later, an article was posted at Social Security Institute — Step into my parlor, said the President to the Governors (January 14):

….If history has taught us anything, it is to beware of “cooperative partnerships” between the federal government and states. They invariably result in an expansion of federal authority and reach at the expense of the states and a diminution of individual rights and freedoms in the name of the general welfare and national security. So-called “cooperative federalism” is a snare and a delusion.

One direct result of the new Council of Governors will be to provide the federal government more control of state National Guards, allowing the president to synchronize and integrate federal military operations within the United States. The total disregard for the Posse Comitatus Act within this order is one more erosion of restrictions against the use of the military for law enforcement.

More generally, the new Council of Governors establishes a bureaucratic transmission belt for the president to conscript state governors to act as agents of the federal government. Indeed, by establishing this council, appointed by the president and presided over by the Secretary of Defense, President Obama is asking governors to engage in the ultimate act of sovereign suicide in the name of “intergovernmental cooperation and coordination.” This council represents the ultimate in “intergovernmentalism,” a perversion of true federalism….

The president’s latest executive order is of a piece with his December 17, 2009 executive directive amending Executive Order 12425 to grant immunity to Interpol agents operating within the United States, paving the way for Interpol to be conscripted by the president as a kind of Swiss Guard. Taken together, these two executive orders represent another quantum leap in the continued erosion of meaningful constraints on the federal government’s police power, and they constitute a frightening continuation of this president’s expansion of the military-industrial-police state at his command….

Just today, another blogger expressed concern. From Dissident Voice — Obama Executive Order Seeks to “Synchronize and Integrate” State and Federal Military Forces (January 16):

…. the Executive Order (EO) established a Council of Governors, an “advisory panel” chosen by the President that will rubber-stamp long-sought-after Pentagon contingency plans to seize control of state National Guard forces in the event of a “national emergency.”….

Clearly designed to weaken the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which bars the use of the military for civilian law enforcement, EO 13528 is the latest in a series of maneuvers by previous administrations to wrest control of armed forces historically under the democratic control of elected state officials, and a modicum of public accountability.

One consequence of moves to “synchronize and integrate” state National Guard units with those of the Armed Forces would be to place them under the effective control of United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)….

…. Given the serious implications such proposals would have for a functioning democracy, the media’s deafening silence on Obama’s Executive Order is hardly surprising. Like their role as cheerleaders in the escalating wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, media self-censorship tell us much about the state of affairs in “new normal” America.

Like his predecessors in the Oval Office, stretching back to the 1960s with Pentagon “civil disturbance” plans such as Cable Splicer and Garden Plot, both of which are continuously updated, our “change” President will forge ahead and invest the permanent National Security bureaucracy with unprecedented power….

Other than those few mentions, and a handful of comments on Twitter, I have found no general discussion of the danger posed by this new initiative. But we’ll keep our readers updated.

Related:

KommonCents — Section 1385 of the Posse Comitatus Act (January 14)

Wikipedia — Operation Garden Plot

Operation Garden Plot is a general U.S. Army and National Guard plan to respond to major domestic civil disturbances within the United States. The plan was developed in response to the civil disorders of the 1960s and is now under the control of the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM). It provides Federal military and law enforcement assistance to local governments during times of major civil disturbances…. Under Homeland Security restructuring, it has been suggested that similar models be followed.

SourceWatch — Operation Cable Splicer

Operation Cable Splicer is “the program for an orderly takeover of the state and local governments by the federal government. FEMA is the executive arm of the coming police state and thus will head up all operations. The Presidential Executive Orders already listed on the Federal Register also are part of the legal framework for this operation.”

…to a Blog near you…Cognitive Infiltration. Just the next step in black information or MSM (LSM) biased reporting. Been going on for ages. Pretty good euphemism though….

From Salon — Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal:

Cass Sunstein wants the government to “cognitively infiltrate” anti-government groups

Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.” In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-”independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites — as well as other activist groups — which advocate views that Sunstein deems “false conspiracy theories” about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens’ faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists….

Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government). This program would target those advocating false “conspiracy theories,” which they define to mean: “an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.”….

…Sunstein’s closeness to the President, as well as the highly influential position he occupies, merits an examination of the mentality behind what he wrote. This isn’t an instance where some government official wrote a bizarre paper in college 30 years ago about matters unrelated to his official powers; this was written 18 months ago, at a time when the ascendancy of Sunstein’s close friend to the Presidency looked likely, in exactly the area he now oversees….

From The Rag Blog — Got Fascism? : Obama Advisor Promotes ‘Cognitive Infiltration’ :

Your government appointees at work: Cass Sunstein seeks ‘cognitive’ provocateurs

Cass Sunstein is President Obama’s Harvard Law School friend, and recently appointed Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

In a recent scholarly article, he and coauthor Adrian Vermeule take up the question of “Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures.” … This is a man with the president’s ear. This is a man who would process information and regulate things. What does he here propose?….

Put into English, what Sunstein is proposing is government infiltration of groups opposing prevailing policy….

It’s easy to destroy groups with “cognitive diversity.” You just take up meeting time with arguments to the point where people don’t come back. You make protest signs which alienate 90% of colleagues….

We expect such tactics from undercover cops, or FBI. There the agents are called “provocateurs” — even if only “cognitive.” One learns to smell or deal with them in a group, or recognize trolling online….

And are we now expected to applaud such tactics frankly proposed in a scholarly journal by a high-level presidential advisor?….

The original paper is available here — Conspiracy Theories by Cass R. Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule

The US government spent your tax money to plan for a national police force to control you. The study was performed by the Rand Corporation’s Arroyo Center in Santa Monica, CA for the US Army’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute in Carlisle, Pa. We have a full copy of the report on our servers here.

The purpose of the study is stated as follows:

Does the United States Need a New Police Force for Stability Operations?

Considers the creation of a high-end police force for use in stability operations, examining its ideal size, how responsive it needs to be, where in the government it might be located, its needed capabilities, its proper staffing, and its cost.

This was not an unbiased research study — government studies never are. The answer to the question posed for the study was a foregone conclusion, “Yes.” The Rand study was just to give the government cover, and to find a way to get around the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act, which bans use of the military for domestic law enforcement.

The development of a national police force is the second step in the subjugation of our citizens. The first was begun back in May, when a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to create internment camps throughout the United States at military installations. Complete coverage of that legislation can be found in our article The Specter of Internment.

Here is a brief summary of the findings of the study. You will note that the “foregone conclusion” of “yes” begins the piece:

Justification and Options for Creating U.S. Capabilities

By: Terrence K. Kelly, Seth G. Jones, James E. Barnett, Keith Crane, Robert C. Davis, Carl Jensen

The authors conclude that an SPF containing 6,000 people — created in the U.S. Marshals Service and staffed by a “hybrid option,” in which SPF members are federal police officers seconded to federal, state, and local police agencies when not deployed — would be the most effective of the options considered. The SPF would be able to deploy in 30 days. The cost for this option would be $637.3 million annually, in FY2007 dollars.

Note the clever use of the US Marchals Service to get around posse comitatus. Surprisingly, there is not much discussion of this ominous development among the bloggers. Two sites carry an article by the same author:

Alex Jones’ InfoWars — RAND Corporation Blueprint for Militarized “Stability Police Force”

Lew Rockwell.com — RAND Corporation Blueprint for Militarized “Stability Police Force”

There is also some discussion in various forums, but not enough buzz to make the general public aware. Most of the forums that are carrying this are for gun enthusiasts. If our government does try to enslave its populace, the last line of defense will likely be the citizens who remain armed under the Second Amendment. Which more or less brings us full circle to the spirit of the American Revolution!

UPDATE: Our original article was posted at Free Republic, where one commenter found this gem in the Rand report:

Our analysis clearly indicates that the United States needs an SPF or some other way to accomplish the SPF mission. Stability operations have become an inescapable reality of U.S. foreign policy. Establishing security with soldiers and police is critical because it is difficult to achieve other objectives—such as rebuilding political and economic systems—without it.

Tail wag: ADMC contributor Jay Printz

The United Nations seeks to destroy our civil liberties and nullify the Second Amendment with a treaty.  We urge all of our readers to watch this video to the end.