Local governments are
taking their cues from an increasingly aggressive federal bureaucracy. Maybe
you've noticed. A process is underway in which government bureaucrats have quite
simply forgotten their place as our servants. The tables are turning
on freedom.
When government meddles,
things can go from bad to worse. For instance, over the summer Nathan
Duszynski, age 13, wanted to help his family out of financial trouble. His parents
are both disabled. His mom suffers from epilepsy and his dad has Multiple
Sclerosis. Things were so bad they were on welfare, food stamps, and other
government assistance.
His idea was to start a
business. He wanted to use money he'd saved up to buy a hot dog cart and bring
in much-needed revenue to his parents. And, depend less on government handouts.
His mom went with him to
City Hall and learned no permit was needed to operate a food cart. So Duszynski
negotiated a deal with a local landlord to sell hot dogs from his parking lot.
When that was settled, he bought a hot dog cart and his initial inventory. But,
according to reports, within ten minutes of opening his new business, a city
worker ordered him to shut down for violating zoning laws.
What happened? The
parking lot was within the city's downtown center, where food carts not
connected to brick and mortar restaurants are banned. This zoning law exists
mainly to protect downtown restaurants from competition.
Things got worse. A few
weeks after his business shut down, his parents couldn't afford to pay rent and
went homeless. They slept in a friend's barn for a bit, but decided it was best
to split up the family. Duszynski and his mother now stay at a homeless
shelter, while the father still sleeps in the friend's barn. His father can't
stay with them because he takes pain medication, and the shelter doesn't allow
anyone who takes his kind of medication.
Regulation over Family
Farms and Wineries
In a Virginia
agricultural community which is home to small family owned wineries, the county
zoning administrator finds it necessary to rigorously enforce heavy-handed
ordinances to protect "the public health, safety, and welfare,"
according to the Washington Examiner. What a crock!
The community has
enacted a number of restrictive ordinances under the guise of protecting the
greater good:
- Wineries must close by 6 p.m.;
- No food sales allowed at wineries;
- No hot air balloon rides allowed;
- Farmers' markets, banned;
- Mini-golf, banned;
- What is allowed? Private personal
gatherings, as long as the owner does not market his wine at the gathering.
And in case the zoning
administrator missed something that would supposedly endanger public health and
safety, the ordinance broadly and vaguely states prohibited activities also
include anything "'to be similar in nature or in impact to the listed
activities." This means the zoning administrator has the final and a
nearly arbitrary say on all matters concerning the community. This is too much
power to give anyone, especially a bureaucrat!
Government Seeks to
Regulate Premium Cigars
Even if you disagree
with a habit like smoking, it's dangerous to use the aggressive force of
government to ban or regulate it. The blade of government cuts both ways and
doesn't know where to stop. Sooner or later, it negatively affects everyone and
eventually turns against you.
After grabbing the power
to regulate cigarettes (tax them, control their sale and manufacture, and even
how they're advertised), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking to
increase its power by regulating premium cigars.
The non-profit advocacy
group, Cigar Rights of America (CRA), reports that the FDA seeks to implement
the following restrictions:
- Ban walk-in humidors;
- Ban self-serve cigar displays;
- Ban mail order cigar sales;
- Ban all flavored cigars;
- Ban on marketing of cigar-related
merchandise;
- Ban cigar events where free cigar samples
are given away to legal-age adults;
- Limit how cigars can be marketed and
advertised;
- Impose special taxes just on cigars;
- Mandate cigar blends be submitted to FDA for
approval and authorization in order to sell it to the public; and more.
Bureaucrats Think They
Know Better Than Parents
Throughout the country,
a number of children have gotten sick by eating laundry detergent pod packs. Of
course, little children always put things in their mouth. It's up to the
families to keep the baby and her environment safe.
However, Senator Charles
Schumer (D-NY) must believe parents aren't up to the job, because he wants to
introduce greater regulation over laundry detergent pod packaging to
"protect" public health. In a news conference, he said the packaging
is so attractive and it looks like candy, that he felt like eating a few himself.
Overbearing politicians
are all too eager to create additional legislation as a replacement for common
sense in others. Whatever happened to the idea of heeding those warning labels,
"Keep out of reach of children"?
Butt Out of Our Milk and
Lemonade!
Of course, government
meddling has gone on for decades, and the same goes for government growth.
What's different is how bizarre and pervasive it's becoming.
In August, two activists
groups, The Raw Milk Freedom Riders and Lemonade Freedom Day, joined forces to
protest in D.C. and tell government to "butt out" of their food
choices, according to a Washington Times report.
The Lemonade Freedom
Day's main contention is the disturbing trend with local authorities shutting
down children's lemonade stands for supposed public health reasons.
And The Raw Milk Freedom
Riders' gripe is the FDA forbidding them to buy and sell fresh unpasteurized
milk across state lines and using militarized agents to close down local dairy
farms.
Individually, you could look
at any of the above examples of government regulation as isolated absurdities.
The trouble is, absurd is the new normal. From the feds cracking down on raw
milk drinkers and cigar smokers to local zoning czars bringing the weight of
the law down on kids selling hotdogs and lemonade, government intrusion into
private lives is out of control and running rampant.
Times are crazy, and the
political class seems to have thrown common sense out the window. Stay vigilant
and guard your liberties.
Yours in Freedom,
Lee Bellinger, Publisher, Independent Living
Source: Lee Bellinger's
Executive Bulletin
Comments:
Government on all levels has been orchestrated to stifle
personal liberty, free enterprise and property rights through planning
consultants trained by ICLEI, the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives set up by the U.N. as a global NGO.
These consultants are trained to implement U.N. Agenda 21 by “helping”
city councils and county commissions update their ordinances.
Building Codes are being converted from U.S. Codes to
International Codes. There is no reason
for that, so don’t let International Codes be adopted in your local building codes.
Land Planning is also controlled by consultants and in
rural areas produces frightening maps showing depopulation and loss of agricultural
land and individual property rights. (think reverse mortgage or TDR, Transfer
development Rights) The plan is to have
the government own all the land (think USSR). The ‘Banksters’ buy your farm
over time and sell it to the government.
Government makes it a wildlife preserve to prevent global warming
(crazy, right ?)
Regional governance has been adopted in many states with
unelected soviet governance usurping elected city and county elected officials’
authority over roads, planning and development.
Developers and contractors have already adjusted to dealing with the Apparatchik
and are attending Regional Kool-Aid meetings.
This is where the politburo meet the crony capitalists from the Chamber
of Communists. They are interlinked with local government and school districts
who pay the Chamber for “outsourced services”. In return, the Chamber is “all
in” for any tax increases or crazy schemes government wants. This conflict of interest is encouraged by
Agenda 21 to sabotage local government. The strategy is to ruin local
government to the point that voters are
so disgusted with their local officials they just don’t care any more.
Agenda 21 implementation was invisible to voters until
Obama took office, since then this global warming mitigation hoax has been
implemented with vigor. He is the
Manchurian President. If we can stop
Agenda 21 in Georgia like they did in Alabama, it will take years to undo the damage
and we will never recover the trillions of wasted dollars spent on implementing
it. This is treason and those
responsible should be indicted for treason.
Norb Leahy,
Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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