George Rebane
[This is the linked transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 11 October 2013 with an addended video Sheriff Mack made specifically for his upcoming 18oct13 talk in Grass Valley.]
It turns out there is a considerable benefit to having a government shutdown every now and then, for it exposes the belly of the beast. Going about our daily affairs year after year, we don’t notice the added weight and involvement of government in our lives, pruning our liberties and freedoms bit by piece. And this is true also for local governments at the country and city levels.
The 800,000 or so federal employees now on furlough are highlighting how many hoops they maintain and monitor daily for us to jump through. For example in our Central Valley mundane projects like a farmer extending or replacing his irrigation system before the winter freezes have ground to halt, why? Because the feds have inserted regulations to have them inspect and approve various stages of the work, and today these guys are collecting their pay with their feet up somewhere. The same goes for farmers all over the country trying to get federal agricultural loans in order to buy seed and fund operations. No can do, because today the federal ag loan offices are closed.
Then we have all these national park and monument closings. The administration tells us that there are no funds to pay the personnel to keep these facilities open during the shutdown. Yet most of these facilities require no staffs whatsoever to supervise visitors. Nevertheless, the government now has hired extra personnel to barricade these normally open venues and worse. Reports are coming in that extra rangers wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying assault rifles are manning the entry points to national parks where before there was no one or perhaps a single unarmed staffer handing out brochures and collecting fees. Today we have what are correctly called government goons keeping people from legitimate uses of their lands and monuments. This is the exposed nature of what is fast becoming an autocratic police state. (more here)
But there is more. Do you have any idea what Obama’s HUD, or Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been doing with their so-called ‘affordable housing’ regulations. HUD, through its newly expanded Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (a mouthful in itself) will require that counties and cities submit plans to create racially and ethnically diverse communities on an approved pro rata basis. Nobody yet knows what all these definitions mean, but counties will henceforth be required to market their affordable housing projects in neighboring jurisdictions if there aren’t enough minorities in their own to make up the federally mandated mix. And if local zoning and general plans have to be changed, so be it or federal monies will be cut off. (more here)
The added burden on counties, cities, and property developers will be huge as yet another layer of federal requirements roll back local control. But this example of federal overreach by HUD is just a small part of how all federal agencies have injected themselves into our daily affairs on the local level. For example we are all familiar with what distress and destruction the EPA has brought to California’s rural counties. These government types appear out of nowhere to dictate and threaten local jurisdictions and private citizens with non-compliance of freshly minted and arcane regulations that totally bypass any semblance of local control of lives.
A response to this autocratic encroachment has risen through the founding of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Police Officers Association that is gaining momentum across the country. The non-profit organization was founded by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack to inform and educate local law enforcement agencies about their rights and constitutional duties in confronting and dealing with federal diktats. Sheriff Mack is a national figure who has written extensively on local control and appeared on all the major media coast to coast. His views are controversial and cross the right/left ideological divide – for example he opposes the national war on drugs and believes personal marijuana use should be determined by local jurisdictions, as should be the ordnances on food safety especially locally grown foodstuffs.
We are fortunate to be able to hear Sheriff Mack in person when he speaks next week at the GV Veterans Hall on October 18th at 630pm. This non-partisan speaking event is sponsored by the Nevada County Republican Women Federated. Sheriff Mack’s experience as a lawman and his dedication to the ideals of freedom make him a unique and powerful voice for liberty that will appeal to people of all persuasions.
My name is Rebane, and I also expand on this and related themes on NCTV and georgerebane.com where the transcript of this commentary is posted with relevant links, and where such issues are debated extensively. However my views are not necessarily shared by KVMR. Thank you for listening.
[Addendum] Sheriff Mack makes a strong statement in this video as a lead in to his upcoming talk on 18 October 2013 in Grass Valley.
rebanesruminations.com 
Leave a comment