Heads Up

A Weekly edition of News from around our country

May 9, 1997 #34

by: Doug Fiedor fiedor19@eos.net

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Previous Editions at: http://mmc.cns.net/headsup.html

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FCC SOCIALISM

The stated intent of the Founding Fathers was

that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be

vested in a Congress of the United States . . ." In

fact, the writers of our Constitution were so adamant

about this that those words are the very first to appear

in the body of the Constitution.

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution further

designates: "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate

in the House of Representatives . . ."

These two very simple Constitutional rules are

quite easy to understand: Only Congress may legislate

(make law), and only the House of Representatives may

initiate a bill to raise revenue (taxes). There are no

exceptions authorized by our Constitution.

Everyone elected to a position within the federal

government, all appointed officials, and every bureaucrat

hired into government service, takes an oath to support

and defend our Constitution. One would think that, in

turn, they are also promising to "obey" our Constitution.

But, here's where the rub comes in: they do not.

For instance, another socialist style tax and

redistribution of wealth scheme is afoot. This one comes,

not from Congress, but from four unelected bureaucrats

making up the politburo of one of the federal government's

regulatory agencies.

The Regulators at the Federal Communications

Commission announced Wednesday that they are adopting

what they call a landmark overhaul of the nation's

telephone charges to better spread the financial pain of

ensuring affordable phone service for Americans.

As part of the scheme, FCC plans to boost the

charge for residential customers with more than one line

to $5 a month from $3.50, and to roughly $7 from $6 for

multi-line businesses.

"Second phone lines for home-based business or

Internet use and small businesses will be saddled with

the brunt of these increases," complained the Small

Business Survival Committee, a small business advocacy

group.

Of course we will suffer the brunt of the

increase. Because, small business and homeowners are

not organized to stop it. On the other hand, heavy

telephone users, and those who make large campaign

contributions, received a major decrease in their

communications costs from this action. That's Washington

politics folks. He who pays the fiddler calls the tune.

This time, even a few members of Congress

registered a minor complaint: "Any local telephone rate

increases resulting from the (FCC's) actions to modify

access charges would be sharply contrary to congressional

intent in passing (last year's law)," Sen. John McCain

(R-AZ.) and Reps. W.J. Tauzin (R-La.) and John Dingell

(D-MI) wrote FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. Note, however,

that no member of Congress has yet to mention that the

FCC has no Constitutional authority to pass any law or

levy any tax.

Acting like a Chinese-Communist dictator, FCC

Politburo Chairman Hundt made his position very clear.

In a news conference, Hundt stated that an extra telephone

line in a private home is a "luxury" that "should" be

taxed for the benefit of others in society.

But wait, this gets better yet. . . .

Where the money is slated to go is rather

interesting too. An independent third party, the

National Exchange Carriers Association, -- not the

Treasury of the federal government -- will collect and

dole out funds beginning Jan. 1, 1998.

Got it? An independent regulatory agency of

the federal government is usurping the Constitutional

authority to make law and levy taxes designated only to

Congress. Then, the agency is going to give your money

to a private group to redistribute as it sees fit.

Whatever happened to the Representative Republic

form of government? Anybody miss it?

They "say" that this scheme is to pay to provide

virtually all elementary and secondary schools -- both

public and private -- with access to the Internet at a

cut rate. That's what they say publicly, anyway. But,

they lie! Because, in the fine print they also say that

state regulators would first have to certify schools'

technology plans, the school districts would have to

demonstrate need, the computers would have to be

available, and blah, blah, blah, blah.

Meanwhile, using Slick Willie's' own words, sixth

grade kids can not read or write properly! Nor do they

know math, history or science.

This stupid scheme will change none of that. It is

little more than another socialist redistribution of

wealth plan. This is more "feel good" liberalism by a

failed administration searching for a place in history.

And, if anyone cares anymore, the plan is also

totally and completely un-Constitutional.

Tell them so.

WORLD SOCIALISM

A few weeks back (Feb. 7 issue) we mentioned a

little about the connection between Bill Clinton, Oxford

and the socialists at the Fabian Society. That subject

is pertinent again because, last week, we got smacked in

the face with the election of yet another Oxford trained

Fabian Society world leader, Tony Blair.

Blair's election is an excellent marker on exactly

where we are on the road to world socialism. Because,

over in England, that type of politics is a little better

defined than it is here. Here we have the Democratic

Party, which should really be renamed the Social-Democrat

Party. In England, Tony Blair's party is the Labour

Party. They know they are socialists, and they readily

admit to it.

But first, a little on how the Fabian Society fits in

with all this. To know and understand them, let's go to

their main document. The "Rules and Bye Laws of the

Fabian Society" clearly states:

"The name of the Society shall be the Fabian

Society.

"The Society consists of socialists. It therefore

aims at the establishment of a society in which equality

of opportunity will be assured and the economic power and

privileges of individuals and classes abolished through

the collective ownership and democratic control of the

economic resources of the community. It seeks to secure

these ends by the methods of political democracy.

"It also aims at the implementation of the Charter

of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights.

"It seeks the creation of effective international

institutions to uphold and enforce world peace. The

Society, believing in equal citizenship in the fullest

sense, is open to persons, irrespective of sex, race or

creed, who commit themselves to its aims and purposes

and undertake to promote its work.

"The Society shall be affiliated to the Labour

Party. . . ."

And now along comes Tony Blair, a member of the

Labour Party, Oxford trained and a modern Third Way

socialist. Not only is Blair the Bill Clinton of

England, Clinton even sent part of his propaganda machine

over to England to help Blair get elected.

Effectively, these guys are interchangeable.

Except for the fact that Blair has no corruption in his

administration yet and his wife has no plans to interfere

in government, we could probably switch the two without

noticing much difference in the way either government

was operated.

So, it's also very interesting to check into their

political training. The Rhodes Scholar program at Oxford

is a two year indoctrination program for future

politicians and would take a great deal of time to

describe. The Fabian Society, however, gives us a very

good thumbnail sketch of the material covered at Oxford.

Just for fun, let's see if we can find a little

of Bill Clinton's ideals in the Concepts of the Fabian

Society. Here are the key tenets as set forth in the

Fabian Essays, with just a little editorial comment

following each:

1. "Elimination of private ownership of land."

We do not have that yet, nor has it been publicly

proposed. However, the federal government already owns

over a quarter of all land in the United States.

2. "Government ownership or control of all land."

Through hundreds of laws, rules and regulations,

today's federal government "controls" any and all land

it wishes to control.

3. "Government ownership or control of major

industries."

Through laws, rules and regulations, the federal

government already controls all business, industry and

agriculture with a heavy hand.

4. "Government control over labor."

Again, this was accomplished years ago through

a whole series of labor laws, rules and regulations.

5. "Government control or ownership of communications

and transportation."

The federal government owns some means of

transportation and closely regulates what it does not

own. Ditto for communications.

6. "Government control of all credit."

Credit is strictly controlled in the United States

through the quasi-government Federal Reserve Bank and

a whole host of banking laws, rules and regulations.

7. "Government control of all insurance."

Today's federal government runs a whole host of

insurance programs -- from farm and flood insurance to

unemployment and medical insurance. Laws, rules and

regulations heavily regulate that part of the industry

not specifically owned and operated by government.

8. "Government control of the education system."

Government schools are a fixture in the United

States. Recently, the federal government has actively

instituted programs to control all education from

Washington.

9. "Elimination of the significance of the family."

Federal welfare programs have done an excellent

job of relieving citizens of what we once called parental

responsibility. Soon we will also even have a state

sponsored baby-sitter system.

10. "Elimination of the significance of religion."

This is only just beginning, but is already pervasive

throughout the United States. Even now, there is strong

public criticism of the Christian ideals which made this

country great.

11. "Justified use of force if necessary to attain

socialistic goals."

From military enforcement of civil rights laws to

tax collectors supported by SWAT teams, the use of

force to attain social goals is well established in this

country.

12. "Establishment of a minimum wage and a maximum

working class."

The United States has had minimum wage laws for

many years. We do not, however, maximize the labor force

because the employment to unemployment ratio is a tool

used by the federal government to fight inflation.

Therefore, our federal government strives to insure that

a certain level of the population is always unemployed.

13. "A universal system of pensions."

The federal government operates a whole system

of pension plans which cover most of the country's

population, the best known being Social Security.

Well folks, that about sums it up. A few of the

above points need a little work yet. But Slick Willie is

moving right along with the program. That there is zero

Constitutional authority for the federal government to do

any of these things is, well . . . inconsequential. The

cold hard fact is that the federal government is already

doing them!

Our only hope of beating socialism, if there is

any hope left, is to start now supporting good

Constitutional candidates for next years Congressional

election.

BUREAUCRATS TAKE PRIVATE LAND

Is your private property private? Nope! Not

anymore. Not from an ever oppressive federal government,

anyway.

The federal government owns one-quarter to one-

third of all land in the United States. One would think

that would be more than enough to handle any little

breeding or protection project they might want to

pursue. But, it is not. They want to preempt the use

of private property, too.

In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has

it's eye on a whopping 28,125 square miles (18 million

acres) of private land it wants severely regulated under

habitat conservation plans. To the Fish and Wildlife

bureaucrats, rodents, bugs and weeds are more important

than people, so they are going to take over people's

property to propagate the pests.

For instance, they want a total of 1.6 million

acres in Washington for the spotted owl, marbled

murrelet, salmon, and steelhead trout. In North

Carolina, they want 300,000 acres for something called

the red-cockaded woodpecker. In Riverside County,

Calif. they want 540,000 acres for the Stephens' kangaroo

rat. In Arkansas they want another 233,000 acres for

even more red-cockaded woodpeckers. In Oregon it's

another 210,000 acres for that stupid northern spotted

owl again. And in Washington again, yet another 55,000

acres for even more northern spotted owls.

Here's a quick thought: If there are enough

northern spotted owls around that they require over

1,865,000 acres (2,914 square miles) in which to breed,

exactly how many of the damn things do we have to have

in the United States before they are no longer considered

endangered?

Funny thing is that any of these things can

easily be bred in captivity. Put a price on them and

we'll suddenly have more than anyone wants.

But instead, the bureaucrats steal the use of

people's land.

Maybe that's all they wanted in the first place.

Control.

CHINA WANTS OUR MONEY

It seems that China suddenly feels free to

publicly tell our politicians how things are going to be.

Apparently they must have bought quite a lot of influence

in Washington -- enough to make our politicians shut up,

anyway.

If you remember, they made a fool of Gore while he

was there. Of course, Gore made that easy for them, as

he habitually does everywhere he goes. But that's not

the point. Usually, in diplomatic circles, they cover up

anything that makes anyone look foolish. With Gore,

they met with him, used him for a few photo

opportunities, then sent him on his way to play tourist.

Then Newt showed up in China. And, Newt being

Newt, told them exactly what he thought about Hong Kong,

Taiwan, the fund raising scandal, and whatever. That

raised a few concerns with the Chinese big-wigs. So much

so, in fact, that they actually called in their

ambassador to ask about how much political clout this

legislator really wields.

Meanwhile, no one thanked the Chinese for all the

campaign money, so Slick Willie had to call. Slick also

had to explain to the Chinese leadership how the

deniability program works in politics, because they were

getting the sequence of things all screwed up.

You see, when blamed for making illegal campaign

contributions, the Chinese leadership started out with

the excuse the "everyone does it." They pointed out, and

rightly so, that countries like Taiwan and Israel have a

long history of laundering money to funnel to American

politicians. However, after their little talk with Slick,

they reverted to step one of the Clinton program: Deny

everything.

Now comes Tung Chee-hwa, the shipping tycoon

chosen by China to be Hong Kong's chief executive

beginning July 1. This guy is not very well known in the

United States yet, but he will be.

When questioned about the decrease in rights the

people of Hong Kong will experience after China takes

over he made a very surprising point: The citizens of

Hong Kong will still have more rights and liberties that

the citizens of the United States.

Oops . . . that was not exactly what out American

politicians wanted to hear! And, that point was well

taken. Because, if you notice, we do not hear much mouth

noise about that coming from our elected ones lately. . . .

Yes, Tung told the press this week, some types

of public protests will be prohibited under his

administration. Specifically, rallies advocating

independence for Tibet, Taiwan or Hong Kong will be

prohibited. Other types of protests, however, are

acceptable.

He explained that the "national sovereignty issue

is very sensitive with a whole lot of Chinese people."

So, under proposals introduced last month, people wishing

to stage public rallies will be required to seek police

permission first. And the police will be able to ban

rallies if "national security" is threatened.

Gee, does that system sound familiar to anyone here?

"I lived in America during the '60s," Tung said. "I

saw what happened with the slow erosion of authority, and

the society became less orderly than is desirable. I

certainly don't want to see this happen" in Hong Kong.

He also said that his responsibility is to keep the

territory free from instability or meddling by outsiders.

Tung also told the press that the American

fund-raising scandal involving the Clinton White House

showed how sensitive the issue of foreign involvement in

politics has become, not only in Hong Kong but worldwide.

"What's happening now in Washington, the question of

which money is coming from where, this is a very

sensitive issue in America. It's a sensitive issue in

many countries. Why should it not be a sensitive issue

in Hong Kong? Hong Kong is a small place. It's

vulnerable."

So, in diplomatic speak, Tung said that Americans

may still do business with and in Hong Kong, but we had

better shut up when the subject turns to government.

China, after all, wants all those American dollars

to keep flowing their way. They need the money to buy

arms. Arms to defend against us.

Our annual trade deficit with communist China

alone is so huge that if that much money were available

to Americans, it would be enough to keep every person in

any one of our smaller states living comfortably. China

still exports goods to us produced by slave labor. Most

of the Chinese Christian population is in prison camps.

And China publicly stated that they are teaming up with

Russia to remove all American influence from that half of

the world.

Meanwhile, the Clinton administration did shut

up, and is letting China get away with pretty much

anything it pleases.

Go figure.

THIRD WAY VAMPIRISM

Or: What is money? by: Bill Kasper

Even before the written word, men engaged in

trade. In fact, the oldest example of human writing is

an accounting record from Sumeria detailing cattle

transactions between merchants. This gives us some idea

of the ancient and probably genetic nature of man's

desire to engage in mercantile endeavors. Trade and

commerce are as inherently human as love and bi-pedal

ambulation (walking on two legs). Mankind as he exists

today could not have come into being without the exchange

of goods and services between individuals and groups.

As the collapse of various communist countries

taught us, attempts to extinguish or greatly curtail the

free market have been defeated in the short term by

spontaneous creation of "black markets" (commerce in

spite of governmental edicts to the contrary), and in the

long term by replacement of the offending governments.

During these lapses into anti-human experimentation

(communism), the free market found itself in need of

medium of exchange to replace the controlled and

artificially-valued "state" currency. Gold, foreign

dollars, and even cigarettes were often-encountered

substitutes for the goods they were used to represent in

transactions.

So what exactly is currency? Well, its a

particular representation (usually national) of money.

And what is money? Money is "short hand" for the effort

which goes into producing goods and services. Think of

it this way: You get paid $10 per hour for making

shoehorns for Shoehorns Inc. In one hour, you can

produce 2 shoehorns, which Shoehorns Inc. can sell for

$10 each.

This means several things: First, Shoehorn Inc.

will probably employ you forever, because you represent

an excellent return on investment (100% per unit sold).

This will go on until somebody like Cheaper Shoehorns

Inc. starts selling shoehorns for $2 (because your

counterpart in their company is based in Mexico making

$3.50 per day) and runs Shoehorns Inc. out of business.

Secondly (and most importantly), it means you have

agreed to value one hour of your life at the amount of

goods $10 can buy. If you didn't accept this value,

you'd find a higher-paying job. It is also important to

remember that this is not an exchange which can be

undone. You can't give Shoehorns Inc. $100 and have

them credit your lifetime with 10 more hours. It's a

final, one-way exchange of their money for your life.

With that money, you can buy bread, a car, maybe even

a mortgage on a house. Basically, it means the time you

don't work is more enjoyable due to the goods and

services you can acquire in exchange for the hours

(represented by money) which you spend working. But

make no mistake, that money represents hours from your

life.

Now imagine a thief approaches you, and demands

all your money, which is $400, because you just got paid

for a 40 hours worth of shoehorn making. Being a passive

(and unarmed) soul, you comply. That thief takes the

result of one week of your life, and disappears. He has

added one week's worth of life to his experience (because

he won't have to work), and taken one week's worth of

life from yours. This represents 25% of your monthly

income which is now gone. To get back to the standard

of living you were enjoying before being robbed, you will

now have to use up extra hours of your life-time making

shoehorns (if Shoehorns Inc. allows overtime, that is).

In fact, you may never have the option to make up the

stolen value. The thief has acted like a vampire, and

stolen your life essence in order to enjoy it himself.

This is fundamentally why theft is wrong. It really

represents graduated murder.

This analogy currently applies to you. "I've not

been robbed!" you say. "You have, but you don't know

it" I respond. For most Americans, the thief doesn't

point the gun at you. He doesn't even have the patience

to wait until you receive your pay. He actually robs you

by taking part of your week's pay at the Shoehorns Inc.

pay window before you even show up to collect it. Who

is this hoodlum who doesn't even trust you with your own

money enough to steal it from you directly? His name is

Uncle Sam FICA (AKA the IRS, AKA Income Redistribution

for Slaves).

This is exactly the sort of taxation the Constitution

prevented the Federal government from indulging in until

the 16th Amendment was (dubiously) passed. Direct taxes

on sales, imports, property, etc. were the only allowable

forms of direct taxation. They were a face-to-face

demand for a portion of the proceeds of endeavors which

could not exist (or be guaranteed) without effort from

the Federal government. They were, in effect, exchanges

of merchant money (life effort) for governmental services

(legal, military, etc.) which made the making of that

money dependable and secure. In the original

Constitutional system, tax money was collected and used

only to support those areas of government which benefited

those from whom the taxes were collected. Taxation as a

form of wealth redistribution (in the form of subsidies,

welfare, etc.) was strictly illegal and acknowledged as

immoral.

This Constitutional, up-front and honest form of

taxation was "augmented" by something new and hideously

deceitful which not only attached itself to the individual

act of working for a living (hardly something which the

Federal government was designed to be involved with), but

did so in a stealthy and parasitic fashion: The income

tax. As if draining your life in preemptive secrecy

wasn't bad enough, the percentage of other people's lives

to which the Federal government deemed itself entitled

has grown from its initial 5% on less than 1% of the

population ("The rich" at whom it was supposedly aimed)

in 1916, to at least 25% on close to 90% of the

population today.

Taking hours of your life (represented by

dollars) before you even see them is a master stroke of

inspiration (if your goal is to steal with subtlety and

experience minimal resistance). Think how many Americans

would pay the income tax if they first received 100% of

their wages, and then received an invoice stating "Please

fill in your yearly income here: ______ Now please send

at least 30% of your yearly income to the address

below." The entire state of Oregon would have to be

cleared of trees just to supply enough paper for the

mountains of "We have not received your payment" letters

from the IRS....

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