State Rights |
Another huge land-grab is in the making, in Ohio. Don't sigh a breath of relief just because you may not live in Ohio, for it will not be contained only to Ohio. The following article spells it out.
Our suggestion: Since it has become sadly, unmistakably clear that U.S. Senators are not protecting the interests of their respective States as their job description once implied; nor are the U.S. Representatives representing the constituents from their respective State Districts, as their job description once implied... WHY NOT TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT THIS TIME?
Thousands of people are primed to participate in the upcoming rally. Senator DeWine is attempting to jam through a bill (CARA) which is said to "provide virtually unlimited funding to purchase land -- and provides no congressional oversight.." (for all fifty states, by the way).
What could happen if:
The coordinators of the rally - The Stewards of the Darby, or if not them, someone who WILL - make up a list of state senators and representatives, and local officials involved. Include state legislative leaders (Senate President and House Speaker) as they quite literally control the entire legislative process within the states, including your state legislators.
Initiate a massive calling, faxing and letter writing campaign. Include home and office numbers. On a sheet attached to the list, design a one-page alert which highlights the dangers of the proposed legislation; how it will effect everybody, including state and local officials; instruct the state and local authorities to contact the U.S. Senators and Congressmen.
State elected officials are the Stewards of the Creator-endowed rights guaranteed and secured in the first ten Articles of Amendment (Bill of Rights) in the Constitution. They act as fiduciary agents for the people who elected them. They have the power, authority and RESPONSIBILITY to instruct U.S. Delegates from their state. It is called the WILL OF THE STATE.
If you have been under the spell of propaganda that suggests "since the 17th Amendment changed the manner in which U.S. Senators were elected the several states lost their voice", brush the fog away. The 17th Amendment does not state nor imply such. Creator-endowed rights cannot be usurped or even given away by the recipient. They just ARE. (BTW, a U.S. Senate report confirmed that the 17th Amendment was NEVER properly ratified.)
Most all elected officials want one thing more than anything else... to be re-elected. Remind the Ohio state officials that an election is near.
On the one-page alert, outline a "suggested message" for people who feel hesitant to call because of inexperience or intimidation. The Staples Office Store near us will make 1,000 (of the same page) for 2 cents a sheet. Both pages could be duplexed onto one page (one sheet two-sided) for 4 cents each. $40 bucks for a thousand fliers. Maybe other copy places will make an even better deal.
In 1993 twelve states simultaneously introduced resolutions calling for a Constitutional Convention. All resolutions were defeated because state legislators who had been deceived by the promoters of the Con-Con were informed by massive calls and faxes, using the above suggested methods. In 1995 the Conference of States was derailed using the above suggested methods. You can see the history of the COS in our website under ISSUES in the section titled Constitutional Convention.
The ball is in your court. Will you drop it? or will you pick it up and run with it? As always, the choice is yours. For now, that is. If we don't get smart soon, and if the dominant minority have their way, there will be NO CHOICE for any of us.
Jackie
P.S. A word of caution. Many a citizen-initiated event, if it appears it may succeed, has been infiltrated by the controlled opposition. They put up money, gush forth beautiful sounding words, and give the impression of sincerity. Then trusting people are led down the cow-path and over the cliff. The event comes to naught. Trust only in our Father/Creator.
Letter to colleagues urges approval of controversial land-grab bill
By Sarah Foster
© 2000
WorldNetDaily.com
Link to Original Story
While local organizers in central Ohio's Madison County make final preparations for tomorrow's huge property rights rally opposing the proposed designation of their farming community as a 55,000-acre national wildlife refuge, a U.S. senator from their state is quietly digging the ground out from under their efforts.
Unbeknownst to most of his constituents, Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, has been collecting signatures of fellow senators on a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and minority leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., urging them to schedule the highly controversial Conservation and Reinvestment Act, or CARA, for full Senate consideration in September. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the legislation in late July.
"The Conservation and Reinvestment Act is landmark legislation that makes a 15-year commitment to conservation programs benefiting all 50 states," the letter states. "By enacting CARA, we can ensure that this century begins with the most significant commitment of resources ever. We appreciate your support of CARA and look forward to working with you to enact this historic legislation before the adjournment of the 106th Congress."
Sponsored in the House by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and in the Senate by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the measure has the support of city councils, governors, mayors and environmental groups. But because it provides virtually unlimited funding to purchase land -- and provides no congressional oversight -- it is bitterly opposed by fiscal-conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, as well as by property-rights groups.
Stewards of the Darby -- the group sponsoring the rally -- is among those fighting it. Once passed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which wants to create the Little Darby Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Madison County, would have all the money and time it needs to acquire the 55,000 acres targeted for purchase.
Under CARA, $3 billion a year for 15 years would be automatically appropriated from offshore oil and gas revenues and distributed through a series of trust funds to federal, state and local governments and nonprofit organizations for conservation programs and massive land acquisition.
DeWine's letter is "short on specifics and makes no mention of how CARA will destroy rural communities and jobs by simply buying up land and taking it out of production," observes Mike Hardiman — lobbyist on the Hill for the American Land Rights Association a grassroots group based in Battleground, Wash. "There's nothing about spending $45 billion over the next 15 years, most of it for land acquisition. No mention of condemnation (eminent domain). No discussion of how CARA avoids congressional oversight."
In Hardiman's view, DeWine is hoping to "score points with the liberals, but all he's doing is selling out the Republican Party's core constituency in Ohio -- in small towns, agricultural and rural areas. It's a desperation move, and it will cost him votes. He's sold his rural constituency right down the river."
Nonetheless, 15 senators have signed the letter. If 60 sign, it would indicate a strong likelihood that CARA would be able to win a floor vote or at least serve as an imperative for Senate leaders to slip it in at the last minute to an appropriations bill, Hardiman warns.
The letter is not on Sen. DeWine's webpage. Hardiman found it on the site of the Land Trust Alliance, a coterie of nonprofit land conservancy groups. There, members of the Alliance and others are urged to contact and "encourage" their senators to sign the letter as an indication of support for this "Must Pass" bill.
"Our goal is to get more than 60 signatures in order to show the Senate leadership that there is a solid majority who wants to move forward on CARA," the Land Trust Alliance states.
A spokesperson at the Alliance explained how nonprofits would benefit from the legislation. Specifically, the legislation provides funding from the offshore oil revenues to land trusts.
"Under CARA, there are provisions for matching grants, and land trusts can participate in those," said Martha Nudell. "The land trusts do fund raising -- individuals donate money to land trusts, usually they become members of land trusts -- and that membership money or an outright donation of money is used for land conservation, whether it's the purchase of conservation easements or the outright purchase of land parcels. That money can be matched by state grants in order to do a deal."
Dale Rapp, president of the rally and a farmer in Little Darby Creek, said he knew nothing about the letter.
"I think that is a slap in the face of the farmer, the small businessperson, to promote something that will eventually destroy their right to own property and live on their own land. I didn't know about the letter, but I know about the CARA, and I know he [DeWine] has asked for a million dollars in appropriations to buy land here -- that's even if CARA doesn't pass."
Rapp promised to bring the matter to the attention of the rally attendees, "and inform the people of Ohio and the nation that he is circulating this letter. A person who ignores the farmer, rancher, logger -- all the others -- and doesn't have their best interests at heart should not be holding public office and doesn't deserve reelection," he said.