Posted on 08/12/2007 4:45:55 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
By Sterling H. Saunders
A week ago Jim posted information from our web page pertinent to our plan to Repeal the 17th Amendment. In it we had stated our reasons to be centered on a government run amuck. The following examples are just the tip of the iceberg. For every one you see here there are hundreds more in the same category. In some instances, thousands. Therefore, we believe we have a sound basis for doing what we're doing. Some of the examples are simply stupid or ridiculous. At the other end of the spectrum some are teeth-gritting-pound-the-table-in-anger outrageous.
1. During renovation of a building at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona removal of old carpeting raised some old tile. Believing the tile probably contained asbestos, officials immediately halted the operation, sealed the building and notified the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality. Tests confirmed the presence of asbestos and a certified contractor cleaned it up so that Pima County, one year later, certified the hazard abated and forwarded it's findings to the EPA. Two years later, the EPA imposed a fine of $81.020 on Davis-Monthan, which took it to court. So, even though the exposure could not be anticipated, was inadvertent and Davis-Monthan followed prescribed procedures to the letter. two crews of attorney's and the courts were involved for more than three years to decide whether the United States Government (Air Force) should pay an $81,020 fine to the United States Government (EPA) Davis-Monthan lost.
2. An armed DEA agent followed all the procedures necessary to carry his loaded, concealed weapon aboard a domestic commercial airline flight. At the security check point, TSA agents dutifully honored his right to proceed with a loaded, concealed handgun, but took his fingernail clippers away from him.
3. At dusk, inside the house, a sheep rancher noticed a grizzly bear angling towards sheep he had penned up near the house. He grabbed his rifle, went outside and yelled at the bear, which changed course and charged him. He shot it. It turned and fled. In the morning, finding blood spots on the ground, he decided he better track the bear and dispose of it. Having a wounded grizzly in the neighborhood is not a comfortable situation. He wasn't even out of sight of the house when the bear charged him. He fired once, twice, three times. On the fourth shot the bear went down, just a few yards from him. He reported the incident to Fish & Wildlife. They came out, recovered the carcass and later confirmed this was a bear they had trapped and transplanted locally because it had been killing sheep in another area. Autopsy revealed sheep remains in its stomach. Fish & Wildlife fined him $10,000 for killing an animal on the endangered species list. He appealed. Fish & Wildlife reduced it to $4,000 but would not eliminate it, because "if you had not been where you were it would not have been necessary to kill the bear."
4. Having noticed yellow holes in the snow at the top of the chairlift, the new owner of Donner Ski Resort installed restrooms. But, because these are "Public" restrooms, as required by regulations written in response to the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are wheelchair access toilets in the restrooms at the top of the chairlift at Donner Ski Resort.
5. "Second hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer," so said a report issued by the EPA, designating it as a Class A Carcinogen. This report has been used by anti-smoking activists to persuade and even bully City Councils, County Commissions and even State Legislatures to enact draconian smoking bans. Following a wave of statisticians and medical authorities protesting the report for faulty statistical analysis, it went to court, where a Judge, after examining the evidence, promptly saw how the EPA, instead of making policy dictated by the data, altered the data to fit policy. Eleven separate studies had been conducted to measure the incidence of lung cancer in spouses of patients. Ten of the studies showed no difference. One of them showed a 20% increase. The EPA combined them all and averaged. Based on that average, announced 3,000 annual deaths from lung cancer attributable to second hand smoke. Back-checking the sources, showed a higher incidence of exposure to asbestos in the one study
6. Sick and tired of the EPA's punitive policy of levying fines and bringing criminal charges, one by one, States started enacting laws allowing businesses to self audit emissions and make corrections without suffering Penalties. After all, the purpose of the clean water and clean air acts was to clean up the environment. Right. Not according to EPA actions. They went ballistic with bullying and threats of retaliation. A few Legislatures, rather than incur the wrath of the EPA caved to the pressure and did not pass the proposed legislation. After one Legislature caved in to the threats, one of the members said, "It always disturbs me when state law is dictated to us by the feds." Always?
7. In Massachusetts, the Salvation Army gave two Spanish Speaking employees one year to learn English or be fired. They didn't and were fired. EEOC filed suit against the Salvation Army claiming the employees had suffered "emotional pain, humiliation and embarrassment" as a result of the English-only policy.
8. How do you like the "Gun Free Zones" and "Zero Tolerance" in the public schools? An armed security guard at a nearby housing complex chased a burglar who ran into and through a school. When apprehended, the burglar was charged with misdemeanor possession of a knife. The Security Guard was charged with a felony, possession of a firearm on school property.
9. In 1993 the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers produced a record flood, inundating thousand of acres of fertile farmland. It just kept coming and then the rains came. There were no crops that year. When the floodwater finally receded the ground was so saturated that the low spots in the fields became ponds. Migrating waterfowl in the fall made good use of them. They froze over in the winter. When spring came the aquatic plants brought in by either the floodwaters or the waterfowl grew profusely in these ponds. The farmers were not allowed to plow or plant in the 40 and 80 acre fields containing those ponds because, now, they were protected wetlands.
10. William Pierce owned an Engineering Consulting firm with 40 employees billing an average of $1.7 million annually. Now, he has lost his home, is in debt for $100,000 worth of legal bills and his business is gone. What was his "crime"? He allowed his salaried employees to take time off to play golf, go fishing, go shopping, whatever they wanted to do providing they made up the time before payday. If they didn't and had not called the deficiency vacation time, he would deduct an hourly rate based on their salary. Department of Labor informed him that he had violated federal labor regulations, owed $3,100 reimbursement to employees and was being fned $50,000, because flextime was illegal. Made no difference that DOL had not notified employers of that critical fact.
11. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized a 4,346-acre ranch owned by the Jones family in Glades County, Florida for allegedly allowing their property to be used as an aircraft-landing site by cocaine smugglers. What was the evidence. An aircraft crashed a short distance from the ranch, killing both occupants. There were no drugs in the airplane, but DEA figured it had been headed for a landing at the Jones Ranch. The Ranch was seized and held for six years. Jones finally won and was awarded attorney fees, but no one is going to be required to pay for the deterioration damage done by six years of neglect. They were never charged with a crime, but it took that long to get their property back.
12. A $300,000 home was part of the estate left by George Gerhardt. As soon as the will was probated, the heir called the executor of the estate and informed her that U.S. Marshals had seized the house and rented it to a tenant. When the executor made an inquiry, she was told that a "confidential informant" who was in prison had said Gerhardt had taken a $10,000 payment to allow drugs to be unloaded on his property, but that's all they would tell her. Even at the trial, the government refused to offer any evidence other than the accusation made by the informant and continued to do so until the judge threatened some pretty severe sanctions unless they did. They couldn't. It took the judge about an hour to order the property returned to the heir, the rightful owner.
13. Billy Munnerlyn and his wife owned a prosperous Air Charter Service in Las Vegas. He had hauled movie stars, dignitaries and even U.S. Marshals transporting convicted terrorists to prison and was well thought of in Las Vegas for his willingness to donate his services for worthy, charitable causes. On a seemingly routine flight to Ontario, CA he was met by DEA agents who seized his Lear Jet and arrested him and his passenger who happened to be a drug dealer carrying $2.7 million in his luggage. It took him nearly three years to get his airplane back, but it was in such a state of disrepair that it would take $140,000 to refurbish it, money he no longer had. But his troubles didn't end there. The DEA had put him on a list of possible drug runners and money launderers which prevents him from getting a flying job. Now he's a truck driver.
14. Waco, Ruby Ridge, Richard Jewell, Steven Hatfill, Elian Gonzales, Joe Salvati
15. Scene, home of retired millionaire Donald Scott, Malibu, CA. at dawn. DEA agents cut a security chain, ran up the driveway with their dogs and burst into the Scott household with drawn guns, terrifying Mrs. Scott in her kitchen as she made her morning coffee. Mr Scott, awakened by his wife's screams of terror came rushing down the stairs only to be shot and killed by our civil servants. Why had they done this? They claimed to have seen "marijuana plants growing under the trees" while flying over in a helicopter. No marijuana plants or sign of any other drugs were found. Park Rangers who had tried to purchase the Scott property so it could be annexed to an adjoining park, only to be rebuffed, were also there.
ROAR (Restoring Our American Republic, Inc)
2975 Elizabeth Lane
Snellville, GA 30078
Voice: 770-978-1913
FAX: 770-978-1064
RepealThe17th@aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com/repealthe17th/ROAR.html
Flextime is illegal?
Flextime is illegal?
At that time it was for salaried employees. It may have changed. But that is really irrelevant, because what the DOL did is representative of the near absolute power the bureaucrats have and wield with great glee.
Doncha just love the well thought-out, even-handed administration of the laws by such half-witted morons???
Unfortunately those are only a few violations of our rights, the ones we know of, that have been perpetrated by our government.
I remember reading a few years ago of a older man and wife in Houston who committed suicide on the day the IRS said they were going to seize their house and janitorial business, all they owned, and sell them at auction for taxes they didn’t owe. As it turned out, the IRS was doing any such thing, just threatening.
No one in government paid any penalty for their deaths.
the only time I’ve heard of anyone taking any retaliatory action is kinda funny. Over the strident objections of the area ranchers, Fish and Wildlife reintroduced a pack of wolves into what had been wolf country. Out checking his cattle in the spring to be there to help any cow needing it to drop her calf, a rancher came upon a wolf feasting on one of his calves. He knew he couldn’t shoot it, but there was nothing that said he couldn’t rope it. He did and the horse he was riding knew how to handle things so he promptly had the wolf all trussed up. He said the only real problem he had was convincnig his horse that it was okay to have a wolf tied on its back behind the saddle. He started to go back to the ranch, but then realized he was closer to town than the ranch. He rode into town, right up to the Fish & Wildlife office, tied his horse to a parking meter, put in a quarter, took the wolf off the horse, slung it over his shoulder, marched into the office, right past the receptionist, spurs clicking on the floor, went into the manager’s office, dumped the wolf on the manager’s desk, said, “Here, this belongs to you,” turned around and left without saying another word. Sure would like to meet him.
Pretty disgusting. These examples are becoming the norm however.
Signed a petition to repeal the Eminent Domain statutes. Even though we don’t anything, our friends and neighbors do.
Who might that be?
Great story and so American, as America used to be.
BTTT. I have been preaching for years that the demise of our Republic is rooted in the 17th amendment.
So, get involved. We’re going after it.
“15. Scene, home of retired millionaire Donald Scott, Malibu, CA. at dawn. DEA agents cut a security chain, ran up the driveway with their dogs and burst into the Scott household with drawn guns, terrifying Mrs. Scott in her kitchen as she made her morning coffee. Mr Scott, awakened by his wife’s screams of terror came rushing down the stairs only to be shot and killed by our civil servants. Why had they done this? They claimed to have seen “marijuana plants growing under the trees” while flying over in a helicopter. No marijuana plants or sign of any other drugs were found. Park Rangers who had tried to purchase the Scott property so it could be annexed to an adjoining park, only to be rebuffed, were also there”
Wasn’t this one actually a little worse...
IIRC, it was a raid by the Los Angeles Sheriff on a farm that was in the adjacent county. They didn’t notify the local sheriff.
This is the same case, right?
I hope that’s a true story.
I’d love to buy that guy a steak dinner.
Bump
That is hilarious. Wonder how much jail time he got for disturbing an endangered animal during its lunch.
I hope that’s a true story.
Looking back, it was about 14 maybe 15 years ago. I was on the telephone with a friend who lived in that area at that time. He told me about it. Per my request he looked up the Rancher’s phone number and gave it to me. I called and chatted with him for about twenty minutes. He confirmed the story just as I put it here.
This is the same case, right?
No, this one definitely was DEA and Park Rangers.
It’s govt chicanery such as that which made a libertarian out of me. Oddly, the 17th amendment never presented itself as the cause of the problem, though. Can’t say as I see the connection now, either.
Your links leads to the ROAR website. Are you affiliated with ROAR? I’ve never heard of them before. I don’t see anything at their website related to what you have posted, but I do see they are asking for money. $$
“We have a solid, three step plan to get it done. Some pretty savvy people who have been trying for years to find a way to do it have hailed the plan as “Brilliant,” “Outstanding, ” and “That will work,” while agreeing it has an 80% to 90% probability of success. In today’s political spectrum, those are pretty good odds.”
“But we can’t do it unless you help. Figure out what you can afford. What we can’t afford is to do nothing. But if you’ll help us, we’ll get it done.”
“It’s up to you. Make your check or Money Order payable to ROAR and send it to the address below. Be sure to include your Email address so we can keep you informed of progress.”
Back when there WAS a Sacramento Army Depot...
At the Sacramento Army Depot there was a mass of hazardous waste that was mixed before the hazardous waste laws were passed.
The waste products were too mixed up to label and dispose of “properly,” so the Depot was fined thousands each day—”until it disposed of the waste in the proper manner.”
Because of the state of the waste it could not be disposed up “in the proper manner;”
therefore, it could not be disposed of;
therefore, it must remain where it was in its mixed state and cost the Depot HUGE daily fines.
I Googled “Roar” and see that you posted a thread about them recently. I’ll have to do some research. I’m sure if you’re this interested it must be fascinating.
“We just met Sterling when he attended our recent online VetsCor board meeting. I thought he had some interesting arguments for repealing the 17th, so asked him if I could post this material. I’m hoping he’ll come on to the thread to answer questions and continue the debate.”
19 posted on 08/05/2007 7:27:06 PM AKDT by Jim Robinson (Our God-given unalienable rights are not open to debate, negotiation or compromise!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1876883/posts?page=12#12
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