Do You Trust Your Government?

Each of us has on occasion asked ourselves, "Do you trust your government?"

Today, I ask you the same question. Do you trust your government? Do you believe that our leaders in Washington have any regard for your interest? Or, that of your family? Do you sincerely believe that every time they vote on an issue, they ask themselves, "How will my vote impact the lives of my constituents?" Just who do you believe they are really representing?

My decision to run for US Representative was based on the sense that you and I have haven't been regarded in Washington's decisions for a very long time. Our lives, and that of our children, our futures, have been sold out to powers that should make even the most fearless among us shudder.

Our Founding Fathers knew that if our government ever gave any leader too much power or authority, our liberties would rapidly disintegrate. They were no fools. They knew history and remembered the tyranny from which they'd escaped. The Constitution was written to protect America and its citizens from ever having to face such a horrible situation again. And, we were protected. That is, until we allowed Washington to nefariously ignore the rule of law.

At first, it came about as a wolf in sheep's clothing. The disregard for the constitution was at first used for what appeared to be "noble" purposes. Then, it got worse. And worse. Today, it is an "in your face" defiance of logic, reason, and the law.

Executive orders are a clear example of this horrendous misplacement of "justice." The insolence being practiced by the current President and those before him in their use of "executive orders" is crushing our liberties and freedoms daily, and it is time to put it to an end.

Article I Section 1 of our Constitution was clear as to who had the power to make law. "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." They knew that the only way for America to remain free was in having a balance of powers, with the greatest powers being extended to Congress, which would afford the States better representation and limit the powers of central government.

If our founding fathers would have seen what is happening today, they would certainly be trembling in fear for our future. Today, we have an executive branch of government, the Presidency, that has grown monstrously powerful. This branch continuously usurps the Congressional power and authority to make laws. This could only have happened as a result of Congress' abdication of its responsibilities. The executive order process that Congress continues to allow totally bypasses their legislative authority. They have handed to the president almost unilateral power. Yes, they gave given one man almost unlimited power.

These presidents have literally created laws, and afterward enforce and judge these laws. All the while, Congress has just sit back and watched. They do nothing.

A Presidential Executive Order, regarless of its constitutionality (or lack, thereof), unfortunately,becomes law simply by publishing it in the Federal Registry. Congress is completelyby-passed. Here are just a few Executive Orders that have the power to suspend our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly 30 years and can be used by a president, whatever his motive:

• EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the communication media.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a national registration of all persons.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.

What does this all really mean to Americans? Without Congress' approval, the President has the power to transfer whole populations to any location in the country ... he has the power to suspend the Press ... he has the power to force registrations to all people ... he has dictatorial powers never granted by the Constitution ... he has the power to suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in a real, percieved, or invented emergency. The powers do not just exist for a wartime need, they can be used at whim for just about anything that the president decides to call a crisis ... domestic or foreign. He only needs to declare an emergency. Whether it really exists or not.

The newest executive orders, since Richard M. Nixon are some of the scariest:

• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over a fifteen year period.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 12148 created the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that is to interface with the Department of Defense for civil defense planning and funding. An "emergency czar" was appointed. FEMA has only spent about 6 percent of its budget on national emergencies, the bulk of their funding has been used for the construction of secret underground facilities to assure continuity of government in case of a major emergency, foreign or domestic.
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 12656 appointed the National Security Council as the principal body that should consider emergency powers. This allows the government to increase domestic intelligence and surveillance of U.S. citizens and would restrict the freedom of movement within the United States and granted the government the right to isolate large groups of civilians. The National Guard could be federalized to seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all ports of entry. Many of the figures in the Iran-Contra scandal were part of this emergency contingent, including Marine Colonel Oliver North.
  

Unfortunately, with our current lack of leadership in Congress, the only thing preventing us from becoming a dicatorship is the character of our presidents. Is that all we wish to separate us from becoming another dictatorship? How much is our freedom worth? How much is your freedom worth?

Now, it is clearly time for you to have a Congress that will, indeed, represent you ... protect your interests ... and have to backbone to fight this Imperial Presidency that our executive branch has become. Congress has the power and authority to end this demagoguery, you just need to elect congressmen who will.

Ask yourself again, Do you trust your government?

Peter Vidrine