Have You Heard About The 16 Trillion Dollar Bailout The Federal Reserve Handed To The Too Big To Fail Banks?

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What you are about to read should absolutely astound you. During the last financial crisis, the Federal Reserve secretly conducted the biggest bailout in the history of the world, and the Fed fought in court for several years to keep it a secret.

Do you remember the TARP bailout? The American people were absolutely outraged that the federal government spent 700 billion dollars bailing out the "too big to fail" banks. Well, that bailout was pocket change compared to what the Federal Reserve did. As you will see documented below, the Federal Reserve actually handed more than 16 trillion dollars in nearly interest-free money to the "too big to fail" banks between 2007 and 2010. So have you heard about this on the nightly news? Probably not. Lately Bloomberg has been reporting on some of this, but even they are not giving people the whole picture. The American people need to be told about this 16 trillion dollar bailout, because it is a perfect example of why the Federal Reserve needs to be shut down. The Federal Reserve has been actively picking "winners" and "losers" in the financial system, and it turns out that the "friends" of the Fed always get bailed out and always end up among the "winners". This is not how a free market system is supposed to work.

According to the limited GAO audit of the Federal Reserve that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the grand total of all the secret bailouts conducted by the Federal Reserve during the last financial crisis comes to a whopping $16.1 trillion.

That is an astonishing amount of money.

Keep in mind that the GDP of the United States for the entire year of 2010 was only 14.58 trillion dollars.

The total U.S. national debt is only a bit above 15 trillion dollars right now.

So 16 trillion dollars is an almost inconceivable amount of money.

But some other dollar figures have been thrown around lately regarding these secret Federal Reserve bailouts. Let's take a look at them and see what they mean.

$1.2 Trillion

A recent Bloomberg article made the following statement....

The $1.2 trillion peak on Dec. 5, 2008 -- the combined outstanding balance under the seven programs tallied by Bloomberg -- was almost three times the size of the U.S. federal budget deficit that year and more than the total earnings of all federally insured banks in the U.S. for the decade through 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The $1.2 trillion figure represents the peak outstanding balance on these loans, not the total amount of all the loans. On December 5, 2008 the "too big to fail" banks owed this much money to the Federal Reserve. Many of them could not pay these short-term loans back right away and had to keep rolling them over time after time. Each time a short-term loan got rolled over that represented a new loan.

$7.7 Trillion

Bloomberg is reporting that the Federal Reserve had made a total of $7.77 trillion in financial commitments to the big banks by the end of March 2009....

Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.

But as mentioned above, a one-time limited GAO audit of the Federal Reserve that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act covered an even broader time period and revealed even more bailout loans.

According to the GAO audit, $16.1 trillion in secret loans were made by the Federal Reserve between December 1, 2007 and July 21, 2010. The following list of firms and the amount of money that they received was taken directly from page 131 of the GAO audit report....

Citigroup - $2.513 trillion
Morgan Stanley - $2.041 trillion
Merrill Lynch - $1.949 trillion
Bank of America - $1.344 trillion
Barclays PLC - $868 billion
Bear Sterns - $853 billion
Goldman Sachs - $814 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 billion
JP Morgan Chase - $391 billion
Deutsche Bank - $354 billion
UBS - $287 billion
Credit Suisse - $262 billion
Lehman Brothers - $183 billion
Bank of Scotland - $181 billion
BNP Paribas - $175 billion
Wells Fargo - $159 billion
Dexia - $159 billion
Wachovia - $142 billion
Dresdner Bank - $135 billion
Societe Generale - $124 billion
"All Other Borrowers" - $2.639 trillion

This report was made available to all the members of Congress, but most of them have been totally silent about it. One of the only members of Congress that has said something has been U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

The following is an excerpt from a statement about this audit that was taken from the official website of Senator Sanders....

"As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world"

So where is everyone else?

Why aren't leading Republicans and leading Democrats crying bloody murder over this report?

This scandal should have been front page news for months when it was revealed.

But it wasn't.

And Guess what?

Not only did the Federal Reserve give 16.1 trillion dollars in nearly interest-free loans to the "too big to fail" banks, the Fed also paid them over 600 million dollars to help run the emergency lending program. According to the GAO, the Federal Reserve shelled out an astounding $659.4 million in "fees" to the very financial institutions which caused the financial crisis in the first place.

In addition, it turns out that trillions of dollars of this bailout money actually went overseas. According to the GAO audit, approximately $3.08 trillion went to foreign banks in Europe and in Asia.

So why were our dollars being used to bail out foreign banks while tens of millions of American families were deeply suffering?

That is a very good question.

Also, it is important to remember that many of these bailout loans were made at below market interest rates, and this enabled many of these financial institutions to rake in huge profits.

According to a recent Bloomberg article, the big banks brought in an estimated $13 billion by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates....

While the Fed’s last-resort lending programs generally charge above-market interest rates to deter routine borrowing, that practice sometimes flipped during the crisis. On Oct. 20, 2008, for example, the central bank agreed to make $113.3 billion of 28-day loans through its Term Auction Facility at a rate of 1.1 percent, according to a press release at the time.

The rate was less than a third of the 3.8 percent that banks were charging each other to make one-month loans on that day. Bank of America and Wachovia Corp. each got $15 billion of the 1.1 percent TAF loans, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland’s RBS Citizens NA unit with $10 billion, Fed data show.

So once the financial crisis was over, were adjustments made to the financial system to make sure that this type of thing would never happen again?

Of course not.

Today, the "too big to fail" banks are larger than ever. The total assets of the six largest U.S. banks increased by 39 percent between September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2011.

So now they are more "too big to fail" than ever.

But this is what happens when we allow unelected central bank bureaucrats to run our financial system.

Most Americans do not realize this, but the truth is that the Federal Reserve is not part of the government. In fact, it is about as "federal" as Federal Express is. The Federal Reserve has admitted that they are a privately owned institution in court many times, and you can see video of a Federal Reserve employee admitting that the Federal Reserve is privately owned right here.

The Federal Reserve is an out of control monster that is throwing around trillions of dollars whenever it wants to. Nobody should be allowed to do this. Nobody should be allowed to give bailouts to banks and corporations without the express permission of the U.S. Congress and the president of the United States.

This is a point that I made in my article yesterday. The Federal Reserve decided this week that it is going to provide "liquidity support" to Europe. If the American people do not like this move, that is just too bad. We do not get a say in the matter.

Are you starting to understand why I keep pushing the idea that it is time to shut down the Federal Reserve?

Please share this information about the secret 16 trillion dollar Federal Reserve bailout with your family and your friends.

If we can get enough people to wake up, perhaps there is still time to change the direction that this country is headed.

From the Economic Collapse Blog

Video: The Fed Grants $7.77 Trillion in Secret Bank Loan - Now Do You Understand Occupy Wall Street?

Kucinich bill seeks to end the Federal Reserve:

Kucinich bill seeks to end the Federal Reserve!
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1718844/pg1
Kucinich bill seeks to end the Federal Reserve
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/01/kucinich-bill-seeks-to-end-the-federal-reserve/

Related:

WHAT THE HELL? The U.S. Secretly loaned 7.7 TRILLION To Banks Without Interest. Then Borrowed Back WITH Interest
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1718942/pg1

America's Next TARP Model
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-1-2011/america-s-next-tarp-model

A Bloomberg report reveals that the U.S. government loaned banks $7.7 trillion in secret bailout funds at no interest and then borrowed the money back at interest.
Bloomberg reports 7.7 trillion in loans to big banks and Wall Street
http://reading-sage.blogspot.com/2011/11/bloomberg-reports-77-trillion-in-loans.html?m=1pg1

h/t to Jean Stoner

The Education Trap and How to solve a major problem in one easy step

h/t to @michellemalkin for the photo: I wanted to share this REFRESHING sign. I love this hardworking kid, whoever he/she is!

When other major stories are not crowding it out, the media occasionally gets around to a story or two on student loan debt.  The college graduates of the last ten years or more are drowning in student loan debts.  There is a radical solution to this problem.

What is it?

Abolish the student loan program.

Liberals will immediately scream that I am anti-education.  I want to see the great masses of Americans stuck with 6^th grade educations, forced to work the fields and flip burgers or hit the highlight of their career by being able to say, “Welcome to Wal-Mart.”

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.  I do object to state funded colleges and universities being used to indoctrinate students in liberalism and I do object to stupid programs like gay studies.  But I believe the state university and college secondary education system is one of the best things that state government does.   I believe the state college secondary education system should do what it was designed to do, namely provide a reasonably affordable college education to the tax paying residents of a state.

The unwashed liberals, in the case of Occupy Wall Street, that is literally true, just want student loans forgiven.  There is irony in Bill Clinton endorsing the Occupy Wall Street anarchy and their demands for complete forgiveness of student loans. He was the President who signed the law making student loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

In wanting student loans forgiven, the left is focusing on the symptoms and not the cause of the problem.  Student loans are the problem.  The easy access to student loans distorts and destroys the free market.   Students to not realize the cost of what they are getting.   They don’t write the check.  They just fill out the paperwork.  Sometimes instead of writing a check, they get a check back.   The money they receive back is then spent on, hopefully living expenses.  Back in the day when I was a college student, pizza and beer were considered living expenses.   Somehow I doubt that has changed.

For colleges, the student loans take the sting out of the market place.  Who cares if they have to raise tuition by twenty percent?  Instead of students talking about alternatives to State U., they just ask for more student loans.

The student loan program is probably one of the worst programs for encouraging bad behavior.  Since the federal government guarantees loans, it is a no lose proposition for banks.  They can make the loans and make a profit when people pay them back and if they fail to pay them back, the government covers the loss.

What if banks made those loans without the government guarantee?   For one thing, there would be many fewer loans.  That is not a bad thing, as the banks would be asking some important questions.

For example, if someone wanted to borrow $100,000 to get a nice Ivy League degree, the bank might ask, what are you going to major in and what are you going to do after college and how much will you make?  If the student said, well I am going to major in social work, become a social worker and probably make about $30,000 a year, the bank is going to turn that student down.  With guarantees, the bank doesn’t care whether the risk is good or not.  After all, the taxpayer will pay the bank back if the loan defaults.

The state college systems have a lot of affordable options.  Maybe a student wants to go to State U., but does not have the money.  Every state has affordable regional junior colleges where someone can start.  Students can work and help pay for their college.  There are many options if we abolish this really bad program.

One of the other benefits of abolishing Guaranteed Student loans is, it will deflate the education bubble and tuition will come down.  Market factors will start to play a role in the cost of education again.

The Guaranteed Student Loan program is the classic case of a well intentioned government program that has destroyed the market, cost the tax payers a lot of money and is now hurting the very people it was intended to help.

Ronald Reagan was right when he said the most feared words in the English language are, “I’m from the Government.  I’m here to help.”

Posted by Judson Phillips on TPN

The Education Trap

Oct 14th, 2011 | By Jeff Berwick

For decades, governments have been promoting school as being necessary. Celebrities, probably thinking they are doing the “right thing,” often promote the message “stay in school,” from people like Mr. T. and NBA players and rappers.

No one ever thinks to ask, “Hey, Mr. T., did you learn to be an actor and how to work out and grow a mohawk in school?” Nor do they ask the same questions of a bunch of multi-millionaire basketball players and rappers. Did Michael Jordan learn to play basketball “in school”? For the rappers, I don’t remember there being Hip Hop 101 in college.

All public schools in the U.S. today are prep camps for jail or for being a cubicle rat for the rest of your life.

THE SCHOOL “SYSTEM”

Jim Rohn said, “formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.”

Today, however, formal education, often, does not even make you a living, as the cost of schooling has increased dramatically ever since the government subsidized it with grants, loans and tax benefits.

But education is not the real goal of the education system. As William Torrey Harris, U.S. commissioner of education in 1906, said, “Education… scientifically defined, is the subsumption of the individual.”

Johann Gottlieb Fichte, head of philosophy and psychology at Prussian University in Berlin, said it even more clearly: “Education should aim at destroying free will, so that after pupils are thus schooled, they will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise than as their school masters would have wished.”

THE 99% HAVE HAD THEIR FREE WILL DESTROYED

The saddest thing I have seen in a long time is the “We Are the 99%” page.

And it’s not necessarily sad because of the tough situation these thousands of people have found themselves in.

What is sad is that you can see how broken they are as individuals. How they bought into a system and have had all their free will drained from them. This is particularly shown by the fact that thousands of people would take the time to write out on a piece of paper all of their concerns and unhappiness with the expectation that this will CHANGE anything!

I estimate over 90% of the people on that site appear to be in rough shape due to student loans. But not one of them sees the truth. They’ve all been brainwashed to think a college education is not only a good thing, but is a guarantee of having a great life.

One starving artist had $175,000 in student loans. $175,000 in student loans? To become an “artist”? But he sounds as though it is the system that let him down. He takes no responsibility for his massive error in judgment.

Another 99 Percenter is 47, penniless and in debt after her “college education,” yet what does she want for her daughters? To put them through the same system! She has been brainwashed to believe that a “college education” is a necessary and good thing despite all the evidence in her own life that has provided that it was not.

Rather than realizing their errors, many of these people figure that writing their problems on a piece of paper on the Internet may help! Or by chasing down rich Wall St. bankers (a symptom of the problem) with pitchforks while admonishing the government (the real problem) to play a bigger role in the economy.

STUDENT LOANS ARE SLAVERY

Rather than hoping the government helps them, many of these people with student debts should be looking at ways to get out of the country.

Why? First of all, student debt is the only debt in the U.S. that is not able to be defaulted on in a bankruptcy. In other words, the starving artist above with $175,000 in debt will never be able to remove that chain from his neck as long as he lives in the country. If he were to expatriate, he could at least start fresh somewhere else.

And now the U.S. government has dropped many hints that in order to get a passport in the future, you will need to have your government debts (taxes, loans, etc.) up-to-date.

It is not much of a stretch of the imagination for the U.S. government to demand that all those behind on their student debt will be ordered to report to duty with the military. Any opposition will be met with unlimited prison sentences.

There are plenty of opportunities in the world. Look for employment in places like the Canadian oil sands, where they can’t even find enough employees. Or in booming places such as the Middle East (try Qatar) or in Asia (plenty of finance-related jobs in Hong Kong — and a 15% income tax rate).

But remember, in life, there are no “sure things” or guarantees. The government fooled you into thinking there are, but there aren’t. In real life, you just have to get out there and do it.

KEEP YOUR KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL

For those with children, keep them out of school. Any school.

Real education, today, is all free and can be done via the Internet from anywhere. All you have to do is ensure your child can read and from there they can self-educate.

MIT’s entire curriculum is available online for free via MIT’s OpenCourseWare. As well, University of the People is a tuition-free online university. Not to mention there is a YouTube video or a Wikipedia article on any subject matter you’d ever want to know.

BE A COLLEGE DROPOUT… OR DROP-IN

I am not a college dropout. I’m a college drop-in. I dropped in to college, at the behest of my mother, for a few days and quickly got out of there. Consider doing the same.

Don’t get caught in the education trap.

Regards,

Jeff Berwick

The Dollar Vigilante

JEFF BERWICK

Jeff Berwick, a self-described financial freedom fighter, is the founder of Canada’s largest financial website, Stockhouse.com.  He now writes the libertarian, Austrian-economics based newsletter, The Dollar Vigilante and is a regular speaker at many of the world’s most important investment, resource and freedom-focused conferences where he is known as the most dangerous man in finance.

View articles by Jeff Berwick

**Glenn Beck produced a personal preparedness and solution list and did a show based around it last week that he feels was given to him (divinely) as a warning.  One of the things on it was Apprenticeships.  We need to get back to having an apprenticeship system for the trades and stop pushing every child who really has no need, can’t afford it or isn’t college material to want, expect or feel they must attend college.  Most of us are for or letting our kids go into major debt for a college degree that will never compensate them in salary or job status for the debt or cost and have allowed our kids to become indoctrinated in anti-American if not down right Marxist doctrine. 

They have been dumbing us and our kids down for years in the public school system and then indoctrinating our kids in the college and universities.  The indoctrination process is now starting in Kindergarten!

Under the school/education section of Beck’s list was:

COLLEGE/SCHOOL

APPRENTICESHIPS ARE THE FUTURE.
DISCUSS THE VALUE OF SCHOOL FOR WHAT YOU CAN EARN.
DO NOT LOOK FOR LABELS THEY WILL BECOME MEANINGLESS (YALE, HARVARD, Stanford…)
FIND OTHER FORMS OF SCHOOL. ON LINE, JR COLLEGE, STATE SCHOOLS
TEACH YOUNG CHILDREN NOW THAT COLLEGE IS NOT A GIVEN
DEMAND MERIT FROM SCHOOL AND STUDENT OR PULL YOUR TIME AND $
EDUCATE YOURSELF AT ALL TIMES. ALWAYS READ.
HAVE A HARD COPY OF IMPORTANT BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS
LEARN OLD AND OR LOST PRACTICES.
MENDING/CANNING/FARMING/
LEARN TO FIX AN ENGINE
RE-LEARN READING A PRINTED MAP
KNOW WHATS IN THE NEWS (AND WHAT’S BEHIND IT). LIFE CAN CHANGE QUICKLY.
BE ABLE TO DEFEND YOUR POSITIONS BY KNOWING THE OTHER SIDE

Ask Marion~

USDA Closing Roads to Public Lands While Opening Doors for the United Nations

USDA Closing Roads to Public Lands While Opening Doors for the United Nations
08-11-2011 4:37 pm - Marti Oakley

Debbie Coffey PPJ Gazette Investigative Reporter

 

Where?

COLORADO –  “Montezuma County Sheriff Dennis Spruell is waiting for his conscience to tell him: Should he start handing out tickets this week to U.S. Forest Service agents who are closing backcountry roads? Should he cut locks on gates that shut off access to public lands?

The fact that a county sheriff is considering such actions against the federal government is a good indication that more than a run-of-the-mill dustup over road and trail closures on public lands is erupting in the far southwest corner of the state…

In recent weeks, protesters have marched on the local Forest Service and BLM office located between Cortez and Dolores, calling Forest Service officials “government pukes.”

OREGON – (3/2/11, by Sara Foster, NewsWithViews.com) “Josephine County, Oregon -When Gil Gilbertson was sworn in as Sheriff of Josephine County, a rural county in southwest Oregon, in 2007, he had 30 years of law enforcement experience behind him, both in the United States and with various military missions overseas.

So when citizens of the county began coming to him complaining of “harassment” by U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers (LEO), he said he’d investigate their concerns, figuring he could work things out with the local ranger district. After all, as the county’s chief law enforcement officer he was in the “club” and moreover had gotten along with the “feds” — though he disagreed with their road closing policies and other efforts to keep the public off public lands which cover 68 percent of the rural county.

He contacted the local ranger district for information, but instead of answers he was bluntly told that No, they couldn’t, wouldn’t discuss anything about any complaints with him, but he could file a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)… Gilbertson sent a blistering letter to the District Ranger of the Wild Rivers Ranger District in Caves Junction… ‘As the CLEO [chief law enforcement officer] of this county, elected by the citizens, saddled with the expectation and responsibility to safeguard their rights, I fully intend to uphold the laws against any threat, inappropriate or unlawful actions against them…”.

UTAH – (10/6/10, San Juan Record) “Hunters in San Juan County face a number of roads that have been closed on National Forests. ‘We have been hunting this area since my dad was a kid,’ said one Blanding resident, who asked that his name not be used. ‘It seems like they have closed a thousand roads’.”

MONTANA – ( 8/26/10, Helenair.com) “The Helena National Forest Service has truly been busy this summer. They have had excavators up in the forests removing roads and portions of roads for the sole purpose of making them impossible to navigate. These are not maintained Forest Service roads, yet the excuse they used was to save money in the long run by taking these roads off of their maintenance list. The sole reason for these road closures is to prevent sportsmen from accessing hunting grounds.”

IDAHO – (6/16/11, Capitalpress.com) “A county government in Idaho has filed a legal complaint against the U.S. Forest Service over road closures that allegedly limit residents’ mobility and discourage tourists. Valley County has asked a federal judge to declare the agency’s travel management plan for the Payette National Forest as unlawful due to violations of environmental and administrative law.
“They didn’t do it right,” said Matthew Williams, the county’s attorney. “No appeals, no hearings. They just did it.”

The road closures by the Forest Service have also been happening in California, Nevada and other states.

Former Sheriff Richard Mack, in his book “County Sheriff: America’s Last Hope” summed it up when he said “The founders of America warned us that we would lose more freedoms from gradual encroachments by those in authority than by sudden usurptions from any foreign enemy…The COUNTY SHERIFF is our nation’s LAST LINE OF DEFENSE, for the preservation and return to, fundamental and individual liberty.”

The USDA (a member of the new Rural Council and the IUCN, an organization that promotes U.N.’s Agenda 21) used your tax dollars to send David Ferrell, Director of Law Enforcement and Investigations, to Canada for the 9th Conference of the International Network for Environ­mental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) where “… environmental compliance and en­forcement experts from over 50 coun­tries gathered to identify new actions to promote enforcement cooperation to…support the shift to sustainable devel­opment…”

On INECE’s website, it states: “Agenda 21: An international mandate for building compliance and enforcement capacity as an essential element of environmental management… Agenda 21, Chapter 8, Section 8.21. Each country should develop integrated strategies to maximize compliance with its laws and regulations relating to sustainable development. Does this seem like the Forest Service might “promote enforcement” to make U.S. citizens comply with Agenda 21? It’s important to know what the USDA is “participating” in:

“INECE is striving for a global network which starts first at local levels, networking among key institutions of government, the police, environment agencies, sectoral agencies; second among local groups and with related regional and national groups within nations; third, between governments and NGOs; fourth internationally in bilateral cooperation; fifth regionally among nations among all relevant groups; and finally, sixth, on a global scale among the various groups as needs arise and catalyzing ideas and approaches and cooperation around the globe.

The mandate for environmental compliance and enforcement was introduced as a direct result of the consensus at the International Workshop which gave the participants the confidence to move toward this very important international statement. Language in Agenda 21 empowered UN organizations to more actively support compliance and enforcement institution building activities.”
Regarding any mandate for USDA “enforcements” to close off roads, forests and public lands, remember the Tenth Amendment “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Sheriff Mack sums this up best “…local officials have the right, the power, and the duty to stand against the far reaching incursions by our own Federal Government.” Mack cited a Supreme Court case in which Justice Scalia wrote a ruling for the majority that stated “The Federal Government may not compel the states to enact or enforce a federal regulatory program.”

TO LEARN MORE:  Many excellent articles on Agenda 21 by Cassandra Anderson at www.morphcity.com, and also by Marti Oakley (PPJ Gazette), including http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/just-another-brick-in-the-wall-un-agenda-21-in-us-law/#more-16780 “The Quiet Coup”: http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/the-quiet-coup-the-implementation-of-agenda-21/#more-17145

SOURCES:
http://www.fs.fed.us/global/wsnew/welcome.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/global/wsnew/newsletter/july2011_wsnew.pdf
http://www.fs.fed.us/international/
http://www.fs.fed.us/global/latest_news.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/global/links/links.htm
http://www.inece.org/
http://www.inece.org/history.html
http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news260.htm
http://www.sjrnews.com/view/full_story/9783521/article-Concern-grows-over-Forest-Service-road-closures?instance=home_news_1st_right
http://helenair.com/news/opinion/readers_alley/article_070e3206-b0da-11df-90e6-001cc4c002e0.html
http://www.capitalpress.com/content/mp-county-roads-lawsuit-061011
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/usda-closing-roads-to-public-lands-while-opening-doors-for-the-united-nations/

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Obama’s Land Grab Nightmare

What will it take for the rest of America to wake up??  Land Grabs… Water Grabs… FCC Internet and Media Regulation without Congressional approval… Restrictions of party food and bake sales at school,  healthcare takeover, attacks on the Constitution and God

There are ten planks in the Communist Manifesto and it will come as no surprise to anyone to discover that they are being implemented by the Obama administration in league with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The first plank of the Communist Manifesto called for the abolition of all private property ownership and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.

The Constitution regards the ownership of private property to be of such importance that the Bill of Rights’ Fifth Amendment includes an injunction against the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. The object was to keep as much private property as private as possible.

Some of the other Communist goals included a heavy progressive or graduated income tax and abolition of all rights of inheritance. If the Bush tax cuts are not extended, the “death tax” on estates will partially implement the inheritance goal and, of course, everyone currently anticipates that income tax rates will rise.

The federal government has long been involved in sequestering land from private ownership and in cases such as the establishment of National parks and forests it has proven to be a good idea, ensuring the protection of landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park.

Such efforts ensured that the U.S. still has 70% of the forest land that existed in 1600—737 million acres. Of these 33.5% are reserved from harvest by law or represent slow-growth areas unsuitable for timber production. The rest are timberlands that, for forest management purposes, are still harvested.

This has not stopped environmentalists, often called tree-huggers, from trying to stop any harvesting and the 1980s Spotted Owl hoax in the Northwest was so successful it closed down timber and sawmill operations, devastating an important industry. The claim was that the owls were endangered. Like most environmental claims it was false.

Most people will be surprised to learn that nearly 30% of the 2.63 million square miles of the United States is directly owned by the federal government.

This federal land is located primarily in the West. For example, 69.1% of Alaska is owned by the federal government and 84% of Nevada. More than half of both Utah and Idaho is owned by the federal government. Other western states such as Arizona, California, Wyoming, Oregon, New Mexicoand Colorado have from 53.1% to 36.6% of their land allocated to the federal government.

If the States are sovereign republics in their own right, it begs the question why the federal government owns so much of the West, but the most pressing question today is why new legislation is making its way through the House and Senate to create a permanent trust fund for the purpose of acquiring still more federal land.

Though beaten back in the past, the House recently passed the “Consolidated Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources Act of 2010 and, in the Senate, Harry Reid is trying to incorporate similar legislation in his so-called “energy act”, creating a multi-billion trust that, unlike the original Land and Water Conservation Fund, would not have to go through the appropriations process.

The so-called trust fund aspect is an old Congressional trick. The Social Security trust fund has been raided for years to the point where it is insolvent, but trust funds set up for highway funds, airport funds, and others have been regularly diverted.

Another land grab effort is an act called “America’s Commitment to Clean Water Act” that is in essence a Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency authorization to control every drop of water in the nation.

The original 1972 Clean Water Act applies only to “navigable” waters, i.e. bodies of water on which boats and ships can function, but the new bill would include wetlands and everywhere else water is found. In short, not just farmers and ranchers would be affected, but your backyard if it has puddles after a rainstorm. This has long been an EPA objective.

Would it surprise anyone to know that Carol Browner, the president’s chief advisor (czar) on environment and energy was a former high ranking member of Socialist International?

The Obama administration is filled with people for whom the environment is a kind of religion, devoid of any scienceto support its bad intentions, and willing to ignore the U.S. Constitution any time it might get in the way.

Cong. Ron Paul (R-TX) has been a longtime opponent of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). In June he issued a warning against the latest efforts to grab more land for federal government control, citing in his view that the “federal government already owns far too much real property.”

This is really bad legislation that must be defeated. Otherwise, as Rep. Paul warns, “it allows the Executive Branch to have powers that are constitutionally directed to Congress. So this bill not only diminishes private property, it also erodes the Constitutional separation of powers.”

The Constitution is under attack by Communists. Our freedoms are constantly eroded and the keystone of wealth, private property, is under attack.

For more information, visit www.landrights.org

© Alan Caruba, 2010

Obama’s Land Grab Nightmare

ALERT: U.S. CONGRESS SECRET LAND GRAB LEGISLATION - Let's roll folks!

Thursday, December 02, 2010 3:27:52 PM · by Jo Nuvark · 1 replies

KEN MORSE (Olympia Tea Party Organizer) | 12-2-10

Omnibus Lands Vote, Hundreds of Bills In One, Call Senators Now! --- Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have put together a massive bill with hundreds of Wilderness and land lock up bills inside that have not yet passed the Congress in 2010. --- Things are being done in secret. No bill number yet. Included will be all the Wilderness Bills, Billion Dollar LWCF Trust Fund, Corps and EPA Land and Water Jurisdiction Grab and many, many more.

Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association (ALRA) Keep Private Land In Private Hands Coalition PO Box 400 - Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973

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Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association (ALRA) Keep Private Land In Private Hands Coalition PO Box 400 - Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973 E-mail: alra@pacifier.com Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE - Washington, DC 20003

Omnibus Lands Vote, Hundreds of Bills In One, Call Senators Now

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have put together a massive bill with hundreds of Wilderness and land lock up bills inside that have not yet passed the Congress in 2010.

Things are being done in secret. No bill number yet. Included will be all the Wilderness Bills, Billion Dollar LWCF Trust Fund, Corps and EPA Land and Water Jurisdiction Grab and many, many more.

Reid is going around to the Republicans and getting them to agree to sign on. You must make it clear to the Republicans that this vote is a threat to rural America and you and will be remembered forever.

When you call, do not threaten. Just make it clear that this is a terrible bill where they have lumped together hundreds of bills that no Senator has read completely.

Let them know you are telling all your neighbors, friends, allies, and business associates about the Omnibus Federal Lands Bill and will remember how they vote on this bill when you vote in the future.

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-----You must urge your Senators to filibuster, place a hold on, or otherwise delay the Omnibus Lands Bill. They must agree to vote against it when it comes to a vote. The Senate has a limited amount of time in the Lame Duck Session. Every day your Senator delays the bill gives rural America a better chance to survive this onslaught.

Michelle Malkin: The great Obama land grab

Have you heard of the "Great Outdoors Initiative"? Chances are, you haven't.

But across the country, White House officials have been meeting quietly with environmental groups to map out government plans for acquiring untold millions of acres of both public and private land. It's another stealthy power grab through executive order that promises to radically transform the American way of life.

In April, President Obama issued a memorandum outlining his "21st century strategy for America's great outdoors." It was addressed to the interior secretary, the agriculture secretary, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.

The memo calls on the officials to conduct "listening and learning sessions" with the public to "identify the places that mean the most to Americans, and leverage the support of the Federal Government" to "protect" outdoor spaces. Eighteen of 25 planned sessions have already been held. But there's much more to the agenda than simply "reconnecting Americans to nature."

The federal government, as the memo boasted, is the nation's "largest land manager." It already owns roughly one of every three acres in the United States.

This is apparently not enough. At a "listening session" in New Hampshire last week, government bureaucrats trained their sights on millions of private forest land throughout the New England region. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack crusaded for "the need for additional attention to the Land and Water Conservation Fund -- and the need to promptly support full funding of that fund."

Property owners have every reason to be worried. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a pet project of green radicals, who want the decades-old government slush fund for buying up private lands to be freed from congressional appropriations oversight. It's paid for primarily with receipts from the government's offshore oil and gas leases.

Both Senate and House Democrats have included $900 million in full LWCF funding, not subject to congressional approval, in their energy/BP oil spill legislative packages. The Democrats have also included a provision in these packages that would require the federal government to take over energy permitting in state waters, which provoked an outcry from Texas state officials, who sent a letter of protest to Capitol Hill last month:

"In light of federal failures, it is incomprehensible that the United States Congress is entertaining proposals that expand federal authority over oil and gas drilling in state water and lands long regulated by states. ... Given the track record, putting the federal government in charge of energy production on state land and waters not only breaks years of successful precedent and threatens the 10th Amendment to the United Sates Constitution, but it also undermines common sense and threatens the environmental and economy security of our state's citizens."

This power grab, masquerading as a feel-good, all-American recreation program, comes on top of a separate, property-usurping initiative exposed by GOP Rep. Robert Bishop and Sen. Jim DeMint earlier this spring.

According to an internal, 21-page Obama administration memo, 17 energy-rich areas in 11 states have been targeted as potential federal "monuments." The lives of coyotes, deer and prairie dogs would be elevated above states' needs to generate jobs, tourism business and energy solutions.

Take my home state of Colorado. The Obama administration is considering locking up some 380,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land and private land in Colorado under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

The Vermillion Basin and the Alpine Triangle would be shut off to mining, hunting, grazing, oil and gas development, and recreational activities. Alan Foutz, president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, blasted the administration's meddling: "Deer and elk populations are thriving, and we in Colorado don't need help from the federal government in order to manage them effectively."

Indeed, the feds have enough trouble as it is managing the vast amount of land they already control. As the D.C.-based Americans for Limited Government group, which defends private property rights, points out:

"The [National Park Service] claims it would need about $9.5 billion just to clear its backlog of the necessary improvements and repairs. At a time when our existing national parks are suffering, it doesn't make sense for the federal government to grab new lands."

The bureaucrats behind Obama's "Great Outdoors Initiative" plan on wrapping up their public comment solicitation by Nov. 15. The initiative's taxpayer-funded web site (http://ideas.usda.gov/ago/ideas.nsf/) has been dominated by left-wing environmental activists proposing human population reduction, private property confiscation, and gun bans, hunting bans and vehicle bans in national parks.

It's time for private property owners to send their own loud, clear message to the land-hungry feds: Take a hike.

Examiner Columnist Michelle Malkin, author of "Culture of Corruption”: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies," is nationally syndicated by Creator Syndicate  Article Originally Posted on August 13, 2010