Just how deep does the rabbit hole go?
Tennessee
Ron Paul Would Like to See Glenn Jacobs (aka Wrestler “Kane”) Enter the GOP Senate Race in Tennessee
0Source: http://libertycalling.net
Posted by Judy Morris
Ron Paul Would Like to See Glenn Jacobs (aka Wrestler “Kane”) Enter the GOP Senate Race in Tennessee
With the exception of the only constitutionalist and liberty activist in the entire US Senate, Rand Paul, Republican senators are a most pitiful lot of rogues, statists and civil liberties slashing warmongering socialists. While it’s difficult to say who is the absolute worst, the state of Tennessee definitely has 2 of the worst Republican senators, Lamar Alexander, up for re-election in 2014, and Bob Corker, re-elected in 2012.
The folks in Tennessee have an opportunity to vote Alexander out of office and there’s a lot of support for Paulite liberty activist Glenn Jacobs.Reason.com reports:
Received this statement today from former Ron Paul 2012 campaign staffer Matt Collins, who is interested in seeing Glenn Jacobs–who is also the wrestler known as “Kane”–enter the GOP Senate primary from Tennessee next year (where he’d be up against incumbent Lamar Alexander).
Background on Collins, in his own words:
I served on Ron Paul’s 2012 Presidential Campaign as his New Media Manager, and also as a strategic political operative in Minnesota. I am currently working with the Campaign for Liberty to fight the national Internet sales tax mandate.
His statement about Jacobs potential candidacy and Ron Paul:
As an activist for the cause in Nashville in 2009 I helped launch Rand Paul’s Campaign for US Senate. Rand called me in Feb of that year and wanted my help to get him elected. I am hoping we can do the same for Glenn Jacobs against Senator Lamar Alexander in 2014.
Former Congressman Ron Paul and I have emailed back and forth on this topic quite a bit and he has told me repeatedly “keep telling Glenn we need him to do it. It’s important, he’s exactly the kind of candidate we need.” When Dr. Paul spoke at the Knoxville GOP dinner in April I arranged a private 30-minute meeting with Dr. Paul and Glenn in which the potential candidacy for Senate was discussed.
Although Glenn has been hesitant to jump in the race, thus far, some tea party leaders in Tennessee have already voiced private support for Glenn against Senator Alexander.
Read the rest at Reason.com, here.
Meet Your New Boss: Buying Large Employers Will Enable China To Dominate 1000s Of U.S. Communities
11 week ago
Source: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com
By Michael
Meet Your New Boss: Buying Large Employers Will Enable China To Dominate 1000s Of U.S. Communities
Are you ready for a future where China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities all over the United States? Such a future would be unimaginable to many Americans, but the truth is that it is already starting to happen. Chinese acquisition of U.S. businesses set a new all-time record last year, and it is on pace to absolutely shatter that record this year. Meanwhile, China is voraciously gobbling up real estate and is establishing economic beachheads all over America. If China continues to build economic power inside the United States, it will eventually become the dominant economic force in thousands of small communities all over the nation.
Just think about what the Smithfield Foods acquisition alone will mean. Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world. It has facilities in 26 U.S. states and it employs tens of thousands of Americans. It directly owns 460 farms and has contracts with approximately 2,100 others. But now a Chinese company has bought it for $4.7 billion, and that means that the Chinese will now be the most important employer in dozens of rural communities all over America. If you don’t think that this is important, you haven’t been paying much attention to what has been going on in the world. Thanks in part to our massively bloated trade deficit with China, the Chinese have trillions of dollars to spend. They are only just starting to exercise their economic muscles.
And it is important to keep in mind that there is often not much of a difference between “the Chinese government” and “Chinese corporations”. In 2011, 43 percent of all profits in China were produced by companies that the Chinese government had a controlling interest in. Americans are accustomed to thinking of “government” and “business” as being separate things, but in China they are often one and the same. Even when there is a separation in ownership, the reality is that no major Chinese corporation is going to go against the authority and guidance of the Chinese government. The relationship between government and business in China is much different than it is in the United States.
Over the past several years, Chinese companies have become increasingly aggressive. Last year a Chinese company spent $2.6 billion to purchase AMC entertainment – one of the largest movie theater chains in the United States. Now that Chinese company controls more movie ticket sales than anyone else in the world. At the time, that was the largest acquisition of a U.S. firm by a Chinese company, but now the Smithfield Foods deal has greatly surpassed that.
But China is not just relying on acquisitions to expand its economic power. The truth is that “economic beachheads” are being established all over America. For example, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently broke ground on a $100 million plant in Thomasville, Alabama. I am sure that many of the residents of Thomasville, Alabama will be glad to have jobs, but it will also become yet another community that will now be heavily dependent on communist China.
And guess where else Chinese companies are putting down roots?
Detroit.
Yes, the poster child for the deindustrialization of America is being invaded by the Chinese. The following comes from a recent CNBC article…
Dozens of companies from China are putting down roots in Detroit, part of the country’s steady push into the American auto industry.
Chinese-owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle technology, selling everything from seat belts to shock absorbers in retail stores, and hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers.
If you recently purchased an “American-made vehicle”, there is a really good chance that it has Chinese parts in it.
In fact, it is becoming harder and harder to get auto parts that are actually made in America by American companies. A lot of those companies are dying off. One example of this is a battery maker that had received $132 million from the federal government that was recently gobbled up by a huge Chinese corporation…
Industry analysts are hard-pressed to put a number on the Chinese suppliers operating in the United States. “We simply don’t know how many there are,” said David Andrea, an official with the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, a trade organization for auto parts makers.
In one of the more prominent deals, the Wanxiang Group bought most of the assets of the battery maker A123 Systems, which filed for bankruptcy last year despite receiving $132 million of $249 million in federal grants to build two factories in Michigan.
Congressional Republicans criticized the deal, saying A123′s technology could support military applications in China. Still, the buyout was approved this year by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a federal government panel.
China seems particularly interested in acquiring energy resources in the United States. For example, did you know that China is actually mining for coal in the mountains of Tennessee?
Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent 616 million dollars to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro, Tennessee. At the time, that acquisition really didn’t make much news, but now a group of conservatives in Tennessee is trying to stop the Chinese from blowing up their mountains and taking their coal. The following is from a Wall Street Journal article back in March…
The Tennessee Conservative Union began airing an ad Tuesday that says lawmakers have failed to protect the state’s scenic mountains and are allowing the “Chinese to destroy our mountains and take our coal…the same folks who hold our debt.”
But when it comes to our energy resources, China has been most interested in our oil and natural gas. It is a complete and total mystery why the federal government would allow China to buy up our precious domestic sources of energy, but it is happening. The following is a list of some of the oil and natural gas deals that China has been involved in during the last few years that was compiled by the Wall Street Journal…
Colorado: Cnooc gained a one-third stake in 800,000 acres in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming in a $1.27 billion pact with Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Louisiana: Sinopec has a one-third interest in 265,000 acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale after a broader $2.5-billion deal with Devon Energy.
Michigan: Sinopec gained a one-third interest in 350,000 acres in a larger $2.5 billion deal with Devon Energy.
Ohio: Sinopec acquired a one-third stake in Devon Energy’s 235,000 Utica Shale acres in a larger $2.5 billion deal.
Oklahoma: Sinopec has a one-third interest in 215,000 acres in a broader $2.5 billion deal with Devon Energy.
Texas: Cnooc acquired a one-third interest in Chesapeake Energy’s 600,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale in a $2.16-billion deal.
Wyoming: Cnooc has a one-third stake in 800,000 acres in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming after a $1.27 billion pact with Chesapeake Energy. Sinopec gained a one-third interest in Devon Energy’s 320,000 acres as part of a larger $2.5 billion deal.
Gulf of Mexico: Cnooc Ltd. separately acquired minority stakes in some of Statoil ASA’s leases as well as six of Nexen Inc.’s deep-water wells.
How could we be so stupid?
Sadly, as our politicians endlessly bicker China just continues to aggressively push ahead.
And pretty soon China may want to build entire cities in the United States just like they have been doing in other countries. According to Bloomberg, right now China is actually building a city larger than Manhattan just outside of the capital of Belarus…
China is building an entire city in the forests near the Belarusian capital Minsk to create a manufacturing springboard between the European Union and Russia.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko allotted an area 40 percent larger than Manhattan around Minsk’s international airport for the $5 billion development, which will include enough housing to accommodate 155,000 people, according to Chinese and Belarusian officials.
And this is actually already happening on a much smaller scale in this country. For example, as I have written about previously, a Chinese company known as “Sino-Michigan Properties LLC” has purchased 200 acres of land near the little town of Milan, Michigan. Their stated goal is to construct a “China City” that has artificial lakes, a Chinese cultural center and hundreds of housing units for Chinese citizens.
In other cases, large chunks of real estate in the middle of major U.S. cities are being gobbled up by Chinese “investors”. Just check out what a Fortune article from a while back says has been happening in Toledo, Ohio…
In March 2011, Chinese investors paid $2.15 million cash for a restaurant complex on the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. Soon they put down another $3.8 million on 69 acres of newly decontaminated land in the city’s Marina District, promising to invest $200 million in a new residential-commercial development. That September, another Chinese firm spent $3 million for an aging hotel across a nearby bridge with a view of the minor league ballpark.
Are you starting to get the picture?
China is on the rise and America is in decline. If you doubt this, just read the following list of facts which comes from one of my previous articles entitled “40 Ways That China Is Beating America“…
#1 As I mentioned above, when you total up all imports and exports of goods, China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.
#2 During 2012, we sold about 110 billion dollars worth of stuff to the Chinese, but they sold about 425 billion dollars worth of stuff to us. That was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world.
#3 Overall, the U.S. has run a trade deficit with China over the past decade that comes to more than 2.3 trillion dollars.
#4 China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.
#5 China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.
#6 China is the number one gold producer in the world.
#7 China is also the number one gold importer in the world.
#8 The uniforms for the U.S. Olympic team were made in China.
#9 85 percent of all artificial Christmas trees are made in China.
#10 The new World Trade Center tower is going to include glass that has been imported from China.
#11 The new Martin Luther King memorial on the National Mall was made in China.
#12 One of the reasons it is so hard to export stuff to China is because of their tariffs. According to the New York Times, a Jeep Grand Cherokee that costs $27,490 in the United States costs about $85,000 in China thanks to all the tariffs.
#13 The Chinese economy has grown 7 times faster than the U.S. economy has over the past decade.
#14 The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#15 The United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs per month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
#16 Overall, the United States has lost a total of more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.
#17 According to the Economic Policy Institute, America is losing half a million jobs to China every single year.
#18 China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as the United States does.
#19 Since the auto industry bailout, approximately 70 percent of all GM vehicles have been built outside the United States.
#20 After being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, General Motors is currently involved in 11 joint ventures with companies owned by the Chinese government. The price for entering into many of these “joint ventures” was a transfer of “state of the art technology” from General Motors to the communist Chinese.
#21 Back in 1998, the United States had 25 percent of the world’s high-tech export market and China had just 10 percent. Ten years later, the United States had less than 15 percent and China’s share had soared to 20 percent.
#22 The United States has lost more than a quarter of all of its high-tech manufacturing jobs over the past ten years.
#23 China’s number one export to the U.S. is computer equipment, but the number one U.S. export to China is “scrap and trash”.
#24 The U.S. trade deficit with China is now more than 30 times larger than it was back in 1990.
#25 China now consumes more energy than the United States does.
#26 China is now the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.
#27 China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.
#28 China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.
#29 There are more pigs in China than in the next 43 pork producing nations combined.
#30 Today, China produces nearly twice as much beer as the United States does.
#31 Right now, China is producing more than three times as much coal as the United States does.
#33 China now produces 11 times as much steel as the United States does.
#34 China produces more than 90 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements.
#35 China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of U.S. defense systems.
#36 A recent investigation by the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services found more than one million counterfeit Chinese parts in the Department of Defense supply chain.
#37 15 years ago, China was 14th in the world in published scientific research articles. But now, China is expected to pass the United States and become number one very shortly.
#38 China now awards more doctoral degrees in engineering each year than the United States does.
#39 The average household debt load in the United States is 136% of average household income. In China, the average household debt load is 17% of average household income.
#40 The Chinese have begun to buy up huge amounts of U.S. real estate. In fact, Chinese citizens purchased one out of every ten homes that were sold in the state of California in 2011.
And what we have seen so far may just be the tip of the iceberg as far as Chinese “investment” in U.S. real estate is concerned. The following is a brief excerpt from a Bloomberg article that was posted just last week…
China is studying the possibility of investing a portion of its $3.4 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves in U.S. real estate, said two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange began the study after seeing signs of a recovery in the U.S. property market, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter. China may acquire properties, invest in real estate funds or buy stakes in property companies, they said. The safety of the investments will be the top priority, said the people, who didn’t elaborate on a timetable or other details.
So what can we do about all of this?
Unfortunately, not a whole lot. Both major political parties seem to be fully convinced that merging our economy with the economy of communist China is a great idea. I would not expect major changes in our policies regarding China any time soon.
For now, I will just leave you with one piece of advice…
Learn to speak Chinese. You might need it someday.
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Image credits to http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com
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Mountain National Bank closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
01 week ago
As stated on Mountain National Banks’ website, “On Friday, June 7, 2013, Mountain National Bank, Sevierville, TN was closed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Subsequently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver.”
Screen capture from http://www.bankmnb.com/
The Mountain National Bank site goes on to say “All deposit accounts, excluding certain brokered deposits, have been transferred to First Tennessee Bank, National Association (N.A.), Memphis, TN. For more information on First Tennessee Bank, N.A., visit us at www.firsttennessee.com.”
First Tennessee Bank has created a page for information and frequently asked questions for customers of Mountain National Bank.
For more information please follow the various links provided above.
Also, the FDIC has posted information here: FDIC Bank Closing Information for Mountain National Bank
This should not come as a complete surprise as The Daily Times ran this article on April 12th of last year, “Mountain National Bank seeks capital to maintain operations“.
For more information, the FDIC has issued a press release (PR-050-2013) about the institution’s closure.
Hoping for a smooth transition and happy to read that the former Mountain National Bank staff will still be performing their duties at the former Mountain National Bank locations which will reopen as branches of First Tennessee Bank.
Tennessee Needs a Political “Cage Match”
0Source: http://chrisinmaryville.net
By Chris
Tennessee Needs a Political “Cage Match”
Those of us in Tennessee have seen nothing short of political waltzes performed for our entertainment. Occasionally a small spat may arise but then the waltz continues. This show is scheduled prior to elections in Tennessee, and as normal, one must lead and one must follow. Once the show is done we find that the “leader” only has the leadership ability to lead their hand into our pocket.
Time for a revival, of political sense, is on the Tennessee horizon perhaps. The cage match is about to begin, and lucky for us it is a tag team event. The announcer yells into the microphone… “In this corner, wearing the blueish red, or maybe reddish blue trunks, are the current title holders”. Sadly these titles include expanded spending, complete disregard for those they were elected to represent and the safeguarding of the welfare, and occasional warfare state, by the contributing corporations that fuel their re-election campaigns.
The announcer continues… “representing the great state of” (audience thinking - please don’t say it!) “Tennessee, Alexander, Ramsey and Corker!”. The crowd goes wild, with boos and a chant of “RINO” that is shaking the rafters.
The announcer continues… “and their opponent in the opposite corner wearing red, white and blue trunks, Glenn Jacobs”. Now the crowd stands and cheers thinking maybe this one time justice for We The People of Tennessee will be served.
Final words for the announcer… “Let’s get ready to rumble!”, and we are!
Glenn Jacobs, also known in the wrestling circles as Kane, is considering a run in political arena. Although the match with three to one odds are unfair, for the three, due to political regulations Glenn Jacobs can face but one opponent at a time. In this opening match, titled “RINO Hunt”, should Glenn climb into the ring located a Neo-Con Plaza, Vegas books have Jacobs as a 3:2 favorite despite a slew of early wagers by lobbyists from all corporate and military avenues supporting his potential opponent, Lamar Alexander. Alexander has his share of supporters, but this is unable to be immediately confirmed until all the lobbyist phone numbers have been collected, called and results tallied.
Tom Woods explains this scenario rather well.
Glenn Jacobs, better known as Kane, is a smart and likable guy. He’s considering a run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Lamar Alexander in 2014. Alexander is everything one might loathe in a mainstream GOPer — he’s for interventions abroad and at home, which in Joe Sobran’s playful definition makes him a “moderate.”
Note in the article, at the Daily Caller, that Jacobs’ influences are Austrian economists. Ron Paul is routinely made fun of at the Daily Caller — duh, Ludwig von who? — for his supposedly eccentric interests (eccentric meaning they’re not held by Mitt Romney or Ted Cruz), but the Caller seems favorable toward Kane. That’s great; I never gripe when one of our people is treated respectfully. I suppose it couldn’t hurt that Kane could pound a neocon into the ground while doing 20 other things (but since he believes in the nonaggression principle, he wouldn’t).
Then we have this brief video piece from Gary Franchi’s Next News Network.
Finally, here is an interview that I posted here for fellow Tennesseans and people elsewhere that Gary and N3 held with Glenn Jacobs recently, to get a better understanding of Glenn Jacobs and his thoughts on the issues.
Folks, should this match come to fruition, and if you have had enough of the lobbyist controlled, Obama supporting, status quo champions of the welfare and warfare state, loving to redistribute your hard earned money to their own special interests, corporate partners and Wall Street, and should you think the great state of Tennessee is long over due for intelligent and responsible leadership, take a look and a listen. You know what, there might be some hope after all this time! It may be time to take the blinders off of those who are unknowingly stuck in the political party “box” mentality, thinking that supporting these lap dog politicians is the only choice they have.
In Memory of Cathie Cardwell, Great American Patriot, Poet, Musician, Wife, and Mother
02 weeks ago
I was deeply saddened this weekend to hear the news that Cathie Cardwell, wife of Rand Cardwell, had passed away. I wish to offer my condolences as my heart goes out to Rand and their family. Out of the sadness a smile did come to my face thinking back to the times in the past that I did have the privilege of their company and reflecting back with warmth to numerous meetings in Knoxville, one in Alcoa, the April 15, 2009 Knoxville Tax Day Tea Party rally and an End The Fed rally in Nashville, which Rand and Cathie were kind enough to travel to and Rand was kind enough speak at. One would be honored to spend time with a couple that embodied the warmth, kindness and a true patriot spirit that Cathie and Rand exhibited, and honored and fortunate I do feel.
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Source: http://oathkeepers.org
By Stewart Rhodes
In Memory of Cathie Cardwell, Great American Patriot, Poet, Musician, Wife, and Mother
I just learned the very sad news that Cathie Cardwell, wife of Oath Keepers BOD member Rand Cardwell, has passed away. Here is Rand’s message from his Facebook page:
Yesterday, I lost half of me. She will always be in my heart. Cathie Schoo-Cardwell was a very special lady. Her fight has ended. We will be having a celebration of her life around July 4th…. her birthday is the 3rd. All of her family, friends and co-workers will be invited. I’ll be sure to announce it on FB. I realize that many folks want to send flowers, but please instead just give a donation to the American Cancer Society or other worthy charity in her honor. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and support.
Rand also posted:
Here is a link to the blog that Cathie (Cathie Schoo-Cardwell) kept on her long journey in her fight with cancer. http://enlightenedbycancer.blogspot.com/ – It contains some of her poetry, thoughts and spirit. I hope you enjoy.
Cathie fought hard against cancer for years, with courage and determination, and all through it, she also fought hard for her country, and she supported Rand’s participation in Oath Keepers 100%. I had the honor of meeting her back when I flew into Knoxville, Tennessee to speak at the April 15, 2009 Knoxville Tax Day Tea Party. That is how I first met Rand and Cathie, as they were part of the organizing team for that event and they were the ones who invited me to speak and made all the arrangements, including giving me a place to stay.
At that rally, Cathie sung a song that she had written herself, called Revolution:
What a beautiful song, from the heart of a beautiful woman. After that rally on April 15, 2009, Cathie and Rand flew up to attend our rally on Lexington Green, Massachusetts on April 19, 2009, where she joined in on our oath ceremony. From that moment on, Rand was part of our leadership team, and Cathie was right there with him all the way. Behind – or beside – every great man is a great woman, and Cathie was a great woman. We are lessened by her passing. We have lost a great Oath Keeper and friend, American has lost a great patriot, and her family has lost a great wife and mother. Words fail me to adequately describe our grief at her passing.
Our hearts and our prayers go out to her family and especially to Rand. I spoke with Rand on the phone, and he reiterated what he said in his Facebook post: instead of flowers or cards, please use that money to donate to the American Cancer Society or some other worthy charity that helps fight cancer, to help others who are fighting the same fight.
If you would like to leave a comment on Rand’s Facebook page, I know he would appreciate it. He is a quiet, private kind of person, but he will read your comments and I think it would help him get through this.
Stewart Rhodes
Tennessee Congressman Got Farm Subsidies, Denounces Food Stamps
1Tennessee Congressman Got Farm Subsidies, Denounces Food Stamps
Posted by NextNewsNetwork
Published on May 29, 2013
WASHINGTON — Like many Republicans in Congress, Tennessee Representative Stephen Fincher supports cuts in the Agriculture Department’s Supplemental Nutrition Program, more commonly called food stamps. Fincher, who is a managing partner in Fincher Farms, a long-established agribusiness in West Tennessee, is also among the country’s largest recipients of federal farm subsidies
This report also includes…
HOLLYWOOD — The ABC series Nashville is a lavishly produced prime-time soap operate with a hefty price tag — but thanks to special tax breaks provided by the Tennessee state government, it was able to recoup nearly one third of its production costs in its first season.
WASHINGTON — According to a bulletin from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center, 3d-printed guns would be “impossible” for governments to control.
OGDEN, Utah — Matthew Stewart a 39-year-old Ogden, Utah resident facing aggravated murder charges stemming from a 2012 SWAT raid on his home, was found dead in his cell early May 24.
BEVERLY HILLS, California — Publisher and anti-drug activist William M. Fine, who helped create New York State’s strict narcotics laws under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, passed away in his Beverly Hills home on May 17. He was 86 years old.
Stream: http://NextNewsNetwork.com
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Hashtag: #N3
Warrantless Drone Surveillance Banned in Tennessee
04 weeks ago
Source: http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com
On Monday, Governor Bill Haslam signed The Freedom of Unwarranted Surveillance Act, into law. This bill was introduced by Senator Mae Beavers, and had a roller coaster adventure through the legislative process. But it eventually passed – unanimously – in both state houses. The tally was 32-0 in the Senate and 91-0 in the House.
The new law states that drones are prohibited with the following exceptions:
(1) To counter a high risk of a terrorist attack by a specific individual or organization if the United States secretary of homeland security determines that credible intelligence indicates that there is such a risk;
(2) If the law enforcement agency first obtains a search warrant signed by a judge authorizing the use of a drone; or
(3) If the law enforcement agency possesses reasonable suspicion that, under particular circumstances, swift action is needed to prevent imminent danger to life. (a very high bar in legal standards)
A party aggrieved by a violation of this bill may initiate a civil action against a law enforcement agency to obtain all appropriate relief, as determined by the court, in order to prevent or remedy a violation of the new law. Evidence obtained or collected in violation of this new law will not be admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution in any court of law in the state. Any law enforcement agency that uses a drone, or other substantially similar device to gather evidence or obtain information, must comply in all respects with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and article I, section 7, of the Constitution of Tennessee.
A BIG STEP FORWARD
Some activists have criticized the bill due to the particular exception allowing one person in the federal government to authorize drone use. While it does raise legitimate concerns, as things existed before today, Tennesseans had no protections against drones.
Prior to the new law, without The Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act:
1. The DHS could call on Tennessee to use drones for any “non-emergency” situation it wants.
2. The DHS could call on Tennessee to use drones for any emergency situation it wants.
3. Law enforcement in Tennessee could use drones in any situation they want.
Signing the bill into law eliminates number one and number three, so this bill ushers in a MASSIVE improvement over the status quo.
At this stage in the ‘drone game,’ the feds are working hard behind the scenes to get states to operate the drones for them.
In fact, the primary engine behind the expansion of drone surveillance being carried out by states and local communities is the Federal government itself. Department of Homeland Security issues large grants to local governments so that those agencies can purchase drones. Those grants, in and of themselves, are an unconstitutional expansion of power.
The goal? Fund a network of drones around the country and put the operational burden on the states. Once they create a web over the whole country, DHS steps in with requests for ‘information sharing.’ Bills like these put a dent in this kind of long-term strategy. Without the states and local communities operating the drones today, it’s going to be nearly impossible for DHS plans to – take off.
In fact, this has been as much as confirmed by a drone industry lobbyist who testified in opposition to a similar bill in Washington State, saying that such restrictions would be extremely destructive to the drone market and industry.
Without the new law signed by Governor Bill Haslam, the only thing standing between Tennessee and a full-fledged drone surveillance state was a little funding. And that’s coming down the pike in most states.
While the The Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act might not have been the perfect bill, it is a solid law which provides strict regulations on drone use. Activists in Tennessee need to keep the pressure on to ensure that further restrictions are put in place in the future.
LEGISLATION AND TRACKING
If you’re outside of Tennessee, please contact your own legislators regarding anti-drone legislation. If none has been introduced in your state, you can email them The Privacy Protection Act model legislation.
Track the status of drone nullification in states around the country HERE
About Kelli Sladick
I’m originally from Ohio. I’m a veteran of the US Navy. I graduated from undergrad with two degrees and one in graduate school. My current home is Nashville, TN.
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Photo added to original post.
East TN – Wheel Tax is latest ploy demonstrating hypocrisy of Republicans
0Source: http://www.examiner.com
By Tona Monroe
Wheel Tax is latest ploy demonstrating hypocrisy of Republicans
Source: http://spreadlibertynews.com
Blount County voters will once again decide if they wish to pay a Wheel Tax, in the specially called election on June 11. The cost to the taxpayers for the special election will be at least $80,000, but saving money is of little concern to the resolution sponsors who have a habitual history of tax and fee increases. The Wheel Tax is the latest demonstration that being a Republican doesn’t necessarily mean limited government and low taxes.
All 21 members of the Blount County Commission were elected as Republicans in 2010, at a time when people were angry with Democrats and calling for a return to constitutionally limited government. The Blount County Republican Party sent a post card mailer warning people not to vote for local Democrats because of the big tax and spending Democrats in Washington DC. The three Democrats on the Commission were easily defeated.
Blount County voters handily defeated a wheel tax in 2006, with 71% of the voters rejecting it. Voters rejected a sales tax increase in 2008. Both of these votes took place prior to the current Commission, but Republicans had a super majority on the previous Commission, with a majority of the current Commissioners sitting on the previous Commission.
The current all-Republican Commission voted to raise the property tax rate the first year of their new term in 2011. While some of the Republican Commissioners voted against the tax increase, many of them voted for most or all of the spending that caused the tax increase, which makes them guilty of big spending and culpable for the tax increase.
Instead of creating a Committee to cut waste, the Commission created a Committee to Study Lost Revenue. The all-Republican Commission finished out the last month of the first year of their current term with litigation fee increases, with the resolution reading “WHEREAS, Blount County is in need of additional revenue.”
Rather than increase property tax in the second year of the current term, a sales tax increase was proposed in 2012. Blount County voters defeated the proposed sales tax increase a second time, but with a much narrower margin of defeat than in 2008.
Now the Wheel Tax is back, as the all-Republican Commission faces a huge spending increase from Blount County Schools, in its third year. The timing of the special election is interesting, the middle of June when School is out and people are taking vacations. The Commission has been unable to get voters in November elections, when voter turnout is at its highest, to approve tax increases. The date of the election appears to be deliberately set to catch people off guard so that the tax can be slid through, knowing that government employees usually vote, while hoping that those opposed are unaware or busy during the specially called election.
Republicans gave Blount Countians a property tax increase and fee increases in their first year. Republicans tried to give Blount Countians a sales tax increase in their second year. Now Blount Countians are faced with a Wheel Tax. The Commission could implement a Wheel Tax on its own authority with a two-thirds majority vote during two consecutive Commission meetings. Republican Commissioners don’t want to do this, partly because they hope to get the voter to do it for them.
The other reason is because the Wheel Tax won’t fix the School Budget problem entirely. The $86.8 million School Budget means a funding deficit of $6.9 million. Commissioner Holden Lail, one of the Wheel Tax resolution sponsors who is a retired Blount County educator and is married to Blount County educator, doesn’t know how much the Wheel Tax will actually generate. Estimates range from $2.5-3.5 million, which is far short of the $6.9 million needed. The Commission would then have to decide whether to increase the property tax rate to fund the deficit or tell the School Board to cut its budget.
The Wheel Tax proposal is sloppy, slothful and sly. It’s sloppy because the amount it generates is unknown but the best estimate shows it only providing about half of the requested increase. It’s slothful because it raises taxes without making any attempt to cut wasteful spending. It’s sly because it’s planned to avoid a general election so that County employees can ramrod it through.
The people of Blount County need to critically evaluate the performance of this all-Republican Commission. Voters have rejected all proposed tax increases, while the all Republican Commission has proposed a tax increase each year. Republicans railed about the dangers of big government Democrats in Washington DC in 2010, but the people of Blount County have an all-Republican Commission that hasn’t gone a single year without trying to increase taxes since their rhetoric about the Democrats in Washington DC.
Tona Monroe, East Tennessee Government Examiner
Tona Monroe, a regular contributor to BCPublicRecord.com, is actively involved in state and local politics having a keen desire for restoring privacy and our right to travel. She resides in Greenback, Tenn. with her husband and dogs and enjoys a healthy lifestyle and dog rescue work.
Glenn “Kane” Jacobs Mental Smackdown of Tennessee Lt Governor
21 month ago
Posted by NextNewsNetwork
Stream: http://NextNewsNetwork.com
WWE Pro Wrestling champion Glenn “Kane” Jacobs is about to deliver a mental smackdown on Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor over a debate on the internet tax AKA the “Marketplace Fairness Act”!
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As many Tennessee residents are aware of, RINO Ramsey has many interests, but we the people of Tennessee is not one of them. Ramsey, along with fellow “republican conservatives”, such as Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, help to prove the only difference in party politics is the lapel pin they may be wearing.
From an earlier message sent by Matt Collins:
Lt. Governor Challenged To Debate Internet Sales Tax By Professional Wrestler
Ron Ramsey Pushes Internet Sales Tax; Grassroots Pushes Back
Knoxville, TN – Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey was challenged to a debate on the Internet Sales Tax by professional WWE wrestler and anti-tax activist Glenn Jacobs. In a blog post today Glenn Jacobs (stage name Kane) criticized the Lt. Governor for pushing the Internet sales tax and called for a debate on the topic at the Lt. Governor’s convenience. The blog post can be viewed here: http://www.tnliberty.org/?p=
“Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey claims that the Internet sales tax mandate is not a new tax. Nor, according to Ramsey, is it an unfair tax. Ramsey is wrong on both counts.” Glenn writes. “ I, therefore, invite Lt. Gov. Ramsey for a policy debate on the issue of the Marketplace Fairness Act in a public forum at his convenience.”
In recent weeks Glenn Jacobs has been appearing in various media outlets advocating against the national Internet sales tax mandate with appearances on nationally syndicated terrestrial radio, satellite radio, and local radio stations in Tennessee. Jacobs has written multiple blog posts and op-ed pieces against the national Internet sales tax mandate.
Earlier this week the TN Campaign for Liberty challenged Lt. Gov Ramsey to show he had paid the obscure TN Use Tax for his online purchases after he called the vast majority of Tennesseans “criminals” for not paying it. That release can be viewed here: http://tnreport.com/2013/05/
The national Internet sales tax mandate will likely come up for a vote in the US House of Representatives later this year. The bill is known as the “Marketplace Fairness Act” and is being opposed by the Campaign for Liberty, eBay, the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, Freedomworks, the Heartland Institute, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, and many other conservative figures.
Glenn Jacobs lives with his family in Jefferson City, Tennessee and is a co-founder of the Tennessee Liberty Alliance www.TNLiberty.org. Mr. Jacobs is a critic of big government and a professional wrestler with the WWE.
If it’s a “states’ rights” issue, why are they asking permission from the federal government? (Internet Sales Tax)
01 month ago
Source: http://www.bcpublicrecord.com
By Tona
For many months now, “limited government, free market, reduced spending, Conservative Republicans™” Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker and Bill Haslam have been lobbying for and/or sponsoring the Marketplace Fairness Act, also known by a more appropriate title: the Internet Sales Tax. The tax-raising Republicans have been touting this as the states collecting taxes “that were already theirs”, or “making it fair for the brick-and-mortar businesses located in the state”, or “restoring state sovereignty” as if this is some sort of 10th Amendment takeback from the federal government – when in reality it is just a tax increase. Their appeal to the currently popular anti-federal sentiment in the country is not only unconvincing, it is without constitutional merit. Note that they are counting you as fools to fall for this “states’ rights” language.
If these leaders truly believed in “marketplace fairness” for brick-and-mortar stores, then Tennessee would not have cut the sweetheart deal with online retailer and corporate welfare queen Amazon to locate here and not collect any sales taxes – even for sales within the state. How’s that for an unfair advantage? Nobody argues that a sale made within the state isn’t subject to state sales taxes – except for our state government and Amazon, who enjoys an unfair advantage over all the other brick-and-mortar retailers in Tennessee thanks to Governor Haslam who now claims to be interested in “marketplace fairness”. Amazon also received a 10-year, 50% tax break on property taxes to locate in Loudon County. Apparently tax revenue (or is that “fairness”?) is for sale to the highest bidder. We don’t need a new federal law to correct that.
Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states in part:
“No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.”
The federal government cannot issue a federal tax on interstate sales. They are exports, whether to another state or another country. The federal government can however regulate interstate “commerce” or transportation of the goods between states. The states themselves do not have this power over one another. They cannot regulate interstate trade period – which is precisely why sales taxes for purchases you made in another state have not been collected. They are exports to your resident state. So the money-grubbers in the state created the “use” tax to take some of your money anyway – despite the fact that they provide zero services to the brick-and-mortar store in the other state you imported from and your “use” of the item you purchased doesn’t induce any burden on your neighbors that require additional tax revenue that isn’t covered somewhere else by another tax.
So why ask permission from the federal government? Because they have to. Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution states in part:
“No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.”
So guess what? The states are only entitled to collecting their new Internet Sales Tax and subtracting their expenses for executing inspections of these imports/exports. The rest of the revenue is required by the U.S. Constitution to go to the U.S. Treasury. At best, Tennessee could add more cigarette gestapo agents to the state Department of Revenue. The net revenue proceeds to the states legally should be ZERO, because see, the founders really did believe in some semblance of free trade and INDEPENDENT states.
There is no “state right” to this money. There never was.
This is a work in progess, a self learning tool and fun little project. Please excuse the slow development as it seems the needed proper time is always lacking. It is my hope that the combination of content and links to other sources of information in this simple blog may help awaken a few of the sleeping masses and encourage and inspire others to initiate their own research, ultimately for each person to be a light to help awaken others. Opinions expressed belong to me, myself and I. Also, a big thank you to all that take the time to visit, it is appreciated :)
