Alcee Hastings Bill's HR 645 & HR 2647 are Bad news

[Gainster]

July 14, 2009
Two bills worth close scrutiny
Timothy Birdnow
Does anybody remember Alcee Hastings? The honorable Mr. Hastings was a Federal judge from Florida who was impeached and removed from office for conspiracy to take bribes. He now sits in the House of Representatives, a Democrat, of course.


Well, Mr. Hastings has been mighty busy of late, working diligently on legislation designed to empower the government at the expense of Americans in general and conservatives in particular.


First, he has sponsored H.R. 645 the purpose of which is ostensibly to establish emergency refugee centers on military bases. According to the text of the legislation:


(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.


(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure--


(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;


(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;


(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and


(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.


Please note that last:"appropriate needs as determined by the DHS Secretary."


If one were of a conspiratorial bent, one could argue that that this is laying the groundwork for concentration camps. The Democrats would certainly be howling this accusation were George W. Bush in office.


This bill alone would not be too terribly disturbing were it not for Mr. Hastings other bill-H.R. 2647. This demented bit of legislation grants the power to determine who or what is a "hate group" AKA terrorist organization solely to the Attorney General of the United States. Ostensibly intended to keep terrorists and gang members out of the U.S. military and other positions, it ultimately allows the politically appointed AG to make the determination of just who will be deemed a terrorist.

But we already know who Janet Napolitano thinks are possible terrorists: pro-life groups, independent voters, returning military, second amendment advocates, single-issue voters, and other "right wing extremists".

 

[Gainster]

I remember watching FOX News Shep Smith begging on live TV for the Government to let out the people they locked in the Dome after Hurricane Katrina & figured someone just made a mistake

From Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

The proposal is awaiting final approval from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The officials would not be identified because the proposal from U.S. Northern Command's Gen. Victor Renuart has not been approved by the secretary.

The plan calls for military task forces to work in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There is no final decision on how the military effort would be manned, but one source said it would likely include personnel from all branches of the military.


It has yet to be determined how many troops would be needed and whether they would come from the active duty or the National Guard and Reserve forces.

Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.

As a first step, Gates is being asked to sign a so-called "execution order" that would authorize the military to begin to conduct the detailed planning to execute the proposed plan.

Orders to deploy actual forces would be reviewed later, depending on how much of a health threat the flu poses this fall, the officials said.

 

[Wolfrun]

There it is, Dip ****s civilian militia. I'm telling you, this clown has got to be stopped and damn soon. How do we get Congress to press charges for impeachment when they are all in his pocket? You all need to read the new amnesty bill they are cooking up and the blood will really squirt out your ears!

 

[blue fluff]

Random thoughts and questions:

We need to reinstate the State Guards (as opposed to the Nat'l Guard) so that the governors have control in each state, not the Feds. Then the Govs can say NO to the Fed.
http://www.sgaus.org/States.htm

The Fourth Amendment bans “unreasonable” searches and seizures without probable cause. And the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally prohibits the military from acting in a law enforcement capacity. Are they using a loophole or ignoring this?

Article II section 4 of the Constitution says you can impeach for "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors." So who defines bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors"?

 

[Gainster]

Random thoughts and questions:

We need to reinstate the State Guards (as opposed to the Nat'l Guard) so that the governors have control in each state, not the Feds. Then the Govs can say NO to the Fed.
http://www.sgaus.org/States.htm

The Fourth Amendment bans “unreasonable” searches and seizures without probable cause. And the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally prohibits the military from acting in a law enforcement capacity. Are they using a loophole or ignoring this?

Article II section 4 of the Constitution says you can impeach for "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors." So who defines bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors"?

Great Thought!!!!!!!

 

[blue fluff]

Interesting journey I had this morning on the web, starting out to verify something I thought I heard and ending up with...well you can read it yourself.

This morning I heard Rush in the background mention this, and then saw the post on SW about it, that the White House has now set up a "tattletale line" where they want you to email the WH if you get an email or see something on the web about HCR.

Then simultaneously I was reminded about the thread on Swine Flu about the military gearing up to be deployed for the impending Swine Flu outbreak this fall ("never let a good crisis go to waste" - Rahm Emmanuel).

So I looked up the Fourth Amendment in my trusty Constitution. Hmmmm.

Then I looked up Posse Comitatus. "The statute generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress." Hmmmm again.

Then I remembered Gainster's post here about HR645 and HR2647 where they want to make a bill

"To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers on military installations." (HR645) and

"To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, to provide special pays and allowances to certain members of the Armed Forces, expand concurrent receipt of military retirement and VA disability benefits to disabled military retirees, and for other purposes." (HR2647)

The "military construction and defense activities" part caught my eye, so I decided to look at that section of the bill. There are five versions of the bill, so I clicked on the 5th version assuming it to be most updated. I found Title XLV, Military Construction Authorizations and on that page is Title XLV for the aforementioned authorizations, next is Title XLVI Dpt of Energy Natl Security Programs and (blood will shoot out of your eyes now)


"Division E -- MATTHEW SHEPARD HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT."

(the bogus made-up bill giving special rights and privileges to special classes of people extensively discussed in a prior thread several months ago)

 

[Gainster]

So if the House is passing Resolutions to Bills what are the unsupervised Czars doing?