Broken Promises: Pensions All Over America Are Being Savagely Cut Or Are Vanishing Completely

How would you feel if you worked for a state or local government for 20 or 30 years only to have your pension slashed dramatically or taken away entirely?  Well, this exact scenario is playing out from coast to coast and in the years ahead millions of elderly Americans are going to be affected by broken promises and vanishing pensions.  In the old days, things were much different.  You would get hired by a big company or a government institution and you knew that the retirement benefits that they were promising you would be there when you retired in a few decades.  Unfortunately, we have now arrived at a time when government institutions and big companies have promised far more than they are able to deliver, and "pension reform" has become one of the hot button issues all over the nation.  Many Americans that have been basing their financial futures on their pensions are waking up one day and finding that their pensions are either gone or have been cut back dramatically.  According to Northwestern University Professor John Rauh, the latest estimate of the total amount of unfunded pension and healthcare obligations for state and local governments across the United States is 4.4 trillion dollars.  America is continually becoming a poorer nation and all of that money is simply not going to magically materialize somehow.  So where is that 4.4 trillion dollars going to come from?  Well, either pension benefits are going to have to be cut a lot more all over America or taxes will need to be raised dramatically.  Either way, we are all going to feel the pain of these broken promises.

There simply is not enough money out there to keep all of the pension commitments that have been made.  Something has got to give.  In the end, millions of elderly Americans will likely be plunged into poverty as pensions disappear.

Some local governments around the nation are already declaring bankruptcy and are either eliminating pensions or are cutting them very deeply.  Just check out what just happened in Central Falls, Rhode Island....

For years, city officials promised robust union contracts and pensions without raising revenue to pay for them. Last August, the math caught up with them. Central Falls was broke, its pension fund short $46 million. It declared bankruptcy.

"My daughters grew up here, went to school here. It's all gone," said Mike Geoffroy, a retired firefighter.

He said he could not make the payments on his house after his pension was cut by $1,100 a month.

When will the math catch up with the city where you are living?

For years and years most of our state and local politicians have been ignoring this problem.  But eventually a day comes when you simply cannot ignore it any longer.

Check out what Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward said about the situation in his city recently....

"When our annual pension liability is more than our yearly property tax revenues, we have to do something"

Keep in mind that taxpayers don't get any new services for money spent on pensions.  It is money that goes straight into the pockets of retired workers.  State and local governments are desperately trying to pay retired workers what they are owed and fund ongoing government functions at the same time, but many have reached the breaking point.

All over the country, state and local governments are going broke.  The following is from a recent article by Duff McDonald....

Alabama's Jefferson County has actually gone bankrupt. Stockton, California is all but ready to do the same. And all you have to do is look to Detroit—or any of the nearby auto towns named after a Buick model of one sort or another—and you see fiscal crisis playing out right now. Look in your own backyard—or at the potholes on your neighborhood roads—and you will likely find the same.

Things are so bad in Stockton, California that they are actually skipping debt payments....

The city of 290,000 that rode the wave of the housing boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s now finds itself littered with foreclosed homes, saddled with pension, health care and other obligations it can't afford, and unable to pay its bills.

The City Council voted last month to suspend $2 million in bond payments and begin negotiations with bond holders, creditors and unions.

And did you notice what is being blamed for the financial problems in Stockton?

Pension and healthcare benefits.

Sadly, we are seeing pension nightmares erupt all over the nation right now.

For example, check out what is happening to the Public School Employees' Retirement System and State Employees' Retirement System in Pennsylvania....

PSERS had an accrued unfunded liability of nearly $26.5 billion, the amount of money the fund is short to cover existing retirement benefits. That hole is expected to grow to $43 billion by 2019. SERS is $12.5 billion in the red, and that shortfall is expected to climb to nearly $18 billion by 2018. Unless the stock market makes giant sustained gains, taxpayers will have to refill those funds.

That doesn't sound good at all.

In California, the Orange County Employees Retirement System is estimated to have a 10 billion dollar unfunded pension liability.

How in the world can a single county be facing a 10 billion dollar hole?

This is madness.

The state of Illinois is facing an unfunded pension liability of more than 77 billion dollars.  Considering the fact that the state of Illinois is flat broke and on the verge of default, it is inevitable that a lot of those pension obligations will never be paid.

In fact, there are going to be a whole lot of broken promises all over the country.

Pension consultant Girard Miller told California's Little Hoover Commission that state and local government bodies in the state of California have $325 billion in combined unfunded pension liabilities.

That comes to about $22,000 for every single working adult in the state of California.

So where is all of that money going to come from?

But at least most state and local government employees are still covered by pension plans, even if they are failing.

In the private sector, pension plans are vanishing at lightning speed.

According to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, the percentage of workers in America covered by a traditional pension plan fell from 62 percent in 1983 to 17 percent in 2007.

That isn't just a trend.

That is a tidal wave.

And many of the private pension plans that still exist are massively underfunded.  For example, Verizon's pension plan is underfunded by 3.4 billion dollars.

So what should Americans do in light of all this?

Well, the number one thing to realize is that the pension plan you have been counting on could disappear at any time.

We live in an economic environment that is extremely unstable, and about the only thing you can count on in this environment is rapid and dramatic change.

Do not plan your financial future around a pension plan.  If you do, you are likely to be bitterly disappointed.

Americans that plan to retire in the coming years should do their best to try to fund their own retirements.

Unfortunately, most Americans are not putting away much of anything for retirement.  As I have written about previously, one study found that American workers are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.

Ouch.

Over the next 20 years approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers will be retiring every single day.

A lot of them are going to be blindsided by empty pension funds and broken promises.

We are facing a retirement crisis of unprecedented magnitude, and there is not much hope in sight.

And if there is a maor stock market crash, things are going to be much, much worse.

Most pension funds and retirement plans are heavily invested in the stock market.  If we were to see a major financial crisis like we saw back in 2008 it would be absolutely devastating.  Millions of Americans could see their retirement plans wiped out in short order.

Once again, please do not place your faith in the system.

If you do, you are likely to end up holding a bag of broken promises.

A gigantic tsunami of unfunded pension obligations is coming.  A lot of state and local governments are going to go broke.  A lot of promises are going to be broken.

If you hope to retire any time soon, you better plan on being able to take care of yourself.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/broken-promises-pensions-all-over-america-are-being-savagely-cut-or-are-vanishing-completely

RON PAUL COULD WIN IF VOTE PROCESS SEE: VIDEO:Battle of Athens, Tenn. 1946-True Story

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room 

RON PAUL COULD WIN IF VOTE PROCESS SEE: VIDEO:Battle of Athens, Tenn. 1946-True Story

Posted By: watcher51445
Date: Tuesday, 13-Mar-2012 06:02:25

Battle of Athens, Tenn. 1946-True Story This is just a piece of history. At the end of the clip is a picture of the monument placed to commemorate the incident http://voxvocispublicus.homestead.com/Battle-of-Athens.html

Major Fiat Banks In Panic Mode?

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room 

Major Fiat Banks In Panic Mode?

Posted By: Lion [Send E-Mail]
Date: Tuesday, 13-Mar-2012 04:17:08

----------------- Don't know if this is only JP Morgan Chase, or not but the scenario must affect all the big fiat fraud centers... Recently Chase sent out thousands of 'guaranteed' 2nd day delivery by the USPS notices, costing $11 each to mail, in an 'urgent offer' for the homeowner to refinance with Chase at a lower interest rate - up to a full percentage point lower. Granted, overall interests rates are lower on fiat fraud finance, but the urgency of the notices seemed at odds with the banks ongoing policy of raping the consumer for all they can steal. Chase stated the re-fi had to be completed by March 31st. "Just sign the AUTHORIZATION form and return - no hassle re-finance at a lower rate - guaranteed acceptance - get more money for what you need - and lower interest rate that will give you a lower monthly payment and more freedom to CHOOSE WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES...." Hmmm....Why would Chase put that carrot out front?? This is unusual behavior for Chase bank. Banks just don't willingly give away potential billions in profit, especially when they already have paying consumers locked into a mortgage at the current rate. Something IS up. It appears even CHASE may be in PANIC MODE. Why would this be? ------------------ [ MERS National Data Base ] Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) is an American privately held company that operates an electronic registry designed to track servicing rights and ownership of mortgage loans in the United States. MERS is owned by holding company MERSCORP, Inc. The real estate law and real estate transactions in the US are subject to state regulations and county level filing requirements, since the time of the establishment of the US as an independent country. This is because every time a financial instrument containing mortgages is sold, various state laws may require that the sale of each such mortgage (or deed of trust) be recorded in the local county courts; "in order to preserve certain rights (e.g., the right to foreclose non-judicially), which triggers an obligation to pay corresponding recording fees." The financial industry, eager to trade in mortgage-backed securities, needed to find a way around these filing requirements, and this is how MERS was born to replace public filing with a private one. By 2007, MERS registered some two-thirds of all the home loans in the US. Two-Thirds. The company is the owner of record (or the owner's nominee) of the security interest arising from mortgages extended by lenders, investors and their loan-debt servicers and recorded in county land records. By using MERS, the lenders and investors who are the real parties in interest - "avoid the need to file assignments in county land records, which lowers costs for lenders and, they claim, for consumers, by reducing county recording fee expenses resulting from real estate transfers and provides a central source of information and tracking for mortgage loans." The company's role in facilitating mortgage trading was relatively uncontroversial in its early days a decade ago, but continued fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis has put MERS at the center of several legal challenges disputing the company's right to initiate foreclosures. Should these challenges succeed, the US banking industry could face a renewed need for capitalization. Recent court cases where THE UPHELD LAW states "the only VALID mortgage is between the ORIGINAL (buyer) and the ORIGINAL mortgage holder (FINANCE COMPANY)". Most mortgages on the books have made their way into possession of the largest major banks, in the form of bundled securities, derivatives and credit default swaps. Most of these mortgages were NOT originally written by written by the banks who now service the debt (collect the money). Most mortgages are now in the national MERS computer data base, and have no original document, provable-in-a-court-of-law paper trail. Hence the recent rash of 'robo-signers' where banks are fraudulently, and frantically 'producing so-called original documents' - unknown even to the homeowner whose name appears to be 'signed' on the 'new original' mortgage debt agreement, even if the homeowner never saw the document, and never agreed to sign anything. Robo-signing is complete fraud and a felony by law, punishable by a prison term. See: 2010 United States foreclosure crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreclosure_crisis If the home owner elects to re-finance however, the re-finance debt agreement then becomes a 'new original mortgage'... ------------------ Source: Yes http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/homeowners-rebellion-could-62-million-homes-be-foreclosure-proof Homeowners’ Rebellion: Could 62 Million Homes Be Foreclosure-Proof? The financial juggling that helped cause the 2008 crisis may be coming back to haunt banks—and help homeowners. by Ellen Brown posted Aug 18, 2010 Over 62 million mortgages are now held in the name of MERS, an electronic recording system devised by and for the convenience of the mortgage industry. A California bankruptcy court, following landmark cases in other jurisdictions, recently held that this electronic shortcut makes it impossible for banks to establish their ownership of property titles—and therefore to foreclose on mortgaged properties. The logical result could be 62 million homes that are foreclosure-proof. http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/homeowners-rebellion-could-62-million-homes-be-foreclosure-proof ------------------ Fractional Reserve Banking: "Lend money that doesn't exist and add a rate of interest on the money that doesn't exist onto the total assignment of debt, thereby collecting in return multiple times the amount of the original debt assignment and then claim ten times the amount of assigned debt being serviced as assets to the banking firm who assigned the debt, or the banking firm currently servicing the debt."

Fractional Reserve Banking Assets Worth Only One-Tenth Of Perceived Value

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room 

Fractional Reserve Banking Assets Worth Only One-Tenth Of Perceived Value

Posted By: Lion [Send E-Mail]
Date: Tuesday, 13-Mar-2012 06:15:50

------------------ Fractional Reserve Banking: "Lend money that doesn't exist and add a rate of interest on the money that doesn't exist onto the total assignment of debt, thereby collecting in return multiple times the amount of the original debt assignment, and then claim ten times the amount of assigned debt being serviced as 'assets' to the banking firm who assigned the debt, or the banking firm currently servicing the debt." ------------------ It is common practice for a bank or a finance company to 'write a mortgage', or many mortgages, and then sell those bundles of paper (securities - credit default swaps - derivatives) to a larger fiat fraud institution at a couple points higher then the original note, make a few bucks profit, and then go back to writing more 'ORIGINAL' mortgages, original debt agreements, selling bundles of them, and around we go again... Why would one bank 'buy' a mortgage-debt agreement that is already being serviced by another bank? Greed. Profit. Somewhat legalized fraud. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE OUT A MORTGAGE TO BUY A HOME OR BUSINESS? (1) You go to a 'lending institution' (nice name) and tell them you need $300,000 to buy a home. (2) The lending institution is chomping at the bit to 'give you the 'money'. Why? Because they have NO MONEY. All the fiat banks have is the ability to create DEBT you agree to pay. (3) The bankster goes into the back and types up a piece of paper that says you owe the bankster $300,000, plus interest. There is no 'money' exchanged. There is just 'debt' assigned to you that you agree to pay by giving your 'signature'. (4) This is where the twist and 'fractional reserve banking' fraud come into play... [ You have just agreed to $300,000 plus interest in DEBT you owe to the bank.] [The banker has just ADDED $300,000 X 10 (TIMES TEN) as AN ASSET onto their books !!!!?????] ------------------------ Remember the story of the gold smiths, and how fiat (paper currency) came into being? Centuries ago, individuals would trade gold or silver for services or to buy 'stuff'. But the precious metals remained physically heavy in weight, and difficult to carry around. A service then sprang up where the 'goldsmith' would store your gold in a vault for you, and give you a PAPER receipt showing how much gold you had 'on deposit in the gold bank'. It was not long before people began just trading the receipts for goods services, leaving the gold in place, and 'paper money' was born. The difference between the paper money of old, and the paper money of today, is the old paper money held a storehouse of value because it was 1:1. One increment of gold = one increment of paper.... -------------------------- There was, however, one big problem with the goldsmiths and their vaults of gold. All of the goldsmiths of old carried the surname of "Snidely Whiplash" (later changed to "Bauer" and finally to "Rothschild"), and the goldsmiths also carried a mixed bag of genetic soup which was part human, part weasel, part pit viper, and part reptile of unknown origin - although many historians believe they originated in the mail room at the New York Times. Regardless of where they originated from, it was only a short time before the goldsmiths discovered they could hand out more PERCEIVED value in receipts than they had actual gold stored in the 'gold banks', and now that people had grown accustom to trading in receipts, no one would be the wiser - except the 'GOLD banks - ters'- AND 'FIAT CURRENCY' was born. A 'fiat currency' is a currency which has 'intrinsic value' because "I" say it does, and "I" am the goldsmith (bankster),and "whom is a better 'authority' than myself? Trust me; I'm a bank-er..." says Snidely W Rothschild... With the invention of the printing press, paper money - and the new fiat currency became commonplace, and there was more immediate perceived value in the paper than even the value of the gold in the goldsmith's vault, to most people using the paper money. Oops! Now the bank-ers had control of the money supply, and they really did not care who was King. It was irrelevant to them. The only thing relevant to the bank-sters was they had control of the money supply. So the banksters set about to make their good thing even better. The banksters made a few 'improvements' to their profit centers. -------------------------- The bank-ers labeled these 'improvements' FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING. In other words, the banksters granted their self the authority to 'lend out' MANY TIMES MORE 'money' to someone who wanted it or needed it - than the REAL VALUE OF what they actually had 'on reserve' in their bank vaults..."Trust me; I'm a bank-er..." The bankers decided they only need a 'fraction' in reserve value - on deposit in their gold value banks - and could declare their ASSETS to be many times the value of what they actually had on hand... For every ONE INCREMENT OF VALUE in their 'vaults'; the banksters gave their self license to 'lend' TEN INCREMENTS OF VALUE. By doing so, they created a NEVER - LOSE environment for themselves. ---------------------------- HOW TO GET ALL THE 'STUFF' Even if ONE OF THE TEN debt agreements ends up in DEFAULT, there is still the NINE in ghost (appearing out of thin air fiat) PROFIT- (NEW ASSETS) - WITH EVERY NEW TRANSACTION, and the banksters could still swoop in and take all the stuff belonging to the one of the ten who defaulted. IT WAS A WONDERFUL GAME THEY COULD NEVER LOSE...?? According to the fiat banksters illusion of greed - their 'paper riches' just increased exponentially with every new 'loan' (debt agreement) they handed out. One becomes ten. One becomes ten. One becomes ten...to eternity...and the fiat banksters now owned the planet - at least in their own mind... But - the fiat bankers are greedy. The banking industry became like a school of piranha, the flesh eating fish. Even though they had created a scheme (fractional reserve banking) to take as much as possible from the producing elements of society, it was not enough for them. The bankers wanted all the stuff on the Earth, and all the stuff in the Universe. They became stuff addicts. So just like the piranha fish, they began to feed off each other. A bigger fish (bank) would swallow a smaller fish (bank), who in turn would be swallowed by yet an even larger fish (bank), until there were only a few really big fish left in the tank. The now mammoth piranha gave themselves names like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo and Company, Goldman Sachs group Inc, Met Life Inc, Barclays Of London Inc, Barclays Group US Inc, Taunus Corporation, HSBC North America Inc, J P Morgan Chase and Company, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Federal Reserve, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, The Vatican Bank, The Bank Of England, The City AKA 'The City Of London', Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank AG, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole SA (CASA), Natixis, and Societe Generale. The biggest fiat fraud banking centers are now bloated on their own propaganda design, and weighed down by their own greed and deception. They claim to maintain a storehouse of value (assets) that runs into hundreds of trillions in increments. In reality, the fiat-fraud banking industry is now only worth ONE-TENTH of what assets it claims to maintain . The problem with creating 'value' out of thin air is the 'perceived value' only remains valuable as long as the perception (deception) remains in place. Karma is a funny thing. If you tell a story, or give an excuse for your actions, your story is valid only to those who believe the story you tell. If you tell a story, and your story doesn't hold water - no one believes you no matter how many times you repeat your story. At that point, if all your actions are based on the story you tell, all your actions are meaningless because your story is full of holes to begin with. Also there is a problem with adding ZERO to Zero. You still end up with Zero in reality, no matter what your story says, and no mater how high you build your house of cards. ------------------ Fractional Reserve Banking: "Lend money that doesn't exist and add a rate of interest on the money that doesn't exist onto the total assignment of debt, thereby collecting in return multiple times the amount of the original debt assignment, and then claim ten times the amount of assigned debt being serviced as 'assets' to the banking firm who assigned the debt, or the banking firm currently servicing the debt." ------------------ See: Major Fiat Banks In Panic Mode? http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=233350

The Power Of The Sheriff

Butler County Sheriff Brigade

      

March 12, 2012
A Brief History

            One of the earliest known mentions of the Sheriff is found in the Old Testament, Book of Daniel, chapter 3:2-3. This 2,600 year old reference indicates that the ancient Babylonians had an office perhaps similar to that of our sheriff of today.

            There is strong evidence that the office of sheriff dates back through Anglo-Saxon history. The Anglo-Saxons were politically divided into groups or units, identically as were the Israelite nation under Moses during the exodus of Israel from Egypt. There is a belief that these Anglo-Saxons, which mysteriously appeared on the European scene from the direction of the Black Sea, may have originated from the ten northern tribes of the House of Israel. These ten tribes mysteriously disappeared from biblical history after being carried away captive into Assyria. (II Kings 17:6) For a more in depth discussion see The Making of America page 55, by Cleon Skousen. It can be purchased from http://www.nccs.net
          
            The word sheriff comes from the Anglo-Saxon term, shire reeve. The following definitions are found in the 1913 Webster Dictionary.

Shire n.1.A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county
Reeve  n.1.an officer, steward, bailiff, or governor; - used chiefly in compounds; as, shirereeve, now written sheriff; portreeve, etc.

Sheriff n.1.The chief officer of a shire or county, to whom is intrusted the execution of the laws, the serving of judicial writs and
processes, and the preservation of the peace.


            In 1856, John Bouvier published his work A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and laws of the United States  He provides us with the following definition of Sheriff:

SHERIFF. The name of the chief officer of the county. In Latin he is called vice comes, because in England he represented the comes or earl. His name is said to be derived from the Saxon seyre, shire or county, and reve, keeper, bailiff, or guardian.
2. The general duties of the sheriff are, 1st. To keep the peace within the county; he may apprehend, and commit to prison all persons who break the peace or attempt to break it, and bind any one in a recognizance to keep the peace. He is required ex officio, to pursue and take all traitors, murderers, felons and rioters. He has the keeping of the county gaol and he is bound to defend it against all attacks. He may command the posse comitatus. (q. v.)
         
     The office of Sheriff is the oldest law enforcement position in the United States. “When the first counties were established in Virginia in 1634, the Office of Sheriff in America began. Maryland soon followed this pattern, and in both states the Sheriff was delegated the same powers as the Sheriff held in England. As in England, respect for the Sheriff was strictly enforced by the law. A special seat was often reserved for the Sheriff in churches. Contempt against the Sheriff was an offense punishable by whipping. At this time, Sheriffs were responsible for both enforcing and punishing offenders. By the time of the American Revolution, all of the colonies had Sheriffs.” The Sheriffs Office In History
The Sheriffs Power

            A sheriff is elected by the people, he works for the people. He is the ONLY elected Law officer of the county, as such he is the Supreme Law officer of the county. He is accountable to “We the People”. Within the boundary of his county the sheriff has more power than the President of the United States. The following example illustrates the power of a sheriff.
The Saga of the Toilet Takers
            The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Toilet Takers (AT&TT) come to your county and declare it is now illegal to own a toilet. “They” will be removing all toilets from the county this week! The people say; “We don’t want you to take our toilets, we like our toilets.” The AT&TT say; “Too bad we are here to take them!” After some debate about the fact that the Constitution does not prohibit the owning and use of toilets, but instead protects the private ownership of property; thus we are free to have them; the sheriff is called. The people explain to the sheriff the situation and remind him that it is not against the Constitution to own a toilet, and he needs to step in and make “them” go away. It is the responsibility of the Sheriff to protect the people. He has sworn an oath to do just that! He works for the people! He, as the Sheriff, has the power and authority given to him by “The People”, to tell the ‘Toilet Takers’ that ”The People have spoken, they will be keeping their toilets! Now they, the AT&TT, have a choice. They can peacefully leave the county without any toilets or they may sit in the county jail. It is their choice.
            “We the people” need to keep in mind that we have a duty to support the Sheriff in the execution of his duty. We need to ‘have his back’. He needs to know that he does not stand alone; that we are standing with him to protect our God given rights as outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It does not matter what entity comes to violate the rights of the people of the county; whether they be private individuals committing the crime or representatives of some Federal, State, International, or Local government agency. A crime is a crime regardless of what form or color of law the perpetrator may bear. It remains the Sheriff’s duty to work for the people! To “Protect and defend” the Constitution! They swear an Oath to do just that! We need sheriffs in every county that understand their duty and have the intestinal fortitude to follow through and uphold their Oath to the Constitution.
            Written by, Donna Fike                    published on butlersheriff.ning.com
          

             The National Sheriff Association booklet: The Role of the Sheriff, Past-Present-Future made the following observation: “(The sheriffs are) vested with the powers and duties possessed by their predecessors under common law.” Neither a legislature nor a court of law possesses any legal authority to strip a sheriff of these common law powers. They may assign him additional duties, provided they do not infringe or violate any of his Constitutional duties which he has sworn to defend and protect.
            Another common law power inherent in the sheriffs duty is the ability to call forth the posse comitatus. Historically, this was referred to as “The hue and cry”. This power required all who were within earshot of the sheriffs beckoning call to come forth to his aid.
          
Blacks Law Dictionary defines the posse comitatus as: “The power or force of the county. The entire population of a county above the age of 15, which a sheriff may summon to his assistance in certain cases as to aid him in keeping the peace, in pursuing and arresting felons, ect.”
         
                 After the Brady Bill was passed into law, the BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) sent letters to the Sheriffs which explained to them, their newly enacted (Unconstitutional) functions. In these letters, the BATF referred to the Sheriffs as the CLEO's which stands for "CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER". Yes even the Federal Government recognizes the power of the Sheriff! Well perhaps only when it is convenient to them.
          
Sheriffs in Danger
          The sheriffs of this great nation are in danger of losing their power. This comes as a result of the apathy and ignorance of the population at large and the ignorance of many sheriffs regarding the Constitutional Oath they swore and the common law powers they possess.
            According to The National Sheriffs Association,“Sheriffs can maneuver through court battles involving a challenge to their authority and come out successfully when they address the legal protections of their office concerning their Constitutional obligations, and no legal system or authority in the United States can challenge it with any legal standing.” The key statement in this quote is “when they address the legal protection of their office concerning their Constitutional obligations.” How many sheriffs understand the Oath to which they swore? This Oath placed them under obligation to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. How many have studied the Constitution enough to clearly understand their obligation?
            The following examples illustrate the nature of the dangers our sheriffs are faced with. Unfortunately, the sheriffs in these examples have already fallen prey to the “powers that think they are” and will answer to them instead of “We the People”. In the following cases, the elected protectorate, the sheriff, has been illegally taken from the local control of the people and placed in a foreign jurisdiction which is incompatible with their original duties.
            In Salt Lake County, the new year of 2010 started with the sheriffs department being swallowed up by the new Unified Police Department. The sheriff now sits as the CEO of this new department but he has given up his power and control over all financial and policy decisions to a board of directors. Is it possible that this board of directors could tie the sheriffs hands and prevent him from performing his oath sworn Constitutional duty? This is a prime example of the sheriff and the people to whom he should answer, ignorantly allowing the sheriffs powers to be stripped away. You can read the article about this at Deseret News.com.
            In Massachusetts, an even worse tragedy has occurred. On January 1^st of 2010, the seven remaining independent county sheriff departments (what happened to the previous departments?) were placed under the jurisdiction of the State. This came as a result of legislation introduced by the governor which was consequently passed with ease in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature. Of course it was done under the guise of saving tax payers money and it had the support of their county sheriffs departments and the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association. Does the Governor, or the Legislature really have the power to co-opt the autonomous County Sheriffs Department? I answer NO! By doing this, they have usurped the Constitutional, common law power of the people as provided in their original compact of local government. You can read the praise which this decision received in the publication Cape Cod Today.
            These previous instances prove that “we the people” need to be awake, alert, educated and active. Likewise, we need to help awaken others, so we can effectively prevent these usurpations from happening and if they have already happened we need to remedy the situations and restore our sheriffs to their proper positions.

Judges That Understand the Power of the Sheriff
     
         Despite the previous examples and numerous court cases which have unlawfully eroded the powers of the sheriff, there is good news to be found. In 1994, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided a case which reinforced the original power of the sheriff. You can read the entire decision here. Following are a few of the important quotes.
           “History records that, even prior to the Conquest, the sheriff was a powerful officer, with both judicial and executive powers.”
            “It is a commonplace that in times going back to the Magna Carta, the sheriff was the chief law enforcement officer of the shire or county.”
            “….sheriffs and deputy sheriffs have inherent power and authority to arrest without a warrant for all crimes, however, committed in their presence…”
            In another case brought before the Supreme Court of the United States and decided in the year 1997, we find the fact reiterated that the county sheriffs do not work for the Federal Government. This decision also reinforced the fact that the state governments are separate and independent sovereign jurisdictions and thus are “not subject to federal direction.” Justice Scalia writing for the majority stated that “The Federal Government may not compel the states to enact or enforce a federal regulatory program.” I wonder if the Governors of the states know this! Justice Scalia included the following quote from James Madison in this decision.
            "In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments (federal and state), and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself." The Federalists #51
            The Canada Free Press did an excellent overview of this court decision in their March 22, 2009 edition. Read it here. You can read the entire Supreme Court decision here.
            Both litigants, Sheriff Printz of Montana and Sheriff Mack of Arizona need to be applauded for standing up against the usurpations of their power. We need to understand that when their power has been usurped, so has ours!

Sheriffs Taking a Stand!
      
         Besides the previous examples which went to court, Sheriff Mack and other sheriffs have been bravely standing up for that which is right.The following account comes from an article written by Alan Stang in News With Views.Com.
     “While Richard Mack was sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, a bridge washed out. Parents had to drive twenty six miles to get their kids to school half a mile across the river. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wouldn’t fix it. First they had to do an “environmental impact study,” to replace a bridge already there. They were in no hurry. The study would take a mere ten years.
      The people’s suffering reached the board of supervisors. The board voted to dredge the river and fix the bridge. The feds warned that they would be fined $50,000 per day if they tried. The supervisors hesitated. Sheriff Mack promised them and the workers protection and pledged to call out a posse for the purpose if necessary. They built the bridge and the Corps of Engineers faded. The board never paid a dime.”
           The next two examples are taken from Sheriff Macks book County Sheriff, America's Last Hope.
            “The sheriff of Nye County, Nevada, in 1997 informed federal agents who came in to confiscate cattle from a local rancher, Wayne Hague, that if they tried to take the cows that he would arrest them. The cattle stayed right where they were. Then the Sheriffs of Wyoming made a policy that ALL federal agents would have to check with them before they could make arrests, serve papers, or confiscate property within their respective jurisdictions of Wyoming. This should be a law throughout the land and is a tremendous check and balance for all involved. What’s more, it is working and the feds are surviving just fine. Better yet, the citizens of Wyoming are surviving and getting along just fine, also.”
           In February of 2010, a brave Colorado sheriff who understood his power and duty, stood up against the recently implemented gun ban at Colorado State University.
           “I have told the CSU police chief I will not support this in any way,” Sheriff Alderden told The Gazette. “If anyone with one of my permits gets arrested for concealed carry at CSU, I will refuse to book that person into my jail. Furthermore, I will show up at court and testify on that person’s behalf, and I will do whatever I can to discourage a conviction. I will not be a party to this very poor decision.”
           Thank you Sheriff Alderden for taking a stand! The people do have an inherent right to defend themselves against dangerous aggressors! You can read more about this occurrence in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

State Legislatures Supporting the Sheriffs
        
            Legislation was introduced into the Montana State legislature which would in effect give recognition from this body of law that the county sheriff is indeed the chief law enforcement officer in his county. In addition, it states that “A federal employee…..may not make an arrest, search, or seizure in this State without the written permission of the sheriff….” Furthermore, it declares: “Pursuant to the 10th amendment to the United States constitution and this state's compact with the other states, the legislature declares that any federal law purporting to give federal employees the authority of a county sheriff in this state is not recognized by and is specifically rejected by this state and is declared to be invalid in this state.”
Click here to read Montana House Bill 284
            This legislation has since been used as a model and has been introduced in several other state legislatures. Namely, the states of Alabama, Tennessee and Washington. To learn more and keep up to date with the progress of this important effort, please visit the Tenth Amendment Center.

Wrapping It Up
        
          Please become involved in this effort to restore the supremacy of the Constitution of the United States within the borders of your county and state. It is important that your God given rights, which have been recognized and declared in the Bill of Rights, receive the full protection of law, which your duly elected sheriff is oath bound to obey. Get to know your sheriff. If needs be educate him by sharing with him articles, stories or books about the proper role of the sheriff. Share with him this overview of his powers and duties. Don’t overwhelm him with too much at once. Talk to your legislatures about introducing or supporting legislation like the Montana House Bill 284 which reinforces the sheriffs proper powers within his jurisdiction. Give them copies of Sheriff Macks book County Sheriff, America's Last Hope . Start a web site and or a local group of concerned citizens to assist with this effort. The same person chewing on your sheriffs ear will not be nearly as effective as a large group of concerned citizens. Finally, If or when your sheriff needs to draw that proverbial line in the sand, he will not want to be alone holding that line. He will act much more confidently and courageously when he knows that we are willing to stand with him. Lets do our part to preserve Liberty for ourselves and future generations!

Compiled and written by Jody Fike
Chairman of the Research Committee of the Butler County Sheriff Brigade

        TheButler County Sheriff Brigade is a local group of men and women who are offering their support and assistance to the sheriff. The group is active in getting to know the sheriff and his deputies. They help the sheriff learn about Constitutional principles and his power and duty under the common law. They are also active in attending County Commissioner meetings and writing letters to the Editor of local papers. Their purpose is to promote Constitutional government in the county and to give popular support to the sheriff. Ultimately, we as a group are working towards becoming better prepared to come to the aid of our sheriff when he makes the call.
http://bcsbrigade.com/ThePoweroftheSheriff.aspx

http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/obama-impeachment-bill-now-in-congress/

WND EXCLUSIVE

Obama impeachment bill now in Congress

Declares president's use of military without approval 'high crime, misdemeanor'

Published: 2 hours ago

by Drew ZahnEmail | Archive

Drew Zahn is a former pastor who cut his editing teeth as a member of the award-winning staff of Leadership, Christianity Today's professional journal for church leaders. He is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, "Popcorn and a (world)view."

Let the president be duly warned.
Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., has introduced a resolution declaring that should the president use offensive military force without authorization of an act of Congress, “it is the sense of Congress” that such an act would be “an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor.”
Specifically, Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution reserves for Congress alone the power to declare war, a restriction that has been sorely tested in recent years, including Obama’s authorization of military force in Libya.
In an exclusive WND column, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo claims that Jones introduced his House Concurrent Resolution 107 in response to startling recent comments from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
“This week it was Secretary of Defense Panetta’s declaration before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he and President Obama look not to the Congress for authorization to bomb Syria but to NATO and the United Nations,”Tancredo writes. “This led to Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., introducing an official resolution calling for impeachment should Obama take offensive action based on Panetta’s policy statement, because it would violate the Constitution.”
In response to questions from Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., over who determines the proper and legal use of the U.S. military, Panetta said, “Our goal would be to seek international permission and we would … come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this, whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress – I think those are issues we would have to discuss as we decide what to do here.”
“Well, I’m almost breathless about that,” Sessions responded, “because what I heard you say is, ‘We’re going to seek international approval, and then we’ll come and tell the Congress what we might do, and we might seek congressional approval.’ And I just want to say to you that’s a big [deal].”
Asked again what was the legal basis for U.S. military force, Panetta suggested a NATO coalition or U.N. resolution.
Sessions was dumbfounded by the answer.
“Well, I’m all for having international support, but I’m really baffled by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal basis for the United States military to be deployed in combat,” Sessions said. “They can provide no legal authority. The only legal authority that’s required to deploy the United States military is of the Congress and the president and the law and the Constitution.”
The exchange itself can be seen below:
The full wording of H. Con. Res. 107, which is currently referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, is as follows:

Expressing the sense of Congress that the use of offensive military force by a president without prior and clear authorization of an act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution.
Whereas the cornerstone of the Republic is honoring Congress’s exclusive power to declare war under article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that, except in response to an actual or imminent attack against the territory of the United States, the use of offensive military force by a president without prior and clear authorization of an act of Congress violates Congress’s exclusive power to declare war under Article I, Section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution and therefore constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution.

"On every question of construction (of the Constitution), let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." -- Thomas Jefferson

Message from the Galactic Federation of Light by Greg Giles - March 12, 2012

Rumor Mill News Agents Forum

Message from the Galactic Federation of Light by Greg Giles - March 12, 2012

Posted By: Mr.Ed [Send E-Mail]
Date: Monday, 12-Mar-2012 22:47:39

Message from the Galactic Federation of Light by Greg Giles - March 12, 2012 You have the strength to persevere and it is faith that you must seek to maintain now. Hold fast to your convictions, do not allow yourself to be moved from your current course as it will take you beyond the limitations that bind you today. Your journey has been a long one and many times you veered from the path, but you always found your way back to center and to the path that would bring you up and out into the light. Continue to strive for this path and it will take you where it is you want to go. There are many obstacles and many people who have placed them before you. It is your job to see these obstacles and find a way to move over them without being knocked too far off course. Today, many obstacles still stand in your path on your way to ascension, and even though your path is now a short one, there are still many challenges that will present themselves in this short period of time. Some of these challenges will be your greatest challenges throughout this and even all of your previous incarnations. We know you can make it through these challenges, and together we will do just that as we will be here to assist you in every way we can. That is why we are here, and not for any other reason. One of the challenges for many of you at this time is to find a way to understand this, and find a way to overcome the fear that you are experiencing about us and our reasons for being here. Much depends on our working relationship together, and it is dependent upon you to move past fear, to move past doubt and distrust and see us not as an invading force, but as your family, for indeed that is who we are. We have many tasks that we must accomplish together. We do see many of you willing to accept us who have reached the understanding of who we are, and we are heart warmed and encouraged by this. We ask those who have been able to reach this understanding to help others see what our true intentions are and our reasons for being here. Help them see that in this universe all beings come to the aid of others. The separation and detachment that humanity has experienced throughout much of their history and continues to experience today is merely an illusion of your 3rd dimensional journey that has no basis in reality. As we have said, your collective reality is about to receive a great transformation and most of what you have come to understand as the norm will dissolve and make way for your new reality. This will be a great challenge for many of you, and as we have also said, this is just one challenge of many. Overcoming this challenge will help you overcome many others as we are here to assist you in the many tasks you need to accomplish, but we cannot assist you in this way until you find a way to overcome the challenge of fear. We have talked a great deal about fear with you and how detrimental it can be to you as an individual and to you as a collective society, and it should be clear to many of you at this time just how fear is playing a pivotal role in your affairs at this time. For it was not for fear of us causing you to distrust us so much, we would already be among you working together towards the completion of the many important tasks that we have spoken of. Time is ticking away and we must get underway. It is up to you as a collective to find it in your hearts to trust us and trust that the universe has much to offer you. We never said this was going to be easy. We see this as a great challenge for your society and we see this as a great challenge for our Lightworkers who are there on the front lines doing what they can to lay these unfounded fears to rest. At this time we ask you, our Lightworkers, to continue to persevere and push forward spreading your truth and spreading your light. You are making great progress, and we do see a day when we will be able to work safely among you. Many of you at this time are ready to accept us and begin our many projects together, and this is just what we intend to do. If you could see how far you have come since you have begun this task of informing your brothers and sisters of our presence and peaceful intentions, you would be greatly encouraged just as we are and know that the end of this part of your mission is clearly in sight, for indeed it is. Continue on in your efforts knowing this, and allow it to give you strength of conviction to knock down walls and any barriers that present themselves to you. We have nothing but faith in you, as we always have and always will. Once we are confident that there is a solid base of understanding throughout your world of us and our reasons for being here, we will move ahead with our disclosure plans, and this will bring us to the point where we will begin to personally interact and work with many selected individuals to begin the undertaking of the many tasks essential to a smooth transition throughout your ascension. We see that many of you are ready and quite eager to begin working with us, and we are very pleased to see this. Continue to show this confidence in us and it will spread to your brothers and sisters who may, without your example, fear us and our intentions. Allow them to see that we are no strangers to you and that there is no reason to fear us. Once we are able to begin working relationships with some of you, the others, through certain of your media outlets, will be able to see evidence of this working relationship and we see this as having a profound effect on the mass consciousness of your world. This is the plan, and we ask you to continue to lay the groundwork so we may reach this important next stage. We wish to begin the initial stages of this part of the operation soon after the media coverage begins of the many arrests of your criminal Cabal. That is our time frame, so we ask you to stay prepared for the coverage of these arrests and remain vigilant for the next phase of our operation. Details of this will be made clear to you at the proper time through our channels and, in time, through some of your media outlets. Please continue to share our messages and the news of these events, and we thank you for your tremendous efforts in this regard. Your work is making a great difference, and we say to you that you have almost reached the end of this phase of the overall operation and we see many of you really enjoying the next phase of your assignments that await you just up ahead. Your world will certainly become greener once we are able to begin our many projects together. We have much to offer you, and we look forward to assisting you in this way. This is the way it is in this universe, where beings and worlds from all across the cosmos come to the aid of others and help them in their times of need. This is your time of need, and we believe you will agree that our help can be very beneficial to all of you. In the days ahead, it will become clear to all who wish to see in just what ways we can assist you, and we feel at that time we will be warmly welcomed by a majority of your people. Let us focus on the tasks at hand, and we will discuss more of what this entails at a later date, but again, time is running short and we must press to remain on schedule. Looking beyond the challenges that await you up ahead, we see reward for all your efforts here in the way of a beautiful new Earth to call your home. Strengthened by the great wisdom you have acquired throughout many incarnations, you will be able to apply all that you have learned to your new lives and your new world and keep it safe from the mistakes that you have together made here in the past. That is what all your experiences have been about; to learn through experience and sometimes harsh lessons, all in the name of creation. You are now about to receive the reward that you have all earned as a beautiful part of this never ending process, and you will have a new home, pristine and new in every way, to continue on and begin new adventures and new lessons in your never-ending journey. We are the Galactic Federation of Light. As channeled through Greg Giles http://ascensionearth2012.blogspot.com

Confederate Society Of America

Dear Brethren (hundreds bcc herein - permission to forward), 

  Thanks to one and all, including the Confederate Society’s Representative in Montana for posting - Mark Burns. 

  Here is another fine and excellent article (see below herein) written by the Society’s Chaplain, Secretary-Treasurer and noted author - Al Benson.

  Most Americans today associate Socialism & Marxism with the early 20^th century.

  Sadly, that is totally WRONG! 

  Each were WELL in PLAY and long before the 20^th century was to arrive & right here in America.

  We have spoken about this endlessly and will continue to do so y’all can ‘Connect those Dots’ of History that have been altered by America’s Central/Federal government residing in Washington, DC.

  In fact, this was very much the Political condition here in America that resulted in what they call the Civil War.

  The Socialists that were being thrown out of Europe found a real home here in America during the mid-1840’s - particularly in the North.

  Engel &  Marx had written their infamous Manifesto in 1845 and it was all coming down ‘Fast & Furious’!

  My recent communique entitled Pt. 3 - the ‘Dots of History’ & Confederate Non-Surrender speak entirely about this and include one of the MOST dynamic VIDEO’s ever issued detailing this very issue.

  I contend that it was their ‘Socialist’ IDEOLOGY that brought about the Civil War where upon and after its conclusion, Marx congratulated Lincoln on  “A Job Well Done…”

…for on that first day following April 9, 1865 this Republic was Officially put to rest forever more.

  As such, America has been living the biggest lie ever perpetrated on any civilian occupancy!

  More Wars and more deaths have resulted because of their Political Hegemony of Deceit & Ideology that Washington has cleverly packaged and sold as ‘Democracy’ ever since.

  We are NOT a Free Nation and are totally subservient to the Political Whims of a Washington Oligarchy that uses the confines of an Economic system that should have never been to keep us all in captivity and ‘down on the farm’.

  They are the Zealots of their own making and have made of us their serfs via an economic system that would make a pirate blush.

  In short, every man, woman and child within America- in one form or another now resides on their plantation and our station is neither voluntary nor agreeable but entirely the result of subterfuge and skullduggery that has taken from us - our former identities & resolve, not to mention our money and our lives.

 Even now, and with what little remains, it is being appropriated in the same disguise of old & in order for their abrogation to be advanced while continued deceit, power & control remain their interest of the day.

  It is a Homogenization of Deceit that has used Humanitarianism & National Security as the mantra in which their Special Interest Lobby’s advance…and much in the same capacity as 5^th column troops while the arithmetic associated with their deception, is falling upon our backs much like a collapsing skyscraper descending upon an un-suspecting number beneath it.  

When the Confederate Republic Lost, so TOO did TWO Countries…but Only WE Confederates Knew it at the Time,

Craig Maus

President, The Confederate Society of America and,

Proud Member of The Confederate Alliance of Independent Organizations

Staunch Supporters Endorsing the Full Restoration of that Confederate Republic that Never Surrendered to the Washington Invader!

Ø  Become a Confederate Citizen- see WWW.CSAGov.org
Ø  Become a Member of the Confederate Society- see WWW.DeoVindice.org

                        God Help us All.

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