Obama DOT Plans use of National Guard to close I-495 Capital Beltway tomorrow?

By: Glenn Ryt (Diary)  |  October 10th, 2013 at 06:52 AM  |  6

RESIZE:AAA

Sources within the Department of Transportation have revealed that their plan to use National Guard resources to close federally funded Interstate Route 495, circling the nation’s capital, have been approved by unknown White House officials and will be implemented on Friday morning, October 11, in order to thwart the three day Trucker slowdown announced on the Capitol Beltway starting that date, using the federal government shutdown as justification.

The National Guard resources to be used to thwart the truckers will include rifle toting National Guardsmen called up from units that will be coming in from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  They will use Guardsmen on foot and using trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles, which will be stationed at all entrance ramps to the Beltway to block incoming traffic starting early Friday morning.

Calls to both the White House and the Department of Transportation to confirm this story were not answered at press time.  Unless an announcement is made in advance, it appears the first notice of this new White House plan to punish House GOP members who have cited their Constitutional authority to approve – or not approve – all spending proposed by the White House and their Democratic allies in the Senate, will be early Friday morning.

Our DOT sources point to their Department’s website as justification for the paucity of information and our inability to confirm this story in advance, where they state, “during the government shutdown, some online content may not be updated on a regular basis…”

These sources at the Department of Transportation have advised off the record that the DOT proposal included the confident belief that the Capitol Beltway shutdown will successfully achieve the twin goals of thrwarting the trucker protest scheduled for a three day period starting on Friday, as well as deal another punishing blow to what they call “the crazy wing of the GOP” which refuses to capitulate to their demands to approve a budget that includes Obamacare funding.

Protesting “the corruption that is destroying America,” the “Truckers Ride for the Constitution” aims to tie up two of the three lanes of Interstate 495 circling the nation’s capital, with big rigs traveling no faster than the legal limit in two of the three lanes, an organizer told U.S. News & World Report.  Fox TV news reported that they expect 10,000 or more truckers to continuously circle the beltway for the three day weekend, effectively shutting it down except for the third, passing lane they will allow for emergency vehicles.

The truckers hoped to enlist sympathetic motorists and will allow them to pass their slowed trucks if they display a sign on their car with the letters T2SDA which means “Truckers to Shut Down America,” their original name.  Other sources connected to the truckers state that they will do nothing illegal, but had planned only to drive at the minimum legal speed limit, which would in fact tie up traffic around the busy interstate.

“Since Interstate 495 is clearly a federal roadway,” report our DOT sources, and “the federal government is now closed because of the crazy House of Representatives Republicans, it is within the purview of the federal government to add it to the list of government properties that are closed and may not be used by citizens.”

While the planned 495 roadway shutdown by National Guardsmen this Friday is presently planned to coincide with the three day truckers protest, another DOT proposal suggests that the White House has the authority to extend the highway shutdown past the proposed three day closure, and to other federally funded Interstate Highways, such as I-95 and I-66 in Northern Virginia.

Officials of the Freedom Leadership Conference, a gathering of conservatives in Northern Virginia, announced that they will schedule a speaker to lead a protest if these plans are carried through on Friday morning, at their scheduled function on Thursday, October 17 at the Fairfax, Marriott at Fair Oaks Shopping Mall at 7 PM.

The Conference this month is sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, whose President, Michael Thompson, will be the keynote speaker to address the Institute’s proposals for tax reform in Virginia to boost business and bring 80,000 new jobs to the Commonwealth.  An example of a tax that inhibits the growth of business is the very unpopular “gross receipts tax” which Thompson will propose abolishing.

The second principal speaker at the conference one week from today is Michael O’Neill, the assistant general counsel of Mark Levin’s Landmark Legal Foundation, who will address Levin’s proposed “Liberty Amendments” detailed in the new bestselling book by the same name.

The Thursday evening, October 17 event is being billed as a “Conservative Change Conference.”

Ironically, the purpose of the Liberty Amendments to the Constitution is to constrain growing federal government power at the expense of the authority of the states and the freedom of the citizens, not the intent of the founding fathers, say supporters of the proposal.  In that sense, the “change” the conference organizers speak of is actually a simple return to the original intent of America’s founding fathers.

Freedom Leadership Conference officials now state they will add a third speaker on the subject of what they call the President’s unauthorized power grabs during the supposed government “shutdown” during which nearly 85% of the federal government remains open and functioning, despite closing of the open air Monuments in Washington, DC, and other open air government grounds such as Gettysburg battlefield and historic Valley Forge, PA and other locations.

The Freedom Leadership Conference functions have been reserved for members only since they changed to a monthly function in late 2012, having started as an annual function fourteen years ago.  Sponsored by a different conservative organization each month, there have now been over 60 sponsor organizations in the past 14 years.  Admission now is open to anyone interested, although only those who advance register will be admitted.  Those interested in attending the free October 17 conference may reserve their tickets to the conference, which begins with a coffee, tea and dessert social at 7 PM, via the internet, HERE.

Previous stories about plans for the October 17 conference are headlined Mike O’Neill to speak on “The Liberty Amendments” Proposal of Mark Levin at October 17 Conference and the earlier article, Conservative Change Conference set for October 17, 2013: Michael Thompson to speak at Freedom Leadership Conference on new tax proposal for Virginia.

The Wednesday, November 13 Freedom Leadership Conference will be sponsored by Uniformed Services League, featuring a “Salute to Our Servicemen” (SOS) rally with keynote speaker, U.S. Congressman Scott Perry (R-PA), who is also a Colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard who has already served in Iraq.   The November conference will also be an “open” conference (new attendees welcome) and also at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks Mall.

This article is cross posted at REDSTATE online and at the Freedom Leadership Conference.  To receive the free email newsletter (including alerts to columns such as this) about the Freedom Leadership Conference click HERE.

http://www.redstate.com/glennryt/2013/10/10/obama-dot-plans-use-of-national-guard-to-close-i-495-capital-beltway-tomorrow/