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Federal
Register Watch by Mike Powers April
21 - 25, 2003
The Federal
Register is the official daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules,
and Notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as Executive
Orders and other Presidential Documents.
This column attempts to summarize the highlights (or lowlights)
of the Federal Register during the preceding week. Instructions
for subscribing to the Federal Register can be found at the end of the
column. APRIL
21, 2003: INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS) - The
IRS will provide matching grants (up to $100,000 each) to “qualified
organizations that represent low-income taxpayers in controversies with
the IRS and/or inform individuals for whom English is a second language
of their tax rights and responsibilities.” After
sticking it to their “customers” by utilizing their shameless
money-grabbing methods, the IRS gives away some of the money they
confiscate in order to provide protection for their low-income victims.
What a racket. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-9780.htm
APRIL
22, 2003: FISH
AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (FWS) – The
FWS proposes to designate 6,098 acres within Orange and San Diego Counties as “critical
habitat” to protect the San Diego fairy shrimp, pursuant to the Endangered
Species Act of 1973. Private
land accounts for 4,151 acres
of the designated critical habitat. According
to the FWS, “critical habitat receives protection from destruction or adverse
modification through consultation under section 7 of the Act.”
This means that private landowners whose property is designated
“critical habitat” no longer have sovereign authority over their
property. Instead, their
land becomes subject to the rules and regulations of D.C. bureaucrats.
In essence, their property
becomes “nationalized.” When
it was authorized in 1973, the Endangered Species Act garnered nearly universal support from
Republicans and Democrats alike.
After passing the Senate by voice vote (the cowardly way that
lawmakers use to support legislation without being held accountable for
their actions, since no recorded vote is taken), it passed the House by
a vote of 355 to 4. President
Nixon signed the land-grabbing legislation in December 1973. Although this particular critical habitat proposal will compromise the property rights of many landowners, “the economic impact of this decision is unknown at this time.” However, the FWS claims that an economic impact analysis is being prepared. Not that it matters. The FWS could care less about any negative economic impact that their decisions have upon helpless landowners, taxpayers, or the surrounding communities. History proves this. In
1978, the Supreme Court ruled that the Endangered Species Act requires
that construction of Tellico Dam, a TVA project, be halted to protect
the snail darter. The arguments that $78 million in taxpayer money had already been spent on the dam or
that the endangered snail darter was only a tiny fish did not impress
the court. The "plain
intent" of the law, said six of the nine members, is to save all
species "whatever the cost.” Yet,
in 1980, more snail darters are found and the
species turned out not to be endangered after all. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-9434.htm APRIL
23, 2003: PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS – President
Bush proclaims April 21-27, 2003, as “National Park Week,” and calls
on the American people to join him in recognizing the importance of our
national parks. In
collaboration with the announcement, he claims that his fiscal 2004
budget includes over $1 billion
in park spending (an increase of $180 million over last year’s
request) to reduce the maintenance backlog, along with $76 million (a $9 million increase over last year) for the National
Park Service Natural Resource Challenge to “monitor ‘vital signs’
of conditions in our parks.” Is
that $1 billion in park spending? Or pork spending?
Oh, well. It’s all
the same after awhile. We
should all be proud. Go out
and hug a tree today in tribute to this grand occasion. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-10195.htm APRIL 24, 2003: FISH
AND WILDLIFE SERVICE – This
notice proposes the designation of 495,795
acres of land as “critical habitat” for the “long-tailed
member of the old-world warbler and gnatcatcher family Sylviidae.” Of
the total, nearly 432,000 acres are lands that are privately held. Though
no economic analysis has been performed at this time, the FWS is
required to consider the economic impact of any action.
However, they make it
crystal clear that economic impact is of little concern to them. “We
cannot exclude such areas from critical habitat,” states the FWS,
“when such exclusion will result in the extinction of the species.” Once
the economic analysis is completed, the FWS will announce the
availability of the draft economic analysis with a notice in the Federal
Register. Then, they will open a 30-day comment period to give landowners one last
glimmer of hope before deciding whether or not to take away their land
rights. The
FWS is possibly the single most dangerous federal department when it
comes to destroying private property rights. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-9435.htm APRIL 25, 2003: AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT – Notice
that the ACVFA will meet on Wednesday, May 14.
Of course, this committee is not to be confused with the meeting
of the Coercive Foreign Aid Committee, which meets the following week. The
federal government takes $10
billion per year from taxpayers in order to give it away as foreign
aid. I am quite sure the
feds raise a lot more money using coercive measures than the Voluntary
Foreign Aid Committee does through charitable means. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-10224.htm
COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION – Price
supports for cottonseed growers. Growers
are paid according to the amount they produce, without regard to the
market demand, until the $50
million available for the 2002 cotton crop is spent.
Collectivist farming at its finest.
Karl Marx would be proud. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-10222.htm DEPARTMENT
OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT – SuperNOFA FOR HUD 2003 DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS HUD
announces a “Super Notice of Funding Ability” (SuperNOFA) for fiscal
year 2003, which will provide $2.3
billion in OPM (Other People’s Money) available for various HUD
programs. Organizations
eligible for funding
include public housing agencies, local and state governments, tribal
governments and tribally-designated housing entities, veterans service
organizations, non-profit organizations, including grass-roots
faith-based and other community-based organizations, and others. Some of the qualifications that will assist your organization in successfully receiving funds include the following: - The neighborhood's total percentage of minority persons is at least 20 points higher than the total percentage of minorities for the housing market area as a whole. -
At least 51% of your board
members are persons with disabilities. - The scope, extent, and quality of your experience in providing housing or related services to minority persons or families. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-9591.htm SOCIAL
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (SSA) – Two aspects
of this notice are amazing.
The first is the summary that explains why the SSA is seeking
applications to create a Retirement Research Consortium, which will be composed of one or
more Centers, which will have a combined annual budget of $5 million per
year: “The Board of Trustees has found that Social Security is financially unsustainable over the long-term at present payroll tax and scheduled benefit levels.” While
I am not amazed that Social Security is insolvent, I am surprised that
the SSA itself would admit it. The
second aspect of this notice that amazes me
(though it should not) is their inane idea to “solve” the crisis –
by creating a government organization (RRC) to “study the issue”: “The Social Security Administration (SSA) is committed, through education and research efforts, to support reforms to ensure sustainable solvency and more responsive programs.” According
to the SSA, the goal of the RRC is to educate the public and provide
research that will lead to “system
reform and program solvency.” Government
“reform” is not the answer to the Social Security problem.
In fact, government caused
the problem in the first place. Choice
is the answer. This
simple three-step “program” for solving the Social Security dilemma,
if implemented, will eliminate the insolvency problem once and for all. 1.
Let
individuals OPT OUT of Social Security if they want to,
with the agreement that they give up any future benefits.
If given this choice, it is likely that 30-40%
of the entire citizenry would choose to drop out of the Social Security
program. 2.
Sell
federal assets to pay the future debt obligation owed to current and
future retirees who choose to stay in the government program. The
federal government owns one-third of the entire land in the United
States, power plants, mineral rights, unused buildings, unused military
bases, and much more. The
sale of these items to private investors would raise trillions of
dollars – enough to cover the debt owed to retirees choosing to stay
in the program. 3.
Refuse
to “accept” any new participants in the SS program.
Attrition will eliminate the program once and for all! Naturally,
this will never happen, because bureaucrats always seek government
solutions to the problems they caused in the first place.
Their innate desire to retain power over our lives trumps any
ability they may have to find pragmatic solutions to societal problems.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-10251.htm To
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