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Federal
Register Watch by Mike Powers March
10 - 14, 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. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT - DNA IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR FEDERAL OFFENDERS This
rule amends the list of federal offenses that will be treated as
“qualifying offenses” that allow the federal government to collect
DNA samples from federal offenders. This
rule is being implemented as part of the hideous USA Patriot Act of
2001. Individuals convicted
of any of the specified qualifying offenses must have samples of their
DNA collected and the resulting information entered into the Combined
DNA Index System established by the FBI. Section
503 of the USA Patriot Act provides three additional categories of
offenses that qualify for the mandatory DNA collection. However, the
descriptions of these offenses are so vague that nearly any violation of
the law would qualify as a “qualifying offense” if the feds decide
it is in their best interest to do so. Orwell’s
Year is here. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5861.htm AGRICULTURAL
MARKETING SERVICE (AMS) – This
rule establishes the quantity of domestically produced hazelnuts that may
be marketed in the domestic in-shell market.
According
to the AMS, “the percentages are intended to stabilize the supply
of domestic in-shell hazelnuts to meet the limited domestic demand for
such hazelnuts and provide reasonable returns to producers.” Soviet-style
planning of domestic
agricultural markets, courtesy of the federal government. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5843.htm AGRICULTURAL
MARKETING SERVICE (AMS) – The
proposed rule would limit the amount of spearmint oil that
handlers may purchase from producers during the 2003-2004 marketing
year. Spearmint oil is a
flavoring that is commonly found in toothpaste, gum, and mouthwash.
The
purpose of these production limits, according to the AMS, is to “avoid
extreme fluctuations in supplies and prices, and to help maintain
stability in the spearmint oil market.” The
reality, however, is that the artificial manipulation of the markets by
otherwise well-intended bureaucrats leads to restrictions in production
and artificially higher prices that are ultimately paid by the consumer. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5842.htm FEDERAL
TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION (FTA) – The
Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed into law by President Bush provides $7
Billion in FTA funding for FY 2003 transit assistance programs.
These programs provide monies for transit systems throughout the
country – taxpayer funds that are spent on everything from security
and emergency preparedness to job access and reverse commute
planning services that ensure former welfare recipients will have
“adequate mobility for reaching employment opportunities.”
Like
every other federal bureaucracy, the FTA is a maze of red tape that
imposes a myriad of rules and regulations on every transit system within
its jurisdiction. It is no
wonder that there is not a single public transit system in the
country that is self-sufficient.
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5707.htm INTERNAL
REVENUE SERVICE (IRS) – This
regulation requires tax accountants and other contractors employed to
perform tax administration services to notify their officers and
employees of the prohibitions against and penalties for unauthorized
inspection of returns or return information. The
rule “strengthens” the existing regulation against unauthorized
inspection by requiring officers and employees of the tax accountants to
receive written notification of the prohibitions and penalties. So,
the IRS is imposing regulations to “protect” me from their own
demands that require my personal finances to be exposed in the first
place? I feel so much safer now. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5462.htm INTERNAL
REVENUE SERVICE (IRS) – MEETING
OF THE ART ADVISORY PANEL This
notice is to inform the public of the closed meeting of the Art Advisory
Panel, a division of the IRS. Their
sole function is to review and evaluate the acceptability of fair
market value appraisals of works of art involved in federal income,
estate, or gift tax returns. The
greedy hand of government is never satisfied. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5943.htm AGRICULTURAL
MARKETING SERVICE (AMS) – PORK
PROMOTION, RESEARCH AND CONSUMER INFORMATION ORDER This
rule would require remitters of pork checkoff assessments to submit
additional information to conduct a survey of eligible producers to
determine if they favor a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program.
This,
despite the fact that 30,000 hog producers voted to end the mandatory
checkoff program in a referendum conducted in September 2000. The
AMS estimates the total cost of complying with this request would be $241,320.
The
Pork Checkoff Program is a mandatory assessment program
imposed on hog farmers and supervised by the USDA that is best known for
its promotion of pork as “the other white meat.”
The fees collected from hog farmers (45 cents for every $100 of a
pig’s value when it’s sold) are also used for financing research and
consumer information. A
federal judge ruled the program unconstitutional in October 2002 after
the Campaign for Family Farms, a coalition of groups representing
small hog farms, challenged the constitutionality of the program.
They claimed that much of the money was being spent to promote
pork raised by large, corporate-owned operations.
The USDA and checkoff supporters are appealing the decision. American
farmers and ranchers are forced to pay hundreds of millions of
dollars annually to these mandatory assessment programs for
so-called “generic” advertising.
Last
year, the dairy checkoff program (2 cents per gallon of milk) collected $250
million; the meat checkoff ($1 per head of cattle sold) raised $80
million. Other commodity
producers, including grape and mushroom producers, are compelled to pay
for generic advertising, whether they agree with the promotion or not. Here
is yet another stunning example of indescribable government
incompetence. These
mandatory programs, imposed by an overzealous, tyrannical bureaucracy,
place confiscatory fees on unwilling producers to promote inefficient
advertising campaigns that are not in the producers’ best interests. This
is the arrogance of government. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-6163.htm EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT – MEETING
OF THE BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION 50TH ANNIVERSARY
COMMISSION This
notice informs the public of the upcoming meeting of the Brown v. Board
of Education 50th Anniversary Commission - the commission
formed to celebrate the decision that all Americans, regardless of race,
are entitled to an equally lousy education provided by the
government schools. http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5999.htm LIBRARY
OF CONGRESS – The
Librarian of Congress is publishing the following list of films selected
from 1994-2002 for inclusion in the National Film Registry in the
Library of Congress pursuant to Section 103 of the National Film
Preservation Act of 1996. The
films are published to notify the public of the Librarian's selection of
25 films selected in each of these years deemed to be “culturally,
historically or aesthetically significant'' in accordance with Congress'
mandate. Among
the films selected: The
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Night
of the Living Dead (1968) Porky
In Wackyland (1938) Abbott
and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) National
Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) This
Is Spinal Tap (1984) A
bureaucrat’s work is never done! http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-5958.htm PRESIDENTIAL
DOCUMENTS – This
Executive Order establishes two new “Global War on Terrorism”
medals. The
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War
on Terrorism Service Medal shall be awarded to members of the Armed
Forces who serve or have served in military expeditions to combat
terrorism on or after http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-6445.htm To
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