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Strike The Root |
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There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. |
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Strike The Root |
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There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. |
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Federal
Register Watch by Mike Powers October
21-25,2002 What
freedoms have you lost this week? OCTOBER
21, 2002: Commodity
Credit Corporation – This
rule implements the provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act of 2002 regarding crop payments for the years 2002 to 2007.
Welfare for farmers. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26692-filed
OCTOBER
22, 2002: Employment and Training Administration – Notices
on “adjustment assistance.” http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26737-filed
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26735-filed Section
221(a) of the Trade Act of 1974 allows U.S. workers who have been
“significantly harmed” by U.S. trade policies (in other words,
free trade policies) to file for “federal” help (taxpayer
assistance). The law allows workers to apply for “trade adjustment
assistance” if they lose their jobs or have less work because
increased imports are directly competitive with those produced by their
company. Trade
adjustment assistance includes reemployment services, job search
allowances, relocation allowances, and “free” training.
It also provides weekly trade readjustment allowances for
eligible workers who exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits!
All at taxpayer expense! This
issue of the Federal Register featured dozens of new petitions filed on
behalf of company employees, as well as the results of prior petitions.
Fortunately, many of them were overturned.
But the mere fact that such a program exists shows the extent of
government intervention into our so-called “free market” economy. Agriculture
Department – The
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued its final
environmental impact statement for the Rangeland Grasshopper and Mormon
Cricket Suppression Program. And
you thought your tax dollars were being wasted! http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26814-filed National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Fishing
quotas on commercial fishing set by the feds? You bet. Main
mahogany quahogs - http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26694-filed Golden
tilefish -
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26871-filed Pacific
whiting -
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26693-filed State
Department – Notice
of a “Culturally Significant Object Imported for Exhibition
Determinations.” This
declaration states that the items included in the “Ceramica y Cultura:
The Story of Mexican and Spanish Mayolica,” imported from abroad for
exhibition, are of “cultural significance” and in the “national
interest”! Forgive my
naiveté, but why is this necessary? http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26853-filed
OCTOBER
23, 2002: Department
of the Interior – Fish
and Wildlife Service review of a petition to list the “cerulean
warbler” as threatened, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
The
petitioners, in this case the Southern Environmental Law Center, also
requested that a “critical habitat” be designated for the warbler.
If it is ultimately designated as threatened, and a critical
habitat established, one can assume that it will include some
considerable encroachment of private property rights. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27004-filed
International
Trade Commission – Final
phase of its “antidumping” investigation of Chinese imports of ball
bearings. The goal of the
investigation is to determine whether any industry in the United States
is “materially injured” by the “less-than-fair value” of the
imports. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26879-filed National
Science Foundation – Management
officials responsible for the Oversight Council for the International
Arctic Research Center have determined that renewing the group for
another year is “necessary and in the public interest.”
I can’t tell you how many of my neighbors have contacted their
representatives and demanded this group’s renewal for another year! http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26981-filed OCTOBER
24, 2002: Committee
for the Implementation of Textile Agreements- Import limits set by the feds on textile products. Government-imposed trade restrictions like these are particularly harmful to undeveloped countries such as those listed here. The federal government is simply doing its part to ensure that these people remain poverty-stricken. Bangladesh- http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27090-filed
Dominican Republic – http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27091-filed El
Salvador –
Environmental
Protection Agency - This
notice adds a site to the National Priorities List (NPL) of the
Superfund program, created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA).
The Superfund program, created to clean up hazardous waste sites
across the United States, is partially (or wholly) funded by a tax on
petroleum and chemical industries. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27127-filed Incredibly,
the 1,234 sites listed on the National Priorities List include hundreds
of government facilities: Air Force bases, Army munitions depots,
municipal landfills, demolition grounds, and nuclear weapons production
plants. For
a listing of all the NPL sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/npl.htm
OCTOBER
25, 2002: Department
of Housing and Urban Development – This
notice identifies surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for
suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.
I suggest starting with the White House and the Capitol. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-26893-filed International
Trade Administration – Announcement
of various “Anti-dumping” investigations of foreign imports.
The
ITA’s investigation will determine if the imports are likely to be
sold at “less than fair” value and will recommend remedies,
including tariffs. Apparently,
any company in an industry that produces the domestic equivalent of the
import can file a petition charging that they are materially injured
from the “unfair” competition. Barium
carbonate from China –
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27261-filed
Bulk
aspirin from China –
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27259-filed
Stainless steel from India – http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27260-filed Legal
Services Corporation – Notice
of intent to award grants for the provision of civil legal services for
eligible low-income clients. Lawyers
for losers. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27148-filed Social
Security Administration – Notice
of a 1.4% cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits.
How can a fiscally insolvent program like Social Security
increase benefits? The
magic of government accounting. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-27203-filed
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