Our Government Run Amok: Lacey Act Abuses Gibson Guitar

In 2008 Congress implemented some amendments to the Lacey Act which gives the Federal government a LOT of power to harass American companies --- and you. If you unknowingly buy a product from a company that is in violation of the Act, even if they are unaware they are in violation, the government has the right to confiscate your item and charge you as a criminal. If you watched the video above, Gibson guitars are a prime example. If you sell your guitar, or take it with you when you travel out of the country, you'll be breaking the law.

It appears that the current administration is making hay and taking their powers to the ultimate limits. The government seems to have targeted Gibson, the guitar maker using the Act as their justification.

Whether it ultimately turns out that this company is right or wrong on the very tiny issue that caused this harassment, swooping down with armed SWAT teams from across the country to confiscate wood is flat out wrong. Wouldn't it have been much cheaper, simpler and less costly just to talk with the company, get the paperwork and let them prove they are in compliance? Fine them if they refuse? Allow them to make some changes?

The government has targeted Gibson not once, but twice. They have yet to prove their rationale for the first raid almost two years ago (shortly after the implementation of the Lacey Act). 

Aren't they supposed to have proof of wrongdoing BEFORE they raid? The government first raided Gibson in 2009 regarding imports of wood from Madagacar. Gibson is suing to try and get the wood back. The government has recently asked for a stay so they can prove the company did something illegal (my interpretation of the government's statement when asking for the stay). That's definitely cart before the horse.

Our Federal government just dropped in with warrants, sent the armed SWAT teams into Gibson, sent workers home, shut the plant down and willy nilly confiscated items. It's costing Gibson around a million dollars a day. Nor did they notify them beforehand that they might be doing something wrong. Imagine how much it cost taxpayers to pay for the initial investigation, the legal costs and the cost of sending SWAT teams from at least three different states!

Is Tennessee a right to work state? Are the Unions behind this attack on this ONE guitar company? All guitar companies are using the same wood when making guitars. Why Gibson? They've hired 580 people in the last two years. Is the Obama administration singling out Gibson because they make things here in America? Are they trying to get them to move their operation out of the country? There is something more than just a simple non-compliance with the law of India going on here.

Yep, this is about a law in India they supposedly violated.

The company has all the paperwork from India, where the wood in question came from, the United States Customs signed off on it here in the United States. Gibson says they have provided all the proper paperwork and yet the government won't give up.

Here are some articles to read that will provide more information:

The Horrible Lacey Act & The Gibson Guitar Raids
http://leestranahan.com/the-horrible-lacey-act-the-gibson-guitar-raids 

Gibson Guitar to Uncle Sam – “From my cold, dead hands”
http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2011/08/31/gibson-guitar-to-uncle-sam-%25E2%2580%2593-%25E2%2580%259Cfrom-my-cold-dead-hands%25E2%2580%259D/

Cross The Border, Lose Your Bentley; The Lacey Act Applies To Automobiles, Too
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/08/cross-the-border-lose-your-bentley-the-lacey-act-applies-to-automobiles-too/

A better pledge... one of true hope... and needed change...

I don't know a thing in the world about the group that put this together but I really like their pledge! I'd love to see more of these type videos and pledges, more kids standing up for true values, liberty, our country. I'm always a hopeful person, always believe things'll get better... but this one perked me up a bit more than normal!

Another government (i.e. Obama) takeover...

Read this one carefully and all the way through please... When I first started reading it I kind of shrugged my shoulders, a subsidy ends, could be good news... While I'm not real hot on subsidies, and maybe I'd like to find a different way to do this without them (that said without really looking into the history and details), it's another massive shift to government control of yet another area. Put this on your list of "watch and research".

Bill Would End U.S. Subsidy For Lenders of College Aid
9/17/09 The federal government would end its four-decade practice of subsidizing private lenders that make college loans under a bill the House took up Wednesday that would steer tens of billions of dollars in savings to student aid over the next decade.

Republicans and the lending industry say the bill would engineer a risky shift in higher-education finance that could prove costly to taxpayers and diminish quality of service to borrowers. But Democrats and the Obama administration say the government could save an estimated $80 billion by ending a subsidy system that they contend benefits banks rather than students... Click here to continue reading (opens new window)

Snitch on me...

So, now we're supposed to be telling Obama when we get emails or see something on the web that seems fishy regarding health care? What are they going to do about what they deem "fishy"? Shut down our computers? Send the gestapo to our homes and confiscate literature? Tap our phones? Put our names on a Hoover type "watch-list"? Call us to come visit the President at the White House to share a beer?

Maybe they just want to come up with good counter-strategies, but it's really strange (and scary) seeing the following on the White House website:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

My suggestion? Flood them with emails. Send every comment, every email, everything that sounds fishy that comes from Obama, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Congress, etc., etc.

Be aware though that if you do, they may put YOU on the watch-list.

I wonder how much of our tax dollars are being spent on staff in Obama's White House to monitor fishy emails and info?

Geez, we are still in America aren't we????

Here's my fishy comments on health care: No matter how you feel about health care, name one program that the government touches that is run well, efficiently, in a cost-saving manner??? Even if you LIKE Medicare, it's another program riddled with waste and fraud. Do you want health care to be run like Welfare? the IRS? etc., etc., etc. Once you set up a government agency to monitor health-care, you're talking life-time jobs, waste, people protecting their jobs, power trips, and more. We have ALL had experience with those in government who make it bad news. Yep, there are good people. I don't want to lump everyone into the same basket who works for the government. But I used to be one of 'em. I speak from personal experience when I say we don't need the government hacks messing up one more aspect of our lives.

Snitch on me. I think that if Obama and his government hacks get their hands into our health care system it will be one of the worst things that could ever, ever happen to our country.

Thanks to Steve Maloney and Red State for bringing this to my attention. I wouldn't use their names, but I'm sure they're both already on the watch-list.

Links:

http://www.redstate.com/jeff_emanuel/2009/08/04/call-for-informants-if-you-oppose-obamacare-the-white-house-wants-to-know-about-it/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

DraftPalin2012

SteveMaloneyGOP

Magnify Your Efforts

You all know that Obama has filled his Cabinet with people with ethical challenges. They fly through without any major challenges. It seems that we are fighting against the wind as we write, call, fax our opposition to the many actions by Obama, Pelosi, Reid and friends.

I have a suggestion. Rather than JUST sending petitions to Washington D.C. and contacting our elected representatives, let's also contact every media outlet we can imagine. Not just this time, but every time you have a concern.

If you call your Senator, call the local news stations, too. If you write your Congressman, write every media outlet you can find (radio, television, newspaper, etc.). Duplicate everything you do ten-fold.

They're saying the opposition isn't there. They're ignoring our pleas for ethical representation. They're treating us like pesky flies that can be swatted away. Let's show them.

Magnify everything you do.

Get the addresses for every media outlet you can find and make sure you copy them when you send your letters. Get the email addresses of every national and local news outlet you can dig up and copy them on every email you send in protest.

Let's overwhelm them. Let's make it impossible for them to ignore us or swat us away.

(I just posted the above on my main personal blog, Barracuda Babes. Figured I'd share it with a few more of my friends on here)

Not trying to bore you... but a bit more on the National Service Act

From Michelle Malkin:

To GIVE and to SERVE: the $6 billion National Service boondoggle
My syndicated column today looks at the massive expansion of government-funded “national service.” Debate began yesterday in the Senate, where the $6 billion SERVE Act’s primary co-sponsors are Sens. Ted Kennedy and…Orrin Hatch. And there’s the rub. Since its inception, AmeriCorps has been a bipartisan-supported beast. The Evil Party and the Stupid Party strike again. If this does lead to the establishment of a civilian national security force, as Obama signaled during the campaign, Republicans who vote for this Trojan Horse will have no one to blame but themselves.

To GIVE and to SERVE: The $6 billion National Service boondoggle
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate; Copyright 2009
Maybe it’s just me, but I find federal legislation titled “The GIVE Act” and “The SERVE Act” downright creepy. Even more troubling: The $6 billion price tag on these bipartisan bills to expand government-funded national service efforts. Volunteerism is a wonderful thing, which is why millions of Americans do it every day without a cent of taxpayer money. But the volunteerism packages on the Hill are less about promoting effective charity than about creating make-work, permanent bureaucracies, and left-wing slush funds.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/25/to-give-and-to-serve-the-6-billion-national-service-boondoggle/

And more thoughts from Barracuda Babes:

Mandatory government service for our kids?
There's been a LOT of discussion across the conservative Internet regarding HR 1388 ("Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act" (GIVE Act)), now S 3577 (National Service Reauthorization Act) in the Senate.
I've watched and been reading the email alerts and various blogs, but haven't really had time to fully delve into the details. I still haven't had time to read the entire bill itself, not that I'd grasp it fully if I did given the way they legaleeze the language! Plus, I note there have been a number of amendments.
It seems innocent enough.
After all, every President in recent years has had some sort of somewhat similar volunteer service group.
However....
www.barracudababes.blogspot.com

ALG / Net Right Nation Editorial: Popping the Appropriations Bubble

Congress has once again proven itself to be just about the only entity in America that considers a deepening recession just cause to whip out the credit card and go on an unbridled spending spree.

In fact, judging from the most recent bloated appropriations spending bill passed last week in the House by a lopsided 245-178 party-line vote, it seems clear that government actually thrives during such periods of economic uncertainty. H.R. 1105, also known as the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, doles out money to nine separate appropriations, bills which then in turn feed a multitude of government agencies and programs.

“Engorge,” however, might be the more appropriate term.

When all the numbers are tallied, H.R. 1105 contains $410 billion in spending on the included agencies and programs. This marks a $32 billion—or 8%—increase in funding over the FY 2008 levels. And remember: this comes at a time when the national debt is already approaching $11 trillion.

Notwithstanding, the following represents a portion of the funding increases the members of Congress have just approved:

• Transportation/HUD: $55 billion – $6.2 billion (13%) above 2008 levels
• Agriculture: $20.5 billion - $2.4 billion (13%) above 2008 levels
• Energy and Water: $33.3 billion - $2.4 billion (8%) above 2008 levels

As the Republican Committee on Appropriations points out, this staggering surge in funding marks the single largest increase in annual discretionary spending since the “national malaise” days of the Carter Administration (9/11 funding excluded). The included earmarks and pork-projects are similarly outrageous.

It's no wonder, therefore, that President Bush had promised to veto the Democrats' Omnibus Appropriations spending bill should it have arrived on his desk during the waning days of his presidency last year. Such an egregious inflation of government spending ought not to be tolerated by any President—even one with a tendency to occasionally cave to big-spending pressures.

And if the $410 billion wasn't enough to send the fiscally-responsible into a frenzy, the Omnibus Appropriations bill contains funding for agencies that were already funneled money through the federal “stimulus” package. The combined grand total for spending on these agencies and programs tips the scales at a whopping $680 billion.

That tallies at a $301 billion increase—or an 80% swell—over the amount these agencies received in 2008.

The Republican staff of the Appropriations Committee also outlined a number of pork projects and national policy changes included in the legislation. These include:

$2.9 billion—in addition to the $1 billion provided by the “stimulus” bill—towards the 2010 decennial census. This is particularly troubling given the White House's efforts to “supervise”—i.e. control and manipulate—the 2010 national headcount.

$310 million—in addition to the $50 million provided by the “stimulus” bill—for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.

$545 million for family planning, including spending for the UN Population Fund for contraceptives.

Moreover, the Omnibus Appropriations bill eases travel and trade restrictions with regards to Cuba, fails to prohibit the future implementation of the “Fairness Doctrine”, attacks school choice in the dismal educational environment of Washington, D.C., and more.

Although the “here and now” of the $410 billion H.R. 1105 is reason enough for national outrage, the true calamity is what awaits the nation down the road should such excessive spending continue.

Facing a national debt of nearly $11 trillion, Barack Obama's recently unveiled $3.6 trillion budget, coupled with an escalating annual deficit, portends nothing short of an economic apocalypse. And the immediate result of this spending spree will ineluctably be higher taxes, higher interest rates, and – sooner rather than later – staggering inflation.

One way or another, the American people will be forced to foot the bill for a Congress spending far outside of its means. And in tough economic times such as these, more taxpayer burden is the very last thing a strapped American people need.

The nation's leaders in Washington ought to step back and face the fact that their out-of-control spending has gone too far. If politicians really want to absolve the deepening economic crisis and set the country on a path towards recovery, they need to trim down the government, cut their costs, and tighten their belts.

Instead, they vote time and again to make the “Appropriations Bubble” grow bigger by the day, blithely ignoring the stark fact that a federal government trying to spend itself solvent is a surefire recipe for an economic “pop” heard round the world.

ALG CTA: Big Government has been so busy bailing everyone out tlast year hat it never got around to passing the regular budget. So, now they need to bail themselves out. Go to StopBailouts.net and sign the petition to put an end to the bailouts once and for all! And don't forget to contact your Congressmen and Senators--before it's too late--and tell them to vote against H.R. 1105 and that not another cent should go to Washington! The Capitol Switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.

http://alg31blog.timberlakepublishing.com/default.asp?Display=1008