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View Full Version : Action Needed - Stop the Livable Communities Act: Federally Legislated Sovietism




FrankRep
09-20-2010, 08:53 PM
Contact the Senate!
http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=22786


Stop Livable Communities Act: Federally Legislated Sovietism (http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=22786)


John Birch Society (http://www.jbs.org/)


The idiom to “kill two birds with one stone,” easily comes to mind when one has grasped the import of the text of Senate Bill 1619, the Livable Communities Act of 2009 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1619). Currently out of committee and ready for a Senate vote whenever it’s scheduled, S. 1619 contains within it several “birds” that congressmen are all set to kill -- one being American’s current mobility, and another being housing patterns and land use.

Senate Bill 1619 will limit vehicle miles traveled for average Americans -- those who travel to work independently, attend the church of their choice, or even grocery stores -- a sort of carbon emissions control on the sly. And in order to accomplish this goal these central planners will establish councils, consortiums and commissions at the local and state levels to be overseen by existing federal agencies and a newly created agency, The Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, that will then shift people into “workforce housing,” that is “location efficient,” near “transit-oriented,” communities, all in the grand soviet style. Billions of taxpayer dollars will be used in the form of grants to entice local community leaders to take the bait. And, the government will be heavy into the mortgage business, offering loans to those who want to be completely under the government thumb when it comes to energy-efficient homes, their location, and their household appliances. It is plain to see from the text of S. 1619 that reducing the standard of middle-class America’s lifestyle will occur if the bill passes.

In the “Findings” section of the measure, vehicle, traffic, and gasoline consumption data is used to justify a move to enforced public transportation, “compact development,” and “integrated housing.” In one senate hearing, Ray LaHood, DOT Secretary, testified that livable communities are necessary (http://www.planetizen.com/node/39837) to fight global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He specifically stated that American’s vehicle miles traveled must be reduced.

The plan is to revamp the entire country’s infrastructure to funnel people into communities of various sizes where cars are unwelcome and walking and bicycling take precedence -- think Asia here. Land use and property rights will gradually disappear, as the federal government will control all aspects of these rights through the soviet-style councils.

Beware the clever sophistry being used to propagandize the supposed salutary effects of the bill; phrases like “coordinated land use,” “transportation planning,” “sustainable development,” and “smart growth.” And soundly dismiss the comments and promises from the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Chris Dodd (D. Conn.) for one (http://www.polijam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17794:proposed-bill-promotes-sustainable-community-planning&catid=59:science&Itemid=58), that it is all “purely voluntary,” and that open spaces and agricultural land will be protected in the bargain. This will be a law, if passed, not a voluntary program.

Ed Braddy’s article (http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/08/the_livable_communities_act_1.html) at American Thinker analyzes the bill as an attack on the American Dream and the economy because S. 1619 would severely limit personal mobility, private enterprise, home ownership, and the rights of property owners. Braddy says retrofitting cities around transit lines and bringing everyone within range of them will be a trade-off of, “diminished opportunities along with extremely high densities in crowded, stacked central cities.” He labels this “command-and-control” legislation.

Imagine having a local or state consortium or council decide how you can use your own property or home, or if you will still be living there -- the same with your vehicle. The bill is so broadly written that it allows federal agencies and the well-payed minions of the various agencies to define terms and conditions, and administer them as time goes by. There’s even a couple of textual phrases that allow the President to determine members of the “interim working group” and who sits in on the required interagency council meetings.

This legislation violates the basic God-given rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness through choosing one’s own lifestyle, and the Tenth Amendment. It will be the end of any vestige of limited government and is a grave threat to life as we now live it. In relation to freedom and liberty under the Constitution, it should have no place; this is social engineering at its worst.

Contact your representatives and demand that they reject passage of S. 1619 and its companion bill in the House, H.R. 4690.


SOURCE:
http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=972&Screen=alert&IssueId=22786

Noob
09-20-2010, 11:07 PM
Agenda 21 coming to your back yard.

Kludge
09-20-2010, 11:14 PM
This is all about government power -- designing how you will get to work, encouraging you to use public transportation, and funding such programs as high-speed rail. This will amount to corporatism - it always does. Corporatism and the ability to have something to offer interested corporations..... :(

Honestly, I'm surprised this bullshit even goes to Congress anymore and isn't just something for the USG bureaucracy to decide - an "automated" process which bypasses any will of the constituencies.

Live_Free_Or_Die
09-20-2010, 11:21 PM
The longer people are unwilling to stand up and say no, the harder it will be.

Anti Federalist
09-20-2010, 11:24 PM
The longer people are unwilling to stand up and say no, the harder it will be.

Very frustrating, hard enough to get some people to grow a pair, but there are more than a few who agree, and want the slavery.

FFS

Kludge
09-20-2010, 11:31 PM
The longer people are unwilling to stand up and say no, the harder it will be.

At this point, if we implemented Ron Paul's ideas -- Austrian economics - it'd be a disaster. There's so much malinvestment the government has encouraged, it'd be a complete collapse.



What should libertarians do? If we go by principle, History will claim us the worst administrators imaginable. Can you imagine if Ron Paul became president and encouraged (or rather, didn't discourage) China from getting out of their dollar trap? It'd be chaos - a total collapse of the US economy.

libertarians like to pretend to be "utilitarian" and say that current US monetary policy reduces grandma's stock portfolio by 20% in 25 years. If we had Austrian economic policy, that'd probably be worth next to zero because the markets have adapted to easy, cheap credit.

Live_Free_Or_Die
09-20-2010, 11:51 PM
At this point, if we implemented Ron Paul's ideas -- Austrian economics - it'd be a disaster. There's so much malinvestment the government has encouraged, it'd be a complete collapse.



What should libertarians do? If we go by principle, History will claim us the worst administrators imaginable. Can you imagine if Ron Paul became president and encouraged (or rather, didn't discourage) China from getting out of their dollar trap? It'd be chaos - a total collapse of the US economy.

libertarians like to pretend to be "utilitarian" and say that current US monetary policy reduces grandma's stock portfolio by 20% in 25 years. If we had Austrian economic policy, that'd probably be worth next to zero because the markets have adapted to easy, cheap credit.

Bad debt must be liquidated. All of the things you say would be very painful beyond anything we can envision, but I'd rather suck it up, rip the band-aid off, and get it over with than try to slowly peel it off.