Article Archives by Subject:  Nationalization

03-25-2010

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Student "Loans
Subject: This Is How We Get Things Done—Chicago Style.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, back in September 2009 (see here), I was talking about the Obama administration's plans to nationalize the entire student loan industry, with the intent of then being able to tie the government's single source of educational loans to a requirement for mandatory national or "community" service.

Well folks, you are not going to see that legislation be debated in in the chambers of Congress, nor will you see it come up for a vote by your elected representatives. This isn't going to happen because this heavily contested piece of legislation known as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, is, as reported in Newsweek and by The Hill, simply going to be attached to the health care modification package being considered by the Senate, and enacted by a simple majority of senators using the budget reconciliation process.

And that's how we do it in Washington D.C. these days. If you can't get you legislation passed through normal constitutional channels, there is always a procedural trick or a bribe or a threat that can be used in its place.

I guess I'm still dumbstruck from the realization that our culture has sunk to such a low, that it is now possible for so many Americans to look at these underhanded politiebureau tactics and simply sit back and smile at the results.

"The State is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else."
-- Frederic Bastiat

02-14-2010

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Craig Mundie
Subject: Government Takeover of the Internet

On April 1, 2009, Senators John Rockefeller [D-WV] and Olympia Snowe [R-ME] introduced the still pending S.773: Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which empowered the President to shutdown the internet for undefined "critical infrastructure information system or network" in the event of a further undefined "cybersecurity emergency". From the text of the bill:
    The President--(2) may declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network

On December 22, 2009, President Obama appointed former Microsoft security executive and Ebay CIO, Howard Schmidt, as the new "Cyber-Security Czar", with broad responsibilities to "secure government networks and critical U.S. infrastructures."

This followed the March 11, 2009 appointment of Microsoft's chief trustworthy infrastructure strategist, Philip Reitinger, to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he was charged with "protection of the government's computer networks and [to] work with the private sector to help secure critical infrastructures."

Of course, when you think of computer security, Microsoft is the name that first comes to mind! Now, we have Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundie, proposing that access to the web should require government registration — something equivalent to a "driver's license" — that would eliminate anonymity and allow everyone's activity to be tracked by the government. As others have pointed out, this is similar to a scheme recently tried and abandoned by the Chinese government as too repressive. But that hasn't stopped the United Nations from expressing interest is something along these lines as well.

So there you have it. Microsoft, a company which has demonstrated that it is unable to solve the technical problems relating to computer security, is now in charge of our technology infrastructure and proposing that instead, every citizen be registered, regulated and fully monitored as the best solution to achieving security.

The current administration's march towards a totalitarian state continues, one bill, one czar, and one regulation at a time, with their relentless advance for the repeal of individual rights, starting with the right to free speech. And remember Rahm Emanuel's dictum:
    "Never let a serious crisis go to waste."

I believe that J. R. Dieckmann summed it up best when he wrote about Obama's appointment of a cyber-czar:
    Here is the problem that I see with this whole plan. We have seen the tactic used by this administration over and over again: find or create a crisis, then violate the people's liberties to deal with it. We saw it with the banking industry. We saw it with the mortgage industry. We're seeing it with the auto industry and the energy industry, the global warming hoax, and many others. This is a president who wants the federal government to control everything of any significance. Controlling the Internet would be most helpful to him in forcing his Marxist agenda down the throats of the American citizens.
    [...]
    Just like with the banking, energy, and auto industries, once Obama gets his foot inside the door he uses that foot to kick the door wide open and take over the industry. First come the government demands, then the regulations and finally the control. If we allow him to do this with the Internet then we can be assured that our first amendment rights to free speech will be seriously curtailed and the Democrat Socialists will gain a clear advantage in all future elections.

'Nuff said.