February 1, 2009

How Did We Get Here? A 2010 Police State

In an attempt not to sound like Chicken Little, running around shouting "the sky is falling", I'm setting out a time line of the last three years (with links) showing America's road to a Police State.

- Feb. 3, 2006: Halliburton Subsidiary (KBR) Gets No Bid $385 Million Contract to Build Detention Centers. The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract worth up to $385 million for building temporary immigration detention centers to Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary that has been criticized for overcharging the Pentagon for its work in Iraq.

KBR would build the centers for the Homeland Security Department for an unexpected influx of immigrants, to house people in the event of a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space, company executives said. KBR, which announced the contract last month, had a similar contract with immigration agencies from 2000 to last year.

- June 16, 2006: Supreme Court Backs No-Knock Police Searches. The Supreme Court ruled that police armed with a warrant can enter homes and seize evidence even if they don't knock, a huge victory for the government and law enforcement agencies.

-Oct. 17, 2006: H.R. 5122 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act. President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.

-May 9, 2007:
Bush Changes Continuity Plan. Administration, Not DHS, Would Run Shadow Government. NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 & HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20 These two orders established that the White House administration would take over all local governments under a national state of emergency, instead of Homeland Security.

-Aug. 5, 2007: Protect America Act of 2007. The Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA) is a controversial amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that was signed into law on August 5, 2007. It removed the warrant requirement for government surveillance of foreign intelligence targets "reasonably believed" to be outside of the United States. Many critics have asserted that the Administration's warrant-free surveillance program is a violation of the Fourth Amendment against warrantless search, and, a criminal violation of FISA.

-Feb. 14, 2008:
U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan. For the first time in its history the United States has granted rights to a Foreign Army to have ‘full power’ over the life and death of American Citizens in their own country. It is interesting to note, too, that the Canadian peoples, like their American neighbors to the south, were not told of these plans for their Military Forces.

-Aug. 28, 2008: President Bush Extends National Emergency Declared After 9/11. In his last full year in office, President Bush announces that he is again renewing the national emergency he proclaimed in response to the 9/11 attacks. Bush issues a notice that states: “Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2008. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.” The national emergency has been renewed on a yearly basis since 2001.

-Sept. 30, 2008: U.S. Northern Command gains dedicated response force. Northcom has nnounced that two more U.S. military units will be assigned for domestic homeland security missions, bringing the total number of combat ready service members operating inside the U.S. to around 4,700, as fears grow about the increasing militarization of law enforcement.

- Dec. 1, 2008: Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security. The U.S. Military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials. There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.

- Jan. 22, 2009: National Emergency Centers Establishment Act. A new bill introduced in Congress authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to set up a network of FEMA camp facilities to be used to house U.S. citizens in the event of a national emergency.

Now, take into consideration according to the Bureau of Labor Statics there where 2,275 mass layoffs in December involving 226,117 workers. The current national unemployment rate is 7.2% (BLS), and states like California are suspending tax refunds, welfare checks, and student grants because their running out of money. Other states such as Michigan (which has the highest unemployment rate in the country, 10.6%) are simply overwhelmed with the volume of people seeking benefits. Ohio, New York, and North Carolina have all had thier unemployment websites crash due to the level of job seekers looking for benefits.

Massive layoffs, rampant home foreclosures, lack of or access to unemployment benefits, coupled with rising food costs and it's only a matter of time before before people are hitting the streets protesting and rioting. Just look at what's happening in Iceland, France, and Russia and once the flood gates are open there's no turning back; Martial Law is eminent.

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