“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” ~George Washington
By Alden L. Benton
In a March 28, 2012 article, Business Insider reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have contracted with munitions manufacturer ATK for 450 million rounds of high performance .40 caliber rounds.
“The high performance HST bullets are designed for law enforcement and ATK says they offer ‘optimum penetration for terminal performance.’
“This refers to the bullet’s hollow-point tip that passes through barriers and expands for a bigger impact without the rest of the bullet getting warped out of shape: ‘this bullet holds its jacket in the toughest conditions,’” according to the article.
The article continues stating that Business Insider has learned that DHS and ICE are also looking to buy 175 million rounds of .223 caliber rifle ammunition.
To what purpose is DHS/ICE going to use this amount of ammunition? The fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan consumed approximately 1.8 billion rounds a year actively fighting well-armed foes with more than 100,000 troops at the peak of both wars. The more than half-billion rounds ordered by DHS/ICE are enough to fight a war.
Who will that war be fought with? The chilling answer is that it may be you and me. You know who they are after; it’s those angry folks who cling to their religion and their guns, and those so-called domestic terrorists — the T.E.A. Party and the N.R.A. — and anyone who has the audacity to yearn to live free.
In a Washington Times commentary, Jeffery T. Kuhner warns of a sweeping government power grab. According to Kuhner,
“On March 16, the White House released an executive order, ‘National Defense Resources Preparedness.’ The document is stunning in its audacity and a flagrant violation of the Constitution. It states that, in case of a war or national emergency, the federal government has the authority to take over almost every aspect of American society. Food, livestock, farming equipment, manufacturing, industry, energy, transportation, hospitals, health care facilities, water resources, defense and construction — all of it could fall under the full control of Mr. Obama. The order empowers the president to dispense these vast resources as he sees fit during a national crisis….
“…In short, the order gives Mr. Obama the ability to impose martial law. He now possesses the potential powers of a dictator. The order is a direct assault on individual liberties, private property rights and the rule of law. It is blatantly unconstitutional. The executive branch is arrogating responsibilities precluded by the Constitution without even asking the permission of Congress. The order gives Mr. Obama a blank check to erect a centralized authoritarian state. This is a law one would expect to find in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela or Vladimir Putin’s Russia.”
The text of this executive order, released by the White House on March 16, 2012, can be found here.
Incidentally, the White House Office of the Press Secretary released the text of this executive order marked “For Immediate Release.” Despite the importance of this order, I have found no evidence that any of the Left Stream Media bothered to even mention it, let alone analyze its content and impact. But they don’t care, so it just doesn’t matter.
The raison d’être, or reason for existing, of the Left is power. Their one and only goal is to establish the supremacy of government and enslave the rest of us. This is diametrically opposed to the traditional American view of limited government and individual liberty.
Because of the Left’s incessant thirst for complete control and their dismissal of the Constitution and its limitations on government power (except when it fits their plans), questions about the timing of this executive power grab must be posed, for this new “army,” armed with lethal force, is not answerable to anyone but Obama.
If ObamaCare is ruled unconstitutional, will Obama ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling and use force to bend us to his will?
When Obama loses the election in November, will Obama use his new personal army (DHS/ICE) to ignore both the Constitution and the will of the people to stay in power?
Or will Obama use this unconstitutional “army” to disarm America?
“The president does not — and should not – have the authority to subordinate the entire private economy to the government, especially without the consent of Congress and the American people. It is national socialism masquerading as military security,” according to Kuhner.
There is a glimmer of hope. In my post on August 25, 2011, I wrote about a little known law that enables Congress to rein in the president’s power manifested in Executive Orders.
The Congressional Review Act (Public Law PL 104-121) allows Congress to review EVERY regulation and, through a joint resolution, overrule them. The law, passed in 1996 as part of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, spells out the review and override procedures.
As with any bill, the president has veto power, but Congress can override his veto. For the text of the CRA, go here.
Executive orders pose a different challenge.
Congress cannot simply vote to override an executive order. They can, however, draft and pass legislation cancelling or changing the order. Legislation to override an executive order is subject to the same rules, including veto and veto override, as any other bill.
This is an election year. One-third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives is up for election. This is the time when We, the people have the most power.
We must pressure Congress and threaten them with removal with relentless and ongoing pressure. They must muster some spine; yes, even some Democrats have a little spine, to reclaim their Constitutional legislative power and use the CRA to stop Obama’s power grab.
It will take bi-partisan support to muster the two-thirds vote required in each house to override the president’s inevitable veto of such a bill, but we must demand that they act. They must act now and in our interest. No more, no less.
Despite the odds, we must act as the freedom and liberty of each and every American, and those yet to be born, is in peril. The future of America depends on what we do in 2012.
“We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution.” ~Abraham Lincoln
© 2012 Alden L. Benton/Independence Creek Enterprises
All Rights Reserved
Alden Benton -- Defending Liberty with Truth & Reason 
This is nothing if not a secretive, unconstitutional action of the federal government. It’s difficult to figure how the feds can justify this, even if you give them the benefit of the doubt that their intentions are benevolent, that the results will be somehow magically wonderful, and that this is an essential aspect of good government per se. I say it’s three strikes.
It’s also clear that one of the prime benefits of this massive ammo order is: manufacturers will be kept so busy filling the gov’t order that they won’t have the time or resources to serve the demands of citizens — for almost any kind of ammo. Voila! Instant ammo shortage.
Seems that they’ve found a quick, easy, behemoth-stomping way to get around the inconvenience of legislative restrictions (the political process) that they’ve always relied on. Guess now we know what “fast and furious” really means.