I always figured George Orwell was a prophet with his “1984” becoming reality in government propaganda and spying on U.S. citizens, but I had not considered Ayn Rand as a prophet with her “Atlas Shrugged.”
But Brietbart’s John Sexton points out ObamaCare’s Directive 10-289.
In unilaterally waiving the employer mandate to provide workers health insurance for companies with between 50 and 100 employees, Obama’s IRS had to figure out a way to prevent companies from just laying off workers to drop below the 100 threshold. Fox News notes: “Firms will be required to certify to the IRS – under penalty of perjury – that ObamaCare was not a motivating factor in their staffing decisions. To avoid ObamaCare costs you must swear that you are not trying to avoid ObamaCare costs. You can duck the law, but only if you promise not to say so.”
Rand’s Directive 10-289 begins: “All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.”
Now, that’s job lock, which ObamaCare, of course, ended.
With Obama, it is all politics and politics is all about the optics: How things look, not how they are. He has to make it look as if it is not killing jobs.
Dan Mitchell of Cato Institute writes: “Obama’s latest diktat doesn’t go nearly as far as Directive 10-289, thankfully, but it’s more than a bit disturbing that we’ve gotten to the point where a bunch of hacks in Washington think that they have the right to tell private companies how many people they’re allowed to have on the payroll.”
4TH ST8 
Looking forward to Atlas Shrugged part 3, set for a release date in September. In another subject (“Another part comes flying off the ObamaCare contraption”), Winston Smith posed this statement:
Winston Smith says:
February 15, 2014 at 1:13 pm
Athos, as much as I respect and honor the authors of the Constitution, it has proven itself unable to thwart the plans of evil men. Why?
The problem that unsettles me is how do we undo 100+ years of Socialist Creep, and the theft of our freedoms (the Blessings of Liberty)?
I’m a baby boomer. I grew up watching WW2 movies, and TV shows. They portrayed the German soldiers one way, and the Gestapo another. Even the German soldiers were afraid of the Gestapo BECAUSE THEY ANSWERED TO NO ONE.
Today, we have the IRS, and the BATF, and Homeland Security, that are our version of the Gestapo. How did we let the IRS seize an individual’s assets and paychecks, without a court order? Who designed the asset forfeiture laws that can take everything an individual has, without a court order (and before he’s found guilty of a crime)? And where is the justice in the BATF killing 30 children in Waco, Texas, back in 1993?
Who did this, and how can we undo this? It’s evil.
And how is it we can borrow and spend $17.3 TRILLION, and give that obligation to future generations? We didn’t have the courage to flat out confiscate it from our current generation so we’re stealing their money, instead?
This is not the America that I know. My hope is that Rand’s book/movie will be a clarion call, not a prophetic record.
It really is absolutely disgusting to see someone comparing American civil servants to the Gestapo.
“Athos” ought to be ashamed of himself for smearing our country,its institutions and our law enforcement officials.
Athos makes sense mentioning Waco. The Waco killings of men, women and children by federal agents were during the Democrat/Socialist administration of Bill Clinton and his Attorney General, horsey Janet Reno. And the ambush killings at Ruby Ridge, a man’s wife holding her baby, his son, and the son’s dog, were also by federal agents. Different strokes for different folks, there was more publicity and condemnation given to dull security guard Zimmerman for killing dull thug teenager Martin than to the totally unnecessary force used at Waco and Ruby Ridge. In the latter cases the local sheriff or state police officers could have knocked on the door with a warrant. But it was the beloved Bill Clinton’s government, nothing to see here, folks, move along.
“horsey Janet Reno”
“dull thug teenager Martin”
Once again, misogyny married to racism.
So both of these are the messenger rather than the message.
Good one Nyp, you so funny.
Touch a nerve, petey?
I’ve met people that work for the IRS, and they watched the same WW2 shows that I did. They seemed like normal folks. But the power they hold, is the power to destroy.
And that power is being used by our tyrant in chief to silence, intimidate, and destroy his political enemies.
You know, us Americans that still value freedom and liberty. The German people feared the Gestapo, petey. Most people I know have at least a healthy respect for that unAmerican agency.
Of course, if you work there, it would explain a lot.
There you go – comparing American law enforcement to the Gestapo.
Shameful.
“American law enforcement” ??
Show me the reference made to “American law enforcement”, nyp.
You don’t think the border patrol, which is part of DHS is law enforcement? You don’t think airport and seaport security, which is part of DHS, is law enforcement? You don’t thing ATF agents are law enforcement?
I think Metro is law enforcement, I think FBI is law enforcement.
Those newer “agency’s” are little more than specialized target seekers.
Securitate they are not, though NSA is very, very scary and close. One could say even only one step away from having their own private tunnels to take people off the streets quietly…don’t laugh Securitate did those things and NSA is not far behind.
The rest of the new ersatz “L.E.” bureaucratic monoliths you mention are mostly overstepping their boundaries. Like @ Ruby Ridge and Waco. They are bringing bad reps to the profession.
I have to make a correction to that. You used the term “Law Enforcement” That is not the jod of police in any way shape or form. They are supposed to keep the peace and make charges on those who may have broken a law.
The job of enforcement is exclusively the Judiciaries.
“horsey Janet Reno”
Vernon, you owe all the horses an apology.
Show me the authority that grants the IRS the right to seize my money out of my bank account without a court order, petey.
Show me the authority that has me take off my shoes and get patted down in order to fly on a commercial domestic flight.
These are NOT American ideals. These are an affront to my inalienable rights.
Then tell me again what’s disgusting.
So, in addition to being a bankrupt who saddles others with his medical bills, in addition to being someone who compares US law enforcement agents to the Gestapo, you are also a tax delinquent.
“US law enforcement agents” do not exist. There are Police and judges. Police keep the peace and Judges are the ONLY ones allowed to enforce law.
If you can’t answer my questions, petey, you don’t have to get personal.
It’s OK to say you don’t know how the IRS operates unconstitutionally.
I’m just pointing out the lawless way our free society is operating. Seems like a lot of people don’t know and are afraid to ask for fear of retaliation.
Looks like tyranny to me, eh? (You know, that Gestapo thing)
And this thread is exactly why I suspect petey is part of game. Instead of addressing the unconstitutional acts of tyranny perpetrated by various federal agencies, he is irritated that anyone dare compare them to an infamous NAZI organization, and justifies the behavior with the term, “American law-enforcement”, like that excuses everything.
When someone questions the ever-growing, abusive power of government, he comes back with a personal attack.
If the deficiencies of ObamaCare are discussed, his fallback position is “X.X million now have affordable health insurance”, like that makes up for all the bad shit that has come with it.
Our nation, as the tyrant Lincoln correctly stated, was “conceived in Liberty.” That was the point, dear petey, as any fair-minded, intelligent student of American Revolution would realize.
The Declaration stated:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”
Now petey, I’m betting that most people that follow this blog believe these words to be central to the American view of politics. Back in the 1990’s, I created a website that analyzed and explained each sentence of the Declaration, and this section was the key. Perhaps, just for once, you could tell us, in your own words, not from some pre-approved script, what this section means to you, philosophically speaking.
=================================
Y’know, I can’t prove it, but I believe that most Americans are libertarians, with a small “l”. That is, they believe that government has a role in their lives, but ultimately, they will not allow their freedoms to be destroyed by pompous, abusive government.
Yes, many people do a lousy job of self-government, and so far have not shown much resistance to the slow usurpation of their rights during the last century, thanks to the false left/right paradigm that has them essentially brainwashed.
Yes, many Americans have been dumbed-down by public schools, party politics, mainstream media, etc., but their love of liberty has not yet been entirely bred out of their souls, and all they need is a defining, catalyzing event to show them how evil their government has become to break them free from their collective coma.
And yes, though many people have become dependent on that same evil, unconstitutional government, as long-planned, when it comes right down to it, they won’t passively sit by while that government enslaves them, no matter which fucking party is in charge.
So, petey, as I see it, when that time comes, even you will have to make the choice of which path to follow: liberty or tyranny. And if I was you, I’d figure that one out ahead of time.
War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength; Petey is …
As suspected, no response from petey. But then, I’m just a paranoid, gun-totin’, conspiracy mongerin’, anachronistic loser who quotes Founding Fathers to make a point.
BTW, here’s a little something about the IRS:
http://nypost.com/2014/02/22/christine-odonnell-i-was-a-victim-of-the-irs/
Oh wait, it’s from the NY Post, which can’t be used on this blog…
You believe that Abraham Lincoln was a “tyrant,” that 9/11 was some kind of staged government conspiracy, that the federal income tax is somehow unconstitutional, and that our country is comparable to fascist dictatorships. Given the deep and profound level of your wing-nuttery, it really is not useful to engage in bull-session discussions of what the Declaration of Independance means to me. I can occasionally have a useful, or even entertaining dialogue with someone like Milty and Steve. Athos can be fun because he is so hapless. You? I don’t think so.
By the way, the problem with your most recent paranoid cite is not that it comes from the New York Post, but that it comes from Christine O’Donnell, Just as I try not to engage with people who think that 9/11 was a government plot, I try not to engage with witches.
You are not paranoid if they really are out to get you.
Precisely who is it that is out to get you, Mr. Mitchell?
I was referring to all the people investigated by the IRS and had their property taken without due process.
Sorry – that is indeed paranoia.
Wow, petey, you only listed the mainstream stuff I believe. You oughta hear the rest 🙂
Meanwhile, your affinity for all things Big Government really speaks for itself, and it is interesting to read your weak defense of the Obama regime’s behavior. Like many extreme partisans, I suspect you would support Obama even if he performed a satanic sacrifice of a small child on national TV. Of course, when Obama considers a drone strike on an American citizen in a foreign country without due process, he’s getting closer. Of course, the Democrats will support it because Obama has a “(D)” after his name, whereas they would have gone ape-shit if Bush had done it. Not that the knee-jerk Bush supporters were much better.
Hence my strong distaste for loyal partisans, who have no fixed political principles outside of “he’s our president so we have to support him, no matter what dumbass thing he does.”
Some of the best liberals I ever met were Wicca, Nyp.
Witches aren’t bad people, in fact true believers in that faith insist any bad spent on others comes back to the originator times three. They have a tough level of Karma if you ask me.
Indeed it is.
Hapless? What is that suppose to mean? Self-aggrandizement and arrogance. You remind me of a teenager, petey.
Ignore history. Turn a blind eye to President Pinocchio. I think I get it. You lie to yourself so much, that when “the Øne” lies to you, you don’t mind!
Have I got that right?
I rest my case.
Be nice to the witches, Nyp.
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