New York WEAPONIZES Regulatory Powers Against The NRA

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Regulatory powers have just been dangerously weaponized against the National Rifle Association. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent directive to financial regulators wants them to pressure private companies to break ties with the NRA, “or else…”

New York has never been known as a bastion of freedom, yet this is even highly reminiscent of all-out fascist tactics to eliminate basic fundamental human rights through weaponized regulations. And although no person should ever have the kind of power Cuomo exerted to “decree” private businesses and banks follow his orders, don’t be surprised if they cave to the tyranny.

“I am directing the Department of Financial Services to urge insurers and bankers statewide to determine whether any relationship they may have with the NRA or similar organizations sends the wrong message to their clients and their communities who often look to them for guidance and support,” the governor wrote in a statement.

The Department of Financial Services, which regulates the banking and insurance industries in New York, followed up with guidance letters to insurance companies and banks, according to Reason. 

The guidance then includes slight variations on the following language from the banking letter:

The Department encourages its chartered and licensed financial institutions to continue evaluating and managing their risks, including reputational risks, that may arise from their dealings with the NRA or similar gun promotion organizations, if any, as well as continued assessment of compliance with their own codes of social responsibility. The Department encourages regulated institutions to review any relationships they have with the NRA or similar gun promotion organizations, and to take prompt actions to managing these risks and promote public health and safety.

Why is this such a terrifying ordeal? The regulatory body that oversees these industries is warning companies under its power that they may be assuming reputational risk (a regulated area that draws official attention) by doing business with legal organizations such as the NRA. This reputational risk is said to exist because these groups are “gun promotion organizations,” which boils down to nothing more than them taking public policy positions at odds with those favored by the state’s political leaders.  Meaning the New York State government is weaponizing itself against any business it deems a political enemy…does this sound like East Berlin circa 1939 yet?

But this is hardly the first time government regulatory agencies have been weaponized against the public. “My father may have been the originator of the concept of employing the IRS as a weapon of political retribution,” Elliott Roosevelt observed of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The federal tax agency remains a handy bludgeon for politicians from that day through the present, including its recent deployment against Tea Party groups and its power to financially punish (at gunpoint of course) those who can’t afford or don’t wish to purchase government-approved health care plans. 

As Reason noted, yes, weaponizing regulatory agencies has been done before.  But making it explicit strips regulatory authority of any legitimacy. Punishing political opponents is a less compelling argument for such power than claims—valid or otherwise—that you’re enforcing good business practices. If it becomes standard practice, people are entitled to view regulators as nothing more than partisan hitmen and treat them accordingly.

New York’s long-established culture of corrupt and weaponized use of government power is a stain on the state, not something to be made official policy and extended to the country as an example to emulate.

Dr. Taylor Haynes: Wyoming’s Gubernatorial Candidate Is A TRUE Constitutionalist

If ever there was a list of gubernatorial candidates who would strictly adhere to the Constitution, the list would be small. But joining Dr. Ron Paul is Dr. Taylor Haynes, who would like to see Wyoming succeed by giving people liberty.

Dr. Taylor Haynes is intelligent and well-spoken, like Dr. Ron Paul, and seeks to limit government to its roles laid out in the Constitution.  Dr. Haynes said he would like to see the 16th amendment removed from the Constitution, but it needs to be done without using a Convention of the States.  He says this opens up the Constitution and the government would surely and immediately take away free speech and gun rights. This amendment is not a part of the Bill of Rights but was added so the federal government could disingenuously steal money from the American people.

On his website, Haynes is quoted as saying:

I am the first person running for office to promote Wyoming’s sovereignty and the absolute need to establish a “constitutional” relationship with the Federal Government. The vision I have shared with Wyoming voters for a prosperous and free Wyoming, has shown signs of coming to life. –Dr. Taylor Haynes

Not even two weeks ago, Dr. Haynes did an interview with Glenn Woods from KGAB radio in Cheyenne, in which he said:

The Constitution was weighing heavily and being lost and when I could see how the primary was going…I really wanted to keep that particular message out there. Because over the years starting in the late ’80’s pushing back on people like Bill Clinton…I could see that state sovereignty was an issue. If we were under the Constitution, we wouldn’t have some of the problems we’re facing in this very day.

 

Haynes admits that some of his ideas involving liberty and freedom come across as “scary” to some.  But that’s likely due to the fact that oppression and tyranny of the federal government has taken such a firm hold on many Americans, they don’t actually feel oppressed through complacency. When Haynes was asked if he was interested in raising taxes he replied:

In the interest of fiscal responsibility and balance between chaos and order, I would just hold the line. I would not raise any taxes and I’d hold the line on spending. The spending problem we have, and we have one, and the revenue problem we have, obviously, they are related. But what we’re doing…is only working with 49% of our [Wyoming state’s] mineral wealth.  We should have 100% of our mineral wealth…I’m not saying we should be ‘drunken sailors.’ I’m saying IF we were under the Constitution IF we ran the state in a fiscally responsible constitution-based manner, we wouldn’t have budget problems.

Haynes also says that we [Wyoming] don’t NEED the feds involved in education. We need to get away from, for example, math teachers teaching social engineering.  Math teachers should teach math, not “engineer” our children.

Listening to Dr. Haynes speak was a breath of fresh air. He will be one man to watch. Haynes will attempt to bring the free market, wealth, and freedom back to Wyoming, making the state what America used to be: the land of freedom and opportunity.

Democrats Want To BAN Gas And Diesel Cars By 2040 To Make California More Like China

One California lawmaker is seeking to have the state ban all vehicles powered by fossil fuels by the year 2040.  Should the bill succeed in becoming a law, the state of California would not allow residents to register any vehicle that emits carbon dioxide.

According to Bloomberg, California Assemblymember Phil Ting, a Democrat who is chairman of the chamber’s budget committee, said he plans to introduce a bill that, starting in 2040, would allow the state’s motor vehicles department to register only “clean” vehicles that emit no carbon dioxide, such as battery-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

“Until you set a deadline, nothing gets done,” Ting, who represents much of San Francisco, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It’s responsible for us to set a deadline 23 years in advance.” This is not the first time California has considered a ban on the internal combustion engine vehicle either. The topic has been discussed at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the state’s overly powerful air quality regulator, after Governor Jerry Brown showed interest in similar moves by other countries, including communist China.

“I’ve gotten messages from the governor asking, ‘Why haven’t we done something already?’” CARB Chairman Mary Nichols said in September, referring to communist China’s planned phase-out of fossil-fuel vehicle sales. “The governor has certainly indicated an interest in why China can do this and not California.” Perhaps because Chian is a communist country run by an all-powerful government.  By all means, the lawmakers now seek to make California more like China.

Using buzzwords like “climate change” the tyrants in the Golden State will be able to enact any law they see fit in an attempt to control those who live in the state.

Ting said he’ll introduce the bill when lawmakers return to Sacramento next month for the upcoming legislative session. If adopted, it would eliminate a huge chunk of carbon emissions from the transportation sector (now the top source of the” greenhouse gas” in the U.S.) as part of the state’s quest to slash emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.