Thursday, October 1, 2009

FDA Accused of Abuse of Power and Risks to Liberty

If you have not read it yet, get the book, The Rise of Tyranny: How Federal Agencies Abuse Power and Pose Risks to Your Life and Liberty, by Jonathan W. Emord. He lays out what is wrong and gives a plan to correct the abuses and risk causing. After working as a lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission for several years under Mark Fowler and Dennis Patrick in the Ronald Reagan Administration, Emord began a private law practice in Washington, D.C. The publisher is the Sentinel Press in Washington, D.C. Copyright 2008.


Since being in private practice since 1988 when Reagan left office, Emord has taken on a number of First Amendment cases. This book concentrates on the Food and Drug Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -- all being examples of agencies having combinations of executive, legislative and judicial power given to them by Congress. Emord describes the case law that started this unwise delegation of legislative and judicial powers to Federal agencies and he points out that the Supreme Court of the United States has not found an unconstitutional delegation of powers to an agency since 1935. Thus we have now created almost the exact tyranny that was the cause of the Revolutionary War. Except now we have over 180 Federal agencies instead of King George III.


Emord says the way back to liberty requires Americans to take action because Congress has relinquished the power to govern. The House and Senate do not want to take the heat for hard decisions, so they let the agencies take the heat, while the members spend their time raising money for the next election. You can see this happening every day in the present atmosphere of an unconnected to the voters Washington, D.C. crowd.


Here is what Americans must do. 1) Vote corrupt Members of Congress Out of Office; 2) Enact Legislation to Prevent Congressional Relinquishment of the Law-Making Power; 3) Enact Legislation to Prevent Industry Capture; 4) Enact Legislation Requiring Meaningful Judicial Review; 5) Enact Legislation to Punish Appointed Officials Who Violate the Constitution, Agency Rules, or Commission Enabling Statutes for Personal Gain; 6) Enact Legislation to Protect Americans from Unsafe Drugs; 7) Enact Legislation to Eliminate FDA Jurisdiction Over Health Claims and Structure/Function Claims and Establish New Anti-Fraud Protections; and 8) Enact Legislation to Mandate Due Process in Medicare Part B Reimbursement Cases.


This looks like a tall order that will take some time. But Emord says, "We are at a critical moment in history. Corruption within the government is pervasive and there are virtually no checks on the abuses. We must either reverse the trend toward ruin promptly or stand by as we lose our place as a bastion of liberty, hope, and opportunity for the world." Emord tells us that George Washington (who is that, some of our school children ask?) warned us in his Farewell Address that there "should be no change through usurpation; for through this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed."


Readers of this book will become fired up to work toward a restoration of the REPUBLIC that protects liberty.  We have a lot to do, one bite at a time.