Crosstalk: April 19, 2016

Tom DeWeese is the president of the American Policy Center. Tom is one of the nations' leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence and protecting our constitutionally guaranteed rights. Tom believes we are being destroyed from within. He says you discover this when you talk to people from around the nation and ask them what's happening to them personally. He's found that people are being arrested for putting gardens in their yard, the equity in homes is being destroyed and fighting city hall when some of these things come up is getting harder. From there Tom talked about the destruction of American industry by the EPA. Basically, the EPA has been systematically placing rules that make it impossible for industries to operate. The rules affect things like emissions, water use and the types of products that can be produced. Congress is supposed to be the ones giving the EPA their authority. Instead, President Obama has been issuing one executive order after another telling them what to do and Congress is 'twiddling their thumbs' not saying anything about it and hence, industries are being destroyed. Adding to all of this is the drive to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Tom noted that study after study shows that when this happens, a lot of jobs are lost. Tom's organization has been fighting for years against Agenda 21. You may recognize this effort through its various themes like 'Smart Growth' or 'Sustainable Development'. Through this, Tom has seen a direct attack on private property rights that control what you can do on your property, the creation of non-elected regional councils and the funding of Agenda 21 through federal grants. In the case of the grants, they come with specific 'strings attached'. People are then finding out that the more those grants are imposed, the less input your elected officials have in what's taking place. So what does any of this have to do with the upcoming presidential election? It's the fact that these issues don't seem to be getting much election related discussion. Since it's everyone's responsibility to become informed and communicate with elected officials, this Crosstalk can help as it presents a definition of 'private property rights', a review of the Clean Power Plan, the Housing and Urban Development's Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule and more.