
<br /><br /><strong><a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid:/00000363/!x-usc:http:/news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" target="_blank" title="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" rel="nofollow">Obama and his rogue Department of Justice cannot continue to expand their police state and eliminate businesses that don't necessarily agree with their politics. Fax Congress now and tell them to investigate this attack on Gibson Guitars and and help save American businesses! </a></strong><br /><br />Why is Obama worried about wood importation? Ostensibly, because of the Lacey Act of 1900, which was originally passed to regulate trade in bird feathers used for hats, amended in 2008 to cover <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">wood</span></strong> and other plant products. <br /><br /><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The U.S. Lacey Act</span> includes the provision that <em>Anyone who imports into the United States, or exports out of the United States, illegally harvested plants or products made from illegally harvested plants, including timber, as well as anyone who exports, transports, sells, receives, acquires or purchases such products in the United States, may be prosecuted. In any prosecution under the Lacey Act, the burden of proof of a violation rests on the government</em>. </strong><br /><br />Since the wood imported by Gibson is not <span style="text-decoration: underline;">finished</span> by workers in India, the feds are claiming that the product is illegal to import into the U.S. --- not <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">because of U.S. law, but because Obama's Justice Department wants to interpret India's law whichever way it sees fit, in order to push the Administration's agenda</span></strong>...which we have to assume is kicking businesses who don't support his agenda OUT OF THE COUNTRY. <br /><br />Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has now introduced an amendment called the FOCUS Act (Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012). It will remove every reference to "foreign law" from the Lacey Act and substitute current federal penalties with civil penalties. <br /><br /><strong>Senator Paul said on his website: <em>"It is long overdue that the Lacey Act be revised to address its broad overcriminalization. We have seen the damage this extremely broad and vague law has done to American companies and it is time to change its language to better serve Americans and the American jobs it threatens."</em></strong> <br /><br />Congress needs to pass this amendment and support American businesses. Obama and his rogue Department of Justice cannot continue to expand their police state and eliminate businesses that don't necessarily agree with their politics. Fax Congress now and tell them to support the FOCUS Act and save American businesses! <br /><br /><span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><strong>According to a court filing made by the Justice Department, Gibson is being told by the Administration to move its manufacturing overseas ... to Madagascar. </strong></span><br /><br /><strong>"I think they're taking the position that we should be shifting these jobs overseas,"</strong> Bruce Mitchell, the chief legal counsel for Gibson told Fox News. "We have - probably 40 people in our factory here who are doing the inlays into the fingerboard. ... <strong>If all that was to be done over in India, then ... those jobs would be lost.</strong>" <br /><br />Gibson factory workers were told that they could face <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">criminal prosecution</span></strong> for sorting wood in the Gibson factory. <br /><br /><strong>"We feel totally abused. We believe the arrogance of federal power is impacting me personally, our company personally and the employees here in Tennessee, and it's just plain wrong,"</strong> Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said in a statement released to the media. <br /><br /><strong><a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid:/00000363/!x-usc:http:/news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" target="_blank" title="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" rel="nofollow">Congress needs to pass this amendment and support American businesses. Obama and his rogue Department of Justice cannot continue to expand their police state and eliminate businesses that don't necessarily agree with their politics. Fax Congress now and tell them to support the FOCUS Act and save American businesses! </a></strong><br /><br />The charges against Gibson do seem rather trumped-up. The wood that was seized is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier and is FSC Controlled. FSC standards require the wood not be illegally harvested and not be harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights. <br /><br />Gibson is suing the government in Federal Court in Nashville to get their property back. (And still, the government hasn't charged the company with any wrongdoing.) Juszkiewicz says that Gibson employees are being <strong>"treated like drug criminals." </strong><br /><br />At a time when Obama is claiming that he wants to create jobs, he is doing everything he can to eliminate Gibson's American workforce. <br /><br /><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">AND AGAIN, WHAT IS INTERESTING</span></em></strong> is that Gibson's big competitor...who uses the same kind of wood...HAS NOT BEEN RAIDED, SHUT DOWN, OR CHARGED WITH ANYTHING. <br /><br />Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) says <strong>"Gibson Guitar is at the heart of this jobs debate, and is an example of exactly why President Obama has it wrong when it comes to getting our economy back on track. Maybe if the President spent more time finding real solutions to empowering small business owners and less time hindering businesses like Gibson, we'd see more new jobs being created."</strong> <br /><br />The government's encroachment of our rights will continue as long as we fail to act! They are violating the Fourth Amendment rights of individuals and destroying American businesses. Is it all for political reasons? Or is it simply Obama's expanding police state? <br /><br /><strong><a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid:/00000363/!x-usc:http:/news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" target="_blank" title="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" rel="nofollow">Members of Congress need to hear from you TODAY so they will investigate this corruption and support Senator Paul's FOCUS Act! </a></strong><br /><br />
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<br />Conservative Action Alerts<br /><a href="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986651:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" target="_blank" title="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986651:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" rel="nofollow">www.ConservativeActionAlerts.com</a> <br /><br /><a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid:/00000363/!x-usc:http:/news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986651:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" target="_blank" title="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986651:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" rel="nofollow">www.ConservativeActionAlerts.com</a> <br /><br />P.S. <strong><a href="wlmailhtml:{A3BC50DA-54F8-48CB-8154-8EF261BD04ED}mid:/00000363/!x-usc:http:/news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" target="_blank" title="http://news.dienerconsultants.com/ct/7986650:11297180161:m:4:299464979:CFD0FF038F4F3EE848EAB6839AA79B43:r" rel="nofollow">The acts of the Justice Department must be investigated and the FOCUS Act must be passed. At a time when 14 million Americans are unemployed, and millions more are underemployed, why is the Obama administration attacking Gibson, an American institution that continues to hire new employees - right here in America? Maybe because Gibson is not a big political donor to Obama?</a></strong> <br /><br /></div>
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