Reader: Executive order is a dangerous step

Editor:
On June 9, with flagrant disregard for the 10th Amendment, President Obama signed an executive order to create a policy-generating entity for rural America known as the White House Rural Council.

In a statement released by the White House, it is claimed that Obama wishes to provide “stability and protection” to family farms and that he will “work to help family farmers and rural small businesses find profitability in the marketplace and success in the global economy.”

This council will be made up of representatives from 25 federal departments and offices, (such as the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and the EPA) with openness to any other “executive branch departments, agencies and offices as the president or the secretary of agriculture may, from time to time, designate.”

Most of these power structures, of which we have grown accustomed and on which we have formed a dependency, are themselves nowhere called for in the Constitution.

Consider the obvious fact that there is no legal entity called “rural America.” Many states have large rural stretches, including entire counties.

Our state and local governments are supposed to be generating policy for our local areas. Executive orders are essentially rules placed into effect simply by the will of the president, with no debate or vote from Congress.

This new executive order is a dangerous step in the direction of even deeper centralized planning. It seeks to foster a deeper dependence on the federal government on the part of state, county and local governments, thus making our elected representation less and less powerful and meaningful.

Take a look at history and you will see that over-reaching Statist power-grabs always present themselves as benevolent helpers, as coming to save the day with solutions. Don’t be fooled. This executive order should be a red flag to every American, especially every rural American.

When the federal government brazenly steps over so many constitutional and legal boundaries to start dreaming up its plans for your life and your community, it is time to say “No!”

We need to be contacting our senators, and governors, and saying that this needs to be stopped. We need to elect a president who refuses to violate our rights in this way and who will cut back the overreaching tentacles of the executive branch.

Marie Hosdil
Steubenville, Ohio