PART IV: THE 28th AMENDMENT PROJECT
Chapter 11
The "Game Worth Playing"
("The 50 million Lottery" was not about $50 million dollars. It was about 50 million people claiming an average of $1000 apiece and many tens of thousands "winning" (earning) the $100,000 maximum prize and catapulting new skills and education and history in motion to the populace and especially to the 47 million Americans on food stamps and 23 million unemployed and many of the 12 million undocumented)
How Could "The 28th Amendment Project"
Happen Virtually Overnight?
There had never been anything quite like "The 28th Amendment Project" in American history.
The Oklahoma Land Rushes, starting in 1889, conjure up a picture of the speed with which Americans in 2013 and their state legislatures were able to implement the 28th Amendment. The picture of "the Sooners" racing across the plains to establish their 160 acres, gives a miniature scale portrayal of the race that ensued as the concept of "Free Enterprise Towns" sprang up first on the web "virtually" and then in reality and in earnest all across the entire "fruited plain".
A similar sports parallel corroborates the picture of the enormity of events unfolding in 2013 America and how swiftly momentus changes were occuring by recalling the paradigm shift that happened to the game of golf in the late 1950s. Arnold Palmer single-handedly and out of no-where, broke onto the world stage and through his sheer force of charisma and unwavering boldness and unrepentent "go for it" attitude, captured a nation's imagination and fascination with the game of GOLF. To all the new comers it looked exciting and inviting and even to the old timers, suddenly "golf" looked like a fun "game worth playing" and wow, did Arnold Palmer make golf look like -- "A Game Worth Playing"!
Suddenly a new "Game Worth Playing" was taking America by storm and a new partnership of 300 million people coalesced around some simple concepts of returning liberty and prosperity back to a nation and returning the 545 people (535 in Congress, 1 President, and 9 Justices) in Washington back to their very limited powers put in the 4 page constitution and its original 10 amendments.
Suddenly the national past-time of rating their federal government's performance below the level of "cockroach" turned instead to a serious fascination with a game that let all American's do what Arnold Palmer had done, i.e. find that incentive driven passion to grab the incentives of individual achievement and boldness and, where their futures and their families' futures were concerned, to "Go For It". It was an exciting and inviting combination of money incentives, history, citizenship, and education incentives and it was sponsored by the Founding Fathers and their Article 5 of the Constitution for calling a National Convention of the States.
"The 50 million Lottery" was not about $50 million dollars. It was about 50 million people claiming an average of $1000 apiece and many tens of thousands "winning" (earning) the $100,000 maximum prize and catapulting new skills and education and history in motion to the populace and especially to the 47 million Americans on food stamps and 23 million unemployed and many of the 12 million undocumented. "The National Lottery" as it came to be called was an ingenious coming together of 300,000,000 Americans from all walks of life and income levels and thousands of American corporations and businesses that had previously taken their profits and investments and employees and jobs overseas. As American business flooded back to American shores, the "Repatriation Stimulus Fund" (RSF) created from the 10% repatriation tax (instead of the 35% corporate tax that drove them away in the first place) was the engine that fueled "The National Lottery".
The 545 losers were loud and livid that they didn't get the estimated $100 billion that went into the RSF to wastefully spend as business as usual. But their problems were just beginning as "Tenet #2" Congressional Term Limits, were about to install the "Citizen Congress" that the Founders originally debated and envisions as "Rotation". The $100 billion stimulus for the people was in effect an unprecedented "ad budget" that created the "land rush" qualities that propelled the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment with which "the People" bargained with themselves to make the changes needed for America's return to prosperity and integrity.
The corruption and dysfunction that had spiraled a nation to the brink of disaster and tyrrany was put on notice as the states and "The People" reclaimed their balance of power. "The National Lottery" as laid out in a new little book brought 300 million together thru their state legislatures with a combination of education and inspiration from the qualities of human nature that unite and promote the positive instead of the negative qualities that had been used to alienate and divide for the sole reasons of amassing and maintaining immense power. .
"In Search of George Washington (The Story of the 28th Amendment) provided a new "look" at what had made America great and its blue-print and roadmap for America to once again regain the greatness and "goodness" that were at Her foundations appeared at just the right moment to register with an entire population. Suddenly a nation had come to realize that 300,000,000 were being ruled by 545 (535 in Congress and 1 President and 9 justices) and not the other way around. The yearning for reversing course was at a breaking point. Rebuilding America's greatness was that tremendous "Game Worth Playing". And just like "Arnie's Army" had swelled into a massive force to propel the game he personified, so to would the groundswell grow almost overnight as America's Army picked up the charge to restore Her Ideals, and integrity, and sacred Honor.
The “hallmark” and "crowning centerpiece" of the 20-tenets of the 28th Amendment would become famous as Tenet #1. Tenet #1, the establishment of Free Enterprise Towns (FET’s) and Social Enterprise Towns (SET’s), was unveiled as 2013 dawned and the cumulative, positive effects would extend far beyond the building boom that it spawned across America. The establishment of FETs and the competition that ensued with rival "Social Enterprise Towns" (SETs) would establish long-lasting and profound effects upon America's economic, cultural, and spiritual foundations and the extent of the changes and the lessons learned were to become legendary in modern American history.
But also encapsulated in "Tenet #1" was the enormous "$50 Billion Ad Campaign" and the extraordinary effects it had in tapping into the inherent drive of Americans to succeed when incentivized to excel. Those incentives -- that set up vast partnerships between the rich and the poor and the wage payers and the wage earners and the successful with the unsuccessful - would catapult and exponentiate the speed of the vast changes to the American landscape and the whole tenor of Americans as the interacted daily in business and in their communities. These were strongly enriching and potent incentives that, when understood and unleashed, proved ever again the might of the individual and the individual's yearning for the new and the bold and the adventurous. These were the foundations that once before had built America to greatness, the forces of nature found deep within the American soul, forces earnestly awaiting the chance to exploit the far horizons of attainment when freed by other attendant and counter-attacking forces that began to crush and extinguish the growing repression of an out of control and smothering government.
As the plans became public in January of 2013, the first and most urgent priority of the states to reclaim their economies and regain their autonomies was to immediately try to attract their share of the thousands of businesses and corporations that had fled the U.S. (with their money and jobs and their headquarters) and bring them, not just back into the country, but get them located and repatriated back into one of their own, new, Free Enterprise Towns (FETs) located in rural areas and Free Enterprise Zones (FEZs) located in blighted and decimated city and large town areas. Simultaneously, the race was on to recruit the biggest and best corporate entities before other states could get to them first. Getting these commitments even before ratification and passage of the 28th Amendment was the single biggest determining factor that spread the message and propelled the competition and propelled, and also virtually insured, the easy passage of the 28th Amendment. The pressure from the reality that there were thousands of commitments well ahead of ratification from the repatriating companies from abroad and also from domestic corporations committing to locate and build new operations proved to be too much for all but a handful of states to ignore and reject.
The allure of the FETs from the state legislatures' perspective was easy to understand, and the strategy was simple: Get a vast influx of these major corporations and small companies by using the incredible incentives of no federal taxes and no state taxes. It was a potent seduction. The dividends were immense for all new entities and new residents who lived and worked inside the new FET zones, but the rewards were also great for those outside the FETs. People in surrounding towns and cities participated in the booming construction. Cities and surrounding towns saw their social welfare roles dwindle significantly because so many of their unemployed and homeless and undocumented immigrants moved to new residency in these new incubators. There were extensive opportunities to gain experience through internships, apprenticeships and similar programs. Additionally, those who completed training had significant help in finding and securing jobs from businesses and individuals and there were few of the usual barriers to entry for beginning workers. Additionally also, the new FETs were set up to expedite the new structure whereby the FETs and the states were facilitating and expediting the expanded guest worker programs and streamlined "path to citizenship" as set out in the new amendment.
There were grand plans for a whole new way of mixing virtual classrooms with new vistas for learning. The genius that produced iPods and iPads and their gigantic repositories of information and instantaneous search of information was poised to do the same with the minds of those who were willing to take risks and stretch themselves mentally and intellectually. Within the immense incentives of FETs lay new horizons for bringing together the minds and the money to maximize what was possible for vastly compressing the human learning curve. With completely blank pages from which to start from, the FETs were calling out to the giants of technology and enlisting them to invent new visions and methods and few limitations to delivering education. The new 25-year incubators were their collective challenges and their exciting new laboratories.
The myriad of benefits generated within the FETs was inspiring from many standpoints. The mounting profits from their speedy and successful inceptions were obviously a tremendous source of renewal and recovery and celebration. But success meant far more than just overflowing dollars for all the participants. Re-establishing the strong bonds of community and the concepts of faith, hope and charity that had, throughout time, served as the foundations of America's goodness, were becoming incredibly important once again. And the benefits were contagious and spilled over into the neighboring cities and towns and the examples of cooperation and sharing prosperity and knowledge were becoming commonplace again as the messages and the revivals of freedom and liberty and achievement and success continued to spread.
The increased economic stimuli spilling into the surrounding towns were putting individuals back to work as building the FETs meant building everything from the ground up. Not so coincidentally, people in the neighboring cities and towns were seeing great gains in product and service sales since the money from FET investments was spent mostly outside the FETs to purchase everything that the FETs needed. Significant as well was the investment capital that poured into each FET from long distant investors who provided money for loans and equity investment. This was especially true for loans associated with the exploding real estate markets. Just as profits and productivity materialized quickly inside the FETs for their new residents and businesses, the profits built and matriculated gradually at first, but it wasn't long before the new money found its way into local and state economies and the velocity of money began heating up the whole landscape of American enterprise.
As investors and potential home buyers began to realize that "the race was on" and that the pressures of a new supply/demand cycle for housing and real estate had started, the upward movement of interest rates and prices spurred the nationwide race to purchase sooner rather than later. In turn, this collective enthusiasm turned “bust” to “BOOM!” in the nation's psyche and catapulted a new day across the whole spectrum of America's once decimated spirit.
At this point, the story of America's great turnaround is only half told and only halfway underway with the unfolding of the story of the FETs.
It wasn't only the competition between the states to beat each other to the punch with the most and best FETs that was behind the building boom. The other huge competition was part of the great national debate pitting FETs versus their liberal counterparts, SETs. The intense rivalry drove the building boom to greater heights. The half of the country that believed that the "Social Enterprise Town" (SET) model of big government and big taxes and big expenditures was the correct path to the greatest prosperity for its citizens (especially its lower class and minority citizens) were out to prove they had the "better mousetrap", so to speak, for prosperity. Their goal was to prove they could attract more businesses and corporations, and better jobs and more profits and a better standard of living than those that would be available by living and working in and under the FET model.
With the country split roughly 50/50 in many ways including along capitalistic/anti-capitalistic lines, the passions were exceedingly high to outperform and prove to everyone and for all time which system was the best for putting people to work and establishing the best paying jobs and wealth effect for the upper, middle, and lower classes. And it became almost a daily sport for the whole world to watch as the odds makers in Vegas bet on the number of new incorporations in every state on a daily basis. The stakes were high. FETs were at a distinct disadvantage since most of the world was touting socialism, communism and state-run economies. The Chinese were betting heavily with the odds-makers on the SET philosophy by using hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars they had to play with, and they were absolutely hell-bent to prove that the monolithic State always wins out over the attempts of "little people" to rule entire countries. The lines were drawn, the bets were placed and the rewards – and the visibility of FETs-- were high. Suddenly, the game was set at "winner take all".
The FETs were outnumbered and at a distinct disadvantage from a capital standpoint as George Soros, the Clintons, and the literally hundreds of their related and sympathetic left wing 501c3s and 501c4s (that had been set up and were mushrooming in size and force into a massive network)(see David Horowitz's http://DiscovertheNetworks.org) all combined with the world-wide groups and forces. The capital was being raised at breathtaking pace as the battle unfolded and the entire spectrum of all those who supported the One World Order vision (not the least of which included the Council of Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergs, the secret owners of the Federal Reserve (that had directed untold trillions thru their Federal Reserve Bank), and virtually all but TWO of the 192 member countries of the United Nations) — were committed in one way or another to virtually eliminating America and Her influence—and Her capitalistic way of life—in favor of the gigantic “One World Governance” ideal. With the game decidedly tilted, could the FETs, with so much less capital, prevail with NO corporate and individual income tax rates, NO property tax rates, NO capital gains tax rate, NO unemployment tax rate, NO gasoline tax, NO interference and NO regulation from the federal government? After all, SETs could tax as high as they wanted to attract townspeople and businesses, and they could micro-regulate their towns to absolute perfection. The tip-off was set to see which way the proverbial "Prairie Fire" raged. The rules were strict, well-defined and any so-called "cheating" was the subject of a panel of state review boards being set up at the state level. The Internet mass media proved to be pivotal for reporting and found a new market for investigative "monitoring" so to speak and would vastly broaden its reach as the mode that most Americans received information began to change.
Still, let’s not get too far ahead of the story.
Going into 2013, "The Great SET/FET 25-Year Competition" wasn't even going to occur without the passage of "The 28th Amendment” and specifically its "Tenet #1". The fierce fight to bring about that historic eventuality and to prosecute the passage of the biggest Amendment in America history was laid at the proverbial doorstep of "The 28th Amendment Project".
How in the world could one project produce such a large scale undertaking as massive as the "Juggernaut Amendment”, as it came to be called, and bring it to fruition over the last year of the Progressives’ “100 Year War” on American business and success (1913-2013)? Similarly, how could conservatives win two-thirds and three-fourths of the state legislatures to call a national constitutional convention for proposal and then ratify with three-fourths of those state legislatures and curb the ravenous, exploding federal government?
That answer was simple and it came from the fact that the whole Constitutional Amendment process when undertaken through the never-before-used vehicle of a national convention was completely at the control of the state legislatures and out of the control of the Congress and the Executive. Consider the fact that the states were like "We the People". They began to realize that they were in a fight for their very existence and the ultimate preservation of the basic framework that they had been a part of for 225 years. They came to believe that it was their fight for survival as much as it was "the People's" fight for survival. They had watched their power erode for decades at the hands of the central government while the feds had consolidated their power and exponentiated their size and scope. Consider that a moment of hope, if not moment of truth, had occurred in 2010 as Conservatives had won 660 seats in various state legislatures in the November, 2010, elections and the latest and exceedingly dire direction of the economy and jobs was screaming for an adult in the room and the state legislatures were beginning to understand that was going to fall to them.
As the word began to spread from a book chronicling a strange revival and re-visitation of original American events and as aparitions of Jefferson and Hamilton and Franklin and Washington and Independence Hall filled the air, and, as echoes from olden times were mystically afoot; there spread across the land an understanding that heritage and heroes of a long ago constitutional assembly were once again taking center stage and making themselves heard and a realization that long-faded quorums of founding minds and principles were being dusted off, and with these visions of the past there came a welling up across the land of anticipation and a sense of the supernatural and of destiny in the air.
And it evoked a strange angst and urgent outcry for combining cross-purposes over the span of two centuries An inexplicable phenomena of original purpose, was taking form and more Americans were taking heed of its drumbeat. But as events during 2011 had begun to accelerate the federal control of the daily lives of millions, and, as "the People" saw 2012 bring more and more unraveling of their inbred routines, and, as their old, familar realities were quickly vanishing and the disbelief was turning to realization - as all of this was coming to a perilous apex of anxiety - imploring cries rang out from an entire threatened populace and the roar became of historical proportions. The collective outcry of those who were yearning for their heritage—and their heroes--- was immense and everywhere there were murmurs and rumors of strange forces swelling and swirling in the mists of time and in the haze of history and the collective consciousness of an anxious nation seemed to be holding its breath and standing on a precipice as if waiting for some signal.
The answer from the founding minds of the past was clear and concise. And while they had recommendations across the plethora of usurpations by the federal government, the path and the vehicle and the way to right America's Ship was right there for all to see - right where it had always been -- Article 5 of the Constitution as the sword and the force of the people to amend their government. As a result of the Founders once again revisiting the founding principles and the miracles of the founding history, their recommendations were to inspire the tenets of the 28th Amendment that would revolutionize the national consciousness and revitalize a struggling nation and her people. "The 28th Amendment Project" grew overnight from a small book entitled "In Search of George Washington" that had some specific goals and plans that instigated the founders blue-print for a national movement. The Constitution loomed large as her designers again became her defenders and enlisted a national oath sworn to defend her against all enemies - external and internal. The foundation was laid and the snowball was set in motion for the inevitable National Constitutional Convention that was demanded.
The whole early movement took on a life of its own as most of the S&P companies whose officials were requested to sign a "Non-Binding Letter of Intent to Locate" and/or be a co-sponsoring entity realized that they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Therefore, they took up the banner and joined with other forces whose members understood that not only did they have nothing to lose, but it was their duty and responsibility to fight for their own very existence that was becoming threatened —and their duty to fight for the honor and the preservation of America Herself.
The early tools were oriented first at the individual to encourage direct learning hand-in-hand with the letters to be sent to their respective governor and state legislature. The influx of letters were the catalyst these state officials needed to learn the direction and scope of the sweeping grassroots movement that people demanded that was calling for their complete attention and immediate action.
The “Conservative Community Organizing Association" (CCOA) was about “Organizing the Organizations” and was the initial alliance that took shape and began disseminating the “cookie cutter” tools that were laid out in that early road map, "In Search of George Washington (The Story of the 28th Amendment)" -- (which became abbreviated in a new lexicon as just "In Search of ..." or "ISO”). The CCOAs took different forms in each state as the “mastermind principle” and “mastermind” groups took alternate but similar, routes in each state to first “get the word out” and then “get the results back” from the populace across the 50 states.
The Chamber of Commerce and its thousands of members and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the 251 business organizations that had come together to protest Barack Obama's "Jobs Bill" in October of 2011, and all of the entities vested in success oriented/profit driven motives for their owners and their workers were inspired to unite so that they could help bring about the "Building Boom of the Ages" as it started to be called in the early national press coverage.
The early guides and flyers for all of the organizations morphing together were:
a) The Goal - Exhibit A at http://iso28.com
b) The Plan - Exhibit B at http://iso28.com
c) The Letter – Exhibit C at http://iso28.com
d) The "Kit" - Exhibit D at http://iso28.com
e) You - Exhibit E at http://iso28.com
These were located conveniently at http://the28thamendmentproject.com (or http://iso28.com), so they were easy to print off and forward to others. These exhibits evolved as the suggestions came in for fine-tuning the messages of the historically significant truths that they conveyed.
"The People" began to realize that instead of the normal futility of writing their Congressman or Senators – (which always seemed to fall on deaf ears as Congress churned out a steady stream of legislation that constantly contradicted their wishes) they had a new and exciting way to redirect their efforts. They began to write to their respective Governors and ask that they and their staff read the new book, "In Search of George Washington". People then wrote to their Secretaries of State, their Attorneys General, their Lieutenant Governors, their state auditors and state treasurers to make the same request so that everyone could learn what the 28th Amendment- the new proverbial road-map for America- was all about. Finally they wrote to their bosses and the heads of their companies to persuade them to sign a non-binding "Letter of Intent to Locate" a new branch in one or more FETs, It turned out "the People" had some huge pent-up frustrations that they were determined to express to anyone who would listen. They poured out the letters by the thousands and found their states harbored many of their same frustrations as they received encouraging responses in every corner of America.
Those who were the undocumented in the country started to understand that a huge workforce would be needed to build the FET’s that were beginning to be planned all across the country. They began to realize that they were needed and wanted and that their tradition of hard work was being greatly solicited, not just to do the work needed to build these new towns - but to help forge respectful relationships and inspire others with their well known work ethics. Amazingly, those who were chronically unemployed, were even emboldened again to consider joining in to forge their futures to new and self- fulfilling heights. Thus, the great, metaphorical “Prairie Fire” began to burn slowly and steadily, but the flames were becoming a conflagration that would sweep from coast to coast with incredible speed.
The saga of "The 28th Amendment" was born in and nurtured by a conservative nation whose people would begin to work tirelessly toward a common goal of meeting at a National Constitutional Convention. These same people began to realize that by bringing "the People" and their state legislatures together, there was enormous potential for the states to reclaim their "infinite and residual powers". "Infinite and residual powers" were all those powers reserved to the states and to the people that accrued to them naturally as provided by the 10th Amendment and defined therein to be all powers not specifically enumerated to as one of the specific powers given to the federal government.
Let’s not forget that the half of America who believed in FETs and the people who built and ran the FETs were all out to prove that their no tax, no frills, low government would win the "Great FET/SET 25-Year Competition" and cover the countryside with free-from-government, hard working, highly educated, intelligent, prosperous Americans who lived and worked in harmony and fostered and maintained close, small town friendships. Those who sought the promise of communal living realized they needed to promulgate "Social Enterprise Towns" (SETs) to prove unequivocally that the human condition was better served far away from the pernicious evils of greed and capitalism, and free enterprise and small uncaring government.
The progressives had the attention of those who roamed the halls of academia and the far-reaching control of the monolithic governmental unions and the fewer remaining private unions as their catalysts to engineer and produce their new "SET" tenants. They were already in motion for this and had already begun moving their masses into the streets to demand the end of capitalism via the "Occupy Wall Street" revolution of October/November, 2011. The massive progressive movement had a vast network that was already mobilized and spreading across the land. This huge proliferation of people on the left was in place to coordinate and promulgate more civil unrest and civil disobedience to bring attention to their goals. In doing so, they would bring as many “crises” as possible to the steps of those who they picked as being responsible for the evils of capitalism and greed so that they could spotlight—and emphasize—their demands. The progressives on the left and the hard-left and their well bankrolled sponsors and the union bosses who were already amassing throngs of “useful idiots” – the disparaging moniker that described the hordes being brought out into the streets—along with those who believed in the “collective” solution were in the perfect position to promulgate “Social Enterprise Towns” all across America and prove they could attract the most corporations and create the most jobs and attract the largest populations of residents and produce the highest standard of living at each of the three levels of upper, middle and lower class.
Beginning with the collective $100 billion endowment funds at Harvard and Yale—and aggregating in the other Ivy League institutions that had, for so long, served as the bastions of elite higher progressive education in America, "the progressives" began to tap their treasure troves, join their "one-world order" connections and their biggest supporters in The Council of Foreign Relations and the Bilderbergs and their AFL-CIO friends—among others-- to help woo all their corporate and business friends into their SET network to promote their idea that SET’s were superior to FET’s. They were confident that it wouldn’t matter to their corporate friends and new residents of SETs how much tax and regulation they would need to pay and sacrifice to participate.
While some in the Northeast weren't keen on the SET/FET competition, America had always been drawn intrinsically to competition on all levels whether those competitions were Little League baseball games, college football games or professional basketball games—and everything and anything in between.
In the final scene of the 1988 movie, Field of Dreams, the sun was going down at dusk and the line of headlights were streaming in for as far as the eye could see and the masses weren't sure what irresistible force was drawing them to a rural corn field in Iowa, but they knew they had to be there at that place and at that time and they knew it had something to do with connections of the past and the present and the present and the future and they knew it had everything to do with heroes and hope and cheering for the good and the great and the enduring.
"The 28th Amendment" had turned the stadium lights on and the fans were arriving and the competition was on. "The Building Boom of the Ages" was underway.
