The plan for this weekend's column here is more upbeat, but today we'll look at milestones – good and bad – three votes (not what you think!) and fee, errr…, free speech.

We have a number of Suits – legal eagles who are ladies as well as gents – who have graced our pages past and present here on MHProNews. May it always be so. A new-to-our-industry, but seasoned suit will join us in January for a special treat.

Suits have been a key part of the process that helped our industry achieve the milestone on Monday of a companion bill to HR 1779, Senate bill S. 1828. That milestone that can't be understated. If you've missed the news brief, here is the link.

http://www.mhpronews.com/blogs/daily-business-news/senators-joe-donnelly-and-tom-coburn-introduce-bill-to-preserve-accesss-to-manufactured-housing/

So we are cool with suits!

That said, my love of history and our Constitution causes me to confess a measure of irritation whenever an attorney or anyone else tries to tell us what "We the People" can and can't say. CFPB regulations under the SAFE Act and Dodd-Frank have certain muzzles on free speech. Trying to answer a customer's question? Say the 'wrong things' as an MH professional, you risk fines, law suits, other legal consequences and sanctions.

Really? What's happened to our First Amendment right to freedom of speech?

Here is the full text of Amendment 1 to the U.S. Constitution;

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Congressman Walter Jones told us in an interview we did with him that it was never the intent of Congress to muzzle the speech of sales people when they passed the SAFE Act. He is so right, because doing so be would obviously unconstitutional.

Before diving deeper, let me clearly state (as a non-attorney) that the right to free speech has recognized limits. One can't stand in a crowded theater and yell "Fire!" is a classic example given, if there is no fire present. Speech used to commit fraud is not protected, nor is falsely speaking under oath: the prior is a felony, the later can bring the charge of perjury. Libel, slander or defamation…all such false speech has penalties. Let's let those examples suffice for now.

But honest speech, even strong opinions, are protected by the U.S. Constitution.

As Americans of any color, race, religion or other group, we are born free! I've never attended a single TEA Party rally or meeting, but long before the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party started, I was introduced to the glories of the Constitution by a gent who was a customer of mine at a manufactured home sales center I managed in the early 1980s.

I remain in that person's debt for his sharing. What I failed to properly learn in years of education in grades 1-12 and college, I learned from that man, others and reading about our rights as Americans.

3 Votes, The Overlooked Power of the People

We hear about our right to vote, but how often are we told that we have multiple votes?

No, I'm not referring to the Chicago Way of "Vote early, vote often" during an election.

Besides our ballot box vote, we have the vote we can cast when called for a grand jury.

The single most powerful vote of all is the potential for “Jury Nullification” of a bad or misapplied law.

This power of a citizen-juror to vote Not Guilty has long been protected by the Supreme Court, and needs to be better understood, because we live in an era more akin to what George Orwell penned in his famous novel 1984 than he may have imagined when he wrote it in 1948.

One of our readers sent us this cartoon below. The source was not provided, but the cartoon speaks volumes.

IRS, NSA, FBI, EPA, HHS and seemingly endless alphabet soup list of agencies like the CFPB are not just telling us what we can or can't do. They are scanning our messages, monitoring our "meta data" on phone calls, are able to activate the web-cams on our laptops without us knowing it and can track our whereabouts via our cell phones or the growing number of traffic cams.

“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying it and analyzing it without judicial approval,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon, in a ruling about the NSA meta data program on December 16, 2013.

Politico said the judge added he sees no compelling evidence the warrant-less snooping on citizens makes us more secure against terrorism.

As you look at that cartoon. recall the words from 1984, "Big Brother is Watching You."

"War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength."

We went into Afghanistan to pursue a now dead Osama bin Laden. We went into Iraq to pursue WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction – that went who knows where. Since Vietnam, we have been in an off-and-on series of wars and conflicts, some of which have lasted longer than World War II did. "War is Peace."

We are told we are free, but it turns out that we are only free if we run the maze this way rather than that way. Things our ancestors – or we – we're allowed to do are now illegal, or can only be done when we pay a price, pass a test and bow to government edicts. "Freedom is Slavery."

The Solons of DC and the political elite seem to think that they can tell us any outrageous thing, example, "If you like your health plan, you can keep it, period." That was named the biggest whopper of the year by the Washington Post. No matter, the Administration now boldly tries to dance, prance and romance Americans past that fable by using our tax dollars to hire the rich and famous into telling us to sign up and spend our money on ObamaCare. Indeed, low information voters may do just that…"Ignorance is Strength."

What did author George Orwell see that too may been missing?

First Amendment, look two

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago made a statement that ought to be chilling to anyone of any faith, as well as those of no faith. Wikipedia says,

"Later in 2010, he further outlined the degree to which he believed religious freedoms (in the United States and other Western societies) was endangered. In a speech to a group of priests, he said, "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."" (Editor's note, bold emphasis added).

A newly ordained priest we know told us he and many of his fellow seminarians believe they may indeed be jailed or martyred, for practicing and preaching their faith.

Now, go back to the First Amendment quoted above. What's happening to our American freedom?

So it's not just our Industry that is in the cross hairs. A whole range of our natural rights are being pushed in ways our American forefathers resisted.

Remember, our nation was established in large part by those who came to the New World seeking to escape the religious persecution they found in much of Europe. Our nation became independent as a result of a long war with the king of England, precisely because we did not want to be taxed or ruled by bureaucrats who conducted warrant-less searches.

Listen to Ben Franklin's words, “If we don't hang together we will surely hang separately.”

What are you prepared to do?

If your Congressman or Senators have not signed onto HR 1779 and S 1828, now is the time to act. Even when they go out of session, their offices are typically staffed during most work days. Get a staffer on housing or finance. Get their email address. Tell them you want their support of the bill, and send them this link.

Don't know your Congressman's or Senators' contact? Contact Congress info here, and the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. 

But beyond that, act and vote in support of limited government!

Remember the maxim, "The government big enough to give you whatever you need or want is also big enough to take away everything you have." That 1950s era saying, according to Monticello, is not from Thomas Jefferson, but this one is:

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground."

This is why the Founders of our great nation gave us a constitutionally limited government. Government power was not supposed to be in the hands of a chosen few. We were to have few laws, limited government that did very specified things and thus the right to keep the vast majority what we earn.

That formula made America the shining beacon on a hill and turned us into the most productive and wealthiest nation in history.

That was true before an ever-encroaching Orwellian "Big Brother."

The Preamble…

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

We got word that my Uncle Paul died this past Saturday. He was born in Hungary, like my parents. Paul Kovach lived under the Nazis, then under the Soviet Communists and their respective puppet governments. He tried to flee the regime in Hungary in 1956, was caught at the border. Being in the military, he was treated leniently. He made another attempt to escape to freedom in 1957, and that time was successful.

(Dr Francis Kovach, PhD (r) Paul Kovach, (l).

Paul Kovach came to America and worked. He saved. When it came to retirement, he went back to now "free" Hungary, where his retirement pay would go farther.

These facts speaks volumes, on many levels, and not just to me and our family. His loss sparked more than one painful thought this past weekend.

My fellow professionals, you may be at one of the largest, smallest or in-between sized operation of its kind in our industry. Modern factory-built homes are the key for millions to enjoy the American dream of ownership. That means you have plenty of opportunities.

Tour this model home on MHLivingNews.

But so long as we allow 'the powers that be' to control our destiny, we will live in uncertainty. Freedom slips away in little increments, and always with "justification" being given.

Every day, in every intelligent way, we must inform and work to free ourselves anew from choke holds being forced upon us. Or the country we hand onto our children will not be the one we were born free in.

Regular readers know I'm a solution oriented believer in what the Superman story called "Truth, Justice and the American Way!" So please don't let this be a downer. Please, let this be a quiet rallying cry. We can overcome, if we routinely act as needed.

Don't wait on your neighbor, start with the one you know you can influence. You be the one.

I hope to see you in Louisville, where free enterprise will be on vivid display! We will be at booth 115, or in the business building and finance seminars, model homes, exhibits or networking events. Please say hi.

Your thoughtful comments and guest articles are encouraged here.

We have hit a number of milestones. Glad to see S 1828 get filed! But we face a mix of challenges that will only be solved by engagement.

Let's hang Together, so we can make 2014 the best year in our profession in over half a decade. Let the sleeping giant, Americans = Amer I CANs – awake! ##

PS: Check our many Exclusive and Red Hot Featured Articles for December and see the other new stories at MHLivingNews.com too

L. A. 'Tony' Kovach
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