The act contains an amendment which will, at its passing, make it illegal to protest against it.
An earlier version of the act stated that a commission would be set up to ascertain “Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed.” This particular piece of conscription style language has now been dropped, however, the GIVE act still contains such gems as the 'Youth Engagement Zone Programme', through which 'service learning' will become 'a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency'.
Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel stated in 2006 that he wishes to impose 'universal civil defence training' on the American population. In a New York Times article he stated that
'We’re going to have universal civil defense training, somewhere between the ages of 18 to 25 you will do three months of training….but there can be nothing wrong with all Americans having a joint similar experience of what we call civil defense training or civil service in service of the country, in preparation, which will give people a sense of what it means to be an American.
'It will be a common experience and we will be prepared, God forbid, God forbid that there is a chemical hit, another terrorist act or natural disaster becoming more frequent - there’ll be a body of citizens who are ready and capable and trained - that’s all you have to think about... We’re all here for you OK? It’s a circle of love.'
Nice.
Tucked into the 12th Amendment of the GIVE Act is this; 'Amendment to prohibit organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist, promote, or deter union organizing'.
It is not clear whether this is intended to quash all protest, or just protest against the act itself. Either way, wide reaching, mandatory legislation which includes a clause to ensure that not only do you have to do what they say, but you can't even say that it's wrong, will perhaps be the final straw that breaks the illusion that Obama's alright because he's not Bush.
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'illegal to protest against' - bullshit
25.03.2009 11:28
It doesn't contain anything like that, the section referred to is about what are prohibited activities for the volunteer organizations funded by the bill, another of the prohibitions is on 'Providing a direct benefit to a business organized for profit', so you could just as credibly claim that the bill would make profit illegal.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1388/text#
There are literally thousands of real repressive laws, why not campaign against one of those?
streetlawyer