TMRA2 Legislative Update

I realize this is long but very important. No time to waste. Read it carefully and if you have any questions call me.
Sputnik

Victory on wiretaps could vanish without your immediate support

Last week US District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor struck down the President’s warrantless wiretapping program as unconstitutional. Her ruling is a victory for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the rule of law, and the people of the United States–if we can keep it!

Government lawyers have negotiated a stay of the injunction until the appeal to the Sixth Circuit, set for September 7. The case could go to the Supreme Court, where the score for the President’s exaggerated view of his constitutional powers now stands at 0-for-3 (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld, and Rasul v. Bush).

The President and his supporters don’t want to lose a fourth time, and the Cheney-Specter bill (S. 2453) is just what they need to avoid another loss.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday, September 7. Assuming the bill passes the committee, Senator Specter may speed up final passage by attaching it to a “must-pass” bill as an amendment. If S. 2453 passes:

1. The NSA warrantless wiretapping program becomes legal, forever allowing presidents to set up secret surveillance programs without court oversight.
2. All pending court cases challenging the program would be swept into the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court, which (a) was not set up to rule on the legality of programs, (b) not only favors the Administration it serves but is off-limits to anyone arguing the opposing side, and (c) is extremely unlikely to release its ruling to the public.

Don’t forget that Specter’s justification for his bill is to obtain judicial review for the President’s program. Well, Judge Taylor has reviewed the case and found it violates the Constitution’s Separation of Powers, the First and Fourth amendments of the Bill of Rights, and FISA. (Click here for the ruling and key quotes, plus links to articles.)

Don’t let President Bush go court-shopping to the secret FISA court. Speak up right now, while our Senators and Representatives are visiting their districts. Look up their numbers at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/. For
example:

* Attend their town hall meetings. Call their local offices to find out if, when and where they are being held.
* Organize and attend in-district meetings. Check out the BORDC guidebook to Congressional meetings.
* Telephone their district and Washington, DC, offices.

Thanks to everyone who used BORDC’s website to send nearly 3,000 faxes to their Senators about this issue. We would greatly appreciate your tax-deductible donation to offset the cost of the faxes!

Sample message for Senators: “I am calling about Senator Specter’s bill, S.
2453. Judge Taylor is correct: The President’s warrantless eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and unlawful. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act already gives the President broad latitude to wiretap al-Qaeda conversations without warrants and gives him easy access to warrants if he needs to wiretap Americans. S. 2453, is nothing more than an end-run around constitutional checks and balances, the First and Fourth amendments of the Bill of Rights, and the FISA law. Please stand up for my constitutional rights and the rule of law by opposing S. 2453.”

Sample message for House members: “I’m concerned about the NSA warrantless wiretapping program, which a federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional. The House will be considering bills to amend FISA and make the NSA warrantless wiretapping program legal. Are you willing to vote for a bill that would legalize the program, and forever allow presidents to set up surveillance without going to a court or heeding congressional law? Or are you going to protect the Bill of Rights, and support only legislation which keeps FISA safeguards of liberty in place?”

Other talking points for Senators:

* I’m outraged that the President and his supporters claim that a state of war means the NSA warrantless wiretapping is justified. Illegal, unconstitutional programs are never justified! I ask Senator __________ to stand up for the rule of law by opposing Senator Specter’s bill, S. 2453.
* I believe Judge Taylor ruled correctly on the President’s warrantless wiretapping program. And it’s proper for the case to go through the court of appeals and to the Supreme Court if necessary. But Senator Specter has drafted a bill, S. 2453, that would pull the ACLU case and all suits against the wiretapping program out of the courts and into the secret FISA court that is accountable only to the administration. That is wrong, and it is unfair to the American people. Please make sure that doesn’t happen by opposing S. 2453.
* The President’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program has made me aware of just how much our constitutional rights have deteriorated in the so-called “war on terror.” The Bill of Rights and the rule of law do not become void whenever the President says we are at war. I ask you to protect the constitutional rights of your constituents to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by opposing Senator Specter’s bill, S. 2453.
* Senator Specter says he drafted a bill, S. 2453, so the President’s NSA wiretapping program would get a court’s review. It’s getting that review
now: Judge Taylor says it’s unconstitutional and illegal. Rather than let the case go through appeals, Senator Specter’s bill would hijack the case and send it to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, where we’ll never find out what happened. Please oppose S. 2453 and let the courts do their job.
From the SOLR Site

From:
BIG KID
President ROCA M/C Dallas-Ft Worth
S.Y.L.B.

On Highway U.S.287 in Wichita Falls, Texas
There is a Local Gang Task Force conducting Motorcycle Stops.

It has been reported that these stops are for not wearing helmets and not having the optional sticker on the license plate.
It has also been reported that the police officers involved from the city of Wichita Falls, Texas are conducting searches of motorcycles without the consent of the owner and continue searching after the owner asked them to stop. It has even been reported that one motorcycle was impounded for not having a current inspection sticker and that not only were tickets issued for the inspection sticker, a helmet ticket was issued and the assessment $300 for the impound fee was also applied.
I am not sure at this time how long this will be going on in Wichita Falls, but I do want everyone to be very cautious while traveling in this area and to please e-mail me at bigkid@coctexas.org and let me know of any other incidences related to Wichita Falls from this past week and this coming week-end.

Thank You and Please Pass this on …..

BIG KIDPresident ROCA M/C Dallas – Ft Worth
S.Y.L.B.

————————————————————

Texas Confederation Of Clubs
texascoc@coctexas.org
http://www.coctexas.org/

$1000 PRIZE
$1000.00 PRIZE MONEY WILL BE GIVEN AWAY AT THE H.O.T. HOWL-O-WEEN BIKERRALLY OCT. 27TH THRU 29TH.
THIS PRIZE MONEY WILL ONLY BE OFFERED TO MOTORCYCLE CLUBS (M/C) AND MOTORCYCLE RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS (MRO).
SINCE SOME CLUBS & MRO’s HAVE MORE MEMBERS THAN OTHERS, THIS CONTEST WILL BE DONE CHAPTER BY CHAPTER, WHICH SHOULD EVEN THINGS UP A BIT MORE. THE CHAPTER THAT SELLS THE MOST PRE-REGISTRATIONS WILL RECIEVE $1000.00 AND A BAD ASS TROPHY FOR BRAGGIN RIGHTS AS #1 CLUB OR MRO OF TEXAS FOR 2006.
REGISTRATION FORM WILL BE SIGNED ON BACK BY CLUB AND CHAPTER TO QUALIFY FOR $1000.00 PRIZE MONEY, MONEY AND FORMS MUST BE SENT IN EVERY MONDAY TO KEEP A TALLY FOR THE CONTEST.

CONTEST ENDS OCT 6TH, ALL MATERIAL AND MONEY MUST BE POST MARKED BY OCT. 6TH!

Three cheers for S&S.; It appears they managed to work around H-D’s little scheme.

S&S; COMMENDS EPA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

LA CROSSE, WI (August 3, 2006) S&S; is pleased to announce that the EPA has recently released the “Certification Procedure for Highway Motorcycle Engines.”

Following a year of successful efforts between the EPA and MIC (specifically, the MIC American V-Twin Committee, www.mic.org/vtwin.cfm?pagename=vtwin), document CISD-06-15 (MC) was released by the EPA on July 25, 2006. Drafted to allow the certification and sale of highway motorcycle engines to individuals, dealers, and small volume motorcycle manufacturers, the Certification Procedure permits certified engines installed in new highway motorcycle chassis to be operated or re-sold without restriction (provided the requirements of the procedure, as well as the federal Clean Air Act anti-tampering requirements, are met). Downloads and links related to this important news are available at www.sscycle.com/regulatory/index.php.

“With the original provision allowing only one non-compliant custom bike to be built in an individual’s lifetime, the EPA, with help from the MIC, S&S; Cycle, and other industry leaders, has done a fantastic job of looking out for the best interest of the individual customers, dealers, and small volume manufacturers that make up our industry. Customers can now buy or build numerous emissions-compliant motorcycles, without having the worries of certifying or submitting paperwork to the EPA. I’m very excited to know consumers have options available to them, and that they won’t be constrained by the provisions originally established in 2003,” said S&S; Engine Controls Group Engineer, Tom Henline.

Referring to an exemption documented in the EPA’s adoption of new emission standards for highway motorcycles in December 2003, the Certification Procedure will no longer limit individuals from building one highway motorcycle over their lifetime. Nor will the EPA’s 2003 emission standards exemptions limit the elaborate custom motorcycles that are created for display by collectors to 24 units per model year per builder. Said builders will now be able to purchase and install certified engine packages without the previous quantity limitation.

Declared Vice President of Product Development, Scott Sjovall, “It’s great to have had a unified and accepted goal for our industry, an objective that was met by the EPA releasing the Certification Procedure. It’s been a pleasure to work with the EPA, MIC, and American V-Twin member companies; as well as Tom Austin from Sierra Research.”

“I view this as a profound moment for the v-twin enthusiast, custom bike builder, and small volume OEM,” said S&S; president Brett Smith. “This was something that S&S; was a huge proponent of from the outset and I am very thankful that the MIC, Tom Austin, and the EPA were able to establish this letter of guidance allowing an engine certification program. I thank everyone else that was involved in making this happen, most particularly the members of the MIC’s American V-Twin Aftermarket Committee.”

Read this site and post it on your websites or otherwise share it withother riders. I lifted this from the Sons of Liberty site.

Thanks,

Sputnik

http://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/bike.htm