Have you ever heard of the Uniform Law Commission? Probably not, because most Americans haven’t. However, you better start paying attention, because this group of unelected bureaucrats is one of the most powerful, agenda-driven organizations in the country.
The Federalist is warning that this group, composed of what appears to be “nonpartisan” lawyers, is more aligned with the far left and is described as “one of the most influential forces in nearly every state capitol,” including those in deep red states. While the “deep state” is typically identified as being aligned with the radical left, this group has its tentacles nearly everywhere.
As an example, TownHall reports that there is a bill proposed in South Dakota, controlled by Republicans, including high-profile Gov. Kristi Noem, known as House Bill 1199. That bill would change the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) in that state so that investors in stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds, and other investments would retain property rights.
Under the current Uniform Commercial Code, a state law in all 50 states, investors who purchase securities, including through retirement accounts such as 401ks and other brokerage accounts, do not retain ownership. For example, if you have accounts through a company such as Fidelity, that company retains ownership of most of the securities that support the investment.
The UCC allows brokers to use investors’ investments as collateral in their own financial agreements, which puts individual owners’ wealth at risk in the event of a large financial crisis, such as the one that occurred when Lehman Brothers crashed in 2007.
The current arrangement has investors owning a “security entitlement,” which is “a contract that provides many benefits but does not transfer ownership of the stock to you, even if you paid for the stock and broker fees in full,” TownHall reports.
That is important for brokers since if individual investors do not own their investments outright, the broker can use them in whatever manner they choose. As long as the economy is sailing along without any issues, most individuals don’t notice it. However, in the event of a major financial crash, such as what happened in 2007-2008, investors’ wealth and retirement savings are put at risk.
The ULC has also ensured that in the event of a meltdown, brokers and financial institutions are moved to the front of the line, pushing individual investors and pensions to the back. This ensures that the big Wall Street banks are protected to the detriment of individuals.
That is where the UCC comes in. The law has been around for about 70 years, however, it wasn’t until the 1990s that changes were made for the benefit of brokers and away from individual investors.
The UCC has become extremely complicated over the years, which benefits brokers. The Federalist notes that because it is so complicated, “legislators have trouble understanding and altering it.” Instead, they rely on the Uniform Law Commission to advise them. In fact, the ULC is so important to state lawmakers that much of its funding is received from state appropriations, otherwise known as the taxpayers.
With that in mind, legislators kowtow to the ULC and do whatever the bureaucrats want. Finally, some Republican lawmakers are examining what precisely the ULC is up to, which brought about the bill in South Dakota, which is trying to change how investments are owned.
That bill would change the UCC so that investors in that state retain property rights in owned securities, such as stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds, and other investments. However, the ULC is fighting the bill tooth and nail, as it wants property rights held by large corporations and not individuals. In fact, TownHall says the ULC is “gaslighting Republican legislators into believing that the Universal Commercial Code does not do what the text plainly says it does.”
That is not the most problematic thing the ULC has planned, with The Federalist noting that the group “regularly pushes policymakers to adopt legislation that undermines the rights of individuals and enhances the power of governments, large corporations, and financial institutions.”
A disturbing model initiative being pushed by the ULC is the “Public Health Emergency Authority Act,” and if you think it sounds scary, it is. Think of it as COVID restrictions on steroids. The PHEAA was approved in 2023, and legislators nationwide are being asked to adopt it into law in their individual states.
If a so-called “public health emergency” were to break out in the future, governors across the country would essentially turn into tinpot dictators.
For example, under the ULC’s proposed bill, governors would be given wide-ranging authority to take over “virtually every part of their citizens’ lives.” The Federalist, quoting the act, wrote that governors could regulate:
“...zoning, operation, commandeering, management, or use of buildings, shelters, facilities, parks, outdoor space, or other physical space, and the management of activities in those places.”
Moreover, state governors would have the authority to unilaterally regulate public-health related “testing, isolation, quarantine, movement, gathering, evacuation, or relocation of individuals.”
FEMA camps, anyone?
What about circumventing state law and the United States Constitution?
Governors could suspend “any provision of any statute, order, rule, or regulation if strict compliance would hinder efforts to respond to the public-health emergency or pose undue hardship or risk.”
Surveillance state, anyone?
“The ULC would also grant governors the right to conduct unlimited ‘surveillance, monitoring, or assessment of the public-health emergency or any of its effects.’”
Fear not, however. The ULC’s bill would establish a time limit on the declaration of a “public health emergency.” However, governors would be allowed to renew such an emergency with little oversight from their legislatures and could do so “an infinite number of times.”
The ULC is also behind the scheme to move to a digital currency, pushing to make it “easier for financial institutions to use traceable, programmable, controllable central bank digital currency, should the federal government ever create one,” The Federalist wrote.
The ULC is touted as a “nonpartisan” and “nonideological” organization that pushes states to pass “uncontroversial legislation,” but in reality, it is rather the opposite. The group is designed to give the government the upper hand in every aspect of the American people's lives.
This organization bears close scrutiny and the American people are wise to keep them clearly under a microscope.
Comments
2024-03-13T06:46-0400 | Comment by: E
This is reminiscent of Article 48 in the German Weimar Constitution. Hindenburg provides excellent examples of how something like this could be misused.