NAN A. S. HAYWORTH: “before leading the Continental Army into the Battle of Long Island in 1776, Gen. George Washington told his troops: The…”

“before leading the Continental Army into the Battle of Long Island in 1776, Gen. George Washington told his troops: The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property that they can call their own; whether their houses and their farms are to be pillaged and destroyed * * * Two hundred and eighteen years later, Americans are again fighting for the right to have property they can call their own. Their enemy? Ironically, the same Government originally created to give people the freedom to own property. Government bureaucrats, acting without accountability, make decisions which, in effect, destroy households, farms, and businesses. Currently, all landowners are unwillingly entered into a random sweepstakes drawing to select who will foot the bill for intrusive Government regulations. In this sweepstakes there are no letters from Ed McMahon informing them they have won a million bucks. Instead, landowners receive nasty grams from the likes of the Fish and Wildlife Service or the Environmental Protection Agency informing them that they own Mexican spotted owl habitat, and if they use it they could go to jail. When Michael Rowe had finally saved up enough money to add an extension to his one-bedroom home on his 20-acre ranch in Winchester, CA, he was informed that his permit could not be approved because his property was in a kangaroo-rat study area.…”