As Above, So Below: The Globalist Agenda Reflected in Local Politics Through 'Council of Governments'

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post

For those who consistently wonder how far the tentacles of the control system reach upward, the real question better asked might actually be how far down. While many imagine a top-down system that stops at the Federal or State level, the truth is far from that.

Indeed, even among those who are aware of the local aspects of the globalist system, it is assumed that a small select group of corrupt individuals are the only controlling factor in the implementation of international regulations at the local level. Again, this is a fallacy which serves to weaken the very movement that is actively opposing the imposition of the globalist system.

The fact is that those individuals and committees implementing globally standardized guidelines and policies at the local level are not merely select groups who are willing recipients of Federal grants, but a wide ranging cadre of local politicians, bureaucrats, and wealthy businessmen who work together through a complex setup of organizations, groups, and councils.

This is not to say, however, that every (or any) person actively furthering the globalist agenda is actually aware of the plans he is helping to implement. In truth, it is much more likely that these individuals at the lower and local levels are largely ignorant of the ramifications of their actions. Most are simply interested in furthering their own careers and benefiting from the low-level corruption that placed them in their positions to begin with and increasing the size of their investment portfolio. As one moves up the structure of control, the level of knowledge regarding the ultimate agenda obviously increases more and more.

It would be impossible to describe the spider web connections between the various international, national, state, and local organizations and individuals who facilitate the implementation of the globalist agenda in one article. However, specific players and regions may be explained in more depth as an example using this writer’s own location. Bear in mind, the conditions and organizations are not unique to South Carolina. They exist in virtually every state in the country and in virtually every city and town across the nation.
Thus, one should pay very close attention to the methods used and the organizational setup developed in order to further the goals of the globalists at the local level and use the framework that is described in this and subsequent articles for the purpose of uncovering and exposing the hidden governmental system that exists in one’s own community.

Indeed, as my own experience highlights, although the structure of the system has been established in plain view, it is easily overlooked and hidden. Had it not been for a seemingly local issue, I, myself, might never have discovered its existence.

Over the last several months, Marion County, South Carolina has been debating (I use that term loosely) the introduction of a new “Penny Sales Tax” under the guise of funding various projects. Some of these allocations are more justifiable than others but, by and large, most of the projects suggested were examples of wasteful spending given the current economic circumstances of the United States and Marion County in particular.

When real numbers are added up properly, Marion County has approximately 38% unemployment[1]and, like the rest of the country, shows little sign that there will be any improvement in the foreseeable future. Even so, individuals within the Marion County Tax Commission have begun agitating for a one cent raise in the County sales tax. These individuals have estimated that approximately $9 million will be bled from the people of Marion County for the pet projects they have introduced.

Some of these projects such as County library expansion, a new animal shelter, and park refurbishment, should indeed be undertaken at some point in the future. But, the shape in which Marion County currently finds itself, and the options being presented to the people, it would not be wise to attempt to undertake them at this point.
Other projects, however, are unbelievably frivolous. Commission members have suggested the expansion of rural fire department facilities when the rural fire departments are so financially strapped that they cannot afford the facilities they currently have. Obviously, providing these departments with more expensive facilities and equipment that is accompanied by even more debt is a recipe for disaster in the long run.

The icing on the cake, however, is the proposed “wellness center” that has been suggested by Commission members. The center will essentially be a gym and recreation center that will no doubt cost an extraordinary amount to construct and maintain. The entire project is an utter waste of money for Marion County and will do nothing to improve the economy (the work will certainly be outsourced) or the quality of health and life in the County.

Indeed, raising taxes on the citizenry, particularly during an economic recession or depression, is complete folly. Cutting, gutting, and raising taxes in such situations have been historically proven to slow economic recovery even more and, in many cases, prevent it altogether. Revenue always comes up short in the next fiscal year.[2]

Yet, while the Tax Commission is “bringing its suggestions to the people of the county,” it is also true that most people in Marion have no idea that there is any discussion over a new tax. This is partly because of apathy, but also because officials in Marion County routinely do everything in their power to keep discussions and decisions secret. Indeed, one rarely hears of any “public comment” meetings until the local paper mentions the outcome of the forums long after they have taken place.

Even when the meetings occur, however, the hall is usually peppered (never even close to full) with select individuals who conveniently agree with the tax increase. Criticism of the tax is virtually unheard of among those who are proposing or promoting it. This might have something to do with the fact that the local paper, the Marion Star and Mullins Enterprise refuses to publish any dissenting views that may challenge the power structure of the County, particularly those involved in pushing the new tax. In this regard, I know whereof I speak, after having my own article (which met all the guidelines set forth by the paper) ignored.

You can read my personal blog for the article and a brief account of censorship being exercised by the local media by clicking the hyperlink above.

Nevertheless, for my own part, I largely dismissed this new tax attempt as just more run-of-the-mill local corruption and greed; but nothing more. Indeed, that was my opinion until I happened into a discussion with an activist based out of another county in South Carolina who told me that his county was also fighting a penny sales tax increase.

This particularly perked my attention, because, in terms of the globalist agenda, when one witnesses the same developments taking shape in seemingly unrelated areas at the same time, one is generally witnessing a much wider agenda expressing itself disguised as “independent” decisions. This is exactly what I found to be the case in regards to the Penny Sales Tax.

For instance, in addition to Marion and Kershaw counties, the Penny Sales Tax referendum has been introduced in Horry, York, Charleston, Sumter, Richland, Dorchester, Greenwood, Aiken, Chester, Florence, and Georgetown counties as well. The tax passed via voter referendum in most of these counties with virtually no opposition coming from any political leader and very little real opposition coming from the citizenry. Certainly, there was virtually no coordinated political action against the tax increase.

Of course, some counties like Horry, which has never seen a tax it didn’t like, passed the referendum easier than others. Richland County put up much more of a fight than most other South Carolina Penny Sales Tax targets.

With this in mind, it is important to ask, “Where is the center of the Penny Sales Tax?”

Apparently, the impetus of the Penny Sales Tax that is being stealthily introduced in counties all across South Carolina has its origins in the South Carolina Council of Governments, a statewide body of unelected members holding unelected and unaccountable positions which essentially acts as the conduit of agenda between the Federal (hence international) level of bureaucrats and those of the local level.

Council of Governments, while international in scope, exist at the national, state, and local levels. With the exception of some county-wide and state-wide Councils of Governments (aka COGs), the COGs are divided up by region, not by traditional borders. This is the case at both the national and state levels.

As mentioned above regarding the county-wide and state-wide COGs, some COGs are formed at the county level specifically. This means that a county-wide COG would be made up of individuals (elected officials, businessmen, community leaders, appointees, and other more questionable members) from each city, town, community, village, or neighborhood in the county. One can take a look at the Mendocino County, Texas COG, known as the Mendocino Council of Governments, to see an example of the county-wide COG. It appears that county-wide COGs exist in counties of specific interest to the globalist decision-makers while most other COGs are region-based.

Virtually every state in the country, however, has a statewide COG. The statewide COG is the main board of oversight of the statewide regional COGs. Thus, underneath the South Carolina COG, there are 10 state-based regions. These regions are not defined by traditional county borders as much as they are defined by, as their name suggests, regional interests. For instance, the South Carolina COG contains the S.C. Appalachian COG, Upper Savannah COG, Catawba Regional COG,Central Midlands Regional COG, Lower Savannah COG, Santee-Lynches COG, Pee Dee Regional COG, Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester COG, Lowcountry COG, and Waccamaw Regional COG.

The statewide regional COGs answer to the State COG – in this case, the South Carolina COG – as a directing board and oversight committee.
However, the State COGs are themselves subordinate to a regional COG that is established at the National level. The official name for this organization is The Council of State Governments. Nevertheless, it is only a COG at the next highest level. The CSG (Council of State Governments) is itself broken up into regions, not bound by state or even national borders.

The national level Council of State Governments CSG/COG is divided up into five regions or spheres of operation that bear an alarming similarity to the ten FEMA regions established in recent years, which is headed by a Council of Governors put into place by Executive Order 13528 in January, 2010 as required by the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. The five CSG regions are Washington D.C., Eastern Regional, Midwest, Southern Legislative, and West. Like the statewide regional COGs, the nation-wide regional COGs are subordinated to the national board of the CSG.

Thus, it is a very tangled web that has been woven for one who wishes to discover the origin of a small county’s Penny Sales Tax initiative. However, what seems to the average citizen to be merely another exercise in local governmental stupidity, incompetence, or corruption actually has its roots in a much more sinister agenda – namely the implementation of UN-based planning such as Agenda 21.

Yet, although even at the regional COG level, initiatives like the Penny Sales Tax introduced in Marion County and counties all across the country are largely hidden from the eyes of the public, when one understands the intricacies and technicalities involved in the interaction between the COGs and local governments, the implementation of the agenda tends to become much clearer.

The way it works is that a centralized plan works its way from the nationwide CSG board and CSG regional COGs down to the statewide COG boards and, from there, down to the statewide regional COGs. The statewide regional COGs, such as the South Carolina regional COGs mentioned above (Pee Dee COG, Santee-Lynches COG, etc.) are then responsible for implementing the centralized Agenda 21-related plan at the local level via county councils, city councils, town/village administration boards, and community organizations and governing structures.

In this sense, the county councils and other local governments act mainly as passive receivers and “yes men” to the wishes of the COG. Although the stated mission of the COG is merely to provide an infrastructure for local governments to coordinate with one another for the purposes of developing mutually beneficial projects and addressing concerns that may reach across borders at the request of the local governments, the fact is that the COG currently acts as a directing board to the councils, not as advisory body which serves the local governments.

But while this may be the case, the evidence proving that the COG are funneling top-down decisions to local governments is not in any way openly stated on COG websites and official forums, at least those that this writer is aware of.

However, when one examines the policy direction taken by the individual COG, one can easily see the same agenda taking form in each one. Likewise, the implementation of the directives issued by the COG, while taking a slightly different form in each county, is largely the same as well.

Take, for instance, the Penny Sales Tax which has either been accepted or is currently being pushed all across the state of South Carolina.

Keep in mind, the Penny Sales Tax, whether it has already been passed or whether it is being proposed, has been presented under the guise of several different justifications. Education, infrastructure, maintenance, recreation, highways, transportation, water and sewage, and developmental planning have all been used to justify raising the County Sales Tax by 1 cent. In Marion County, the main focus is repairs to recreational facilities, library and rural fire department expansions, and the construction of a new “wellness center.” Other counties have used this same argument in their attempt to raise the tax as well as variations on the concepts mentioned above.
Nevertheless, the playbook is always the same.

First, after the directives from the top filter down to the statewide regional COG, the idea is circulated amongst the COG board. Because many of the members of the regional COG are often individuals holding elected government positions, political appointees, active businessmen and otherwise influential people within their local area, the idea for raising a tax, creating a new road, etc. is easily suggested to city/county council, tax commission, or other relevant agencies and individuals. In the case of a person who is already an elected public servant, the concept can be directly floated to the council or commission of which he is a part.

Once the idea is floated to the city/county councils, the tax commission - or the agency who will allegedly be the recipient of the future funds - discussion immediately begins between government representatives.

Yet, although in any given county, there will be a sizeable portion of the population that will oppose the tax increase, the discussion does not generally revolve around whether or not the tax should be raised, but upon how the money should be distributed.

Thus, as I mentioned earlier, the meetings and forums that deal with the topic at issue are usually reported in the local papers only after they have taken place, while those individuals who may be more inclined to support such a project are conveniently made aware of the location of the meetings ahead of time. As a result, the meetings tend to reflect overwhelming support for the program. The ignorance and apathy of the general public is also a major aid to those with an agenda, as it is in the case of most laws and policies foisted on the population.

After the distribution of funds has been discussed among the individuals pushing for the increase, the tax raise is usually placed on the ballot as a referendum to the general public. Keep in mind, this only comes after months of propaganda by the local media and repetition of the inevitability of the tax increase. Thus, with low voter turnout, overwhelming apathy, and large-scale ignorance, the tax increase is very likely to pass. If it does, then that aspect of the COG mission is complete.

However, if the tax increase does not pass the referendum, then the COG goes back to the drawing board and suggests a tax increase on the basis of yet another justification. As an example, if the tax increase for recreational improvements and library and fire department expansions does not pass, the next suggestion would be a Penny Sales Tax increase for road repair and maintenance. If this justification does not work, the premise of education will be used.
Much like the EU Lisbon Treaty was repeatedly presented to the people of Ireland until it was finally accepted, the Penny Sales Tax will not go away. Neither will any other project initiated by the COG. It will be repeatedly introduced until the reasoning of the COG plan clicks with the public or until opposition begins to lose steam. Either way, the COG will succeed in implementing its plans (themselves coming from much higher up) via the councils and popular vote.

Of course, it bears mentioning once again that the Penny Sales Tax is only being used as an example here. COG and their agents within local governments often use the same mechanism for the re-directing of roads, zoning codes, planning and development, and many other decisions that one would, at first glance, believe were made by their elected officials. Ultimately, local communities are being transformed in front of the people that live in them yet completely outside of their conscious knowledge. Indeed, the noticeable changes that do occur appear to have been made by the people themselves via their elected representatives -- pathetic excuses for public servants as they may be.

However, this is by no means the end of the story regarding the COG and the agenda they are a part of.

In future articles, I will describe how the COG itself operates, the history of the COG and its relationship to various international programs like Agenda 21.

You can support this information by voting on Reddit HERE

Notes: 
[1] The official numbers are 19%. However, real unemployment figures are often double the official numbers.
[2] Tarpley, Webster Griffin. Surviving The Cataclysm. 3rd Edition. Progressive Press. 2011.

Read other articles by Brandon Turbeville here. 

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor's Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books, Codex Alimentarius -- The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, and Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident. Turbeville has published over one hundred articles dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville is available for podcast, radio, and TV interviews. Please contact us at activistpost (at) gmail.com. 

Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the Change! Share this using the tools below. Sharing on Reddit and Newsvine will help the most.