Andrew Langer outlines 10 paths that recent administrations have taken to curb liberty.

Andrew Langer laid out the map to fascism in his presentation to the Republican Club of Cecil County, May 17. Speaking at the VFW in North East, Langer, who is President of the Institute for Liberty, reviewed 10 paths set by current and past administrations that have brought about fascist governments in the 20th Century.

Speaking on a book that he is writing, tentatively titled, Slouching Toward Fascism, Langer pointed to ten paths that recent administrations have taken, including the Obama administration. First, government seeks to silence the opposition, the way whitehouse.gov recently asked people to inform on others who protest policies. Second, voluntary and mandatory ‘service corps’ recruit youth to government ends. Third, ‘bailouts’ are just a recent version of the nationalization of industries like the takeover of automobile manufacturing or like mandatory health care, which bailout of the insurance companies. Fourth, tax investigations, like recent investigations by the IRS of tea-party groups, aim to starve protesters of funds. Fifth, initiatives like the ‘fairness doctrine,’ ‘net neutrality,’ and the ‘internet off-switch’ seek to block communication among citizens. Sixth, government bureaucracy has grown so huge that bureaucrats ignore the courts and legislature in implementing regulations. Seventh, government perpetuates programs that have supposedly been ‘zeroed-out’ by Congress. Eighth, the Department of Justice can now simply deny that documents exist when citizens seek them under the Freedom of Information Act. Ninth, Langer warned that American government moves toward an aggressive police state because ‘Fast and Furious’ aimed to destroy the right of citizens to bear arms and the government now seeks indefinite detention of citizens without charge. 

The Republican Club of Cecil County finds and supports candidates for public office. Since Langer was speaking to this group, he naturally referred most frequently to the initiatives of the Obama administration on the paths to fascism. But he was clear that past administrations had begun many of these initiatives. 

Langer is a spokesperson in the struggle of small business with government strangling. The Institute for Liberty addresses constitutional law, small business, lobbying, and the power of individuals to change public policy (<a href="http://www.instituteforliberty.org/index.php?src=">http://www.instituteforliberty.org/index.php?src= )