Melanie Morgan

2/8/2008

uh-oh Berkeley is just beginning to heat up.

Senators Introduce Semper Fi Act of 2008
Bill Stops Berkeley Earmarks and Transfers Funds to Marine Corps

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Oklahoma), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and David Vitter (R-Louisiana) introduced the Semper Fi Act of 2008. The bill would rescind over $2 million in hidden earmarks for Berkeley, California in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and transfer the funds to the Marine Corps. U.S. Congressman John Campbell (R-California) is introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Last week, the City Council of Berkeley voted to oust Marine Corps recruiters from their downtown office, saying the Marines were "uninvited and unwelcome intruders." Berkeley officials also voted to give the radical protest group Code Pink space outside the recruitment office and urged them to "impede, passively or actively" the work of Marine Corps recruiters.

One earmark provides $243,000 in taxpayer dollars for the organization Chez Panisse to create gourmet organic school lunches in the Berkeley School District. Chez Panisse is dedicated to "environmental harmony" and their menu features "Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad," "Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis," and "Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast."

Another earmark would spend $975,000 in taxpayer dollars for the University of California in Berkeley Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, to create a new endowment and cataloging the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui. U.C. Berkeley currently already has a $3.5 billion endowment.

Senator Inhofe: "Unfortunately, those on the Berkeley city council do not seem to understand the sacrifice of the brave men and women of the United States Marine Corps. By interfering with military recruiting, the city of Berkeley is hampering our ability to protect this nation. While the city of Berkeley and the protestors are free to say whatever they like, free speech is not a protection from consequence."

Senator DeMint: "Berkeley needs to learn that their actions have consequences. Patriotic American taxpayers won't sit quietly while Berkeley insults our brave Marines and tries to run them out of town. Berkeley City Council members have shown complete ingratitude to our military and their families, and the city doesn't deserve a single dime of special pet project handouts."

Senator Cornyn: "The Berkeley City Council insulted our troops and offended people across the country. If the U.S. Marines are not good enough for Berkeley, neither are taxpayer dollars Congress would have sent there this year. That city closed its doors on the same individuals taking bullets on the front lines while fighting for the safety and freedom of families in Berkeley and throughout America."

Senator Vitter: "The actions of the City Council of Berkeley are in stark contrast to beliefs of the vast majority of Americans who recognize and honor the service and sacrifice of our U.S. Marines. This is simply unacceptable and those funds could be better utilized by the Marine Corps."

Dr. Coburn: "The actions by the city of Berkeley are deplorable and insulting to those who are serving and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect the very freedoms that are being exercised to insult them. I know I stand with the majority of Americans in thanking our service men and women for their selfless service to our nation."

Senator Chambliss: "We need to send a strong message that our military personnel deserve our strongest support. Georgia is a proud military state, and my constituents will be out outraged to know that during a time of war, their taxpayers dollars have been used to reward folks who have insulted and disparaged those who defend this nation every day."

Friday, February 08, 2008

Posted by: Patrick Ruffini  at 10:16 AM

Dateline Washington - Word comes today that the last conservative choice left in the 2008 presidential race has withdrawn.

Mitt Romney has ended his campaign, leaving the base with John McCain or Mike Huckabee. 

I'm reaching for the Prilosec now. 

From DrudgeReport.com

ROMNEY OUT...
Suspends campaign...
...for our party and for our country
Eyes 2012...
Huckabee vows to press on... 
 

The Internet, talk radio, and the mainstream media are dyspeptic, too. 

Conservatives are venting, re-grouping and analyzing the situation.

My take?

It is time for us to help politicans from both the right and the left to focus on OUR values which embody love for duty, honor, and country.

Our conservative voices will be heard loudly and proudly in support of the issues that concern us the most, in the debate most vital to our country --National Security.

Michelle Malkin, as usual, sums it up best when she writes today

"Some on the Right advise their readers and listeners to vote Democrat or sit home. My advice is exactly the opposite: Get off the couch and walk the walk for conservative candidates and officeholders who need all the help they can get defending free markets, free minds, and secure borders—no matter who takes the White House in November....

...If you can’t stomach John McCain, channel your support and energies to Republicans who do represent your values and who have treated the conservative base as allies instead of enemies. There are a new generation of combat veterans running for office who haven’t made a career of trashing the base. Check out staunch economic, social, and national security conservative congressional candidates like Iraq/Afghanistan veteran Eric Egland in California’s fourth district. Check out the Vets for Freedom (vetsforfreedom.org) group for their endorsements."

Excellent advice for many of us.

Personally, I am re-doubling my energy to engage Berkeley at Ground Zero this Tuesday.

We will have plenty of time to sort the politics out later when we are less angry at the Republican leaders who have let us down. 

DIGITAL MEDIA BLOGFIRE BURNING NOW! 

e-mail Susan Duclos Digital Report to everyone you know!

..and from the San Francisco Chronicle

Berkeley Disrespects Marines

By Debra Saunders

"I guess they've never heard of free speech," Berkeley City Councilwoman Dona Spring told The Chronicle as she defended the council's 6-3 vote to tell Marine recruiters that they are not welcome in Berkeley -- and that if the Marines stay, they will "do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

The council also voted 8-1 to give the anti-war Code Pink organization a designated parking space directly in front of the U.S. Marine Corps' 64 Shattuck Ave. recruiting office and encouraged Code Pink to "impede" Marine recruitment. It's pretty clear that Spring has heard of free speech, but she has no idea what it is.

It's one thing for Berkeley to pronounce U.S. troops, who put their lives on the line every day to defend America, as unwelcome. That's protected speech -- that signals Berkeley residents' disdain for U.S. troops. It's also the sort of rude, we're-better-than-the-rest-of-America action that invites outsiders to wonder if a city that tries to divorce itself from military recruitment deserves the benefits that the federal government bestows.