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As a proud American, I am happy to see that some in the halls of Congress have the guts and the providence to stand up to the lunacy in California. They don't deserve a penny of federal money, period, end of story. I will certainly let my Congressman know that I fully support The Semper Fi Act and expect him to follow suit. |
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The system that permits this sort of retribution is itself an unforgivable violation of the principles of Federalism.
Why in the world is ANYONE paying TAXES to the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT so they can be allocated to LOCAL SCHOOL PROGRAMS? That's an asinine waste of resources due to bureaucratic overhead and diminishing returns. To make matters worse, it is an utter violation of the Constitution.
Yes, Berkeley deserves a black eye of their hostile stand towards our men and women in uniform. However, we're looking at a system by which taxpayer dollars are dangled inappropriately into matters of State, Local, and Individual responsibility for the purposes of control and manipulation by the National Government. Remember the Federal Government circumventing the Constitution this way to take away the states' rights to assign their own Drinking ages? What about Speed Limits, huh?
This is a violation of sovereignty, of Subsidiarity, and of Federalism itself. This is National Socialism, pure and simple. Conservatives have to REVERSE the course these closet Communists have pushed the country towards - not allow Republican Politicians to content themselves with using these Unconstitutional powers to hammer liberal causes. |
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I get so tired of agreeing with you all the time. |
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of the minority running this country. We need to stand up and call all our congressmen and have them vote for the Semper Fi resolution. After that, I think we should consider building a wall around most of California and link them just to Mexico. |
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Couldn't have said it better.
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wanna barf big time.
Time for a civil war. |
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Several times I have heard the Semper Fi Act characterized as "taking money from the public school lunch program" - as though young kids in Berkley will staaaarve without these funds. The FACT is - the news media needs to quit defending Berkley and report what the money REALLY is for: high-priced salad and toast.
My suggestion: Instead of money, send Berkley military MRE's. If it's good enough for our fighting soldiers - it's good enough for Berkley. |
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Since they (Berkley and media) crying about money being taken from their precious lunch program... instead of sending money, send MRE's. If it's good enough for our soldiers - it's good enough for Berkley. |
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Come on really!?! You really think the earmarks are for lunch programs, or bridges or whatever...
It (earmarks) is a stream of revenue that is kicked back to the Senator or Representative that brought home the bacon.. errr "Sprout".
Why else would a multi-millionaire (I can't think of one Senator or Representative that isn't a millionaire) take a job that is a significant pay cut to what they could make in private industry? No one takes a new job with a significant pay cut on purpose.
Follow the money, it never lies!!
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You wrote, "Those of you that frequently read my blog know that I have taken the lead in calling for earmark reform."
My edit would have read, "Those of you who read my blog frequently have seen me take the lead in calling for earmark reform."
Who edits this? You writing is not so good. |
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You are very misleading. You quote from the fancy menu of the Chez Panisse restaurant which is funding the Berkeley school lunch program, but the dishes you cite are not from the actual menu for school lunches! Do you really think school kids in Berkeley are eating "Comt cheese souffl with mche salad," "Meyer lemon clairs with huckleberry coulis;" and "Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast"??
You can view the Berkeley school lunch menus here: http://www.berkeley.net/index.php?page=student-nutrition-m enus (scroll to the bottom). Yesterday's menu for middle schools was Teriyaki Chicken or Tofu with rice and vegetable stir fry; soup and salad bar; vegetable or sloppy joe's on whole wheat bun; fresh fruit and 1% milk. |
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what they are eating in their school lunch. When a community decides they do not need or want the protection of the US government they should also be willing to do without the rest of what that government could do for them. No more money for anything to Berkley should be the response. Not for schools for any program, not for universities, not for police or fire, not for libraries, not for post offices, not for welfare, food stamps or Social Security. If you live in Berkley and don't like it, move.
As for federalism, I agree. It is truly foolish to send our taxes through three layers of bureaucrats so some of it may trickle back down to us so we may buy the things we should be buying ourselves. |
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I ask the Congressman here, and maybe his commentators too, if you are going to denounce Berkeley, at least get your facts straight. It is not only false but also absurd to suggest that Berkeley school kids are eating anchovies on toast or other fancy items from the menu of Chez Panisse restaurant. Secondly, the University of California in Berkeley has nothing to do with the city government, and in fact the chancellor of the university here denounced the city council's action against the Marine center. The university is under the jurisdiction of the state of California, not the city of Berkeley. Why should it be punished for actions over which it has no control?? The Semper Fi act is unlikely to get passed, but it will make for some good demagogery. |
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As with any university town, UC for all intents and purposes essentially runs Berzerkley; always has, always will.
The two are inseparable and are one and the same. 'Course that "not my job" myth you mention gives the UC dude plausible deniability...at least for those who know no better.
What, you think UC or any city in the Bay area loves the military? Now THAT is rich. |
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See the following link to the Toledo Blade and an article where the Marine reserves were denied training in Toledo at the last minute by their Democrat mayor, Carleton Finkbeiner, Jr. For that act of supreme political gamesmanship, Carty should ALSO forfeit all or part of his designated funds added by Marci Kaptur, D, OH. That would add to the donation.
http://www.drudge.com/news/104011/toledo-joins-berkely-agai nst-marines
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Those who are interested can read the UC Berkeley chancellor's letter to Congressman Campbell, dated Feb. 8, here: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/02/cityof berkeley.pdf
Furthermore, in addition to making highly misleading comments about the school lunch menus in Berkeley, it appears Campbell may also be off in stating that $243,000 would be cut from this program under the Semper Fi act. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 15:
"The five earmarks were all approved last year: $750,000 for ferry service to Berkeley and Albany; $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District's Edible Schoolyard program; $94,000 for the city's police and fire emergency communications system; $975,000 for the Robert T. Matsui Foundation for Public Service at UC Berkeley; and $239,000 for the Ed Roberts Campus, which serves disabled adults and children."
see:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/15 /MNBDV2MEH.DTL&hw=semper+fi&sn=001&sc=1000
I hope Congressman Campbell is reading the comments on his blog. I also wonder if he read the UC Berkeley chancellor's letter to him.
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place to be from terrorists is Berkley, or a similar institution that hates this country. |
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Perhaps those feeding from the earmark trough will help unite the remaining sensible Berkley-ites to throw out the current City Council Members making a mockery of their town.
I continue my support of the Semper Fi Act!! |
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Yov're Way off base, Cambell. I was there. As a Veteran for Peace, I stood should to shoulder with the Ladies in Pink. The City of Berkeley has every right in to world to kick the Marine recruiter out of town. It's their town. If the city council who represents the citizens of Berkeley doesn't want the Marine Recruiters there, then they have no business being there.
I know the U.S.Marine Corps first hand. There are a lot of crazies in the Corps; guys that wouldn't think twice about blowing a child's head off.
It's time the American people woke up and realized that we have no business in Iraq. No Iraqi wants us there. We invaded that country for its oil. The Marines do one thing well and that's kill. Ask any Marine and he'll agree with me. There there to kill, and a lot of those they kill are innocent civilians. It's all BS about insurgents and terrorists. They are patriots defending their country against the most terrible war machine that the world ever knew.
God bless the Ladies in Pink. They are heroes. |
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I respect your military service and views on the war, but what you are saying is in fact false, Berkeley has no right to stop recruiters from setting up shop. That is a free speech issue, one which all liberals know well, escpecially in Berkeley.
In fact Berkely was not trying to throw the recruiters out of town directly, but making is uncomfortable to be there (No parking, protests, etc.) as well as city council sending a letter condemning the recruiters, but reaffirming their rights to be there. This was a wise and constitutional decision. City councils have done this everywhere for everything from abortion clinics to scientologists (I kid you not). I am not crazy about it but it is very common.
A city only has the right to reject a business if it is making a public nuisance. What I find so amazing is that liberal groups who can defend nazis and racists on free speech grounds cannot understand the issue in this case.
Conservatives have the same free speech rights as liberal. You may not agree but it is true. |
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Sir - you need to buy a clue.
You said, "The City of Berkeley has every right in to world to kick the Marine recruiter out of town. It's their town. If the city council who represents the citizens of Berkeley doesn't want the Marine Recruiters there, then they have no business being there."
Then you go off into a diatribe about Marines being crazy baby killers.
The TRUTH is - A City Council does NOT have the legal authority to expel any business from their community (hence why they were passing a resolution to denounce the Marines - not expel).
Secondly - your characterization of the Marines only proves how LITTLE you actually know about the military and the honorable efforts of the men and women serving today.
Either you are a nutjob or just a troll attempting to whip up conservatives on TH. I happen to believe both apply. |
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I believe the Semper Fi act is a misguided attempt to get back at the Berkeley city council by punishing people who have little or nothing to do with their action. This is most obvious in the case of U.C. Berkeley, which would stand to lose the most from this legislation, as the university is a state institution, has an ROTC program, allows military recruiting and its chancellor protested the city council action. It is also the case with the other cuts. One of the large cuts would be to the Ed Roberts campus, whose mission is "to ensure that people with disabilities can live independently and without discrimination." Given that many Iraqi war veterans face the challenge of disabilities, this would seem a commendable cause. The Berkeley-Albany ferry service serves the entire Bay Area, not just Berkeley. The Berkeley school lunch program, which has been so badly characterized by Rep. Campbell, Sen. DeMint and other Semper Fi Act promoters, in fact is trying to bring healther food to the school and educate children on the value of good food at a time when many school cafeterias are serving very unhealthy food -- witness the recall in the news of tainted beef which was being sent to our schools. |
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I have pointed out the highly misleading statements made by Congressman Campbell about the Berkeley school lunch program. Now we have in the news the recall of about 37 million pounds of tainted beef that was destined for school lunch programs across the nation, the company based in Chino of southern California, next to Campbell's district. Some in congress have called for an independent investigation into the incident and the agency's response. See: http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_8303180
Why is it that Congressman Campbell seems more concerned about healthy lunches served in Berkeley public schools than the unhealthy lunches served in much of the country's schools. Why is he not speaking up on this issue??
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First to fight for right and freedom. I am so proud of our Marines right on the battle front even and especially at Berkeley. I would like to see Berkeley classified as a "combat" pay zone. Our Marines should be compensated extra for the harassment and the stench! Support the Semper Fi act, write your congressman. |
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I support the right of Marines to recruit too. I wrote a letter to the Berkeley mayor a few weeks ago to express my view that they should be allowed to freely carry out their work in Berkeley. Today I walked by the center, out of curiosity, my first visit since the whole controversy began. There were two demonstrators on opposite sides of the issue, one an anti-war demonstrator and the other a woman who had driven 400 miles to demonstrate for the Marines. But interesting, the two were friendly to each other, and the lady told me her sister lived in Berkeley. She also told me that the Marine center was open and people could walk in. I opened the door but left quickly as I saw the recruiter was talking to a father and his son and I did not want to interrupt them. People far away can come to distorted views of what is actually happening here in Berkeley or how to respond to it. |
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In today's Daily Pilot, a newspaper in Irvine (Campbell's district), there is an article on "Sloppy joes and sloppy facts" in the political landscape column. See:
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/02/21/politics/dpt- pollandscape022108.txt
It notes the mischaracterization of Berkeley school lunches by Campbell and his colleague Sen. Jim DeMint, as can be seen in his blog entry above, and as I have already pointed out. Campbell acknowledges the error, but goes on to say: Campbell acknowledged news release making the gourmet food claims was erroneous — though he blamed the earmark’s language and not staff.
“That was our understanding form the earmark. Usually the earmarks are very descriptive, so we did the best we could based on what on was in the description.
“If that’s what we did, and we’re off, then we’re off — but that’s not our fault.."
Sorry Congressman, but it IS your fault. You and your staff should get your facts straight before you fly off half-cocked denouncing Berkeley's school lunch program. It is easy enough to find the school menus through Google. You talk about the need for Congress to take fiscal responsibility, but YOU need to take responsibility when you make misleading statements, which have been repeated all over the web. |
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If this earmark is as egregiously wasteful as it appears, why redirect the money rather than simply save it outright? Isn't the deficit composed of the sum total of spending, and isn't a reduction in wasteful spending the true goal?
Your redirection of the funds is simply switching one hog at the trough for another at the expense of the taxpayer. We shouldn't be subsidizing the epicurians at Berkley, nor should we be micromanaging areas of the budget best left to the Dept of Defense; emotions notwithstanding.
If it deserves to be cut as wasteful, then cut it; don't redirect it, kill it. THAT would be fiscally responsible. |
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