While everyone has been inundated with recent coverage of the presidential primary elections we should not overlook the city of Berkeley whose city council wants to evict their U. S. Marine Corps recruiting station from town. Press Release says it all. Larry Gilbert
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Senators Introduce Semper Fi Act of 2008
Bill Stops Berkeley Earmarks and Transfers Funds to Marine Corps
February 6th, 2008 – Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Oklahoma), John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), 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 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 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 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.”
Juice readers. Feel free to weigh in on this city council outrage. I am thankful that this action does not represent the mainstream of our elected officials whose main responsibility is to provide protection for all of us.
Update that was just received. Senator Boxer plans to fight back:
Berkeley Update: Oh How they stepped in it…
Posted: 08 Feb 2008 05:17 PM CST
This is truly the continuously unfolding story…
As six Republican senators devised a plan to yank $2.3 million in federal funding for Berkeley programs, the mayor of the famously liberal city apologized Wednesday for his hard stance against a Marine recruiting center.
Two City Council members vowed to soften their stance as well. At their Tuesday council meeting, leaders will discuss scrapping a letter that might be perceived as targeting the center or the Marines. The letter said that the recruiting center was not welcome on Shattuck Avenue and that the Marines were uninvited and unwelcome intruders.
“That letter will probably be pulled back and maybe more moderate language will be put in place which is appropriate I think,” (that doesn’t sound like an apology to me) said Berkeley mayor Tom Bates. “Subtly stated in the resolution is perhaps an impugning of the soldiers fighting for us in Iraq and other places,” Berkeley City Councilman Laurie Capitelli. “And that was never the intention but that really needs to be cleared up. As I walked to my car that night I realized I regretted it and I had made a mistake.”
So, of course, this did not surprise me.
Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Barbara Lee said they plan to fight the Republican bill.
The Co-sponsors of the bill sponsored by Senator Demint (know as the “Semper Fi Act of 2008”) are: Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Oklahoma), John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), and David Vitter (R-Louisiana)
This bill is pretty plain and direct:
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.
And the enthusiasm for ensuring that the actions taken by the City Council are appropriately rewarded is spreading.
U.S. Congressman John Campbell (R-California) is introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
Marine recruits typically are 5-7 points lower in IQ and score lower on all military tests than any other service. Perhaps they cant find many takers in an area full of educated liberal eggheads. In any case, local control is a real good thang fr DEMOCRACY, aint it tho? Typical right wingnut OC post what a sad state for DEMOCRACY- what the Corps defends. Pullin a Macarthur here, huh? Semper Fi means faithful to the Country and Constitution, not the moneyed elites and appointed silver spoon halfwits.
Way to waste taxpayers resources! Actions like this are nothing more than conservatives beating their chests during an election year. Does anybody believe that the repeal of these earmarks will do anything to silence the progress conscious of Berkeley? Thank goodness it will not!
Mr. Gilbert:
Let me first join you in condemning this stupid resolution that refers to the marines as “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”The Council has just proven why people refer to the town as “Bezerkeley.” It’s an insult to our troops, their families and, frankly, all Americans. Even Berkeley Congresswoman Barbara Lee, as far left as they come, wouldn’t support the resolution,
It’s particularly irritating for those who oppose the Iraq War and have disputed the canard that the opposition to the war is an attack on the men and women of our armed forces. Then the Bezerkeley Bozos go off and pull this boner which will be Exhibit A by those making the charge.. You figure.
The Council has apparently realized they stepped in it big time and are now thinking about withdrawing the unwelcome and uninvited part of the resolution. But they still want to kick the Marines out of Berkeley and give Code Pink a parking permit in front of the recruiting office and a sound permit until they can ride the Corps out of town on a rail.
I support some form of punitive measure but the examples you use Mr. Gilbert are not appropriate.
Punitive measures should strike at funds that go to the City government that passed the stupid resolution, not innocent parties. UC Berkeley is not a city agency–in fact the two are in litigation right now. UC Berkeley has an active ROTC and military recruiters come to campus regularly. Is it possible for you Red Republicans to see how stupid the punitive measure is in the context of this case? And the cheap shot at the french dishes for the Berkeley School District -frankly, they are one of the cutting edge school districts in using their lunch and nutrition programs to fight obesity and diabetes which, if you haven’t noticed, are in epidemic proportions among school age children nationally. I know some Reds want to make children suffer for the sins of their parents but please don’t make the children suffer for the stupidity of the Berkeley City Council.
Thanks for an interesting post Larry. I am disgusted that John Campbell is involved. The states represented plus our own OC rep look dixicrat.
I look forward to Campbell leaving office. Let him move to the carolinas or tennessee where he belongs.
Bladerunner.
Thank you for your response. The Federal Government has it’s hands tied with respect to “earmarks.” As we both know those funds are the “pork projects” of the congressional representatives of the states which they represent.
To do nothing would be putting our heads in the sand. What message would that send to our troops? Take notice that neither of our US Senators have said a word about the Berkeley city council action.
Anon 10:23 p.m.
Thankfully we have the ability to disagree. You can thank the men and women in uniform for that freedom.
next time we get attacked tell the terrosist they have a easy path and attack berkley . they dont want the military there fine . dont call them and let there city suffer for these stupid bone heads . code pink over the marines please do us a favor and leave the union your not part of the u.s.a any way .
Mr. G— I never said do nothing. I said take action on funds or earmarks requested by and administered by the City of Berkeley, not the UC’s or the K-12 school district or a foundation working with the school district. If the UC regents or the local school board joined in the goofy city council’s resolution, THEN their funds would be fair game.
Don’t mix your antipathy for earmarks with a need for a stinging rebuke. You get off message and it gives the appearance that Michele Malkin and the politicians giving the UC and school district examples are using the Marines for their own political purposes. And that sucks too. Find earmarks or funds that are going to the City to make the point.
Bladerunner.
Please don’t co-mingle my comments with those of the legislators quoted above. I would love to see federal money specifically designated for the city of Berkeley cut off.
Sorry if you interpreted my comments as a rebuke. If so I apologize.
I am not suggesting that we “throw the baby out with the bath water” as I once was told in a Sacramento testimony. We need to target specific city related funding if in fact there is any. It would be helpful to see the list of projects which their congressional leaders applied for and were authorized.
If you love the Marines so much, get them out of harms way in Iraq. Get the Marines the equipment they need. And when the Marines come home to our beloved country, don’t forget the sacrifices they made for this terrible mistake of a war and make sure that they are taken care of and not cast out on the streets.
Anon 5:29 p.m.
Should I interpret your remarks to mean that you do not care about our men and women in military service?
President Reagan’s “peace through strength” foreign policy led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reduction of ICBM’s by Russia, and the eventual demise of the USSR.
Every member of today’s armed forces joins the service as a recruit. We no longer have a Draft. They each know what they are signing up for when enlisting.
While many may disagree with the foreign policies of BOTH recent administrations, I will stand alongside and thank every man and woman in uniform for their service.
Before you beat up on President Bush let me suggest you check out Bill Clinton’s wartime activities.
Our troops will come home when their presence is no longer required.
Something to think about.
In 2004 we had 37,000 American troops stationed in Korea, fifty years (50) after that war eneded.
You should NOT interpret my remarks to mean that I do not care about our men and women in military service.
It’s like those who are anti-choice, but don’t care to help people when they are out of the womb and grown up.
Show our men and women in military service that you care by providing them the equipment that they need. Show that you care by making sure that our military personnel are taken care of when they return home and not cast out on the streets.
Punishing Berkeley is a pointless exercise that does nothing for our men and women in military service.
Anon 5 PM
I agree with you that our VA system needs a major overhaul.
From what I ahve been told we do need to provide better and faster care for all returning veterans.
Not being totally familiar with the status of their equipment I cannot comment on whether or not we scrwed up. Bear in mind that finding out that you need something and being able to get it to the battlefield overnight is easier said than done. In 2006 the Pentagon spent $1.4 billion to develop counter measures to disable IED roadside bombs that are killing our troops.
As to this post. What message does it send to all of our troops if we simply ignore the Berkeley city council action?
Hey, left wingers…this war is going to go on and on and on and you can do NOTHING TO STOP IT. GET USED TO NOBODY GIVING A CRAP TO WHAT YOU THINK..HA..HA..HA