More Liberty

Wasting $$$$ in Iraq

"The CRS says the war in Iraq is now costing taxpayers $2 billion a week.  But auditors say a lot of that money is being wasted.  Chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan has more."

Video Report:  "Iraq Funding Down the Drain?"

Decimating the Constitution

Yesterday, seven Republican members of the U.S. House voted against H.R. 6166, the Military Commission Act.  The seven who did not decimate the Constitution were Ron Paul, Walter Jones, Roscoe Bartlett, Wayne Gilchrest, Jerry Moran, Jim Leach and Steve LaTourette.

Jacob Hornberger, president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, writes:  "The tribunal legislation will confirm once again the power of federal officials to use the 9/11 attacks – attacks that ironically were motivated by anger against wrongful U.S. government policies – as a way to fundamentally alter the American way of life.  More important, the enactment of the tribunal legislation will reflect once again how the American people’s fear of terrorism is causing them to look away while their federal officials decimate the Constitution and dismantle a criminal-justice system whose principles stretch back centuries."

"Decimating the Constitution with Military Tribunals"

Kent Snyder

Clinton v. Bush on bin Laden

Who did more to get Osama bin Laden, Clinton or Bush?  Clinton says he did.  Secretary of State Rice says Bush has. 

What does Michael Scheuer the former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit say?  Mr. Scheuer was interviewed on WTOP radio on July 4, 2006.  WTOP is the major news station in Washington, D.C.

During the interview, Mr. Scheuer said the bin Laden unit gave President Clinton eight chances to kill bin Laden and two chances to capture him.  He also said that every major al Qaeda figure who has been captured between 1995 and 2006 was identified by that special unit.  He characterized the group as the single most successful counter-terrorism unit the U.S. government has ever had. 

However, President Bush recently disbanded the bin Laden unit.  Clinton didn't want to get bin Laden, and it appears Bush doesn't either.

Four-Minute Radio Interview, WTOP, 07/04/06

"A Combative Clinton Defends Record on Fighting Terrorism"

"Rice disputes Clinton on terror claims"

Kent Snyder

Addicted to Spending Your Money

"At the libertarian CATO Institute, budget expert Steven Slivinski refers to the 'Grand Old Spending Party': 'President Bush has presided over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson,' he writes in a policy analysis."

"Another federal budget mess looms"  Christian Science Monitor, 09/25/06

Fiscal Storm Approaching

"Ask a congressman what the national debt is, and he will say $8.5 trillion. That’s a lot of money, but it completely ignores our two largest and most important government programs, Social Security and Medicare.  If you include the promises made by those programs to workers who are already paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, the national debt jumps to $46 trillion."

Rep. Jim Cooper, 09/22/06

Government: The Problem Solver

This could be the new motor of the GOP, judging by George Bush's speech to the United Nations yesterday.  In addition to reiterating the promise to bring democracy to Iraq (even if if we have to kill all the Iraqis, decimate our military, and bankrupt the country to do so), Bush promised that the US government would bring peace to  Darfur, resolve the Israeli-Palestinian problem; and end AIDS, world hunger, and global poverty.  So much for a "humble foreign policy." 

The domestic counterpart is found in the GOP's "suburban agenda," which promotes federal solutions to all the problems facing America's families, from Internet perverts to the need for more "green" spaces. This is a far cry from the Republican agenda of the 1994 revolution, which promised to scale back excessive overseas commitments and pare down the welfare state so American families could control their own lives and solve their own problems. 

Text of President Bush's Speech to U.N.

House GOP Launches Electoral Agenda Aimed at Life in Suburbia

Richard Wilkins

Update: $2 Billion Fails to Stopped Armed Man

The Hill newspaper reports the armed man who busted through security to roam four floors of the Capitol building the other day was first apprehended by an employee of the flag shop, not by officers of the U.S. Capitol Hill Police Department.

$2 Billion Fails to Stopped Armed Man

"Flag-shop hero nabbed armed Hill intruder"  The Hill, 09/21/06

Happy ADHD Day!

September 20th will enrich the pharmaceutical companies, oops, I mean ADHD awareness day.  Thank goodness for the pharmaceutical companies, which, out of the goodness of their hearts (because the profits form increased sales of Ritalin are the furthest thing form their minds) are making sure all parents and teachers know that if their children behave like, well children, they can be fixed with a simple pill. If you want your congressman to stop the latest scheme to label millions of children as ADHD and keep them from getting pumped full of Ritalin, make sure your congressman supports Ron Paul's Parental Consent Act.

Richard Wilkins

GOPtopia

Conservative giant Stan Evans once quipped that many conservatives come to Washington thinking it is a swamp, but end up confusing it for a hot tub.  The New Republic article "GOPtopia" gives us the latest example of this phenomenon:  the ex-revolutionaries-turned lobbyists who have turned McLean, Virginia into the new home of the country's elite.

The modern Republican brand of corporate conservatism, embodied in the capital by Tom DeLay's K Street Project, cultivated a climate of unprecedented access--and therefore profit--for lobbyists.  If the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham scandals didn't tell you everything you need to know, consider some statistics: Between 2000 and 2005, the number of registered Washington lobbyists doubled to about 35,000--and overall spending on lobbying grew by 30 percent, to $2.1 billion.  A well-connected congressional aide can easily win a $300,000 starting salary on K Street.  When John Boehner became House majority leader last winter, watchdog groups pointed out that a whopping 14 of his former aides had gone on to K Street lobbying jobs.  Meanwhile, where it was once considered tacky for former members of Congress to lobby, they now routinely cash in their access and know-how for seven-figure earnings.  In Washington, the spirit of public service has been overtaken by the profit motive.

Much of that profit has followed the maturing conservative establishment into McLean. "You're seeing now what I call the Gingrich Republicans, the revolutionaries--all the staffers are in their early forties now, and they're married; they're moving off Capitol Hill," says one former House GOP aide-turned-lobbyist.  "And they're deciding, OK, where am I going to be for the next 20 years.  And, three-to-one, people move to McLean." That helps to explain why McLean's median income is among the highest in the country--topping such ritzy enclaves as Greenwich, Highland Park, and Malibu.

This all reminds me of the last scene in Animal Farm where the pigs have become indistinguishable from the farmers they once sought to overthrow. 

GOPtopia by Michell Crowley of The New Republic, 9-13-06 reproduced here courtesy of Common Ground blog. 

Richard Wilkins

$2 Billion Fails to Stop Armed Man

Maybe the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. and the people inside it would be better protected by ADT home security services than by the Capitol Hill Police Department.  After spending a couple of billion dollars to strengthen security around the Capitol in response to 9/11, the feds weren't able to prevent a man from driving through a security barrier, entering the Capitol building with a loaded gun, and roaming four floors until captured by 25 of Capitol Hill's finest.  And from all accounts, this guy isn't even a trained terrorist.

Kent Snyder

"Armed Man Busts Into Capitol"  The Washington Post, 09/19/06

Making Money in Washington

"Congressional aide Letitia White whirled through the revolving door one day in 2003 and came out a partner in a well-connected lobbying firm the next.  Within two years, her lobbying fees had topped $3.5 million."

USAToday, 09/18/06

Pork Reform?

"Who sponsored that 'pork' project?  The House lifts the mask, a little."

The Christian Science Monitor,  09/18/06

Illegal Immigration

The U.S. House voted yesterday to build a fence on the U.S.-Mexican border by passing the Secure Fence Act of 2006. We applaud that decision.  However, we cannot relax our vigilance on the issue of illegal immigration and here’s why. 

The legislation authorizes construction of only a 700-mile fence on the 2,000-mile border.  (Presently, there is fencing along just 75 miles of the border.)  In addition, the legislation does not authorize any money to pay for the fence construction.  That omission is unusual because most bills include an authorization of money to pay for what the legislation directs.  Money will presumably be added this fall to the Homeland Security appropriations bill, but that is an open question.  In addition, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has said, according to a Capitol Hill source, the U.S. Senate will not vote on any immigration bills during the rest of this year.  If the Senate doesn’t pass the Secure Fence Act the House passed yesterday, the legislation dies. 

So why don’t the Republican-controlled Congress and White House pass substantial and comprehensive legislation to correct the problem of illegal immigration; legislation the vast majority of Americans want?  In a word: amnesty.  The Democrats want amnesty for the estimated 10 to 20 million illegal aliens in the United States.  The Republicans do also. 

President Bush has always wanted to grant amnesty.  Republican Senators Bill Frist, John McCain, and Kay Bailey Hutchinson have joined Democratic Senators Ed Kennedy and Harry Reid in support of amnesty.  And Republican leaders in the U.S. House have been unclear on their position. 

But it’s clear to us that the political elites of both parties want to grant amnesty because of their desire to create a European-style Union made up of Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Latin America.  To them, the United States of America is an outdated idea. 

So passage of the Secure Fence Act by the U.S. House yesterday was simply a token to voters this November.  But the vast majority of Americans want more than tokens.  They want substantial legislation passed now to stop illegal immigration. 

Congressmen Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Virgil Goode, John Hostettler, Walter Jones and others are working to that end.  Congressman Paul proposes: 

1. Physically secure our borders and coastlines.
2. Enforce visa rules on people already in the U.S.
3. Reject amnesty.
4. End welfare-state incentives for illegal aliens.
5. End birthright citizenship. 

Congressman Paul strongly urges his congressional colleagues and President Bush to approve these proposals this year. (See "Immigration Reform in 2006?")

Don’t be lulled into thinking the problem of illegal immigration will be solved by yesterday’s passage of the Secure Fence Act.  Our U.S. representatives and senators, along with President Bush, need to know we know what they are not doing about illegal immigration.  And that their inaction will be remembered this seventh of November. 

Capitol Hill Switchboard: 202-224-3121
White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Kent Snyder

"The Fallacy of Open Immigration"

"Yet action is being demanded to open the gates of immigration now.  And ever day brings us still more new immigrants, illegal but permanent, who will vote to strengthen the very aspects of our political life that libertarians want to change."

Stephen Cox, 09/14/06

Immigration Reform

"With the November elections looming, politics is taking priority over sensible policy.  It appears congressional leaders have no intention of addressing the issue of illegal immigration this year, preferring to tackle such a thorny problem for fear of angering voters one way or another.

"But this is a mistake."

Congressman Ron Paul's Weekly Column, 09/11/06

Reinstate the Draft!

Reinstate the draft!  So says Edward Bernard Glick in his commentary published by the Christian Science Monitor on September 5th.

Mr. Glick, where are we?  Ancient Sparta?  The USSR?  Nazi Germany or the ant hills of Maoist China?  What is happening to this nation? Where has the land of the free gone?

Where in our Constitution was Congress, or any part of the national government, given the power to use our children as literal national resources, for military or domestic "service?"  The answer is no where.

The closest thing to a draft power in the Constitution is the power “To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions” but even that is not a power to forcefully induct people into a standing army. The militia were state military forces, made up of the people of each state, under officers of their own choosing, and they would fight as such, and here at home, not abroad, for the limited purpose of enforcing the laws of the union (which were very few) suppressing rebellions and repelling invasions.

9/11 Movie Controversy

Bill Clinton & Company are upset with ABC's upcoming TV series about the September 11th attacks on the U.S.  According to a Reuters report yesterday:  "Chronicling events leading to the September 11 attacks, the movie suggests the Clinton administration was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to deal properly with the gathering threat posed by Islamic militants."

The article continues:  "Platt also said one scene singled out for criticism by Democrats -- depicting CIA operatives and Afghan fighters coming close to capturing Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, only for then-national security advisor Samuel Berger to refuse authorization of the mission -- was a 'conflation of events.'"

So, the Clinton folks say they never had a chance to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.  Not true, according to Michael Scheuer.  Mr. Scheuer was head of the bin Laden unit at the CIA during Clinton's presidency.  He was interviewed recently on WTOP radio.  During the interview, Mr. Scheuer said the bin Laden unit gave President Clinton eight chances to kill bin Laden and two chances to capture him.

I trust Mr. Scheuer more than Sandy Berger.  Remember, Sandy Berger recently plead guilty to stealing classified documents from the National Archives by putting them in his socks and walking out.

But this four-minute interview with Michael Scheuer not only shines light on Clinton & Company, it also brings Bush & Company out of the darkness.

WTOP Archive:  "CIA Closes Bin Laden Unit"  07/04/06

Related Article:  "CIA disbands Bin Laden unit"  07/04/06

"ABC to Alter Show on Pre-9/11 Run-Up"  Washington Post, 08/08/06

Kent Snyder

The "Freedom" Commission?

Karen DeCoster has a few comments on the Big Pharma-financed scheme to subject all children to mental health screening through programs such as Teen Screen.

Her comments provide plenty of reasons why Congress should pass Congressman Ron Paul's H.R. 181, the Parental Consent Act.

Richard Wilkins

35 and Older

This should be good news for those GOP staffers on Capitol Hill who are gung ho for war.  Now, more of them can leave their desks and suit up.

"Newest Army recruits:  the over-35 crowd"  The Christian Science Monitor, 09/06/06

Kent Snyder

Washington's Butchers

The Hill newspaper today explains how pork is cut in Washington.  Simply put, if an incumbent member of Congress of the majority party is in a close race, he will get a truckload of pork to help with his re-election campaign.

Kent Snyder

P.S.  The politicians and their staffs describe this process as "securing funding" which is a polite way of saying "cutting the fat hog."

Support for War Declines

"A series of polls taken over the last few weeks of August show that support for the war in Iraq among Americans is at an all-time low.  Almost two-thirds of Americans in each of the three major polls say that they oppose the war, the highest totals since pollsters starting asking Americans the question three years ago."

The Christian Science Monitor, 09/01/06