Berkeley, California Throws Out Marines, DeMint to Revoke City’s Fed. Funding
Update: Video below. Michelle has a petition for you to sign.
Fox News gives us some details of Senator Jim DeMint’s (R, S.C.) efforts to revoke Federal funding that flows into the town of Berkeley, California over their recent decision to throw out military recruiters from within the confines of the city.
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says the City of Berkeley, Calif., no longer deserves federal money.
DeMint was angered after learning that the Berkeley City Council voted this week to tell the U.S. Marine Corps to remove its recruiting station from the city’s downtown.
“This is a slap in the face to all brave service men and women and their families,” DeMint said in a prepared statement. “The First Amendment gives the City of Berkeley the right to be idiotic, but from now on they should do it with their own money.”
“If the city can’t show respect for the Marines that have fought, bled and died for their freedom, Berkeley should not be receiving special taxpayer-funded handouts,” he added.
I say that every patriotic American should support DeMint’s efforts here. On[e] of America’s most unAmerican cities stands to lose some tall Federal cash if DeMint’s plans come to fruition.
DeMint said he will draft legislation to rescind any earmarks dedicated for the City of Berkeley in the recently passed appropriations bill — which his office tallied to value about $2.1 million. He said that any money taken back would be transferred to the Marines.
DeMint’s office provided a preliminary list of items that would be subject to his proposal:
- $975,000 for the University of California at Berkeley, for the Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, which may include establishing an endowment, and for cataloguing the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui.
- $750,000 for the Berkeley/Albana ferry service.
- $243,000 for the Chez Panisse Foundation, for a school lunch initiative to integrate lessons about wellness, sustainability and nutrition into the academic curriculum.
- $94,000 for a Berkeley public safety interoperability program.
- $87,000 for the Berkeley Unified School District, nutrition education program.
Excellent. If they hate the U.S.A. so much, why should they benefit from our tax dollars?
So, call your Senator and tell them to support Senator Jim DeMint’s efforts and let them know that most Americans are patriotic and love their men and women in uniform.
Also see Cao’s post on this.
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Posted by Warner Todd Huston on February 1, 2008 1:19 pm
» Filed Under Communism, Liberal Media/Bias, News, Stupidity, War On Terror
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28 Responses to “Berkeley, California Throws Out Marines, DeMint to Revoke City’s Fed. Funding”
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Raise your hand if you support a limited federal government. Keep it raised if you agree with DeMint.
Those of you with your hand in the air, how do you reconcile your two positions?
The American people can afford to a finite amount in taxes. The federal government has, over the years, grown to suck up a disproportionate amount of those dollars. It’s then kind enough to give some of them to the states, instead of just decreasing the tax rate to a level that would allow states to raise what they need.
It then uses its power of the purse to bully states and municipalities when they “get out of line”.
How can a limited government/states rights supporters defend this?
Do you know that DeMint is a chief anti-earmark guy? He isn’t only for using earmarks to punish errant cities, he’s for getting rid of them for everyone!
Yes, I did know that.
Are you suggesting that this move isn’t retaliatory? It’s purely coincidental that he decided to target those particular earmarks at this point in time?
Yes it is “retaliatory,” of course. but DeMint’s attempt to deny earmarks is not ONLY used for “retaliation.” His efforts are across the board against them. In fact, I’d wager, he is using this incident far more as a showcase to stop earmarks than any real retaliatory effort.
Right, but it’s clearly and blatantly retaliatory. He’s using his post to punish a municipality for doing something that, as far as I can tell, was within its legal authority to do.
DeMint is using the power of the purse to usurp authority from the municipality. He may be doing other things as well, but he is undeniably doing that.
And this is just one of a sickening number of small usurpations that go on every year. Anyone that respects the 10th amendment should be disgusted.
“using the power of the purse to usurp authority”. Kinda like what the Democrats tried doing to the President every time he asked for greater Iraq war funding. Hurts when the Republicans pull the same shenanigans as the Dems, doesn’t it?
How can a limited government/states rights supporters defend this?
The system clearly, like you said, doesn’t work properly. But unless/until it is corrected; the best we can do is restrict and limit it.
I personally didn’t agree with the feds coercing the states to lower the speed limits to 55, but in this case, EVERYONE lives under the “blanket of freedom” the military provides.
The liberal/Socialists expect me to pay taxes to support the killing of innocent babies and the homosexual indoctrination of my children and grandchildren. Should they not be held to their own standard?
He’s using his post to punish a municipality for doing something that, as far as I can tell, was within its legal authority to do.
Next month, when they enact resolutions or laws exempting their residents from the “selective service act” are you going to support that?
Your analogy isn’t accurate. The Iraq funding was a battle strictly on the federal level. Congress was explicitly granted the power over federal funding as a check against the other branches. It was absolutely not supposed to have that same power over other levels of government.
You’re right, but that’s actually what makes DeMint’s actions so infuriating. Congress has the authority to raise an army, so it could pass a law stating that a municipality cannot specifically exclude recruiting stations. But that would be harder, so he’s doing an end-around.
How would they do that?
We have a petition started. we have 500 names. http://capitalismcenter.org/Advocacy/Marine_Petition/default.htm Please come and sign it. We need your support.
Thank you.
Marine Vet 68-72
The liberals are so stupid … they’d be speaking German or Japanese today were it not for our military men and women … God Bless our military to defend these nutbags!
Dear Jeff,
“Right, but it’s clearly and blatantly retaliatory. He’s using his post to punish a municipality for doing something that, as far as I can tell, was within its legal authority to do.”
And that “legal authority” would be…..?
Way back in 1860, our Southern states were firmly convinced they had the “legal authority” to ignore election results they didn’t like. Things didn’t turn out so well for them, did they?
That’s the problem with Berkeley folks: in their bizarro world, all other considerations and laws are seemingly trumped by their concept of nondiscrimination. Using Berkeley logic, there is literally nothing that could be beyond, or safe from, the reach of local government if it is viewed as “discriminatory” toward some individual or group.
Are you, say, a Catholic? The Berkeley city council could conceivably declare your religion “hateful and discriminatory” because of Church teachings on homosexuality, abortion, premarital sex, &c., &c. and “legally” engage in officially sanctioned harassment even to the point of attempting to have your church closed or moved.
In short, this isn’t “democracy in action”–it’s “Starbucks Stalinism.”
Keep thinking about the above long enough and, I fearlessly predict, an eco-friendly lightbulb will eventually switch on.
The First Ammendment, from the looks of things.
But let’s assume it doesn’t. Let’s go ahead and assume that it’s illegal for them to pass a resolution that says, “You’re not welcome here. We want you to move to a different city.”
Sue them. If they broke a law, take legal action. Don’t use government largesse as a way of bullying other levels of government.
Mobly says,
“Right, but it’s clearly and blatantly retaliatory. He’s using his post to punish a municipality for doing something that, as far as I can tell, was within its legal authority to do.”
And DeMint his using his post to punish a municipality for doing something within its legal authority to do so is within *his* legal authority to do so.
So, Berkely will be short some money because of their moonbattery. My heart bleeds piss.
I never suggested it wasn’t. Re-read comments 1, 5, and 8.
Do you consider yourself a small-government conservative?
If so, how can you condone DeMint’s tactic?
I was born in Berkeley, and I support Senator DeMint’s call to cut off federal funds to Berkeley 110%.
The leftys in Bezerkley (and elsewhere) have been stealing money from folks (via taxation) and handing it out to themselves and their friends for generations…while knifing this country in the back every chance they get. Time for a little payback.
Bleed ‘em dry with taxes, give the city of Berkeley nothing, give every dime of tax revenue raised in Berkeley to the armed forces, and call it affirmative action for the Marine Corps.
“Following 9-11 the United States Congress was nearly unanimous in its vote to authorize President Bush to use military force in response to the attacks. Notice I said nearly unanimous… there was 1 member of congress that dissented, Democratic Rep…”
Hey, that’s Barbara Lee who represents the district that includes…Berkeley! Just the sort of lefty I was talking about. Went to upscale Mills College…and was collecting welfare at the same time (then she went into politics and made stealing from the taxpayers a full time job).
Since people like her use taxpayer money to help themselves (and then turn around and trash America every chance they get)…I have no qualms whatsover about using the tax system to take every cent they have (let ‘em beg for food on the street corner after they’ve been bled dry) to support our armed forces while, of course, denying them any further free handouts. You’ve sucked at the taxpayers tit long enough, sweetheart. Now it’s time for you to pay, pay, pay.
Fair is fair.
Molby,
I consider myself a conservative, and I’m happy to see Berkely squirm.
If they’ve become too dependent on the federal tit, then they have only themselves to blame in that city government.
Is this retaliatory, maybe but the university violated the Solomon Act last Summer which by law requires the removal of their funds. Those funds were never taken.
The government has the right to use the power of the purse and does it all the time. How many states have a lower speed limit on highways just so they can keep highway funds.
If Berkeley does not want the Marines there than they should not benefit from our tax dollars, end of story.
In any event, the university should have had their funding removed long ago.
Let’s see: protesters for peace go violent. I Heart Irony.
DeMint is withdrawing funds from the entire city, not just the university.
Besides, the Solomon Act is just as repulsive. The federal government has no jurisdiction over education; you won’t find a single word about it in the constitution. All federal spending on education should cease and taxes should be cut correspondingly. States, which do have jurisdiction, could then raise taxes and handle it themselves.
Routing funds through the feds does nothing more than give them power they were never supposed to have.
Ok, everybody step back from your gut reaction for a second.
I know the feds do this all the time. That’s the point. Are you suggesting that you’re happy with the size and scope of the federal government? I’m certainly not. But if we want to change it, we have to start looking at the root causes.
The root cause is POWER.
This country was designed for power to be dispersed across several levels of government and within separate branches at each level. The point was to make sure any given politician’s power was so limited that it wouldn’t be worthwhile for him to sacrifice his good name.
Instead, we’ve methodically consolidated power into the hands of a few hundred people who live most of the year in a 10 mile radius. For icing on the cake, the party structure makes those few hundred people dependent on a handful at the top of each party.
There’s no way you can spin that into a good thing without outing yourself as a collectivist. If we don’t get serious about this problem, it’s just a matter of when they’ll spend us into bankruptcy. DeMint’s actions sound good (yay! cutting spending!) but the unintended consequences of his approach in this instance are far, far worse long term.
OK, let’s be honest here for a moment. Uncle Sam shovels way too much money at everything. As a conservative, I’m going to always support a chance to reduce the amount of money being shoveled. Now that is how I reconcile the issue of states rights, there is no law that says the state, or the city must get federal funds in these areas is there? If not, then the city receives them as a gift, and that gift isn’t guaranteed.
In other words, if you bite the hand that feeds you, you’re going to go hungry.
Finally, Berkeley has demonstrated a complete intolerance towards opposing views, taking the insanity further and further all the time. They don’t do anything to end the vandalism, which the clean up of is paid for by the Marine Recruiting office. That would be you and me Mr. Taxpayer.
Take the money from the Berkeley defenders of the far left wing. They have freedom of speech, and so do we. We can demand that our representatives shut the tap off, and use the money instead to guarantee our future by paying down the debt RIGHT?
Max, so you choose to reinforce the usurped power of congress in order to save a few million bucks? And let’s be honest, it still probably won’t be saved; it’s probably already been appropriated and it’ll probably get spent somewhere else.
I’d rather work on stripping congress of power it doesn’t deserve, knowing that doing so will ultimately save many, many billions.
Oh I agree that Congress is way too powerful, they are in effect a in-equal branch of Government, as is the Judicial. However we must start somewhere. The Liberals love to nibble at our freedoms, a little here, a little there. I believe a good first step is to start nibbling at earmarks and funding. Law Schools are supposed to allow recruiters on the campus, but they hold huge protests in which the recruiters are powerless to defend themselves. So let’s cut the funding to universities.
We have to start cutting the federal budget somewhere, and Berkeley California seems as good a place as any to start with. In many ways, it seems better than others.
I see a lot of talk of rights and government, but from my point of view, it all comes down to common decency and respect. Those Marines are assigned to do a job that not many want to do to be honest. The Marine Corps has been defending this country and our rights at home as well as abroad since 1775. It’s a slap in the face for a few anti gov, anti war liberals to just up and decide that these Marines are not wanted in “their” city. We all have the right to choose and if the residents of Berkley don’t want to join up, then don’t. These Marines will do their job anyway, with the same dedication and devotion to duty that are hallmarks of the UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.
They’re all way outside their Constitutional authority.
Conservatives do it too. Ever notice how many times the Republicans will rail against a Democratic bill until after it passes? Rarely do they ever go back and try to rescind it; often, they’ll even increase the program down the road. The entire federal government has been complicit in the decline of our freedom.
Re-read comment #22. Fiscal conservatives have been nibbling for decades and government is growing faster than ever. Take Bush’s new budget for example; the headline all talk about his “cuts”. The Dems will certainly fight tooth and nail. And guess what? They’re not even really cuts. He’s just trying to slow the bleeding a little. We’re still going to bleed to death; nibbling will only prolong that for a couple years.
If you actually want to turn the tide and undo the damage, you have to attack the source: power.
2 points – all earmarks should be budget items-
If the city does not want Federal Goverment offices within the city limts, fine, it is a choice they can make. Then move ALL federal offices out of there. (Please leave a note where they can go to pick up the mail)
The Retired Gunney is right… This is a SLAP in the face to every single Marine here in the states and forward deployed. You know in the movie “A Few Good Men” where Jack Nicholson portrays a Marine Colonel and he states, “Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns†“We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.†I believe that everything that he has said is true… Being a Marine that has served in Iraq for a total of 15 months I know what it’s like to be on the other side. Let’s look at some of these communist countries who believe that you have no rights… Lets look at some of these third world countries who believe that if you speak out against the government, against the military, against its leaders that they have every right to cut out your tongue and dangle it in front of you. These governments can brand you for life to identify you as someone that spoke out against its laws and to warn others to not do so in fear of what might happen to them. These people trying to kick out the Marines, the ones that stand watch at night to defend their very opinions disgusts me! Lets take these people, these “leaders†of Berkley, and I use “leaders†very sarcastically, and put them out in Iraq, Afghanistan, or some Middle East country for 30 minutes, alone, unarmed, in the middle of one these countries major cities and see how fast they retract there statements about the Marine Corps. Lets see how fast the scurry and look for the nearest Marine with a rifle to protect them.
This happened in Berkley, what’s to say this won’t happen elsewhere? When this no longer becomes cities in states, but states in this country. I know this will never happen, at least I hope not, but what if it does? The very people the Marines protect, day in and day out are spitting in their faces! Since 1775 the Marines have been fighting to protect this great nation that its citizens take for granted. Everyone had better hope that the United States of America retains its Marines. Because if it doesn’t, we are all in BIG TROUBLE!
If you are a Marine reading this than I urge you to throw on your Charlies or Dress Blue Deltas, ribbons and badges, and go down to Berkley and just walk around. I know that I’m going to do it when I get back to California, FIRST THING!
Regards–
Worlds FINEST Marine
Some one a lot wiser than this retired Marine said, “Better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt!” Oops, too late berkely, you should’ve kept your mouths shut! Now the world knows that the city council, save but one, are all fools, along with the group that they support, code pink. Hey, lets try this, next time some facist, nazi, communist, or radical islamist group wants to take your freedom of speech or religion or any of the other freedoms that you enjoy,just have those code pink ‘weeds go take care of it for you! Then you will be silent, because they will run and hide behind someone with the cahonas to stand up for those and all of our freedoms!