Posted on 03/01/2008 9:27:10 PM PST by bs9021
Excusing Berkeley
by: Bethany Stotts
The Berkeley City Council's decision to declare its local U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office “unwelcome and uninvited intruders” has sparked considerable controversy throughout the nation. With S. 2596, also known as the Semper Fi Act, now in the Senate and with 12 cosponsors, this controversy seems to have intensified, prompting news articles critical of Senator Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) proposed “retaliation.” Should the legislation pass, the city of Berkeley would lose $2.3 million in earmarks.
The threatened loss of $975,000 (a subset of the total amount) for the University of California Berkeley’s Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service likely prompted Chancellor Birgeneau’s letter to his the local Congressman, John Campbell (R-CA), which noted that the campus is a “completely separate entity” from the city. “All branches of the Armed Forces, including the Marines, are welcome to recruit on the Berkeley campus and I have defended vigorously our policy when various groups have objected to it,” writes Birgeneau...
Representative Campbell also introduced a House companion bill, H.R. 5222, on February 6. It currently has 81 cosponsors. Enter an openly biased article by Bay Area News Group Writer Doug Oakley which characterizes the new legislation as an attempt by “six Republican senators” to “retaliate” against the Berkeley City Council. “Several Republicans in Congress are attempting to strip Berkeley institutions of federal funds in retaliation for last week’s City Council vote telling the U.S. Marines that their recruiting station is not welcome in the city,” reads the opening line of Oakley’s article. The author, clearly critical of the legislation, characterizes the earmarks as essential humanitarian aid, funds which “are designated for school lunches, Bay ferry service, disability organizations, UC Berkeley and public safety.” While technically true, Oakley carefully omits the opinions of supporters of the Semper Fi Act...
(Excerpt) Read more at campusreportonline.net ...
The petition
We, the undersigned condemn the Berkeley City Council’s treasonous attack on US Marine Recruiters stationed in their city. We ask that Congress cut off funds from any and all municipal entity within the confines of the city of Berkeley, California, until such time as the city council withdraws it’s action.
The City Council has voted to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and “if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests.”
The measure passed last week by a vote of 8-1.
The council also voted to explore enforcing a city anti-discrimination law, focusing on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
In a separate item, the council voted, also 8-1, to give the Marxist protest group Code Pink a parking space in front of the recruiting office once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/cutoffberkeleynow
If you wish to, please share with your friends or e-mail to your address books. You DO NOT have to donate at the petition site, there will be a page asking for one for the site after you sign, just back out or exit. Your signature will already be on the petition.
http://www.fourfriedchickensandacoke.blogspot.com
Ugg.
“are designated for school lunches”
This for GOURMET lunches I believe....not money to keep students from starving. $975,000 is a lot of hot dogs and chips!!!
The $2 million in federal funding that would be stripped by the “Semper Fi Act of 2008” — proposed by Rep. Campbell and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. — includes $243,000 in taxpayer dollars for the Chez Panisse restaurant to provide gourmet organic school lunches in the Berkeley School District.
According to the earmark language, 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."
deep sigh...........
PING!
What kid wants to eat that crap?
Bitter weeds with sour fish sauce and bad tasting bread. Ought to be a big hit with the kiddies.
-ccm
Most of that crap, which means your tax dollars and mine, will end up in the garbage.
If I lived there, I'd be helping my son make a small fortune peddling black-market Twinkies and chicken nuggets.
-ccm
>What kid wants to eat that crap?<
Real kids don’t.
Maybe, then again, maybe not.
The Berkeley City Council is so far left because the University of Berkeley is so far left, and many of the 18 year old students vote in local elections.
Here is where our fore father had the correct idea about owning property before you could vote. These students can out vote the permanent citizens of Berkeley.
After a few years in school most will leave the mess they help created behind, and move elsewhere.
I accept 18 years old voting but perhaps there should have been a provision of having them vote in their home town when away to college.
That genie is out of the bottle and now we must live with University towns all over the nations being left leaning because the professors are left leaning they influnece the students.
If the people of Berkeley do not want to support our military, then it is only right that the other citizens hold any support to the city and to the University. They want to be "independent" then let them pay for it all themselfs.
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