Archive for December, 2006
by Robert E. Meyer
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…" We are familiar with this phrase from our Declaration of Independence, but have we considered its logical implications and outworking? Probably not very much at all.
Atheists and Humanists are among the most vocal proponents of a society with an obsession to assert their collective "rights." But since these secular "religions" are practically branches of the philosophy of naturalism, where everything that exists is a product of matter in motion, we might legitimately ask "from whence do these rights cometh?" If humanity evolved from the slime of a prehistoric pond, it seems silly to even anoint our race with so lofty an attribute as "human dignity." If what the infidel says about the origin of man is true, then any rights he claims are as illusionary as the disappearing animals in a Las Vegas magic show.
by Jim Kouri, CPP
The National Association of Former Border Patrol Agents recently released their position paper on all aspects of the illegal immigration issue. Over 250 former Border Patrol members of all ranks signed the document, which received scant mention by the mainstream news media.
The position paper addresses amnesty and guest worker programs, securing the US borders, sanctions against employers of illegal aliens, and condemnation of political leaders who subvert and undermine the efforts of the US Border Patrol.
"The nation has made demonstrable mistakes in the past in its efforts to control immigration. Let us, who were there to see them, remind the nation of the outcome and make suggestions for change," said Kent Lundgren, coordinator for the NAFBA.
Their position on illegal immigration begins with a strong border security initiative including what they termed "meaningful processes for screening those who wish to enter [the United States] legally."
"We believe that aliens residing in the United States must be here with the nation's permission or they should leave or be removed," they wrote.
When it comes to any type of amnesty program, the former Border Patrol agents were blunt and succinct: "We absolutely oppose any legislation that would allow aliens to remain in this country who have entered illegally or who have entered legally and remained here illegally."
The agents have little sympathy for employers who violate US immigration and labor laws. They stated that the current laws "presently on the books are adequate tools for the purpose" of enfforcing sanctions on businesses caught employing illegal aliens.
“The Right to engage in quiet and reflective prayer is an essential component of freedom of religion”
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law, announced today that it has submitted an amicus curiae brief with the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri in support of Missouri’s “funeral protection law,” which bans picketing and protests “in front of or about” any location where a funeral is being held (Shirley L. Phelps-Roper v. Jeremiah W. Nixon, et al., No. 06-cv-4156-FJG). The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law on behalf of radical protesters who have been disrupting military funerals by picketing and conducting other protest activities.
“…The right to engage in quiet and reflective prayer without being subjected to unwarranted intrusion is an essential component of freedom of religion,” Judicial Watch wrote in its brief, submitted on November 17, 2006. “Because a funeral is not an appropriate place for wide-open and robust speech, Missouri’s narrowly tailored funeral protection law constitutes a reasonable time, place and manner restriction that falls well within the First Amendment. The statute should, respectfully, be upheld.”
Missouri lawmakers were spurred into action after protesters began picketing outside the August 2005 military funeral of Army Spec. Edward L. Myers in St. Joseph, Missouri. The law reads: “It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in picketing or other protest activities in front of or about any church, cemetery, or funeral establishment … within one hour prior to the commencement of any funeral, and until one hour following cessation of any funeral…”
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Lack of transparency and accountability encourages impunity
WASHINGTON – Higher oil revenues have enabled mismanagement and abuse of power in Venezuela, leading to record levels of corruption, argues a new policy analysis by the Cato Institute. In the study released today, "Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela," author Gustavo Coronel, member of the first Board of Directors of Petróleos de Venezuela from 1976 to 1979 and Venezuelan representative to Transparency International from 1996 to 2000, details how the Chávez regime is squandering the country's wealth through rampant official and personal corruption.
Dubbing Chávez's government "hypercorrupt," Coronel identifies four main reasons for the nation's rapid decline to the bottom of global corruption and economic freedom indices. Misused oil income, mediocre management, Chávez's determination to play a "messianic" role in world affairs, and political populism designed to garner the affection of the people rather than promote the creation of new wealth have also contributed to the rise of graft.
Department of Justice Delivers $25,000 in Attorney Fees and Court Costs
(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has received a $25,000 award of attorney’s fees and costs from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in final settlement of Judicial Watch’s “Pardongate” lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Judicial Watch received the award on November 21, 2006 to compensate the nonprofit educational organization for its attorney time and expense in challenging DOJ’s improper withholding of records regarding former President Clinton’s controversial, last-minute pardons.
In the last days of his presidency, former President Clinton granted 140 pardons and commuted 36 sentences. The pardons were for individuals who had paid large fees to Clinton associates. Denise Rich donated more than $1 million to Democratic Party causes and the Clinton Library before her former husband, Marc Rich, received a presidential pardon. Hugh Rodham, brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton, accepted $400,000 after successfully lobbying his brother-in-law for clemency for two felons. (Anthony Rodham, Hillary’s other brother, has also been accused of illicitly brokering another pardon deal. Judicial Watch recently filed a formal complaint with the Justice Department in the matter.)
Judicial Watch served a FOIA request on DOJ in January 2001 seeking records regarding the controversial pardons. After DOJ refused to release the records, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered judgment in DOJ’s favor, finding that many records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney were subject to executive privilege. Judicial Watch successfully appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of the District of Columbia Circuit, which ruled in May 2004 that DOJ’s withholding of the Pardon Attorney’s records based on a claim of executive privilege “would be both contrary to executive privilege precedent and considerably undermine the purposes of FOIA to foster openness and accountability in government.”
The appellate court added that extending executive privilege in the manner advanced by DOJ “would have far-reaching implications for the entire executive branch that would seriously impede the operation and scope and of FOIA.” As a result of the appellate court’s ruling, over one thousand pages of responsive records were produced to Judicial Watch, although some records were redacted heavily.
In August 2006, Judicial Watch filed a motion for attorneys’ fees and costs in the lower court, arguing that it has substantially prevailed in the litigation and that DOJ’s improper withholding of records forced Judicial Watch to litigate the matter for more than five years. In September 2006, DOJ agreed to pay $25,000 to Judicial Watch to settle the matter.
“The outcome of this Clinton pardons FOIA case is a victory for transparency in government and a blow against corruption and the appearance of corruption,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The settlement recognizes the efforts of Judicial Watch’s tenacious lawyers in this long-fought legal battle.”
Click here to review Judicial Watch’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs.
Click here to learn more about the JW Pardongate Lawsuit
Here are changes in our national security as proposed by the Department of Homeland Security. Time will tell if they will be enacted and if they will be effective.
From: Department of Homeland Security
Release Date: November 30, 2006
The Administration announced its intention to work with Congress to reform the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) thereby strengthening security and facilitating international allies’ ability to join the program. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified a number of security measures to be sought from Visa Waiver Program candidates. DHS will work with Congress to implement the following security requirements:
1. Electronic travel authorizations. The United States will develop an Electronic Travel Authorization program for VWP travelers to give advance information on their travels to the Unites States. In return, the VWP travelers will be given authorization electronically to travel to the United States. This program will be modeled on a similar program that has been used in Australia for many years.
2. Passenger information exchange. For the most effective background checks on prospective travelers, the United States needs information and assistance from the country where the traveler resides. Such assistance should be a routine part of any VWP relationship.
3. Reporting lost and stolen passports. VWP countries will be asked to report lost and stolen passport data for both blank and issued passports, and to do so as promptly as possible. We have made progress in this area thanks to Congress’ past requirement that VWP countries provide such reports; the time has come to raise our sights.
4. Repatriation of removed aliens. When illegal immigrants are found in the United States, they must be removed from the United States to their home country. The home country must agree to accept them for repatriation. If the country refuses, or simply neglects to do so, the United States is forced to allow the aliens to remain in this country. VWP countries should agree to accept their citizens promptly when those citizens are caught violating U.S. law.
In addition, DHS will seek agreement with VWP countries on the following security enhancements:
by Robert E. Meyer
There is much speculation about what congressional democrats will do over the next two years. My column will be one of pure conjecture as well–I don't know with certainty–but I will give my rationale for each position I take.
First, the Democrats won't try to impeach the president. There are many good reasons for not doing so. The attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton did not sit well with the public, so the Dems won't want to take the chance of messing up their slim advantage going into the '08 presidential campaign. They must create the perception of bringing the country together. Long drawn out investigations would create the same voter fatigue which contributed to the GOP's defeat this November.
Investigations against Bush's reasons for going to Iraq will probably be inconclusive, and at worst exonerate his motives for invading Iraq. It worked better for the Dems to cast aspersions on Bush during the election season, than it will to actually perform an investigation that would do little to harm the already plummeting opinion polls that Bush is enduring. Such inquisition could look like a witch hunt, with Bush becoming the hallowed martyr. As the next election approaches, the Dems can spin their temperance as an act of goodwill: "We all know Bush is guilty of dereliction of his duties, but for the good of the country we spared America a second coming of Watergate." Presto! The Dems are the "white hats" riding the high moral plateaus.
Next, I doubt we will see much in the way of changes to the income tax structure. Democrats know that the economy has rebounded since the 9-11 recession. The Dow Jones is setting records almost monthly for the first time in since early 2000. Unemployment is extremely low, inflation is in check, oil prices are falling, and the deficit is being reduced through increased revenues, etc. Bush got no credit for this good economic environment, which means the Dems are poised to take credit for the bright economic future already baked into the cake. We will suddenly discover that the economy isn’t as bad as previously projected by the media, all due to the recent election of course. Also, with the housing bubble having finally burst, the Federal Reserve will likely have to go full astern on their current strategy of raising interest rates. The Dems might say they are going to eliminate "tax cuts for the rich," but that is a slogan of class envy, more than a statistical reality.
by Jim Kouri, CPP
"When I come to Washington, I feel despair. When I'm in Iraq with my commanders, when I talk to my soldiers and Iraqi leadership, they are not despairing," said General John Abizaid, the head of US Army's Central Command or CENTCOM.
Abizaid was responding to military expert Sen. Hillary Clinton, whose military experience consists of being married to a draft-dodger, and posing for photos with soldiers ordered to do so.
The junior senator from New York said, "Hope is not a strategy. Hortatory talk about what the Iraqi government must do is getting old….. The brutal fact is it is not happening."
While the decorated general attempted to educate the Senate Armed Services Committee about the current situation in Iraq, Sen. Clinton and some others were more interested in creating soundbites for the evening news broadcasts and the newspapers.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Police Service continues to graduate more and more police officers from advanced and specialty courses at the Adnan Training Facility as part of the Iraqi government’s ongoing effort to train its security forces, according to a report submitted to the National Association of Chiefs of Police by the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team officials in Iraq.
Several members of NACOP are currently in Iraq assisting with the training of police officers in basic and advanced courses.
These advanced courses consist of Basic Criminal Investigation, Interview and Interrogations, Violent Crime Investigation, Criminal Intelligence, First-Line Supervision, and Election Security.
The Basic Criminal Investigation course, designed to introduce participants to basic concepts of criminal investigation, covers topics such as theft, burglary, arson, robbery, sexual offenses, and homicide investigation. Students receive classroom instruction and hands-on training in fingerprinting, photography, tool marks and plaster casting techniques. To date, over 4,000 police officers have completed the Basic Criminal Investigations course.
by Thomas E. Brewton
Democrats, committed to the theory that only the political state can improve people's lives, explore ways to deliver on campaign promises.
David Wessel writes in the November 30 edition of the Wall Street journal here, (if you're an online subscriber):
In campaign rhetoric, Democrats raised expectations they would do more than Republicans to boost wages and living standards of ordinary Americans……Now Democrats have to deliver, or at least look like they're trying.
…….Democrats, [Gene Sperling, a Democratic cabinet-secretary-in-waiting] says, must figure out what government can do to encourage business to create more middle-class jobs in the U.S.
…….[Robert Reich, the former Clinton labor secretary], recites a familiar list: trade policy, industrial policy — government attempts to influence the flow of capital toward promising industries and companies — antitrust, publicly financed research and development, and stronger trade unions.
The sorts of policies advocated by Mr. Reich are what led us to economic and social disaster in the 1930s and again in the 1960s and 70s. Those policies are also essential elements in the economic doctrine of Mussolini's and Hitler's Fascism.
In both Italian Fascism and German National Socialism, the political state had the last word in establishing wages, hours, production volumes, and sale prices of goods. Unlike Soviet Communism, Fascism left property ownership in its original hands, recognizing that regulatory control was sufficient to carry out political and economic policies. Labor unions remained in existence and were strengthened vis a vis industrialists, and farmers were assured higher prices.
In common with the left-wing liberals of the Democratic Party, Fascists believed that private individuals and private business counted for little, if anything, in the creation of jobs and the necessary production of society's goods and services. People's lives and livelihoods were viewed as the creation of the political state, which therefore had the last word in regulating human activity.