I am not quite sure what has gotten into Dick Armey these days, but he sure is grumpy. He opened fire this week on a proposal that we have floated calling upon the White House to establish a “Family Czar” to revive an initiative first undertaken by Ronald Reagan.
Armey not only misses the target on almost every point, his facts are wrong, including his claim that I endorsed a Republican presidential candidate that he opposed. I didn’t endorse; my role at FRC is not to elect presidents, but to shape policy and that is exactly what we are proposing with the idea of a Family Czar.
Armey mistakenly claims we are calling for the creation of more government intrusion into the lives of America’s families. Like Mr. Armey, I have a legislative record that is solidly conservative, for limited and smaller government. I hold to my conservative credentials and our proposal reflects them. Mr. Armey’s disregard for the importance of strong families is shocking. If we are willing to create issue-specific White House policy coordinators, some of whom the media has deemed “czars,” is it too much to ask the government to recognize the value of the family and our need to strengthen rather than usurp it?
Ronald Reagan understood the fact that America as a country could be no stronger than its families; that is why he had a quasi-family czar in domestic policy advisor Gary Bauer. That is why in 1987, by executive order 12606, President Reagan pushed the traditional family to the forefront in Washington by requiring government agencies to consider the impact their policies would have on families before issuing them. The measure was designed to block intrusive federal action and slow the growth of government. Among the order’s strong provisions was a requirement that federal agencies ask whether a planned action helps “the family perform its functions, or does it substitute governmental activity for the function?”
When families prosper the nation prospers. Unfortunately, President Clinton rescinded the executive order when he took office. Efforts to pass the measure through Congress during Mr. Armey’s watch were unsuccessful. Had it succeeded there is little doubt the gains of the Left would have been braked not accelerated.
Working off the language of President Reagan’s Executive Order 12606, I wrote and passed “The Family Impact Statement” legislation in my home state of Louisiana. I am convinced it will be a valuable tool in the hands of a true conservative like Governor Bobby Jindal, and I think it would be a good step for a White House committed to the traditional family unit. Calling on government to consider the impact of its proposals on the family, whether it is the strength of the marital commitment, the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, or the family’s budget, is a conservative idea. But to give it life, the family must be given priority. I’m not wedded to the term “Family Czar,” and the images it unintentionally evokes certainly give Mr. Armey a bone to pick, but he can rest assured we support solutions that push authority and financial resources back to the smallest government of all, the home.
News report: On Tuesday, McCain's delegates at the West Virginia convention swung over to support Huckabee at the last minute in a successful maneuver designed to deprive Romney of a victory.
This convention tactic is as old as conventions. Abraham Lincoln's supporters employed it in Illinois in 1856. We can read about it in Doris Kearns Goodwin's excellent "Team of Rivals." She shows how Abraham Lincoln's political allies did exactly the same thing in Illinois in 1856. They knew Lincoln could not get the Senate nomination, so they threw their support to Orville Browning to block a rival. Lincoln got the support of that Senator Browning in his 1858 race against Steven Douglas.
Usually when one thinks of recess you think of schoolchildren getting a break to play during the school day. “Recess” is also the word Congress uses when they take a long time period off (usually traveling on the taxpayer’s dime!) Dictionary.com defines recess as “temporary withdrawal or cessation from the usual work or activity.” Considering the type of activity currently going on in our Nation’s Capitol, I can think of a whole host of Members of Congress who deserve Detention when they return to Washington, D.C.!
Here is a list of pending topics that your Representative and Senators need to hear from you about:
Hate crimes: The House of Representatives voted favorably for the bill and currently it sits in the Senate. Additionally Sen. Kennedy has his own bill and Sens. Kennedy and Smith introduced an amendment (which included full text of their hate crimes bill) to the Defense Bill. The Defense Bill and any amendments to it will be debated when the Senate returns in September.
Judges: Judge Southwick has been voted out successfully from committee but now awaits a floor vote - still tied up in committee or on the floor is over a dozen qualified candidates. Senators need to hear from you that these candidates deserve a fair up or down vote. Judicial nominees should be judged on their ability to judge – not be lost to partisan politics.
Abstinence: The S-Chip bill in the House gutted one of the largest abstinence funding streams and the other large funding stream expires this fall. Contact your Representatives and Senators to protect this vital educational tool for children – and to not let the money go to abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood!
Embryonic stem-cells experimentation: After passing both the Senate and the House and then rightly vetoed by President Bush, the Senate now plans to vote to override the President veto - as it stands right now we have enough votes in the Senate to protect the veto but it is close. Additionally, Senator Specter and Harkin attached ESC expansion to the Labor Appropriations bill. Contact your Senator to vote against this deadly experimentation and for actual life saving ethical research like stem cell and cord blood stem cell research.
ENDA: The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is misleadingly referred to as a logical extension of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. H.R. 2015 is a radical transformation of workplace discrimination law. It would grant special consideration on the basis of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” that would not be extended to other employees in the workplace. ENDA is a “one size fits all” solution to alleged discrimination that erases all marriage-based distinctions. It grants special rights to homosexuals while ignoring those of employers. The federal government should not force private businesses to abandon their moral principles. Contact your Representatives and Senators to vote against this legislation when it comes up for a vote.
Fake pro-life bills: The Democratic Leadership will start pushing these more in an attempt to co-opt the strong pro-life tendencies of the American people. Supporters of these bills say that they will reduce abortions but instead they increase funding to Planned Parenthood and seek to get government funding for Plan B (which the manufacturer agrees is a "sometimes abortifacient")
Education: No Child Left Behind is up for re-authorization, within that bill we will seek to continue and expand protections for home schooled and private schooled kids and to return power locally where it belongs. We also support the alternative by Sen. Jim DeMint and John Cornyn that removes federal control from education
Pro-Life Riders: The House and Senate Foreign Operations spending bills undermine the pro-life Mexico City policy, which prevents funding for international groups that perform abortions. The Senate bill also gives money to international groups that support coercive abortion and sterilization programs.
The New York Times has a strange quote from Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
“Science is a gift of God to all of us and science has take us to a place that is biblical in its power to cure,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. “And that is the embryonic stem cell research.”
I completely agree that science, like all good things, can sometimes be viewed as a gift from God. I'm less clear, though, on the other part of that sentence. How exactly is it "biblical" to kill a human being in the fanciful hope that we one day might obtain cures for other humans beings? Is that written in one of those obscure Old Testament books that no one reads?
Perhaps Ms. Pelosi, Democratic House leader and theologian, can explain that one for us.
While criminal law treats all violent acts equally, the proposed law would additionally punish the accused for any prejudice they might have toward the victim. Instead of ending discrimination, this bill would create a judicial caste system in American society by creating categories where some victims are given more consideration and attention than others. This is a direct affront to the equal protection provision of our constitution.
As a former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, and a person who grew up fighting racism, I oppose the idea of thought crimes. In America, our Constitution guarantees everyone the freedom to think and believe whatever he or she wants, no matter how repulsive those beliefs are to others. And, our Declaration of Independence champions the dignity and worth of every individual.
So, the Democrats in Congress claim they support people of faith, while preventing a vote two weeks ago on an amendment to the Head Start bill that would have changed the law to allow faith-based groups who get Head Start funds to hire according to their beliefs…. (should a religious organization be required to hire a person from another religion, or none at all?). Democrats made much of their support for faith-based groups while effectively cutting out those that hire based on their religious beliefs.
But yesterday during a House Judiciary hearing, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) went after Monica Goodling’s Christian affiliation, since she attended law school at a Regent University.
If Monica Goodling did something unethical or illegal, she should be held to account for doing something unethical or illegal, not for having attended a Christian law school. I wonder if Rep. Cohen would have asked about Monica’s religious affiliation if she had attended a Jewish law school. I don’t know, but his constituents may want to ask him.
COHEN: “The mission of the law school you attended, Regent, is to bring to bear upon legal education and the legal profession the will of almighty God, our creator. What is the will of almighty God, our creator, on the legal profession?”
GOODLING: “I'm not sure that I could define that question for you.”
Click here and fast forward to 2:43 minutes to view the exchange between Rep. Cohen and Ms. Goodling (with WPost reporter Dana Milbank giving commentary):
To read about more about Goodling’s testimony, and the exchange with Rep. Cohen read Byron York’s article here.
How much have you spent this year on the abortion-oriented services of Planned Parenthood? This question may seem too personal, or out of line with your religious beliefs. But the truth is that if you pay taxes, you support Planned Parenthood.
Splashed across this morning's newspapers are photos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sporting a headscarf as she visited Syria, which included a stop at a mosque. While it is troubling that the leader third in line for the presidency (behind only the Vice President) would kowtow to a country that is a major purveyor in the trafficking of women, illegal drugs and terrorism, it's even more disturbing that she would concede by covering her head--which is usually seen as a sign of submission in the Muslim world.
On the home front we continue to uncover the anti-family efforts of this new Congress. The major accomplishments the new Democratic Leadership in the House can point to are furthering taxpayer funding of destructive human embryo research, de-funding (and demoralizing) our troops fighting the war against terrorists and passing a budget that would raise our taxes by at least $400 billion.
Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. Waiting in the on-deck circle are bills that would treat homosexuals as a special protected class, eliminate abstinence funding and use tax money for abortions--just to name a few. The more this Congress attacks the values important to American families, the clearer it is that they have strayed from their mandate.
Due to some backroom machinations by Indiana State House Speaker Patrick Bauer (D), it looks like Hoosiers will be denied a right to amend their constitution and protect marriage. Despite Bauer's promise that the full House would be given an opportunity to vote on the marriage protection amendment, members of the House Rules Committee failed to pass the amendment in a 5-5 vote. Although several conservative leaders have vowed to reintroduce the amendment, it's uncertain whether they can do so in time to ensure that the issue appears on the 2008 ballot.
FRC Action has been heavily involved in the fight, publishing an ad in a local newspaper last week and promoting it in an audio/radio alert throughout the state over the weekend. As Indiana's pro-family leaders regroup, we urge citizens across the state to encourage Speaker Bauer to revive the proposal--before time runs out.
Since his unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate in 2001, Dr. Wade Horn has served admirably as the Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services. As he announces his departure, we commend him for his unwavering commitment to the intact family and abstinence.
Under his watch, ACF has promoted positive, life-changing programs for adolescents, parents, and married couples, including several new partnerships with faith-based organizations and abstinence educators. His principled leadership will be sorely missed. As the administration considers a replacement to fill the big shoes that Wade is leaving behind, we urge the White House to select a person who shares his commitment for putting the family first.
Also in the op/ed department, FRC's Cathy Ruse, Senior Fellow for Legal Studies, writes in today's Christian Science Monitor about the recent overturning by the courts of the Child Online Protection Act:
Another federal judge has struck down the Child Online Protection Act. Had it taken effect, the 1998 law would have done one simple thing: require Internet pornographers to verify the age of customers through the use of adult-access codes or credit cards.
Last month, Judge Lowell Reed Jr ruled out even this basic measure of accountability as a violation of the free-speech rights of porn purveyors and their often addicted customers.
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is a highly decorated former Marine and Vietnam veteran. He's also the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and one of the most outspoken opponents of the Iraq conflict. Recently he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he supports reinstating the military draft and said that he believes "everyone ought to be obligated to serve":
Before you would-be draft dodgers rush off to buy a one-way bus tickets to Canada, keep in mind that hardly anyone--including the military and Murtha's fellow legislators--agrees that a draft is desirable.
When it comes to promoting faith on Capitol Hill, there is safety in numbers--"219" to be exact. That's the House meeting room where a group of members gather each week to ask the Lord's blessing on our nation. In 2005, Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) made it official by creating the Congressional Prayer Caucus, a group of leaders committed to praying for our nation and protecting the rights of all Americans to pray. In the past two years, the number of Caucus members has grown to 42 (almost a 10% of the representatives in the House).
Yesterday, FRC attended the press conference in which the Caucus announced its plan to spread what they call "219 prayer groups" across America. They hope that as the faithful meet to pray these "spiritual blocks" will form a powerful wall of protection around America. We applaud Rep. Forbes' leadership in helping to fulfill 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by my Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and heal their land." We invite you to join with the 219 group and FRC, which also has a prayer initiative as part of our Church Ministries Program. Both are keys to the revival our country so desperately needs.
Somewhere between the November elections and this week's debate, the GOP must have rediscovered its backbone. Apart from the runaway pork, which a handful of Republicans did support, the new minority has used its humble status to block several unconstitutional anti-family measures on everything from emergency contraception to D.C. voting rights.
Tuesday, the GOP's latest move, prompted by the Minneapolis lawsuit filed by the "flying imans" against their fellow plane passengers, managed to take liberals completely by surprise. Using a procedural vote, introduced an amendmentRepublicans to the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act that would protect passengers from being sued when they report suspicious activity. Although the debate was heated, the provision proved extremely popular among Republicans and nearly half of the Democrats, passing 304-121. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) dismissed the claims that the bill would lead to racial profiling. When Americans "see something," they should be free to "say something," King argued.
Unfortunately, the suit in Minneapolis is just a symptom of the broader strategy by radical Islamists to manipulate American law. The Twin City taxi drivers, three-fourths of whom are Muslim, now refuse to transport passengers carrying alcohol. Likewise, Muslim clerks at Target stores are refusing to scan items that contain pork. In both instances, Islamic law forbids the consumption of these foods--not the handling of them. But until their agenda is challenged by leaders like Rep. King and the freedom of Americans upheld, these determined radicals will continue to use our own code of tolerance to chip away at Western law.
Despite suffering several rounds of defeat on the state level, the Senate's pro-abortion dream team of Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reintroduced an archaic (and unnecessary) Equal Rights Amendment for consideration. In conjunction with the Feminist Majority Foundation, liberals hope their transparent ploy for women's rights will ultimately nullify parental notification laws and the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of taxpayer funds for abortions.
As an added bonus to same-sex marriage advocates, a federal ERA would create a legal avenue for attacking traditional marriage. Already a Maryland state court has ruled in favor of same-sex unions on the grounds that the state's ERA prohibits a "sex-based classification." If feminists were truly concerned about women, they would concentrate their efforts not on achieving a status they already enjoy but on policies that will reverse the worldwide phenomena of sex selection abortion and infanticide that have resulted in an estimated 100 million missing girls. It is clear that what radical liberals lack in principle, they certainly make up for in persistence.
Last week, the U.S. House proposed funding the war on spinach. This week the Senate has shifted the funding to the war on sugar beets. Here is a list of provisions in the emergency war supplemental “U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007" that do not fund the war:
1) $24 million for funding for sugar beets.
2) $3 million for funding for sugar cane (goes to one Hawaiian co-op).
3) $20 million for insect infestation damage reimbursements in Nevada, Idaho, and Utah.
4) $2.1 billion for crop production losses.
5) $1.5 billion for livestock production losses.
6) $100 million for Dairy Production Losses.
7) $13 million for Ewe Lamb Replacement and Retention Program.
8) $32 million for Livestock Indemnity Program.
9) $40 million for the Tree Assistance Program.
10) $100 million for Small Agricultural Dependent Businesses.
11) $6 million for North Dakota flooded crop land.
12) $35 million for emergency conservation program.
13) $50 million for the emergency watershed program.
14) $115 million for the conservation security program.
15) $18 million for drought assistance in upper Great Plains/South West.
16) Provision that extends the availability by a year $3.5 million in funding for guided tours of the Capitol. Also a provision allows transfer of funds from holiday ornament sales in the Senate gift shop.
17) 165.9 million for fisheries disaster relief, funded through NOAA (including $60.4 million for salmon fisheries in the Klamath Basin region).
18) $12 million for forest service money (requested by the president in the non-emergency FY2008 budget).
19) $425 million for education grants for rural areas - (Secure Rural Schools program).
20) $640 million for LIHEAP.
21) $25 million for asbestos abatement at the Capitol Power Plant.
22) $388.9 million for funding for backlog of old Department of Transportation projects.
23) $22.8 million for geothermal research and development.
24) $500 million for wildland fire management.
25) $13 million for mine safety technology research.
26) $31 million for one month extension of Milk Income Loss Contract program (MILC)
27) $50 million for fisheries disaster mitigation fund.
28) $100 million to help pay for Republican and Democrat party conventions.
Thanks to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), parents who drop off their kids at the public library can now have more assurance that their children are checking out books and not pornography on the Internet. After a prolonged, three-year battle, state legislators passed a bill that requires public libraries to install filtering software on their computers to protect patrons from pornography and indecency.
Before the legislation passed, fewer than half of the library systems in Virginia had installed the software. Without them, a simple, misspelled word in a web search could lead children to pornographic and violent sites instead. The bill passed both the House and Senate by wide margins, echoing the broad local support for the proposal.
According to a survey by the Virginia Family Foundation, 89% of citizens supported the measure when asked last October. Virginia will join 21 other states that have similar legislation in place. Unfortunately, several other states legislatures have debated comparable bills but seen them fall prey to "free speech" objections. Ironically, some politicians seem more interested in protecting kids from the so-called "dangers of religious speech" than from the perils of pornography.
Virginia leaders were able to overcome the First Amendment obstacles by including a provision that allows adults to have the filters disabled for legitimate purposes. We applaud the Virginia Family Foundation and pro-family leaders, all of whom fought tirelessly for "safe surfing" in the state.
Wedding Crashers: States Battle Against Same-Sex Marriage
As their motto implies, residents of Indiana truly are at "The Crossroads of America" when it comes to traditional marriage. When Rep. Patrick Bauer (D) campaigned to become the next Speaker of the state House, he pledged to "allow committee meetings, floor debate, and a final vote in the chamber on a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriages in Indiana."
Since his election, things may have changed. Bauer is reportedly considering new language that would undercut traditional marriage and deny citizens a vote on the issue until at least 2010. In response, FRC Action and allies placed a full-page ad today in the South Bend Tribune calling on the Speaker to keep his promise on the amendment and let the people of Indiana decide.
Perhaps Bauer could take his cue from the Senate President of Massachusetts, Therese Murray, who announced this week that she will not use her power to block a vote on the state's marriage protection amendment. Despite her objections to the proposal, Murray put the democratic process ahead of her political agenda. In Maryland, the prospects of passing a marriage amendment were crushed by the House Judiciary Committee, whose members rejected the bill before it reached the floor.
On the bright side, South Carolina celebrated the formal ratification of its new constitutional amendment upholding traditional marriage last week. The state officially joins 27 others that have resolved to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
While the federal government is mired in debates about the culture of life, three states have taken it upon themselves to pass a bevy of pro-life legislation. In Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill that would prohibit abortion in the state if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. In the meantime, the legislation requires abortion clinics to offer women an ultrasound before they consent to the procedure.
Neighboring Arkansas approved a House measure that requires abortion businesses to tell women that they cannot be coerced into having an abortion. Vermont tackled a bill that affects the end of life. Despite pressure to follow in Oregon's footsteps, the Vermont House defeated a measure that would have legalized assisted suicide.
Unfortunately, New Hampshire is one state that has become the focus of an intense attack from anti-family forces. Next week, legislators are considering bills on every subject from parental notification and abortion regulation to legalizing civil unions and a constitutional amendment to protect marriage. Our friends at Cornerstone Policy Research are hosting a rally tomorrow at the New Hampshire statehouse in Concord. The Granite State is increasingly a key battle ground in the nation's culture wars.
Last week I pointed out that the bill to provide supplemental war funding included $25 million for payments to spinach producers, $120 million to the shrimp industry, $74 million for peanut storage, and $5 million for shellfish, oyster and clam producers (see: Funding the War on Spinach). In response to this pork-loading, Congressman Mike Pence has a great retort:
"Spinach, shrimp, peanuts and shellfish? That's not a war funding bill, that's the salad bar at Denny's. "
Is there anything good about presidential political campaigns starting so early? Ken Blackwell, FRC's new Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment, says there is:
There appears to be every possibility that ideas will ultimately decide the nomination, perhaps for both parties. The thinking primary has begun. That's a welcome sign, because this is the primary that matters, and if there is any advantage to having our presidential competitions start almost two years away from Election Day it's the opportunity to examine and think about our options.
While the country awaits a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of public funding of faith-based social services, a secularist group launched a related suit. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State tried, unsuccessfully, to strip funds from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant recipient because of its religious roots.
For years, the Northwest Marriage Institute has provided marriage workshops in an effort to strengthen relationships and eliminate poverty. Impressed by the organization's strong track record, the Administration for Children & Families awarded the group three grants so that low-income couples could take the secular seminars for free. None of the funds were used for the biblical workshops, yet former ACLU chief Barry Lynn's organization argued that Northwest's religious affiliation should exclude it from participating in government programs.
Fortunately, Federal District Judge Franklin Burgess disagreed, ruling, "[It] has never been held that religious institutions are disabled by the First Amendment from participating in publicly sponsored social welfare programs." We applaud the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the Institute and successfully convinced the court that religious groups--that provide valuable social services cannot be treated like "second-class citizens."
As you fill out this year's IRS paperwork, enjoy your family tax breaks. If the new Senate leadership has its way, they may be among your last. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) unveiled a resolution that calls for a balanced budget by 2012. While it seems like an insurmountable task, liberals have found an easy solution. They'll simply reverse every GOP tax cut and raise an extra $900 billion in revenue.
As part of the plan, Democrats would reinstate the tax penalty on married couples, causing the standard deduction for joint filers to shrink from 200 to 167 percent by 2011. Also, liberals recommend slashing the child tax credit in half, reducing it from $1,000 to $500. Although Congress has managed to whittle the death taxes down to nearly nothing under the current code, Democrats would resurrect them in four short years. Unfortunately, the tax rates would rise substantially in every bracket, even among low-income taxpayers who would be forced to pay Uncle Sam at a 15 percent rate. Under the measure, taxes on both dividends and capital gains would increase by January 2009.
Although painful, this would help erase the U.S. budget deficit, right? Wrong. Reid's legislation actually increases spending for health care, education, and transportation projects. Republicans are understandably frustrated by the proposal, which could lead to the biggest tax increase in history. Families, who were finally experiencing some tax relief under President Bush, would again be forced to shoulder a heavy financial burden--not to ease American debt--but to pay for Democrats' pet programs. As Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) said, "As we [start to debate] the budget... we shouldn't begin with a plan to grow an even more massive bureaucracy on the backs of the American taxpayer."
The House leadership, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and company, is moving forward with bills that undermine the U.S. Constitution. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a ruling that would have given native Hawaiians "sovereignty." New legislation that would have a similar effect has been quietly introduced under the name "Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act." The bill could lead to exempting Hawaiians from the Constitution and allowing them to create their own race-based government.
A second proposal, which would give the District of Columbia its own representative in the House, has come under fire from the White House for being "unconstitutional." The measure has already passed through two House committees and Pelosi vows to secure the bill's approval on the floor.
Finally, as if there weren't enough hot air in Congress this week, Al Gore is paying a visit to Capitol Hill to offer his flawed research as grounds for U.S. climate change legislation. He was invited to testify before a joint subcommittee despite the fact that scientists are increasingly critical of his methods and conclusions.
$25 million for livestock (2005 Hurricane Livestock Indemnity program).
$100 million for citrus assistance (2005 Hurricanes Citrus program)
$283 million for the Milk Income Loss Contract program.
$120 million to compensate for the effects “of Hurricane Katrina on the shrimp and menhaden fishing industries.”
$60.4 million for salmon fishery "disaster" in the Klamath River region in California and Oregon.
$48 million for salaries and expenses for Farm Service Agency.
An additional $500 million for emergency wildfires suppression even though the Forest Service already has $831 million available for this purpose.
$400 million for rural schools.
Government contracting reform.
Minimum wage increase, which is already moving on a separate track.
$50 million for asbestos mitigation U.S. Capitol Plant.
$16 million for security upgrades to House of Representative Office buildings.
$6.4 million for House of Representative’s Salaries and Expenses Account for business continuity and disaster recovery expenses.
$35 million for NASA risk mitigation projects in Gulf Coast.
$20 million for Emergency Conservation Program for farmland damaged by freezing temperatures.
$5 million for losses suffered by aquaculture businesses including breeding, rearing, or transporting live fish as a result of viral hemorrhagic septicemia.
$4 million for Office of Women’s Health of FDA.
$10 million for the International Boundary and Water Commission, US/Mexico for the Rio Grande Flood Control System Rehabilitation project.
If liberal judicial activism were ever put on trial, the foolish decisions of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (sometimes referred to as the Ninth Circus) would be Exhibit A. An editorial in yesterday's Wall Street Journal notes that the Supreme Court has reviewed eight decisions by the Ninth Circuit in its current term--and has overturned all eight. The cumulative vote of the justices against the Ninth Circuit's positions is an astronomical 67-5.
This gives hope that the Supremes will overturn another absurd Ninth Circuit ruling handed down Friday. The Contra Costa County (Calif.) Library makes meeting rooms available to the public for "educational, cultural and community related" activities--but forbids their use for "religious services." A district court judge overturned this blatantly unconstitutional policy, but a Ninth Circuit panel overruled that decision, and now the full court has refused to hear an appeal. The judges argue that "mere religious worship" is entitled to less protection under the First Amendment than is secular speech or religious speech other than worship. The dissenting judges declared that "the majority has disregarded equal-access cases stretching back nearly three decades."
It's no wonder that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Dr. James Dobson last week in a radio interview that he favors abolishing the Ninth Circuit altogether.
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), every GOP presidential candidate but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tried to stake a claim for conservative support. The results of CPAC's presidential straw poll indicate that voters are grappling to find candidates whose platform addresses both the crisis abroad and the dilemmas at home.
Of 1,705 registrants, 21 percent backed former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) for President. Rudy Giuliani, who was given a prime-time slot at the event, came in second-place with just 17 percent of the vote. Senator Sam Brownback received 15%. The poll also surveyed conservatives for their opinion on what the government's priorities ought to be. Half responded that "their most important goal is to promote individual freedom by reducing the size of government."
FRC Radio correspondent Bethanie Swendsen reports from the Supreme Court on the legal challenge by a humanist group of President Bush's faith-based initiatives.
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), every GOP presidential candidate but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tried to stake a claim for conservative support. The results of CPAC's presidential straw poll indicate that voters are grappling to find candidates whose platform addresses both the crisis abroad and the dilemmas at home.