GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Bush in Canada for SPP talks

President George W. Bush met this week in Montebello, Quebec, with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), which, as the name indicates, deals with the meshing of security and free trade. Another issue on the table was the war in Afghanistan and Canada’s troop commitment, which Prime Minister Harper stressed will only last until 2009 without consensus in Parliament.

The real news, of course, was the protestors that descended upon Montebello to voice fears of a “North American Union,” a la the European Union, thus endangering the sovereignty of each nation. Many fear the so-called “NAFTA Superhighway” running from Mexico to Canada along I-35, and the dissolution of borders altogether as part of a “New World Order.” The three leaders laughed off such theories, with Prime Minister Harper even joking about an “interplanetary” highway. While we aren’t laughing at the one-liners, we doubt the theories of a “North American Union” are true to the extent they go. Still, we agree with Judicial Watch, a conservative group that has called for more transparency in SPP-related meetings. Transparency is never bad for a republic—especially when it concerns sovereignty, security and prosperity. It will be worth keeping an eye on the bureaucratic “harmonization” between the three nations, as sovereignty is not something to be taken lightly. President Bush’s record on the issue often leaves much to be desired, not to mention the fact that he passed on a golden opportunity to put fears to rest.

Democrats change position on Iraq

A sure sign that the Treason Lobby is fresh out of ideas is their resort to that last bastion of hope, “glass-half-empty” politics. In this case, now that the Demos’ “quagmire” whining has been squelched by General Petraeus’ recent counterinsurgency victories in Iraq, the Left is beside itself as to how to cast these overwhelming triumphs into abject failures. Enter “half-full-glass” politics. Specifically, because military gains—no matter how remarkable—have not resulted in peace, love and harmony among Iraqi’s various political blocs, smooth-brains on the Left are confident they have worthy a rationale-du-jour for “bringing the troops home” (AKA, surrendering in Iraq). The theory is that since there has been no “political reconciliation” (to use The Washington Post’s term) among Iraqi factions, these concrete successes mean little, if anything.

Notwithstanding its inability to survive a giggle test, this argument is nonetheless gaining popularity among second-echelon Democrats, who feel obligated to undermine U.S. efforts in Iraq. While Democrat presidential candidates stumble over each other to be first in the “I’m-toughest-on-terror” line—a line each candidate must toe, if he/she ever wants the label “President” to precede his/her name—the real yeoman’s work of Planet Democrat’s inhabitants centers on dismantling efforts to further freedom and democracy in Iraq, through whatever means possible. The Seditionists have tied their hopes for power in 2008 to U.S. failure in the Middle East, independent of the consequences. Let’s just hope America—as well as the rest of the world—isn’t forced to face those consequences.

New & notable legislation

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) is seeking co-sponsors for the Child Pornography Elimination Act (H.R. 3148), which, according to the Republican Study Committee, “would prohibit accessing child pornography, impose mandatory penalties for possession of child pornography, increase civil penalties for Internet Service Providers who fail to report child pornography to law enforcement, and provide mandatory restitution for child pornography victims.”

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced the Medicare Quality Enhancement Act (H.R. 3370). The bill provides access to Medicare data for qualified private-sector organizations in order to provide public reports and analysis on the quality and cost of our healthcare system.

Missouri battles over anti-quota initiative

A court fight sure to draw national attention has erupted in Missouri over a ballot initiative to ban racial preferences and quotas in the state. Two separate lawsuits consolidated into a single case against Attorney General Jay Nixon and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan have accused them of deliberately distorting the ballot’s language in favor of a liberal political outcome. The November 2008 ballot would include the following amendment to Missouri’s constitution:

“The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”

State law requires that the ballot be phrased in the form of a question, but rather than simply restating the crystal-clear language, Carnahan has crafted a deceptive bit of Leftspeak:

“Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:—ban affirmative action programs designed to eliminate discrimination against; and improve opportunities for woman and minorities in public contracting, employment and education; and—allow preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin to meet federal program funds eligibility standards as well as preferential treatment for bona fide qualifications based on sex?”

Ballot supporters such as Ward Connerly, founder of the American Civil Rights Institute, point out that Carnahan’s verbal gymnastics lead voters to think that they could be voting to remove protections against discrimination, when in reality, such a vote would make any form of discrimination on the basis of race, sex or ethnicity illegal by ending affirmative action and race-based quotas and preferences. Connerly has managed to get similar ballots passed in every state in which he has introduced the measure, and he is confident that this lawsuit will come out in his favor. However, Carnahan has been sued three different times over ballot language and won all three cases. This is a heavyweight fight in the Show-Me State and it will be well worth watching.

From the Left: Al Gore on Apple’s board

It turns out that not all of Apple’s shareholders are happy with Global Warming Grand Potentate Al Gore sitting on the board of the computer giant. After first joining in 2003, Gore has been attached to a company that has grown tremendously. Even the options-backdating scandal came and went without affecting Apple’s ever-rising stock price. Despite the nice dividends and Gore’s loyalty to CEO Steve Jobs during the scandal, Gore received a 28 percent “no” vote for re-election to the board from the shareholders at May’s annual meeting. The results of the vote, which is generally a rubber stamp with many unanimous votes, were released just last week.

The sting of the vote is probably offset by the $6 million Gore has in options. Add to that the $30 million or so he has from being on Google’s board, and it becomes highly unlikely Gore would leave the good life and return to the campaign trail.

Man of the people invests in foreclosures

John Edwards has not yet been challenged by fellow Democrats on the presidential circuit about the $16 million he earned with Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund invested in the dreaded sub-prime mortgage market. Like Edwards, all the Demos are busy using the sub-prime-lending crisis to again blame the rich for taking advantage of the poor. The fact that one of those so-called evil, rich profiteers is among them is too comical to ignore. But it doesn’t stop Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from calling for a society of shared responsibility. In their world, borrowers never make poor decisions; lenders are just “unsavory.”

Edwards is once again stranded in hypocrisy-ville, having profited from a company that foreclosed on 34 homes in New Orleans. This is a particular embarrassment for Edwards, because New Orleans was where he launched his campaign—the capital city of the lesser of his two Americas. Caught in a pinch with reporters, Edwards publicly offered financial assistance to the people who have lost their homes; presumably from the $16 million in “dirty” money he made trying to “learn about poverty.” It will be interesting to see just how many people come a-knockin’ on his door.

Sen. Leahy, movie star

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced this week that he will be going Hollywood, making an appearance in the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight.” We immediately surmised that he would be playing the Joker, but, alas, we were mistaken. Leahy says he will play the part of the “distinguished gentleman,” a true leap of fantasy for one of the Democrats’ biggest bullies. “It’s a pretty tense scene,” said Leahy, a long-time Batman fan, who has done voice-overs for Batman cartoons, written the preface for a book and played two small roles in previous Batman movies. The good news? “I don’t wear tights,” says Leahy… for which we can all breathe a sigh in relief.

NATIONAL SECURITY

On the Homeland Security front: Terrorists’ liberties

In their never-ending, illogical quest to protect the First Amendment by giving aid and comfort to jihadi enemies of the First Amendment, the ACLU has persuaded a federal judge to order the U.S. government to answer an ACLU request to release information about the classified terrorist-surveillance program. Prompted by Congress’ approval of an updated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on terror suspects, the ACLU asked the court to order the government to explain its need to expand its authority to spy on foreigners, and the court agreed.

Of course, the FISA overhaul was needed because of the court’s January ruling that brought the spying program under its authority, which effectively banned eavesdropping on suspected foreign terrorists when their messages were routed through U.S. -based carriers. With this order, it appears that the court, cheered on by the ACLU, is again taking steps to thwart a very effective anti-terrorism tool that has helped prevent further attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11.

Judicial Benchmarks: Imams drop suit

In the halls of justice on the right: The “flying imams” out of Minnesota have dropped their “John Doe” lawsuits against fellow jetliner passengers who reported the Muslim men for suspicious behavior in-flight. The imams and their lawyers were simply reading the handwriting on the wall as President Bush has already signed a bill protecting such John Doe reports retroactively against legal harassment of this type. The imams’ federal civil-rights complaint will continue, however, against U.S. Airways and Minneapolis airport workers.

APA opposes interrogation of jihadis

From the Ivory Tower: The American Psychological Association will soon vote on two proposals regarding the participation of psychologists in the interrogation of terror suspects. The more radical of the two would ban any member of the APA from participating in any interrogation of foreign terrorists or suspects. That’s ANY interrogation of ANY foreign terrorists, mind you, no matter the circumstances. The other proposal would ban members from taking part in specific interrogation methods that the APA says constitute “torture.” To their credit, the APA’s board of directors supports the second option, which does at least retain the participation of psychologists in some interrogations, while the lefty element of the APA supports the zero-participation option.

The Defense Department has affirmed repeatedly that psychologist participation is effective and important in allowing interrogators to develop rapport with terror suspects, eventually allowing the interrogators to elicit information from the detainee. But to the far-Left world of academia, which most certainly includes the APA, adherence to their classroom idealism trumps the life-saving work being done by military interrogators—real work that has saved real lives. Thankfully, we do not depend on the APA’s idealism to defend us in the Long War against Islamic extremism.

On immigration: When is illegal illegal?

A Kansas court of appeals ruled this week that there is a distinction between entering the country illegally and presence in the country; the latter is not a crime. The ruling was on the appeal of Nicholas Martinez, an illegal alien busted for possession of cocaine and endangering a child. Martinez’s plea bargain would have resulted in probation, but the original judge ruled probation wasn’t possible as his immigration status meant he was already in violation of the law. The judge ruled that Martinez should spend a year in jail, but a three-judge appeals panel threw out the sentence because, while it may be illegal to enter the country, it is not necessarily illegal to be in the country. As Rush Limbaugh asked, “So, what, if I go rob a bank and I get away with it and they don’t find out about it for a week, does it mean I get to keep the money?” Prosecutors have 30 days to appeal.

Meanwhile, the Census Bureau has requested that immigration agents suspend raids during the 2010 census so as to allow a more realistic count of illegal aliens, similar to a suspension of raids during the 2000 census. The issue is tricky because the Constitution (14th Amendment) requires that “the whole number of persons in each State” be counted every ten years. It does not address immigration status. However, illegal immigration is such a serious problem that a way must be found to accomplish both objectives.

May we remind you, for example, of the recent execution-style murders of three college students in Newark, New Jersey. The prime suspect is an illegal alien who has been indicted already this year on aggravated-assault and weapons charges. Did we mention Newark is a “sanctuary city”?

Drug cartels and terrorists

To highlight the national-security importance of the immigration issue, it has recently come to public light that drug cartels and terrorist organizations are in deep cahoots. Initially, the connection between drug cartels and various terrorist organizations was viewed as primarily a local threat. Terrorists brought the cartels new training, skills and assets related to their own internal security. That was long before 9/11. Today, cartel smuggling and money-laundering expertise is used to bring in dangerous drugs, cash assets, sleeper-cell personnel and other materials vital to any new 9/11-style terrorist attack. Our homeland is now the primary target and we can no longer look the other way as millions of illegals cross our Southern border every year.

Bad as that is, of greater concern is the apparent intelligence disconnect in Congress as evidenced by Representative Ed Royce’s comments implying that this terrorist tie-in to the cartels was new information. The intelligence is there, Congressman; it has been for a long time.

Executive Order 12333 requires all federal-intelligence agencies to cooperate in providing intelligence needed to protect the homeland. The El Paso Intelligence Center and federal agencies are well aware of this cartel-terrorist connection. The real story is not the self-serving relationship among the narco-terrorists; it is the government’s almost total disregard for the seriousness of border control.

Endeavour lands safely

Welcome home to the astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, which landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. As we reported last week, a baseball-size piece of external tank foam broke off after launch, slamming into Endeavour’s belly and gouging a roughly three-inch by three-inch hole in her thermal-protection tiles, exposing the underlying felt and aluminum structure. NASA mission managers decided not to have the crew repair the shuttle while in space, despite the similarity in circumstances to the Columbia disaster in 2003. Fortunately, the decision proved correct. The next shuttle launches are planned for October (Discovery) and December (Atlantis).

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

New York SCHIP

The parasitic nature of federal entitlement programs is being demonstrated once again with the proposed expansion of SCHIP (the State Children’s Health Insurance Program). As with all acts of compulsory charity, there is no incentive to wean the participants off the entitlement teat, but rather there is the perverse incentive to find additional needs to grow an increasingly bloated bureaucracy. Presently, several governors want to expand the coverage of SCHIP, including Eliot Spitzer of New York. He wants a two-and-a-half-fold increase over its initial level. If Gov. Spitzer is arguing that the cost of living in New York is greater than, say, in Kansas, he will sustain no opposition from us. But it is only appropriate that the citizens of New York bear the cost of his expansion. Instead it appears that he wants U.S. taxpayers to ensure that all New York children are provided healthcare.

There is also a more insidious threat in the shadows of Spitzer’s proposal. As the income threshold is raised (to $51,625 in NY), employers will see their taxes increased and, as more of their employees’ children qualify for public assistance, employers will seek to control their cost by reducing insurance benefits. Finally, as the entitlement program expands, the efficiency and efficacy of the care provided will decline.

Simultaneously, the Bush administration has proposed guidelines requiring that states verify the participation of 95 percent of eligible children before seeking an increase in the income threshold. Imagine that—accountability. A program intended for low-income families will remain targeted for low-income families. Still, governors who are “certain” that there are underserved children in their state are chaffing at the idea of having to prove anything in a quantitative manner.

Employers innovate on healthcare

As healthcare costs skyrocket, employers are making some innovations in their handling of the issue. Some employers are seeking to reduce healthcare costs by offering healthy-living financial incentives and experimenting with on-site health clinics. Employees need not use the clinics, but financial incentives that include lower deductibles and co-pays, and the ability to see the on-site doctor while still “on the clock” will encourage employees to visit. It is estimated that 23 percent of large employers—those with at least 1,000 employees, such as Toyota and Perdue Farms—now have on-site health clinics, with another six percent planning them for the future. “Companies don’t want to be in the medical business,” said Dr. Roger Merrill, chief medical officer at Perdue. “My answer to that is you are already in the medical business if you are spending millions of dollars in medical bills.” Perdue, for its part, has reduced its healthcare costs by three percent over the last three years.

On the flip side are punitive financial incentives, which include charging higher insurance premiums to obese employees or tobacco users, ideally spurring them to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Some employers will even require employees to participate in a health-risk appraisal, which will inform a company as to which of its employees smoke, have high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Of course, employees’ privacy is an issue. As Pat Schoeni, executive director of the National Coalition on Health Care, said, “There is so much discrimination health-wise against certain diseases, against any type of depression or mental-health problem. Employees don’t want their employers to know they are being treated for depression or alcoholism or drug addictions.” The question is, if employers are paying for healthcare, how much should they know about their employees and regulate accordingly?

Good intentions aren’t enough for foreign aid

CARE International has decided to stop sending to poor nations the $45 million in U.S. food it receives each year. Why? They say it does more harm than good. This comes as no surprise to readers of The Patriot—or to James Shikwati, an African economist who has been pleading with Western nations to stop sending aid.

Such foreign aid may assuage the consciences of wealthy Westerners, and it may help Bono headline a world tour, but that’s about where the benefits stop. As is often pointed out, the aid rarely gets to its intended recipients, as warlords and corrupt governments redirect it for their own purposes. Even when it does reach those who need it, the unintended consequences wreak havoc on local economies. Floods of donated food and clothing hurt local farmers and manufacturers struggling to get their businesses off the ground, while the pattern of aid encourages dependence and removes incentives for entrepreneurship and reform.

The better alternative is investment. The conscience-warming effect may be less noticeable in the short term, but in the end, profitable investment that encourages growth and rewards hard work and successful business ventures is the only lasting way to help the world’s poor. Of course, those calling for more foreign aid are usually the same folks who oppose free trade and outsourcing—the very things that have the best potential to actually help the poor in any meaningful way, despite the growing pains of losing jobs. Investment requires good government: rule of law, stable financial systems and property rights. Rather than giving handouts, the West would do well to export its true source of wealth: good government and free markets.

CULTURE

Junk Science: Gore belches and moose toots

We have already heard that bovine flatulence is contributing to global warming. Now, another large animal whose methane emissions are warming the planet is under attack. This time, Scandinavian moose are the culprit—they are burping and, er, blowing too much of that other hot air. Norwegian researchers blame their national animal for producing 2,100 kilos of carbon dioxide each per year. By comparison, you would have to travel nearly 8,100 miles by car to emit that much carbon dioxide. Global-warming alarmists and PETA lunatics will undoubtedly butt antlers on this one. Hunting season is coming up in Norway and an estimated 35,000 moose (out of a total population of 120,000) will be killed.

Meanwhile, Albert Gore and his gaggle of Gorons continue to prep his ‘08 presidential primary launch pad, but a new peer-reviewed study that challenges his global-warming assumptions was released this week.

According to astronomer Ian Wilson, “Heat Capacity, Time Constant, and Sensitivity of Earth’s Climate System” (authored by Brookhaven National lab scientist Stephen Schwartz), concludes “that the global economy will spend trillions of dollars trying to avoid a warming of (about) 1.0 K by 2100 A.D. Previously, I have indicated that the widely accepted values for temperature increase associated with a double of CO2 were far too high, i.e. 2-4.5 Kelvin. This new peer-reviewed paper claims a value of 1.1 +/- 0.5 K increase.”

Furthermore, Robert Giegengack, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science, said this week that he does not consider global warming to be even among the top ten environmental problems. “In terms of [global warming’s] capacity to cause the human species harm, I don’t think it makes it into the top ten,” says Giegengack. “Gore’s claims that temperature increases solely because more CO2 in the atmosphere traps the sun’s heat—that’s just wrong. It’s a natural interplay. As temperature rises, CO2 rises, and vice versa. It’s hard for us to say CO2 drives temperature. It’s easier to say temperature drives CO2.”

Read The Patriot’s comprehensive essay on climate issues, Global Warming: Fact, Fiction and Political Endgame. This essay is updated regularly.

Bette Midler’s logging operation

The Hollywood Glitterati often get caught doing the very things they profess to detest and order others not to do. The latest incident occurred on the Hawaiian property of singer/actress Bette Midler, a long-time environmentalist. Midler will be fined $6,500 for cutting down more than 230 trees on one of her properties on the island of Kauai without a permit. Her attorney said, “The whole idea with cutting the trees down was with the idea of improving the lot with native species [instead of non-native, invasive species]. It’s unfortunate that a mistake was made.” She ostensibly didn’t know a permit was required. Midler’s punishment also includes a replanting plan drawn up by the National Tropical Botanical Garden. We will give the woman once known as the “Compost Queen” the benefit of the doubt on one note: She is the victim of the Left’s (including her own) drive to regulate the use of private property in accordance with Church of the Environment guidelines.

Poll turns liberalism on its head

More bad news for liberals: Youth cite family and faith (not government or the “village”) as paramount to happiness. According to a recent Associated Press-MTV poll of young people ages 13-24, spending time with family topped the list as the greatest source of happiness. Ranking second was spending time with friends, and time with a significant other garnered third place. Additionally, nearly half of the respondents gave high marks to religion and “spirituality,” vague though the terms may be. Furthermore, belying the gloom and doom predictions spouted by the Left, a full 62 percent of respondents foresee their happiness increasing in the future.

On the losing end were sex and drugs. Even money failed to win the prize for a high happiness quotient. Naturally, these results pose a problem for the Left as its raison d’ tre is to gain support by promoting sex under the guise of reproductive education, guaranteeing monetary equality via income redistribution, and undermining the family unit through homosexual-rights crusades.

With traditional family values proving their staying power, what’s a liberal to do? As politics goes, if you can’t spin something in your favor, don’t spin it at all. In other words, expect a whole lot of silence about this poll.

Faith and Family: The abortion agenda

What do Planned (non-) Parenthood, Amnesty International and Red China have in common? Apparently, an aversion to unborn babies.

According to Fox News, “Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to strike down a new Missouri law that it claims could eliminate abortion services in large parts of the state by subjecting clinics to stringent state oversight.” Missouri law had already required abortion facilities to be “licensed, but because of the definition of an abortion facility—requiring abortions to generate half their revenues or patients—the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic has been the only facility in Missouri actually regulated as an abortion clinic.” Perhaps provisions, old and new, requiring abortionists to carry malpractice insurance, maintain sanitary facilities, etc., upset them. Nothing must encroach upon free access to abortion, right?

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has abandoned its long-held “neutral” position on abortion. It is likely that the group will lose the support of many Christians and other pro-lifers as a result.

Finally, not long before Amnesty made its move, CNNMoney.com cited Ma Kai, the head of China’s state economic planning agency, who called attention to China’s great concern for the environment: “Ma’s plan includes one provision you won’t find on the green agenda of any of the other world leaders… government-enforced population control. Beijing insists its decades-old policy of prohibiting (forcibly, if necessary) Chinese families from giving birth to more than one child is an integral part of its effort to save the planet.” Save the planet for whom? No one will be left when the Left is through!

And last…

In May, Utah’s Ogden School District named James A. Madison Elementary School in honor of our fourth president and the author of the U.S. Constitution. Wonderful, right? Well, not exactly. As a history teacher at the school pointed out recently, James Madison did not have a middle name. To quote the great political historian Homer Simpson, “D’oh!” School-board member John Gullo, whose American Dream Foundation has donated a painting of James Madison to the school, said, “I’m blindsided. I hate being embarrassed.” As luck would have it, the superintendent of the district, Noel Zabriskie, was able to notify the company making the school’s sign in time to have the error corrected. Never fear, our childrens is learning! Alas, they is learning from adults who need a remedial course in history.

Veritas vos Liberabit—Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families—especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)