-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! THE FEDERALIST(r) DIGEST The Conservative e-Journal of Record * Veritas Vos Liberabit * 24 August 2001 Federalist Edition #01-34 Friday Digest *To change your e-mail format to text, HTML or Adobe PDF (as an attachment) Link to -- http://www.federalist.com/subscribe/myformat.asp?[EMAIL PROTECTED] *To retrieve today's Digest as HTML printer-friendly text or PDF Link to -- http://www.Federalist.com/current2001.asp *To purchase a book from the Patriot's Library, link to -- http://www.federalist.com/books.asp *To support or sponsor an edition of The Federalist, link to -- http://www.Federalist.com/support.asp CONTENTS: The Foundation Publisher's Note Federalist Perspective ______----********O********----______ THE FOUNDATION "But the constitution, which at any time exists till changed by an explicitly and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all." --George Washington ______----********O********----______ PUBLISHER'S NOTE It is with sorrow that we recognize the death of South Carolina Congressman Floyd Spence last week. Mr. Spence was a conservative icon, especially active as a Cold Warrior and defense hawk, who will be greatly missed in the House of Representatives. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family, friends, and colleagues. ______----********O********----______ FEDERALIST PERSPECTIVE In the news this week, the political snipers are scrambling for the high ground -- as one of conservatism's frontline patriots announced he'll retire from the field of battle. Senator Jesse Helms, the gentleman from North Carolina, declared Wednesday that he would not seek re-election after the end of his fifth Senate term next year. "I am by no means announcing my retirement," Helms said, indicating he intends to remain active in conservative causes. But the Senate will be much degraded in his absence. "You see...when my present fifth term ends in 2002...I will then have served 30 years as a senator for North Carolina.... [N]ot in my wildest imagination did it ever occur to me that such a privilege would ever be mine," Sen. Helms remarked. We at The Federalist can count the reliable constitutional conservatives in the Senate on the fingers of one hand -- and we could always count on Senator Helms first. House colleague Rep. Walter Jones praised Helms for his long record of service and accomplishment: "For those of us who are conservative, we are going to miss his conservative leadership. There are so many issues Jesse Helms has been out in front on, sometimes alone, especially on the [the Panama Canal treaty]; he has also been a staunch supporter of the rights of unborn, those who have been victims of their government, such as China and Cuba. If we had more people like Jesse Helms in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, it would definitely be a better America. He will be sorely missed." If one person could be selected as most to be thanked for launching Ronald Reagan into the presidency, aside from Mr. Reagan himself, Jesse Helms might be that one. During the 1976 presidential primary season, Sen. Helms assisted Reagan in gaining his first victory in North Carolina, which led to other primary wins -- and catapulted Reagan into the premier position to be the 1980 Republican presidential nominee. The Leftmedia are gloating, of course, as they have long hated this effective conservative. To wit, Leftist darling Bryant Gumbel sniped: "Helms is, let me pick my words here, an unapologetic right-wing conservative.... His departure good news for all but hard-right Republicans?" And lest anyone forget, NBC's Andrea Mitchell called his 1990 re-election "heart-breaking." ABC's Sam Donaldson referred to Helms, saying "beneath that courtliness beats the heart of a dictator." Not to be outdone, the Clintonistas were swarming out of the woodwork. "The departure of Jesse Helms now gives both the Democratic and the Republican parties an opportunity to field a slate of candidates who are much closer to the thinking and the beliefs of most Americans," said NAACP president Kweisi Mfume. And Mrs. Gloria Steinem proclaimed from the Left Coast, "We should have been able to retire him much earlier. He never represented the majority of opinion in his state, only those with enough ability to go to the polls." The Helms retirement portends significant difficulties for the future of the Republican Party and the success of President Bush's administration. Without sturdy, courageous conservative allies like Helms, Mr. Bush is left in a much weakened position -- lacking Helms's wise counsel, and dealing with Senators striving ever leftward instead of holding the line. More political sniping is coming from other directions as well. On Monday, Mr. Bush launched his budget "best defense is a good" offensive with calls for funding defense and education first: "Let us keep our priorities straight and start with the things that matter most to our country's security and our country's future. This year, let us have responsible spending from Day One and put the national security and education of our children first in line when it comes to the appropriations process." A day later, referring to himself as "watchdog of the treasury," he provided a list of practices of congressional budgeting "business as usual" he finds objectionable, including redefining routine spending as an "emergency " measure not constrained by spending caps, calling a less-than-expected increase a "budget cut," adding last-minute pork barrel spending in vote swapping, and exceeding legislated budget limits during the spending year. "The biggest threat to our [economic] recovery is for the Congress to overspend," Mr. Bush continued. "We have the funds to meet our obligations, so long as they resist the temptation to spend." Mr. Bush is right about defense -- and deserves commendation on that count. He's wrong on education, however, as that is in no way a proper concern of the central government. Speaking of the budget, Mr. Bush was offering up a preemptive strike about projected surpluses -- before Demo-gogues began blaming his reduction of government wage confiscation for reducing the surplus to deficits. With an accounting keeping Social Security funds "off-budget," the "surplus" has dwindled to about $1 billion, down $125 billion from April estimates. With a different perspective, taking the budget in its entirety, "The fiscal 2001 surplus of about $158 billion is the second largest in history, indicating that despite the recent tax cut, taxpayers continue to be substantially overcharged," observed Chris Edwards, director of fiscal policy studies for the Cato Institute. But Demo-Gogue Pictures has apparently just released its fright-pic sequel, "Mediscare II: Attack of the Killer Red Spenders"! "There is no question in my mind that Medicare is already being diverted and that we are headed into the Social Security trust fund," said Demo Sen. Robert C. Byrd, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Waving his Internal Revenue Service notification of his upcoming tax refund, Byrd continued, "This is where the real spending took place. ..I see no more irresponsible act than that of the Bush administration's tax cut. It was a tax cut based on faulty projections.'' (This is the same Byrd whose multiple references to "white niggers" were spiked by the Leftmedia earlier this year. Can you imagine the outrage had Sen. Helms uttered such inane drivel?) "We already have a budget, unfortunately, that's doing that, and that really worries me. We said at the time the tax cut passed that we thought that it was too large, too unfocused, and that it would cause us to go into Social Security and Medicare. ...The president needs to present a new budget and explain how he will work with Congress to solve this mess of his own making,'' chimed in House Minority Leader Dick Gephard. With a reliable dissenting view was Senate Democrat Zell Miller, who noted, "The tax cut does not get into the Medicare and Social Security trust funds, as some protest. What would eat into them is hog-wild spending on other items. That's where a problem could arise." This whole debate is fraught with so much nonsense, it's hard to know where the debunking should begin! First, taking the carryover national debt into account, there is no extra money that would make for a true "surplus." Furthermore, there is no "lockbox" for either Social Security or Medicare that reserves their funds from overall budget commingling, so that "off-budget" accounting is not currently meaningful. Moreover, the only truly serious underlying issue is that the Constitution in no way authorizes such levels of confiscation of citizens' earnings -- and especially not so for government-sponsored transfer payments between citizens. Amid the din, one might fairly conclude that the Demos' midterm campaign theme will be "Cutting Taxes is Irresponsible!" And, amazingly, the Leftist lemmings will buy it! Quotes of the week... A few representative selections illustrating why The Federalist staff and all patriots will miss the good Senator from North Carolina when he departs the floor for the last time: "Compromise, hell! That's what has happened to us all down the line -- and that's the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?" (1959) "Atheism and socialism -- or liberalism, which tends in the same direction -- are inseparable entities. When you have men who no longer believe that God is in charge of human affairs, you have men attempting to take the place of God by means of the Superstate." (1973) "I fight for what I believe. If you are not willing to stand up for what you believe, your beliefs are not strong enough." (1984) "What is really at stake is whether or not America will allow the cultural high ground in this nation to sink slowly into an abyss of slime to placate people who clearly seek or are willing to destroy the Judaic-Christian foundations of this republic." (1990, on funding for the National Endowment for the Arts) "Let me adjust my hearing aid. It could not accommodate the decibels of the Senator from Massachusetts. I can't match him in decibels or Jezebels, or anything else apparently." (1993 Senate floor debate with Ted Kennedy) Open Query... "They and we have supported and proposed Social Security and Medicare lockbox initiatives in the last Congress. Perhaps, this makes the lockbox idea all the more important." --Demo Tom Daschle ++ "I believe that it is so large that we can take care of Social Security by setting it aside, under a lockbox." --Republicrat Pete Domenici **Question for Messrs. Daschle and Domenici: What is the value of a "lockbox" full of IOU's? The BIG lie... "This is a much broader issue than just the budget. This goes to the total mismanagement of our economy." --DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, in reference to the diminished budget "surplus " numbers. News from the Swamp... It's still recess -- unless you are Gary Condit! Bill Clinton certainly softened the cultural beaches for this Dumbocrat. "I am not perfect. ... Out of respect for my family, and...the Levy family, I think it's best that I not get into those details," Condit said to Connie Chung, when asked about his five month adulterous affair with subordinate intern Chandra Levy. "[I'm] a moral man. ... I've been married for 34 years, and I intend to stay married to that woman as long as she'll have me." And it went downhill from there.... Connie Chung and Gary Condit -- like peas and carrots! If you are following this primetime suspense/drama closely ... get a life! Speaking of recess, James Madison took a four month vacation in 1816. As we have previously noted, we support the idea of l. . .o. . .n. . g vacations. In fact, we think Congress should only convene once annually -- June, July and August -- sweltering in the swamp. Judicial Benchmarks... In the halls of justice on the right, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled some atheists wanting to expunge all public religious symbols everywhere, as the court ruled that a 43-foot-tall cross originally erected as a war memorial was legally transferred from ownership by the City of San Diego, California, through sale to a veterans group intent on preserving and enhancing the memorial site. "It's an outrage. Thanks to the city of San Diego, Mount Soledad is now a Christian theme park," fumed lead plaintiff Philip Paulson. In the halls of injustice on the left, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner Tuesday refused to overturn the closing of the Grand Banks area of the North Atlantic, a swordfishing community, citing a federal statute designed to protect "the endangered leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles from fishing lines and hooks." Gertner averred that although she was sympathetic to the interests of the fisherman, she was bound to enforce the statute. (Please tell us -- anyone -- where the word "turtle" appears in the U.S. Constitution.) On the Left... Rev. Al Sharpton announced a potential 2004 presidential bid. Sharpton claims the Democratic Party is moving "further and further to the right." "I think that the real issue is with voter disenfranchisement in last year's election. There is no way I can see that we not challenge the powers that be in the Democratic Party." Sharpton criticized Mr. Bush's plan to shore up our military because he sees "no real threat to American security." "We are going forward with situations when they are harmful to the people involved to build up to take care of some enemy that is not there, some threat that does not exist,'' Sharpton said. As for his likely primary contender Albert "Hey-Hey-Hey" Gore, Sharpton noted, "I lost weight and shaved a beard -- he gained weight and grew a beard." Can't wait for those debates. Effluent from the "Clinton Presidue" Files... Newly released transcripts of our former national embarrassment's telephone communiqués with ousted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak revealed lurid details about the 11th hour pardon of international fugitive Marc Rich. Barak to Clinton: "One last remark. There is an American Jewish businessman living in Switzerland and makes a lot of philanthropic contributions to Israeli institutions and activities and education." Clinton's reply: "I know quite a few things about that. I just got a long memo and am working on it. It's best that we not say much about that. I know about that case because I know his ex-wife." And speaking of "Presidue," former Clinton advisor Mr. (?) Ben Schatz, homosexual activist and consummate Clintonista, showed up at his 20th Harvard reunion in a lavender satin dress with matching hair bow, strapless bra, waist-cincher and pantyhose. "This uses every side of my brain and my personality," Schatz told his former classmates. You can always tell a Harvard man! The Commissars... Federal Bureau of "Investigation" officials have been charged with abetting criminal activity perpetrated by paid informants. The FBI paid L.A. gangster John Terscak $40,000 for his services, but wiretap evidence shows that he concurrently played direct roles in one murder and another attempted murder. Deputy Assistant Directory Danny Coulson questioned, "I don't know how they couldn't have acted on this information. I cannot believe a supervisor wouldn't have recognized this as a conspiracy to commit murder." Maybe he was at McDonald's! Regarding your IRS overpayment... The current fiscal year ends on September 30 and Mr. Bush wants to hold the Appropriations Committees to 4% growth. Following his boss's lead, Office of Management and Budget director Mitch Daniels had "hold" music installed on OMB phones -- the old Stones tune, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." >From the department of military readiness... North to Alaska! Groundbreaking there may begin imminently for a command center and silo base for ground-based components of a national missile defense system. And John R. Bolton, State Department Undersecretary for arms control and international security has reportedly provided his Russian counterparts with a timetable, perhaps as early as November, for negotiations -- or U.S. withdrawal -- from the ABM Treaty. >From the states... >From the Great State of Tennessee (home of Albert Gore -- 11 electoral votes to George Bush), tax protests have, thus far, convinced the legislature that it would be best not to implement a state income tax -- should they wish to keep their "jobs." Tennessee's RINO governor, Donald Sundquist, elected to his second term on his promise of "no income tax," continues to lead the band for -- you guessed it -- an income tax. Sundquist is using that old favorite "better education for our children" to argue for more state revenue. Now comes word in the Princeton Review that the University of Tennessee has been ranked the "No. 1 party school" in a national student survey. Back to Oregon's Klamath Basin, the central government's Bureau of Reclamation turned off the water again. (Guess calling it "Oregon's" Klamath Basin is not accurate.) Carmen Bair, one of the family farmers protesting the cutoff, said, "We are not a bunch of scary radicals. If radical means standing up for your rights in a free country, then we are radical. If radical means protecting your business, family and history from ruin, then we are radicals." You are not alone, Carmen! In economic news... >From the "Too Little Too Late" Files, Fed chairman Alan Greenspan extended his monetary policy on Tuesday, cutting the federal reserve rate by another quarter of a percent. We suppose Mr. Greenspan has been too busy admiring the signed portrait of John Maynard Keynes hanging over his mantel to consider something other than central economic planning. Court Jesters... The German soft porn "O Magazine" has filed suit in federal court against "O," The Oprah Magazine, arguing there might be confusions between the two publications. We don't think so.... Culture comment... Out in Sacramento, California, on Monday a man murdered his wife, 3-year-old son, and four other relatives -- with a knife. The Leftmedia are screaming for "knife control," "whetstone limitations," waiting periods for kitchen equipment, and licensing for sharp chefs -- NOT! Faith Matters... "One president commits sexual sin in the Oval Office and the Christian Right is told to shut up," said Rev. James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, in his annual address. "Another president speaks openly of his faith in God and his trust in Christ and he is told to shut up." On the frontiers of science... Editing mistakes are certain to find their way around The Federalist's light-speed publishing deadlines, but the science books being used by government schools to "dumb down" kids are often years in the preparation. A review of 12 textbooks by North Carolina State University found 500 pages with egregious errors. The report states, "These are basic errors. It's the stuff that anyone who has taken a science class would be able to catch." Except, of course, the editors.... Around the world but getting closer every day ... the United Nations proposal for the International Criminal Court may provide a very red-faced embarrassment for President Bush when he addresses the UN General Assembly a month from now. Seems that a hero around our editorial shop, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, inserted an amendment in this year's House authorization for repayment of almost $1 billion in U.S. dues to the UN, which limits the sovereignty infringements and constitutional impingements of the ICC. DeLay's provisions call for: restricting military aid to countries ratifying the ICC treaty, barring U.S. military personnel from participating in "peacekeeping" missions unless granted immunity from possible ICC prosecution, and authorizing the president to order military force to free U.S. defense personnel in ICC custody. And last, in Lambu, Ghana, Aleobiga Aberima died of a gunshot wound after he asked a local witch doctor to make him bulletproof. "After smearing his body with a concoction of herbs every day for two weeks, a fellow villager volunteered to shoot him to check whether the spell had actually worked," reported the BBC. "He died instantly from a single bullet." Undoubtedly a frontrunner for the annual "Darwin Awards." -- PUBLIUS -- *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
