-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! * Veritas Vos Liberabit * THE FEDERALIST(r) DIGEST The Conservative e-Journal of Record 27 April 2001 Federalist #01-17.dgst Retrieve today's Digest as HTML printer-friendly text or PDF -- it's much easier reading than e-mail text! Link to: http://www.Federalist.com/current2001.asp Support and sponsor The Federalist! Link to: http://www.Federalist.com/support.asp CONTENTS: The Founders Federalist Perspective Insight Upright Editorial Exegesis Second Opinion Dezinformatsia Leftovers Village Idiots Short Cuts ______--------********O********--------______ THE FOUNDERS "Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare but only those specifically enumerated." --Thomas Jefferson ______--------********O********--------______ FEDERALIST PERSPECTIVE In the news this week, as President George Bush approaches his administration's 100 day mark (April 30), White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announced, "The president will be hosting a lunch for all 535 members of Congress." Meanwhile, various media outlets are flooding the airwaves and newsprint with poll results on how Mr. Bush is performing. The Federalist is a poll-free publication, so we won't burden you with all the Leftmedia job approval ratings -- which are merely a reflection of what the Leftmedia netwonk talkingheads have been saying every night -- tempered by the common sense of the majority of Americans. Suffice it to say, however, we are not joining any "rah rah" chorus. Mr. Bush is nothing like the moral and ethical reprobate that his predecessor proved himself to be. For that, we are thankful. However, moving on, in Mr. Bush's key areas of legislative focus -- taxes, education and foreign policy -- he has substantially underperformed our expectations. On his meager $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax cut, he is throwing in the towel. "I'm a practical man; I want to get it done," Bush said. "It's going to be less than $1.6 and greater than $1.2 and we've got to figure out how to make it work. The definition of reasonable is: who will vote for it at this point in time? We're now down to counting votes." (The Senate reduced his tax cut by $432 billion -- and increased spending by $429 billion.) Of course, Mr. Bush is neglecting one vote -- his veto. It now appears he will settle for a $1.4 trillion tax cut over 11 years. Club for Growth president Stephen Moore notes, "If Mr. Bush scales back his tax cut, and trillions of dollars of surplus tax collections continue arriving at the Treasury, we could very easily see the biggest spending binge in Washington since LBJ launched the Great Society. Revenues whet the congressional spending appetite." Regarding his "education reform," Mr. Bush has called for an enormous spending increase, despite little evidence that there is any correlation between central government funding and academic improvement (for an department whose auditors report it lost track of half a billion dollars to fraud and waste in the last three years). The Sociocrats have already killed most of his proposals to consolidate education programs, give states more flexibility, and enact school choice. In addition, the Demos are now asking for a $250 billion increase in education spending over the next ten years -- a tenfold increase over Mr. Bush's proposal. It is no coincidence that Sen. James Jeffords, the Vermont Republicrat who killed Mr. Bush's tax cut when he joined Demos voting against it earlier this month, is the same Mr. Jeffords who is chairman of the Senate's education committee, now leaving Mr. Bush's education reform in shambles. Of course, the reason Leftists are so protective of "education reform" is that government schools are their primary instrument for dumbing down future generations of Leftist lemmings. Here is a novel suggestion. Since our Constitution does not authorize any central government role in education, let's enact President Reagan's reform plan -- abolish the whole department! Don't wound it -- kill it! On the foreign policy front, though Mr. Bush is dealing with the "Made in China" residual from the Clinton administration, he earned no more than a solid C on securing the return of 24 American hostages being held by the Reds after a PRC fighter aircraft collided with their lumbering EP-3. Further eroding our national security interests in the region, Mr. Bush has denied Taiwan's request to purchase Aegis-equipped destroyers for their self-defense against the impending invasion by the Mainland Reds. To his credit, however, Mr. Bush, when asked if the U.S. had an obligation to defend Free China, responded, "Yes, we do...and the Chinese must understand that. Yes, I would." Memo to President Bush: In the case of Pragmatism v. Principle, Principle has repeatedly lost during your first 100 days in office. There is an indispensable tool of principle for clear governance of our Republic, which you have yet to raise up. It is called the United States Constitution. Much has been made of the transition from an amoral president to a moral one -- but what is moral about taking over the legislative charge against our Constitution? If memory serves us correctly, there was an interesting black man who sat between you and John McCain during the presidential primary debates. Alan Keyes was his name. He seemed to know a whole lot about that old Constitution, and, frankly, danced intellectual circles around you and Mr. McCain. Find him and make him your domestic policy czar! Quote of the week... "When the federal government is held to its proper constitutionally limited functions, tax reform will take care of itself." --Rep. Ron Paul Open query... "With American school children repeatedly coming in at or near the bottom in international tests, why do elected officials act as if what the schools need is more money and more time -- especially after ever-increasing amounts of money have already been poured down a bottomless pit over the years, with no visible educational results, and with so much time currently being squandered on 'projects' and 'activities' rather than education?" --Thomas Sowell The BIG lie... Former Sen. Bob Kerrey once called his Democrat colleague Bill Clinton an "unusually good liar." It now appears that Mr. Kerrey, a Medal of Honor recipient and a man whose service in Vietnam we have always admired, may also be an unusually good liar. A member of Kerrey's SEAL team, Gerhard Klann, has come forward with an account of the killing of 20 Vietnamese women and children in a village Kerrey raided in 1969. "We herded them together in a group. We lined them up and we opened fire," said Klann. Kerrey, who accepted a Bronze Star for the mission, responded: "I have lived with this privately for 32 years. I can't keep it private any more. My conscience tells me some good should come from this. To describe it as an atrocity, I would say, is pretty close to being right, because that's how it felt and that's why I feel guilt and shame for it." (Mr. Kerrey's decision not to "keep it private anymore" was prompted by the New York Times' decision to publish the story today.) We should note that it was difficult, if not impossible at times, to distinguish between NVA combatants and civilians -- which does not excuse the event described by Klann. News from the Swamp... In the Executive Branch, only 29 of Mr. Bush's top 488 executive branch appointments have been confirmed by the Senate, far fewer than previous presidents, giving rise to the question, "Who is in charge?" On the Hill, they're back.... The House and Senate return from a two-week recess to finalize plans to spend the largest budget in history. You know, serving in Congress used to be a part-time job -- until the chambers were retrofitted for air conditioning prior to WW II. Perhaps one way to curb the congressional pork-fest would be to mandate a brownout from April to October. To wit -- this House memo found its way to our editing room: "House Spending Report. Each week, the Republican Study Committee tracks how much money the House authorizes to be spent. For the week of April 16-20, 2001, because the House was out of session, no new spending was authorized." No sooner had the House convened than it defeated a proposed tax limitation amendment requiring both the House and Senate to muster a two-thirds vote on any tax increase. The Commissars... The killing this week of American missionary Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter, when their small plane was mistakenly shot down by a Peruvian drug interdiction fighter aircraft, raises hard questions about the "war on drugs," which has also taken its toll of innocents on American soil. For more on this lost war and its implications for our liberty, see this week's Second Opinion, "DEA -- DOA." Regarding your IRS overpayment... Granted, President Bush's first budget represents 15.6% of the national economy -- the smallest percentage since 1951. However, "Congress spent $1.7 trillion in the last Clinton budget; the new budget proposes to spend $2 trillion," notes Rep. Ron Paul. "The same unconstitutional agencies are funded, the same unwise programs are perpetuated, but at higher levels than last year. The previous budget serves merely as a baseline; the only question in any given year is how much spending will increase. Once created, no spending program is ever eliminated." Speaking of Mr. Paul, the National Taxpayers Union released its annual evaluation of congressional voting records. For the 2000 session, Sen. Phil Gramm and Rep. Paul earned the highest scores in their chambers for protecting taxpayers' income. But the number of Senate and House members who are "taxpayer friendly" continues to decline. Of 535 members, only 42 received an "A" rating, while almost 200 members were awarded the "Big Spender F." Two Democrats -- Rep. Carrie Meek of Florida and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont -- were rated the biggest spenders. We are reminded of Voltaire's observation: "In general the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other." (T-6 days until the average American taxpayer has earned enough income to pay for each citizen's share of the federal, state and local tax burden -- May 3rd. In 1992 Tax Freedom Day fell on April 18.) >From the department of military readiness... On the Army's planned distribution of 600,000 black berets made in Red China, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett says, "I think there is a growing sentiment among our members that the Army is in a very difficult situation. [They are] politically incapable of doing the right thing, which is to say we will cancel the black beret program." Judicial Benchmarks... >From the Supremes, the High Court has ruled that police may arrest and detain people even for minor traffic violations, such as failure to use a seat belt. However offensive this ruling may seem, the Court did uphold the federalist principle of preserving states' rights to set police policy on such matters. >From the states... A lesbian "couple" is seeking to have their official civil union obtained in Vermont recognized by their home state of Georgia, the first constitutional challenge of the federal Defense Of Marriage Act. Five other couples are also seeking to have their Vermont couplings officially recognized by Massachusetts. In business news... Proving to be the fluid equivalent of the nation's electric power shortage, gasoline prices have surged almost $.20 a gallon in the last two weeks. Expect to pay as much as $3 per gallon by midsummer. The "Dumb and Dumber" Department... "Now a Republican administration will continue and complete the work of a Democratic administration," announced George Bush, appeasing environmental activists on Earth Day. "This is the way environmental policy should work." Bush proceeded to sign off on a plethora of Clinton's environmental regulations -- from prohibiting snowmobiles in National Forests to implementing stricter wetland protection rules. Political observer Robert Novak concludes: "Bush was not only ratifying Bill Clinton's edicts in last week's run-up to Earth Day. Free market activists who consider themselves allies were told to sit down and shut up about the greening of the new president." Granted, Mr. Bush did pass on Kyoto -- only to have Colin Powell turn around this week and say that environmental issues would play a dominant role in U.S. foreign policy. We stress again, The Federalist advocates environmental stewardship that is in balance with human dominion, but we do not subscribe to the eco-theology of earth worship and its hyped eschatological obsession with "global warming," when proponents of such folly fail to take account of the fact that 95-99 percent of atmospheric CO2 emissions are from -- nature. On the Left... >From the "Gender Disorientation Files," in addition to breaking the story last year that the Boy Scouts of America had dropped Bill Clinton's signature from their Eagle Scout certificates (the first time in the BSA's history that the certificates did not have a presidential signature), The Federalist has defended this venerable organization from relentless attacks by homosexual advocates in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the BSA's policy of excluding homosexual Scout leaders. Recently, we reported on the two dozen local United Way chapters that have been successfully coerced by homosexuals to drop their support for BSA Councils, many of which depend on United Way agencies for much of their funding. (It should be noted that the vast majority of the 1,400 local UW agencies across the country are standing firm in their commitment to support the BSA). In a case study of how such coercion unfolds, consider a memo sent last week from Mr. Jack Murrah, president of one of the nation's largest private foundations, Lyndhurst (funded primarily by Coca-Cola heirs), to his local United Way. Suggesting the Scout's policy on homosexuals is so injurious to civil society as to be tantamount to a policy not to employ or serve black people because they are morally unsound, Murrah is requesting that his local UW chapter reconsider its support for the BSA, claiming the organization discriminates against homosexuals like himself and that such a policy should be repudiated. The particular UW chapter in question provided $387,507 in support to their local Scouting Council (about 30% of that Council's 2000 budget). Of note, Murrah's memo comes with the knowledge that Lyndhurst Foundation has recently provided more than $400,000 in support to the same UW chapter. While it is anticipated that the UW chapter targeted by Murrah will maintain its support for its local BSA Council, his memo exposes the subtle methods utilized by elitist homosexuals across the country to undermine the BSA's financial base. >From the "Je$$e Ja�k$on" Files, the Left Reverend of Adultery launched a seven-day tour of 25 Southern cities "[to address] the unfinished agenda of the New South," and "rally for better living wages." "Living wage" is a code for the Marxist maxim, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Clearly, Je$$e has more staying power than the Eveready bunny. Court Jesters... The large white cross in the middle of the Mojave National Preserve has stood for years as a memorial to World War I veterans. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit to force the National Park Service to remove the cross from government land. Culture comment... On the second anniversary of the murder of 12 students by a couple of sociopaths at Columbine High School in Colorado, a group of the victims' families have filed suit in a federal court seeking $5 billion in punitive damages from 25 entertainment companies, including Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and AOL Time Warner. The lawsuit says, "Absent the combination of extremely violent video games and these boys' incredibly deep involvement, use of and addiction to these games and the boys' basic personalities, these murders and this massacre would not have occurred." Faith Matters... In news from the "Village Church" bulletin, the Unitarian Universalist Association has declared itself a nuclear-fre <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! 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