California Conservative

“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” –Nathan Hale

“[G]ather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime…. [L]et us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.” –General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868
Memorial Day is reserved by American Patriots as a day to honor the service and sacrifice of fallen men and women who donned our Armed Forces uniforms with honor. We pay our humble respects to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice as members of the U.S. Armed Forces. We will remember you always.

Accordingly, this tribute is in honor of our fallen American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen.

One appropriate way to recognize fallen veterans and their families is to join with others and help place flags on the graves of fallen Patriots at your nearest National Cemetery (generally done the Saturday before Memorial Day).

Please join Patriots honoring Memorial Day across our great nation on Monday by observing a minute of silence at 1500 local time for remembrance and prayer. Flags should be flown at half-staff until noon, local time. Please give a personal word of gratitude and comfort to surviving family members who grieve for a beloved warrior fallen in battlefields defending our cherished liberties.

General George Patton insisted, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

Founding Patriot John Adams said: “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means….” Indeed it is!

Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families — especially families of those, who have given their life in defense of American liberty, while prosecuting the war with Jihadistan.

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!

(via The PatriotPost.us)

UPDATE: Tributes nationwide mark Memorial Day

Remember our troops. Honor the fallen.
God bless the U.S. military.

This explains alot. Guess they’re not really “in the shadows.”

“President Rick Wadley, president of Bank of America, New Mexico, said his and other traditional banks are working on education efforts that could eventually attract some of the population that currently relies on high-fee check cashing,” according to the New Mexico Business Weekly.

“Indeed, Bank of America and others are actively conducting community outreach, particularly to the Hispanic market. In addition to being the majority population in New Mexico and the fastest growing population in the country, Hispanics comprise 35 percent of the population not affiliated with a bank and are three times as likely as the average adult not to use a bank, according to a 2006 Scarborough Research study.”

And we know the banks don’t care about immigration status. No green card? No problemo. Only “green back,” even if it’s wet.

Thirty-five percent of the Unbanked population is Hispanic. Hispanic consumers are nearly three times as likely as the average adult to be Unbanked. There are several possible explanations as to why Hispanic consumers are more likely to be Unbanked*. They tend to be younger than the average adult. The median age of the general market is 45, while the median age of the Hispanic market is 35. More than half of U.S. Hispanics (52%) are foreign-born. Unbanked Hispanics are even younger and newer to the U.S. than the average Hispanic consumer. This suggests that Hispanics’ Unbanked status may be driven by temporary circumstances – youth and recent U.S. arrival. As Hispanics grow older, accumulate more wealth, and become more acculturated, the opportunity to begin using banks for a wide variety of services will also increase.

*[CC Editor’s Note: The fact that many are illegal seems to escape this study’s grasp]

“The banking industry is at the onset of a perfect storm to increase market share among Hispanics,” said said Karla Horton, manager, advertiser marketing services, Scarborough Research. “As the Hispanic market grows, their time in the U.S. increases, and their age and earning power goes up, they will be using financial services at an ever-increasing rate. Those banks that target Hispanics today are going to be tomorrow’s market dominators.”

Targeting Hispanic consumers has an even greater potential for banks. Hispanics are more likely than the general market
to be Unbanked, but these consumers are even younger than the average Unbanked person. This, coupled with the fact
that Hispanics as a whole are less likely to have all types of financial services, has left numerous opportunities for banks and is the beginning of a “perfect storm” of opportunity for banking institutions.

It’s all about the dinero. Short-term corporate profits trump long-term costs to our country. The storm is growing indeed…

With reports like this and many others like it, no wonder immigration reform is being influenced by special interests vs. the public interest. Selling to illegal immigrants is big business — and even bigger if they’re given amnesty. Connect the dots.

Scarborough Research measures consumer lifestyles, demographics, shopping patterns and media behaviors. In this report, the focus is on consumers who indicate in our study that they do not use any financial institution in their household for banking or financial services. According to Scarborough Research (PDF), five percent, or more than 10.2 million adults, are “Unbanked”.

RELATED:
Linda Chavez’ “Fear and Loathing”: Either Agree
With Her Or She’ll Call You Names
Banking On Illegal Immigrants
Wells Fargo: Banking Illegals Since 2001
Nuestro Banco, Opening In Our Country
Wachovia Bank Offering Statements In Spanish-Only

No, this isn’t a review of Cool Hand Luke. It isn’t even a review of Strother Martin’s movie career. It’s actually one of the main themes in Robert Novak’s latest column. The main purpose of the column, though, is to talk extensively about John Murtha’s addiction to pork, especially pork sent to people who contribute heavily to his campaign warchest.

On May 10, as the Intelligence bill neared passage, Flake took the floor of the House to relate how Capitol Hill works. Told there were no earmarks attached to the bill, a skeptical Flake sought the measure’s classified annex but was sent on a wild goose chase for earmarks, first to the clerk of the House and then to the parliamentarian. When he finally found 26 earmarks, it was five hours after the deadline to submit amendments to the bill. Flake requested a secret session of the House on Intelligence earmarks, but got no support from either party.

Five days later, in a letter to House Republican Leader John Boehner, Flake revealed (without describing them) Murtha’s two earmarks for the Johnstown-based Concurrent Technologies. One provides $2.5 million for the Mobile Missile Monitoring and Detection program. The other supplies $3 million for the Joint Intelligence Training & Education with Advanced Distributed Learning Technological Phase II.

Murtha’s earmark requests attest (as required by the new reforms) that “neither I nor my spouse had any financial interest” in either project. What he did not attest was that officers and employees of Concurrent Technologies contributed $56,475 to Murtha from the 2000 election cycle to the present. That includes $4,500 from CEO and President Daniel DeVos and $5,000 from Vice President Emil Sarady.

We the people demanded that Congress wipe out corruption. We the people demanded real reforms. Instead, we got John Murtha and Nancy Pelosi stonewalling the reforms that would’ve dramatically reduced that corruption. In fact, John Murtha is the poster child of corruption and excessive cronyism. John Murtha isn’t a hero or a Democratic hawk. He’s just a corrupt old man who’s handed out billions of dollars of earmarks on defense contracts. (more…)

Some may think of Linda Chavez as a conservative, but not after reading her recent article on immigration.

Evidently, when it comes down to it, allegiance to la raza is stronger than allegiance to America — or political ideology. What else can you conclude from the following op-ed?

Because there’s just so much to dispute, we’ve inserted our comments below in bold.

Latino Fear and Loathing
by Linda Chavez
Fri May 25, 3:00 AM ET

Some people just don’t like Mexicans — or anyone else from south of the border.

Sure. Kicking things off with a racially-charged statement, just to set the tone and all. Put the reader on defense. Make sure he/she agrees with you, lest they be called “intolerant.”

They think Latinos are freeloaders and welfare cheats who are too lazy to learn English.

1. If they were LEGAL immigrants (vs. ILLEGAL aliens), it would be easier to defend alleged criticisms about “cheating” anything — whether it’s welfare or other social services at tax-payers’ expense. But that’s not what the current immigration debate is about. It’s about ILLEGAL aliens. Right, Linda? (We’ll have to keep reminding our readers, since Chavez seems to intentionally overlook that critical point throughout her screed)

2. “Too lazy to learn English”? And the statistics show? Why are we constantly debating bilingual education, multilingual voting ballots, banking and other services catering to Spanish-speakers, and the growth of media en espanol in America? They may not be lazy, but that sure doesn’t mean they’re learning English.

They think Latinos have too many babies, and that Latino kids will dumb down our schools.

1. Latinos don’t hold the proud title to the “largest minority group” and fastest growing population in America for nothing. It’s all about babies.

Since Linda Chavez prefers to speak in political euphemisms, let’s not use harsh terms like “dumb down” — we’ll just say “Non-English speaking Latinos aren’t raising the education level in our schools.”

They think Latinos are dirty, diseased, indolent and more prone to criminal behavior. (more…)

What can I say, I liked book title by Al Franken so much I decided to steal his book title for this headline.

In fact, none of the Moore “documentaries” have been of that genre. They have been propaganda films to promote a radical agenda of statism, big government and that people are stupid. That last one can be proved–since the Michael Moore films are so anti-capitalistic, he is now a multi-millionaire, playing on the twisted minds of those who hate America and themselves.

This new film, “Sicko” I thought was an autobiography. It is not, it is in praise of Fidel Castro and the Cuban medical system. He believes that Castros’ Cuba has better medicine that the Mayo clinic, or your neighborhood clinic.

Please pass this article to your friends. It will be much discussed by the old media, the one that doesn’t believe we are in a War on Terror, the one that believes government provides excellent schools and taxes are too low. Now they are trying to convince us we need Cuban style health care. Is that what you want? Please write your thoughts directly on the web site for all to see and discuss.

—

Steve Frank is the publisher of California Political News and Views and a Senior Contributor to CaliforniaConservative.org. He is also a consultant currently working on gambling issues and advising other consultants on policy and coalition building.

Read more of his work here or at his blog.

That’s the title of Matthew Continetti’s latest Weekly Standard column, a must read column in my opinion. One of the central themes of the article is that Democrats have had trouble getting a grip on governing, something that I wrote about here. Here’s the opening salvo of Mr. Continetti’s article:

It was May 17, and Rogers, a Michigan Republican, was standing on the House floor listening to Rep. Jack Murtha chew him out. Rogers knew why. He sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence, and had tried to eliminate $23 million that Murtha, the antiwar, big-spending Pennsylvania Democrat, had earmarked for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC). The NDIC is a costly, controversial, and scandal-plagued bureaucracy located in the heart of Murtha’s district. Rogers wanted to put the $23 million into human intelligence operations and recruitment, programs he says are shortchanged in next year’s intelligence appropriations bill.

Murtha disagreed. Committee Democrats backed him, and Rogers’s amendment killing the center was defeated in committee. That didn’t stop Rogers. He filed another amendment, this one directing the Justice Department to audit the center, which since its creation in 1993 has gone through more than a half-dozen directors and cost taxpayers about $400 million, all the while duplicating work that is done elsewhere. Again, Murtha and committee Democrats opposed Rogers. They defeated the audit amendment.

The story doesn’t end there. After Kansas Republican Todd Tiahrt backed Rogers in committee, Murtha went after Tiahrt on the House floor, jabbing his finger at his colleague and threatening retribution. Tiahrt isn’t discussing the exchange, but the moment was captured on C-SPAN.

That still didn’t stop Rogers. Using a favorite Republican procedural tactic known as a motion to recommit, he called for the intelligence bill to be sent back to committee just before the full House voted on it at about 1 A.M. on May 11. Murtha was furious. Democrats tabled the motion to recommit, and a half-hour later the intelligence bill passed more or less on party lines, 225 to 197.

Murtha made sure other congressmen were around when he went after Rogers. He wanted to send a message. The exchange lasted around two minutes. Murtha used foul language, telling Rogers he would be sure to kill any of Rogers’s earmarks if they came up in the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, which Murtha chairs. (more…)

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) has introduced legislation that would require that online and catalog purchases be subject to a sales tax. Called the “Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act”, the legislation would create a uniform tax rate that online and catalog retailers would be required to collect and dispense to the government. Personally, I’m disappointed that a Republican would support such legislation, and with Democrats in control of the Congress it’s very likely that this will become law.

From my reading, the bill will serve two primary purposes. The first generally is to promote “fairness”. The second is, in my opinion, for the sole purpose of increasing goverment revenue.

Regarding the so-called “fairness”, I would hardly consider this legislation “fair”. In fact, I would consider this proposition somewhat unfair to those who have invested in technology and have used innovation to create success–the very principals that have made America the economic leader of the world. The internet brought about great wealth and prosperity for America in the 90s as many people utilized new technology to fill new markets. I think the government should maintain policies that encourage these types of pursuits rather than stifling them. In effect, this legislation would harm those who have innovated, all in the name of government income.

In support of his legislation, Sen. Enzi states, on his website, that if “electronic commerce continues to grow as predicted, other taxes, such as income or property taxes, will have to be increased to offset the lost revenue to state and local governments.” I have difficulty believing this statement, considering last month the IRS realized record tax income concomitant with decreased taxation!

So far this year, tax revenues total $1.505 trillion, an increase of 11.2 percent over the same period last year. That figure includes $383.6 billion collected in April, the largest monthly tax collection on record

Time and time again we see decreased taxation leading to economic prosperity. As a Republican I would expect Sen. Enzi to understand this.

Cross-Posted at The Gentle Cricket

Robert Novak nails the Democratic Do Nothing congress where it hurts in this article:

DO-NOTHING CONGRESS

After five months of Democratic control, Congress has enacted no major legislation and finished no regular appropriations bill. It has successfully renamed six federal buildings and one national park, extended the lives of two government commissions and reduced the membership of the Red Cross board of governors from 50 to 10.

In addition, Congress kept the government going with temporary spending legislation, redesignated five Eastern European countries (Albania, Macedonia, Croatia, Georgia and Ukraine) for security aid, strengthened penalties against animal fighting and authorized construction of 541 feet of road in St. Louis County, Mo. An emergency bill financing the war in Iraq and Afghanistan was vetoed by President Bush before a bill acceptable to him was passed before the Memorial Day recess.

Congress faces a heavy agenda to fit into a schedule interrupted by several recesses before the end of the year.

That’s a major change of direction but I don’t think that that’s the type of change that the American people voted for last November. (more…)

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a bill that would give terrorists access to lawyers this week, making it the first terrorist civil rights act in US history. Here’s the details of what’s contained in the bill:

Senate Democrats are backing a bill that would grant new rights to terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including access to a lawyer regardless of whether the prisoners are put on trial.

The proposal, approved this week by the Senate Armed Services Committee, also would narrow the definition of an enemy combatant and tighten restrictions on the types of evidence used to prosecute and keep a person detained.

The bill is aimed primarily at increasing legal protections for the hundreds of people captured by the United States and held for years on suspicion of terror ties without a trial. Only those selected for prosecution, typically the most high-profile suspected terrorists, are guaranteed legal counsel and other rights when they go to court.

About a year ago, I participated in a study of who’s still being held at Gitmo. Suffice it to say that they’re the nastiest of the nastiest. For the Senate Armed Services Committee to pass legislation that gives them access to lawyers is absurd and insulting. They don’t deserve that type of protection. What they do deserve is to be given three meals a day and a place to sleep. Anything beyond that is giving them too much.

Of the people whose files I reviewed, most were picked up on the battlefield or in al-Qaida safehouses. They certainly shouldn’t be released. In fact, they shouldn’t get a trial until we’re certain that we’ve gleaned every ounce of information from them.

The legislation has raised red flags at the White House as potential veto bait and among congressional Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said he was concerned that aspects of the bill may go too far. “Any changes have to meet the test for me that they will not compromise our ability to wage war,” said Graham, R-S.C., in a telephone interview Friday.

Sen. Graham is too squishy for my tastes on immigration and interrogation techniques but I agree with him on this issue.

Technorati Tags: Gitmo, al-Qaeda, Senate Armed Services Committee, Army Tribunals, Lindsey Graham, Immigration

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Yes, I ventured into the world where the sky is a different color, a land more bizarre than the Twilight Zone. Yes, I visited the Daily Kos website so you don’t have to. Here’s one diarist’s take on the Dems’ latest capitulation on Iraq:

The Democrats, fresh from selling out the soldiers and marines in Iraq by handing the mad George Bush $120 billion to continue funding his war, are claiming victory.

Oh, they can’t hide the fact that they gave up on the war issue. But they’re quick to brag that they won a big one by cleverly including in the war funding supplemental bill a hike in the minimum wage, bringing the federal rate from the current $5.15/hour to $7.25. But America’s long-suffering working poor better hold the champagne.

This bold stroke on their behalf by Congressional Democrats won’t happen right away. Although America’s lowest paid workers have been slaving away at $5.15 an hour since last September 1, they won’t get the first part of the new pay increase until the end of this summer, when it will go up a whopping 13 percent to $5.85 per hour (to put that in perspective, that’s $28/week more, less taxes, for someone working a 40-hour week). They’ll have to wait until around this time next year before they get another boost to $6.55 an hour, and they won’t get that full $7.25 an hour that the Democrats are hooting about until 2009.

And remember, we’re talking about blood money here.

It’s obvious that this diarist isn’t buying Pelosi’s spin that their capitulation on the war supplemental is a victory. (more…)