Friday, February 29, 2008
Peggy Noonan on Buckley
Thursday, February 28, 2008
William F. Buckley - R.I.P.
As the dust settles and minds have some time to adequately put their thoughts about the late great William F. Buckley to words...
National Review - A Symposium:
Saddened by the news of our beloved William F. Buckley Jr.’s passing Wednesday morning, National Review Online turned to friends, colleagues, students, and admirers of WFB to help capture his impact on America. Wall Street Journal:
Conservatively speaking, the life of William F. Buckley Jr. seems wildly improbable. One man is rarely granted his range of gifts: He was at once an essayist, editor, impresario, controversialist, critic, novelist, sportsman and bon vivant. He was the captain of a publication that, as he once famously put it, stood "athwart History, yelling Stop," yet he personally lived in relentless forward motion. When liberalism was dominant but hidebound in the second half of the last century, he pioneered a new direction that transformed American politics.
Buckley himself never lost his faith—in God, his country, the obligation to engage in the controversies of the age, and the wonders of the mind. His half-century at the center of the American scene was a model of thoughtfulness and political creativity that remains as relevant today, perhaps more so. Ave atque vale.
Also worth reading in the same paper - "Buckley Athwart History"
USA Today:
While Buckley relied on the power of his ideas — often presented in his trademark polysyllabic, Yale-informed, richly Latinate prose — many of today's high-profile commentators rely mostly on the volume button.
Buckley's passing reminds of a day when the best known conservative commentators could be civil, well-informed and even happy. To read his books — which include intellectual tomes, spy novels, autobiographies and sailing narratives — is to see a man with not only strongly held views but also a joy for life. It is truly too bad there aren't more like him. USA Today:
"Before Bill Buckley, there was nothing there was no conservative movement," said William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine. "No Bill Buckley, no President Reagan."
"You can't overstate his importance," Kristol added.
Republican presidential candidates praised Buckley. "When conservatism was a lonely cause, he bravely raised the standard of liberty," said John McCain, the GOP front-runner. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said, "… all conservatives owe Bill Buckley a great debt." LA Times:
By common consent, William F. Buckley Jr., who died Wednesday, was the father of modern conservatism. But he also ended up as one of the Bush administration's most trenchant critics. His death not only represents the loss of one of America's leading intellectual figures but also underscores the extent of the collapse of the conservative movement that has so decisively shaped politics for decades.
Like no other personality, Buckley pulled together the disparate strands of the conservative movement to endow it with panache, self-confidence and a sense of being on the cutting edge. An avid sailor, a writer of numerous spy novels and the host of the first of the political talk shows, "Firing Line," Buckley quickly became a celebrity who made conservatism respectable.
Sam Tanenhaus, who is writing a Buckley biography, noted in the New Republic that Buckley also had begun to question "the wisdom of having opened the gates quite so wide." Into his movement had stepped neoconservatives and evangelicals who were bent on that most unconservative of propositions -- a war to spread peace in the Middle East. The younger generation now running National
Review largely has adopted that neoconservative worldview, much to the older generation's chagrin.
The poignancy of Buckley's predicament came home to me that blustery spring day outside the Yacht Club when two young foreign tourists recognized him and took a picture with him. Buckley was elated. The old, familiar grin surfaced for a moment. A troubled expression then returned, we shook hands, and he melted into the crowd. I had the sense that he feared being forgotten. But it is conservatism that is marooned by his death. Perhaps his memory can serve as a beacon for the movement he once guided to return to the solid shores of his -- dare one say it? -- liberal conception of conservatism. Washington Times:
Unquestionably, he was the principal founder of the modern American conservative movement, who had a major influence on the country, the party and the world. He was a wonderfully vivacious, effervescent friend, full of fun, a great sense of humor. He just changed the entire image of American conservatism," said William Rusher, publisher of National Review for 31 years nd Mr. Buckley's closest business associate.
Mr. Buckley's stature on the national stage was larger than life. He was rigorous but still the model of civility during four decades as host of the public affairs television show "Firing Line" and the author of some 5,600 newspaper and magazine columns. The signature cadence of Mr. Buckley's velvety voice and the precision of his argument had much impact; many luminaries saw him as both the catalyst that gave conservative ideology a brusque entree into history.
"National Review was a lonely voice of conservatism in an overwhelmingly liberal establishment. Buckley began what led to Senator Barry Goldwater and his 'Conscience of a Conservative' that led to the seizing of power by conservatives from the moderate establishment within the Republican Party. From that emerged Ronald Reagan," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said. Washington Times Editorial:
Perhaps Mr. Buckley's most enduring legacy is the work he did in building the modern conservative movement that came to be a powerful force in the Republican Party and in 1980 saw one of its own, Ronald Reagan, elected president. In 1955 Mr. Buckley founded National Review, a magazine he vowed would stand "athwart history yelling Stop!" confident that "a vigorous journal
of conservative opinion" could make a critical difference in American culture and politics. On Sept. 11, 1960, a group of young conservative leaders meeting at Mr. Buckley's home in Sharon, Conn., adopted a statement of principles for the modern conservative movement emphasizing: the importance of a free-market economy; the belief that "liberty is indivisible, and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom"; that international Communism is "the greatest single threat to these liberties"; and that "the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with, this menace."
In short, Americans who believe in limited government or the concept that liberal elites should not have a cultural monopoly, owes William F. Buckley Jr. debt of gratitude. So, thank you WFB.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)
William F. Buckley Jr., the commander in chief for conservatives in the battle of ideas passed away. Befitting his giant stature, there has been coverage from all ends of the media universe.
National Review (his legacy):
Buckley has had more of an impact on the political life of this country — and a better one — than some of our presidents. He created modern conservatism as an intellectual and then a political movement. He kept it from drifting into the fever swamps. And he gave it a wit, style, and intelligence that earned the respect and friendship even of his adversaries. (To know Buckley was to be reminded that certain people have a talent for friendship.)
He inspired and incited three generations of conservatives, and counting. He retained his intellectual and literary vitality to the end; even in his final years he was capable of the arresting formulation, the unpredictable insight.
It has been said that great men are rarely good men. Even more rarely are they sweet and merry, as Buckley was.
The White House, George W. Bush:
America has lost one of its finest writers and thinkers. Bill Buckley was one of the great founders of the modern conservative movement. He brought conservative thought into the political mainstream, and helped lay the intellectual foundation for America's victory in the Cold War and for the conservative movement that continues to this day. He will be remembered for his principled thought and beautiful writing -- as well as his personal warmth, wit, and generous spirit. His legacy lives on in the ideas he championed and in the magazine he founded -- National Review. Washington Post:
President Ronald Reagan called Buckley "the most influential journalist and intellectual of our era." The National Review, Reagan said, "is to the West Wing of the White House what People magazine is to your dentist's office."
Buckley was a serious student of the English language and was widely known for his large, polysyllabic vocabulary. A stickler for proper punctuation, he hated unnecessary exclamation points and commas. He loved sailing, skiing and playing the harpsichord. He made four transoceanic sailing voyages and had been to the South Pole.
At National Review, Buckley became known as a discoverer of talented conservative writers, including syndicated columnist George F. Will and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Cultural critics Garry Wills and Joan Didion also wrote for the magazine in its early years.
New York Times:
William F. Buckley Jr. marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse. Mr. Buckley’s greatest achievement was making conservatism — not just electoral Republicanism, but conservatism as a system of ideas — respectable in liberal post-World War II America.
To Mr. Buckley’s enormous delight, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., the historian, termed him “the scourge of liberalism.”
Commentary Magazine's Contentions: He was the model of the modern American intellectual.
From the first to the last, however, he had an intellectually transcendent purpose from which he never deviated: The explication of, defense of, and advancement of, traditional mores and traditional beliefs, and a concomitant commitment to the notion that social experiments are very dangerous things indeed. He was, ever and always, a serious man in an increasingly unserious time.
Boston Globe:
It would be hard to overstate the impact that Buckley had on 20th-century American thought and politics. The man who founded National Review in 1955 and launched “Firing Line” -- the longest-running public affairs talk show in television history -- 11 years later is rightly celebrated as the father of modern American conservatism. Had there been no Buckley, there would likely have been no Reagan administration, no Morning in America, no “Tear down this wall,” and no Cold War triumph for liberty and the West.
Human Events:
And let’s not forget how he intersected with and changed history, usually behind the scenes, which is how he wanted it. The young Yalie persuaded Whittaker Chambers to serve for a time as an original senior editor of NR. His dear friend and publisher, William A. Rusher, formed the Draft Goldwater Movement of 1964. NR was Ronald Reagan’s political Bible. Bill introduced Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon. I could go on. Suffice it to say that our country is a better and stronger Republic because of the efforts of a man born to wealth, who never had to do an honest day’s work in his life, but who worked like a Stakhanovite (forgive me, Bill) for the things he believed in -- the “permanent things,” “the tokens of hope and truth.” Mike Huckabee:
As one of the founders of the modern conservative movement, William Buckley helped turn the intellectual and political tide, shifting America from liberalism to conservatism. Our country, and our world, are better for his 82 years on this earth...
So all conservatives owe Bill Buckley a great debt. Today, while our thoughts and prayers are with the Buckley family, we conservatives continue to draw inspiration from his life and work. But there is more to be done. It is up to us to carry on, fulfilling his enormous legacy.
Surely there will be even more to come, which is a testament to a life powerfully lived. What's not caught here, will surely be caught on The Corner.
Monday, February 25, 2008
PEPFAR
Consider this article in National Review today.
The current bill “shatters the bipartisan cooperation and good will that is needed for this bill, by making billions available for pro-abortion groups,” Smith says. He adds that the Democrats’ bill, as currently drafted, would end a requirement that PEPFAR organizations pledge not to support practices that exploit women — prostitution and international sex-trafficking.
Before his recent death, Lantos, the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, reportedly wanted to mark up a bipartisan bill that Smith and other Republicans could support. Smith prefers the larger $50 billion number proposed by the Democrats. The question is where the money goes — to treat AIDS patients, or to serve someone else’s agenda.
Friday, February 22, 2008
U.S. Representative John Shadegg (AZ-3)
Congressman John Shadegg announced late yesterday that he will indeed be running for reelection.
I expected my decision would elicit little reaction here in Arizona, and less in Washington. The events of the last week have, to say the least, stunned and deeply humbled me.
My decision was made after deep reflection and consultation with my family. It was entirely a personal decision between me and my family. The reactions of my constituents and my friends now suggest there were implications far broader than we had contemplated...
Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, when asked why he circulated the letter amongst my colleagues urging me to reconsider, quoted President Abraham
Lincoln who when asked why he kept General Ulysses S. Grant responded: “I cannot spare the man, he fights.” Frankly, my family has encouraged me, over the last week to reconsider my decision and is willing to continue to sacrifice so I may continue to fight. You may recall, when Rep. Shadegg first announced that he would retire, Congressman Pence, along with RSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling, spearheaded the effort in urging Congressman Shadegg to reconsider.
"Your intellectual consistency in defense of the Constitution and passionate articulation of conservative principles is in need now more than ever,"
"We fear that without you and the long-term perspective you bring to every debate, our battles will be difficult to win.
"The Republican Conference needs you here, the conservative movement needs you here, and the country needs you here."
Thursday, February 21, 2008
WANE TV
WANE TV covered the Indiana National Guard ceremony that Congressman Mike Pence attended yesterday.
Amid the roar of a Blackhawk helicopter, descending upon Jay County High School, hundreds of wide-eyed students, town residents and school officials honored the "character" of a fallen war hero and welcomed Indiana's National Guard Commander for a somber, yet inspirational ceremony focused on
character.
Led by Jay Schools Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Long, the Portland schools joined with the community in honoring the heroic accomplishments of the late Sgt. Major Jeffery A. McLochlin. McLochlin was killed July 5, 2006, while serving in the war in Afghanistan.
Also attending the ceremony were members of the Indiana National Guard leadership, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, and representatives from the City of Portland, Jay County and the Jay Schools Corporation.
There is video coverage of the event here as well.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
More on Lincoln Cottage
Indiana Diversity Focus Newspaper has more coverage on Congressman Pence's visit over the weekend to the grand opening of President Abraham Lincoln's cottage.
Indiana lawmaker Mike Pence brought his family. His son is not much older than Lincoln’s son Tad when he had fun dressing up as a soldier and hanging out with the real ones.
“Coming here, I just had no real understanding of how Lincoln felt about his family,” said Michael Pence, the congressman’s son.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
AIDS Relief
Chuck Colson has a great piece on BreakPoint about PEPFAR.
Clearly, PEPFAR has shown itself to be a spectacular success—so naturally, liberal policy makers decided they needed to fix it.
Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind.) puts it bluntly: The proposed changes would “transform the program into a mega-funding pool for organizations with an abortion promotion agenda.” The pro-abortion interests apparently have the elitist idea that the way to solve AIDS in Africa is have fewer Africans.
CQ Weekly also an article published in this week's edition about PEPFAR and the impending struggle surrounding its reauthorization. Because the article is available to online subscribers, a substantial portion of it is pasted below:
It’s been a while since the Capitol has played host to a fervent protest over AIDS funding. But earlier this month, conservative members of Congress and big-name right-wing activists assembled on the terrace of the Cannon House Office Building to denounce a Democratic bill that would expand U.S. AIDS efforts abroad. As one activist on hand put it, the legislation was nothing less than “a plan to destroy the African people.”
Such is the new politics of congressional AIDS relief. Five years after President Bush won approval for his ambitious plan to increase U.S. aid for fighting the spread of AIDS in Africa and the rest of the developing world, the program stands as perhaps his most enduring foreign policy success. It also has been a rare point of bipartisan accord on foreign policy in Congress.
But after Bush kept his requested future funding for the program flat — at an average of $6 billion annually — congressional Democrats dug in for a confrontation with the White House. Claiming to have science on their side, Democrats, led by the late House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos of California, have offered wide-reaching changes to the plan at the behest of family-planning groups, seeking, for example, to do away with requirements for spending on abstinence education and to allow work with prostitution groups. They also proposed to more than triple Bush’s original funding request, to $50 billion, over the next five years.
And in short order, Congress’ consensus on the issue unspooled. Republicans attacked the Democrats’ proposed changes, particularly for what its streamlined family-planning provisions, which they say could open the door to providing U.S. money for abortion providers overseas. Such rhetoric drives home the risks inherent in the decision to trigger a partisan confrontation over AIDS funding now. It would have been simple enough, after all, to continue down the easy road: Extend a popular program in an election year, double its funding, hand out the credit and go home. But it’s also true that Democrats are feeling restive on this issue; some, indeed, are spoiling for a fight, after a year of legislative initiatives largely thwarted by the White House and congressional Republicans. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known by its acronym PEPFAR, has provided $18.8 billion to prevent HIV and treat AIDS overseas, while also disbursing funds to fight the spread of malaria and tuberculosis. The AIDS funds represent the biggest investment ever in fighting a single disease. Congress got on board shortly after Bush announced the plan in his 2003 State of the Union address. Lantos and Illinois Republican Henry J. Hyde, then chairman of the House International Relations Committee, forged a fragile compromise that satisfied public health advocates and anti-abortion constituencies alike. The so-called Mexico City policy, which prohibits U.S. funding of overseas groups that promote or provide abortion, would not apply to the program: PEPFAR instead allows some money to go to family planning groups with long standing — on the condition that they spend it on HIV/AIDS services. In exchange for signing off on the family planning aid provisions, social conservatives got the law to designate one-third of the HIV prevention money for abstinence education, with an effort aimed at giving grants to faith-based groups. Smith wrote an additional provision that instituted the ban on funds and services for sex workers. For international AIDS activists, the 2008 reauthorization of PEPFAR presented an ideal opportunity to loosen these restrictions — as did, of course, the Democratic majority in Congress. “The weight of the evidence and the weight of the field experience is by far in our favor,” said Jodi Jacobson, director of advocacy at the American Jewish World Service and one of the new plan’s strongest backers. Jennie Quick, governmental affairs manager at Population Services International, likewise contends that the political moment is ripe for the Lantos plan. “Some of the differences that we have are ideological, and that’s not going to change,” she said of the partisan split. “The fact that the American people have put the Democrats in the majority in Congress is a sign that they want Democrats to move forward with their agenda.”
Armed with that conviction, congressional Democrats worked closely with advocacy and public-health communities in drafting the legislation to reauthorize PEPFAR. Gone were the abstinence set-aside and the prostitution pledge. In place of the delicate balancing act around the Mexico City policy, there is now a proposal to allow integration of family planning and HIV prevention services — the red flag that has triggered the impassioned outcry from anti-abortion legislators and activists. Rather than the $30 billion the President requested for the next five years, they offered $50 billion, which they pointed out would be needed, since AIDS patients must take their expensive drugs for their entire lifetimes. No one who started the program would ever really leave it.
The Lantos bill is now scheduled for a markup when Congress returns next week. The State Department has already weighed in with a four-page letter opposing the bill, in part on the grounds that the draft version “lacks a directive to ensure that Abstinence and Be Faithful programs continue.” The National Right to Life Committee sent its own letter, predicting that the bill would “turn what is a bipartisan program focused on combating HIV/AIDS into a massive taxpayer-financed funding stream for abortion providers and abortion-promoting organizations.” The expanded funding proposal has also triggered some searching debate over the basic policy approaches PEPFAR takes. In its initial incarnation as an emergency plan, it focused on the direst needs: prevention spending, orphan care and — most of all — drugs. But public health and development groups argue that solving AIDS requires addressing key deficits in the developing world, among them inadequate supplies of clean water, food, health care workers and passable roads. What’s more, they say, the momentum from the plan’s first five years furnishes an ideal opportunity to expand its scope. One thing’s certain: GOP opponents of the House bill aren’t dialing down their rhetoric — and they’ve vowed to fight tooth and nail.
Now Open: Lincoln's Cottage
This past weekend, President Abraham Lincoln's personal retreat was opened to the public for the first time in history. Lincoln's Cottage website says this:
Located on a picturesque hilltop in Washington, DC, President Lincoln's Cottage is the most significant historic site directly associated with Lincoln's presidency aside from the White House. During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his family resided here from June to November of 1862, 1863 and 1864. All totaled, Lincoln lived here for a quarter of his presidency.
After a $15 million restoration by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home is open to the public February 19, 2008.
Congressman Pence and his family were among those in attendance at the dedication ceremony, which was covered by Channel 13. You can view the video clip of the new report here.
Friday, February 15, 2008
FISA...
Congressional Democrats are playing a dangerous game by allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to expire this weekend. National Review and the Washington Post, true to form, offer excellent analysis and coverage of this critical national security issue.
The Editors of National Review published an article yesterday: "Dems' Dangerous FISA Games."
Here is the bottom line: The legal authority for the United States intelligence community to collect foreign intelligence — information that protects Americans from terrorist attacks and that our soldiers in harm’s way rely on to do their duty — will expire at midnight on Friday. And Democrats are perfectly willing to allow that to happen.
Not all of them, thankfully. A few responsible Democrats in the Senate have come together with Republicans and the White House on an intelligence overhaul. President Bush stresses the proposal’s growing bipartisan support, but no one should go up in a balloon over that. The very fact that it attracted such broad support from Senate Democrats — the same folks who have blocked sensible reform up until now, and who fought reauthorization for the Patriot Act tooth and nail — signals that our enthusiasm should be tempered. To call the proposal imperfect is to be charitable.
Yet House Democrats — doing the bidding of the MoveOn.org crowd — are courting just that risk. They are playing roulette with our security for no better reason than to preserve the ability of the ACLU, CAIR, and other anti-Bush activists to press their lawsuits.
And the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell wrote today in the Washington Post:
One of the most critical weapons in the fight against terrorists and other foreign intelligence threats -- the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- has not kept up with the technology revolution we have experienced over the past 30 years. We are on the brink of bringing this 20th-century tool in line with 21st-century technology and threats. The Senate has passed a strong bill, by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin, that would modernize FISA and do the right thing for those companies that responded to their country's call for assistance in its hour of need. It would also protect the civil liberties we Americans cherish. The bill is now before the House of Representatives.
The Protect America Act was scheduled to expire Feb. 1, but Congress passed a 15-day extension to give itself the time lawmakers said was necessary to complete work on legislation to modernize FISA and address liability protection. President Bush signed that extension, but the law will expire tomorrow unless Congress acts again.
Capitol Briefing has more.
President Bush also decried this move as endangering the United States.
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met with Republican congressional leaders in the Oval Office to discuss the impasse with the Democratic-led House. Lawmakers left Thursday for a 12-day recess without acting on the law, which expires at midnight Saturday. The president said Congress should act quickly on the measure as soon as lawmakers return.
"American citizens must understand, clearly understand that there's still a threat on the homeland. There's still an enemy which would like to do us harm," Bush said. "We've got to give our professionals the tools they need, to be able to figure out what the enemy is up to so we can stop it."
"By blocking this piece of legislation, our country is more in danger of an attack," he said.
Congressman Pence's position on FISA has been clear as evidenced here and here.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Fairness Doctrine
Townhall.com has a piece published on their site today about the Fairness Doctrine, of which Congressman Pence has been an ardent opponent.
Well, all of us who know that talk radio has saved the democracy are looking for a compelling reason to get serious about seeing a Republican, even John McCain, in the White House.
In case you forgot, here is one compelling reason: The Fairness Doctrine!
Every other rationale to hold your nose and vote Republican pales in consideration. Sure, all of us in talk radio can continue being preoccupied on tangential issues, big or small, principled or petty. (For example, although I strongly support McCain, I strongly agree with Mark Levin’s sharp reaction to Phil Graham’s gloating that conservatives should get on the McCain train while tickets are available. The McCain campaign should quickly send Phil back to Texas before Conan O’Brien pulls the Phil Graham clips out of his archives and makes a fool out of him a second time.)
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Congressman Pence and Earmarks
Both locally in Indiana and on the national stage, Congressman Mike Pence was in the news for his leadership in the area of earmarks. Both the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne and Roll Call newspaper had articles today covering the push to reform earmarks.
The Journal Gazette had this to say about the Congressman:
Pence has not only admitted that fact, but he also blamed out-of-control earmarking by Republicans as one factor in their loss of the majority in 2006. Pence also has confessed to seeking earmarks every session he’s been in Congress. But he said he’s never traded a vote for an earmark, a common if unseemly practice, and he was among the first to post every appropriations request he makes on his Web site for all to see.
Which gets to the crux of what’s wrong with earmarks. The mere act of spending money on a project is not pernicious. The House of Representatives’ constitutional job is to appropriate money, and there’s no way every taxpayer will benefit from every expenditure.The problem is the way in which so many earmarks are placed secretively and at the last minute into 3,000-page budget bills during conference committee negotiations without public input.
As Pence wrote in the Feb. 5 Washington Times about last year’s omnibus
spending bill:
“Members did not have time to review it. If they had, they would
have found that it contained wasteful earmark spending ranging from funding fruit fly research to building swimming pools to providing for wine and culinary centers. Most egregious, they would have found that nearly 300 unexamined earmarks costing more than $800 million were dropped in at the last minute, in the middle of the night, immune to public debate or scrutiny until after the fact.”
This is the kind of conduct that disgusts taxpayers to the point of rebellion. It’s a modern form of taxation without representation, and it’s got to stop. Yet the House wouldn’t even agree to a temporary hold on earmarks pending a study, and those who did were accused of being hypocrites. Pence is right when he says it’s time for a fundamental overhaul.
Roll Call published an article entitled: "Anti-Earmark Push Lives On."
Other conservatives agree with Flake that the Conference should take a bolder stand on the issue now that McCain is the presumptive nominee.
“House Republicans would do well to embrace a Republican-only moratorium and give the American people a choice this fall,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), noting McCain’s emergence.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Congressman Tom Lantos (1928-2008)
As you now know, Representative Tom Lantos passed away this morning. Lantos' website had this to say:
Congressman Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo, San Francisco), 80, passed away this morning due to complications from cancer at Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
Elected to office in 1980, Lantos was Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and one of the country's leading champions of human rights. His commitment to this issue was forged when, as a young man, he lost nearly his entire family in the Holocaust.
Today he was surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and many of his 18
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
After being diagnosed with esophageal cancer in late December, Lantos
announced on January 2 that he would not seek reelection. He said at the time, "It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."
The only survivor of the Shoah ever elected to Congress, Tom Lantos was in his 14th term. His Democratic colleagues elected him chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in January 2007. He was also a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Throughout his adult life Lantos sought to be a voice for human rights and civil liberties. He and Annette Lantos, his childhood sweetheart and wife of nearly 58 years were, as Lantos put it, "full partners both in Congress and in life," and they continued their work right up to his final days. Tom Lantos was the founding co-chairman of the 24-year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which Annette directed as a volunteer since its inception. He also founded the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus.
Annette said that her husband's life was "defined by courage, optimism, and unwavering dedication to his principles and to his family."
The date for a public memorial service has not yet been set.
There has been, not suprisingly, a great deal of coverage of who Tom Lantos was. One which mentioned Congressman Pence included United Press International:
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., ranking member of the Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Lantos will be "sorely missed" in Congress." Tom Lantos was my sometime opponent but was, at all times, an inspiring friend," Pence said.
**UPDATE**
There is a rather lengthy story in the San Francisco Chronicle paying a well-deserved tribute to Congressman Lantos.
Rep. Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress and for 27 years a champion of human rights as representative for a district stretching from San Francisco's west side to San Carlos, died today of complications from esophageal cancer, his office said. He was 80.
Rep. Mike Pence, a socially conservative Indiana Republican, called Lantos "a giant in Congress ... who stood on the world stage with moral clarity and courage."
Earmark Moratorium || PEPFAR
"I have made every effort to press for reform within the system," Pence said in a recent column in the Washington Times, "but I have come to the conclusion that Congress must take dramatic action to restore public confidence in the federal budget process."
In his State of the Union address in 2003, President George Bush originally announced the PEPFAR program. It is the largest aid commitment ever made by any nation for an international health initiative to fight a single disease --- HIV/AIDS.
At the time of the original announcement, only 50,000 people were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The original commitment was $15 billion over a 5 year period. The results have been phenomenal. As the president stated in his address, the program helped provide antiretroviral treatment for over 1.4 million men women and children through September 30, 2007. Over 86,000 children, age 14 and under, are receiving this life saving treatment. In addition 62% of the individuals on direct PEPFAR support are women and children. The program has been built on an A-B-C approach to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Three keys to preventing the spread of this dreaded disease are Abstinence programs, Be faithful programs, and using Condoms. Together, these three reduce the number of partners and prevent risky behaviors. A report to Congress stated that the Abstinence and Be faithful programs have reached more than 40 million people including nearly 11 million primary-age children. At the same time, studies suggest that those programs that have begun to shift to condom-only paradigms are less effective at curbing the HIV infection rate. This has been observed in both Uganda and Botswana.
The benefit of the abstinence aspect of the PEPFAR program thus far is that it has helped create a change in personal behavior and social/ sexual norms among young people. The amazing results of PEPFAR’s first few years is the beginning of changing the way an entire generation views life, family, and health.
In spite of these facts, pro-abortion, anti-family ideology has gripped current policy makers. The newly proposed bill plans to undo rules that prevent money from going to abortions, while continuing to fund other aspects of family planning. Policy makers would also like to do away with a pledge that recipients of PEPFAR monies will not support the legalization of prostitution or sex trafficking. But this not a prudish limitation; the groups funded may still provide condoms or condom information to prostitutes. The pledge was conceived of to "ensure that pimps and brothel owners don't become U.S. government partners," according to, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. architect of the pledge and policy.
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., described the problem very succinctly. He said that these new adjustments to the AIDS program "would transform the program into a mega-funding pool for organizations with an abortion promotion agenda."
Bishop Harry Jackson speaks at the PEPFAR press conference 
Congressman Mike Pence, flanked by Bishop Harry Jackson, speaks at the PEPFAR press conference.
Friday, February 08, 2008
In Case You Missed It:
Congressman Mike Pence had an op-ed published in the Washington Times on February 5, 2008 about his desire to see real reform brought to the earmarking process. Some excerpts:
After years of excess spending and outright corruption, the gauges of federal spending in Washington are telling the American people something is very wrong, especially when it comes to earmarks. It is time to land the plane and fix the engine. It is time for an earmark moratorium followed by fundamental reform.
I have been an advocate for earmark reform for years and have led efforts by House conservatives to enact budget process reforms under Republican majorities. I have also supported bipartisan efforts to enact further earmark reforms under Democratic control. And I have led by example. I have never traded my vote for a funding request. One year ago, my office was among the first in Congress to post all of my appropriations requests on my Web site. I have made every effort to press for reform within the system, but I have come to the conclusion that Congress must take dramatic action to restore public confidence in the federal budget process.
Recently, Republicans in Congress took a significant step toward earmark reform by challenging House Democrats to join them in a "time-out" on earmarking. Republicans united behind a challenge for an earmark moratorium and called for the establishment of a new select committee that would conduct public hearings and make recommendations that will change the way that Congress spends the people's money forever. By challenging House Democrats to join in a bipartisan effort ending the current practice of earmarking in Washington, House Republicans have thrown down the gauntlet of reform. Republicans are leading this fight for fiscal discipline and reform. For the sake of the nation, I sincerely hope our Democrat colleagues will soon follow.
AP Coverage of PEPFAR
The Associated Press has an article out today concerning the House Republicans' opposition to AIDS relief funding being hijacked for ultra-liberal causes. Congressman Pence is mentioned as well:
Third, Republicans claimed that the Democratic-written bill undoes carefully crafted rules that allow money to go to family planning groups for AIDS work as long as no money is spent on abortions. That change, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said at a news conference including anti-abortion groups, "would transform the program into a mega-funding pool for organizations with an abortion promotion agenda." As you may recall, the aforementioned press conference occurred yesterday.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Ball State Daily News || Press Conference
The Ball State Daily News has more coverage of Congressman Pence's speech to an international relations class at BSU:
Political science professor Francine Friedman said the presentation was engaging to the students and not too technical or intimidating."It was very interesting, very timely," she said. "It was pitched at a level that students could respond to and understand." There was also a press conference today on the Cannon House Office Building Terrace where Congressman Pence joined other Members of Congress and global leaders in the fight to combat AIDS. An excerpt of the Congressman's statement:
"We must ensure that America’s commitment to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa and around the globe will continue, and continue in a manner that best reflects the nature of America’s compassion and its devotion to saving lives, and we intend to fight the objectionable proposals in the Democrat reauthorization bill so that a clean reauthorization bill can be passed by Congress and sent to the President.”
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Afternoon Roundup of District Coverage
Congressman Pence is showing up in multiple local news sites:
NewsLink Indiana has Congressman Pence's policy speech to a Ball State University international relations class as their top story,
The Palladium-Item has additional reporting on the Congressman's visit to Richmond Academy yesterday:
Eighth-grader Madyson Simpson said she was surprised how engaging Pence's talk was. And last but definitely not least was The Muncie Star Press's piece notifying their community that one of their own would be Congressman Pence's guest of honor at tomorrow morning's National Prayer Breakfast.
More on Pence's Visit to Richmond
The Palladium-Item has more coverage of Congressman Pence's visit to Richmond yesterday.
Spending will be the big issue in Congress this year, with especially heated debates in the economic stimulus plan and earmark reform, Rep. Mike Pence told the crowd at a town hall forum Tuesday afternoon.
Today, Congressman Pence will be giving a policy speech at a Ball State University international relations class. Stay tuned for more on this...
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Pence Visits Richmond
The Palladium-Item has coverage of Congressman Pence's visit to Richmond today, most notably of his town hall meeting:
The Republican 6th district representative addressed more than 40 citizens and city workers at the City Municipal Building council chambers this afternoon following visits with students at Richmond Academy and the Richmond Rotary Club.
Also, check out the Pal-Item's picture of the Congressman's visit to Richmond Academy earlier today:
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