HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/21/2007 - STAFF REPORTS - 5.A. Good evening Council,
Dana Stewart and Jim McKinley, Palm Springs
Following many of the peace vigils this year, was the screening of a documentary
film called "Iraq for Sale". What an eye-opener that was! The staggering amount
of fraud and waste leaves one incredulous. The 9 billion dollars that has gone
missing, now being discussed on MSNBC and other media, is just the tip of the
gigantic iceberg.
During the Abu Ghraib scandals, a company from San Diego, named Triton
Industries, was implicated. We read, shortly after that, about two weeks later, that
Triton was awarded yet another $400 million dollar contract. In "Iraq for Sale", it
showed that not only were they raking in the dollars for Iraq, but another$400
million for Katrina clean-up and reconstruction. No one knows where all the
money went, as there is not much to show. The CEO gets $60 million per year,
however, along with incalculable stock values.
And they are not alone. There is Blackwater, Halliburton, and their subsidiary
Kellogg, Brown and Root, known to VietNam vets as, Kill'em, Burn and Loot.
They have the taxpayer platinum card and they are milking it for all it is worth.
Donald Rumsfeld called it the "Bum Rate". What he was referring to was the
amount of equipment destroyed that had to be replaced. In "Iraq for Sale", they
showed that oil tankers with a flat tire were purposely destroyed, and the truck
drivers were unarmed and un-shielded. And who's guarding the home front when
our National Guard is in Iraq? It is all very shameful.
Our country has spent over 3 TRILLION dollars on war and weapons in the past
6 years. That's not 30 billion, that's not 300 billion, that's 3,000 billion dollars, And
somehow, Congress and the government cannot find the lousy 28 billion dollars
per year for the entitlements to which we are entitled?!We've certainly been
paying for it for decades.
And meanwhile, we change from the world's buddy into the world's bully.
Decades of carefully structured, international and domestic, diplomatic and
political agreements are being unraveled. We must re-knit these treaties into
lasting peace. As the author of the ancient book, "The Art of War", wrote, if you
actually do go to war, you have failed. We are the bone of contention, and must
include our allies as well as our adversaries in the resolution of the conflict.
That's called diplomacy, which is part of the arsenal at our disposal.
Thus, we ask you to help us to put an end to the Iraq conflict and to bring our
buddies home. Not a single life is in vain if it causes us to realize that war is not
the answer. Peace and restoration is. Please join our sister cities in California,
and the State itself, to approve this resolution. Thank you.
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Jay Thompson
From: Dana Stewart [abccdana@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 3:44 PM
To: Ginny Foat; Steve Pougnet; Mike McCulloch, Chris Mills; Ron Oden; David Ready; Jay Thompson
Subject: Follow the Leader
Note: Today, Sunday, on CNN, a Mr. Pike from global security.org stated that "a nuclear war with Iran is
inevitable We can't afford to pussy-foot around. These guys are insaniacs! They've got their tickets for
the bunkers and they just don't care.....
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, Staff,
We sincerely request that you follow Councilwoman Ginny Foat's valiant lead, and reconsider your vote
on the Peace Resolution. Put it back on the agenda. Give yourselves a chance for redemption. This was
an easy test, and you failed miserably. We are deeply embarrassed and ashamed of you. We don't know
who's more exasperating, the liars, or the people who believe the liars.
' This is exactly why_we want this administration held accountable -
for lying to Congress and the public, and urmecessarily sending yet another unsuspecting generation of
our youth into the sickening jaws of Hell, for filthy lucre.
Our troops' lives lost are not ba vain, if they awaken us.
In the book, "The Art of War", if you go to war, you have already failed. But we've had help.
First, the SNAFU artist supreme, Rummy, upon invasion, decided to rearrange all the bases and
personnel so that no one knows what the hell, or where the hell, anything is! He took us in on the cheap,
without protection, and helped his friends make money by resupplying what he called "the Bunn Rate"
of equipment (and personnel). Empty tankers with a flat tiro are purposely exploded to accelerate the
process. Private contractors, implicated in the Abu Ghraib scandals, are making billions, hand over fist.
Please see the documentary film, "Iraq for Sale". Still getting billions in no-bid contracts are Triton,
Blackwater, Halliburtou and their subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown and Root (known to VietNam vets as
"Kill'em, Bum and Loot"). Lovely people.
With the denial of babeus corpus, and the approval of torture, they shred our international treaties, our
Constitution and Bill of Rights that they swore to defend, and plummet us back into the totalitarian Dark
Ages. We will soon be able to vote by wiretap! Time to repeal the "Traitor's Act".
Meanwhile, the "Cheerleader-in-Chief" of the neo-con Nazis, and the treasonous war profiteers of the
military-industrial complex, are burglarizing us into bankruptcy. Remember, the fascist Nazis were the
nationalist socialist party, as were the Chinese commruiist socialists. A dictator by any other name is still
a dictator. We have Dick and 'Tater.
Don't you feel the least bit betrayed? As the power and wealth ofbanks, transportation, communications,
energy, and other vital businesses are consolidated into fewer and fewer bands, one wonders if our anti-
trust laws were written in disappearing ink.
Meanwhile, we are drowning in a sea of red ink, and blood. We give them guns in Iraq instead of
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2/26/2007
shovels. How stupid. That is not what we did in Germany and Japan. Japan is now working for a
nuclear-free Asia with New Zealand while we foment a nuclear arms race in the Middle East to make
more fascists rich. What would happen if the U.N. mandated that the Middle East be banned from
buying weapons, and Iran goes solar instead of nuclear? It would be safer and cheaper, and we could
balance our trade deficits.
They have spent 3 TRILLION dollars on war and weapons in the past 6 years. That's 3,000 billion
dollars, folks. They then say they can't find the lousy 28 billion dollars per year(S 168 billion) for the
"Entitlements", to which we are entitled, after paying into it for decades! Meanwhile, they have out-
sourced and off-shored our jobs. That "big sucking sound" Ross Perot spoke about was Wal-Mart
leading the charge, not NAFTA.
It is a massive transfer of wealth, and the middle class is being replaced by the swelling ranks of
the working poor. What it does to suppress women and single Moms is reprehensible, but don't get us
started on the repression of women by the non-egalitarian and patriarchal Texas Taliban Cbristo-fascists.
As Sinclair Lewis said at the end of WW 11, "If fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag
and carrying a cross".
Then these racists blame everything on illegals as a scapegoat. flow about they use that fancy
surveillance equipment on the borders, rather than on the American public? Don't build a "Berlin wall"
that blocks migratory corridors of recovering endangered species, for pity's salve! We have drones and
lasers and electronics to tell if they're 2-legged or 4-legged critters, and can instantly pinpoint their
location.
And who's guarding the home front against disasters, like Katrina, when our National Guard is in
Iraq?How prepared is Patin Springs for the "Big One"? What do we have to show for Triton's further
$400 billion(on top of their latest$400 billion for Iraq), no-bid, Katrina contract? We know the CEO
makes $60 million a year, and incalculable stock option values (like Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock
oust, or the Exxon CEO's platinum parachute).
But, they have the taxpayer platinum card and they're maxing it out. They're milking the war for all the
Lime they can get to suck in the money. At home, they have already raided the piggy banks of Health
Care and Education, and are now drooling over Social Security.
Especially eager are the upper I% of traitorous war-profiteers with their huge taxbreaks of 90 billion
dollars per year. They could pay for their own daumi war! Better yet, let those dinosaurs chasing the
dianosaur juice get off their fat duffs and go fight their own damn war. And best investigate
those offshore accounts! The 323-tons of money, 12 billion dollars, now being reported by the media to
have gone missing in Iraq, is but the tip of a huge iceberg of missing taxpayer money.
That might be as big as the giant icebergs falling off Antarctica because of their massive pollution and
filthy fossil fuels. They purposely and recklessly suppress true clean energy teclumology. Starving polar
bears are but a prelude to starving people. Personally, as members of the top of the food chain, we don't
want Diy weals links! But then again, they don't care who, or what, they kill, as long as they make a
killing.
Don't you feel the least bit betrayed? This outrage can stop. Take a stand and bring our people home
from this "illegal and immoral war" (the late Pope, John Paul). it is time for the most powerful weapon
we have.
In our formidable arsenal, we have always had at our disposal, strong cooperative diplomacy and
2/26/2007
democratic politics. It is what made us a great nation. We spearheaded and established the United
Nations to end war, which they have now mocked and defiled. They have mocked our ideals with rigged
elections and engineered massive rip-offs on a staggering scale.
And this happens at every level - local, state, and federal. Private profits prevail over the public good. To
hell with people's health and safety. To hell with our lives and our livelihoods. To hell with our liberties.
It is frighteningly Orwellian, complete with expert "doublespeak" media mouthpieces who vulturize
dead celebrities for vulgar distraction from the real pornography of war and violence_
Shame on you for your cowardice to speak Truth to Power, and for not listening to your constituents_
Perhaps you have to go to Sacramento Cor each of you to get a heart, a brain and a ton of courage!? Be as
brave as the young people fighting and dying for us. Awaken. Don't believe in the hoax, or wait'til we
all have a "real" ID, or a chip implanted. Save and protect our country and our planet - our Divine gift of
Eden. Before it is too late, bring these war criminals acid traitors to justice, and our troops home! NOW.
For Truth, Justice and the American Way...
Wage Peace,
The Stewart and McICinley Families
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2/26/2007
RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, IN
SUPPORT OF SJR 1 (MIGDEN) URGING THE
CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES NOT TO ESCALATE
INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ
WHEREAS, since March 19, 2003 the United States has been at war in
Iraq; and
WHEREAS, according to the Pentagon, since the war begun, there have
been approximately 3,100 U.S. troop deaths and more than 22,000 who have
been wounded; and
WHEREAS, on January 19, 200W, the President announced a new plan to
send approximately 21,000 more American troops to help settle that country's
increasing violence; and
WHEREAS, over $300 billion has been appropriated by Congress to fund
military operations and reconstruction in Iraq that could have funded critical block
grants for education, health care and housing for the State and local government;
and
WHEREAS, the City of Palm Springs is in close proximity to the 29 Palms
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, and some of the City's public safety
employees are members of the National Guard; further deployment of troops
have an impact on the City, it's residents and the local economy; and
WHEREAS, all levels of Government need to work in cooperation to bring
resolution to the debate; and
WHEREAS, American troops have valiantly upheld their duty under the
circumstances in Iraq,
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM
SPRINGS DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council wholeheartedly supports the dedication, courage,
commitment and patriotism of the U.S. Troops in Iraq and elsewhere.
SECTION 2. That the Legislature of the State of California, on behalf of its
citizens, jointly adopt and approve Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 (SJR 1)
(Migden) which urges the Congress and the President of the United States not to
escalate involvement in Iraq, as provided.
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Resolution No.
Page 2
SECTION 3_ Direct the City Clerk to send a copy of this Resolution to Senator
Carole Migden, and Palm Springs Representatives Senator Jim Baffin and
Assembly Member Bonnie Garcia.
ADOPTED THIS 215t DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2007.
David H. Ready, City Manager
ATTEST:
James Thompson, City Clerk
CERTIFICATION
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss.
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS )
I, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, hereby certify that
Resolution No. _ is a full„ true and correct copy, and was duly adopted at a
regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Springs on February 21,
2007, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
James Thompson, City Clerk
City of Palm Springs, California
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CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
DATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2007 NEW BUSINESS
SUBJECT: PROPOSED RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF SENATE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 1 (SJR 1) (MIGDEN) RELATIVE TO THE WAR IN
I RAO
FROM: David H. Ready, City Manager
BY: Office of the City Clerk
SUMMARY
The City Council will discuss and may consider a Resolution in support of SJR 1
(Migden) which would urge the Congress and the President of the United States not to
escalate United States involvement in Iraq or increase troop levels.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Discuss a resolution in support of SJR 1 (Migden) relative to the war in Iraq.
2. Direct staff as appropriate.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
At the regular meeting held February 7, 2007, Councilmember Foat requested the City
Manager place on a future agenda a discussion and resolution in support of SJR 1
(Migden) relative to the war in Iraq.
SJR 1 as introduced would urge the Congress and the President of the United States
not to escalate United States involvement in Iraq or increase troop levels, would urge
the President to obtain explicit approval from Congress to send more American troops
to Iraq, and would urge Congress to enact legislation prohibiting the President from
spending taxpayer dollars on an escalation in Iraq, as provided,
On February 6, 2007 the bill was introduced and referred to the Rules Committee. On
February 13, 2007 Unanimous consent granted to consider. Read and adopted by the
Senate (Ayes 22. Noes 15.) on February 13, 2007, to Assembly.
ITEM NO.
City Council Staff Report
February 21, 2007 _.. Page 2
Support SJR 1 relative to Iraq
A resolution will be prepared for discussion purposes and submitted to the City Council.
ALTERNATIVES:
Adopt Resolution No. , "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, IN SUPPORT OF SJR 1 (MIGDEN) URGING THE
CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES NO TO ESCALATE
INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ."
FISCAL IMPACT: Finance Director Review: /
try
None.
es Thompson, City Clerk David H. Ready, City wager
Attachments:
Senate Joint Resolution No. 1
City Council Resolution (to be provided as additional materials)
Senate Joint Resolution No. 1
Introduced by Senator NEgden
(Principal coauthor: Senator Yee)
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Hancock)
(Coauthors: Senators Corbett, Kuehl, and Perata)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Berg and Dymally)
February 6, 2007
Senate Joint Resolution No. 1—Relative to the war in Iraq.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SIR 1, as introduced, Migden. War in Iraq.
This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United
States not to escalate United States involvement in Iraq or increase
troop levels, would urge the President to obtain explicit approval from
Congress to send more American troops to Iraq, and would urge
Congress to enact legislation prohibiting the President from spending
taxpayer dollars on an escalation in Iraq, as provided.
Fiscal committee: no.
1 WHEREAS, The President has proposed an escalation in the
2 number of United States troops deployed in Iraq; and
3 WHEPEAS, United States involvement in Iraq has resulted in
4 the deaths of more than 3,000 United States soldiers and the
5 wounding and disabling of more than 22,000 United States
6 personnel to date; and
7 WHEREAS, This proposed escalation will further extend
8 National Guard tours in Iraq, for which the costs to the states of
9 the callup of National Guard members for deployment in Iraq have
10 already been significant,as reckoned in lost lives,combat injuries,
I I psychic trauma, disruption of family life, financial hardship for
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' SJR 1 —2—
1 individuals, families, and businesses, interruption of careers, and
2 damage to the fabric of civic life in our communities; and
3 WHEREAS, The American troops have valiantly upheld their
4 duty under dire circumstances; and
5 WHEREAS, More than $357 billion has been appropriated by
6 Congress to fund military operations and reconsiruction in Iraq to
7 date,money that could have funded desperately needed education,
8 health care, housing, nutrition, and other social services in our
9 communities in the United States or bumanitarian assistance
10 abroad; and
11 WHEREAS, Previous budgets that have prioritized Iraq have
12 led to cuts in critical block grants for states and have increased
13 federal debt, that, compounded by interest payments, will likely
14 lead to even larger cuts in funding for critical needs in the United
15 States in the future; and
16 WHEREAS, Polls show that the vast majority of Americans do
17 not support increasing the number of troops in Iraq; and
18 WHEREAS, Most military experts oppose escalation in Iraq
19 and press reports indicate that even the Joint Chiefs of Staff have
20 opposed such a strategy; and
21 WHEREAS, Legal experts on all sides have determined that
22 Congress has not only broad authority, but a long tradition of
23 limiting escalation or forcing redeployment of troops through the
24 constitutionally designated power of the purse; now,therefore, be
25 it
26 Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
27 California,jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California,
28 on behalf of its citizens, urges the President and Congress of the
29 United States to not escalate United States involvement in Iraq or
30 increase troop levels, during a period when the Iraq Study Group,
31 leading military and diplomatic officials, and allies around the
32 world are calling for a reduction in troops and withdrawal of the
33 United States from Iraq; and be it further
34 Resolved, That, at a minimum, the President should obtain
35 explicit approval from Congress to send more American troops to
36 Iraq; and be it further
37 Resolved, That Congress should enact legislation prohibiting
38 the President from spending taxpayer dollars on an escalation in
39 Iraq unless he first seeks approval from Congress; and be it further
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—3— SJR 1
1 Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
2 this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
3 States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority
4 Leader of the Senate, and each Senator and Representative from
5 California in the Congress of the United States-
0
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