6 Republican Senators Introduce "Semper Fi Act" to Strip Berkeley of Federal Earmarks– Including Gourmet Lunches!

The Horror!!
Those nasty Republicans…
How dare they deny the Berkeley children their eco-friendly gourmet lunches!

Code Pink activists deface the military recruiter’s office in Berkeley back in October. (Daily Planet)

Republican Senators introduced the Semper Fi Act to stip the city of Berkeley, California of their government funded earmarks. The earmarks introduced by Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer would use federal money to finance eco-friendly gourmet lunches to the Berkeley School District and other pet projects.
The office of US Senator Jim DeMint reported:

Today, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-Oklahoma), John Cornyn (R-Texas), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), and David Vitter (R-Louisiana) introduced the Semper Fi Act of 2008. The bill would rescind over $2 million in hidden earmarks for Berkeley, California in the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and transfer the funds to the Marine Corps. U.S. Congressman John Campbell (R-California) is introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Last week, the City Council of Berkeley voted to oust Marine Corps recruiters from their downtown office, saying the Marines were “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” Berkeley officials also voted to give the radical protest group Code Pink space outside the recruitment office and urged them to “impede, passively or actively” the work of Marine Corps recruiters.

One earmark provides $243,000 in taxpayer dollars for the organization Chez Panisse to create gourmet organic school lunches in the Berkeley School District. Chez Panisse is dedicated to “environmental harmony” and their menu features “Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad,” “Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis,” and “Chicory salad with creamy anchovy vinaigrette and olive toast.”

Another earmark would spend $975,000 in taxpayer dollars for the University of California in Berkeley Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service, to create a new endowment and cataloging the papers of Congressman Robert Matsui. U.C. Berkeley currently already has a $3.5 billion endowment.


Code Pink defaces the “US Marine Corps Assas(s)ination Office” in Berkeley. They were offered a free parking spot in front of the US Marine Corps recruiting office in Berkeley for their actions.

Liberal politicians claimed the Semper Fi Act would “take food away from the children!”
Senator Boxer said the groups should not be punished, “The children should not be punished.”
(And, go without their gourmet lunches?)

The Berkeley Mayor, Tom Bates, backed off from banning the US Marines from Berkeley on Thursday.

Previously:
Code Pink Defaces US Marine Recruiter’s Office in Berkeley
Code Pink Founder: “I Don’t Need Soldiers to Protect Me”
Code Pink Radicals & Pro-Military Supporters Collide in Berkeley
Jackassery Rewarded
Berkeley Chaos– Protesters Chain Themselves to Marine Office Doors
Code Pink’s Assault on the Marine Recruiting Office in Pictures

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