Gingrich: We Are At The Edge Of A Catastrophe

The United States needs a dramatic increase in defense spending as well as a massive overhaul of its national security decision-making process in order to avoid a catastrophe, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Monday.

“[We need] a national security budget and a homeland security budget driven by meeting the capabilities of our opponents, not by meeting their intentions. We are today running very big risks in the name of saving a few billion dollars that may end up killing several million Americans. The time to fix that is before the disaster happens,” said Gingrich.

He described several threats to national security such as nuclear, biological, and cyber attacks, as well as electromagnetic pulse attacks that could wipe out most of the country’s electrical structure. Gingrich stated that the U.S., like Japan, should start militarizing outer space in order to protect the massive amounts of communication technology orbiting the Earth.

Gingrich also criticized the federal government's inability to act decisively and quickly, explaining that bureaucracy hinders the country's ability to move at the speed of the modern world or sustain its defense system.

“We have been the most fortunate generation in history...We are still today the richest, freest, and safest people in the history of the world. That will only remain true if we have the courage, the discipline, and the foresight to insist on the kind of changes we need in order to maintain safety as the highest single value of the American people, a base on which you can then build prosperity and freedom,” said Gingrich.

A Connection Between Climate Change and National Security

By Courtney Costello- Talk Radio News Service

A report released by the CNA’s Military Advisory Board this past week details how climate change poses an imminent threat to U.S. national security.

Some negative factors that were outlined in the report include the oil trade and consumption policies of the past U.S. presidential administrations and providing oil to the opposite side of the Iraqi conflict by the United States.

“The military is the nations single largest user of energy in this country,” said Sherri Goodman, Executive Director of the MAB report.
 
According to the report, if the United States triumphs in the frontier of green technologies, U.S. military use of these green services will be more cost efficient, while having a positive impact on the environment.

Retired U.S. Air Force General Charles Wald said: “This situation can be exploited as a threat by those who wish to do us harm.”
 
That threat, Wald said, entails a reduction in combat effectiveness due to a wasteful use of oil. Many attacks are targeted toward conveys carrying fuel on
the battlefield, he said.

A more innovative recommendation was the creation of an engine capable of using algae as fuel in the U.S. Navy.

Additionally, the report recommended adding an electric fleet of convoys for the military. It also urged the implementation of efficiency standards across the entire Defense Department.

“The Most Dangerous Credit Card in the History of the World”

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called congressional voting cards “the most dangerous credit card in the history of the world”, because then enable Congress and the president to engage in reckless spending. This was not Boehner's first criticism of Obama, but his statement came on the 101st day of the Obama Administration, a time which Boehner has criticized as being pock marked with excessive borrowing, reckless spending and a massive growth in government.

Boehner said that Democrat’s “record on spending and debt is staggering, but our economy is growing weaker, and it’s not going to get any better by growing the size of the government here in Washington.”

Boehner believes that the Democratically controlled Congress has enabled and contributed to the recklessness, and thinks it is up to the Republicans to put a stop to it. Republicans must be “the party of better solutions” if they are going to stand up to the Democrats in Congress, Boehner said, adding that he hopes Democrats will be committed to a bipartisan policy approach..

Citing the elections of 2008, Boehner said “out brand has been tarnished”, but to help the party serve the American people, Republicans must stand up to the Obama Administration when disagreements arise, and to offer alternative solutions.

Leader Boehner applauded President Obama on his strategy towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but showed concern at Obama’s greater national security policy.

“The big question continues to be: what is the Administration’s overarching plan to fight terrorism? Judging from their recent decision to release 30 terrorist detainees with no plan on where to put them, it continues to beg the question,” referring to Obama’s closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center without knowing where the detainees will be sent.

Pelosi and Representatives Release Draft Of Clean Energy Act

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

This afternoon Speaker Nancy Pelosi along with Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), released a draft of comprehensive energy legislation, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

Speaker Pelosi says the act will create jobs, help end our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and combat global warming.

“We have an obligation to future generations to preserve this planet and a moral obligation to preserve it as God’s creation,” said Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi said today that the climate crisis we are facing is not only an environmental health issue, but that it is a national security issue and a moral issue.

“Energy independence and fighting climate change are flagship issues for this Congress. It will also be the impetus for new jobs and a new economic revival for our country,” said Pelosi.

Rep. Markey said that we need to look at this legislation as a good opportunity and if it gets passed it can create 3 to 5 million jobs all across the country.

“The planet is running a fever but there are no emergency rooms or plans so we have to act in a preventative way.”

Rep. Waxman said that Congress has a unique historic opportunity to pass legislation that will make our country more energy independent so that we can protect our national security.

Waxman said “This legislation will try to avert the terrible consequences of global warming.... legislation that will renovate and transform our economy for many many new jobs to give our people the jobs they need to get out of this recession/depression.”

Roger Johnson, the National Farmers Union President said that the union wants to be sure to play a constructive role with this legislation and said that there are already 3600 members doing innovative, and advanced agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gases.

“Earth Day is something farmers celebrate every day of the year as we work the Earth and we want to make sure that it continues to be protected,” said Johnson.

The bill is expected to pass in the Full Energy and Commerce Committee on Energy before the Memorial Day recess at the end of May.

“On this Earth Day we commit ourselves, not just ourselves, but our nation, to protecting our planet, creating jobs for our workers and by passing clean energy legislation,” concluded Pelosi.

Government stopping terrorism, but at what cost?

On the subject of datamining and information-gathering to fight against terrorism, Senior Legislative Counsel for the ACLU Timothy Sparapani said the House Homeland Security Committee needs "to conduct real oversight." He said that while "no one objects to the purpose," many have a problem with the "results that are occurring."

At a discussion today in the Canon Office Building in Washington DC, Sparapani called the process of datamining for predicting potential terrorists "a categorical and unmitigated waste of taxpayer dollars." He said that predictive datamining programs are not sufficiently useful because they "will lead to a flood of false alarms." Sparapani added that any program the government uses to fight terrorism must be able to makes U.S. citizens safer in order to justify any "intrusion of privacy."

Former Chief Privacy Officer for the Department of Homeland Security Nuala O'Connor Kelly, remarked that while the government's job to "anticipate and prevent" terrorism is difficult, she said that not enough people in the government were determining whether datamining programs worked. She also chastised the government for ineffectively using "the information it already has."

Fred Cate (Distinguished Professor and Ben Dutton Professor of Law) called the fourth amendment a "paper tiger" against intrusions of privacy for the purposes of stopping terrorism. Cate said that the government should have a "stated purpose" for any datamining, and that the government should ask itself if it can get personal information for people with nothing in their past that would indicate possible terrorism. "There are no rules within the government," stated Cate. Cate added that the "national security exception has become the norm" in regards to potential privacy intrusions.