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USA Today has Berger to pay $50,000 for taking classified material.

A judge on Thursday ordered Sandy Berger, President Clinton’s national security adviser, to pay a $50,000 fine for illegally taking classified documents from the National Archives.

The punishment handed down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson exceeded the $10,000 fine recommended by government lawyers. Under the deal, Berger avoids prison time but he must surrender access to classified government materials for three years.

“The court finds the fine is inadequate because it doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the offense,” Robinson said, as a grim-faced Berger stood silently.

Earlier in the hearing, Berger expressed remorse for his crime, which he described as a lapse of judgment that came while he was preparing to testify before the Sept. 11 commission.

“I let considerations of personal convenience override clear rules of handling classified material,” Berger said. “I believe this lapse, serious as it is, does not reflect the character of myself.”

“In this case, I failed. I will not again,” he said.

The sentencing capped a bizarre sequence of events in which Berger admitted to sneaking classified documents out of the Archives in his suit, later destroying some of them in his office and then lying about it.

After initially saying it was an “honest mistake,” Berger pleaded guilty in April to a misdemeanor of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, which contained information relating to terror threats in the United States during the 2000 millennium celebration.

Moron of the Week.

And this guy was National Security Advisor under Clinton?

Baldilocks has Chump Change

and previous links:

What the Burglar’s Up To
Berger Begs
Asking the Experts?
More on Berger

Technorati Tags: Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton, moron, liberal moron

UPDATE:

Dan Weintraub in today’s Sacramento Bee has If Proposition 76 fails, a tax hike could be next.

Read the whole piece here.

Schwarzenegger promised as a candidate in 2003 to balance the budget without raising taxes. He has reduced the gap between spending and revenues from about $10 billion when he took office to closer to $6 billion today. And he has proposed cuts that would have reduced the gap further had they not been rejected by lawmakers. Now he is telling voters he needs their help to finish the job. He needs the tools Proposition 76 provides if he is going to fulfill the pledge he made before he was elected.

By defeating Proposition 76, if that is what they do, the voters would be saying they don’t like his plans for balancing the budget and want him to move in a different direction. At that point, all of the options would have to be on the table, including a tax increase. That’s not a threat. It’s a fact.

Indeed.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visits residents at the Villages at Cabrillo in Long Beach, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, where he pressed for ballot initiatives set to go before voters in a Nov. 8 special election.

Sacramento Bee columnist and blogger, Dan Weintraub has Gov: Will consider taxes if 76 fails.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today he would be forced to consider raising taxes if voters don’t pass his budget reform, Proposition 76, on the Nov. 8 ballo

Is this a surprise?

The California state budget has had structural deficits since Governor Gray Davis was elected and bankrupted the state.

Proposition 76 restores the authority that the Governor of California had between 1939 and 1983 to make mid-year spending cuts whenever spending outpaces revenue without having to return to the legislature.

Why is it trailing so badly in the polls?

I interviewed Schwarzenegger on KTKZ 1380 in Sacramento this morning and asked him if his reform proposal was his last shot at balancing the budget without raising taxes, as he pledged to do when he ran for governor in 2003. Schwarzenegger has said that Proposition 76 is a crucial piece of his plan to finish erasing the state’s structural budget gap, which has shrunk from about $10 billion to $6 billion since he was elected. But he’s never said what he would do if the voters decided they don’t want to give him the tools he says he needs. I asked him about that possible scenario.

Here is a transcript of the exchange:

Governor: “I think we have to understand, there’s only two ways to balance a budget. Theres only two ways to go. One is that we live within our means and that we only spend what we have, which is the way we should go, the responsible way. The other one is the way, the direction they are going right now, which is to spend more and more money and what they want to do is drive us into a corner so that they can raise taxes.”

Weintraub: “You’ve put the solution out there, you’ve put your answer out there. If it is not adopted, won’t you then be into that very corner and forced to consider –

Governor: “Absolutely. Absolutely. Then we have to look at raising taxes. Because this is the only option we have in order to create the money. This is why I tell people, vote yes on Proposition 76, and make sure that we do everything we can to pass this proposition so that we force our legislators once and for all to live within their means and not to continue spending money and to keep making promises to people that they can’t keep.”

California voters will have a clear choice this November.

Reform or Tax Increases.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 76

UPDATE:

Reuters has Calif. legislature OKs driver’s licenses for illegals.

California’s legislature approved a bill on Thursday that would allow illegal immigrants to get state driver’s licenses, sending Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger a politically charged measure similar to one he vetoed a year earlier.

The state Senate voted 21-15 for the bill, which would allow California to issue driver’s licenses with a distinct design and color for illegal immigrants. The licenses could not be used to open up bank accounts or for purposes other than driving.

Supporters of the bill, which the Assembly of the Democrat-controlled legislature approved on Wednesday, say providing licenses to illegal immigrants would make roads safer by putting more trained and insured drivers behind the wheel.

Sen. Gil Cedillo, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said he had amended it from a year earlier to add the distinctive color to differentiate it from a standard driver’s license.

His office also amended the bill so that illegal immigrants will not get licenses until new federal regulations on driver’s licenses go into effect in eight months.

Cedillo’s office estimated about 2 million undocumented immigrants could apply for drivers licenses under the bill.

“This is not the bill you have seen in the past,” Cedillo said. “This reflects the national consensus.”

Opponents argue the measure would effectively sanction illegal immigration, an issue of concern for a large number of California voters.

National consensus for what?

Illegal immigration? HARDLY!

Governor Schwarzenegger will VETO this bill.

The Los Angeles Times has Illegal Immigrant License Bill Advances.

After a late-night debate on the politically sensitive issue of immigration, the California Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to extend driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

The measure would clear the way for California to create a distinct driver’s license, with a unique design and color, for people who cannot prove legal citizenship in the United States. The license could be used only for driving and would not be valid identification for other purposes such as opening a bank account or boarding an airplane.

The bill, SB 60 by Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), would also allow roughly 800,000 people in California who have applied to federal immigration officials for legal residency to get a California driver’s license starting as soon as March 2006.

The bill passed 42 to 34.

Cedillo’s bill passed the Senate in June on a 22-16 partisan split. Now the Senate is expected to approve recent amendments and send it to the governor, who is under pressure from Republicans to veto the measure.

Another No-Brainer here…… California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will VETO this bill.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gil Cedillo

The Los Angeles Times has Illegal Immigrant License Bill Advances.

After a late-night debate on the politically sensitive issue of immigration, the California Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to extend driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

The measure would clear the way for California to create a distinct driver’s license, with a unique design and color, for people who cannot prove legal citizenship in the United States. The license could be used only for driving and would not be valid identification for other purposes such as opening a bank account or boarding an airplane.

The bill, SB 60 by Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), would also allow roughly 800,000 people in California who have applied to federal immigration officials for legal residency to get a California driver’s license starting as soon as March 2006.

The bill passed 42 to 34.

Cedillo’s bill passed the Senate in June on a 22-16 partisan split. Now the Senate is expected to approve recent amendments and send it to the governor, who is under pressure from Republicans to veto the measure.

Another No-Brainer here…… California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will VETO this bill.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gil Cedillo

The New York Sun has Air America Wires $825,000 To Club in Bronx.

Air America Radio, the liberal network that in 2003-04 received $875,000 in transfers from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, announced last night that it had wired $825,000 into an attorney-controlled escrow account for the Bronx nonprofit group. It had previously sent $50,000 to the club.

The transfers to Air America, which a former official of Gloria Wise described as interest-free loans, is part of a probe by the city’s Department of Investigation and the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, into what officials termed “inappropriate transactions” by Gloria Wise. In a statement issued yesterday, Air America said the network would release the account to Gloria Wise when the city agency “completes its work and authorizes payment.”

Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club Beacon 113 of Bronx, New York, kicked off their inaugural Jr. NBA/Jr.WNBA basketball season

The New York Post Online Edition has AIR AMERICA ADJUSTS $TATIC

Air America has agreed to put the entire $875,000 it received from a Bronx-based Boys & Girls Club into an escrow account while the controversial loan is investigated by the city, the network’s bosses announced yesterday.

The owner of the left-leaning radio network had previously agreed to repay the money in installments.

Last month it made the first down payment into an escrow account controlled by the station’s lawyer, rather than directly to the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, a nonprofit social-services organization.

The city’s Depart of Investigation, which is scrutinizing the bizarre loan, wanted all the money in escrow until it end its probe and authorizes payment.

Yesterday Danny Goldberg, CEO of Air America, announced that the board of directors of the network’s owner had accelerated its payment schedule and deposited the full $875,000 into the escrow account.

The city yanked $9.7 million in government contracts from the club earlier this year as it launched an investigation of its finances and whether club officials falsified documents.

State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is also investigating the Air America-Gloria Wise connection.

The escrow move comes as it was disclosed yesterday that Air America’s star, Al Franken, signed an agreement last year to repay the entire loan.

The comedian and liberal commentator said last month he didn’t know of the loan until late July, adding Air America’s decision to repay it was a “moral obligation.”

But it was reported yesterday that Franken and Air America’s former chairman, Evan Montvel Cohen, were among the signers of a confidential agreement in November 2004 in which Air America agreed to repay the Gloria Wise loan.

Cohen said no one at the network knew of the money transfers from Gloria Wise when they happened, apparently between October 2003 and March 2004.

So. it is revealed that Al Franken has been complicit in this scandal, is a LIAR about his participation and all of a sudden the poor kids in the Bronx get their money back.

WOW! What a coincidence!

Michelle Malkin who has owned this story from the beginning has AIR AMERICA SCRAMBLES.

The New York Times has had no coverage of the liberal financial scandal in their backyard since its botched August 12 article, which misquoted Al Franken and attributed the quote to a city Department of Investigation transcript that the department says does not exist. The New York Daily News has not mentioned the controversy since August 11. Still no WaPo.

The Sun’s Lombino, who continues to make headway in the MSM, includes a quote from Air America’s CEO, Danny Goldberg regarding Al Franken’s signature on the Settlement Agreement featured in our and Lombino’s reports:

Yesterday, Air America’s CEO, Danny Goldberg, defended Mr. Franken. He said Mr. Franken’s role in the agreement “was simply to waive his own claims in order to facilitate the transaction and allow the network to survive under new ownership.”

Mr. Goldberg said the portion of the agreement that listed the Gloria Wise claim of $875,000 did not apply to Mr. Franken, who was not an investor.

“Al Franken does not have and never had any responsibility for this loan,” Mr. Goldberg said in a written statement. “His role at Air America was then and remains today as on-air talent.”

The “just the talent” line doesn’t wash. Franken was and is the public face of Air America, and by November 2004, he was well aware that previous owners Evan Cohen and Rex Sorensen had been involved in financial shenanigans that deserved nothing less than eagle-eyed scrutiny.

In case Franken needs reminding, he was the subject of a June 2004 page 1 Wall Street Journal article detailing the mess–an article that ends with Franken expressing “some gratitude” to Cohen for getting him and the network on the air despite Cohen’s exaggerations.

In case Franken needs reminding, HBO broadcast a full-length documentary on said troubles.

Some Franken defenders say it’s unfair to expect him to have read the November 2004 settlement agreement and paid attention to the copious debts and liabilities racked up under Cohen and Sorensen.

If Franken wants to continue arguing he was a fool who passed the buck to his lawyer, Minnesota Republicans won’t stop him. And neither will we.

Flap wonders if the federal and state authorities will be as forgiving as the New York Times and the MSM on Franken et. al.?

Will indictments be forthcoming for this blatant theft of public monies or will the entire scandal be swept under the rug since Gloria Wise received their money back?

Michelle Malkin suggests additional restitution be paid to Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club:

Neither Goldberg nor Franken addressed the unsubstantiated insinuations and misstatements Franken made on the air about Evan Cohen and Gloria Wise, which we documented here yesterday.

Several lawyers raise a question about whether the settlement agreement included a direct or indirect obligation to pay back the Gloria Wise loan. This is a focus of the ongoing legal dispute between Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. and Air America. (See here and here.)

As for Franken, since he has expressed a “moral obligation” to do right by Gloria Wise, may we suggest perhaps a donation of some of the proceeds from his next book, The Truth (With Jokes), sure to be a New York Times best-seller, to the inner city charity and its underprivileged clients?

How about it Al?

Christian Coalition Commends Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for Promising to Veto the Bill Which Allows Homosexual ‘Marriages’ in California, Defying the Referendum Passed by Californians. The News release is here.

Christian Coalition of America commends Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s promised veto of the legislation passed Tuesday by the California legislature allowing homosexual “marriages” in California. The state legislators who voted for such an abomination are defying the wishes of their constituents. These legislators are acting as if they were part of a dictatorship. California citizens used the democratic system available to them and passed Proposition 22 overwhelmingly outlawing homosexual “marriages”.

Roberta Combs, President of the Christian Coalition of America said, “Governor Schwarzenegger deserves our praise for keeping his promise to let the people of California and the judiciary decide on this issue. We believe that the judiciary will or should defer to California citizens. We commend Governor Schwarzenegger for his veto of this outrageous bill allowing homosexual ‘marriages’ in California.”

The California Legislature acted irresponsibly considering that an overwhelming majority of the American people and Californians oppose homosexual “marriages” as evidenced by the fact that 18 states quickly passed state constitutional amendments banning such “marriages”. Voters are passing these state amendments by an average of 71%. This latest development points to the need for the United States Congress to pass the federal Marriage Protection Amendment sponsored by Senator Wayne Allard, (R-CO), S. J. Res 1 during this Congress.

Schwarzenegger will need to mobilize the Christian Coalition folks to turn out for the November Special Election and to re-elect him in 2006.

These voters will remember Schwarzenegger with their faith-based organizations and most importantly their VOTES.

Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, gay marriage, same sex marriage, Proposition 22, Christian Coalition, Christian Coalition of America