Explain this compasionate conservatism

[sinterest]

This Bush Bunch stops at nothing. Note what the commerce department is doing.
Mr Flake (D) introduced an amendment to a bill funding the commerce dept. for next
Year. This is from the congressional record. June 7 page H5315
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=h5315&dbname=2004_record

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the
gentleman from Arizona [Mr. FLAKE] for the
time.

I rise to support the Flake amendment to
prohibit the use of funds in this bill to enforce
the Commerce Department’s recently-announced
anti-family restrictions on sending
gifts to Cuba.
These restrictions are part of an extensive
set of new Bush administration rules that punish
Cuban-Americans who have families in
Cuba. These regulations include limiting family
visits to Cuba by Cuban-Americans to once
every three years and further restricting the
ability of Cuban-Americans to send money to
their families in Cuba.
The Commerce Department’s new regulations
would make it illegal for Cuban-Americans
to send clothing, seeds, soap, personal
hygiene products and veterinary medicines to
their families in Cuba. Other gifts would be
limited to one gift parcel per month per household
in Cuba. Gifts could be sent to parents
and children, but not to aunts, uncles, nieces,
nephews or cousins.
What conceivable rationale could there be
for this cruel, misguided assault on Cuban-
American families? Is there anyone who truly
believes that we are achieving anything productive
by keeping Cuban-Americans from
helping their family members who remain in
Cuba? How dare this administration tell American
citizens they can’t send clothes, toilet
paper or toothpaste to the families they love!
I urge my colleagues to protect the right of
Cuban-Americans to assist their families. Let’s
help these families, not punish them. Support
the Flake amendment.
The CHAIRMAN. The question is on
the amendment offered by the gentleman
from Arizona (Mr. FLAKE).

[Justin6898]

Hmm...

Right now, we have a ban on trade with Cuba in an attempt to make the country so poor they abandon their communist ways. True, I don't agree with the plan, but if we allowed a large flow of money and goods into Cuba, it would be counter-productive to our policy right now. We need to break the policy, is what we need to do. Do you see where I'm coming from?

-Justin

[Fredfredson]

Do you see where I'm coming from?


No I don't, I'm afraid, care to elaborate? :wave

F
:pooter

[Justin6898]

Sure,

The current U.S. Policy is to not trade with Cuba, right, because they are communist.

to allow a large influx of American goods and money would be counter-productive to the policy.

Feel free to correct me if I'm disgustingly incorrect. :/

-Justin

[Fredfredson]

REAL CHRISTIAN COMPASSION.

:yay

F
:pooter
============================
Church Groups Lead Protest Mission to Cuba

Wednesday July 7, 2004 9:46 AM

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4284839,00.html

By LYNN BREZOSKY

Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN, Texas (AP) - Abelardo Ateaga took a bus all the way from Florida to get here, but he's got miles more to go and a major international law to test before he's done.

Ateaga, 82, hopes to be part of a caravan of old school buses that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday on its way to Cuba for the 14th annual delivery of goods to the communist island in violation of the U.S. embargo.

Leaders of Pastors for Peace, an American humanitarian aid group, this year filled nine buses with donations including medical, sports, and office equipment gathered by church and other groups in 127 cities.

More than 100 volunteers from across the nation and several foreign countries planned to ride in the caravan from the U.S. border to Tampico, Mexico.

There they will load the goods, including the buses, on to boats bound for Cuba. The volunteers planned to fly to Cuba to help church groups there distribute the aid.

Ateaga clutched a picture of his 92-year-old sister Tuesday and said the people he had grown up with on the island were suffering from the continued embargo.

``This is my sister and this is the people we take the help,'' he said. ``Tell me who is against me. I like them to tell me what is wrong with that.''

The U.S. embargo against Cuba is now in its fourth decade. President Bush last month stepped up the embargo with more stringent restrictions on U.S. residents' travel to visit family there.

``It's a policy that has no redeeming value,'' said the Rev. Lucias Walker, a New Jersey pastor who founded Pastors for Peace. ``What we're doing is an act of civil obedience to a higher power that says you should love your neighbor.''

The group violates the embargo by refusing to apply for documentation to export to Cuba and by using Mexico to bypass U.S. restrictions to Cuba. The caravans have in recent years passed through the border without much incident.

Molly Millerwise of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which regulates U.S. travel in Cuba, said the Bush administration stood by its decision to keep wealth from entering Cuba and strengthening the Fidel Castro regime.

U.S. family members were spending too much money during visits to Cuba, she said, and the money was being funneled to Castro. ``The continuing crackdown measures are meant to help hasten the day to a free Cuba,'' she said.

Millerwise said she could not comment on whether the office planned to levy fines or seek jail time against the group.

---

On the Net: http://www.cubasolidarity.net/pastors.html

[Atenhotep]

The solution seems pretty obvious to me.

To bring down Castro's Communist rule we need to follow Reagan's example. First, outspend the Cuban military. Second ... have some older, former actor, conservative (I suggest Charlton Heston) make a photo-op at a wall. It's important the guy yells at the wall. Something like, "Castro! Tear down that wall!!"

Now I'm pretty sure we already outspend their military so it must be the wall. They don't have a wall we can yell at. Damn, this sucks.

What are we going to ever do?

Maybe we could build a wall for them and then yell at it? Maybe we would defeat Castro that way?




OR we could try something reasonable ....


The best way to influence Cuba is not to send them less stuff, we need to be sending them more stuff.

[Justin6898]

agreed, the trade embargo must end.

-Justin

[sinterest]

Do you see where I'm coming from?


Of coarse, Justin and I agree. We should break the policy.
Castro was able to easily take over in the first place because there was such a huge gap between the filthy rich and the masses that lived in squalor.
A dictator (Fulgencio Batista) and the one percent that owned everything (what we are trying to reach except corporations are our “dictator”).
The wealthy elite fled to Florida and have been a powerful lobby ever since for bringing down Castro i.e. get their holdings back.
They get what they want from Republicans because they support them so faithfully.
A policy, which hasn’t worked for 45 years, should all of a sudden start working? – go figure.
This commerce department edict is a blatant bribe for this year’s block vote.
China is commie country too, but they are not the threat Cuba is? It’s so obvious what the Administration was up to, that there were enough decent Republicans to pass this amendment thank god!

[Atenhotep]

Are you guys sure?

We still have time to build them a wall and have Charlton Heston yell at it.

"Damn YOU!!! Damn you Castro!!!!"

Just the way he did when in the Planet of the Apes. He's good at yelling. Walls are pretty easy to build too.

[sinterest]

To bring down Castro's Communist rule we need to follow Reagan's example. First, outspend the Cuban military. Second ... have some older, former actor, conservative (I suggest Charlton Heston) make a photo-op at a wall. It's important the guy yells at the wall. Something like, "Castro! Tear down that wall!!"
poignant and funny Aten,