News

“We’ve turned the Senate from a legislating body into a deal-making body, and that’s just wrong.”

12/31/2012

Conservative Senator Lashes Out: ‘This Place is a Joke’

PJ Tatler

Bridget Johnson

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) lashed out at the upper chamber today as a symbol of government’s runaway power in Americans’ lives.

“It’s an alternate universe. No, this — this place is a joke. I mean, bottom line, this is an absurd process,” Johnson said on CNBC. “It certainly proves the genius of our founding fathers that government should be limited. I mean, the fact that we have this place having such an enormous effect on our economy, on people’s livelihood, is wrong. It’s simply wrong.”

“So, I’m the manufacturer. I’m always looking for the cause of problems. The cause of the problem is that government is far too large. It’s far too intrusive into our lives. It exerts way too much control over our economy, but that’s where we’re at. And, you know, I have no — I don’t know too many people that really think government’s effective or efficient. Why would they think the governing body of that government would be particularly effective or efficient as well?” he continued. “This is a mere symptom of the overall problem in a system of government that has become too large and too intrusive in our lives.”

Johnson also slammed the reign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as “a one-man dictatorship.”

“And under his leadership, the Senate has been a charade while I’ve been here for two years. I serve on the Budget Committee. You know how many times we’ve voted on a budget in the Budget Committee? Zero. We haven’t even marked one up,” he said.

The senator also decried the shady negotiations. “We’re here at the end of the year, a couple of elected officials with their unelected staffs, are doing these deals behind closed doors,” he said. “I don’t know what’s happening behind there. Am I all of a sudden going to get a product sometime in the middle of the day and say, ‘you’ve got to vote on it right away’? I mean, that is an absurd process.”

“We’ve turned the Senate from a legislating body into a deal-making body, and that’s just wrong.”

It's Official: January 5, 2013 is SUPPORT HOBBY LOBBY DAY

12/31/2012

Breitbart, roundup of other sources

Ken Klukowski

“We must obey God rather than men!”—Acts 5:29

Now that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied Hobby Lobby’s application for an emergency injunction protecting them from Obamacare’s HHS Mandate on abortion and birth control, Hobby Lobby has decided to defy the federal government to remain true to their religious beliefs, at enormous risk and financial cost.

Hobby Lobby is wholly owned and controlled by the Green family, who are evangelical Christians. The Greens are committed to running their business in accordance with their Christian faith, believing that God wants them to conduct their professional business in accordance with the family’s understanding of the Bible. Hobby Lobby’s mission statement includes, “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company … consistent with Biblical principles.”

The HHS Mandate goes into effect for Hobby Lobby on Jan. 1, 2013. The Greens correctly understand that some of the drugs the HHS Mandate requires them to cover at no cost in their healthcare plans cause abortions.

Today Hobby Lobby announced that they will not comply with this mandate to become complicit in abortion, which the Greens believe ends an innocent human life. Given Hobby Lobby’s size (it has 572 stores employing more than 13,000 people), by violating the HHS Mandate, it will be subject to over $1.3 million in fines per day. That means over $40 million in fines in January alone. If their case takes another ten months to get before the Supreme Court—which would be the earliest it could get there under the normal order of business—the company would incur almost a half-billion dollars in fines. And then of course the Supreme Court would have to write an opinion in what would likely be a split decision with dissenters, which could easily take four or six months and include hundreds of millions of dollars in additional penalties.

This is civil disobedience, consistent with America’s highest traditions when moral issues are at stake. The Greens are a law-abiding family. They have no desire to defy their own government. But as the Founders launched the American Revolution because they believed the British government was violating their rights, the Greens believe that President Barack Obama and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are commanding the Greens to sin against God, and that no government has the lawful authority to do so.

The Christian tradition of defying government commands to do something wrong goes back to the very birth of Christianity. When the apostles were ordered not to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone, the Book of Acts records: “Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.’”

Eleven of the twelve apostles—including Peter—would lose their lives for the sake of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ; only the apostle John died of old age. They were determined to obey God’s will at all costs.

This issue of civil disobedience is never to be undertaken lightly. The Bible teaches Christians to submit to all legitimate governmental authority (e.g., Romans 13:1), and so a person can only disobey the government when there is no other way to obey God.

But here in America, the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, and in its First Amendment it protects against a government establishment of an official religion and separately protects the free exercise of religion. On top of that, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) to specifically add an additional layer of protection against government actions that violate a person’s religious beliefs.

The HHS Mandate is a gross violation of the religious beliefs of the Green family. The issue before the courts here is whether the Greens religious-liberty rights include running their secular, for-profit business consistent with their religious beliefs. In other words, is religious liberty just what you do in church on a Sunday morning, or does it include what you do during the week at your job?

The Greens are now putting their fortunes on the line to do what they believe is right. The courts should side with them, affirming a broad scope of religious liberty under the Constitution and RFRA. And the Supreme Court should resolve this matter with dispatch in their favor.

Millions of Christians across the country feel exactly the same way as the Greens. The Obama administration has issued a statist command that is a declaration of war on people of faith who object to abortion, and civil disobedience could break out all over the country unless the courts set this matter right—and quickly.

Full possession

12/31/2012

"[T]he people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them."

-- Zacharia Johnson, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788

Liberalism or Liberty?

12/27/2012

Gallup: Americans 77% Christian, 0.6% Muslim

12/26/2012

CNS

Michael W. Chapman

America is largely a Christian nation with 77 percent of adults identifying themselves as Christian, according to a Gallup survey, while only 0.6 percent identified as Muslim. The survey also found that Mormons were the most religious in practicing their faith. …

When asked, “Is religion important in your daily life?” Mormons ranked highest with 87 percent saying “yes.” Protestants followed with 79 percent saying “yes,” and then Muslims, 78 percent “yes,” and Catholics, 70 percent “yes.” Only 41 percent of Jews said that religion was important in their daily life. …

Read this story at cnsnews.com ...

John Adams: "A constitution founded on these principles..."

12/26/2012

"A constitution founded on these principles introduces knowledge among the people, and inspires them with a conscious dignity becoming freemen; a general emulation takes place, which causes good humor, sociability, good manners, and good morals to be general. That elevation of sentiment inspired by such a government, makes the common people brave and enterprising. That ambition which is inspired by it makes them sober, industrious, and frugal."

-- John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776

“You’d do that?” [This, my friends, is what Christmas is all about.]

12/22/2012

Equal Protection for Posterity

Sarah Cleveland:

Thinking about the people I met this morning while on the sidewalk. It was so bitterly cold... Dozens of parents and grandparents went inside today. It was so busy.. There were several of us counseling and praying outside of the mill today and as always, we spoke to as many people as we could going in, reaching out equally to the people standing on the steps having a cigarette, the workers, and the people walking out of the building.

I spoke with Renee, a mother of two. A child, age 5 at home, and another, age 4 months, in utero. She was dropped off earlier in the morning, went in the building, and eventually came out, slowly looking around. I approached her and asked her if she was okay. She told me she had scheduled an abortion for today, but she wasn’t feeling well, that she needed to come out for air.

She didn't understand the development of her baby at 4 months nor did she understand how an abortion was performed at this stage. I told her my experience with this and gave her the information she needed. As we talked about it, she looked to the ground. She said her boyfriend had dropped her off and is insisting she aborts the baby. We talked a while longer until she said she was going to walk to OSU Medical Center to make sure things were okay.

It was so cold and windy and a very long walk to the hospital. “Would you like a ride?” I offered. “You’d do that?” she said, surprised. “Of course! Let’s head over and make sure you and the baby are both alright.” And so, instead of Renee going through with the abortion, my friend, Mark, and I, took her to a nearby hospital for help. I gave her my name and number, local CPC info, and offered to personally help her with anything she’d need. She repeatedly thanked us for being out on the sidewalk and for being there for her. My prayer tonight is for Renee and her baby.

A//A

Ronald Reagan: "There are simple answers"

12/22/2012

“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”

-- Ronald Reagan

John Hancock: "All confidence reposed only in God"

12/20/2012

"In circumstances dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that, whilst every prudent Measure should be taken to ward off the impending Judgments ... All confidence must be withheld from the Means we use; and reposed only on that GOD who rules in the Armies of Heaven, and without whose Blessing the best human Counsels are but Foolishness -- and all created Power Vanity."

-- John Hancock, 1775

Father, Former Marine Stands Guard At Elementary School

12/19/2012

News Channel 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, one local father and former Marine is standing guard at his children's school and parents said he's a welcome addition to the school.

Jordan Pritchard, a former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, pulled down his old Marine Corps uniform from the attic Sunday night and decided to make a difference in his community. When he was in the military his job was to keep our country safe and for the next week he planned bring that safety home by standing guard outside the front door of Gower Elementary School.

He said it's his responsibility.

"I'm doing this because we need hope man. We need hope," explained Pritchard.

He's a volunteer. He's not getting paid. He's not even armed, but parent said they feel a whole lot better about leaving their children at school while he's been at the front door.

The shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut was a thousand miles away, but what happened there hits too close to home.

Pritchard said it's his duty, and parents are appreciative.

"If you are able and capable of doing something you have the responsibility to act," he said.

Sarah Knies has 2nd and 3rd graders who attend Gower Elementary School. She said she was comforted knowing Pritchard was there.

"He made me feel good. Just to know that he stood up and did something to make us all feel better today," she explained.

Many parents, staff and students stopped by to thank Pritchard.

"When parents come up to me and they're crying and thanking me for being out here," Pritchard said. "There's no job in the world that can pay me enough money to not do things for the kids and the parents."

Pritchard also has children who attend Gower Elementary School: a daughter, Valerie, in second grade and a son, Colby, in first grade. He insists his actions have not just been about them. He said he feels is about something much bigger.

"We have to live this life for other people. That's the only way that happiness and true peace and hope will come back to our nation is when we all come back together and love each other," he said.

Sergeant Pritchard plans to stand guard at the school until Wednesday, when Metro Schools finish for the year.

"No worldly mind would ever have suspected..."

12/17/2012

From Guy Stevenson:

"No worldly mind would ever have suspected that He Who could make the sun warm the earth would one day have need of an ox and an ass to warm Him with their breath; that He Who, in the language of Scriptures, could stop the turning about of Arcturus would have His birthplace dictated by an imperial census; that He, Who clothed the fields with grass, would Himself be naked; that He, from Whose hands came planets and worlds, would one day have tiny arms that were not long enough to touch the huge heads of the cattle; that the feet which trod the everlasting hills would one day be too weak to walk; that the Eternal Word would be dumb; that Omnipotence would be wrapped in swaddling clothes; that Salvation would lie in a manger; that the bird which built the nest would be hatched therein -- no one would ever have suspected that God coming to this earth would ever be so helpless. And that is precisely why so many miss Him. Divinity is always where one least expects to find it."

~ Fulton Sheen, Life of Christ

Tom Hoefling on "free" health care

12/17/2012

"Socialism: Where your health care is free, but you are not."

-- Tom Hoefling

The Second Amendment IS pro-life

12/17/2012

The Second Amendment IS pro-life.

"Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature...In short, it is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or any number of men, at the entering into society, to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights; when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are Life, Liberty, and Property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave."

-- Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists

Tom Hoefling: How sane people respond to atrocities

12/17/2012

"Sane, intelligent, decent people respond to atrocities committed against the rights of innocents with a burning desire to better defend the innocent and their rights, not by advocating policies that further erode the people's rights and their ability to effectively defend them."

-- Tom Hoefling, December 17, 2012

Tom Hoefling: "Parental rights are God-given and unalienable"

12/16/2012

"Parental rights are God-given and unalienable. They must be, because God gave parents explicit duties when it comes to the raising of their children to reverence God and to know His Word. With that absolute God-ordained obligation to our posterity must come rightful, legitimate authority. Compulsory attendance laws, the idea that families can be forced by the state to put their children into government-run indoctrination centers where those precious young souls will be endangered spiritually, morally, and physically, is a gross violation of the natural law. It's an offense against liberty. It's unjust. It's un-American. We must separate school and state, before it is too late."

-- Tom Hoefling, December 16, 2012

Tom Hoefling: "Calamity can come on any of us"

12/16/2012

by Tom Hoefling

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

-- Job 1:20

Calamity can come on any of us.

I'm familiar with such things. Two of my children, Casey and Hannah, died as infants. I was devastated twice. I love my kids with all my heart.

My sister Sally was brutally murdered eight and a half years ago, only two days after the death of her husband of many years, the father of her children. Her teenaged son and daughter lost both parents within the space of hours, under the most horrific circumstances. When I got the news over the phone I was more than a thousand miles away, and I literally fell on the floor, consumed by overwhelming grief.

Double calamity came upon our first father and mother, when their son Cain became a murderer, and their other son Abel became the first murder victim.

Job lost everything, including all of his children. His friends mocked him as an obvious sinner and his own wife told him to curse God and die.

On this earthly plane, with our limited perspective, it's impossible to fully grasp why these things happen. Why, why, why, does God allow the destroyer to destroy? We won't fully know until we are with Him in eternity.

But, we can know some things, and we can find comfort and a measure of understanding in the Word of God, as we learn to submit ourselves to His Sovereign Will and Plan.

I Corinthians 10:11-13:
"Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Luke 13:1-5:
"There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.'"

Ronald Reagan: "Our crusade to restore our tradition of neighbor caring for neighbor"

12/16/2012

From Siena Hoefling:

"Do we really think that we can have it both ways, that God will protect us in a time of crisis even as we turn away from him in our day-to-day life? ... Let us go forward with our conviction that there is in the American heart a deep spirit of love, of caring and willingness to work together, waiting to be tapped. And I want to ask you tonight, will you lead our crusade to restore our tradition of neighbor caring for neighbor?"

-- Ronald Reagan, February 9, 1982

Ronald Reagan: "We must look to God...And we must look to the hearthstone"

12/16/2012

Contributed by Siena Hoefling:

"To preserve our blessed land, we must look to God. And we must look to the hearthstone, because that's where all hope for America lies. Families are the bedrock of our nation."

-- Ronald Reagan, February 9, 1982

Tom Hoefling: "Fatal to the innocents, fatal to liberty"

12/16/2012

"Godless atheism, socialism, liberalism, whatever you want to call it, is fatal to many innocents in this country every single day. And, unless decent people are willing to fight back, it will inevitably be fatal to American liberty. "

-- Tom Hoefling, December 15, 2012

Please pray for those who loved them

12/15/2012

click image

Tom Hoefling: "Men who will only be restrained by the will and force of good men who are armed"

12/15/2012

"When a liberal sees a firearm they see a fearful weapon that they wish only to be in the hands of government, naively ignoring the obvious facts that:

1) Criminals are never going to follow their fond wishes,

2) Officers of government are most often not going to be there for them in a crisis,

3) We the People are the government in America, the sovereign, and the sovereign must possess the physical means to protect their people and their country from all enemies, foreign or domestic.

When a conservative sees a firearm he sees a primary implement of liberty, one that can be misused by evil men, of course, but that is, nonetheless, an indispensable tool, because this is a fallen world which contains many evil men, men who will only be restrained by the will and force of good men who are armed."

-- Tom Hoefling, December 15, 2012

Tom Hoefling: "The attack on the natural family represents an existential threat."

12/12/2012

"Marriage is the familial, societal, governmental, and economic building block of our civilization, our country, and our communities. It is a God-ordained, God-given institution, the first and most important one. It is fundamental to the laws of nature and of nature’s God, and absolutely necessary to the fulfillment of the ultimate stated purpose of the U.S. Constitution, which is “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to our Posterity.” It must be fiercely defended on every front from any and all who would pervert it or subvert it, or America cannot possibly survive. The attack on the natural family represents an existential threat."

-- Tom Hoefling, December 12, 2012

Federal court strikes Illinois concealed carry ban

12/11/2012

Big win for gun-rights groups: Federal appeals court tosses state ban on carrying concealed weapons

Chicago Sun-Times

SPRINGFIELD-In a huge win for gun-rights groups, a federal appeals court in Chicago Tuesday tossed the state's ban on carrying concealed weapons and gave Illinois' Legislature 180 days to craft a law legalizing concealed carry.

"The debate is over. We won. And there will be a statewide carry law in 2013," said Todd Vandermyde, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association.

In a split opinion (see below), the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling in two cases downstate that upheld the state's longstanding prohibition against carrying concealed weapons.

Illinois is the only state with an outright prohibition on concealed carry.

Read more at Illinois Sun-Times ...

Tom Hoefling: The intentional deception of hidden taxation

12/10/2012

"The full burden of taxation in America today is largely hidden.

The continuous devaluation of the dollar is a hidden tax, one that comes straight out of the hides of the American people.

Every tax or regulation laid on business is a hidden tax that must be passed along to the citizenry every time they purchase goods or services. It's built into the price of everything you buy, especially anything that is still produced in this country.

And most of the taxes that are overt are masked by the fact that they are mostly taken from the taxpayer at the well head. If you never have the money in your hand or your bank account, you don't miss it nearly as much.

The politicians in both "major" parties could not sustain this level of taxation and spending without this quite intentional governmental deception."

-- Tom Hoefling, December 10, 2012

Remember December 7, 1941

12/7/2012

'Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.'

Tom Hoefling on Government:

"Just as 'good fences make for good neighbors,' good government is mainly about knowing where the legitimate boundaries are, and having the courage to defend those borders forcefully. This is true in terms of the defense of our territory, our security, and our national sovereignty, but it also applies to the sworn duty of all of those in government to equally protect the God-given, unalienable rights of each individual person, from their creation onward, their sacred obligation to stay well within the enumerated powers of our constitutions, and of the role legitimate government must play in balancing the competing rights and interests of the people, in order to establish justice."