Family Research Council’s Washington Update on Health Care

 Ok, so I lack originality in these last three days of blogs, but believe me when I tell you that (1) I don’t trust myself to be completely respectful and loving in how I phrase things right now due to my saddness and discouragement over what has happened in the health care vote, and (2) these guys at FRC say it MUCH better than I ever could.  So with that, I give you an email I received from Family Research Council entitled “Haunted by the Passed,” in part below, and in its entirety here.

 

Washington Update 

Haunted by the Passed

He was the one none of us expected to be talking about today. For five months, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) stood guard on the wall between Americans and his party’s army–a stubborn sentinel for life in a chamber of abortion-hungry Democrats. Without him there would have been no Stupak coalition, no Stupak language to ban taxpayer-funded abortion. In the end, conservatives couldn’t live without him. Now, neither can the unborn. In the last moments, when members tried to incorporate Stupak’s language into the bill, 21 pro-life Democrats voted for it. And for the first time in this Congress, Bart Stupak wasn’t one of them. Instead, the bill–completely devoid of pro-life protections–passed with his help, 219-212*.

With the clock ticking down, the Democrat from Michigan stunned everyone by trading away five agonizing months for a meaningless piece of White House paper. With one-sixth of the economy in his grasp, the President agreed to Stupak’s deal: an executive order that would somehow negate the abortion funding in the Senate bill. It was meant to reassure wobbly Democrats that the administration would protect taxpayers from any involvement in the abortion industry. Unfortunately, it does nothing of the sort. Just ask Planned Parenthood. In an email to supporters (subject: “VICTORY!”), the organization brags, “We were able to keep the Stupak abortion ban out of the final legislation and President Obama did not include the Stupak language in his executive order.” For once, FRC agrees with pro-abortionists like Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) who told the press that the executive order “doesn’t change anything.” . . .

Even the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) appealed to Rep. Stupak to reject the compromise. Its legal experts were unanimously opposed. ” The statutory mandate construed by the courts would override any executive order… only a change in the law enacted by Congress can… address this very serious problem.” The Wall Street Journal seemed surprised with the deal. “…[O]f course,” the editors write, “such an order can be revoked whenever it is politically convenient to do so.” As an attorney, Bart Stupak would have known that this was an empty gesture on the President’s part. More importantly, he turned away from beliefs and put that trust in the most pro-abortion President in U.S. history. Americans have come to expect this kind of betrayal from this White House–but they never expected it from the man fighting for life in his party. . .

If House and Senate leaders believed the American people would forgive and forget by Election Day, they were mistaken. Right now, the bill’s new taxes and mandates are scheduled to start hitting homes in the heat of the campaign season. Meanwhile, nine state attorneys general will do their best to fend off the federal invasion at their borders. In Alabama, North Dakota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, a collective lawsuit will launch the moment ObamaCare becomes law. . .

America is radically shifting in its opinion of the unborn–so much so that the only way Democrats could pass this bill was by putting a pro-life veneer on it. Those who ignore the people on this issue do so at their own peril. During his victory lap, President Obama said smugly, “This is what change looks like.” With all due respect, he hasn’t seen anything yet.

Please read the rest of this article here.  And then join me here later in the week as I return to non-political blog writing.  I’ve had enough of it all right now–not that I’m apathetic or will not be “standing on truth” with the voice that God gave me, but for now, I don’t have the stomach for it, and will be writing more along the lines of what you, my readers, voted for–Culture Through a Biblical Lens, Parenting, and Nutrition.  Join me!

Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell on Health Care

I haven’t written on politics in quite a while, months maybe.  And that has been intentional.  My heart is too heavy and my frustration too overwhelming at what I am seeing happen to this great country that I love so dearly, that I can’t find the words, or the effort, to write about it as often as I did.  But today I would be remiss if I did not speak my outrage once or twice on what happened last night; the historic vote that House Minority Leader John Boehner called “armageddon” because it would “ruin our country” (source).  And  then I received this email from The Heritage Foundation’s president, concerned about the vote as well; a vote that some (including myself) would say is the biggest step towards socialism we may have ever seen in this country, and thereby the biggest step away from freedom.  I’ve included much of it here, but please follow the link to read the rest.

Fellow Americans,

Late last night, in a narrow and partisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the most significant piece of social legislation in over seven decades. It did so in the face of overwhelming and principled opposition from the American people. Large majorities of Americans oppose this legislation because it offends the historic American dedication to the principle of self-government. They understand that this new law will accelerate Washington’s intrusion into our most personal and private decisions.

This is why opposition to this bill will only grow. Supporters of this bill argue that popular hostility will recede upon its passage. But, rather than cementing our descent into a European-style welfare state, last night’s passage of Obamacare is best seen as a historic turning point, a true catalyst for real change. . .

Those who supported this bill are our fellow Americans, and we do not question their good will or patriotism. In public policy, however, good intentions alone do not suffice. And let there be no mistake, our philosophical differences with supporters of this bill are profound. The reason government-run health care has been the holy grail of the left for decades is that liberals realize as much as we do that it is a giant step toward the creation of a European-style welfare state. This is an evolution Americans have always resisted because it is alien to our national character.

If there is one good thing about the past year-one in which we have witnessed unprecedented horse-trading, press stunts, midnight votes and political manipulation in both houses of the U.S. Congress-it is that the American people have come away educated as never before about the differences between these two visions for America. Americans are strongly opposed to this bill not because they have been hoodwinked but because they understand this bill both in its particulars and at an instinctive, gut level.

They understand this health care bill forces individuals and employers to buy insurance policies designed by government bureaucrats. This intrusion is intended to follow us from cradle to grave.

Instead of empowering families and individuals to make their own choices, Obamacare empowers the bureaucracy to make those decisions for them. It is this unelected bureaucracy, unanswerable to the electorate, that will determine the content of health benefits packages, including medical treatment and procedures, and how much will be paid for those services. Yesterday’s legislation brings us one step closer to fully government-run medicine, with expanded government power over the financing and delivery of medical services that is sure to ration care in the name of cost control.

You will hear the left say this new entitlement will be popular with the American people. Do not believe them for a second. Yes, 32 million people will gain the theoretical right to health insurance. But over half of that coverage comes from placing at least 16 million more Americans into Medicaid, an unpopular and overextended welfare program that already rations care.

Americans will not stand for it. The American love for liberty prevailed in our founding, and will prevail once again. . .

Our health care system requires reform, and we have long advocated measures to improve our system. We can and should strengthen the ability of American families to choose the coverage they want, rather than giving that power to Congress and its agency bureaucrats. We can also spur competition and choice to bring efficiency and lower costs to the health system, in place of the bill’s deadening regulation and damaging price controls. And, above all, we should foster state innovation rather than Washington-based central planning.

Read the rest of this email from Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D., President, The Heritage Foundation here.

Burden of Truth by Charles Colson

Well, it’s happened again. . .I’ve read another great book by the wise and godly Chuck Colson.  This one is called Burden of Truth: Defending Truth in an Age of Unbelief and I’d like to just give a few quotes as a teaser.

“If there are predictable consequences to physical acts [such as when we drop a pen, it falls to the ground due to gravity], why shouldn’t we assume there are predictable consequences to moral acts?”

“As modern culture rejects the Christian heritage [that God loves and created each person], it is losing its basis for individual rights and dignity.  Today’s postmodernism dissolves the individual into the social group.”

“The loss of personal virtue always leads to an erosion of political and economic liberty.”  Here, Colson takes the reader through the link between immorality breaking down the family, then that breakdown potentially leading to an increase in crime and drug use (statistics show), and then in turn, the need for more government involvement in families lives.

“[These days we] base moral views on sentiment, not conviction.” 

Do you see the truth in these statements today, and if so, in what ways?

God’s Love

My son and I have a bit of a game we play.  It’s called “Who loves whom more?”  As you can guess, he claims that he loves me all the way to the top of God’s head in heaven, and then I claim that I love him to God and back times ten.  And on and on.  But in thinking about my love for my child and being unable to adequately express the depth and breadth of that love in words, I think that this must only be one tiny, miniscule fraction of the love God has for us, his children.  And with that, I let the David Crowder Band take over in this video below of their song, “How He Loves.”  Let God touch your heart today.  (Hit “Continue Reading” below–haven’t figured out this glitch in the system yet)

“Standing on Truth” Needs Your Help!

As I celebrated one year of “Standing on Truth” at the beginning of this year, I started to think about the goals I had when I started out.  As a writer, I wanted to be “held accountable” to not only write frequently, but also for the quality of work I published.  I wanted this to be a witness to the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that others who may not know Him, or know Him well, might find this blog to be loving, refreshing, encouraging, and different, so they would be drawn to the Savior.  I also wanted to express in words the things that I am passionate about and have those words connect with people.  As another year has begun for “Standing on Truth,” I want to ask for your advice.  There is a part of me that is wondering whether I’ve spread myself too thin over too many topics–all topics I am full of things to say about, but maybe topics that are not resonating with readers as much as others.

So I need your help.  As faithful readers of this blog, would you help me to know whether I need to narrow my focus by voting in this poll below?  And would you ask friends that frequent this blog or other blogs to vote as well.  And as always, feel free to email me your thoughts.  Thank  you for your support!

Health Spotlight: Garlic

What smells wonderful when you cook it, stinky on your breath, and has almost too many health benefits to even count?

Garlic

According to NaturalHealthRemedies.org, garlic can improve your health in the areas of: 

Acne

Cholesterol

Cardiovascular health

Slows aging of liver

Combats damage from nicotine use

Increases antioxidant enzymes

Blood pressure and blood clots

Is anti-bacterial

 

This chart from The World’s Healthiest Foods shows the nutrient make-up of garlic:

So, adopt the philosophy of the Italians and the Texans:

Eat garlic.  And more is better!

Health Spotlight: Brown Rice

If you are gluten-sensitive like me, you may have found that many of the products you are substituting gluten with contain a base of this food.  Cookies, snack bars, crackers, bread, pasta. . .so what am I speaking of?

Brown Rice

First, an interesting note, from “The World’s Healthiest Foods” website:  “Our food ranking system qualified brown rice as an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium. The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. By law in the United States, fully milled and polished white rice must be “enriched” with vitamins B1, B3, and iron. But the form of these nutrients when added back into the processed rice is not the same as in the original unprocessed version, and at least 11 lost nutrients are not replaced in any form even with rice ‘enrichment.’”

They go on to say that brown rice (in part due to its high fiber content) can help to lower cholesterol, maintain a health body weight, reduce the risk of colon cancer (due to being a source of selenium), and possibly protect against “hormone-dependent cancers as well as heart disease.”  That’s pretty good for a simple bowl of rice!

And if you get really ambitious and want to do a whole body cleanse (and to see the health benefits of cleansing, click here), a doctor I take a lot of nutritional advice from has outlined a Brown Rice Cleanse that I am getting ready to try in a couple of weeks.  Here is what Dr. Linda Page has to say about her cleanse:  “A brown rice cleanse is based on macrobiotic principles for body balance. It’s cleansing, yet filling. You don’t feel like you’re on a cleanse at all, yet it does the trick. It’s a diet that uses rice as a nutrient building food, and vegetables and vegetable juices as concentrated cleansing supplements. A brown rice cleanse is high in potassium, natural iodine, and other minerals, so most people notice improvement in their hair, skin texture and nail growth.”

A meal that is a staple in our home is teriyaki chicken with stir fry onions and bell peppers on a bed of brown rice.  My mouth is watering already!  So with many different uses and many valuable benefits, have fun experimenting with brown rice!