The Case for Limited Government

I just received a membership to The Heritage Foundation for my birthday.  The Heritage Foundation, “founded in 1973, is a research and educational institute–a think tank–whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.”

As I was browsing through their website, digesting what seems like volumes of research and information on a wide variety of topics, I came across this article, of which I am only giving a few blurbs but you are more than welcome to read it in its entirety here.  It is about what role government should play in the life of American citizens.  It is brilliantly written and it clearly articulates some things that we, as a country, are in grave danger of losing sight of forever.  I encourage you to read it.  And now, with this new membership, there is a small chance I will be tempted to simply regurgitate information from The Heritage Foundation on a daily basis (because it is THAT good), and although there are much worse things that I could do, I will resist that urge. . .for now.

This is taken from the article called “Government for the Good of the People:  Ten Questions about Freedom, Virtue, and the Role of Government”

4. Does big government pose moral problems?  When government oversteps its bounds and begins to assume more authority, it weakens other important social institutions, including those, like the family and religious congregations, that are particularly capable of encouraging moral virtue among citizens. Big-government programs and policies also tend to confuse the lines between citizen responsibility and government responsibility. As a result, they erode our understanding of the ethical obligations we have to one another—especially in regard to issues such as poverty and economic justice—and encourage us to assume and to expect that government will provide for our neighbors’ needs.

7. How does big government weaken smaller, virtue-producing communities?  As government claims responsibility for more tasks, it absorbs the allegiance that citizens once placed in other relationships and forms of association. When the federal government assumes more responsibility for fulfilling the moral obligations among citizens, it tends to undermine the perceived significance and authority of local institutions and communities.

This encourages citizens, instead of looking to their families, churches, or local communities for guidance and assistance, to depend on the government for education, welfare, and various other services. As individuals begin to look more consistently to the government for support, the institutions that are able to generate virtues like trust and responsibility begin to lose their sway in the community. Excessive bureaucratic centralization thus sets in motion a dangerous cycle of dependence and social decay.

The power of government carries significant moral implications. The amount of responsibility yielded to or claimed by government can shape attitudes, motivations, expectations, and even the terms of public debate.

The article concludes with these words:  “Government can also influence the cultivation of character and the strength of social bonds by protecting institutions that help to encourage virtue in society, such as the family or religious congregations, against unjust interference from other institutions, including the state. In other words, there is a strong moral case to be made for limited government authority.”

So I ask, in which direction are we headed today–toward a limited government or a rapidly expanding one?

Government Healthcare Proponents Attack Whole Foods

Well, the Left is at it again.  It seems that when opposition to one of their ideas surfaces, all of Hades breaks loose.  It is no secret that President Obama and the Democrat’s proposition of health care reform (that includes a public option) is not going well.  The latest Rasmussen poll shows that only 42% of Americans support the government-run health care reform option, but yet we are seeing hatred spring up all over the place because of the Left’s inability to allow dissenting views without uprising in a loud and potentially destructive way.

Carrie Prejean was vilified back in June over her honest answer to a same-sex marriage question.

Consider the number of times conservatives are called “racist” when they oppose a policy of our African-America president.

The Tax Day Tea Parties in April. . .protestors were call names with sexual innuendos and attempts were made all over the media to discredit them–pointing out the very, very small percentage of signs that were personal attacks on the president, when in reality, the vast majority of these protests have been civil and respectful.

The Town Hall Meetings over the last month. . .again, the overwhelming majority of the town hall attendees are respectful (albeit passionate) and are genuinely concerned about the direction that the Democrat’s health care plan would take them and their families, yet what gets covered?  The one or two who are completely without class who bring signs of swastikas or Obama-as-Hitler.  I oppose any personal attacks from any party or group.  But at the same time, the thousands of people who are at these town halls across America voicing a valid opinion with their Constitutional right of free speech are being discredited as “Astroturf” or “un-American.” 

And now Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is taking a hit.  Why?  Because he voiced opposition to the Left’s plan. . .not any one person in particulr, not by personally attacking our president, but by writing an op-ed piece that outlined why, as a very successful business man, he held the opinion that a public-option in health-care reform is absolutely not the answer.  He says in this Wall Street Journal piece, “A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This ‘right’ has never existed in America.”

Why does Mr. Mackey not have a right to say this?  And if he does, why should he be penalized for respectfully voicing his opinion?  He did not personally attack the president.  He did not use disrespectful language, signs or imagery.  He spoke with a well-informed voice as a man with a business-mind and a history of success in the business world.  And now, his company and his employees (not Mr. Mackey, as we will see) stand to suffer because of a boycott of Whole Foods that is gaining ground (at least according to the liberal media).  Mr. Mackey takes a salary of $1 annually and donates his stock option proceeds to charity.  He employs 50,000 people, many of whom might be in danger of losing their job if the Left continues with this nonsense. (source)  It is a sad day when more jobs of innocent employees are threatened because the Left believes that free speech is only a right for those whose speech matches theirs. 

Now I know what kind of comments I might receive.  “But what about the boycott of the Dixie Chicks back in 2003 when all they were doing was expressing their opinion?” they will say.  First of all, if you can honestly tell me that what the Dixie Chicks said and where they said it is the same as John Mackey, I will question your judgment and ability to be rational.  The Dixie Chicks made a personal attack against President George Bush in London (outside the United States).  They took their right to free speech into the gutter and made it personal, just as the protestor holding the Obama-as-Hitler sign did.

I will defend anyone’s right to free speech even if I don’t agree with what they are saying.  Why won’t the Left afford conservatives that same right?

I will be writing Mr. Mackey later today because I respect the stand that he took and that he took it respectfully.  I will also be supporting him in his right to free speech and although I already frequent Whole Foods, I will do so now with the knowledge that my money is going to a company that has at its helm a man not afraid to stand for truth.  I urge you, if you believe in Mr. Mackey’s right to express his opinion without vicious backlash, to support him and his company by following the link below.

http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/2009/08/14/health-care-reform-full-article/

The Left isn’t the only voice demanding to be heard lately, thank God.

Health Care or Child Care?

My intentions were to write something about my son’s spiritual curiosity as of late, but then I dared to open my emails and found this waiting there.  It is a piece written by Chuck Norris. . .yes, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and it exposes a “dirty little secret” in the Obama healthcare bill that should be of utmost importance to parents especially.

“Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S.

While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government’s coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.

It’s outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading “home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children.” The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, “well-trained and competent staff,” would “provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains … modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices,” and “skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development.”

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts’? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

Are we to assume the state’s mediators would understand every parent’s social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be “voluntary.” Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, “I don’t think I’ll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I’ll go down to the local government offices”? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state “shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families.”

Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this “prioritized” training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

Bottom line: Is all this what you want or expect in a universal health care bill being rushed through Congress? Do you want government agents coming into your home and telling you how to parent your children? When did government health care turn into government child care?

Government needs less of a role in running our children’s lives and more of a role in supporting parents’ decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right — and government support — to parent them without the fed’s mandates, education or intervention in our homes.”

Feel free to continue reading the entire article here.  Or see the 1000+ page bill from the government’s website here.  In addition, read up on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Could this move by the Obama administration be a back-door way of reaching this ultimate end?

When I think of what is important to me as a wife, mother, Christian, and parent (things that are in play with myself and my family on a daily basis), these things come to mind:  my freedom to worship God, the sacred union of my marriage to my husband, my health and the health of my family, the choices I have in how to raise my son as a God-fearing young man, my schooling choices for him, the financial choices my husband and I make in order to have a worry-free retirement or send our son to a college of our (and his) choosing, and what we do with our hard-earned money. 

Then when I think of the ways that President Obama has threatened, weakened and in some ways destroyed some of those exact things (those things most important to me) in a matter of 6 months, I have all I can do to not be physically sick.  He’s threatening the union between husbands and wives all across the U.S., he is reversing the life-saving efforts others have put in place to save innocent babies from physical torture through abortion, he is squeezing God out of any and every public place he can get his hands on, he is driving my son so far into debt he will likely be owned by the government (think Orwellian) before he even graduates, he is tampering with health care in such radical ways that I can scratch my health and that of my family off my list as something I will have any control over anymore, and now he’s trying to mess with my son. 

Let me tell you, I’ll be darned before I let the government and their meddling hands, their anti-God values, and their bottom-line power-driven greed come into my home and take away those very things that I treasure so much–those things promised to me by our Founding Fathers, the Constitution of the United States, and my Heavenly Father Himself!

Go ahead and try, President Obama, but you will find that this otherwise shy and reserved housewife and mom will become a fierce lioness who has been backed into a corner one too many times by your socialistic agenda, and I will fight (legally and respectfully), but I will fight.  And based on all the town hall meetings across the country in which more people than expected are rising up and voicing opposition, I have a feeling I won’t be the only one.

“The National Debt Road Trip”

Not to become a “one note Johnny” with blogs on politics, big spending, and national healthcare all in one week, but I came across this today and it is excellent. I’m planning a break from all this depressing news and working on a blog on nutrition and possibly homeschooling for the coming week, but for now, view this video and stay informed.

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/www.youtube.com');" >watch?v=P5yxFtTwDcc&feature=channel_page

“After a Government Health Care Takeover”

This video has been placed on You Tube by the Family Research Council. . .it’s a picture of life (yours and mine) if President Obama has his way with government-run health care.

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/www.youtube.com');">watch?v=JxFC9Af3W1U

Healthcare Reform: “The Devil is in the Details”

Tonight President Obama will appeal to (beg, plead, scare) the public in order to convince us (manipulate, instill fear, make empty promises) to quickly get on board with his healthcare reform (read government-run Universal Healthcare).  As we speak it is being debated in congress.

This morning on the Fox News Channel, Jon Scott used a common expression after guests expressed concern that a 1,000+ page bill has not been read by the very people that are being asked to vote on it–”the devil is in the details”–shouldn’t we know what we are voting on before our great country is changed forever and our children and grandchildren are bridled with trillions of dollars of debt?

“Causes for hesitation include, among other issues, the massive price tag, the number of people covered, the elimination of insurance options, the fear of long lines and inability to access physicians, the increase in taxes to pay for it and concern that the 1,000-page bill is not being vetted enough as it is moves quickly through Congress.  The Congressional Budget Office upset Democratic supporters of the plan by last week projecting that the House legislation will cost $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years, depending on the plan adopted. The price tag sent shock waves through Washington and beyond”  (source).

This morning, I received this email from the Family Research Council, a very trusted source and opinion, as they are on the front lines fighting for our families and our faith.  President, Tony Perkins, had this to say about Obama’s rush to reform, and I quote:

“Four national polls (USAToday/Gallup, ABC News/Washington Post, CBS News and Quinnipiac University) are now showing that at least half of all Americans disapprove of President Obama’s handling of health care reform. This diagnosis is striking: Although the President is appearing virtually everywhere trying to make the case for his more than $1 trillion proposal for the government to take over the American health care system, support for his plan is sinking.

Why? Because the more our friends and neighbors learn about the content and implications of what Mr. Obama is proposing, the more concerned they become. The Obama plan would erode and deplete employer-based health insurance–and instead of replacing it with personal responsibility, it would compel tens of millions of people to become dependent on Uncle Sam for their medical needs.

It would suffocate everyone from small business owners to upper-income taxpayers with incalculable new taxes. And it would mandate taxpayer funded abortion, abortifacient drugs and limit end-of-life care. From the inevitability of rationed care to diminishing human dignity, the President’s plan amounts to a prescription for a health care disaster.

The people are catching on, and they’re rightfully dismayed. There’s a difference between public opinion, as reflected in the ups and downs of various surveys, and public judgment, as reflected in the data from multiple polls about a serious issue. When it comes to health care, that judgment is in — and it’s a big thumbs-down for government-run health care.

The Heritage Foundation says this:

“Like the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill,[1] the House bill would create a new public plan to compete with private health insurance in a national health insurance exchange; impose mandates on individuals and businesses to buy health insurance coverage or be subject to tax penalties; and allow the federal government to control, standardize, and regulate health insurance, defining what is and is not “acceptable coverage” for American citizens. . .Under the House bill, Congress would not forge a federal-state partnership; rather, it would enact federal domination of the states. It would also undermine, not advance, state innovation in the provision of new health insurance options” (source).

My hope and prayer is that everyone, regardless of political party or persuasion, will inform themselves about exactly what President Obama and Congress might do to our country.  This is not the time to idly stand by and allow apathy and indifference consume our hearts and minds.  This is also not the time to be sucked in by the flowery language of the President that has so mezmerized the nation.  Read the details of what is being proposed.  You may just find a devil in there.

Here are some more resources. . .stay informed. . .and vote in our poll below.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124776550788052671.html#mod=WSJ_topics_obama?mod=rss_topics_obama

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2547-Watchdog-Politics-Examiner~y2009m7d21-World-reknown-medical-clinic-thumbs-down-Obamacare

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/22/doctors-wage-war-obamas-health-care-overhaul/

http://www.thefoxnation.com/media/2009/07/22/newt-gingrich-obamas-health-care-bill

Does President Obama Hate America?

Gerald Warner is a writer for the Telegraph.co.uk and has written an excellent blog that would be well worth reading here (although I do not condone any name calling of the President, no matter how angry we get–it is the substance of what Mr. Warner says to which I call attention).

Does President Obama hate America?  He is a man who sat in Reverend Wright’s church for 20 years as that man spewed hatred of America without apology.  This is the same man whose wife was caught verbalizing some anti-American sentiment during the campaign.  This is the same man who went on what Sean Hannity terms an “Apology Tour” (seemed to apologize overseas for America’s weaknesses and failures), and did this within months of taking the oath of office to “faithfully execute the Office of President” and “defend the constitution”.  This is the same man who is driving America into the ground with record-breaking budget deficits, his hard-core agenda to push universal healthcare and policies that are unraveling the traditional family at every turn.

It is this hatred for America and all that she has stood for, in my opinion, coupled with Obama’s lust for power and acceptance at any cost, that will, at the very least, be the beginning of the end.

Obama’s 100-Day Review

So we’ve passed the 100 day mark in Obama’s presidency and as everyone asks, “How is he doing,” this Family Research Council video sums up my beliefs completely.  My heart is heavy with the damage one man and his administration is doing to the unborn, the family, traditional marriage, religious freedom, charities that care for the “least of these,” and the future of children all over America. 

It is difficult for me to not see these last few months (and years if you count the vile and vicious attacks against our Christ-following former President Bush) as a direct attack against Jesus Christ.  The world is becoming more hostile to righteousness, to morality, to absolutes.  I certainly feel the persecution myself, as you may experience as well as you stand up for truth.  But let’s remember what Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18).  We also learn in 2 Timothy 3 that in the last days, there will be Godlessness and we will encounter people that are “never able to acknowledge the truth.”   

Please watch this video and let’s join together in deliberate, consistent, and fervent prayer that God will (1) change Obama’s heart regarding the destruction he is doing with the simple stroke of his pen, and that (2) Christ-followers all over America and the world will be the salt and light that is desperately needed, pointing unbelievers to the Savior — that we will be a loving, but strong, voice in this world, clearly defining and defending what we know is biblically right.  Let’s also remember that no matter how it looks in the media, Jesus Christ has the last word (Revelation 12).

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/www.youtube.com');">100 Days of Change for the Family

Using My Voice Felt Good: The Tax Day Tea Parties

Last night, my family and I made our way to one of the hundreds of Tax Day Tea Party protests taking place around the United States.  We joined several thousand Republicans, Democrats, and Independents at the Dallas City Hall.  Mark Davis, EmCee of the evening and “host of the most popular local talk show in Dallas/Fort Worth,” rallied the crowd in his usual way–with humor and passion.  Then he received a call from conservative blogger and author Michelle Malkin (which we all listened in on) who reved up the crowd even more. 

I am proud to be an American.  I was proud, last night, to exercise my voice in a peaceful and constitutional way.  I am proud that I brought my son with me for his first protest, showing him that personal values are worth standing up for.  And I share many of the sentiments that I saw on signs and t-shirts all over, and that I heard from other Americans who love this country and are concerned about the socialist direction it is sharply taking. 

“Stop this administration from bankrupting the future of our country” (Governor Rick Perry).

“Read my teleprompter–no more bailouts!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Foreclose the White House”

“The only thing we like small in Texas is the government.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Spread my work ethic, not my wealth.”

“Keep your public hands off my privates!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Protect the unborn–and their bank accounts.”

And a gentleman from England spoke from his heart about the dangers and ineffectiveness of socialism, and warned us of continuing down this road that is undoubtedly headed there.  “Where, on planet Earth, has socialism ever worked?” he asked.  “The spending by this administration is under the guise of ’solving’ the economic crisis–make no mistake about it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sure, by now, you have heard that the Department of Homeland Security is on the lookout for any terrorist threats from “right-wing extremists.“  I am so outraged at this absurdity that I’m not sure I can even write about it.  Are you pro-life?  You are now a “right-wing extremist.”  Are you against illegal immigration?  You are now a “right-wing extremist.”  (Actually, the report tries to say we are against immigration, which we are not.  They conveniently leave out the word “illegal.”  Intentional?)  And the one that makes me furiuos–are you a military veteran?  Well, you are now a potential threat to our country, according to the DHS.

Not only that, but of course, race has been injected again where, in most cases, there is no racial issue.  “The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment,” the DHS report says.  Feel free to read the full report here.  Let me be clear, again.  We object in no way, shape, or form to the fact that President Obama is African American.  We object to his policies, values, and where he is taking this country that we love!

With regards to the accuracy or bias of the media reporting on these tea parties, let’s examine it.  I found nothing on today’s front webpage from CNN or MSNBC regarding the tea parties across the nation.  Even on a local news channel last night, when they covered the thousands at the Dallas Tea Party, they also covered the 10 or 12 people in protest of our protest and gave them air time.  Was that small attendance really newsworthy? 

But the two most offensive and infuriating things about the media’s coverage?  One, the “barely concealed sexual references,” written about here.  To dismiss a very large group of Americans protesting at the grassroots level is one thing, but to throw in sexual references and downright crude sexual jokes at our expense (see Anderson Cooper, for one) is not only beyond reporting, but far beyond decency in journalism. 

The second most infuriating coverage is from a CNN reporter who did not conceal her liberal bias in the slightest.  This video is unappropriately titled “CNN Reporter Harrassed at Chicage Tea Party.”  As you will see, it was not the reporter who was harrassed at all.  Now, keep in mind that reporters are to report, not opine.  And even the news achor afterwards shows bias.

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/www.youtube.com');">watch?v=6G3fvNhdoc0&feature=related

I remember thinking as I was sitting at Dallas City Hall with thousands of others how peaceful and “family-friendly” (reference to video) this protest was.  The police officers patroling the event were not restraining people or calming anyone down.  They were smiling and strolling around.  How many protests do you remember seeing on television during the Bush administration’s terms that involved violence and plenty of non-family-friendly content?  More than you can count?

Here is an excellent article by Michelle Malkin for further reading, and I’ll close by saying this.  We don’t all have to be protesters.  We don’t all have to be bloggers, blogging about the government or politics.  But can I challenge all of us who profess to be born-again Christians to really examine what the Bible says about Truth, pass everything that we hear from the world and our leaders through a “Biblical-grid,” and then stand on that Truth without apology, using your voice to whatever decibel level you are comfortable with and is respectful.  I am not ashamed to want smaller government.  I am not ashamed to be a conservative.  And I am not ashamed to love Jesus. . .all of these things are under increased attack as we get closer to the end of days. . .and all of these things are bound to bring us more persecution in the years to come.  Stand firm!

Tax Day Tea Party

December 16, 1773–Boston Tea Party

April 15, 2009–Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party

This tax day, let’s be a part of history.  More importantly, let’s make our cumulative voices heard as we peacefully protest all the spending and bailouts imposed by this administration.  The idea for this Tax Day Tea Party began at the beginning of this year, with one man’s rant “to expose the bankrupt liberal agenda of the White House Administration and Congress, specifically, the flawed ‘Stimulus Bill’ and pork filled budget,” and led to an estimated 30,000 protesting across the country in February.  And now, on April 15th, there will be a larger and even more organized grassroots effort to protest how our tax dollars are being spent, and you can join in!  Some of the conservative radio and television talk show hosts are lending their names and passion behind this project by talking about it and/or attending it–Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, just to name a few.

Click here to read the full story and all the details, as well as locate where to meet other like-minded protesters in a city near you on April 15th.  Together, let’s make our voices heard and do our part in protecting the future for our children and grandchildren!

« Previous Page — Next Page »