Sobering

Shopping the dollar bins at Target, hitting up garage sales, choosing to make gifts instead of buy the ones we can't afford, and pondering the real reason for celebrating Christmas- the birth of our Savior... All wonderful reasons to pass on pulling out the credit card this year.

And yet another- I saw that as of this morning the current federal debt is over twelve trillion dollars. Why is our government even thinking about passing anymore spending bills? Do you have any idea how large twelve trillion is?

Take a look at how much debt we will be accountable for at this SOBERING site

I am Surprised by this Hard Decision

Wow! That is really all I can say about this woman's willingness to overcome her own fears and move forward to reveal the truth in a nation where deceptions and half-truths have become the norm. Check out this article to hear a very personal story of a grassroots movement gone awry.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/10/17/how-this-reluctant-whistleblower-decided-to-tell-all/
Hope this will give you a glimpse into the "politics as usual" mentality of almost everybody within the Beltway and in the mainstream media.
Have a great day!

God Protect President Obama

Hi I'm Jeff Grissom. By way of introduction, here is a brief bio. I live in Montana with my beautiful wife and amazing baby girl. As with most Montanans, I think the the roll of government is solely to provide an environment in which I can provide for myself. I believe I have a right to keep what I earn and I know I have a duty to help those that need help, but I don't believe that the government has any right to do that for me. I own 13 guns and not only is that my right, I could argue that it's also my duty. I believe that we have a duty to protect our planet and it's resources (bet you didn't see that coming). Liberals would probably call me a right wing gun toting Bible thumping fanatic. My friends would probably label me a conservative. I don't care what you label me, what I really care about is what kind of country my baby girl inherits. That's why praying for our country is so important.

This morning as I read this article, I was again convicted of how easy it is for me to focus only on what I perceive to be the President's faults and flawed policies. What we as followers of Christ need to be focused on is praying for our president. Yes, it's easy and perhaps appropriate to be filled with righteous anger over the constant stream of anti-God, anti-freedom, anti-family and utterly Un-American policies flowing out of the White House, but we need to use that anger not only as a call to action, but first and foremost as a call to prayer. We can hold Tea parties, protests and attend town hall meetings until pigs fly and nothing will change unless we pray. Let me get personal, when was the last time you prayed for President Obama? I think the last time I prayed for him was the day after election day when the Lord convicted that I needed to do so. Since then I've been too busy finding fault with Mr. Obama to pray for him. So please join me in praying not only for our president, but for all of our leaders. God willing this will be the first step in turning our country back toward God and the things He cares about. I guarantee that a country seeking God and His desires will be a great place for my baby girl to grow up and a great place for us to grow old.

Ten for '10

I like this- Winning Washington by Empowering Americans (Found on Laura Ingraham's Site)

1) Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR). Limit federal spending growth to the percentage in population growth plus the rate of inflation; provide taxpayers the option of filing a post-card sized return using a low, flat tax rate of 15%

2) End Tax-funded abortions. Stop federal payments to Planned Parenthood and prohibit any taxpayer-subsidized health insurance plan from covering abortion

3) Defend American Borders. Complete America's border-protection initiatives using remaining funds from the so-called stimulus bill

4) King Dollar. Preserve a strong dollar so that Americans' savings aren't wiped out by inflation and the U.S. dollar remains the world's reserve currency

5) Empower American Business. Immediately slash corporate tax rates to 15% and scrap the capital-gains tax altogether

6) Defend America. Strengthen America to defend our homeland and fully fund an operational, layered missile-defense system

7) Statism Exit Plan. De-fund czars; immediately cease bailout payments to failed companies; ban future bailouts

8) End Generational Theft. As few believe America's entitlement programs will be able to pay benefits to future generations, provide younger workers the choice of diverting payroll/Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts

9) Restore America's System of Justice. Introduce penalties for frivolous lawsuits, where those who launch unsuccessful lawsuits are liable for the defendants' legal bills

10) American Energy Independence. All-of-the-Above strategy that embraces alternatives, expands and accelerates exploration and production of oil and natural gas, and jumpstarts dramatic increases in nuclear power

Backers/Signatories
- Tom Price (R-Ga.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee
- Michael Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner & Republican candidate for Senate

Show your support by signing THIS petition

Because I Am Better at Parenting My Children Than the UN

I have a great and dear friend who is on top of politics. And when I say she is on top of it, I don't just mean that she keeps up with 60 minutes, GMA or even Fox News. She is a legislative watchdog. She is an advocate for the people. She is an advocate for our liberties. She is an advocate for families and parents. And she keeps up. In a CSPAN kinda way.

Imagine my outrage when I found out about a Treaty that the UN is trying to push through that would supercede the rights of parents that have long been enjoyed by our country.

If you share my opinion that you are the BEST advocate on behalf of your child, please take action. Choosing to be passive could tremendously reduce your rights as a parent.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Treaty
Ten things you need to know about the structure of the CRC:
It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law. It is no mere statement of altruism.1.
Its effect would be binding on American families, courts, and policy-makers.2.
Children of other nations would not be impacted or helped in any direct way by our ratification.3.
The CRC would automatically override almost all American laws on children and families because of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause in Article VI.4.
The CRC has some elements that are self-executing, while others would require implementing legislation. Federal courts would have the power to determine which provisions were self-executing.5.
The courts would have the power to directly enforce the provisions that are self-executing.6.
Congress would have the power to directly legislate on all subjects necessary to comply with the treaty. This would constitute the most massive shift of power from the states to the federal government in American history.7.
A committee of 18 experts from other nations, sitting in Geneva, has the authority to issue official interpretations of the treaty which are entitled to binding weight in American courts and legislatures. This effectively transfers ultimate authority for all policies in this area to this foreign committee.8.
Under international law, the treaty overrides even our Constitution.9.
Reservations, declarations, or understandings intended to modify our duty to comply with this treaty will be void if they are determined to be inconsistent with the object and purpose of the treaty.10.

Ten things you need to know about the substance of the CRC:
Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.13.
The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.14.
A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.15.
According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.16.
Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.17.
Christian schools that refuse to teach "alternative worldviews" and teach that Christianity is the only true religion "fly in the face of article 29" of the treaty.18.
Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.19.
Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent.20.
Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.11.
A murderer aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.12.

President Obama supports this treaty. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been a leading advocate of this treaty for over twenty years. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has "promised" that this treaty will be ratified during this term of Congress.

The only solution to the attack on the child-parent relationship is the Parental Rights Amendment -- securing the rights of parents to raise their children. Only a constitutional amendment will ensure that the courts of our nation protect the fundamental right of parents to raise their children. And only a constitutional amendment will override international law that seeks to undermine the parental role. As the only complete solution to the danger confronting the child-parent relationship, the Parental Rights Amendment will place current Supreme Court doctrine protecting parental rights into the explicit text of the Constitution. Only the Parental Rights Amendment completely eliminates all threats to the child-parent relationship. It is the only comprehensive response to the attack on parental rights across our nation.

1. Click on the cosponser links below to see the position of your elected officials. The States Watch page contains contact info.

2. Note the different names used for the Parental Rights Amendment for each house.

3. Call your congressman and ask him to sign on to cosponsor H.J. Res. 42, the Parental Rights Amendment, to protect parental rights and American and state sovereignty.
4. Call your senators and urge them to cosponsor S.J. Res. 16, the Parental Rights Amendment, to protect parental rights and American and state sovereignty.

Visit Parental Rights for more information on the UNCRC Treaty and why the Parental Rights Amendment is a good solution - click on "learn"

Dear Champion of Parental Rights,
According to a UNESCO statement from some years ago, "It is often the family that infects the children with extreme nationalism." A love for one's country is to be treated like some kind of disease, lest it hinder the goal of "peace at all costs." Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the government is obligated to ensure that children are "brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations."

This is one more reason it is vital to get out the calls this week, urging Congressmen and Senators to cosponsor the Parental Rights Amendment, which will protect our rights from this dangerous treaty.

Here again is what we ask you to do:
1. Check our lists of House cosponsors and Senate cosponsors. If your representative is already a sponsor, don’t call them! Consider mailing them a message of thanks instead.
2. If your congressman or senator is not on our list, go to our States Watch page and click on your state to find their contact information.
3. Call your congressman and ask him to sign on to cosponsor H.J. Res. 42, the Parental Rights Amendment, to protect parental rights and American and state sovereignty.
4. Call your senators and urge them to cosponsor S.J. Res. 16, the Parental Rights Amendment, to protect parental rights and American and state sovereignty.
5. Call or email friends and family and urge them to get in on this campaign as well. Let’s make this a very busy week for the Capitol switchboard!
6. Consider volunteering time to our Get-Out-the-Call campaign to encourage even more people to call Congress this week. Email Eric Lansing for more information.
7. You can also download a Get-Out-the-Calls brochure here to share with friends.

The March in Pictures

Our friend and neighbor just got back from the 9/12 March on Capitol Hill. Here are some pictures that she brought over to share.

In other interesting news, apparently there are some Democratic Senators that are jumping on board with the "Right Wing Nutjobs" and asking Obama to stick to his commitment of transparency. Read THIS letter to President Obama from Senator Feingold.

Health Care Reform, From a Constitutional Standpoint

The Truth about the Health Care Bill
Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney 08.24.09

Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.

To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.

The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.

However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.

The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn’t have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.

This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.

If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed ´acceptable to the ´Health Choices Administrator appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a ´tax instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn’t work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the ´due process of law.

So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn’t stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: ´The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people; The 10th Amendment states: ´The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.

I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to ´be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress, I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.

For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution

And another to the Bill of Rights

There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.

Michael Connelly, Retired attorney, Constitutional Law Instructor, Carrollton , Texas