Religious Liberty is a Fundamental American Right…

President Obama has again targeted the US Constitution in an effort I believe is at the heart of his “transforming America” agenda.

It is interesting to watch how a supposed constitutional law teacher approaches the constitution with such disregard. If Obamacare is not deemed unconstitutional in its mandates to force Americans to buy health insurance, we are in for a revolution. I believe we will see the first step in that revolution on Election Day 2012.

As part of the President’s healthcare bill he is mandating private religious institutions to provide contraception and abortion drugs as part of their “health plans” for employees. The argument is that there are non-religious employees and they deserve plans that include the morning after pill or condoms. It is a red herring argument. The true motivation is to undermine religious liberty.  These employees can choose to work at other organizations that provide such benefits or pay for those services themselves. They have a choice.

These private, Catholic hospitals are operated under the doctrines of religious beliefs that do not support contraception or abortion. These religious hospitals are being told they have to change, ignore their beliefs or be shut down by the government. This fight is not about abortion or contraception but a fundamental First Amendment fight. The First Amendment reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The free exercise of religion is the reason people migrated to this country in the first place. Religious liberty is in our DNA as a country and this President is trying to “transform” this country by undermining this basic principle. His assault on Catholics is despicable and indicative of his feelings about our Judeo Christian values. He is disguising his argument by saying Catholic hospitals get federal money therefore need to fall under the general employment rules the same as other organizations. The problem with the argument is that the Catholic Hospitals provide a necessary service in many communities and it is the Federal Government that should be bending over backwards thanking them for the good work they do for so many non- Catholics.

This mandate to undermine Catholic doctrine could result in the closing of Catholic institutions which would be devastating in some communities. I wonder if the Federal Government would mandate Muslim institutions to serve pork on their menus?

This President is anti-Catholic, anti- Constitution, and anti-American.  He is a disgrace and needs to be rejected in November. Religious people of all faiths need to band together to maintain one of the most basic freedoms of American life; religious liberty. America is a beacon for all faiths to practice without the intrusion of government telling them what they must accept as doctrine. This President has declared war on Catholics and must be defeated. I believe he will be…

Subsidize Behavior and You Get More of It…

Whether the behavior is good or bad, if you subsidize it with government dollars you will get more of that behavior. That is why measuring results is so important for government programs. What government programs measure results? Well, all of them actually but the results are either ignored or excused with the notion that not enough money was spent to get the results that were hoped to be achieved.

Recently VP Biden said that the reason college tuition keeps going up is because colleges get government subsidies. Government money continues to be funneled into higher education with the assumption that college educations are important for America. College education is good for individuals that really want an education. The problem is every student that wants a college education is not necessarily prepared or in need of a college education for their chosen career path.

If government stopped subsidizing education the result would be lower tuition costs with a more qualified student population. Government subsidies help marginal students gain access to the system even when they are poorly prepared to attend colleges. It has resulted in remedial programs at the college level. If a kid needs to take remedial classes at the college level the question should be how did they get into college in the first place? That is a total waste of money.  Government subsidies also allow Colleges and Universities to operate without worrying about efficiency. They can hire and keep classes that only a few students choose to take. They don’t have to manage the budget to market principles knowing they will get increased revenue even if they are running at less than optimal efficiency.

Government subsidies create more poverty, less access to healthcare, poor housing conditions, and they steal individual incentives and drive. By subsidizing the poor we have created an “acceptable” life style that no individual would choose if they had a choice. Government subsidies for healthcare are making access almost impossible because people that get it for “free” use with no discretion to cost. By subsidizing housing we create ghettos where no one feels connected to their home. And the most important thing government subsidies do to harm us is to steal the ingenuity, accountability, and happiness that comes with providing for one’s self.

The greatest thing we could do to improve the lives of millions of Americans is to remove government subsidies completely. Government subsidies do more harm than good. First do no harm would be a good oath for the next President to take…

Newt has Shown No Class…

I don’t care what excuse Newt uses for his losses but he can’t be excused for being a sore loser and whiner. Have some class Newt and congratulate the winner.

Newt explains his losses are the result of a campaign built on lies about him, but what does he think Obama and the Democrats are going to say in the general election campaign? Mitt is using kid gloves compared to what Obama is going to use. Newt is showing us why people are concerned about him as the candidate. Yes we want a fighter, but we don’t want a whiner.

Conservatives are luke warm on Romney but Mitt has shown some promise when he gets passionate during his victory speeches. Mitt can be helped by conservatives to be more passionate about conservatism. I don’t believe Mitt isn’t conservative, I believe he has spent so much time in New England where conservatism is mocked on a daily basis. I lived there for many years and you tend to bite your tongue or you would have no social life. I am not saying you abandon your principles but you learn when to use them for the most effective result.

Mitt is learning that the rest of the country is proud of conservatism and wants a fighter for the cause. He seems to be coming around and that is a good thing. Newt has kept Mitt on his toes and is making him a better general election candidate. But Newt needs to show some class. Newt is being out campaigned, Mitt is raising more funds which are a necessary evil to win a campaign, and Mitt is showing class. Newt should follow suit.

Newt also needs to realize he may not be the conservative choice as many polls are showing. We want a winner for the general election. Newt at this point has shown he can’t take the heat when the scrutiny of his past is put on display. He is being tested for a general election campaign and he is failing. And he is failing to show any class which is a real indicator of the man’s character.

We Need Roseanne Barr to Enter the Presidential Race…

The best thing that can happen this election cycle is to have Roseanne Barr, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert or any other left wing comedian join the race for president. The people that would give any serious consideration to these candidates are in all likelihood core Obama voters.

Any siphoning of votes that would potentially end up hurting Obama’s reelection efforts is a great thing for the future of America. The thought that there are people who would support a second Obama term is scary enough, but if we can distract these ill-informed minions to vote for one of the above alternatives it can only help our efforts to unseat the most incompetent executive we have hired since Jimmy Carter.

The name calling and conservative bashing is a favorite past time for Obama supporters but the real joke is that liberals don’t understand they are the joke. They have supported policies that have shackled the poor into perpetual poverty. Liberal school policies lock poor inner city kids in failing schools while the liberals send their kids to private schools. The liberals want to take other people’s money through the force of government to support their pet programs and rarely give a penny to charity. They make fun of the rich, but only the conservative rich, while ignoring the fact that people like Mitt Romney give millions to charities in addition to the millions he pays in taxes. Hypocrites all of them.

So as liberals snicker at late night jokes about conservatism the joke is they are a very small minority. Most thinking people in this country live their lives in a traditional manner and ignore the jokes being made about their life style. Conservative people will be the ones laughing when Obama and his ilk are sent back to do whatever it is they do when they are not trying to run other people’s lives…

Run Roseanne run…

Romney’s Right: We Don’t Collectively Care About the Poor…

If we did we would not be treating them to handouts, we would be incentivizing self-reliance (see my post below Teach a Man to Fish).

This entire analysis of Mitt’s remarks is why no one trusts the media anymore. Mitt’s intended remarks were aimed at letting the middle class know he will implement policies to help them by getting government out of their way. The poor have a billion shackles (government programs) to make sure no one starves but more importantly, so no one succeeds.

Mitt is focusing on the class of people that have not fallen into the trap the democrats have set, government handouts, and still want to provide for their own family. He is right to target that class. The sad aspect is the way the media is trying to portray his remark “I am not concerned about the very poor…” as an out of touch comment from a very rich man. The reality is Mitt donates more to charity and the poor than all of the democrats in congress and the main stream media combined! I am not sure if that is a fact but Mitt gives millions and millions to charity. What has Obama given to charity in comparison?

Who is more concerned about the poor, a man that believes private churches and charities are more effective to help the poor therefore he gives millions to support that belief, or a man that continues to steal other people’s money through confiscatory tax policy to chain the poor to failing programs?

I will take Mitt all day long…

Teach a Man to Fish…

The lessons of the Bible can be so simple yet so profound. When we give people things we only temporarily suspend the circumstances of that individual. When we teach people how to take care of themselves we open up boundless opportunities for success.

Today we have millions of poor Americans living in deplorable conditions within most of our major cities. These Americans have been given fish now for generations. Each generation has come to expect their fish to be handed to them. Getting fish has become their life. One of the most glaring examples of the results of giving fish instead of teaching to fish was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hordes of people wondered aimlessly waiting for someone to “give them a fish”. The simple activity of getting to safety was too overwhelming for people that had been lulled into dependency by government programs. Even the survival instinct was stolen from these people. Very sad.

The most compassionate thing we can do for our fellow Americans is to teach then to fish. Allowing people to learn the consequences of their actions is a lesson that quickly becomes a motivating factor in their lives. When you drop out of school and have no education, you will not be hired. The result should be the realization that you must go back to school. Temporary help with a commitment from the individual to pay it back when complete is teaching people to fish. Putting time limits on help for people that can provide for themselves is an impetus to learn how to fish.

Generations of Americans have been convinced that giving people fish is compassion and teaching people to fish is mean spirited. The opposite is true. We have been trying the fish giving approach and all you have to do is drive through any inner city to see the results. The results are a failure. It is time to teach people to fish and wean them off the dependency of government programs. These programs are destroying the potential of millions of Americans. Especially poor Americans.

The two approaches will be on display in the November election. America elected the first Black president and you would think he would be the candidate that would understand the power of teaching people to fish. Black Americans in too many numbers have been duped for generations to accept promises by politicians to be provided with more fish from a heartless government bureaucrat. Instead of taking a teach someone to fish approach, this president is doubling down on the dependency strategy. The candidates that are trying to replace this president want to teach poor Americans to fish by reducing the dependency the poor have on government. That is not mean spirited, it is true compassion.  

Teaching people to fish is the much harder path to follow. Not because it is complicated but because it is easily demonized as being heartless toward people. The funny thing is we teach our kids the same lessons. If the lessons of self-reliance are right for our kids, how come it is not right for poor family’s kids?

Giving fish is easy and makes some feel good but feeling good is not the result we are looking for. We are looking for the result of ending poverty and introducing a world of opportunity to people that have no hope. That is something we could all feel good about. If that is the result we want then we need to fire this President in November.