Keep Praying

The only thing we can do is keep praying.

Obama, however, is a worry. His priorities seem at odds with America, and the needs of the American people. We are in a crisis.

In the April 13, 2009 edition of The Weekly Standard, Sam Schulman wrote in an article entitled, Honor Killing, American-Style, “In the Obama Administration there can be no dissent from the view that abortion must be unrestricted, paid for, and with no shilly-shallying about parental notification, partial birth abortion, or other such measures that would actually reduce the frequency of abortion.” He goes on to tell his readers Obama “is also poised to rescind a regulation protecting the ‘conscience exemption’ on abortion.” If abortion violates your beliefs, it won’t matter, do it anyway. He notes “Obama’s intolerance of the consciousness of so many of us is particularly curious.” While Iran is launching missiles in defiance of Obama’s verbal goal of mid-east peace through “tenderness” and a gentle hand-holding, kumbayah stuff, “against those who would attack us”, “to those Americans who wish merely to refrain from what they regard as harming babies – the president extends not a hand but a fist.” How well stated – what about priorities?

In the May 23, 2009 issue of World Magazine, Edward Lee Pitts wrote in his article, Serving America, “AmeriCorps will be tripled from 75,000 positions to 225,000 during the next eight years. The largest expansion of full-time, government-subsidized public service since…the Peace Corps.” Sen Jim DeMint said this “would make AmeriCorps the nation’s 14th-largest company.” “The increased volunteer pool could give vast power for the federal government to place added restrictions on nonprofits.” I have said all along that the federal government should not be in the charity business. But Obama clearly wants to take over the business of serving those, in his own way, that are normally served by charities. Eliminating deductions to charities goes to that same end. Is this a priority – even intelligent? Why should ‘we the people’ be supporting Planned Parenthood, ACORN, the ACLU, and any other group that should find their funding from external sources. Let those whose views are strong support those organizations, non-government, that do what pleases them. Government involvement only politicizes matters that should be left to the people, not to Obama or any other President. Is America becoming Obama’s personal charity, his personal cause, his socialist agenda fulfilled?

Obama-Motors, with the Unions as a majority shareholder – would you buy a car from the UAW? Can you imagine what a car built by the Unions and the Government combined might look like? One thing is for sure, the new ‘mpg’ constraints are designed to sell Obama-motors cars, at a cost to the tax-payers. As to the future, the Obama tax and spend team is optimistic, but the Federal Reserve has a different opinion. The governor of Minnesota is taking a different tack – he is reducing taxes. He says that no economy ever emerged from a crisis by tax and spend. Taxing only finds its way to small businesses, as well as big, and the tax payer, big and small, pays, continues to pay and finds less each day in their pocket. What is left to spend and support the optimism Obama is foisting upon us all? To those employed and barely paying for the health care insurance an employer provides, Obama wants to tax the insurance they receive as income. How does that help?

And the beat goes on. Obama is beating his drum for a new social order, the government doing for you and me just about everything. To him conceptually those on the dole will preserve the vote, a form of insurance, for those that will continue to vote for his social order. “I give to you and you vote for me.” – this is the mantra I hear in my head and have nightmares about. What ever happened to capitalism, the American dream, and private enterprise?

Obama is the Captain of the Ship that is America today. Are you confident he is steering us in the right direction? I cannot say that I am. Protect your rowboat. Make sure it floats and you have both oars. We may need to use them sooner than later.

We live with Government. We vote. We elect. We trust. But we can be deceived. Taxes are the Government’s tool for financial support of programs, obligations, representative’s personal wants for their constituency (“pork”), and general needs for services expected of the Government. Honesty, a desired and promised trait, seems lacking. The platform provided an elected or appointed official can be a “bully pulpit” for good, but today seems more likely a power base for control and greed.

Keep praying.