Friday, February 22, 2013

Friday, February 22, 2013

Sequester Armageddon? 

To hear the breathless media reports you would think that we are on the verge of an economic collapse, not because of our runaway debt but because of spending cuts ranging from $22 to $85 billion (the sequester) scheduled to be implemented on March 1st. The budget this year is $3.7 trillion, which is the same as $3,700 billion, and we are being told that not spending 1/43 (on the high end) of that $3,700 billion will destroy us! 

Rush Limbaugh was right yesterday when he said this about the crisis: 

"What's happening here, folks, is we are being played for fools and being suckered -- suckered into supporting the never-ending expansion of government, the wholesale destruction of the private economy. Everybody who joins in this debate under the premise that Obama puts forth, as well as debating the politics of this nonsense, is just being used to cover up what's actually going on. Now, what's going on is no great conspiracy. It's no mystery. We're spending much more money than we have. 

"The government is getting inexorably larger. 

"It's less and less efficient at accomplishing anything. We're creating more and more dependents. We're robbing people of their dignity and humanity and of their opportunity to realize their dreams as they turn their lives over to the government. It's like a never-ending cycle. The government makes the private sector smaller. There are fewer job opportunities. There's less money in the private sector, less opportunity to accrue wealth. Income taxes and others threaten to go higher; they do go higher. 

"It all adds up to the government growing, the private sector shrinking, freedom being lost ever so slowly, and nobody ever talks about stopping this."

Well said, Rush. 

NBC Mocks Christ 

If you haven't already heard, the NBC comedy show "Saturday Night Live" ran a disgusting segment last week mocking Jesus Christ. Intended as a parody of the movie "Django Unchained," the skit was entitled "Djesus Uncrossed." If you are even remotely familiar with movie director Quentin Tarantino's work, you can only imagine what happened next -- "DJesus" goes on a bloody rampage seeking revenge against those who crucified him. 

"Saturday Night Live" chose to run this skit just as the Lenten season was beginning -- a time of reflection when Christians consider the incredible sacrifice of the Cross, culminating in the celebration of the resurrection. While it would be far more historically accurate, there is no way NBC would tolerate a similar skit about Muhammad. But our liberal media elites don't think twice about mocking Christians.

NBC is feeling the heat. Our friends at the American Family Association report that Sears is pulling its ads from "Saturday Night Live." Good for them. If you would like to share your feelings with NBC, click here. Be certain to select "Saturday Night Live" in the Select Show pull down menu. 

Sending Your Tax Dollars To China 

One of the great outrages about the failed 2009 stimulus bill is that some of your hard-earned tax dollars were wasted creating jobs in China when the whole point was to create jobs in America. To add insult to injury, the redistribution of wealth is still going on. 

In December, the battery maker A123 was sold to a Chinese company for $257 million. A123 was the recipient of $249 million of stimulus money -- your tax dollars -- as part of the Obama Administration's green energy push to make batteries for electric cars. Now the Chinese own it. 

And speaking of electric cars, do you remember Fisker? In 2009, Fisker Automotive received a $529 million loan from the federal government in exchange for the promise of creating so-called "green jobs" by producing electric cars at a shuttered GM plant in Delaware. In 2011, Fisker announced plans to open a plant in Finland. 

But like so many of the government's failed green "investments," Fisker too has gone under. It seems there just wasn't much of a market for $103,000 electric cars. Now a Chinese company, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, is bidding to buy Fisker for $350 million. Fisker reportedly still owes $200 million to the American taxpayers.

Thankfully, Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and John Thune (R-SD) are speaking up and objecting to the sale. Senator Grassley told Bloomberg News, "Technology developed with American taxpayer subsidies should not be sold off to China." Senator Thune said, "Obama's green energy investments appear to be nothing more than venture capital for eventual Chinese acquisitions." 

Defending Religious Freedom 

Kudos to Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ). Rep. Franks is the Co-Chairman of the International Religious Freedom Caucus. He recently authored a letter signed by more than 80 members of Congress calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to "exhaust every possible option to secure U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini's release from Iran."

Saeed Abedini is a convert from Islam. Now a Christian pastor, Abedini has made several trips to Iran in recent years. But the Islamic Republic has repeatedly harassed him. Now Abedini is sitting in one of Iran's most notorious jails after a mock trial in a kangaroo court. Rep. Franks and other members of Congress are demanding the Obama Administration find its voice when it comes to defending Pastor Abedini's religious freedom. I applaud their efforts.