Caffeinated Thoughts

Politico Misreads Mike Huckabee Supporters in Iowa
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s Faith Under Attack
Herman Cain Gives His “Common Sense Solutions” For America
Gay Rights and Religious Liberty Clash in UK Foster Care Case
A Clarification from Ron Paul Camp on Judicial Review and Iowa’s Gay Marriage Battle

Politico Misreads Mike Huckabee Supporters in Iowa

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 04:14 AM PST

We are all subject to making mistakes, as I am sure Mike Huckabee will be first to tell you. As I pointed out recently, many pundits and pols have taken to prognosticating, pontificating and predicting the demise of the Mike Huckabee for President 2012 candidacy. He is not running, he will not run, he cannot run, he should not run, he must not run. Even, “Don’t run, Mike”. No one yet has said he didn’t run. Previously I debunked the myths that his home or Fox contract will keep him out.

Now let’s bring the story up to date. First, there is the issue of Eric Woolson, who met with Huckabee during his Simple Government book tour last week. He has now announced he is going to work to promote Tim Pawlenty if he decides to run. Woolson is one of many professional political insiders who have worked for various campaigns, including Huckabee’s 2007 effort in Iowa.

Huckabee has made two things clear. First, he cannot take concrete steps to begin a run for presidency until he is certain he is going to run, otherwise, he will lose his contracts with ABC Radio and Fox News. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have already been “booted off” Fox for bellying up too close to the presidential bar. Second, it is clear Huckabee has not decided whether he will run or not, or has kept the decision to himself. He could not even wisely tell close associates like Woolson and Bob Vander Plaats that “yes, I am running”. One leak or misstep and he would be dumped in the pool, still wearing a suit and tie. So no one, especially Huckabee, blames Woolson for taking the bird in hand instead of waiting for the two in the bush, if that is his reasoning.

Politico shows how presumption can cause you to mess up the story. In the latest rendition of the “hardened conventional wisdom” that Huckabee won’t run, they lead their story with a picture of four female Huckabee supporters wearing M-I-K-E on their T-shirts at a rally in 2007. The AP picture has this caption:

“Iowa conservatives rally for Mike Huckabee in 2007. They don't have a standard-bearer today”

The problem for Politico is, these same four young ladies showed up last week at the book tour in Iowa, just as enthusiastic as ever:

I know the anti-Hucks are out in full force wishin’ and a prayin’, and a hopin’ he won’t run. But a picture paints a thousand words.

HatTip: Granny T at Huck’s Army.

Share and Enjoy:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s Faith Under Attack

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 04:15 PM PST

Madison, WI /Christian Newswire/ — Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor attacked Governor Walker’s faith in The Progressive, "It is frightening that the highest executive in our state suffers from the delusion that God dictates his every move. Consider the personal and historic devastation inflicted by fanatics who think they are acting in the name of their deity."

Governor Scott Walker is in an epic battle over Wisconsin’s future budget. The world is watching as 14 Democratic Senators are in Illinois. Without their involvement, the Senate in Wisconsin cannot pass their budget.

As Wisconsin faces many challenges, Governor Walker is putting his faith in Jesus Christ. Also, his Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch is a Christian who recently overcame colon cancer.

Governor Walker expressed his Christian faith before being elected. He has never pushed his personal beliefs on anyone, but has talked about it when asked.

Governor Walker’s father was a pastor at the First Baptist Church in Delavan, Wisconsin. The Governor currently attends Meadowbrook Church in Wauwatosa. He became a Christian at age 13 after submitting his life to Jesus Christ.

At a Christian Businessmen’s meeting in 2009, Governor Walker said, "I don’t believe God picks sides in politics. I believe God wants us on His side."

Walker believes that abortion is immoral. He opposes embryonic stem cell research, but approves of adult stem cell research.

As his Christian positions are clear, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is attacking his personal faith. Freedom From Religion purposely attacks Christians every day.

On April 15, 2010, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb from Madison ruled in favor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation by saying the National Day of Prayer proclamation by the president of the United States violates the Constitution.

As citizens of the State of Wisconsin, we need to be praying for our elected leaders as they attempt to do what is right. We need to pray that the problems in Wisconsin would be solved soon.

Christian Investigator President Steve McConkey says, "We are bombarded with news stories every day on issues that influence people here in Wisconsin and beyond. We are asking people throughout the United States to be praying for our elected officials in Wisconsin."

Steve McConkey is the President-Founder of 4 WINDS which offers the news site Christian Investigator (CI). Also, CI produces articles that are distributed worldwide on important issues.

Share and Enjoy:

Herman Cain Gives His “Common Sense Solutions” For America

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 12:44 PM PST

Herman Cain hosted a luncheon event in Ames, Iowa yesterday. He gave his thoughts on America's problems and the necessary solutions required to a friendly group of roughly twenty people at the Dublin Bay Restaurant.

He began his remarks with a discussion of the economy, which he flatly declared to be "in crisis" and "unstimulated". Citing numerous statistics to illustrate his contention, he said we needed "common sense solutions" to the crisis.

He suggested that we needed to lower the corporate tax rate, make the Bush-era tax cuts permanent, and eliminate the capital gains tax. He said our current tax structure was "choking off capital investment" and the non-permanent nature of the tax rates was creating uncertainty in the business community that in turn slowed growth. He said he frequently hears the accusation that lower taxes just are to help the rich. Not so, Cain responds. It's to "employ the poor". He wants to move from "entitlement to empowerment".

Cain said repatriated profit taxes hurt the country, and eliminating them would provide a huge stimulus to the economy that would in reality "cost us nothing". He also said we should make the payroll tax holiday a full 6.2% for twelve months. Real stimulus would involve "leaving the money in the hands of those who earned it".

He talked about the current nature of things in the nation's capitol, observing that "lots of good ideas have died in Washington, D.C." and compromise among our leaders usually is nothing more than a "half-baked solution". "I will tell you the truth even if it's bad", he said, adding later, "I don't owe anybody in Washington any favors".

Speaking of the Obama Administration he said that the majority of the administration had never held a private sector job. In his (Cain's) administration, someone's resume would have to illustrate that he had "done somethin'". He briefly discussed the Health Care law which he asserted was fraught with "phony math".

He took a number of questions from the group as he nibbled on his lunch, and we learned the following:

He's for a gold standard, but not until the national debt is addressed.
He would, via executive order, reduce the budget of all federal agencies by 10%.
He's a fair tax advocate and would eliminate the IRS as we currently know it.
He's in favor of "unbundling" the Dept. of Education. He said he was not sure how far that would go.
He contended that not enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act was a "breach of oath" and called the administration's position "ridiculous".
He said "life begins at conception", adding that his beliefs "start with the Holy Bible".

He was clearly at ease talking with the folks around the table, stopping his remarks mid-sentence to ask for prayer once the food was served. Humorous, likeable, and certainly conservative, Cain may well still be a long-shot for the Presidency should he decide to run. But he has a resume filled with goals that he set for himself and achieved ahead of schedule.

What's one more?

Share and Enjoy:

Gay Rights and Religious Liberty Clash in UK Foster Care Case

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:00 AM PST

I wanted to highlight some news from last week which should give those of us who champion religious liberty pause…. A British Christian couple lost the ability to be foster care parents because they believe homosexuality is wrong. From Reuters:

The couple, who are Pentecostal Christians, had gone to court after a social worker expressed concerns about them becoming respite carers after they said they could not tell a child that a "homosexual lifestyle" was acceptable.

Eunice and Owen Johns, both in their 60s and from Derbyshire in the English midlands, asked judges to rule that their faith should not be a bar to them becoming carers, and that the law should protect their Christian values.

But Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled at the Royal Courts of Justice in London that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds, the Press Association reported.

Chilling isn't it? Well Christianity isn't just in decline in the UK, it is being eradicated. Some of my readers may be thinking, "so what? That's the United Kingdom, this is the United States, we have a First Amendment." That is true we do, not only can we look to the UK as a harbinger of things to come here as gay "rights" and religious liberty come into conflict, but we can see the results already. Just look at what is taking place in academia for example or complaints about how we pray in the Statehouse.

People of faith should expect that their religious freedoms will be protected. We shouldn't have to be told what we should believe about homosexuality in order to participate in society. It isn't just happening in the UK, its happening right here as well. They are just further along.

Originally posted at American Principles In Action

Share and Enjoy:

A Clarification from Ron Paul Camp on Judicial Review and Iowa’s Gay Marriage Battle

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 08:15 AM PST

Yesterday, I wrote a post about Congressman Ron Paul's speech & press availability for The FAMiLY Leader's Presidential Lecture Series. In it I commented about Congressman Paul's answer to a question related to the Iowa Supreme Court's DOMA ruling back in 2009:

During the press conference he was asked if he supported the Iowa Supreme Court's ability to legalize gay marriage. He appeared confused by the question. He said he supported it constitutionally, "every state has that right." One of his aides tried to provide him some guidance and Paul then said, "he was asking about the ruling, not the justices." He then went on to say, "I support the state of Iowa voting to get rid of the justices and write laws dealing with marriage, not the federal government." He said that marriage is "a personal, spiritual matter and individuals should make that determination."

Except that unfortunately for him, government is involved and we have a crisis on our hands, and while he defends Iowans right to oust the justices he also just defended the very reason the justices were ousted in the first place. I'm shocked that a constitutionalist like Congressman Paul would be fine with judicial review by the Iowa Supreme Court being viewed as equal with codified law. Our legislature didn't codify gay marriage, the Iowa Supreme Court decreed it.

Congressman Paul's political director, Jesse Benton, responded via email this morning to clarify Congressman Paul's position:

The set-up for the press questions was not ideal, and was difficult for Ron to hear clearly while standing on the elevated stage. Also, the way the question you reference in your article was asked in a bit of a confusing way. Ron is human, and did get momentarily confused. But, one thing that should not be confused is Ron’s long held, principled positions.

Ron does not support activist Judges overturning the will of the legislature, and he NEVER supports legislating from the Bench. He strongly supported the removal of the three Iowa judges this past fall and is a strong defender of Iowa’s right to protect traditional marriage.

Glad to hear that!

Share and Enjoy:

Horoscop

joi, 10 martie 2011

Caffeinated Thoughts

Caffeinated Thoughts

Niciun comentariu:

Trimiteți un comentariu