In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The First 100 Days
• Update: H.R. 1388
• Update: S. 277
• Final Update: Both Bills
• Good News Corner
Greetings!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"The LORD loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones. They will be protected forever." (Psalm 37:28)
The Daily Brief
1. Teleprompter Telegraphs Obama Caution; What Obama said and what he meant - Cross Action News
Hold a Washington news conference and you'll be sure to hear a lot about Washington obsessions.
Two big ones dominated President Barack Obama's prime-time encounter with the White House press corps: budget deficits, and growing criticism in the Congress that the new president is biting off more than he can chew.
Obama fluently answered the questions, sometimes at considerable length. But his responses were typically variations on a single-word theme: Whatever.
He made it clear that he believes that his success or failure depends above all on whether he is able to make seismic shifts-and expensive ones-in the nation's health care and energy policies. And he is fairly easy-going about the precise legislative path these initiatives take, or whether certain details fall out along the way.
Most of all, he's entirely comfortable with his bet that he and the country can worry about certain inconvenient facts-like a 10-year deficit total of $9.3 trillion under his plan - some time later. He thinks voters agree.
• Father, show our leaders the futility of being wise in their own eyes. Open this man's eye to see that he cannot run this country without your wisdom. Please pray this prayer, and in accordance with the verse below, cry out to God for the wisdom and prudence that is needed here. Pray that our leaders will see the need to succeed on behalf of the American people. Intercede that this is done, not for personal or prideful gain, but for the glory of God and the common good of our country.
• So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 13:14)
2. Sen. Bill Nelson on Obama Budget: Need to 'Rework This Whole Thing' - Worthy News
Sen. Bill Nelson, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said the Obama budget will have to be revised in light of the latest Congressional Budget Office projections. The Florida Democrat said in an interview on Fox News Channel this morning that "we're going to have to go back and rework this whole thing, and that's going to be done this week in the Budget Committee." He later added that "Kent Conrad, our chairman of the Budget Committee, is definitely going to have to be Merlin." CBO numbers released Friday show federal deficits over the next decade will exceed President Barack Obama's projections by $2.3 trillion.
Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, had warned on Friday that cuts would be forthcoming. "The reality is, we are going to have to make adjustments to the president's budget if we want to keep the deficit on a downward trajectory," he said. Most of all, he's entirely comfortable with his bet that he and the country can worry about certain inconvenient facts-like a 10-year deficit total of $9.3 trillion under his plan - some time later. He thinks voters agree.
• Father, we thank you for more men and women who will refuse to excuse themselves from the task at hand. Please pray that not one more person will be able to make excuses for the hoax that is being perpetrated as "recovery for America". Join shields and march in to ask God to marshal wisdom and resources for a just weight when it comes to the handling of the Federal Budget. As America prays, ask God for more leaders to put courage, wisdom, and their inner armor on for this cause.
• But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11)
3. The Democrats' $6 Billion National Service Boondoggle
Maybe it's just me, but I find federal legislation titled "The GIVE Act" and "The SERVE Act" downright creepy. Even more troubling: the $6 billion price tag on these bipartisan bills to expand government-funded national service efforts.
Volunteerism is a wonderful thing, which is why millions of Americans do it every day without a cent of taxpayer money. But the volunteerism packages on the Hill are less about promoting effective charity than about creating make-work, permanent bureaucracies and left-wing slush funds.
The House passed the "Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act"-or the GIVE Act-last week. The Senate took up the companion SERVE Act Tuesday afternoon. According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate bill (S.277), it would cost "$418 million in 2010 and about $5.7 billion over the 2010-2014 period."
Like most federal programs, these would be sure to grow over time. The bills reauthorize the Clinton-era AmeriCorps boondoggle program and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973.
• Refute this before the Father in prayer and declaration so that not one cent of American taxpayer money will ever go to force a people to "volunteer". This oxymoron in a House or Senate Bill shows the length of ignorance and/or deception to which our government is willing to go. Shut the door to this contradictory, incongruous, and wicked plot of the enemy. Plead this case before the Most High for an annihilation of this governmental lunacy. Decree that this country will never pay for schemes of the enemy. Claim Biblical deliverance for our children, in Jesus name.
• Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler; And from the perilous pestilence. (Psalm 91:3)
4. U.S. to unveil Afghanistan review plans on Friday
President Barack Obama is expected to release his review of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan on Friday, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The official declined to provide any details about the much anticipated review. The United States has been looking at ways to boost resources to combat the Afghan insurgency after Obama announced earlier this year the deployment of 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
• Pray that this large number of troops will not be allowed to participate in anything except that which would be ultimately profitable for our country and the world. Intercede that God will expose any schemes or deceitful traps and that they would not be policy for the United States of America. Ask the Father to only allow the voice of wisdom to succeed when dealing with the lives of our military and their every assignment.
• For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3)
5. China calls for new global currency - AP
China is calling for a new global currency controlled by the International Monetary Fund, stepping up pressure ahead of a London summit of global leaders for changes to a financial system dominated by the U.S. dollar and Western governments. Beijing has long been uneasy about relying on the dollar for the bulk of its trade and to store foreign reserves. Premier Wen Jiabao publicly appealed to Washington this month to avoid any steps in response to the crisis that might erode the value of the dollar and Beijing's estimated $1 trillion holdings in Treasuries and other U.S. government debt.
• Heavenly Father, we do not want to lose our sovereignty. Let there be a loud voice from the nation and our leaders to come against these ideas that would change our nation in a grave way!
• O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. (Psalms 25:2)
6. You Want to Tax What? Government Gets Desperate - ABC News
Because the recession has cut so sharply into property tax, sales tax and income tax revenues, Hagan said, state and local officials are looking for nontraditional sources of cash. In Chicago, surveillance cameras may someday help the city to fine more uninsured drivers. In Ohio, a city court is limiting its new cases because it can't afford more printer paper. In California, there's a loud call to tax marijuana sales. And in Georgia, one lawmaker says he's not giving up on his proposal for a state strip club surcharge.
• As our economy continues to suffer, Lord we pray that You will give our legislators and leaders good creative ways to increase revenue. Let it be done through building private businesses with all their business.
• The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)
7. Quiet Muslim-Only Town in N.Y. Founded by Alleged Terrorist - Fox News
The gate to Islamberg, N.Y., a private Muslim community that is home to an estimated 100 residents. The sign reads: 'Welcome to Holy Islamberg, The International Quranic Open University.'
If you didn't know where to look, you'd probably never find Islamberg, a private Muslim community in the woods of the western Catskills, 150 miles northwest of New York City. The town, sitting on a quiet dirt road past a gate marked with No Trespassing signs, is home to an estimated 100 residents. There are small houses and other buildings visible from the outside, but it is what can't be seen from beyond the gate that has some watchers worried.
Islamberg was founded in 1980 by Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, a Pakistani cleric who purchased a 70-acre plot and invited followers, mostly Muslim converts living in New York City, to settle there. The town has its own mosque, grocery store and schoolhouse. It also reportedly has a firing range where residents take regular target practice. Gilani established similar rural enclaves across the country - at least six, including the Red House community in southern Virginia - though some believe there are dozens of them, all operating under the umbrella of the "Muslims of the Americas" group founded by Gilani.
Federal authorities say Gilani was also one of the founders of Jamaat al-Fuqra, a terrorist organization believed responsible for dozens of bombings and murders across the U.S. and abroad. The group was linked to the planning of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and 10 years earlier a member was arrested and later convicted for bombing a hotel in Portland, Ore.
• Thank the Father for His provision of wisdom in handling any and all breeches in the wall. Intercede that this country will stand upon her foundation and not be moved. Pray that American living and principles are re-established in our cities and towns. Declare and decree in the spirit that all who wish to usurp, overtake, penetrate or perpetrate wickedness here will be exposed and removed promptly. May they find no refuge and no hiding place.
• Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. (Isaiah 58:12)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"Keep not silence, O God. Hold not your peace. Be not still, O God. For, behold, Your enemies make a huge noise. They that hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, consulted against Your hidden ones. They have said, Come, let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For . . . they are confederate against You:" (Psalms 83:1-5)
1. Netanyahu: Coalition with Labor will bring stability to Israel - Ha'aretz
Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak succeeded on Tuesday in bringing his party into Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, despite bitter internal opposition.
2. Qassam lands south of Ashkelon - Ynet News
A Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near a community in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council on Tuesday, after 10 days without rockets. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack.
3. Obama cites complexities of Mideast peace effort - AP
The emergence of an Israeli government led by a strong skeptic of peace negotiations with the Palestinians makes it no less necessary for the U.S. to push for a resolution of the generations-old conflict, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
4. Labor members vote in favor of joining Likud-led government - Jerusalem Post
Labor members voted in favor of chairman Ehud Barak's proposal for the party to join a Likud-led government during Tuesday night's convention at Tel Aviv's Exhibition Grounds.
5. Labor green lights Barak's coalition bid - Ynet News
Labor's Central Committee voted in favor of Chairman Ehud Barak's coalition bid Tuesday, effectively enabling the party to join Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
The First 100 Days
DAY 65
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)
1. House, Senate Federal Budget Outlines Close to Obama Spending Plan
Congressional Democrats advanced federal budget outlines Wednesday that largely mirror President Obama's spending priorities while imposing marginal changes to tame ballooning deficits.
2. Senate Calls for Brazil to Return Boy to Father in NJ
The U.S. Senate has joined calls for Brazil to return a boy living there to his father in New Jersey. Lawmakers unanimously passed the resolution late Tuesday. The boy's mother took him on a vacation in 2004 and never returned to the U.S. She divorced his father and remarried but died last year. The father, David Goldman, says Brazilian courts have denied him custody of the 8-year-old. The child is being raised by his stepfather.
3. Interest Group Targets Moderate Democrats in Ad Calling on Support for Obama Budget
The liberal interest group Americans United for Change is launching a TV ad blitz Wednesday in 12 states to push moderate Democrats and Republicans to support President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget proposal.
4. Cash-Strapped Postal Service Seeks Help in Cutting Costs
Postmaster General John Potter warns that the Postal Service could run out of money this year.
5. Obama's Nominee for Iraq Envoy Says Election a Priority
President Obama's nominee to be the next ambassador to Iraq is telling the Senate that one of his top priorities will be to help Iraqis prepare for parliamentary elections in December and to normalize Iraq's relations with its neighbors.
6. Pentagon: China Weapons Development Threatens Taiwan
Pentagon says China needs to be more open about its military modernization or risk creating uncertainty and miscalculations by other nations.
7. Obama Heads to Hill to Sell $3.6T Budget Package
Many lawmakers have said Obama has overreached with his money proposals and would drive the country into indebtedness that cannot be sustained. (All articles from Fox News)
Update: H.R. 1388 -- the GIVE Act
Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act
As we reported to you on Monday's OCAP, H.R. 1388, the GIVE Act, was passed in the House last week on Thursday, March 19, by a vote of 321 yea to 105 nay. .
This week, in an unusual move, the SENATE also voted on this bill, and passed it at 5:45 p.m. on Monday by a vote of 74 yea to 14 nay.
Unlike the Senate Bill (see below) which will place our children directly into these mandatory campuses for volunteer service, the House bill merely creates a commission to study the impact of such a program. It is understood that this commission will be chaired by the First Lady, Michelle Obama.
• Because you prayed, the hidden is being revealed, and parents across the nation are beginning to question the agenda behind this initiative. Just yesterday, for example, Lou Dobbs featured this news on his program, and many called in, furious about its impact. PLEASE KEEP PRAYING OVER H.R. 1388.
• "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)
• Using the links provided, call your own congressman and two senators and either thank them for opposing H.R. 1388, or voice your protest. Be polite, be firm, but be clear: you do not want your children placed in these youth camps for 30 days of "training" without further clarification of the intent of this program.
• Offer PRAISE for the 105 members of Congress and the 14 members of the Senate who voted to OPPOSE H.R. 1388! May our Lord raise up a mighty groundswell of opposition to the Senate bill when it comes to the floor for a vote.
Update: S. 277 - the SERVE Act
The Serve America Act
THE VOTE ON S. 277 IS STILL PENDING. The Serve America Act was passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee last Thursday, March 19th, and sent to the full Senate for a final vote.
Unlike the House version of this "youth campus initiative," the Senate version does not address establishing a "commission" to "study" the impact of this program -- instead, this bill would put the youth directly into these camps/campuses.
THERE IS STILL TIME TO TAKE ACTION ON THIS BILL!
Just like its companion bill in the House, S.277 in the Senate offers very innocuous-sounding language of its intent.
The summary of this bill reads, as follows:
Serve America Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to create two new service-learning programs: (1) a Youth Engagement Zones to Strengthen Communities program, providing competitive grants to partnerships between local educational agencies that serve high-need, low- income communities and certain community-based or state entities to engage students and out-of-school youth in service-learning addressing specific challenges faced by their communities; and (2) a Campus of Service program, which annually grants up to 30 institutions of higher education (IHEs) with exemplary service-learning programs the funds to assist their students' pursuit of public service careers, and the right to nominate additional individuals for ServeAmerica Fellowships.
The concern that intercessors are sensing is as follows:
Besides the fact that it is a bill that would require every 18-21 year old, male and female to attend a camp and "volunteer" to be trained and taught a government- sponsored ideology, the fact that it is being rushed through the legislature and not reported on by the media, makes us extremely suspicious. What's the rush and why the silence? What is in these bills that they don't want us to know about? In addition, does it make sense to spend $75 million or more a year to put our young people in camp when we're in the middle of hard economic times?
S. 277 does not "stop" with the youth, but includes senior citizens in its scope, too.
For all the reasons cited above, we continue to urge you to call your two senators, and ask them to vote "no" on S. 277 -- at least until it can be given more consideration. A bill of this magnitude does not need to be rushed through the Senate, to the door of the White House.
Call the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to the office of your senator. Ask the LORD to direct your conversation with the staffer who answers the phone. Again, be polite but be firm, and let them know that you will be watching how your senator votes on this bill when the time comes.
• "This far and no further, and here shall your proud waves stop." (Job 38:10)
• "Thy people shall volunteer freely in the day of Thy power." (Psalm 110:3 NAS)
[If that link is down, then go to the site for the Library of Congress here. In the section that says "Search Bill Summary & Status," type in S. 277 and hit "Bill Number." This will take you to the Senate Bill.}
Final Update: Both Bills
Congress Approves President Obama's National Service Corps
By Klaus Rohrich
Canada Free Press
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
[Note: This article refers to the passage of H.R. 1388 on Monday. THERE IS STILL TIME TO PROTEST THE VOTE IN THE SENATE ON ITS COMPANION BILL, S. 277. PLEASE CALL TODAY!]
The US Senate voted yesterday to procedurally clear the way for President Obama's National Service Corps. The bi-partisan vote approved a $6 billion scheme to increase the number of "community service" jobs in America from 75,000 to well over 250,000. Presumably under the direction of this cadre, the plan is designed to enlarge the number of Americans engaged in "community organizing" to about 7 million.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have heartily endorsed the plan comparing it to the establishment of the Peace Corp by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in the 1960s. Supporters of the plan include Edward Kennedy (D. Mass.), John McCain (R. Nevada), Orrin Hatch (R. Utah), Barbara Mikulski (D. Maryland) and numerous non-politicians, including Rev. Rick Warren, author of the book A Purpose Drive Life. 14 Republican Senators opposed the bill, some because of the cost involved, while 11 Senators abstained.
Supporters of the National Service Corps claim the organization will encourage volunteerism in such areas as education, healthcare and the environment.
Looking at this scheme on its surface, it seems perfectly benign and if it is truly in the spirit of JFK's Peace Corps, then it bears supporting. However, given what the Obama administration has advocated so far, one can't be blamed for being leery of its end use.
It's entirely possible that the National Service Corps will emerge as a kind of Obama Youth, with ACORN types teaching the volunteers the ins and outs of community organizing and the finer points of vote- getting. This National Service Corps could easily end up being an indoctrination centre for impressionable young people to be turned into unwitting advocates of socialism, to be molded into Democrat drones designed to infect the body politic for all eternity.
If the Obama administration really wants to do something useful with and for its young people, reinstituting the draft would be best for several reasons. First of all, it would take our clueless and largely narcissistic youth and instill in them a sense of self-discipline, which would be the first step toward achieving real self-esteem. Second, at the rate America's enemies are mobilizing we are going to need a larger standing army to meet all the threats that will soon be confronting us. Third, the military would provide valuable educational opportunities, other than "community organizing". Finally, the military is a non-partisan organization that cannot be usurped by overly ambitious politicians.
Drafting young people into the military and using their service in areas other than "community organizing" would certainly make me sleep a lot better. I don't know about you, but there is something about the idea of an Obama Youth, no matter what its official name that makes me quite uncomfortable. And the constant comparisons to the program that JFK instituted in the 1960s make me even more uncomfortable. To paraphrase Senator Lloyd Bentsen: "I knew Jack Kennedy and Barack Obama is no Jack Kennedy."
Good News Corner
A (Simple) Prayer Strategy for ISRAEL! Submitted by: Bev Robinson
FULLNESS ONLINE MINISTRIES
March 14, 2009. Months ago I asked you to pray with me for our nation 1 minute at 8:00 pm, by setting our phone alarms as a reminder. Many of you were stirred by the Spirit and joined me. Last week I dropped my Blackberry in water and it was disabled. With my new phone I again set the alarm for 8:00pm. Last night I had a dream about Israel and God gave me the interpretation to pray for Israel within the 1 minute. So tonight I add Israel. Will you ask the Lord if you are to join me, and begin also? Please let me know if He says yes (Pray4Israel@fullnessnetwork.net). God has instructed.
Acts 13:40-41 -- "Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 'BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.'"
