In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• The Shirley Sherrod Saga
• "Unusual Uncertainty"
• Elena Kagan -- Unfit to Serve
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
Greetings!
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The Daily Brief - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
"And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." (Romans 16:20)
The Daily Brief
1. Poll: A Few Cracks in Obama's Hispanic Support - AP
For a group that supported Obama so heavily in 2008 and in his first year in office, only 43 percent of Hispanics surveyed said Obama is adequately addressing their needs, with the economy a major concern. Another 32 percent were on the fence, while 21 percent said he'd done a poor job. Still, 57 percent of Hispanics approve of the president's overall job performance compared with 44 percent among the general population in the latest AP national polling.
The political power of Hispanics now and in the future cannot be overstated. They are the nation's fastest-growing minority group and the government projects they will account for 30 percent of the population by 2050, doubling in size from today.
• Lord, we pray that all minorities will not be seduced by a political party of entitlements and deception. Let them remember their traditional family values, and vote for the party that represents them, and their businesses.
• Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. (Psalms 119:34, 35)
2. Wikileaks: More US Documents Coming on Afghan War - AP
The leaks come at a time when President Barack Obama's Afghanistan war strategy is under congressional scrutiny and with polls finding that a majority of Americans no longer think the war there is worth fighting. Still, the leaks are not expected to prevent passage of a $60 billion war funding bill. Despite strong opposition among liberals who see Afghanistan as an unwinnable quagmire, House Democrats must either approve the bill before leaving at the end of this week for a six-week vacation, or commit political suicide by leaving troops in the lurch in war zones overseas.
• Father God, we pray these leaks will not have detrimental damage to our troops and our national security. We pray those who are involved in these leaks will be caught, prosecuted, and punished severely.
• Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:4)
3. U.S. Braces for Blowback Over Afghan War Disclosures - Fox News
Intelligence officials, past and present, are raising concerns that the WikiLeaks.org revelations could endanger U.S. counterterror networks in the Afghan region, and damage information sharing with U.S. allies. Meanwhile, U.S. allies are asking whether they can trust America to keep secrets. But former CIA director Michael Hayden denounced the leak Monday as incredibly damaging to the U.S. -- and a gift to its enemies. The White House called the disclosures "alarming."
• Lord, these leaks were revealed at the time the elected officials are considering the war funding. We pray that our troops will get all the help they need, as well as the rules of engagement which severely handicap them will be rescinded immediately.
• For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. For I said, "Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me." (Psalms 38:15, 16)
4. Fred Thompson: 'Catastrophic' If Bush Tax Cuts Not Renewed - NewsMax
Former GOP presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson warns that not extending the Bush tax cuts could have "devastating" and "catastrophic" consequences for the American economy. Republicans have been arguing for months that raising taxes amid a struggling economy wracked by high unemployment would be a major mistake. They point out that letting the tax breaks expire would especially hit hardest those earning $250,000 or more annually - a demographic that consists of many small-business owners who play a key role in job creation.
• Lord, we pray the Bush tax cuts will be continued and made permanent. Put people of honor and business sense in office at the next election. Flood our elected offices with Christian men and women.
• And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:18)
5. Migrants Sell Up, Flee Arizona Ahead of Crackdown - Reuters
In a sign of a gathering exodus, Mexican businesses from grocers and butcher shops to diners and beauty salons have shut their doors in recent weeks as their owners and clients leave. Polls show the measure is backed by a solid majority of Americans and by 65 percent of Arizona voters in this election year for some state governors, all of the U.S. House of Representatives and about a third of the 100-seat Senate.
Arizona straddles the principal highway for human and drug smugglers heading into the United States from Mexico.
• Lord, we pray for the situation regarding illegal immigration, to be settled quickly and peaceably. Let people of both sides of the issue be agreeable to letting the illegals return to their own countries in a gentle way.
• Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)
6. Busted! Kagan Caught Fudging Her Testimony - WND
A letter created by Americans United for Life Action and signed by at least 30 states, national and legal organizations asks for "an investigation into discrepancies between Kagan's testimony before Congress and written documentation of her undue influence on medical organizations while advising President William J. Clinton on partial-birth abortion legislation."
"We will continue to put every member on notice - Republicans and Democrats - that a vote for Kagan is a vote against the U.S. military, a vote against the Constitution, a vote against free speech and a vote for ultra-partisan extremism and activism on the bench," said Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND who is orchestrating the "Stop Kagan" effort that has generated tens of thousands of individual letters to senators.
• Lord, we pray information will be revealed that disqualifies Kagan from being seated on the Supreme Court. Let there also be a loud, successful protest that will rise up against Kagan to stop this nomination.
• So shall they fear the Name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. (Isaiah 59:19)
7. BP Oil Spill: Clean-Up Crews Can't Find Crude in the Gulf - ABC News
For 86 days, oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's damaged well, dumping some 200 million gallons of crude into sensitive ecosystems. BP and the federal government have amassed an army to clean the oil up, but there's one problem - they're having trouble finding it. Still, it doesn't mean that all the oil that gushed for weeks is gone. Thousands of small oil patches remain below the surface, but experts say an astonishing amount has disappeared, reabsorbed into the environment.
"[It's] mother nature doing her job," said Ed Overton, a professor of environmental studies at Louisiana State University.
• Lord, we pray this is not propaganda from the oil company to absolve themselves from lawsuits. But we do give you praise that things are beginning to end on this problem. Let many good lessons be learned from this situation
. • Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight (Proverbs 12:22)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"Hear, O Israel: LORD our God, LORD is one. And you shall love LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
1. Abbas signals resistance to U.S. pressure for direct talks - Ha'aretz
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has indicated he will resist United States pressure for face-to-face peace talks with Israel for now, saying indirect negotiations must make progress first.
2. Israel, Hamas delaying US aid efforts - Jerusalem Post
Two recently released US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports on US aid to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza laid blame on the Israeli government for delays in the creation of newly-trained Palestinian Authority security forces and in the dispersal of US humanitarian aid to Gaza.
3. Is the 'Red-Dead Sea Conveyance Project' viable? - Jerusalem Post
The Dead Sea's shoreline is sinking by a meter a year, and it is feared that it will literally "dry up" by the year 2050 - unless immediate efforts are made to save what many are calling one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. While the facts are well known, experts are divided regarding a solution as to how to save the "lowest point on earth."
4. If Hizbullah strikes, we hit Lebanon - Jerusalem Post
The IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions if Israel is again subjected to rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday.
The Daily Jot
Render Justice for Injustice
The citizens of Bell, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, are mad and they are not going to take it anymore. In fact, they are perhaps awakening from a slumber that represents the entirety of the American taxpayer base. According to Associated Press, the 40,000 Bell residents, of whom over 6,600 live in poverty, found out through a Los Angeles Times investigation that the mayor and city council were paying the Chief Administrative Office $787,637 a year; the Assistant City Manager $376,288 a year; and the Police Chief $457,000. The part time city council was collecting between $90,000-100,00 each.
After a late night meeting, these three officials resigned and town residents are demanding the mayor and city council reduce their salaries by 90% or face recall. They claim, however, that they each are paid only an $8,000 a year salary. The other money comes from other civic duties. In their defense, they say that the town is run with a $22.7 million surplus and the community services are top rate. This is a rarity across America, as many cities are in financial trouble because of over spending, mismanagement of resources and more. Property taxes continue to increase although the value of property has decreased, and many cities and small towns are cutting essential services such as police.
The New York Times reports that towns in Nebraska, Ohio and Illinois are either giving away land or selling it for nominal fees to try to boost the tax rolls and cut lawn mowing expenses. The Times says that other cities such as Boca Raton, Florida are considering expanding the city limits to annex more taxpaying residents. Boca Raton has a $7 million deficit. The Combine, Texas, City Council cut its expenses by firing 11 of 13 police officers and called on the Kaufman County Sheriff's office to pick up the slack. On a larger scale, Oakland, California laid off 80 police officers, but is trying to find a way to increase taxes on property and utilities to hire them back.
Romans 13:7,8 says, "Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe no many any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law." In this country, We the People have a say over our government. It is not a Caesarian dictatorship. Two things to discern here: First, irresponsible elected leaders always cut the most needed services in order to justify more taxes; and Second, you have a say just as those people have decided in Bell, California. Governments from the local to the national level are robbing you, coveting you and your neighbor's possessions. You must pray and act to right this injustice.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
The Shirley Sherrod Saga
I'm sure by now almost everyone reading this report knows the name Shirley Sherrod. Two weeks ago, she was an unknown bureaucrat with the Department of Agriculture, managing the Rural Development office in Georgia. Then a brief clip of Sherrod addressing an NAACP audience went viral Monday morning. By the afternoon, the Secretary of Agriculture had fired her for admitting to racial discrimination. The NAACP denounced her. The media were in a frenzy.
The knee-jerk reaction to the Sherrod video is absolutely surreal when compared to the controversy regarding the Justice Department's dismissal of the New Black Panther Party case and the media's total blackout of the story. But I digress.
Twenty-four hours later, the Sherrod story started to unravel. It was discovered that Sherrod's comments about not helping a white man and sending him to a white lawyer, "one of his own," were taken out of context. Her story really was a positive one, and many commentators across the political spectrum rushed to Sherrod's defense. Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made public apologies and a new job was extended to Sherrod. This afternoon, President Obama called Sherrod to "express his regret over the events of the last several days."
Sherrod says that for her it's not about black and white, but all about envy and class warfare - about the rich versus the poor. In the same NAACP speech, Sherrod makes the bizarre claim that the rich invented racism and slavery to keep poor people down. She then makes this statement:
"The only difference is that the folks with money want to stay in power. And whether it's healthcare or whatever it is, they'll do what they need to do to keep that power. It's always about money, y'all.
"I haven't seen such mean-spirited people as I've seen lately over this issue of healthcare. Some of the racism we thought was buried, didn't it surface! Now we endured eight years of the Bushes and we didn't do the stuff these Republicans are doing because you have a black president."
Sherrod's speech is a perfect example of the corrupting influence of so-called "social justice" that demonizes wealth and promotes socialism under the guise of civil rights. Worse, her speech is another example of left-wing activists attributing political differences to racism. So, is anyone really surprised that the White House is offering her a new job? (Gary Bauer)
"Unusual Uncertainty"
In testimony before Congress last week, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, described the state of the economy as "unusually uncertain." For most small business owners and the unemployed, that is a gross understatement. What is contributing to this unusual uncertainty? I believe it is many of the policies coming out of the Obama Administration.
From ObamaCare to cap and trade, this administration is proposing one massive Big Government program after another. The stimulus program has not worked, yet the administration continues to pretend otherwise. Joe Biden is out promoting the "Summer of Recovery," while the Fed chairman warns the economy is "unusually uncertain." If Obama wanted to eliminate some of the uncertainty, he would listen to the advice of his own top economic advisers and immediately announce his support for extending the Bush tax cuts.
Writing in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Stanford economics Professor Michael Boskin notes, "In the most recent issue of the American Economic Review, Ms. Romer (and her husband David H. Romer) conclude that 'tax increases are highly contractionary . . . tax cuts have very large and persistent positive output effects.'" For those who do not recognize the name, Boskin is referring to Christina Romer, chairwoman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.
But unless Congress acts, the Bush tax cuts will expire on December 31st. If nothing is done, all taxpayers will face major tax hikes that will pull trillions of dollars out of the economy.
So far, fewer than a dozen members of the Democrat majority in Congress have come out in favor of extending all of the Bush tax cuts. Preserving these tax cuts will be a major issue in the fall campaigns. And 103 days from now, the voters should refuse to extend the careers of any politician who does not vote to keep these tax cuts. (Gary Bauer)
Elena Kagan -- Unfit to Serve
It was little surprise that President Obama would nominate someone to the Supreme Court with as limited regard for the U.S. Constitution as himself. However, the radical political and liberal history of Elena Kagan should make even the most diehard Leftist take a step back.
The recent Senate hearings helped expose her disgust for traditional morality, free speech, the military, individual liberty, unborn children, constitutional fidelity, and all things religious. As a political appointee to President Clinton, she was so fixated on protecting partial-birth abortion that she masterminded an effort to substitute her own opinion for that of two medical groups. Both the American Medical Association (AMA) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said there was virtually no instance in which a partial-birth abortion was necessary to save a woman's life. When that statement crossed Kagan's desk, she personally changed it to say that partial-birth abortion "may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of the mother."
The political and unscientific opinion inserted by Ms. Kagan into what was supposed to be an authoritative medical document was then cited by several judges to strike down restrictions on the horrendous partial-birth abortion procedure.
Additionally, her pro-homosexual views led her to restrict military recruitment on Harvard Law School's campus, and, as Solicitor General, to sabotage the defense of our federal marriage law and of the current military policy on homosexuals serving openly in the U.S. military. In these instances, she favored her personal ideology and political calculations over the law. Without your help, she may spend 30 or more years doing this same thing as a member of America's most powerful court. Elena Kagan was unfit to be Solicitor General, and she definitely doesn't deserve a lifetime promotion to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Please contact your U.S. Senators today and tell them to oppose Elena Kagan.
Thank you and God bless you.
Tony Perkins, President
Family Research Council
Please click here to contact your U.S. Senators to oppose President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan
The Good News Corner
Police Chief Sees a Miracle on the Highway
(McKenzie, Alabama)-The Andalusia Star-News reports that a miracle happened last week when a tanker overturned pinning driver Tony Moore.
"If it weren't for Jesus Christ, we would have all blown up," said McKenzie police chief Clint Reaves who was also quoted as saying he had been in law enforcement for the past 25 years and had "never been so scared in his life."
"The gas fumes were so strong; gas was pouring out, and Moore was pinned in," he said. "A fireman stopped and went with me, and we kept pulling. Moore got up on his feet, and it took all we could do to tote him."
"If it weren't for Jesus Christ, we would have all blown up," he added. "It was an act of God."
Read the entire report by clicking on the link provided. [Reported by: Breaking Christian News, July 13, 2010)
Worship with Us Today!
Singing with the Saints - The Gaither Band
Heaven's gettn' ready for an end it all celebration
To begin eternity
With a righteous congregation,
This world's comin' to an end
And it won't be long;
The party's gonna' start
And go on and on and on
CHORUS:
I'll be singin' with the saints
At the morning light,
Ringin' in the day
'Cause there is no night.
Sayin' goodbye to the heartache,
Trouble and pain,
I'll be sittin' at the throne
With an angel band,
Shoutin' hallelujah
To the great I Am
If you think it's a dream,
Well, it ain't.
'll be singin' with the saints.
The tambourine's ringin'
And David starts to feel the rhythm.
Paul and Silas are hummin' a tune
They wrote in prison.
Well, Gabriel hears the music
And he picks up his horn;
It's just another glory, hallelujah morn.
