In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• Congress in "Overdrive"
• Marines Do Not Support Repeal of DADT
• Omnibus Stalls in Senate
• More on the Budget
• A Prayer Strategy from CHPP
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
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Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
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chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Thursday, December 16, 2010
"May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way." (2 Thess. 3:16)
The Daily Brief
1. Al Qaeda Planning Christmas Attacks in U.S. and Europe, Insurgents Say - AP
Iraqi authorities have obtained confessions from captured insurgents who claim Al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe during the Christmas season, two senior officials said Wednesday.
- Lord, we apply the Blood of Jesus over every part of America- from its malls to its ports, from cities to countryside. We thank You for Your protection, and we hope in You for bringing all enemy plans to nothing.
- "No weapon formed against you shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17)
2. Iran Threat to Kill American Generals Is Real, Experts Say - Fox News
A leader of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard is promising that American generals will be targeted and killed in revenge for last week's attacks on two of his country's leading nuclear scientists -- a threat Middle East experts say must be taken seriously.
- Father, we pray for a hedge of fire and the Holy Ghost over all of our generals wherever they may be. Whether this is posturing and bluff, or serious from a hidden plan, we trust You to break the arm of the wicked in every case.
- "The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain colas, fire and brimstone and a burning wind; this shall be the portion of their cup." (Psalm 11:5,6)
3. Authorities Find "Improvised Explosives" Inside Connecticut Home - Fox News
Connecticut police and FBI agents are investigating what they say appear to be "improvised explosives" and bomb-making materials found late Wednesday night in a New Haven home.
Firefighters found the materials when they responded to reports of smoke at 17 Hubinger Street, New Haven Police Officer Joe Avery said.
- Thank You, Lord, for revealing this plot. Thank You for swift justice in this matter, and that all plans will be revealed and all perpetrators caught.
- "The Lord is known by the judgment He executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands." (Psalm 9:16)
4. Taxpayer Calculator: $8.3 Billion in Earmarks - Fox News
A showdown is coming to D.C. and the pressure is on Democrats to hold together despite mounting criticism of wasteful spending, while Republicans look to grab some crossover votes.
The fate of the government, literally hangs in the balance. Without Congressional action on a budget, the federal government shuts down for lack of money.
The latest showdown comes largely as a result of earmarks. Both sides know they have to pay roughly a trillion dollars to just to keep the government running, but it's those pet projects seen as wasteful, irresponsible and unnecessary that have voters upset and many in Congress afraid.
All but eight Senate Republicans had agreed to a two year ban on earmarks. A majority Democrats did not, voting down a proposed ban just two weeks ago.
The $1.1 trillion Senate omnibus bill contains 6,714 earmarks worth $8.3 billion.
- Lord, we are incensed that even some Republicans have participated in these earmarks. We are angry that the members of Congress have dishonored the voices of Americans who voted in the November election and are trying to shove these earmarks through at the last minute. They waited on purpose, Lord, so that the need would be so great that it would be pushed through anyway. Father, we ask that You stop these types of actions, that you bring integrity and honor and a true love of the American people to the legislators who are charged with the nation.
- "But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling of the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves in every man's conscience in the sight of God." (2 Corinthians 4:2)
5. Congress' Job Approval Rating Worst in Gallup History - Gallup
Americans' assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job. The 83% disapproval rating is also the worst Gallup has measured in more than 30 years of tracking congressional job performance.
- Lord, it seems that our Congress doesn't get the message, as they continue to do things which infuriate the public in spite of a dismal approval rating. We pray for a Holy Wake-up Call from Heaven for all of them.
- "Professing to be wise, they became fools," (Romans 2:22)
6. Senate plans weekend work to ratify START, pass spending bill - The Hill
The Senate plans to work through the weekend to ratify the New START Treaty and a trillion-dollar spending bill to keep the government running.
- Father, we ask for wisdom, wisdom, and more wisdom for our Congress. We pray that you will literally convict them of poor judgment and inadequate bills. We ask that by the end of the weekend, all selfish pork and hidden dangers will be removed from the issues before them.
- "Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; for the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. My defense is of God, who saves the upright in heart." (Psalm 7:9,10)
7. Intel Reports Reveal Grim Afghan War Outlook - CBS News
President Barack Obama's Afghanistan war plans took two major hits this week: First, his longtime adviser and chief diplomat in the region, Richard Holbrooke, passed away unexpectedly. Now, two classified intelligence reports, one each on Afghanistan and Pakistan and intended for congressional committees, had their contents leaked to The New York Times and their findings are not good.
- Lord, our trust is not in armies, but in You. We ask for You to invade Afghanistan from tribes to politicians. We pray that You will defeat armies and terrorist. We pray that You will set up Your Kingdom in the midst of our enemies!
- "Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will remember the name of our God." (Psalm 20:7)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass. . ." (Micah 4:13)
1. Mitchell proposes 'parallel' but separate U.S. talks with Israel, Palestinians - Ha'aretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to convene his inner forum of seven senior cabinet ministers on Thursday morning, to discuss a new proposal by the United States' Middle East envoy George Mitchell aimed at restarting indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
2. 'We want a state, not unilateral declaration,' Fayyad says - Jerusalem Post
The Palestinian people are not interested in another unilateral declaration of statehood, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Channel 2 in an excerpt of an interview aired Wednesday night.
3. Report: Mitchell presented Abbas with offers - Ynet News
US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell presented a document of "unofficial" offers to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper reported Wednesday. But the report adds Mitchell offered no US guarantees.
4. Israel antiquities chief: Caeserea storm damage a 'national disaster' - Ha'aretz
Israel Antiquities Authority head Shuka Dorfman toured the Caesarea National Park on Wednesday, and called the damage caused to the park during last weekend's strong winter storm a "national disaster."
Congress in "Overdrive"
Christmas in Washington: Democrats Work Overtime to Pass Legislation
(Source: CitizenLink)
Just 13 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a Gallup poll. It's lawmakers' worst approval rating since polling began.
Nevertheless, Congressional Democrats are plowing ahead:
Senate
The Senate voted today in favor of keeping the Bush-era tax cuts in place. The bill now goes to the House. Legislation to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy passed the House today and will come up for a vote in the Senate soon. The FY 2011 omnibus spending bill -- which funds the government -- is expected to come up for a vote this week. The 1,924-page bill is estimated to cost $1.267 trillion and includes more than 6,000 earmarks (pet projects) from both the House and the Senate that total about $8 billion. It also includes $1 billion in funding for ObamaCare.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill "repeats all the mistakes voters demanded that we put an end to on Election Day."
"Americans told Democrats last month to stop what they've been doing: bigger government, 2,000-page bills jammed through on Christmas Eve, wasteful spending."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is working to add Internet gambling language to the omnibus bill, which he has called "a very good piece of legislation." He wants to roll back regulations on online gambling in order to pipe thousands of online casinos into more than 94 million U.S. homes.
House
In a 250-175 vote, the House voted today to repeal the longstanding military policy on open homosexuality. The controversial bill now goes to the Senate.
In a statement before the vote, Republican leaders in the House said: "This issue raises serious questions about the impact on our military and their families, including the impact on our current military readiness, as well as future recruiting and retention.
"Particularly in the middle of two wars, with other ongoing military operations around the world, (we) are disappointed by and opposed to any attempts to change the policy without fully understanding the impact on our military and their families."
The House will take up the tax legislation soon. Lawmakers are considering their own FY 2011 omnibus spending bill, which will get a vote this week.
TAKE ACTION
1. Ask your senators and your representative to vote "No" on the omnibus spending bill. http://clink.convio.net/site/R?i=xJVDd_lzLqAiCBhLx_ypoA
2. Ask your senators and representative to oppose any efforts to legalize Internet gambling.
http://clink.convio.net/site/R?i=T2y4NOsWkAKC2XC4rF0U3A
3. Ask your senators to vote "No" on a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
http://clink.convio.net/site/R?i=iQIpMdrbgaXLwAkMyAYMqQ
Marines Do Not Support Repeal of DADT
Marines: A Vote for Repeal Is a Vote to Sacrifice Soldiers
Anyone who's trying to pick a fight with the Marines over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should have to answer this question, which Gen. James Amos turned on a hostile reporter yesterday: "Have you been out with the Marines in an intense firefight, you personally?" The President certainly hasn't. Nor has his Secretary of Defense. "I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction," the Commandant warned yesterday. "I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda
[Naval Medical Center ] with no legs be the result of any type of distraction... Right now is a very intense period of time for a pretty healthy slice of the United States Marine Corps. This is not training. This is what I call the real deal. And the forces that wear this uniform... came back and told their commandant of the Marine Corps that they have concerns. That's all I need. I don't need a staff study. I don't need to hire three PhDs to tell me [how] to interpret it... [I]f they have concern s, I do too. It's as simple as that." In the end, Gen. Amos is going do what's in the best interest of his Marines and the security of America . If Congress wasn't going to take his concerns seriously, why put him in the position in the first place? "When your life hangs on the line," he told the press, "Mistakes. . . or distractions cost Marines' lives."
This isn't just hyperbole. In his Senate testimony last March, Gen. John Sheehan (USMC-Ret.), Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, told a shocking story of how one gay soldier almost took out an entire combat patrol (page 16 of the congressional record). "Homosexual marines create problems on the battlefield... [In the] early years of Vietnam, 9th Marines, West of Da Nang, rifle company on a ridgeline combat outpost, the intelligence was that the North Vietnamese were going to attack, that night. The unit was put on 50-percent alert, which meant one slept, one stood on watch. About 1 o'clock in the morning, a fight broke out in a foxhole because the young marine was being molested by his squad leader. To the right of that foxhole, there was a machinegun section that opened [fire] and almost killed a combat patrol that was out in the front [because they thought the unit was under attack]."
That happened under a strict military ban. How many brave men and women are liberals willing to sacrifice so that homosexuals can flaunt their lifestyle? The only reason for changing the present policy is if it would help the military accomplish its mission. So far, no one has produced a single reason how it would. Until then, the Senate has to ask itself: Do they want the blood of innocent soldiers on their hands just to appease the political base of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)? If they can live with that, then they're unlike any human beings I've ever met. (Family Research Council)
Omnibus Stalls in Senate
Christmas may be about giving--but not to liberal projects! Unfortunately for most Americans, Democrats are in a generous mood, and they plan to prove it by spending over a trillion taxpayer dollars. Yesterday, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) filed the blimp of an omnibus, plumped up with over 6,600 earmarks. The 1,924-page mammoth, which clocks in just 125 pages shy of ObamaCare, packs in everything from "cool season legume research" to "pig waste management." (You may laugh (or cry) at Tom McClusky's hilarious take on the earmarks via Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) over at The Cloakroom Blog.) Obviously, Democrats are hoping that with a government shutdown looming, Republicans will have no choice but t o swallow the pork and pass the bill. We've seen this same strategy play out the last two years. Leaders push the controversial votes up against Christmas to extract votes from members who just want to go enjoy their families. Liberals are banking on the fact that the Senate will cave to get home sooner.
Not so fast, say Republicans. "[I]t is completely and totally inappropriate to wrap all of this up into a 2,000-page bill and try to pass it the week before Christmas," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) couldn't believe the Democrats' nerve. "This omnibus was written as if the election in November never happened." And earmarks aren't the only thing to be furious about. FRC found plenty of pro-abortion measures hiding out in the fine print. The spending includes $750 million for an ObamaCare "slush fund" with zero oversight. Among other concerns, taxpayer funds could be used for abortions in D.C., $740 million would go toward international population control, and Title X funds would get a multi-million dollar boost. "Senate Republicans have the power to stop this railroad exercise," the Wall Street Journal insists, "if they stick together and insist that the Senate do the business the right way." But the right way means saying "no way" to the parade of bad bills. (Family Research Council)
More on the Budget
The "Go To Hell" Budget And What You Can Do About It
Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House just made clear what they think of the millions of Americans like you who voted five weeks ago for less government and more freedom. Yesterday, Reid introduced a 2,000-page spending bill for 2011 that authorizes $1.1 trillion in spending.
The budget was supposed to be introduced and voted on months ago, but Reid and Pelosi dared not disclose to the public the full extent of their fiscal insanity before the election. If the public had known the details on November 2nd, even more liberals would have been booted out of office and banished to political obscurity by the voters.
Even now senators don't know what is in this mess. How could they? Reports suggest the bill contains more than 6,000 earmarks. The 2,000 pages were just given to them yesterday and Reid wants a vote NOW. He doesn't want any delays to give you time to fight back. Reid and his "wrecking crew" are counting on normal Americans being focused on family and faith in this Christmas season.
Republicans are furious! Senators DeMint (R-SC) and Coburn (R-OK) are demanding that the entire proposal be read out loud on the Senate floor, which could take days. In response, Harry Reid is threatening to keep the Senate in session for the remainder of the year.
Not surprisingly, this Congress just set a new record but not for the number of days worked. The latest Gallup poll finds that the approval rating of this lame duck Congress has dropped to a record low of just 13%! If the rating drops again, we may have room to print the actual names of those still supporting Reid and Pelosi!
But please remember this is not the new Congress that was elected in November. The winners on November 2nd don't get sworn into office until January. In this Senate, Democrats and their allies outnumber Republicans 58-to-42.
ACTION ITEM: Call Capitol Hill at 202-224-3121 and ask for the offices of your two senators. Tell them to vote "no" on the omnibus spending bill. Most Republicans will do the right thing, but Senators Bennett (R-UT), Bond (R-MO), Voinovich (R-OH), Collins (R-ME) and Murkowski (R-AK) are considering voting in favor of the bill. Call them! Tell this lame Congress to go home now! (Gary Bauer)
A Prayer Strategy from CHPP
How to Get Through to a Member of Congress: A Biblical Suggestion
A number of our friends have written in, expressing frustration that they cannot get through on the Capitol Hill phone lines, but continue to get a busy signal, instead.
This should come as no surprise, as the homosexual community has launched a huge "assault" on the Hill to persuade members to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
Other groups are also lobbying very strongly now on a variety of issues.
As children of the most High God, we have found that, when we need to get through to our senators and congressmen, GOD has given us a way to do that:
Very simply, in Scripture, the Angel of the Lord's Presence went before the Israelites to make the way for them to advance.
IT IS WRITTEN:
For He said, "Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie." So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old. (Isaiah 63: 8,9)
So, when we need to "break through," we simply turn and ask our Lord to send forth the Angel of His Presence to go before us, that we might do His will.
May you, too, be blessed as you ask this blessing from our Father in heaven, who desires to equip His saints to do His work on earth, as it is in heaven. Amen!
The Good News Corner
School Superintendent Says God Saved His Life During Shooting Incident in Florida
'God was standing in front of me': Florida school chief relives terrifying moment gunman opened fire
The school superintendent who calmly confronted a gunman at a Florida school board meeting said today he is lucky to be alive.
Bill Husfelt said that God protected him when Clay Duke opened fire in what appeared to be revenge for his wife being fired.
'It could have been a monumental tragedy', Mr Husfelt said. 'We could tell by the look in his eyes that this wasn't going to end well'
Mr Husfelt said: 'God was standing in front of me and I will go to my grave believing that'.
Mr. Husfelt had tried to reason with Duke and offered to get his wife a new job but the 56-year-old fired several shots - miraculously missing the men and no one was injured.
Read more.
(UK Daily Mail Online)
Worship with Us Today!
"O Holy Night!"
The King's College Choir
Cambridge University
Worship Him in the season of His First Coming!
