In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• A High Court Controversy
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The Daily Brief - Thursday, May 26, 2011
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. (Isaiah 62:1)
The Daily Brief
1. High Court Upholds Arizona Law Penalizing Employers Over Illegal Immigrant Workers - AP
The Supreme Court has sustained Arizona's law that penalizes businesses for hiring workers who are in the United States illegally, rejecting arguments that states have no role in immigration matters.
By a 5-3 vote, the court said Thursday that federal immigration law gives states the authority to impose sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized workers.
- Thank You Lord, for this victory in the Supreme Court! We ask that more states now begin to clamp down on the immigration violations across the borders of America, not to harm the innocents, but to protect the nation.
- "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He has done marvelous things: His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory." (Psalm 98:1)
2. Goodwin Liu Withdraws Appeals Court Nomination - Fox News
A liberal legal scholar at the heart of the debate over judicial activism on Wednesday asked President Obama to withdraw his nomination for a position as an appeals court judge after Senate Republicans blocked a vote on his confirmation last week.
Goodwin Liu, 40, wrote in a letter to President Obama that "with no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future."
- Praise You Lord for this clear victory! We pray for Mr Liu, that You will touch his soul and change his life for Your kingdom. We also ask for nominees that are more balanced in their approach.
- "Because of His strength I will wait upon You; for God is my defense." (Psalm 59:9)
3. Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin's Collective Bargaining Law - Fox News
Wisconsin's law taking away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public workers was struck down Thursday by a circuit court judge, but the ruling will not be the final say in the union fight that brought tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol earlier this year.
- We could have seen this coming, as if the private sector has bargaining rights, so would public sectors. But the purpose of the law was to stop the unions from pushing the costs of employees too high for budgets to withstand. Pray that God will bring a balance to the process of wage negotiations, so that unions will be forced to stop their greedy practices, and workers will be compensated with fairness in ways that help to balance state budgets.
- "Justice and judgment are the habitation of Your throne; mercy and truth shall go before Your face." (Psalm 89:14)
4. Stimulus price tag once again lurches higher - Washington Times
Congress's chief scorekeeper said Wednesday that the price tag on Obama's stimulus law has risen once again, this time to $830 billion -- or more than $40 billion more than first projected.
- Father, as we continually battle the ramifications of the stimulus packages instituted over the last few years, we pray for financially wise solutions to be granted to our leaders.
- "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom." (Psalm 51:6)
5. Egypt to open Rafah crossing permanently - UK Telegraph
Egypt will open its only crossing with the Gaza Strip this weekend, the Cairo military government announced on Wednesday, significantly easing a four-year blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory but setting up a potential conflict with Israel.
- Father, we ask for You to ramp up Your protection for Israel in the face of this action by Egypt. We ask for the help of Your Angelic Host to stand guard against the weapons that flow through Gaza, that no secrecy is able to hide the works of Hamas.
- "Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands." (Isaiah 59:6)
6. German party branch equates Israel with Third Reich - Jerusalem Post
The Left Party branch in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, has posted a flyer with a swastika morphing into a Star of David on its website and called for a boycott of Israeli products.
- Father, we bind the spirit of murder against the Jews, and loose Your Holy Spirit to bring truth to the people of this German party. No plan of the enemy shall succeed, and hatred will not stand!
- "When you cry, let your companies deliver you; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My Holy mountain." (Isaiah 57:13)
7. 'Butcher of Bosnia' Nabbed After 16 Years on the Run - Fox News
Notorious war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic can now face U.N. indictment in slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
- Lord, Your justice always wins against those who use the cover of religion to murder innocent people. From Bin Laden to Mladic, we praise You for the removal of violent and wicked men from our midst.
- "evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him." (Psalm 140:11b)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
For Zion's Sake. I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth (Isaiah 62:6,7))
1. Obama: Palestinian UN bid a mistake - Ynet News
Obama on Wednesday said that it would be wrong for the Palestinians to pursue UN recognition instead of peace talks with Israel.
2. Nasrallah: Obama, Netanyahu dealt mortal blow to peace - Ynet
News Hezbollah's leader has lashed out at Obama, saying the US and Israel have the same goals.
3. Right 'ambivalent' on PM's speeches - Ynet News
Heads of settlement movement largely support PM Netanyahu's Washington statements but say time has come to speed up construction in east Jerusalem, West Bank.
4. US: Hezbollah has more missiles than most states - Ynet News
Hezbollah is armed with more missiles and rockets than most states, according to outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
5. Abbas: Netanyahu's speech 'traveled far from peace' - Jerusalem Post
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel was offering "nothing we can build on" for peace and that without progress he will seek UN recognition of Palestinian statehood in September.
6. Palestinian Statehood Vote Looms Over U.S.-Israel Rift - Wall Street Journal
Though the Most Honorable Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly clashed with Obama on Friday and held firm in his stance Monday night, the Israeli leader still needs American help on a looming test: a proposed United Nations vote on a resolution to recognize Palestinian statehood.
The Daily Jot
Straight talk on the condition of our government
Most Americans would likely agree that there is something innately wrong with the United States government. There is an LA Times story now about how congressmen paid some $21.5 million in bonuses to their staffs at the end of 2010. I was shocked to know that these staffers even received bonuses. My office never was issued bonuses when I worked as a "Hill Staffer." But even more shocking was that congressmen who were defeated doled out an average bonus of $4,000 per staffer, while those who were reelected paid an average of $2,300. Does this not tell every American that these people we are electing to office care little about the sufferings of their countrymen, and treat hard earned tax dollars frivolously?
Earlier this week, I wrote about how the president diverted floodwaters around Cairo, Illinois, which supported him heavily in his 2008 election, and the result was that thousands of acres of farms were flooded along the Mississippi. Every state below Cairo voted for the president's opponent in 2008. Moreover, the mainstream news media hammered George Bush for the government's allegedly flawed emergency response on the Katrina disaster. They, however, have had nothing but praise for the current president as he took a break and made a mere phone call from Ireland in response to the Joplin, Missouri tornado deaths. Over 60% of the Joplin area voted for his opponent.
There is more. The Washington Examiner reports that "1,372 businesses, state and local governments, labor unions and insurers, covering 3,095,593 individuals or families," have been granted a waiver from the president's mandated health care program. The Examiner goes on to document that the majority of the waivers were granted to political supporters of the president. The story also documents many other examples, recounting the president saying to Hispanic voters that he wanted to "punish our enemies" and "reward our friends." The Examiner concludes: "They look liked examples of crony capitalism, bailout favoritism and gangster government. One thing they don't look like is the rule of law."
The Founders believed that for our form of government to be successful, we should elect only moral and religious leaders. George Washington said in his Farewell Address, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." We ourselves, especially those of us who call ourselves Christians, have allowed the election of these immoral and unreligious leaders. Jesus said in Matthew 7:5, "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." You see, if we were occupying as we should, voters would know not to elect those who sin against us and our children.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com
A High Court Controversy
In all the big news of the past week, a very controversial United States Supreme Court decision has been largely ignored. In a 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ordered California to release more than 40,000 prisoners, arguing that prison overcrowding had created conditions that amounted to "cruel and unusual" punishment. The decision was backed by the court's four liberal justices, including two appointed by President Obama, and Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Beyond abortion and homosexual "marriage," this case gives us a glimpse into the future if Obama is reelected and given four more years to pack the federal courts with left-wing activists. The court's liberal majority was more concerned with the conditions of prisoners than the safety of the general public.
This decision will have severe consequences. As other court-ordered prisoner releases have demonstrated, people may be killed, raped or robbed as result. In the 1990s, Philadelphia was forced to release thousands of prisoners under court order. In less than two years, the police had arrested and charged many of the released prisoners for committing nearly 10,000 new crimes, including 79 murders, 90 rapes and nearly 1,000 robberies.
The court's conservatives were incredulous. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia warned that "terrible things are sure to happen as a consequence of this outrageous order." Justice Samuel Alito argued that the court should have issued a narrow ruling to address specific problems on a case-by-case basis. Instead, Alito wrote, the liberal majority freed "the equivalent of three Army divisions" of criminals, which he feared would "lead to a grim roster of victims." (Gary Bauer)
