• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• Obama raised money for Islamic causes
• Marines Support Camp Pendleton Crosses
• Obama Won't Sign ENDA E.O.
• Today's Legislative Focus
• In Israel: Protestors Plan Another Fly-In
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
"Partners in Prayer for Our Nation"
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Thursday, April 12, 2012
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." (Romans 10:16)
The Daily Brief
1. Major earthquakes hit off US, Mexico coasts - Fox News
An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 was reported on Mexico's Pacific Coast on Wednesday, following on the heels of a major but lesser quake off the coasts of Oregon.
- Father, we pray protection from these damaging earthquakes. We cry out with all creation for Your return.
- For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)
2. Iran to offer new proposals at nuclear talks - Jerusalem Post
Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Wednesday that the country would put forward "new initiatives" in upcoming negotiations over its nuclear program.
- Lord, we continue to pray for a peaceful solution to the nuclear dilemma with Iran. May our leaders be prepared for these talks, and have discernment in all things.
- My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; (Proverbs 3:21)
3. Brazil president Dilma Rousseff blasts Western QE as 'monetary tsunami' - UK Telegraph
Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff has attacked Western governments for creating a "monetary tsunami" as they pursue quantitative easing (QE) policies in an effort to revive their economies.
- Father, we pray against any negative results from using QE policies. May these policies be used short term to bring about the desired effects. May our leaders heed the warning from the Brazil president about creating a "monetary tsunami".
- For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. (Luke 14:28-30)
4. George Zimmerman charged with 2nd-degree murder in Trayvon Martin shooting - Fox News
Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman turned himself in Wednesday to face a charge of second-degree murder after a Florida special prosecutor announced she had concluded that his claims of self defense were not supported in the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
- Father, we intercede for this hi-profile court case. May truth be revealed in all aspects of this shooting. We lift up the families involved. In Jesus Name.
- For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever- he issued a decree that will never pass away." (Psalm 148:1,2,5,6)
1. PM to Abbas: Talks without recognition of Israel as Jewish state - Ynet News
A few weeks after the Palestinians are expected to present Benjamin Netanyahu with a missive detailing their conditions for the renewal of peace negotiations, the Israeli prime minister will respond with a letter of his own. Government officials familiar with the document told Ynet Wednesday night it would not include a demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
2. Netanyahu to offer Abbas return to direct Mideast peace talks, sources say - Ha'aretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will offer a Palestinian delegation to upgrade Mideast peace negotiations to direct talks, to be led by Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a source in the Prime Minister's Office said on Wednesday.
3. Israel, Lebanon navy increase cooperation in Mediterranean - Ha'aretz
The Israel Navy has recently strengthened its cooperation with the Lebanese Navy in the Mediterranean, as it prepares for possible pro-Palestinian flotillas to Gaza on Nakba Day this month.
4. Quartet concerned over 'ongoing settler violence' - Ynet News
The Middle East Quartet expressed concern on Monday over "ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank" and called on Israel to take "effective measures, including bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice.
The Daily Jot
Washington prophesied a divided America 216 years ago
America's first President, George Washington, articulated a vision for the United States in his farewell address given in September 1796 that did not include political parties or class warfare--two ingredients that have culminated in a divided nation just as Washington prophesied 216 years ago. Washington said, "Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles."
How far have "We the People" strayed from this statement? In the name of progress, we have become a nation without pride of patriotism. We have so many religions and versions of religions that we have barely no religion at all. We are actually celebrating diverse manners and habits. We are a divided nation where some cling to Constitutional principles and others undermine it with their justification that man progresses and so, too, should the Constitution. By Washington's standards, we have lost our bearing on what it is to be an American--that citizens assimilate the national properties of religion, manners, habits and political principles rather than becoming a melting pot of diverse beliefs and practices.
Washington believed that allowing political parties would be a divisive and dangerous act to liberty and limited government. He warned, "You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection...they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Washington believed an inoculation against the undermining of political parties was electing moral and religious leaders. He said, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them." As Exodus 18:21 says regarding good government: "provide out of all the people able men, such as fear YHVH, men of truth, hating covetousness." How can men who believe they are god, fear YHVH? How far have we progressed to even be forced with that choice?
Have A Blessed And Powerful Day,
Bill Wilson
Obama raised money for Islamic causes
Back in the 1990s, Barack Obama spoke at fundraisers for Palestinians living in what the United Nations terms refugee camps, as WND was first to report.
Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Muslim Arabs, thereby changing its demographics.
[Hussein] Obama has faced criticism of his stance on Israel, including his unprecedented call for a complete halt to Jewish construction in the eastern sections of Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria as a precondition for talks with the Palestinians.
[Hussein] Obama has hailed his presidential track record on the Jewish state, touting continued financial aid and loan guarantees to Israel. Such standard funding falls mostly within the purview of Congress, however.
On the specific issue of Palestinian "refugees," [Hussein] Obama has never indicated he will push for the so-called right of return. (WorldNetDaily)
(Read more.)
Marines Support Camp Pendleton Crosses
Decision Expected Soon on Fate of Camp Pendleton Crosses
Marines Speak Out In Support of the Memorials
The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAFF) is threatening to file a lawsuit if two memorial crosses are not removed from Camp Pendleton in California. The group asserts that the presence of the crosses on federal land is unconstitutional. Reports indicate that "the commandant of the Marines is expected to rule on the cross controversy any day.
On Veterans Day, a group of Marines carried a 13-foot cross to the top of a hillside at the military base, placing it as a memorial to their fallen comrades. The display replaced a cross that had burned in a wild fire in 2007. Two crosses now reside at the spot, which is seen by Marines as a place for grief and reflection. The wife of a fallen Marine who helped to erect the original cross in 2003 said, "It's not a religious spot at all, it's a place for the Marines to grieve and to grow to let go of their burdens of what they had in their soul, so they can go back down that hill and back into battle and put their own lives on the line."
The situation at Camp Pendleton highlights the confusion surrounding Establishment Clause jurisprudence, which Justice Thomas recently said was "in shambles."
- Lift up a prayer that memorials to our nation's veterans are not dismantled and stripped of symbols that honor their service and their sacrifice.
- "For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer." (I Peter 3:12)
Obama Won't Sign ENDA E.O.
Obama Won't Issue Ban on Gay Discrimination
WASHINGTON - Obama won't issue an executive order anytime soon banning employment discrimination against gay and lesbian workers by federal contractors, officials said Wednesday, disappointing some gay-rights activists who had hoped for action on the issue ahead of the election.
Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett delivered the news to gay-rights activists at a meeting Wednesday afternoon, and the decision was confirmed by a senior administration official.
The executive order under consideration would have barred federal contractors from hiring or firing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Supporters consider such an order a second-choice option to broader legislation banning such discrimination.
The announcement followed a letter sent to the President last week by over 70 Members of Congress calling on him to sign the executive order. The White House said Obama instead supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) introduced in both the House and the Senate, an even broader measure that would apply to most employers instead of only to federal contractors. Versions of ENDA have been introduced for years, but have never been passed by both houses. (Wall Street Journal Online) Read more.
Today's Legislative Focus
From The Madison Project
www.madisonproject.com
Earmarxists Make Best Case Against Earmarks
The Republican-controlled House is currently operating under a moratorium on earmarking. But if several GOP "earmarxists" have their say, this will change in the near future.
Throughout the past decade, most of the arguments against earmarks have been focused on wasteful spending, corruption, cronyism, and self-ingratiating monuments. Robert Byrd's monuments and the Bridge to Nowhere became symbols for such bad behavior. To that end, even some conservative advocates of earmarks have lodged a counterargument. They contend that earmarks are only "pocket change," and that by declining to earmark specific funding bills, we are ceding more power to the Obama administration. In order to preclude any extravagant earmarks and cronyism, they are proposing reforms and limitations to the process that will supposedly put an end to things like the Bridge to Nowhere.
All of these arguments completely ignore the most potent problem with any and every form of earmarking. Ironically, it is the supporters of earmarks that have articulated the reason why earmarks must never be resurrected in Congress. Here are some quotes from a couple of big-government Republicans as cited in a widely circulated Reuters article last Friday:
In a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, [Mike]Rogers [R-AL] recommended reviving a proven legislative sweetener that became politically toxic a year ago. Bring back earmarks, Rogers told his colleagues.
Reps. Rogers and LaTourette have let the cat out of the bag. It's not about the $500,000 earmark. It's about the $500,000 earmark that is used to buy off a conservative vote for a $1 trillion omnibus or some other terrible transformational legislation.
Hence, the problem with the highway, farm, and energy bills of the past decade wasn't the plethora of earmarks, per se; it was the underlying bill in each case. The earmarks are used as the magic "grease" to garner majority support for big-government legislation.
Pro-earmark conservatives who are worried about ceding power to the executive branch are credulously overlooking the broader implication of bringing back the practice. If the earmarking business is reinstated, we will never rally majority opposition against bad legislation promulgated by leadership. There might be a few dozen lawmakers, at best, who could resist the temptation for a personal sweetener in the bill, but we will never rally enough support to ever roll back the size of government. Earmarks are the unifying glue that binds together a statist governing majority.
Just imagine for a moment a scenario where leadership desires to pass an omnibus bill, debt ceiling hike, Ex-Im Bank extension, or highway bill. They will bake in enough earmarks in the committee process (even if the ban was retained after the committee stage) and pick off a number of members who would otherwise oppose the underlying bill.
Proponents of earmarks are correct when they assert that we should not focus on "a few pennies," but rather on the main drivers of the debt. We agree, and that's why earmarks must never return to the House. (Read more.)
Palestinian Protestors to Retry Mass Fly-in
Pro-Palestinian protestors are planning to launch a second attempt at staging a mass fly-in of more than 1,000 sympathizers to clog the works at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport as an attention-grabber. The event is set for April15.
As they did the last time the tactic was tried, Israeli security and intelligence will work with airlines' security and governments of the countries of embarkation to prevent protest participants from boarding their Israel-bound flights, minimizing the demonstration's effectiveness in Israel.
Upon arrival, those who were able to successfully board their flights will say they are traveling to the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], triggering security procedures organizers believe will tie-up operations at the airport. For those who succeed in entering Israel and finding their way to Bethlehem, a cornerstone-laying ceremony will be the gathering point. (By The Media Line, April 5, 2012) [Reported by: Bridges for Peace]
Prayer Focus
Pray that the efforts of those who are looking to participate in the fly-in are of no avail and are fruitless. Pray for wisdom for those in security.
Scripture
"Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish." (Isaiah 41:11)
The Good News Corner:
Arizona Governor Signs Porn-Protection Law
New statute protects children from exposure at school, in libraries.
Children in Arizona are a little bit safer this week than in the past, thanks to a piece of legislation recently signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.
HB 2712 requires public schools and libraries to use Internet filters that limit access to pornography, and also to shield computer screens so that children won't be exposed to pornography that is being accessed by adults. It also requires all public libraries to post their rules governing computer usage in obvious places.
"I applaud the state of Arizona and the groups that are behind this because they've done the right thing in securing protection for Arizona public libraries and for children and others who don't want to see pornography at the public library," said Morality in Media President Pat Trueman.Last November, a Phoenix television station examined a year's worth of security reports from public libraries, documented dozens of incidents, including men looking at porn, exposing themselves, or inappropriately touching children.
"Frankly," Trueman said, "all pornography should be off all public computers in the library because predators know to go to the library where they can be near children and look at pornography." (CitizenLink) Read more.
Worship with Us Today!
"My Life Is In Your Hands"
Lester Rector
You don't have to worry
And don't you be afraid
Joy comes in the morning
Troubles they don't last always
For there's a friend in Jesus
Who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken
Just lift your hands and say
Listen here:
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• Obama raised money for Islamic causes
• Marines Support Camp Pendleton Crosses
• Obama Won't Sign ENDA E.O.
• Today's Legislative Focus
• In Israel: Protestors Plan Another Fly-In
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
"Partners in Prayer for Our Nation"
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Thursday, April 12, 2012
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." (Romans 10:16)
The Daily Brief
1. Major earthquakes hit off US, Mexico coasts - Fox News
An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 was reported on Mexico's Pacific Coast on Wednesday, following on the heels of a major but lesser quake off the coasts of Oregon.
- Father, we pray protection from these damaging earthquakes. We cry out with all creation for Your return.
- For we know that the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)
2. Iran to offer new proposals at nuclear talks - Jerusalem Post
Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said Wednesday that the country would put forward "new initiatives" in upcoming negotiations over its nuclear program.
- Lord, we continue to pray for a peaceful solution to the nuclear dilemma with Iran. May our leaders be prepared for these talks, and have discernment in all things.
- My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; (Proverbs 3:21)
3. Brazil president Dilma Rousseff blasts Western QE as 'monetary tsunami' - UK Telegraph
Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff has attacked Western governments for creating a "monetary tsunami" as they pursue quantitative easing (QE) policies in an effort to revive their economies.
- Father, we pray against any negative results from using QE policies. May these policies be used short term to bring about the desired effects. May our leaders heed the warning from the Brazil president about creating a "monetary tsunami".
- For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. (Luke 14:28-30)
4. George Zimmerman charged with 2nd-degree murder in Trayvon Martin shooting - Fox News
Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman turned himself in Wednesday to face a charge of second-degree murder after a Florida special prosecutor announced she had concluded that his claims of self defense were not supported in the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
- Father, we intercede for this hi-profile court case. May truth be revealed in all aspects of this shooting. We lift up the families involved. In Jesus Name.
- For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever- he issued a decree that will never pass away." (Psalm 148:1,2,5,6)
1. PM to Abbas: Talks without recognition of Israel as Jewish state - Ynet News
A few weeks after the Palestinians are expected to present Benjamin Netanyahu with a missive detailing their conditions for the renewal of peace negotiations, the Israeli prime minister will respond with a letter of his own. Government officials familiar with the document told Ynet Wednesday night it would not include a demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
2. Netanyahu to offer Abbas return to direct Mideast peace talks, sources say - Ha'aretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will offer a Palestinian delegation to upgrade Mideast peace negotiations to direct talks, to be led by Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a source in the Prime Minister's Office said on Wednesday.
3. Israel, Lebanon navy increase cooperation in Mediterranean - Ha'aretz
The Israel Navy has recently strengthened its cooperation with the Lebanese Navy in the Mediterranean, as it prepares for possible pro-Palestinian flotillas to Gaza on Nakba Day this month.
4. Quartet concerned over 'ongoing settler violence' - Ynet News
The Middle East Quartet expressed concern on Monday over "ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank" and called on Israel to take "effective measures, including bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice.
The Daily Jot
Washington prophesied a divided America 216 years ago
America's first President, George Washington, articulated a vision for the United States in his farewell address given in September 1796 that did not include political parties or class warfare--two ingredients that have culminated in a divided nation just as Washington prophesied 216 years ago. Washington said, "Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles."
How far have "We the People" strayed from this statement? In the name of progress, we have become a nation without pride of patriotism. We have so many religions and versions of religions that we have barely no religion at all. We are actually celebrating diverse manners and habits. We are a divided nation where some cling to Constitutional principles and others undermine it with their justification that man progresses and so, too, should the Constitution. By Washington's standards, we have lost our bearing on what it is to be an American--that citizens assimilate the national properties of religion, manners, habits and political principles rather than becoming a melting pot of diverse beliefs and practices.
Washington believed that allowing political parties would be a divisive and dangerous act to liberty and limited government. He warned, "You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection...they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
Washington believed an inoculation against the undermining of political parties was electing moral and religious leaders. He said, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them." As Exodus 18:21 says regarding good government: "provide out of all the people able men, such as fear YHVH, men of truth, hating covetousness." How can men who believe they are god, fear YHVH? How far have we progressed to even be forced with that choice?
Have A Blessed And Powerful Day,
Bill Wilson
Obama raised money for Islamic causes
Back in the 1990s, Barack Obama spoke at fundraisers for Palestinians living in what the United Nations terms refugee camps, as WND was first to report.
Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Muslim Arabs, thereby changing its demographics.
[Hussein] Obama has faced criticism of his stance on Israel, including his unprecedented call for a complete halt to Jewish construction in the eastern sections of Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria as a precondition for talks with the Palestinians.
[Hussein] Obama has hailed his presidential track record on the Jewish state, touting continued financial aid and loan guarantees to Israel. Such standard funding falls mostly within the purview of Congress, however.
On the specific issue of Palestinian "refugees," [Hussein] Obama has never indicated he will push for the so-called right of return. (WorldNetDaily)
(Read more.)
Marines Support Camp Pendleton Crosses
Decision Expected Soon on Fate of Camp Pendleton Crosses
Marines Speak Out In Support of the Memorials
The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAFF) is threatening to file a lawsuit if two memorial crosses are not removed from Camp Pendleton in California. The group asserts that the presence of the crosses on federal land is unconstitutional. Reports indicate that "the commandant of the Marines is expected to rule on the cross controversy any day.
On Veterans Day, a group of Marines carried a 13-foot cross to the top of a hillside at the military base, placing it as a memorial to their fallen comrades. The display replaced a cross that had burned in a wild fire in 2007. Two crosses now reside at the spot, which is seen by Marines as a place for grief and reflection. The wife of a fallen Marine who helped to erect the original cross in 2003 said, "It's not a religious spot at all, it's a place for the Marines to grieve and to grow to let go of their burdens of what they had in their soul, so they can go back down that hill and back into battle and put their own lives on the line."
The situation at Camp Pendleton highlights the confusion surrounding Establishment Clause jurisprudence, which Justice Thomas recently said was "in shambles."
- Lift up a prayer that memorials to our nation's veterans are not dismantled and stripped of symbols that honor their service and their sacrifice.
- "For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer." (I Peter 3:12)
Obama Won't Sign ENDA E.O.
Obama Won't Issue Ban on Gay Discrimination
WASHINGTON - Obama won't issue an executive order anytime soon banning employment discrimination against gay and lesbian workers by federal contractors, officials said Wednesday, disappointing some gay-rights activists who had hoped for action on the issue ahead of the election.
Senior adviser Valerie Jarrett delivered the news to gay-rights activists at a meeting Wednesday afternoon, and the decision was confirmed by a senior administration official.
The executive order under consideration would have barred federal contractors from hiring or firing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Supporters consider such an order a second-choice option to broader legislation banning such discrimination.
The announcement followed a letter sent to the President last week by over 70 Members of Congress calling on him to sign the executive order. The White House said Obama instead supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) introduced in both the House and the Senate, an even broader measure that would apply to most employers instead of only to federal contractors. Versions of ENDA have been introduced for years, but have never been passed by both houses. (Wall Street Journal Online) Read more.
Today's Legislative Focus
From The Madison Project
www.madisonproject.com
Earmarxists Make Best Case Against Earmarks
The Republican-controlled House is currently operating under a moratorium on earmarking. But if several GOP "earmarxists" have their say, this will change in the near future.
Throughout the past decade, most of the arguments against earmarks have been focused on wasteful spending, corruption, cronyism, and self-ingratiating monuments. Robert Byrd's monuments and the Bridge to Nowhere became symbols for such bad behavior. To that end, even some conservative advocates of earmarks have lodged a counterargument. They contend that earmarks are only "pocket change," and that by declining to earmark specific funding bills, we are ceding more power to the Obama administration. In order to preclude any extravagant earmarks and cronyism, they are proposing reforms and limitations to the process that will supposedly put an end to things like the Bridge to Nowhere.
All of these arguments completely ignore the most potent problem with any and every form of earmarking. Ironically, it is the supporters of earmarks that have articulated the reason why earmarks must never be resurrected in Congress. Here are some quotes from a couple of big-government Republicans as cited in a widely circulated Reuters article last Friday:
In a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, [Mike]Rogers [R-AL] recommended reviving a proven legislative sweetener that became politically toxic a year ago. Bring back earmarks, Rogers told his colleagues.
Reps. Rogers and LaTourette have let the cat out of the bag. It's not about the $500,000 earmark. It's about the $500,000 earmark that is used to buy off a conservative vote for a $1 trillion omnibus or some other terrible transformational legislation.
Hence, the problem with the highway, farm, and energy bills of the past decade wasn't the plethora of earmarks, per se; it was the underlying bill in each case. The earmarks are used as the magic "grease" to garner majority support for big-government legislation.
Pro-earmark conservatives who are worried about ceding power to the executive branch are credulously overlooking the broader implication of bringing back the practice. If the earmarking business is reinstated, we will never rally majority opposition against bad legislation promulgated by leadership. There might be a few dozen lawmakers, at best, who could resist the temptation for a personal sweetener in the bill, but we will never rally enough support to ever roll back the size of government. Earmarks are the unifying glue that binds together a statist governing majority.
Just imagine for a moment a scenario where leadership desires to pass an omnibus bill, debt ceiling hike, Ex-Im Bank extension, or highway bill. They will bake in enough earmarks in the committee process (even if the ban was retained after the committee stage) and pick off a number of members who would otherwise oppose the underlying bill.
Proponents of earmarks are correct when they assert that we should not focus on "a few pennies," but rather on the main drivers of the debt. We agree, and that's why earmarks must never return to the House. (Read more.)
Palestinian Protestors to Retry Mass Fly-in
Pro-Palestinian protestors are planning to launch a second attempt at staging a mass fly-in of more than 1,000 sympathizers to clog the works at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport as an attention-grabber. The event is set for April15.
As they did the last time the tactic was tried, Israeli security and intelligence will work with airlines' security and governments of the countries of embarkation to prevent protest participants from boarding their Israel-bound flights, minimizing the demonstration's effectiveness in Israel.
Upon arrival, those who were able to successfully board their flights will say they are traveling to the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], triggering security procedures organizers believe will tie-up operations at the airport. For those who succeed in entering Israel and finding their way to Bethlehem, a cornerstone-laying ceremony will be the gathering point. (By The Media Line, April 5, 2012) [Reported by: Bridges for Peace]
Prayer Focus
Pray that the efforts of those who are looking to participate in the fly-in are of no avail and are fruitless. Pray for wisdom for those in security.
Scripture
"Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish." (Isaiah 41:11)
The Good News Corner:
Arizona Governor Signs Porn-Protection Law
New statute protects children from exposure at school, in libraries.
Children in Arizona are a little bit safer this week than in the past, thanks to a piece of legislation recently signed by Gov. Jan Brewer.
HB 2712 requires public schools and libraries to use Internet filters that limit access to pornography, and also to shield computer screens so that children won't be exposed to pornography that is being accessed by adults. It also requires all public libraries to post their rules governing computer usage in obvious places.
"I applaud the state of Arizona and the groups that are behind this because they've done the right thing in securing protection for Arizona public libraries and for children and others who don't want to see pornography at the public library," said Morality in Media President Pat Trueman.Last November, a Phoenix television station examined a year's worth of security reports from public libraries, documented dozens of incidents, including men looking at porn, exposing themselves, or inappropriately touching children.
"Frankly," Trueman said, "all pornography should be off all public computers in the library because predators know to go to the library where they can be near children and look at pornography." (CitizenLink) Read more.
Worship with Us Today!
"My Life Is In Your Hands"
Lester Rector
You don't have to worry
And don't you be afraid
Joy comes in the morning
Troubles they don't last always
For there's a friend in Jesus
Who will wipe your tears away
And if your heart is broken
Just lift your hands and say
Listen here:
