Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
"Partners in Prayer for the Nation"
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
On Capitol Hill This Week - Volume XIX, Number 19a
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
July 23 - 27, 2012
"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37)
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Syria in the News
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Syria in the News
Prayer points from Intercessors for Israel
PART ONE: SYRIA IN CHAOS
Syria is in chaos. The attack on the Syrian security HQ in Damascus this past week killed a number of top leaders whom Syrian President/Dictator al-Assad depended on - including his brother-in-law and other top defense ministers. The real concern here in Israel is what will happen with the Syrian stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons - the largest such stockpiles in the world. Will Assad attack Israel or his own people with them? Will he flee and leave them in the hands of the rebels - which include various global jihad groups, including al-Qaida? Or will he transfer them to Hizbullah in Lebanon? The last scenario would likely bring an Israeli military response that could quickly escalate into a full-fledged war - drawing Iran in as well. Israel has canceled all Shabbat leaves from the IDF stationed on her northern border this weekend.
- Abba, raise up in Israel many "sons of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do . . " (1 Chronicles 12:32)
- Give to Israel's leadership wisdom, boldness and courage to do whatever needs to be done to protect this nation from Syria's weapons of mass destruction.
- Enable the IDF to be supernaturally alert to what is happening along Israel's borders - especially with Syria and with Lebanon.
- Expose all movements of Syria's weapons of mass destruction.
- No weapon that is formed against you shall be prosper . . . ( Isaiah 54:17a )
Like Elisha, we recognize and declare that there are more with us than with our enemies (2 Kings 6:16-17).
- Deal with Hizbullah - directly to Israel's north - as You said You would with northern armies in Joel 2:20-21.
- We thank You for hearing our prayer and throwing Israel's enemies into confusion - even to the extent of having them fight against one another as You have done so often in the past.
- Continue to confound those who hate Zion (Psalms 129:5).
- Glorify Yourself as You defend Your nation - for Your holy name's sake! "For YHWH will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, because it has pleased YHWH to make you His people." (1 Samuel 12:22)
PART TWO: PRAYERS FOR THE SYRIAN PEOPLE
We next prayed concerning the terrible situation in Syria - especially for the innocent Syrians and our Syrian brothers and sisters in Messiah Yeshua.
- Lord, have mercy in the midst of this chaos (Habakkuk 3:2b).
- With the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starting over the weekend, do that which You have so often done in the past and reveal Your Son to many Muslims in dreams and visions during this time.
- Strengthen the Body of Messiah in Syria and give them much wisdom and protection.
- Open their mouths when they should speak. "O LORD, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise." (Psalms 51:15) "I am the LORD your God . . . open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." (Psalms 81:10)
- Place a guard over their mouths when they should be silent. "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." (Psalms 141:3)
- Let the believers know when they should stay and when it is time to flee.
- Protect the Syrian Kurds and save multitudes of them.
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News from Israel
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News from Israel
- ISRAEL HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF
- ISRAEL WARY OF HEZBOLLAH BUILDUP IN LEBANON
- CHIEF OF STAFF ORDERS INCREASED ALERTNESS DUE TO EXPLOSION IN SYRIA
- NETANYAHU: WE'LL CONTINUE TO FIGHT TERRORISTS
- SYRIA: ISRAEL CONSIDERS STRIKE AT CHEMICAL WEAPONS
- BOLTON TO ISRAEL: TIME TO FINALLY 'RETALIATE' AGAINST IRAN
- BLAST ROCKS EGYPT'S GAS PIPELINE TO ISRAEL, JORDAN
- SOLDIERS' BUS COMES UNDER FIRE NEAR EILAT
1. ISRAEL HAS THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF
US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro commented Friday on the terror attack in Bulgaria, which claimed the lives of five Israelis and left 32 injured, saying that Israel has the right of self-defense. Shapiro conveyed Washington's condolences to the families of the victims, adding that the US is cooperating with Israel and Bulgaria on the investigation, so to ensure those responsible will be brought to justice.
Asked whether the United States was concerned about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement, accusing Iran - via Hezbollah - of orchestrating the attack, especially given the growing tensions vis-à-vis Tehran over its nuclear program, Shapiro said that "Israel has the right to defend itself."
According to the US envoy, Washington was enraged to learn of the attack: Israel is the victim and the "prime" target for terror attacks around the world, and the US plans to increase it efforts, in collaboration with Israel and other countries, to prevent future attacks, he said. "Terror knows no bounds," he stressed, adding that cooperation was key in the war on terror. [Reuters contributed to this report ]
Read more
- Lord Jesus, we give thanks for this support of Israel and its right to defend itself spoken by this US government envoy. May US government officials remember these words and continue to abide by them, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- Though I walk in the midst of trouble You will revive me. You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies and Your right hand will save me. (Psalm138:7)
2. ISRAEL WARY OF HEZBOLLAH BUILDUP IN LEBANON
Hezbollah is building its forces in Lebanon and that's raising tension at the country's border with Israel.
Since the "Arab Spring" fallout in Egypt and Iran's nuclear threats, Israel moved Lebanon down a few notches on its threat list. But that could soon be changing.
The Israeli-Lebanese border has been relatively quiet here for the last six years. But Israel said Hezbollah is building its forces daily.
Their goal: Destroy Israel.
Halevy said those changes might include Hezbollah attacking Israel in an attempt to help Syria or acting on behalf of Iran.
Either way, "the retaliation of Israel will be very, very strong," he said.
In 2006, Hezbollah launched nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel. Since then, the militants have re-armed with thousands of longer-range missiles.
"If we get to another war, Israel will hit Hezbollah decisively, quickly, as fast as we can in order to stop the fire from Lebanon to Israel," Halevy said.
Read more
- O Abba Father, Your special land is surrounded by terror and hatred! We ask that you infuse her leaders with blessings of discernment, comfort and strength, so that their minds will fill with directions as to when and how to respond to all threats, so that their actions will be abiding in Your will, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You have delivered me from the violent man. (Psalm 18:47-48)
3. CHIEF OF STAFF ORDERS INCREASED ALERTNESS DUE TO EXPLOSION IN SYRIA
Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, concluded a special situation assessment today (Wednesday, July 18) regarding the recent developments in Syria, where top security officials were killed by opposition forces. As a result of an explosion that took place in Damascus, Syrian defense minister, Daoud Rajha, his deputy Asef Shawkat were killed.
Head of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, GCO Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan and other IDF [Israel Defense Forces] officials participated in the situation assessment. Lt. Gen. Gantz instructed the officials to continue tracking occurrences at the border, employing the necessary alertness. He also ordered holding continual situation assessments about the region. Security officials will hold an additional assessment tomorrow.
IDF Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yoav (Poly) Mordechai addressed the incident as well and said, "The IDF closely tracks what is taking place in Syria. The incidents have regional influence."
Defense minister, Ehud Barak, is currently consulting with security and intelligence officials regarding the current situation in Syria, and instructed close tracking of the incident. Additionally, Mr. Barak spoke with Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, about the occurrences in Syria. Defense minister Barak said, "Israel is closely tracking the developments in Syria." (Reported by BFP: Bridges for Peace) (By Israel Defense Forces, July 18, 2012)
- Pray that Syria's civil war will not spill over into Israel. Pray for the nation of Syria and its people that they might find true peace and stability.
- "He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth." (Psalm 57:3)
4. NETANYAHU: WE'LL CONTINUE TO FIGHT TERRORISTS
PM Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the media on Thursday, condemning Wednesday's terror assault against Israelis in Bulgaria. "This attack was part of a global campaign of terror carried out by Iran and Hizbullah. This terror campaign has reached a dozen countries on five continents. The world's leading powers should make it clear that Iran is the country that stands behind this terror campaign." He added that Iran must be exposed by the international community as the primary terrorist-supporting state that it is. "Everything should be done to prevent Iran, the world's most dangerous regime, from developing the world's most dangerous weapons. We'll continue to fight against terrorists and to exact a heavy price from those who support them," said Netanyahu. Vice PM Moshe Yaalon said Friday that every Israeli who leaves the country needs to assume he is a target, and to be particularly alert. Speaking of the attack in Bulgaria, Yaalon said, "We have no doubt that Iran and its emissaries are behind this terrorist assault, as part of their recent attempt to hurt Israeli targets." (INN) [Source is Jerusalem-On-The-Line]
- Lord God, we come before Your throne to seek exposure of plotted evilness before they happen, and if they do, that the truth will be shown for all the world to see. Expose Iran for what it, as a nation plots, especially against Your special land Israel. We pray in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- "O righteous God, who searches the minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked" (Psalm 7: 9)
5. SYRIA: ISRAEL CONSIDERS STRIKE AT CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Washington has held talks with Israel about a possible strike at Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, which is thought to be the largest in the world.
The Pentagon is not advocating military action, particularly while President Bashar al-Assad still clings to power, but US officials told the New York Times that the option had been presented by Israel.
An Israeli incursion from the air or by land would be highly sensitive, given that it has officially been in a state of war with Syria for decades.
Israel however has a track record of unilateral action there, having destroyed a facility suspected of being a planned nuclear weapon research and development centre in the eastern Deir ez-Zor region in 2007.
Its concern is shared by King Abdullah of Jordan, who told CNN that in the "worst case scenario" chemical weapons could end up in the hands of jihadist groups among the patchwork of anti-Assad forces.
"Our information is that there is a presence of al-Qaeda in certain regions inside Syria, and has been there for a while," he told CNN.
"And, again, one of the worst-case scenarios as we are obviously trying to look for a political solution would be if some of those chemical stockpiles were to fall into unfriendly hands," he warned.
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- O Abba Father, we fall before You to bring this horrendous possibility of not just war and terror, but of extremely evil chemicals being used. Father, please be with Israel in this situation if she chooses to act, so that her leaders may repeat their unilateral actions successfully, for all nations concerned, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, may the name of the God of Jacob defend you. May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion. (Psalm 20:1-2)
6. BOLTON TO ISRAEL: TIME TO FINALLY 'RETALIATE' AGAINST IRAN
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton is urging Israel to attack Iran in retaliation for the killing of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, saying the time has come for the Jewish state to quit threatening and take action."This is obviously a very dangerous period for Israel with the civil war in Syria, refugees reported going across the border into Lebanon, and Hezbollah well armed with rockets on Israel's northern border," Bolton told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren Thursday night. "So I think if there were ever a time to retaliate, and directly against Iran this time, this is it."
Bolton, however, said the tourist bus bombing in Bulgaria was not just "a tit for tat operation" initiated by Iran, but was timed for "maximum effect." He noted, for example, that the Bulgaria killings coincided with the 18th anniversary of a bombing against Israelis in Buenos Aires and comes as new tensions with Iran are building over its efforts to develop a nuclear-weapons program.
Calling Iran "the central banker of terrorism," Bolton said things would only get worse for Israel and the rest of the world "once they get nuclear weapons." "If Israel waits until Iran gets nuclear weapons and then Iran continues to engage in these kinds of terrorist attacks, Iran really can do it with impunity because Israel risks a nuclear response from Iran," he said, noting that the Jewish state is "entitled to stop the attacks at their source."
Read more
- Lord Jesus, may Israeli leaders hear this man's warnings, but first have them hear and listen to You! Lord, give Netanyahu a clear understanding of Your will of where and when - whether while asleep in the night or just within his spirit as he seeks You - to know and act as a nation as You would have them do. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.
- There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand. (Proverbs 19:20-21)
7. BLAST ROCKS EGYPT'S GAS PIPELINE TO ISRAEL, JORDAN
An explosion on Sunday rocked the Egyptian pipeline built to carry natural gas to Israel and Jordan, the 15th time it has been attacked since the start of the uprising in early 2011 that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The blast occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning at al-Tuwail, east of the coastal Sinai town of al-Arish, at a point before the pipeline splits into separate branches to Israel and Jordan, security officials and witnesses said. An official in the company that manages the pipeline said exports of gas to both Israel and Jordan had been halted since an explosion that hit the pipeline in April and that the flames were caused by residual gas.
Residents in al-Arish, however, said gas shipments had begun three days ago through the pipeline, which at one point supplied Israel with about 40% of its natural gas. Egypt in April terminated its agreement to supply gas to Israel because of what it said was a business dispute.
The 20-year gas deal, signed in the Mubarak era, was unpopular with many Egyptians, with critics accusing Israel of not paying enough for the fuel.
Read more
- Dear Heavenly Father, You know the truth in these events. That truth needs to be brought out of the darkness into Your glorious light, for all to see. This is just another terrorist tactic, Lord. Extend Your right hand and rise up as a flood against these works of darkness, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- It is time for You to act, O Lord, for they have regarded Your law as void. (Psalm 119:126)
8. SOLDIERS' BUS COMES UNDER FIRE NEAR EILAT
An Israeli bus traveling on a road near Mount Sagi, close to the Israel-Egypt border, came under terrorist fire Sunday. No injuries were reported, but the bus, which was carrying IDF soldiers, sustained damaged. Security forces are canvassing the area. It is believed that the fire came from across the border, by terrorists hiding among the Sinai dunes.
Several week ago, following an attack on construction crews building the new Israel-Egypt border fence, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that Israel "Expects the Egyptians to exercise their sovereignty" over Sinai. Gantz said that the construction of the fence is progressing very as planned: "The operational problem is a different issue, a more significant issue is what goes on in Sinai, where terror bases continue to form. We expect the Egyptians to exercise their sovereignty in Sinai," he said.
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- Heavenly Father, we come before you to thank you and offer praise, that all the IDF soldiers were safe. We decree defeat and confusion into the enemy's camps in the Sinai. We decree the Fear of You arise strongly within each person within these enemy camps, Lord, so that this new border fence may be successfully completed and function as You would have it function to protect Your special land and people, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. (Psalm 18:47-48)
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Israelis Killed in Bulgaria
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Israelis Killed in Bulgaria
- ISRAELI VICTIMS' BURIAL FROM BULGARIAN ATTACK
- WOUNDED ISRAELIS FROM BURGAS LAND IN TEL AVIV
- BULGARIAN PRESS NAMES BOMBER: MEHDI GHEZALI
- NETANYAHU "ROCK SOLID" ABOUT IRAN-HEZBOLLAH TERROR CONNECTION
This week's suicide bombing in Bulgaria of a tour bus filled with Israelis was a heart-rending event for all. Today in Israel, the five dead Israelis are being buried. Many more remain in hospital and, of course, whenever an event like this occurs, all those who have had any involvement in terror attacks immediately relive those events. We prayed for this nation and the survivors. But we also prayed for the government to know how to respond. (Source: Intercessors for Israel)
- Comfort, O comfort My people, says your God. (Isaiah 40:1)
Abba, the only true comfort is that which comes from knowing Your Son and His victory over death. We plead with You to reveal Messiah Yeshua to the multitudes that are grieving in Israel over this weekend.
- And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, Do not fear, I am the First and the Last, and the Living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for ever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and of death. (Revelation 1:17-18) - God, we thank You that only five died as we have seen many more killed in bus bombings in Israel.
- Lord, reveal to Israel's intelligence services exactly who is responsible for this attack.
- Then give to her leaders wisdom and courage to know how to respond. A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9) There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
- Enable Israel to strike back in Your timing and in Your way - bringing terror to the terrorists. For the rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. (Romans 13:3a)
- Give divine protection to all Israelis traveling this summer - especially to Israel's Olympic team in the UK.
- Lord Yeshua, in Your name, we take a stand against any successful kidnapping attempts of Israelis - whether here in the land or outside in the nations (Psalms 121:3-4; Isaiah 54:17).
2. WOUNDED ISRAELIS FROM BURGAS LAND IN TEL AVIV
Seven people were killed when a blast tore through a bus shuttling Israeli tourists in the terminal of Sarafovo Airport in Burgas, Bugaria on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Five Israeli tourists were killed in the Burgas attack as well as the bus driver and the suicide bomber himself. Two IAF [Israel Air Force] C-130 Hercules aircrafts landed in Burgas, Thursday morning [July 19, 2012], in order to airlift the Israelis injured in Wednesday's terror attack back to Israel. A third plane, carrying Magen David Adom specialists, landed in Sofia [capital of Bulgaria] in order to evaluate the condition of the Israelis seriously hurt in the attack and ensure that they could be flown back to Israel.
Thirty-three of the Israelis injured in the suicide bombing returned home to Israel this afternoon [July 19, 2012]. They were immediately transferred to hospitals in the greater Tel Aviv area for treatment. Four of the Israelis are in serious or critical condition. The fatalities' identification process, headed by ZAKA is ongoing. Dozens of Israelis who were lightly wounded in the blast, or luckily escaped injury, were waiting at the airport since the attack, seeking to go back to Israel. Sarafovo Airport closed immediately after the attack. Elsewhere in Bulgaria, flights headed to Israel were canceled or delayed as well.
Following the attack, the Shin Bet has temporarily suspended all flights bound for Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Bulgaria's Interior Ministry said that security measures in and around hotels where Israeli tourists are staying have been stepped up following the terror attack. Police presence in the district of Burgas has also been beefed up.
Media reports have identified the suicide bomber as Mehdi Ghezal, a Swedish citizen with Finnish and Algerian connections. He was said to have been detained in Guantanamo in Cuba from 2002 to 2004. (Ynet News) [Reported by Bridges for Peace]
- Pray for complete healing of those injured. Pray for the families of all involved and the safety of Israelis traveling outside of Israel.
- "As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice." (Psalm 55:16-17)
3. BULGARIAN PRESS NAMES BOMBER: MEHDI GHEZALI
Terrorist said to have been a Swedish citizen with a history of Muslim extremist activities Bulgarian media on Thursday named the suicide bomber who blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists, killing five Israelis and a local bus driver, in the Black Sea resort of Burgas on Wednesday as 36-year-old Mehdi Ghezali.Ghezali reportedly arrived in Bulgaria five weeks before the bombing and arrived at the airport via taxi, Channel 2 reported. He was also reportedly given the bomb by someone else, but no further details were provided.
Ghezali has a Wikipedia page, which describes him as a Swedish citizen, with Algerian and Finnish origins. He had been held at the US's Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba from 2002 to 2004, having previously studied at a Muslim religious school and mosque in Britain, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, it says. He was taken into custody on suspicion of being an al-Qaeda agent, having been arrested along with a number of other al-Qaeda operatives.
A 2005 Swedish documentary about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp starred Ghezali, who detailed his experience in American custody. He was also reportedly among 12 foreigners captured trying to cross into Afghanistan in 2009. The Bulgarian news agency Sofia reported that the bomber was carrying an American passport and Michigan driver's license, both believed to be forgeries.
Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told Sofia that DNA tests were being run to determine the identity of the Caucasian man, who the minister described as casually dressed with nothing suspicious about his appearance to set him apart from the crowd of people at the airport.The ministry did not indicate how the police came to the conclusion that the man was the suicide bomber. (Times of Israel) Read more.
Lord Jesus, may all that is hidden be exposed and may the truth arise, so that all people and nations can see. May justice be served, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen.
- "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 16:25)
4. NETANYAHU "ROCK SOLID" ABOUT IRAN-HEZBOLLAH TERROR CONNECTION
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday repeated his assertion that Iran and its "terrorist proxy" Hezbollah are behind the recent suicide attack in Bulgaria and other similar efforts . . .
Netanyahu said his assertion that Hezbollah is behind the attack last week at a Bulgarian bus station that killed five Israeli tourists is based on "rock solid" intelligence and its resemblance to other, recent attempted attacks across the world, included an attempt in Cyprus."It's the same modus operandi," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "It's them and we know it."
Netanyahu also called the Iran government "the world's most dangerous regime. (Fox News) Read more.
- Please continue to lift up Israel's prime minister in prayer, asking our Lord to grant him great wisdom as he apparently stands alone among the nation's leaders in calling out Iran for the threat that it is. Praise God for Mr. Netanyahu's brave, bold and courageous leadership. He surely has been called to lead his nation through these
perilous times.
- ""With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding." (Job 12:13)
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More International News
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More International News
- ISRAEL FEARS SECOND OLYMPICS MASSACRE IN LONDON
- MOST WANTED NAZI ARRESTED, INDICTED
- EXPLOSION SHUTS DOWN OIL PIPELINE IN TURKEY
- RUSSIA: CONTROVERSIAL NGO BILL BECOMES LAW
- ICELAND FORGIVES MORTGAGE DEBT OF ITS POPULATION
- ICELAND BOOMS AS THE WORLD STRUGGLES
- IRAN SENDS MORE NUCLEAR FUEL TO RESEARCH REACTOR
1. ISRAEL FEARS SECOND OLYMPICS MASSACRE IN LONDON
Mossad fears of a "London Massacre" at the Olympics Games, 40 years after the Munich Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes, has sent London security forces into a panic as the Games begin, according to the Sunday Times of London.
More than 15,000 soldiers, private security guards and police are being deployed throughout the city as Scotland Yard and Britain's M5 intelligence officials take seriously reports of terrorist plots. The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also has sent elite troops to protest Israel's athletes, and the London Times added that a security force named Bayonet has been deployed to Europe to hunt down terrorists linked with Hizbullah and Iran.
The terror alert in the city has been raised even higher following last week's suicide attack on a tourist bus carrying Israelis. An Al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for the murders, but the terrorist group has not confirmed the claim. One suspected terrorist was named by the London newspaper as David Jefferson, who was carrying an American passport and is believed to have fled Bulgaria after the attack. (Israel National News) Read more.
- Lord Jesus, in recent weeks there have been rumors of a range of threats as to the security of these London Olympics. They have targeted Israel, but also targeted the British Royal family and foreign guests who are traveling to these events. We come before You to seek a hedge of protection over Israel, its athletes, and all aspects of these Olympics, allowing all these athletes to compete as they have trained to do, in Jesus' Name, Amen amd Amen.
- "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever." (Psalm 125:2)
2. MOST WANTED NAZI ARRESTED, INDICTED
Authorities in Hungary have arrested Ladislaus Csizsik-Csatary, 97, the world's most wanted Nazi war criminal after decades in hiding. He is accused of sending nearly 16,000 Jews to the Auschwitz death camp while serving as the police commander in charge of a Jewish ghetto. He "was known to be a sadist, he had a determination to round all Jews up and forcibly deport them to Poland," said Dr. Efraim Zuroff, head of the Wiesenthal Center. He tortured and beat the Jews under his command, and shot anyone who tried to escape on sight. (UK Sun)
- This incident proves again that the eyes of God are on every man. We hope that in his 97 years at some point he heard the gospel and repented of his gross sins. Praise the Lord that authorities in Hungary and the Wiesenthal Center never gave up seeking justice for the 16,000 Jews Csatary was responsible for and sadistically murdered. While the war criminal must stand before man's justice, he can appear clean before God. Praise the Lord for His mercy. Pray for this Nazi; for some reason the Lord has allowed him to live a long life.
- "He leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty." (Job 12:19)
3. EXPLOSION SHUTS DOWN OIL PIPELINE IN TURKEY
An explosion and fire have shut down a pipeline that carries oil from Iraq to world markets, an official said Saturday. No one was hurt in the blast. The explosion late Friday hit a section of a pipeline that takes oil from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, near the southeastern town of Midyat, said an Energy Ministry official. A second line that runs parallel was not damaged, but was also briefly shut down as a precaution, the official said. The two pipelines carry about 25 million tons of crude oil a year.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of government rules, said the cause of the blast was under investigation but was most likely the result of sabotage. Kurdish rebels, fighting for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, have bombed the pipeline before, cutting oil flows from Iraq for days.
Firefighters put out the blaze by Saturday afternoon, the official said, adding that repairs to the pipeline were about to begin. It was not clear when oil flows to Ceyhan would resume. ( AP from Yahoo1news)
- Pray that Turkish officials do not act hastily in deciding that the Kurds are the cause of the sabotage of the oil pipeline. The Turks view the Kurds with contempt. Different terrorists groups could use the Kurds as the whipping boys for their mischief. Pray that the oil starts flowing to the sea port, and that the port and ships anchored there are safe.
- "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man and he is caught in the cords of his sin." (Proverbs 5: 21,22)
4. RUSSIA: CONTROVERSIAL NGO BILL BECOMES LAW
President Putin has signed into law a controversial bill forcing foreign-funded non-governmental groups (NGOs) involved in political activity to register as "foreign agents" in Russia. The Kremlin has said the law is needed to protect Russia from outside attempts to influence internal politics. But critics think the authorities will use the law to try to crush dissent. They say it aims to prevent such NGOs denouncing vote-rigging and other abuses.
The law requires the phrase "foreign agents" - with its negative Soviet-era connotation - to be included in all materials produced by all affected NGOs. Such NGOs would also have to undergo financial audits and issue twice-yearly reports on their activities. Failure to comply will be punishable by heavy fines or even a two-year prison sentence.
Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, which advocated the change, has claimed that foreign governments are using NGOs in Russia as cover to bring about political change. Critics have said the legislation appears to pose a serious threat to the work of independent election monitor Golos, human rights group Amnesty International and the anti-corruption group Transparency International. Muscovites fear that the bill is another step closer to fascism.
The US State Department earlier expressed "deep concern" about the new law - but was swiftly reproached by Moscow for "gross interference". (Europe news)
- If nations are alarmed by the passage of this bill, and so are the citizens living in and near Moscow, then there must be some political strings attached that serve Putin's purposes. We've known all along that Putin desires to gain power that was lost when Communism crashed in 1989. Obviously the Russians do not want such a bill and may even desire that NGO's be allowed to exert influence in the politics of Russia. Pray for the freedom of the Russian people. And pray for the souls of Putin and the many Russians who are completely secular.
- "Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have purposed to make my steps stumble." (Psalm 140:4)
5. ICELAND FORGIVES MORTGAGE DEBT OF ITS POPULATION
The government of Iceland has forgiven the mortgage debt for much of its population. This nation chose a very different way of stopping the crisis from the rest of European countries. It decided to hear the requests of the population and to put politicians and bankers on the bench of the accused three years after their financial excesses would sank one of the most prosperous economies in 2008. Read more.
- What a great idea! Praise the Lord!
- "He enlarges nations, and guides them." (Job 12:23b)
6. ICELAND BOOMS AS THE WORLD STRUGGLES
For a country that four years ago plunged into a financial abyss so deep it all but shut down overnight, Iceland seems to be doing surprisingly well. It has repaid, early, many of the international loans that kept it afloat. Unemployment is hovering around 6 percent, and falling. And while much of Europe is struggling to pull itself out of the recessionary swamp, Iceland's economy is expected to grow by 2.8 percent this year. It has repaid, early, many of the international loans that kept it afloat. Unemployment is hovering around 6 percent, and falling. And while much of Europe is struggling to pull itself out of the recessionary swamp, Iceland's economy is expected to grow by 2.8 percent this year.
Everything has turned around," said Adalheidur Hedin-sdottir, who owns and runs the coffee chain Kaffitar, the Starbucks of Iceland, and has plans to open a new cafe and start a bakery business. "When we told the bank we wanted to make a new company, they said, 'Do you want to borrow money?'" she went on. 'We haven't been hearing that for a while."
Analysts attribute the surprising turn of events to a combination of fortuitous decisions and good luck, and caution that the lessons of Iceland's turnaround are not readily applicable to the larger and more complex economies of Europe. But during the crisis, the country did many things differently from its European counterparts. It let its three largest banks fail, instead of bailing them out. It ensured that domestic depositors got their money back and gave debt relief to struggling homeowners and to businesses facing bankruptcy. (07-11-2012 The Meister) Read more.
- In 2008, we remember seeing (on the internet) videos of the good, well-dressed citizens of Iceland, standing by the thousands in front of their Parliament, loudly banging pots and pans with spoons in hand, and chanting: "We are hungry! We have no money! Give us food!" Our hearts sank then for the plight of these good people, and we began to intercede that their leaders would find a way to get their economy moving again.
So today, we give special thanks for this good report, and we ask that our Lord would now grant the same wisdom to the leaders of the European nations and our own quickly, so that someday soon, we will not be out on our own streets, banging pots and pans with spoons, asking for food in a bankrupt economy.
- "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jer. 32:17)
7. IRAN SENDS MORE NUCLEAR FUEL TO RESEARCH REACTOR
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's nuclear chief says more domestically produced nuclear fuel has been supplied to a medical research reactor. The 20 percent enriched uranium used in the reactor has been a key issue in talks between Iran and world powers over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The West wants Iran to halt production of the 20 percent fuel, which is much closer to weapons grade than the level needed for energy-producing reactors.
The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. (Fox News)
- Pray that Iran's plans collapse upon themselves and that, instead, all of these "researchers" fall into their own net. Pray for the salvation of all Iranians who are working on these reactors. Pray!
- "Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb." (Psalm 37:1,2)
Volume XIX, Number 19b - July 23 - 27, 2012
FOCUS ON THE HEALTH CARE ACT
"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37)
1. EXPECT THE HEALTH CARE LAW TO REENTER THE HEADLINES
Debate over the healthcare law will rear its head again this week. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release a new report assessing the federal spending and revenue expected under the law. The analysis will take into account the Supreme Court's decision, which upended the cost and coverage picture by making the law's Medicaid expansion optional for states. (Healthwatch)
Most likely voters want Congress to drop its fighting over the healthcare law, according to a new poll weighted toward battleground states. Fifty-one percent of likely voters told pollsters for NPR that it's time for Congress to move on to other issues now that the Supreme Court has issued its ruling on the Affordable Care Act. (Healthwatch) We expect this to change as it becomes clearer this law is not what was presented to the American people.
- Father, remove the veil. Show this law for what it is at all levels. May the American people not be bought with sugar-coated poison.
- "Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness." (Amos 6:12)
2. CONGRESSIONAL ACTION RELATED TO AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
While last week was quieter on the health care front, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his intentions to secure a vote in the Senate on a repeal of the health care law.
"I would remind you all that we had that vote in 2011. Every single Republican voted to repeal it," McConnell said at a press conference Tuesday. "We believe it's appropriate to have that vote again and we'll be working to get that kind of vote in the near future." That day, he filed an amendment to the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act that would repeal the law. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has vowed to block the effort. (Pray for Congress/Healthwatch)
The self-righteousness was running high last week when "A Democratic campaign committee accused Republicans of voting to repeal the healthcare law to maintain their own government-subsidized health benefits, in part. The healthcare law mandates that members of Congress receive coverage through the new insurance exchanges rather than the current Federal Employees Health Benefit Program. Repealing the law would return lawmakers to the program, which allows officials to keep their policies after they retire." (Healthwatch) This is interesting considering members of this group (a) did not come up with that idea, and (b) were the ones opposed to that very provision in 2009. (Politifact) It's not as if those who passed the health care law in 2010 actually wanted to live under it at the time.
- Father, we pray for justice and not politics in Congress. That's a big prayer request, and You are a big God. Heal our land. Heal our leaders and the relationships between them. Pull back this tyranny that is clouding over our land. May we clearly see You at work and give You praise.
- "Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled." (Exodus 19:16)
3. FUNDING ISSUE TAKEN UP IN ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) on Tuesday released his long-awaited and highly controversial appropriations bill for the Health and Human Services Department. It's the last of the 12 annual appropriations bills to be released, and will surely become a major issue in Rehberg's Senate race.
Overall, Rehberg's proposal would cut the HHS budget by roughly $1.3 billion. It would block the implementation of President Obama's healthcare law, and the proposal would also eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Supporters of government-funded research say the bill would also eliminate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) - a previously non-controversial agency that hands out research grants. AcademyHealth, which represents health researchers, urged its members to "respond quickly and declaratively to this attack on research." (Healthwatch)
- Father, we thank You for the leadership of Rep. Rehberg. May his tribe increase. May those kinds of policies that honor you be given a lasting place in American public policy.
- "Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats' hair, and everything made of wood." (Numbers 31:20)
4. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: CENTRALIZING POWER
Remember the PowerPoint slide for the Defense Department's surge strategy in Afghanistan, or the Pentagon's Life Cycle Management System? There is one for HHS now, too:
Notice one key difference in this slide: it has a very defined center. The power of the Secretary for Health and Human Services has greatly increased under this law. He or she can nearly throw money around at will as bait to the states to hook them into the federal programs.
Healthwatch: "In the two weeks since the court issued its decision, the Health and Human Services Department has pushed out new grants, new policies and a new rhetorical standby: It's time to get on board."
The administration also used the tragedy of the wildfires in Colorado into a opportunity: "President Obama announced last week that he would provide healthcare coverage to the hundreds of firefighters battling wildfires in Colorado. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a regulation Tuesday implementing the policy. In addition to covering firefighters' families, OPM also said it will allow other agencies to request coverage for temporary workers who are 'similarly situated to firefighting personnel.'" (Healthwatch)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is questioning the Obama administration's authority to immediately provide federal firefighters with health insurance. In a letter Friday, Coburn asked the Office of Personal Management (OPM) to defend the decision with a legal analysis and several cost assessments. "Routine questions about the impact of the regulation currently remain unanswered," Coburn wrote to OPM Director John Berry. He added that the firefighters "are to be commended for their service." (Healthwatch)
- Father, we thank you for God-honoring friends of the President like Senator Tom Coburn who are willing to speak up for the rule of law. We ask you to restrain the expansion of federal executive power and raise up more leaders from both sides in all regions of the country to do the same.
- "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." (Proverbs 27:6)
5. REACTION IN THE STATES
The typical low-key summer gathering of the nation's governors was anything but subdued this year. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision leaving it up to the states whether to expand their Medicaid programs topped headlines coming from the National Governors Association's two-day meeting held in Williamsburg, Va., that began July 13.
As Stateline has reported, Medicaid expansion may be a tough fiscal call for some states. Governors of both parties have indicated they want more time to study the impact of expanding their programs with the help of federal money. (Pew Center on the States)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad balked at the idea of expanding their states' Medicaid ranks, saying that their budgets cannot take on additional entitlement spending. (Healthwatch)
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will "likely be comparing notes with GOP legislative leaders over whether it will be a good idea in 2014 to extend Medicaid to around 500,000 more low-income residents with the help of $2 billion annually in federal aid." (The Detroit News)
As a Democratic candidate for governor, Jay Nixon pledged to expand Medicaid coverage as his "first order of businesses." During his first year as governor, he failed to persuade the Republican-led legislature to pass a relatively moderate Medicaid expansion. Now up for re-election, Nixon is refusing to take a position on whether Missouri should embrace a comparatively larger Medicaid expansion called for under President Barack Obama's health care law. (Missourian)
A nearly year-long effort to reshape Georgia's Medicaid program has largely been put on hold amid uncertainties surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court's recent health care law decision and effects of the November elections. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter named two working groups to study whether Idaho should establish an insurance exchange and expand Medicaid eligibility. The 26-person list released Friday includes more than a half-dozen doctors, as well as numerous executives and lobbyists from insurance companies and hospitals. And though the list includes numerous proponents of establishing an Idaho insurance exchange, the Republican governor also added the head of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a free-market advocate demanding such reforms be spurned. (Idaho Statesman)
State lawmakers in Kentucky have found a new way to thwart the implementation of President Obama's healthcare law: blocking the state from renting office space for new healthcare employees—a new illustration of just how deeply Republicans' opposition to the healthcare law runs. (Healthwatch)
All this action in the states amid reports that…
A new report out Tuesday concludes that six major U.S. states will face mounting fiscal crises as healthcare spending continues to spiral out of control and the federal government tries to rein in its own budget deficit in the coming years. The non-partisan State Budget Crisis Task Force looked at California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia. (On The Money)
Rep. Gingrey editorial: States such as Georgia, which requires a balanced budget by law, will be forced to cut funding elsewhere, such as education or infrastructure investment. Requests by governors of both parties for greater flexibility in determining Medicaid eligibility have fallen on deaf ears. In response, I've introduced H.R. 1683, the State Flexibility Act, which fully repeals these onerous regulations and allows states to take responsible, common-sense steps to balance their budgets while simultaneously lowering federal entitlement spending.
- Father, we know states don't have a Fed that can call up some "quantitative easing" and just print money to bail them out of their fiscal problems. We ask for wisdom, vigilance and endurance among our states' governors and legislatures. Even the "left coast" and "blue states" have realities they must face, and we ask you to give them honesty, wisdom, and courage to pursue fiscal policies that honor You. And we ask that Congress and the federal government would relinquish its hold and give the states the freedom to do so.
- "Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace." (Exodus 18:21-23)
6. A LEGAL STRATEGY ON IMPLEMENTATION
Conservatives see new promise in their criticism over how the Obama administration is implementing new subsidies to help people buy insurance. The IRS has said subsidies will be available in state exchanges and the federally run fallback. But Republicans say that's an illegal policy, because the Affordable Care Act refers to "an exchange established by the state." So far, this debate has been mostly carried out in dueling press releases, but a new white paper says the "state exchange" phrasing could be the cornerstone of a new legal challenge to the health law.
Two conservative healthcare experts - Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, and Michael Cannon, a scholar at the Cato Institute - said lawsuits could be filed by employers, who are subject to the law's employer mandate and must pay a penalty if their workers receive government subsidies. (Healthwatch)
This "puts Section 1401 at the center of a burgeoning debate over what Congress meant when it wrote the Affordable Care Act, and how that effects its ultimate implementation." (Wonkblog)
People who earn up to 400% of the federal poverty level-$44,680 for a single person this year-would be eligible to apply for tax credits to help offset the cost of insurance purchased through online marketplaces, known as exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the subsidies would average about $4,780 per person in 2014. In all, 18 million people could have their insurance costs subsidized, at a cost of $681 billion through 2021, CBO analysts have said.
The point of dispute stems from the likelihood that many states won't set up exchanges and instead will let the federal government run them. Critics say wording in the health-care law means that federally run exchanges aren't authorized to offer people insurance tax credits.
To fix the problem, the Internal Revenue Service in May issued a regulation that would allow the credits to go to people regardless of whether they purchased insurance through an exchange run by a state or the federal government. The agency said the rule was "consistent with the language, purpose, and structure" of the law. Opponents of the law say the IRS overstepped its authority by making the fix, and they are trying to use the discrepancy to challenge one of the core foundations of the law. (The Wall Street Journal)
All this prompted NPR to conclude: "If you thought last month's Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act was the final word on the legality of the health law, think again. Some conservative scholars believe they may have discovered a flaw that could send the law back to court, or at least cause some big problems for its implementation." (NPR) They give some excellent and understandable background on this legal question. Yahoo! News' The Ticket has more, also.
- Father, we thank You for able legal minds and their diligence for combing through the hundreds of pages of this bill. We ask that the rule of their own law would prevail. May any seeds of its own destruction prevail. May justice reign, and may the hands of any who would overreach be bound and tied up ineffective.
- "I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search." (Psalm 77:6)
7. IMPLEMENTATION LEGAL STRATEGY CUTS TWO WAYS
Many conservatives believe one of the best ways to weaken the Affordable Care Act is to challenge the subsidies it provides to help people buy insurance. If their view of the law starts to succeed, it could be a major threat to the law's effectiveness. But it could also be a major threat to Republican governors who want to escape Medicaid requirements they say are "unconscionable."
Subsidies will be available to people who get their coverage through insurance exchanges - new marketplaces where individuals and small businesses can buy coverage. The ACA directs each state to set up an exchange and authorizes a federally run fallback in any state that doesn't establish its own exchange.
The IRS intends to provide subsidies in both state-run and federal exchanges, but Hatch and other conservatives say that's an illegal policy. They note that the text of the ACA refers to exchanges "established by the state," and say subsidies can't be offered in the federal exchange. The federal government might have to operate at least part of the exchanges in as many as 30 states, at least initially. If subsidies aren't available in those states, the law's reach would be severely limited.
But if conservatives' view of a "state exchange" prevails in court, Republican governors could be saddled with Medicaid requirements they strongly oppose. The healthcare law expands Medicaid eligibility beginning in 2014. It also includes a "maintenance of effort" (MOE) provision that prevents states from cutting their existing Medicaid rolls ahead of the expansion.
As shorthand, most people say the MOE lasts until 2014. Technically, though, it expires once the Health and Human Services Department certifies that an insurance exchange "established by the state … is fully operational" - the same language used to describe exchange subsidies.
In short, Republican governors could be stuck with the MOE forever if conservatives win their argument about the law's insurance subsidies. (Healthwatch)
In other words, the same argument about a "state exchange" cuts both ways through different parts of the law. If states will not allow the federal government to increase their Medicaid rolls, then the federal government may not allow states to shrink them either.
On May 10, 2012, the House passed H.R. 5652, the Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012: H.R. 5652 replaces arbitrary across-the-board cuts to defense and other discretionary non-defense programs with common-sense reforms, including a repeal of the Medicaid Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement imposed on states: $590 million over ten years. (Rep. Bill Flores) Kaiser Health News reported on this issue during the spring of 2011 leading up to last year's debt ceiling negotiations.
- Father, you are the God of unintended consequences and of strategy. We ask for your hand to move in all these maneuvers to bring forth the policy You want that would honor you, or the means to bring the whole thing crumbling down to honor You that way instead.
- "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25)
8. HHS MANDATE LAWSUITS
Challenges to President Obama's birth-control mandate are piling up in court. Twenty-four lawsuits have been filed against the federal birth-control mandate so far, mostly from religious groups that view the policy as a dangerous erosion of religious freedom.
Foes of the mandate got a boost after Illinois-based Wheaton College—a prominent Protestant school—filed its own suit on Wednesday, joining mostly Catholic-affiliated institutions in arguing the mandate tramples on religious liberty. "The government's mandate unconstitutionally coerces Wheaton to violate its deeply held religious beliefs under threat of heavy fines and penalties," the complaint stated.
The onslaught of lawsuits was spurred by a White House policy that seeks to expand access to birth control by requiring that most employers cover it in their health insurance plans without a co-pay. The policy exempts churches and houses of worship, but not religiously affiliated institutions such as hospitals and universities.
The president announced an "accommodation" after a backlash to the policy that allows employees of religiously affiliated institutions to receive birth control directly from the insurance company. But Catholic leaders say the new mandate still erodes religious freedom and want it rescinded.
Some states are also taking the Obama administration to court over the mandate. On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from seven states, ruling that they did not have standing to sue over the birth control policy because it does not go into full effect until next year. "The plaintiffs face no direct and immediate harm," wrote U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom. The states in the lawsuit are Texas, Ohio, Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Nebraska. The suit also included several Catholic groups. (Healthwatch)
In other words, for the lawsuit that was dismissed, it was only a question of timing—it was too soon for the lawsuit. Earlier this year the Administration delayed for one year the implementation of its policy with no other change to the policy itself. That was included in the "accommodation."
Aside from the morally objectionable and religious freedom-impinging aspects to the policy, the HHS mandate is also proving to be a waste…
A report from the Guttmacher Institute examined the prevalence of the intrauterine device (IUD) among American women. IUDs are placed in the uterus and can remain there, preventing pregnancy without intervention, for up to 10 years. The study warned, the use of IUDs and equivalent methods was highest among women already past the average age for giving birth to a child. The Affordable Care Act requires most health insurance plans to cover IUDs with no patient co-pay starting next month. (Healthwatch)
- Father, if there were ever an example of an agenda that was ineffective or completely masked from its real intended consequences, this could seem to be it. Few times in all American history has the threat been greater, and fewer still the moments of opportunity for this generation today. May you raise up many colleges among the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and their student bodies. Nowhere would be a greater foothold and advance for the enemy than in institutions currently responsible for the greatest number of prime targets for the enemy with this contraception policy. May many see the threat, rise up, and respond clearly and effectively.
- "For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake." (2 Kings 19:34)
9. MEDICARE CUTS IN ACA TO HARM SAFETY NET HOSPITALS
In Washington, the parallel tracks of the health care debate and the budget debate are actually intertwined. One of the great ironies in the last few years has been that one party condemns the other for proposing to make cuts to Medicare after that same party actually made cuts to Medicare already in the 2010 health care law. This is now coming to the surface. Assuming the law is implemented as designed…
When Medicare begins adjusting hospital payments in October based on quality, one of the primary metrics will be patient experience ratings that cover everything from the communication skills of doctors and nurses to their promptness in responding to complaints about pain. A new study finds that this change may add to the financial troubles of safety net hospitals, which primarily serve poor patients.
The study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that safety net hospitals tend to get poorer marks from patients than do other hospitals. On average, they drew top ratings from 63.9 percent of patients while the hospitals that treated the fewest poor people got top ratings from 69.5 percent of patients.
Even more worrisome for the safety net hospitals, the gap between how their patients rate them and the scores that other hospitals get has widened in the four years that hospitals have had to publicly report their survey results.
If the trend continues, it means safety net hospitals will be at a disadvantage when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses the scores to dole out bonuses and penalties that will ultimately amount to 2 percent of regular Medicare payments.
In the first year of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program that kicks in this October, patient experience scores will determine 30 percent of the bonus, with the rest being determined by how hospitals adhere to basic guidelines for clinically recommended care. The hospitals that perform best will gain money, while those that lag in scores and improvement over time will end up with less. (Kaiser Health News)
- Father, we pray for freedom and a free market for health care. Put government back in its place of punishing criminals and praising the virtuous. Pregnancy is not a disease; it's a blessing from You.
- "Governors … are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good." (1 Peter 2:14)
10. BUSINESS COMMUNITY REACTION
The Supreme Court decision allowing states to block Medicaid growth without a penalty threatens the profits of companies hoping to manage care for the new beneficiaries. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is one of more than half a dozen Republican governors resisting the federal Medicaid windfall set to begin in 2014. But if there's one thing more powerful than Republican governors' dislike of the Affordable Care Act, many believe, it may turn out to be the business interests in their own states.
A higher portion of Texans lack coverage than residents of any other state. A Texas Medicaid expansion would generate $100 billion in federal money for the state over a decade, according to the state Health and Human Services Commission, and furnish coverage to an estimated 2 million Texans. At the same time it would generate nearly $1 billion in annual Texas revenue for Amerigroup and WellPoint, calculates Carroll.
Quiet for now, insurers are expected to join hospitals and patient advocates to fight for Medicaid expansion and what are enormous amounts of money, even by Washington standards. Nowhere are the dollars bigger than in Perry's state, where one in four lacks health coverage. (Kaiser Health News)
In the wake of the Supreme Court's health care decision, several companies with 50 or more full-time workers have embarked on a quest. Their aim: Get below 50 and dodge the employer mandate. The health reform law forces them to start providing insurance by 2014 or pay stiff penalties.
The employer mandate penalty relies on "controlled group" provisions, focusing on who controls the company -- not necessarily what they do. That rule could also ensnare smaller firms, though. A business owner who employs 50 or more at completely different companies -- say, 25 at a car repair shop and 25 at a restaurant -- would have to provide insurance at both, even if each falls below the threshold.
It could also affect married couples. Tax law generally assumes a person owns interest in their spouse's business. That means small business owners who are married to each other should take steps to ensure the Internal Revenue Service, which will enforce the mandate, won't combine their staff.
It's still unclear how the IRS will enforce the rules, according to Jennifer Kraft, a labor attorney with the Seyfarth Shaw law firm in Chicago. However, any prolonged battle would have to be sorted out in court.
The other way business owners are planning to deal with the law is a devastating one. They plan to cut staff and switch full-time employees to part-time, which the law classifies as less than 30 hours per week. (CNNMoney)
- Father, we ask for business leaders to stand up for justice in health care in their states. We ask that this law not be used to undermine marriage any further in this country. Rebuild our foundations on You and your Word. Father, we thank you for raising up leaders like Governor Rick Perry to stand up for their states. May he and others like him be effective, just as you have raised up leaders like Angela Merkel in Germany.
- "And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?'" (Luke 2:49)
Volume XIX, Number 19c
DOMESTIC ISSUES
"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37)
URGENT!
Fox News is reporting "Syria threatens to use chemical weapons if attacked." Please continue to cover this volatile situation in prayer. To learn more, go here.
At the White house
1. OBAMA BIRTH RECORD "DEFINITELY FRAUDULENT," SAYS SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO
PHOENIX - Investigators for an Arizona sheriff's volunteer posse have declared that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is definitely fraudulent.
Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse said in March that there was probable cause that Obama's long-form birth certificate released by the White House in April 2011 was a computer-generated forgery.
Now, Arpaio says investigators are positive it's fraudulent.
Mike Zullo, the posse's chief investigator, said numeric codes on certain parts of the birth certificate indicate that those parts weren't filled out, yet those sections asking for the race of Obama's father and his field of work or study were completed.
Zullo said investigators previously didn't know the meaning of codes but that the codes were explained by a 95-year-old former state worker who signed the president's birth certificate.
Zullo said a news reporter who has helped out in the probe let investigators listen in on an interview he concluded of the former state worker.
The Obama campaign declined to comment on Arpaio's allegations. (Fox News) Read more.
At the conclusion of a press conference Tuesday led by Cold Case Posse chief investigator Michael Zullo, which detailed the reasons the long-form birth certificate of President Barack Obama is a forgery, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said it's time for a higher authority to investigate the issue.
- God in heaven, we agree with this last statement by Sheriff Arpaio, and we call the Courts of Heaven to decree to our Congress that it is time for an investigation to be launched into the matter of the legal eligibility of the sitting President of the United States of America, according to our Constitution. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
- " As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. " (Daniel 7:21,22)
2. OBAMA INVITES MOHAMMED MORSI TO WHITE HOUSE
Showcasing his total disregard for America's national security, Obama has invited Mohammed Morsi - Egypt's new president - to the White House. It sounds benign since he's a new head of state, but Morsi is a known terrorist and one of the Muslim Brotherhood's top leaders.
The roots of radical Islam's reign of terror track straight back to the Muslim Brotherhood. For an American president to open the doors of the White House to one of this organization's highest ranking members - one of its most radical and defiant voices - is unconscionable!
So why is an American president welcoming Mohammed Morsi with open arms?
Starting with his first foreign tour as president - where he repeatedly apologized for what he called "American arrogance" and endlessly bowed to Islamic dictators - right up to this very day with his invitation of Morsi to the White House, Obama has closed his eyes to the history of terror and anarchy the Brotherhood has wrought upon the world. Now he has invited a man into the White House who, throughout his campaign to become Egypt's president, repeatedly called for jihad - religious war - the end of Israel, and death to Western nations. (The David Horowitz Freedom Center)
- There are many who would agree with this statement published by the Freedom Center. Take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and sever all ties between this White House and the Moslem Brotherhood. Offer praise for the many who are now exposing the Brotherhood for the dangerous terrorist organization that it is; pray that the White House would take heed; and pray for the safety all who are now investigating and speaking out about this nefarious Islamic society. In Jesus' Name, amen.
- "The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked." (Psalm 129:4)
3. REPORT: FBI IGNORED WARNING SIGNS ON HASAN AT FORT HOOD SHOOTING
The FBI was too concerned about political correctness and did not launch an investigation into a man who was later charged with killing 13 people in a 2009 attack at the Fort Hood military installation in Texas, despite significant warning signs that he was an Islamic extremist bent on killing civilians, according to a lawmaker briefed on a new report about the terrorist attack.
In emails to a known terrorist, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan expressed his support for suicide bombings and killing civilians, while the terrorist, Anwar al-Awlaki, encouraged Hasan to stay in touch, Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, told The Associated Press on Wednesday after he was briefed on the findings of a new review of the attack.
The review was done by former FBI Director William Webster and was more than two years in the making. FBI Director Robert Mueller asked that Webster conduct an independent review, and the bureau is expected to release an unclassified version this week. . . Webster's report offers some new details that show the FBI was concerned about investigating an American Muslim in the military, and that is why an investigation was not pursued.
Neither the FBI nor Webster responded to requests for comment. But the FBI and Defense Department have said that they've made several policy changes since the 2009 attack to help stave off similar attacks in the future.
Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the November 2009 shooting rampage, is currently being tried in a military court. (Fox News) Read more.
- Our Father, we are in distress that political correctness has caused a such high price to be paid when agents overlooked the serious connections of Major Hasan to a known terrorist. Lord, we ask that You cause the men and women in our intelligence community to dispense with liberal views and see the truth of what is actually happening. May every man speak the truth as he sees it and not fear retaliation from the Moslem community. Thank You that certain harmful policies have been changed and that our country is now better protected. Thank You for alert lawmakers who are demanding answers. In Your Name, amen.
- "Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." (Psalms 40:4)
4. THE DARK MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WORLD OF HUMA ABEDIN
Editors' note: Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has denounced Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) for including Hillary Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin, among those she has noted for having Muslim Brotherhood ties in her recent call for government agencies to investigate the Brotherhood 's penetration of Washington. Robert Spencer's article in this issue crystallizes why McCain is wrong, and Bachmann is right, on this matter.
On this occasion, Frontpage's editors have deemed it important to reprint a Frontpage interview (from our June 24, 2011 issue) with Walid Shoebat about The Dark Muslim Brotherhood World of Huma Abedin. The disturbing facts that Shoebat reveals in the interview, which appears below, legitimize Bachmann's concerns.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is at the center of a firestorm over her request that the State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice Departments, investigate potential "policies and activities that appear to be the result of influence operations conducted by individuals and organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood." This is an entirely legitimate call, as Bachmann abundantly illustrated in a 16-page letter to Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), laying out the reasons for her concerns. Yet even Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who should know better, has upbraided Bachmann, criticizing her for including Hillary Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin, among those she noted for having Brotherhood ties.
McCain declared in a statement on the Senate floor that "recently, it has been alleged that Huma, a Muslim American, is part of a nefarious conspiracy to harm the United States by unduly influencing U.S. foreign policy at the Department of State in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist causes."
McCain, brimming with righteous indignation, thundered: "These sinister accusations rest solely on a few unspecified and unsubstantiated associations of members of Huma's family, none of which have been shown to harm or threaten the United States in any way. These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis, and no merit. And they need to stop now."
And in Abedin's case, there are ample reasons for raising these questions. . . (Front Page Magazine) To read the entire article, go here.
- This is a very serious issue that involves both the White House and Congress (see below). Offer praise for the bold stand that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is taking in exposing and in questioning this possible risk of our national security: a top aide to the Secretary of State with direct ties to the Moslem Brotherhood. Pray for the safety of Ms. Bachmann and her family, and ask that actions be taken to secure our national safety from this potential peril, and quickly!
- "Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just." (Psalm 7:9)
5. "DEATH OF MANY AMERICAN COMMUNITIES" ORDERED BY THE EPA
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe plans to highlight a little-known speech by an EPA regional administrator who admitted on video that the Obama administration's air regulations will kill the coal industry.
"Lisa Jackson has put forth a very powerful message to the country. Just two days ago, the decision on greenhouse gas performance standard and saying basically gas plants are the performance standard which means if you want to build a coal plant you got a big problem. That was a huge decision," Region 1 EPA Administrator Curtis "Curt" Spalding says, in footage filmed at Yale University.
"You can't imagine how tough that was," Spalding continued. "Because you got to remember if you go to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and all those places, you have coal communities who depend on coal. And to say that we just think those communities should just go away, we can't do that. But she had to do what the law and policy suggested. And it's painful. It's painful every step of the way."
What Curtis Spalding has just admitted to is that Lisa Jackson, the EPA chief, has decided that since cap and trade did not pass legislatively, she would use existing statutes to rewrite the rules to inflict it upon us anyhow. He also noted how brave her decision was, in light of the fact that many communities in the flyover states known as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and where ever else there are coal burning electric producing plants, or coal mines, or even businesses that transport coal will be destroyed as a result of her bureaucratic rigidity. Cap and Trade was defeated in the Senate, and defeated soundly. Yet, here we are two years later and the Executive Branch, in the form of the EPA has found a way to inflict it upon us anyhow, as the current climate allows for the EPA to make up its own rules as it goes along. (The Daily Caller) Read more.
- Lord God, we cry out to You, merciful God, to reverse this EPA decision. We ask that You intervene and speak the Word to someone to write a decree that will go around the EPA and save our coal-producing plants, providing the employees who earn their living from this industry, a new-found existence. In the mighty Name of Jesus, amen.
- "Withhold not Your tender mercies from us, O Lord: let Your loving-kindness and Your truth continually preserve us. For innumerable evils have compassed us about: our iniquities have taken hold upon us, so that we are not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of our head: therefore our hearts fail us. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver us: O Lord, make haste to help us." (Psalm 40:11-13)
On the Hill
NOTE: ALL ITEMS SHOWN IN BLUE ARE ANSWERS TO PRAYERS ALREADY OFFERED!!
1. HOUSE MEMBERS SEEK NATIONAL SECURITY ANSWERS FROM INSPECTORS GENERAL
Washington, Jun 13 - Today, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) and Congressmen Trent Franks (AZ-02), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Tom Rooney (FL-16) and Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03) sent letters to the Inspectors General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State. These letters seek answers about the U.S. government's involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that calls for "civilization jihad."
In the letter, Bachmann, Franks, Gohmert, Rooney and Westmoreland questioned the Inspectors General about the direct influence within the intelligence community of Muslim Brotherhood operatives. They explained that the U.S. government in federal court has established that the group's mission in the U.S. is "destroying the Western civilization from within." The members went on to request that the respective offices of the Inspectors General conduct a formal investigation or evaluation of the extent to which Muslim Brotherhood-tied individuals or entities are involved.
"The national security of our country depends on getting straight answers from the Inspectors General to the questions we posed in these letters," said Bachmann. "The Muslim Brotherhood is not shy about their call for jihad against the United States. We seek answers through these letters because we will not tolerate this group and its affiliates holding positions of power in our government or influencing our nation's leaders."
Signers of the letter serve on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Bachmann, Rooney and Westmoreland), the Armed Services Committee (Franks and Rooney) and the Judiciary Committee (Franks and Gohmert). Additionally, Gohmert is the Vice Chair of the Judiciary subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. (Office of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann) Read more.
- Offer a chorus of praise for these five, bold members of Congress who have now called out the Moslem Brotherhood for its infiltration of the highest levels of our government. In spite of voices of opposition within Congress (see below), ask that a congressional inquiry would be launched to verify the concerns voiced in this letter. Pray protection for the five members who have signed this letter and for their families. Amen.
- "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them." (Eph. 5:11)
2. CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS LAMBASTE BACHMANN FOR HER STAND
John McCain took to the Senate floor this week to lambaste five conservative members of the House who, unlike McCain, are actually serious about addressing threats the Brotherhood poses to American interests. McCain's bipartisan "Islamic democracy" promoters seem content to keep burning through taxpayer trillions until the Brotherhood is finally running every government in the Middle East. To the contrary, the House conservatives - Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Tom Rooney (Fla.), and Lynn Westmorland (Ga.) - have concluded that the Brotherhood needs to be regarded as the serious anti-American business that it is.
Toward that end, the quintet is justifiably concerned that the Brotherhood's sharia agenda - the one to which McCain used to be "unalterably opposed" - is being abetted not just by some Nobel-toting Egyptian progressive, but by officials in highly sensitive positions inside the United States government. (National Review) Read more.
From the Daily Jot:
From Senator John McCain to House Speaker John Boehner and many other Republicans we are hearing condemnation of Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-Mn). She wrote letters to intelligence and national security agencies raising questions about the Muslim Brotherhood. The letters, signed by four other Congressmen, accused Abedin's deceased father and brother of being part of the Muslim Brotherhood, and her mother part of the Muslim Sisterhood. The Abedin family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have been reported in both Arab and Western media. Bachmann was doing her job raising a concern for America's national security. Many of the most conservative members of her party condemned her for it.
- Nowadays, when someone stands for the truth, condemnation follows. As Yeshua said in Matthew 5:13, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." This nation and its people are headed down a similar path of ancient Israel. Whether by YHVH's hand or by our own, if we do not turn from our current condition, there is great mourning on the horizon.
3. BACHMANN TIES REP. ELLISON TO BROTHERHOOD
When Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) sent her letter regarding Huma Abedin to U.S. intelligence and security agencies, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was not the only one to recoil: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim ever to be elected to the U.S. Congress, lashed out as well.
Part of a group of Democrats calling Bachmann's concerns a "baseless witch-hunt," Ellison actually said Bachmann should apologize to Abedin. . .
Instead of apologizing, Bachmann is doubling down, and has added Ellison's name to the list of U.S. officials whom she believes should be investigated for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Ellison has responded by saying Bachmann's allegations are false, and that he believes she just wants attention. (Breitbart.com) Read more.
- Thank you, Lord, for Michele Bachmann.
- "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:16)
4. HOUSE PASSES BILL ON EXPANDED U.S. - ISRAELI MILITARY COOPERATION
Legislation restates commitment to supply Israel with arms and fight anti-Israel UN resolutions
The US House of Representatives approved a bill to strengthen security cooperation between the United States and Israel.
The United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, S. 2165, an amended version of a House bill that was approved in May, passed in a voice vote on July 17 and now awaits President Obama's signature.
"We will send this bipartisan bill to the president and deliver the message that during this pivotal and dangerous period in the Middle East, the United States stands tall for our ally Israel," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said, according to TheHill.com.
The new bill restates the US commitment to supply Israel with arms to defend itself along with pledges to fight anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations. AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, commended the House's passage of the bill, saying in a statement, "The United States benefits greatly through enhanced cooperation with Israel. This bipartisan bill recommends new avenues to grow and strengthen the US-Israel relationship in the fields of missile defense, homeland security, energy, intelligence, and cyber-security."
- We continue to thank the Lord that our Congress, on both sides of the Hill and on both sides of the aisle, is unwaivering in its strong support of Israel. Call forth the blessing that is due our nation as we remain steadfast with our most valuable ally in the Middle East.
- "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen. 12:3)
5. SENATE GOP SCUTTLES LAW OF THE SEA (LOST) TREATY
Opponents have locked in enough votes to block Senate ratification of the controversial Law of the Sea treaty championed by White House and the Pentagon. The pact, which which would have created de facto rules for the world's oceans, was heralded by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others as the key to maintaining peace and order in global hot spots such as the Asia-Pacific region.
On Monday, Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) added their names to the growing list of anti-treaty advocates, who argue the pact does nothing to guarantee regional security along the waterways in the Pacific or elsewhere. With their support, opponents now have the necessary three-fourths Senate majority to sink Senate ratification of the global maritime pact. (The Hill) Read more.
- Hallelujah! This is a direct answer to prayer!! Praise God!
- "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
6. SEN. DEMINT DELAYS SENATE CONSIDERATION OF U.N. TREATY
Treaty addresses needs of people with disabilities; home schoolers protest
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is delaying Senate consideration of the United Nations treaty on people with disabilities amid growing opposition from home-schooling advocates.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to take up the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People With Disabilities last Thursday, with the goal of getting it passed in time for the 22nd anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26.
Instead, Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced that he will hold the markup next Thursday, July 26. A spokesman for DeMint said several Republicans on the committee joined him in asking for the delay.
"Part of this treaty deals with abortion and the rights of children, issues that should be addressed by states, local governments and American parents, not international bureaucrats," DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton told The Hill in an email. "Sen. DeMint strongly opposes this treaty, as the United States is already the world leader in addressing the needs of the disabled and it's foolish to think Americans need to sign away our sovereignty to exert our influence around the world." (The Hill) Read more.
- Just as the momentum towards passage of the LOST treaty has waned, ask for the same dismantling of support for Senate approval of this U.N. treaty. Our parents have the right to determine the care for their children, without interference from the State. Pray!
- "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just . . ." (Gen. 18:19)
7. MORE REPUBLICANS GO ON THE RECORD TO OPPOSE UN SMALL ARMS TREATY
[Repeating last week's report]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been pushing hard for the small arms treaty at the United Nations, which critics say would impose international gun control measures on U.S. citizens. The treaty would also hamper efforts by the United States to help arm its allies who face growing dangers from oppressive governments around the world.
Fifty-eight senators, including 11 Democrats, have signed a letter opposing the treaty.
The press secretary for Senate Minority Leader McConnell told this reporter that the senator does not expect the small arms treaty to gain sufficient traction to pass. (The Examiner)
- Continue to press in, in prayer, until this treaty, like LOST, disappears.
- "Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us." (Isaiah 8:10)
8. REPUBLICANS UNVEIL BILL; PREVENTS OBAMA FROM WEAKENING EXISTING WELFARE LAWS
On Wednesday, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Michigan), Education & Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minnesota), Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced legislation, the Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act, that would prohibit the Obama Administration from unilaterally granting itself the authority to exempt states from the work requirements that were a critical element of welfare reform enacted in 1996 - potentially opening the door for activities like bed rest, smoking cessation and exercise to be counted as work for the purposes of complying with federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) requirements.
"The Obama Administration has once again overstepped its bounds, this time to the detriment of those struggling most under their failed economic policies. The Administration's unprecedented efforts to undo welfare reforms that resulted in higher earnings and employment for low-income Americans cannot be allowed to stand," said Camp. (Christian Coalition of America) Read more.
- Our Loving God, we ask that You would raise up a standard against any attempts to change our government welfare system at this time. We tell the forces pressuring Congressmen and Congresswomen to back off and let this matter rest for now. Father, raise up other, more compassionate and effective ways for the poor to be taken care of rather than government handouts as this enslaves them to the government. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
- "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)
[To read more about how the current welfare system is effective, go here.]
9. HOUSE GOP LEADERS WARY OF FARM, POST OFFICE BILLS
Senate-passed bills to cut farm subsidies and food stamps and overhaul the financially teetering Postal Service have been put on hold by House Republican leaders wary of igniting internal party fights or risking voters' ire three months before the election.
[There is not] much time for the farm and postal bills, which affect the future of food production and mail delivery but generate controversies that politicians would prefer to avoid in an election year.
The farm bill puts fiscal conservatives from rural districts in a position of having to vote against federal subsidies for farmers and could force Democrats to vote for cuts to the federal food stamp program. The postal bill might require lawmakers to decide on shutting post offices or terminating Saturday service. (Fox News) Read more.
- In the remaining days before the summer recess, ask our Lord to grant His wisdom to the House and Senate leadership, that only those bills which need to be addressed now would appear on the calendar, and the rest be addressed later. However, as we see the growing drought sweeping across our nation, anything we can do to help our farmers at this time would be most welcome.
- "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)
10. DROUGHT COVERS MAJORITY OF U.S.
'Might Be A $50 Billion Event For The Economy'
This year's drought ranks as one of the top 10 worst U.S. droughts for the last century. With more than half the country (54 percent) experiencing drought conditions, it's the single worst drought since the 1950s. It is hot all over. NOAA said in its June "State of the Climate Global Analysis":
This is the second month in a row that the global land temperature was the warmest on record for that month. While it has been hotter than the 1930s in many places in this country, the drought hasn't been quite as bad as the worst of the original Dust Bowl. (Hebrew Nation News)
- Please remain in a posture of repentance before our Lord. Perhaps He will relent, show us His mercy, and send us His rain. Amen.
- "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:13,14)
11. H.R. 3803: D.C. ABORTION BAN -- NEEDS PASSAGE!
Washington, D.C. may be the capital of America, but it shouldn't be the capital of abortion. At least that's what 18 House Republicans concluded yesterday in a key vote of the Judiciary Committee. Led by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), conservatives voted 18-14 to ban abortions in the District after 20 weeks after fertilization--when research suggests that babies can feel pain. Not one Democrat supported the bill. "We are talking about [legislation that] protects children from being torturously dismembered while they are capable of feeling pain," Franks repeated. Still, liberals not only opposed the bill but offered hostile amendments--which, to our relief, were all defeated.
If anything, the vote on H.R. 3803 again proves how stunningly out of touch the Left is. In a new poll released this week by the National Right to Life Committee, Americans overwhelmingly side with conservatives on this issue. Sixty-three percent of all respondents (and 70% of women) favor banning abortion after the point where the unborn child can feel pain, and 58% of all respondents and 62% of women would be more likely to vote for a Member of Congress who votes to ban abortion 20 weeks after fertilization in the District of Columbia. Join the majority! Call or email your congressman and ask him to support H.R. 3803. Then, contact your senators and encourage them to cosponsor Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) companion bill, S. 2013. (Family Research Council)
12. THE MILITARY V. THE BIBLE: CONGRESS STEPS IN
As the assault on military freedoms continues under this Administration, some members of Congress are attempting to come to service members' aid. I recently told you about The "Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)," an organization committed to scrubbing the armed forces of Christian faith, taking credit for requiring the Broadman and Holman (B&H) Christian publishing firm to refrain from putting the emblems of our five service branches on the Bibles they sell at military exchanges and elsewhere. As noted by journalist Todd Starnes, "The Bibles are tailored to each specific military branch. For example, the cover of the Marine version says The Marines' Bible -- along with the USMC emblem. The Bibles contain special prayers and devotional material for military personnel." Yet the MRFF claims that Bibles with military logos compose a "national security threat" since some Muslims could think that a version of the Bible with a military emblem on it might communicate that we are engaged in a crusade against Islam. Clearly, the MRFF is using radical Islam as a pretext for implementing its anti-Christian agenda.
- We want to praise the Lord for this action by Congressman Nunnelee. Ask our Lord to stir the hearts of the majority of the members of Congress in a groundswell of support for this letter and, in the end, pray that the Department of Defense will, indeed, reverse its policy as stated. In His Name, amen.
- "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn." (Psalm 110:3 NAS)
Bills We Are Watching This Week
With Congress about to go out of session for its summer recess in August, we anticipate a flurry of activity on the Hill this week in both the Senate and the House, as members seek to pass bills they have introduced this year.
Below please find four bills that are of special interest for prayer. Thank you.
1. S. 3412: A BILL TO PROVIDE TAX RELIEF TO MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES
This week, the Senate will debate S. 3412, a bill intended to "provide tax relief to middle-class families." The bill would extend and amend various tax relief measures passed over the last twelve years, and it would continue the increased alternative minimum tax exemption amount, among other things. S. 3412 was introduced on July 19th by Senator Harry Reid and, as of now, has no cosponsors. Please watch for continuing developments this week over the debate on this bill.
2. H.R. 459: THE FEDERAL RESERVE TRANSPARENCY ACT
H.R. 459 was introduced in the House on Jan. 26, 2011 by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
If passed, this bill would direct the Government Accountability Office to prepare audits of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks. The first audit would cover all of the activities of the Federal Reserve, and the second would review loan files of foreclosed homeowners.
A companion bill has been introduced into the Senate as S.202 by Senator Rand Paul. Pray for passage of both bills.
3. H.R. 6082: THE CONGRESSIONAL REPPACEMENT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ENERGY-RESTRICTING AND JOB-HUNTING OFFSHORE DRILLING PLAN
This bill was introduced on July 9th by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), and has two cosponsors, If passed, H.R. 6082 will officially replace, within the 60-day Congressional review period under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, President Obama's Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program (2012-2017) with a congressional plan that will conduct additional oil and natural gas lease sales to promote offshore energy development, job creation, and increased domestic energy production to ensure a more secure energy future in the United States, and for other purposes.
H.R. 6082 has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. Pray for passage.
4. H.R. 6029: THE FOREIGN AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE PENALTY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2012
H.R. 6029 was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 27 by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. If passed, H.R. 6029 will amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased penalties for foreign and economic espionage, and for other purposes.H.R. 6029 currently has 11 cosponsors.
In the Senate, Sen. Herb Kohl (D- WI) has introduced a companion bill, S.678, with 8 senators signing on as cosponsors. Pray for passage of both bills.
Aftermath: The Aurora Shootings
1. SHOOTING PROMPTS CALLS FOR STRICTER GUN LAWS
The call for federal lawmakers to tighten gun laws has intensified following the mass shooting in Colorado, with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg urging Congress on Saturday to swiftly address a ban on certain weapons. "Let's stop wasting time and start saving lives," Lautenberg, D-N.J. said on his Twitter account. "Congress must prioritize a ban on high-capacity gun magazines."
Lautenberg was also among the first on Capitol Hill to comment on the shooting massacre early Friday at a suburban Colorado movie theatre that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded. The alleged shooter, James Holmes, was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and three other weapons. "The shooting in Aurora is a horrific act of violence, and our thoughts go out to the innocent victims and their families," he said Friday. "Our hearts are filled with sadness for the 12 people killed and the dozens wounded in this senseless act. We have to face the reality that these types of tragedies will continue to occur unless we do something about our nation's lax gun laws."
A Lautenberg aide has told the Huffington Post, "If reports are correct and a high-capacity gun magazine was used to commit these awful murders, Senator Lautenberg will absolutely renew his effort to limit the availability of this dangerous firearm attachment." Last year, Lautenberg introduced legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. He also has authored other gun-related bills including one that would close so-called loopholes on background checks for buyers at gun shows.
At least one other lawmaker has already called on President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney to address the issue. "Soothing words are nice," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a radio interview, "but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country." (Fox News) Read more.
- Father, this trickery of using a high capacity gun magazine to kill and wound so many people is a slanderous act of terrorism and counters the American standard gun laws that have been in force in our country. We thank You for the existing laws we do have in place, and ask that they be enforced to the maximum extent possible, but we ask, too, that stricter control over our right to bear arms not come to pass. Hold back evil, Lord. Comfort the grieving citizens and heal the wounded. In the Name of Jesus.
- "O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for You: be our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of God the nations were scattered." (Isaiah 33:2-3)
2. U.N. TREATY COULD THREATEN SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
UNITED NATIONS - American Second Amendment rights and U.S. foreign policy interests could be directly threatened by the latest wording of a United Nations draft treaty seeking control over international trade in conventional weapons. A U.S. delegate argued against the provisions during closed-door talks Friday, but insiders close to the proceedings say UN approval of a final document by the self-imposed July 27 deadline remains likely.
The development comes just days after Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, warned there should be "no compromise" on the issue of a U.S. citizen's right to own a firearm. "We will not stand idly by while international organizations, whether state-based or stateless, attempt to undermine the fundamental liberties that our men and women in uniform have fought so bravely to preserve - and on which our entire American system of government is based," LaPierre told the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
The latest draft bars weapons transfers to "non-state actors" - which, by definition, includes private citizens.
While treaty supporters say the provision speaks to a long-stated goal of denying weapons to terrorists, many experts warn of wider consequences. "The ATT will not limit the ability of terrorists to acquire arms. The reason for this is simple: The UN has never defined terrorism, because some member states insist that terrorist groups like Hamas are struggling against so-called foreign occupation," Ted Bromund, senior research fellow with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told the conference last week. (Fox News) Read more.
- Lord God, we call heaven to intervene on this issue of every U.S. citizen's right to own a firearm. Break the power of darkness originating from the U.N. over the long-standing rights upon which our entire American system of government is based and pull down this evil, cast it out by the blood of Jesus and reinforce our American rights. God, be with us and weaken the U.N., spoil our enemies, and put a holy block before their faces that they cannot take another step to rob or change our American system of government. In Jesus' Name, we pray, amen.
- "For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He has utterly destroyed them, He has delivered them to the slaughter. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as a leaf falls off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree." (Isaiah 34:2, 4)
3. HOMELAND SECURITY WARNED OF THEATER ATTACKS
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials warned "first responders" in May - just two months before the shooting this weekend at a Colorado theater - about the possibility of terrorist attacks on American movie theaters. The concern was prompted by terrorist attacks on theaters in Africa carried out by Al Qaida and Al Shabaab. "These recent instances demonstrate that mass gatherings such as those associated with theaters likely remain attractive terrorist targets," DHS wrote in the May 17 memo, which was highlighted by the transparency website, Public Intelligence. "We encourage facility owners and operators, security personnel, and first responders to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities and behaviors that may indicate a potential attack." ... DHS especially warned about "persons in crowded areas wearing clothing that is unusually bulky or atypical for the season, possibly to conceal suicide explosives or weapons." (The Washington Examiner) Read more.
- After last week, the movie theater owners, themselves, have stepped up their own private security measures so that patron can be safe. Pray for all security personnel, now and beyond, as we can now add the words "movie theaters" to our list of terrorist targets. May this never happen again!
- "Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked . . . " (Psalm 64:1,2)
FOCUS ON THE HEALTH CARE ACT
"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37)
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On Capitol Hill This Week: Vol. XIX, No. 19b
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- EXPECT THE HEALTH CARE LAW TO REENTER THE HEADLINES
- CONGRESSIONAL ACTION RELATED TO AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
- FUNDING ISSUE TAKEN UP IN ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL
- HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: CENTRALIZING POWER
- REACTION IN THE STATES
- A LEGAL STRATEGY ON IMPLEMENTATION
- IMPLEMENTATION LEGAL STRATEGY CUTS TWO WAYS
- HHS MANDATE LAWSUITS
- MEDICARE CUTS IN ACA TO HARM SAFETY NET HOSPITALS
- BUSINESS COMMUNITY REACTION
1. EXPECT THE HEALTH CARE LAW TO REENTER THE HEADLINES
Debate over the healthcare law will rear its head again this week. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release a new report assessing the federal spending and revenue expected under the law. The analysis will take into account the Supreme Court's decision, which upended the cost and coverage picture by making the law's Medicaid expansion optional for states. (Healthwatch)
Most likely voters want Congress to drop its fighting over the healthcare law, according to a new poll weighted toward battleground states. Fifty-one percent of likely voters told pollsters for NPR that it's time for Congress to move on to other issues now that the Supreme Court has issued its ruling on the Affordable Care Act. (Healthwatch) We expect this to change as it becomes clearer this law is not what was presented to the American people.
- Father, remove the veil. Show this law for what it is at all levels. May the American people not be bought with sugar-coated poison.
- "Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness." (Amos 6:12)
2. CONGRESSIONAL ACTION RELATED TO AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
While last week was quieter on the health care front, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his intentions to secure a vote in the Senate on a repeal of the health care law.
"I would remind you all that we had that vote in 2011. Every single Republican voted to repeal it," McConnell said at a press conference Tuesday. "We believe it's appropriate to have that vote again and we'll be working to get that kind of vote in the near future." That day, he filed an amendment to the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act that would repeal the law. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has vowed to block the effort. (Pray for Congress/Healthwatch)
The self-righteousness was running high last week when "A Democratic campaign committee accused Republicans of voting to repeal the healthcare law to maintain their own government-subsidized health benefits, in part. The healthcare law mandates that members of Congress receive coverage through the new insurance exchanges rather than the current Federal Employees Health Benefit Program. Repealing the law would return lawmakers to the program, which allows officials to keep their policies after they retire." (Healthwatch) This is interesting considering members of this group (a) did not come up with that idea, and (b) were the ones opposed to that very provision in 2009. (Politifact) It's not as if those who passed the health care law in 2010 actually wanted to live under it at the time.
- Father, we pray for justice and not politics in Congress. That's a big prayer request, and You are a big God. Heal our land. Heal our leaders and the relationships between them. Pull back this tyranny that is clouding over our land. May we clearly see You at work and give You praise.
- "Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled." (Exodus 19:16)
3. FUNDING ISSUE TAKEN UP IN ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) on Tuesday released his long-awaited and highly controversial appropriations bill for the Health and Human Services Department. It's the last of the 12 annual appropriations bills to be released, and will surely become a major issue in Rehberg's Senate race.
Overall, Rehberg's proposal would cut the HHS budget by roughly $1.3 billion. It would block the implementation of President Obama's healthcare law, and the proposal would also eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Supporters of government-funded research say the bill would also eliminate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) - a previously non-controversial agency that hands out research grants. AcademyHealth, which represents health researchers, urged its members to "respond quickly and declaratively to this attack on research." (Healthwatch)
- Father, we thank You for the leadership of Rep. Rehberg. May his tribe increase. May those kinds of policies that honor you be given a lasting place in American public policy.
- "Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats' hair, and everything made of wood." (Numbers 31:20)
4. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: CENTRALIZING POWER
Remember the PowerPoint slide for the Defense Department's surge strategy in Afghanistan, or the Pentagon's Life Cycle Management System? There is one for HHS now, too:
Notice one key difference in this slide: it has a very defined center. The power of the Secretary for Health and Human Services has greatly increased under this law. He or she can nearly throw money around at will as bait to the states to hook them into the federal programs.
Healthwatch: "In the two weeks since the court issued its decision, the Health and Human Services Department has pushed out new grants, new policies and a new rhetorical standby: It's time to get on board."
The administration also used the tragedy of the wildfires in Colorado into a opportunity: "President Obama announced last week that he would provide healthcare coverage to the hundreds of firefighters battling wildfires in Colorado. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a regulation Tuesday implementing the policy. In addition to covering firefighters' families, OPM also said it will allow other agencies to request coverage for temporary workers who are 'similarly situated to firefighting personnel.'" (Healthwatch)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is questioning the Obama administration's authority to immediately provide federal firefighters with health insurance. In a letter Friday, Coburn asked the Office of Personal Management (OPM) to defend the decision with a legal analysis and several cost assessments. "Routine questions about the impact of the regulation currently remain unanswered," Coburn wrote to OPM Director John Berry. He added that the firefighters "are to be commended for their service." (Healthwatch)
- Father, we thank you for God-honoring friends of the President like Senator Tom Coburn who are willing to speak up for the rule of law. We ask you to restrain the expansion of federal executive power and raise up more leaders from both sides in all regions of the country to do the same.
- "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." (Proverbs 27:6)
5. REACTION IN THE STATES
The typical low-key summer gathering of the nation's governors was anything but subdued this year. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision leaving it up to the states whether to expand their Medicaid programs topped headlines coming from the National Governors Association's two-day meeting held in Williamsburg, Va., that began July 13.
As Stateline has reported, Medicaid expansion may be a tough fiscal call for some states. Governors of both parties have indicated they want more time to study the impact of expanding their programs with the help of federal money. (Pew Center on the States)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad balked at the idea of expanding their states' Medicaid ranks, saying that their budgets cannot take on additional entitlement spending. (Healthwatch)
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will "likely be comparing notes with GOP legislative leaders over whether it will be a good idea in 2014 to extend Medicaid to around 500,000 more low-income residents with the help of $2 billion annually in federal aid." (The Detroit News)
As a Democratic candidate for governor, Jay Nixon pledged to expand Medicaid coverage as his "first order of businesses." During his first year as governor, he failed to persuade the Republican-led legislature to pass a relatively moderate Medicaid expansion. Now up for re-election, Nixon is refusing to take a position on whether Missouri should embrace a comparatively larger Medicaid expansion called for under President Barack Obama's health care law. (Missourian)
A nearly year-long effort to reshape Georgia's Medicaid program has largely been put on hold amid uncertainties surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court's recent health care law decision and effects of the November elections. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter named two working groups to study whether Idaho should establish an insurance exchange and expand Medicaid eligibility. The 26-person list released Friday includes more than a half-dozen doctors, as well as numerous executives and lobbyists from insurance companies and hospitals. And though the list includes numerous proponents of establishing an Idaho insurance exchange, the Republican governor also added the head of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a free-market advocate demanding such reforms be spurned. (Idaho Statesman)
State lawmakers in Kentucky have found a new way to thwart the implementation of President Obama's healthcare law: blocking the state from renting office space for new healthcare employees—a new illustration of just how deeply Republicans' opposition to the healthcare law runs. (Healthwatch)
All this action in the states amid reports that…
A new report out Tuesday concludes that six major U.S. states will face mounting fiscal crises as healthcare spending continues to spiral out of control and the federal government tries to rein in its own budget deficit in the coming years. The non-partisan State Budget Crisis Task Force looked at California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia. (On The Money)
Rep. Gingrey editorial: States such as Georgia, which requires a balanced budget by law, will be forced to cut funding elsewhere, such as education or infrastructure investment. Requests by governors of both parties for greater flexibility in determining Medicaid eligibility have fallen on deaf ears. In response, I've introduced H.R. 1683, the State Flexibility Act, which fully repeals these onerous regulations and allows states to take responsible, common-sense steps to balance their budgets while simultaneously lowering federal entitlement spending.
- Father, we know states don't have a Fed that can call up some "quantitative easing" and just print money to bail them out of their fiscal problems. We ask for wisdom, vigilance and endurance among our states' governors and legislatures. Even the "left coast" and "blue states" have realities they must face, and we ask you to give them honesty, wisdom, and courage to pursue fiscal policies that honor You. And we ask that Congress and the federal government would relinquish its hold and give the states the freedom to do so.
- "Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace." (Exodus 18:21-23)
6. A LEGAL STRATEGY ON IMPLEMENTATION
Conservatives see new promise in their criticism over how the Obama administration is implementing new subsidies to help people buy insurance. The IRS has said subsidies will be available in state exchanges and the federally run fallback. But Republicans say that's an illegal policy, because the Affordable Care Act refers to "an exchange established by the state." So far, this debate has been mostly carried out in dueling press releases, but a new white paper says the "state exchange" phrasing could be the cornerstone of a new legal challenge to the health law.
Two conservative healthcare experts - Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, and Michael Cannon, a scholar at the Cato Institute - said lawsuits could be filed by employers, who are subject to the law's employer mandate and must pay a penalty if their workers receive government subsidies. (Healthwatch)
This "puts Section 1401 at the center of a burgeoning debate over what Congress meant when it wrote the Affordable Care Act, and how that effects its ultimate implementation." (Wonkblog)
People who earn up to 400% of the federal poverty level-$44,680 for a single person this year-would be eligible to apply for tax credits to help offset the cost of insurance purchased through online marketplaces, known as exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the subsidies would average about $4,780 per person in 2014. In all, 18 million people could have their insurance costs subsidized, at a cost of $681 billion through 2021, CBO analysts have said.
The point of dispute stems from the likelihood that many states won't set up exchanges and instead will let the federal government run them. Critics say wording in the health-care law means that federally run exchanges aren't authorized to offer people insurance tax credits.
To fix the problem, the Internal Revenue Service in May issued a regulation that would allow the credits to go to people regardless of whether they purchased insurance through an exchange run by a state or the federal government. The agency said the rule was "consistent with the language, purpose, and structure" of the law. Opponents of the law say the IRS overstepped its authority by making the fix, and they are trying to use the discrepancy to challenge one of the core foundations of the law. (The Wall Street Journal)
All this prompted NPR to conclude: "If you thought last month's Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act was the final word on the legality of the health law, think again. Some conservative scholars believe they may have discovered a flaw that could send the law back to court, or at least cause some big problems for its implementation." (NPR) They give some excellent and understandable background on this legal question. Yahoo! News' The Ticket has more, also.
- Father, we thank You for able legal minds and their diligence for combing through the hundreds of pages of this bill. We ask that the rule of their own law would prevail. May any seeds of its own destruction prevail. May justice reign, and may the hands of any who would overreach be bound and tied up ineffective.
- "I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search." (Psalm 77:6)
7. IMPLEMENTATION LEGAL STRATEGY CUTS TWO WAYS
Many conservatives believe one of the best ways to weaken the Affordable Care Act is to challenge the subsidies it provides to help people buy insurance. If their view of the law starts to succeed, it could be a major threat to the law's effectiveness. But it could also be a major threat to Republican governors who want to escape Medicaid requirements they say are "unconscionable."
Subsidies will be available to people who get their coverage through insurance exchanges - new marketplaces where individuals and small businesses can buy coverage. The ACA directs each state to set up an exchange and authorizes a federally run fallback in any state that doesn't establish its own exchange.
The IRS intends to provide subsidies in both state-run and federal exchanges, but Hatch and other conservatives say that's an illegal policy. They note that the text of the ACA refers to exchanges "established by the state," and say subsidies can't be offered in the federal exchange. The federal government might have to operate at least part of the exchanges in as many as 30 states, at least initially. If subsidies aren't available in those states, the law's reach would be severely limited.
But if conservatives' view of a "state exchange" prevails in court, Republican governors could be saddled with Medicaid requirements they strongly oppose. The healthcare law expands Medicaid eligibility beginning in 2014. It also includes a "maintenance of effort" (MOE) provision that prevents states from cutting their existing Medicaid rolls ahead of the expansion.
As shorthand, most people say the MOE lasts until 2014. Technically, though, it expires once the Health and Human Services Department certifies that an insurance exchange "established by the state … is fully operational" - the same language used to describe exchange subsidies.
In short, Republican governors could be stuck with the MOE forever if conservatives win their argument about the law's insurance subsidies. (Healthwatch)
In other words, the same argument about a "state exchange" cuts both ways through different parts of the law. If states will not allow the federal government to increase their Medicaid rolls, then the federal government may not allow states to shrink them either.
On May 10, 2012, the House passed H.R. 5652, the Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012: H.R. 5652 replaces arbitrary across-the-board cuts to defense and other discretionary non-defense programs with common-sense reforms, including a repeal of the Medicaid Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement imposed on states: $590 million over ten years. (Rep. Bill Flores) Kaiser Health News reported on this issue during the spring of 2011 leading up to last year's debt ceiling negotiations.
- Father, you are the God of unintended consequences and of strategy. We ask for your hand to move in all these maneuvers to bring forth the policy You want that would honor you, or the means to bring the whole thing crumbling down to honor You that way instead.
- "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25)
8. HHS MANDATE LAWSUITS
Challenges to President Obama's birth-control mandate are piling up in court. Twenty-four lawsuits have been filed against the federal birth-control mandate so far, mostly from religious groups that view the policy as a dangerous erosion of religious freedom.
Foes of the mandate got a boost after Illinois-based Wheaton College—a prominent Protestant school—filed its own suit on Wednesday, joining mostly Catholic-affiliated institutions in arguing the mandate tramples on religious liberty. "The government's mandate unconstitutionally coerces Wheaton to violate its deeply held religious beliefs under threat of heavy fines and penalties," the complaint stated.
The onslaught of lawsuits was spurred by a White House policy that seeks to expand access to birth control by requiring that most employers cover it in their health insurance plans without a co-pay. The policy exempts churches and houses of worship, but not religiously affiliated institutions such as hospitals and universities.
The president announced an "accommodation" after a backlash to the policy that allows employees of religiously affiliated institutions to receive birth control directly from the insurance company. But Catholic leaders say the new mandate still erodes religious freedom and want it rescinded.
Some states are also taking the Obama administration to court over the mandate. On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from seven states, ruling that they did not have standing to sue over the birth control policy because it does not go into full effect until next year. "The plaintiffs face no direct and immediate harm," wrote U.S. District Judge Warren Urbom. The states in the lawsuit are Texas, Ohio, Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Nebraska. The suit also included several Catholic groups. (Healthwatch)
In other words, for the lawsuit that was dismissed, it was only a question of timing—it was too soon for the lawsuit. Earlier this year the Administration delayed for one year the implementation of its policy with no other change to the policy itself. That was included in the "accommodation."
Aside from the morally objectionable and religious freedom-impinging aspects to the policy, the HHS mandate is also proving to be a waste…
A report from the Guttmacher Institute examined the prevalence of the intrauterine device (IUD) among American women. IUDs are placed in the uterus and can remain there, preventing pregnancy without intervention, for up to 10 years. The study warned, the use of IUDs and equivalent methods was highest among women already past the average age for giving birth to a child. The Affordable Care Act requires most health insurance plans to cover IUDs with no patient co-pay starting next month. (Healthwatch)
- Father, if there were ever an example of an agenda that was ineffective or completely masked from its real intended consequences, this could seem to be it. Few times in all American history has the threat been greater, and fewer still the moments of opportunity for this generation today. May you raise up many colleges among the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and their student bodies. Nowhere would be a greater foothold and advance for the enemy than in institutions currently responsible for the greatest number of prime targets for the enemy with this contraception policy. May many see the threat, rise up, and respond clearly and effectively.
- "For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake." (2 Kings 19:34)
9. MEDICARE CUTS IN ACA TO HARM SAFETY NET HOSPITALS
In Washington, the parallel tracks of the health care debate and the budget debate are actually intertwined. One of the great ironies in the last few years has been that one party condemns the other for proposing to make cuts to Medicare after that same party actually made cuts to Medicare already in the 2010 health care law. This is now coming to the surface. Assuming the law is implemented as designed…
When Medicare begins adjusting hospital payments in October based on quality, one of the primary metrics will be patient experience ratings that cover everything from the communication skills of doctors and nurses to their promptness in responding to complaints about pain. A new study finds that this change may add to the financial troubles of safety net hospitals, which primarily serve poor patients.
The study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that safety net hospitals tend to get poorer marks from patients than do other hospitals. On average, they drew top ratings from 63.9 percent of patients while the hospitals that treated the fewest poor people got top ratings from 69.5 percent of patients.
Even more worrisome for the safety net hospitals, the gap between how their patients rate them and the scores that other hospitals get has widened in the four years that hospitals have had to publicly report their survey results.
If the trend continues, it means safety net hospitals will be at a disadvantage when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses the scores to dole out bonuses and penalties that will ultimately amount to 2 percent of regular Medicare payments.
In the first year of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program that kicks in this October, patient experience scores will determine 30 percent of the bonus, with the rest being determined by how hospitals adhere to basic guidelines for clinically recommended care. The hospitals that perform best will gain money, while those that lag in scores and improvement over time will end up with less. (Kaiser Health News)
- Father, we pray for freedom and a free market for health care. Put government back in its place of punishing criminals and praising the virtuous. Pregnancy is not a disease; it's a blessing from You.
- "Governors … are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good." (1 Peter 2:14)
10. BUSINESS COMMUNITY REACTION
The Supreme Court decision allowing states to block Medicaid growth without a penalty threatens the profits of companies hoping to manage care for the new beneficiaries. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is one of more than half a dozen Republican governors resisting the federal Medicaid windfall set to begin in 2014. But if there's one thing more powerful than Republican governors' dislike of the Affordable Care Act, many believe, it may turn out to be the business interests in their own states.
A higher portion of Texans lack coverage than residents of any other state. A Texas Medicaid expansion would generate $100 billion in federal money for the state over a decade, according to the state Health and Human Services Commission, and furnish coverage to an estimated 2 million Texans. At the same time it would generate nearly $1 billion in annual Texas revenue for Amerigroup and WellPoint, calculates Carroll.
Quiet for now, insurers are expected to join hospitals and patient advocates to fight for Medicaid expansion and what are enormous amounts of money, even by Washington standards. Nowhere are the dollars bigger than in Perry's state, where one in four lacks health coverage. (Kaiser Health News)
In the wake of the Supreme Court's health care decision, several companies with 50 or more full-time workers have embarked on a quest. Their aim: Get below 50 and dodge the employer mandate. The health reform law forces them to start providing insurance by 2014 or pay stiff penalties.
The employer mandate penalty relies on "controlled group" provisions, focusing on who controls the company -- not necessarily what they do. That rule could also ensnare smaller firms, though. A business owner who employs 50 or more at completely different companies -- say, 25 at a car repair shop and 25 at a restaurant -- would have to provide insurance at both, even if each falls below the threshold.
It could also affect married couples. Tax law generally assumes a person owns interest in their spouse's business. That means small business owners who are married to each other should take steps to ensure the Internal Revenue Service, which will enforce the mandate, won't combine their staff.
It's still unclear how the IRS will enforce the rules, according to Jennifer Kraft, a labor attorney with the Seyfarth Shaw law firm in Chicago. However, any prolonged battle would have to be sorted out in court.
The other way business owners are planning to deal with the law is a devastating one. They plan to cut staff and switch full-time employees to part-time, which the law classifies as less than 30 hours per week. (CNNMoney)
- Father, we ask for business leaders to stand up for justice in health care in their states. We ask that this law not be used to undermine marriage any further in this country. Rebuild our foundations on You and your Word. Father, we thank you for raising up leaders like Governor Rick Perry to stand up for their states. May he and others like him be effective, just as you have raised up leaders like Angela Merkel in Germany.
- "And He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?'" (Luke 2:49)
Volume XIX, Number 19c
DOMESTIC ISSUES
"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:37)
URGENT!
Fox News is reporting "Syria threatens to use chemical weapons if attacked." Please continue to cover this volatile situation in prayer. To learn more, go here.
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At the White house
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At the White house
- OBAMA BIRTH RECORD "DEFINITELY FRAUDULENT," SAYS SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO
- OBAMA INVITES MOHAMMED MORSI TO WHITE HOUSE
- REPORT: FBI IGNORED WARNING SIGNS ON HASAN AT FORT HOOD SHOOTING
- THE DARK MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WORLD OF HUMA ABEDIN
- "DEATH OF MANY AMERICAN COMMUNITIES" ORDERED BY THE EPA
1. OBAMA BIRTH RECORD "DEFINITELY FRAUDULENT," SAYS SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO
PHOENIX - Investigators for an Arizona sheriff's volunteer posse have declared that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is definitely fraudulent.
Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse said in March that there was probable cause that Obama's long-form birth certificate released by the White House in April 2011 was a computer-generated forgery.
Now, Arpaio says investigators are positive it's fraudulent.
Mike Zullo, the posse's chief investigator, said numeric codes on certain parts of the birth certificate indicate that those parts weren't filled out, yet those sections asking for the race of Obama's father and his field of work or study were completed.
Zullo said investigators previously didn't know the meaning of codes but that the codes were explained by a 95-year-old former state worker who signed the president's birth certificate.
Zullo said a news reporter who has helped out in the probe let investigators listen in on an interview he concluded of the former state worker.
The Obama campaign declined to comment on Arpaio's allegations. (Fox News) Read more.
At the conclusion of a press conference Tuesday led by Cold Case Posse chief investigator Michael Zullo, which detailed the reasons the long-form birth certificate of President Barack Obama is a forgery, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said it's time for a higher authority to investigate the issue.
- God in heaven, we agree with this last statement by Sheriff Arpaio, and we call the Courts of Heaven to decree to our Congress that it is time for an investigation to be launched into the matter of the legal eligibility of the sitting President of the United States of America, according to our Constitution. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
- " As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. " (Daniel 7:21,22)
2. OBAMA INVITES MOHAMMED MORSI TO WHITE HOUSE
Showcasing his total disregard for America's national security, Obama has invited Mohammed Morsi - Egypt's new president - to the White House. It sounds benign since he's a new head of state, but Morsi is a known terrorist and one of the Muslim Brotherhood's top leaders.
The roots of radical Islam's reign of terror track straight back to the Muslim Brotherhood. For an American president to open the doors of the White House to one of this organization's highest ranking members - one of its most radical and defiant voices - is unconscionable!
So why is an American president welcoming Mohammed Morsi with open arms?
Starting with his first foreign tour as president - where he repeatedly apologized for what he called "American arrogance" and endlessly bowed to Islamic dictators - right up to this very day with his invitation of Morsi to the White House, Obama has closed his eyes to the history of terror and anarchy the Brotherhood has wrought upon the world. Now he has invited a man into the White House who, throughout his campaign to become Egypt's president, repeatedly called for jihad - religious war - the end of Israel, and death to Western nations. (The David Horowitz Freedom Center)
- There are many who would agree with this statement published by the Freedom Center. Take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and sever all ties between this White House and the Moslem Brotherhood. Offer praise for the many who are now exposing the Brotherhood for the dangerous terrorist organization that it is; pray that the White House would take heed; and pray for the safety all who are now investigating and speaking out about this nefarious Islamic society. In Jesus' Name, amen.
- "The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked." (Psalm 129:4)
3. REPORT: FBI IGNORED WARNING SIGNS ON HASAN AT FORT HOOD SHOOTING
The FBI was too concerned about political correctness and did not launch an investigation into a man who was later charged with killing 13 people in a 2009 attack at the Fort Hood military installation in Texas, despite significant warning signs that he was an Islamic extremist bent on killing civilians, according to a lawmaker briefed on a new report about the terrorist attack.
In emails to a known terrorist, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan expressed his support for suicide bombings and killing civilians, while the terrorist, Anwar al-Awlaki, encouraged Hasan to stay in touch, Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, told The Associated Press on Wednesday after he was briefed on the findings of a new review of the attack.
The review was done by former FBI Director William Webster and was more than two years in the making. FBI Director Robert Mueller asked that Webster conduct an independent review, and the bureau is expected to release an unclassified version this week. . . Webster's report offers some new details that show the FBI was concerned about investigating an American Muslim in the military, and that is why an investigation was not pursued.
Neither the FBI nor Webster responded to requests for comment. But the FBI and Defense Department have said that they've made several policy changes since the 2009 attack to help stave off similar attacks in the future.
Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the November 2009 shooting rampage, is currently being tried in a military court. (Fox News) Read more.
- Our Father, we are in distress that political correctness has caused a such high price to be paid when agents overlooked the serious connections of Major Hasan to a known terrorist. Lord, we ask that You cause the men and women in our intelligence community to dispense with liberal views and see the truth of what is actually happening. May every man speak the truth as he sees it and not fear retaliation from the Moslem community. Thank You that certain harmful policies have been changed and that our country is now better protected. Thank You for alert lawmakers who are demanding answers. In Your Name, amen.
- "Blessed is that man that makes the Lord his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." (Psalms 40:4)
4. THE DARK MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WORLD OF HUMA ABEDIN
Editors' note: Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has denounced Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) for including Hillary Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin, among those she has noted for having Muslim Brotherhood ties in her recent call for government agencies to investigate the Brotherhood 's penetration of Washington. Robert Spencer's article in this issue crystallizes why McCain is wrong, and Bachmann is right, on this matter.
On this occasion, Frontpage's editors have deemed it important to reprint a Frontpage interview (from our June 24, 2011 issue) with Walid Shoebat about The Dark Muslim Brotherhood World of Huma Abedin. The disturbing facts that Shoebat reveals in the interview, which appears below, legitimize Bachmann's concerns.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is at the center of a firestorm over her request that the State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice Departments, investigate potential "policies and activities that appear to be the result of influence operations conducted by individuals and organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood." This is an entirely legitimate call, as Bachmann abundantly illustrated in a 16-page letter to Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), laying out the reasons for her concerns. Yet even Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who should know better, has upbraided Bachmann, criticizing her for including Hillary Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin, among those she noted for having Brotherhood ties.
McCain declared in a statement on the Senate floor that "recently, it has been alleged that Huma, a Muslim American, is part of a nefarious conspiracy to harm the United States by unduly influencing U.S. foreign policy at the Department of State in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist causes."
McCain, brimming with righteous indignation, thundered: "These sinister accusations rest solely on a few unspecified and unsubstantiated associations of members of Huma's family, none of which have been shown to harm or threaten the United States in any way. These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis, and no merit. And they need to stop now."
And in Abedin's case, there are ample reasons for raising these questions. . . (Front Page Magazine) To read the entire article, go here.
- This is a very serious issue that involves both the White House and Congress (see below). Offer praise for the bold stand that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is taking in exposing and in questioning this possible risk of our national security: a top aide to the Secretary of State with direct ties to the Moslem Brotherhood. Pray for the safety of Ms. Bachmann and her family, and ask that actions be taken to secure our national safety from this potential peril, and quickly!
- "Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just." (Psalm 7:9)
5. "DEATH OF MANY AMERICAN COMMUNITIES" ORDERED BY THE EPA
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe plans to highlight a little-known speech by an EPA regional administrator who admitted on video that the Obama administration's air regulations will kill the coal industry.
"Lisa Jackson has put forth a very powerful message to the country. Just two days ago, the decision on greenhouse gas performance standard and saying basically gas plants are the performance standard which means if you want to build a coal plant you got a big problem. That was a huge decision," Region 1 EPA Administrator Curtis "Curt" Spalding says, in footage filmed at Yale University.
"You can't imagine how tough that was," Spalding continued. "Because you got to remember if you go to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and all those places, you have coal communities who depend on coal. And to say that we just think those communities should just go away, we can't do that. But she had to do what the law and policy suggested. And it's painful. It's painful every step of the way."
What Curtis Spalding has just admitted to is that Lisa Jackson, the EPA chief, has decided that since cap and trade did not pass legislatively, she would use existing statutes to rewrite the rules to inflict it upon us anyhow. He also noted how brave her decision was, in light of the fact that many communities in the flyover states known as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and where ever else there are coal burning electric producing plants, or coal mines, or even businesses that transport coal will be destroyed as a result of her bureaucratic rigidity. Cap and Trade was defeated in the Senate, and defeated soundly. Yet, here we are two years later and the Executive Branch, in the form of the EPA has found a way to inflict it upon us anyhow, as the current climate allows for the EPA to make up its own rules as it goes along. (The Daily Caller) Read more.
- Lord God, we cry out to You, merciful God, to reverse this EPA decision. We ask that You intervene and speak the Word to someone to write a decree that will go around the EPA and save our coal-producing plants, providing the employees who earn their living from this industry, a new-found existence. In the mighty Name of Jesus, amen.
- "Withhold not Your tender mercies from us, O Lord: let Your loving-kindness and Your truth continually preserve us. For innumerable evils have compassed us about: our iniquities have taken hold upon us, so that we are not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of our head: therefore our hearts fail us. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver us: O Lord, make haste to help us." (Psalm 40:11-13)
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On the Hill
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On the Hill
NOTE: ALL ITEMS SHOWN IN BLUE ARE ANSWERS TO PRAYERS ALREADY OFFERED!!
- HOUSE MEMBERS SEEK NATIONAL SECURITY ANSWERS FROM INSPECTORS GENERAL
- CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS LAMBASTE BACHMANN FOR HER STAND ON THE MB
- BACHMANN TIES REP. KEITH ELLISON TO BROTHERHOOD
- HOUSE PASSES BILL ON EXPANDED U.S.-ISRAELI MILITARY COOPERATION
- SENATE GOP SCUTTLES LAW OF THE SEA (LOST) TREATY
- SEN. DEMINT DELAYS SENATE CONSIDERATION OF U.N. TREATY
- MORE REPUBLICANS GO ON THE RECORD TO OPPOSE UN SMALL ARMS TREATY
- REPUBLICANS UNVEIL BILL; PREVENTS OBAMA FROM WEAKENING EXISTING WELFARE LAWS
- HOUSE GOP LEADERS WARY OF FARM, POST OFFICE BILLS
- DROUGHT COVERS MAJORITY OF U.S.
- H.R. 3803: D.C. ABORTION BAN - NEEDS PASSAGE!
- THE MILITARY V. THE BIBLE: CONGRESS STEPS IN
1. HOUSE MEMBERS SEEK NATIONAL SECURITY ANSWERS FROM INSPECTORS GENERAL
Washington, Jun 13 - Today, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) and Congressmen Trent Franks (AZ-02), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Tom Rooney (FL-16) and Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03) sent letters to the Inspectors General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State. These letters seek answers about the U.S. government's involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that calls for "civilization jihad."
In the letter, Bachmann, Franks, Gohmert, Rooney and Westmoreland questioned the Inspectors General about the direct influence within the intelligence community of Muslim Brotherhood operatives. They explained that the U.S. government in federal court has established that the group's mission in the U.S. is "destroying the Western civilization from within." The members went on to request that the respective offices of the Inspectors General conduct a formal investigation or evaluation of the extent to which Muslim Brotherhood-tied individuals or entities are involved.
"The national security of our country depends on getting straight answers from the Inspectors General to the questions we posed in these letters," said Bachmann. "The Muslim Brotherhood is not shy about their call for jihad against the United States. We seek answers through these letters because we will not tolerate this group and its affiliates holding positions of power in our government or influencing our nation's leaders."
Signers of the letter serve on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Bachmann, Rooney and Westmoreland), the Armed Services Committee (Franks and Rooney) and the Judiciary Committee (Franks and Gohmert). Additionally, Gohmert is the Vice Chair of the Judiciary subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. (Office of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann) Read more.
- Offer a chorus of praise for these five, bold members of Congress who have now called out the Moslem Brotherhood for its infiltration of the highest levels of our government. In spite of voices of opposition within Congress (see below), ask that a congressional inquiry would be launched to verify the concerns voiced in this letter. Pray protection for the five members who have signed this letter and for their families. Amen.
- "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them." (Eph. 5:11)
2. CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS LAMBASTE BACHMANN FOR HER STAND
John McCain took to the Senate floor this week to lambaste five conservative members of the House who, unlike McCain, are actually serious about addressing threats the Brotherhood poses to American interests. McCain's bipartisan "Islamic democracy" promoters seem content to keep burning through taxpayer trillions until the Brotherhood is finally running every government in the Middle East. To the contrary, the House conservatives - Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Tom Rooney (Fla.), and Lynn Westmorland (Ga.) - have concluded that the Brotherhood needs to be regarded as the serious anti-American business that it is.
Toward that end, the quintet is justifiably concerned that the Brotherhood's sharia agenda - the one to which McCain used to be "unalterably opposed" - is being abetted not just by some Nobel-toting Egyptian progressive, but by officials in highly sensitive positions inside the United States government. (National Review) Read more.
From the Daily Jot:
From Senator John McCain to House Speaker John Boehner and many other Republicans we are hearing condemnation of Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-Mn). She wrote letters to intelligence and national security agencies raising questions about the Muslim Brotherhood. The letters, signed by four other Congressmen, accused Abedin's deceased father and brother of being part of the Muslim Brotherhood, and her mother part of the Muslim Sisterhood. The Abedin family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood have been reported in both Arab and Western media. Bachmann was doing her job raising a concern for America's national security. Many of the most conservative members of her party condemned her for it.
- Nowadays, when someone stands for the truth, condemnation follows. As Yeshua said in Matthew 5:13, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." This nation and its people are headed down a similar path of ancient Israel. Whether by YHVH's hand or by our own, if we do not turn from our current condition, there is great mourning on the horizon.
3. BACHMANN TIES REP. ELLISON TO BROTHERHOOD
When Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) sent her letter regarding Huma Abedin to U.S. intelligence and security agencies, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was not the only one to recoil: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim ever to be elected to the U.S. Congress, lashed out as well.
Part of a group of Democrats calling Bachmann's concerns a "baseless witch-hunt," Ellison actually said Bachmann should apologize to Abedin. . .
Instead of apologizing, Bachmann is doubling down, and has added Ellison's name to the list of U.S. officials whom she believes should be investigated for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Ellison has responded by saying Bachmann's allegations are false, and that he believes she just wants attention. (Breitbart.com) Read more.
- Thank you, Lord, for Michele Bachmann.
- "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:16)
4. HOUSE PASSES BILL ON EXPANDED U.S. - ISRAELI MILITARY COOPERATION
Legislation restates commitment to supply Israel with arms and fight anti-Israel UN resolutions
The US House of Representatives approved a bill to strengthen security cooperation between the United States and Israel.
The United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, S. 2165, an amended version of a House bill that was approved in May, passed in a voice vote on July 17 and now awaits President Obama's signature.
"We will send this bipartisan bill to the president and deliver the message that during this pivotal and dangerous period in the Middle East, the United States stands tall for our ally Israel," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said, according to TheHill.com.
The new bill restates the US commitment to supply Israel with arms to defend itself along with pledges to fight anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations. AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, commended the House's passage of the bill, saying in a statement, "The United States benefits greatly through enhanced cooperation with Israel. This bipartisan bill recommends new avenues to grow and strengthen the US-Israel relationship in the fields of missile defense, homeland security, energy, intelligence, and cyber-security."
- We continue to thank the Lord that our Congress, on both sides of the Hill and on both sides of the aisle, is unwaivering in its strong support of Israel. Call forth the blessing that is due our nation as we remain steadfast with our most valuable ally in the Middle East.
- "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen. 12:3)
5. SENATE GOP SCUTTLES LAW OF THE SEA (LOST) TREATY
Opponents have locked in enough votes to block Senate ratification of the controversial Law of the Sea treaty championed by White House and the Pentagon. The pact, which which would have created de facto rules for the world's oceans, was heralded by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others as the key to maintaining peace and order in global hot spots such as the Asia-Pacific region.
On Monday, Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) added their names to the growing list of anti-treaty advocates, who argue the pact does nothing to guarantee regional security along the waterways in the Pacific or elsewhere. With their support, opponents now have the necessary three-fourths Senate majority to sink Senate ratification of the global maritime pact. (The Hill) Read more.
- Hallelujah! This is a direct answer to prayer!! Praise God!
- "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
6. SEN. DEMINT DELAYS SENATE CONSIDERATION OF U.N. TREATY
Treaty addresses needs of people with disabilities; home schoolers protest
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is delaying Senate consideration of the United Nations treaty on people with disabilities amid growing opposition from home-schooling advocates.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to take up the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People With Disabilities last Thursday, with the goal of getting it passed in time for the 22nd anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26.
Instead, Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced that he will hold the markup next Thursday, July 26. A spokesman for DeMint said several Republicans on the committee joined him in asking for the delay.
"Part of this treaty deals with abortion and the rights of children, issues that should be addressed by states, local governments and American parents, not international bureaucrats," DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton told The Hill in an email. "Sen. DeMint strongly opposes this treaty, as the United States is already the world leader in addressing the needs of the disabled and it's foolish to think Americans need to sign away our sovereignty to exert our influence around the world." (The Hill) Read more.
- Just as the momentum towards passage of the LOST treaty has waned, ask for the same dismantling of support for Senate approval of this U.N. treaty. Our parents have the right to determine the care for their children, without interference from the State. Pray!
- "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just . . ." (Gen. 18:19)
7. MORE REPUBLICANS GO ON THE RECORD TO OPPOSE UN SMALL ARMS TREATY
[Repeating last week's report]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been pushing hard for the small arms treaty at the United Nations, which critics say would impose international gun control measures on U.S. citizens. The treaty would also hamper efforts by the United States to help arm its allies who face growing dangers from oppressive governments around the world.
Fifty-eight senators, including 11 Democrats, have signed a letter opposing the treaty.
The press secretary for Senate Minority Leader McConnell told this reporter that the senator does not expect the small arms treaty to gain sufficient traction to pass. (The Examiner)
- Continue to press in, in prayer, until this treaty, like LOST, disappears.
- "Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us." (Isaiah 8:10)
8. REPUBLICANS UNVEIL BILL; PREVENTS OBAMA FROM WEAKENING EXISTING WELFARE LAWS
On Wednesday, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Michigan), Education & Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minnesota), Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced legislation, the Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act, that would prohibit the Obama Administration from unilaterally granting itself the authority to exempt states from the work requirements that were a critical element of welfare reform enacted in 1996 - potentially opening the door for activities like bed rest, smoking cessation and exercise to be counted as work for the purposes of complying with federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) requirements.
"The Obama Administration has once again overstepped its bounds, this time to the detriment of those struggling most under their failed economic policies. The Administration's unprecedented efforts to undo welfare reforms that resulted in higher earnings and employment for low-income Americans cannot be allowed to stand," said Camp. (Christian Coalition of America) Read more.
- Our Loving God, we ask that You would raise up a standard against any attempts to change our government welfare system at this time. We tell the forces pressuring Congressmen and Congresswomen to back off and let this matter rest for now. Father, raise up other, more compassionate and effective ways for the poor to be taken care of rather than government handouts as this enslaves them to the government. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
- "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)
[To read more about how the current welfare system is effective, go here.]
9. HOUSE GOP LEADERS WARY OF FARM, POST OFFICE BILLS
Senate-passed bills to cut farm subsidies and food stamps and overhaul the financially teetering Postal Service have been put on hold by House Republican leaders wary of igniting internal party fights or risking voters' ire three months before the election.
[There is not] much time for the farm and postal bills, which affect the future of food production and mail delivery but generate controversies that politicians would prefer to avoid in an election year.
The farm bill puts fiscal conservatives from rural districts in a position of having to vote against federal subsidies for farmers and could force Democrats to vote for cuts to the federal food stamp program. The postal bill might require lawmakers to decide on shutting post offices or terminating Saturday service. (Fox News) Read more.
- In the remaining days before the summer recess, ask our Lord to grant His wisdom to the House and Senate leadership, that only those bills which need to be addressed now would appear on the calendar, and the rest be addressed later. However, as we see the growing drought sweeping across our nation, anything we can do to help our farmers at this time would be most welcome.
- "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)
10. DROUGHT COVERS MAJORITY OF U.S.
'Might Be A $50 Billion Event For The Economy'
This year's drought ranks as one of the top 10 worst U.S. droughts for the last century. With more than half the country (54 percent) experiencing drought conditions, it's the single worst drought since the 1950s. It is hot all over. NOAA said in its June "State of the Climate Global Analysis":
This is the second month in a row that the global land temperature was the warmest on record for that month. While it has been hotter than the 1930s in many places in this country, the drought hasn't been quite as bad as the worst of the original Dust Bowl. (Hebrew Nation News)
- Please remain in a posture of repentance before our Lord. Perhaps He will relent, show us His mercy, and send us His rain. Amen.
- "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:13,14)
11. H.R. 3803: D.C. ABORTION BAN -- NEEDS PASSAGE!
Washington, D.C. may be the capital of America, but it shouldn't be the capital of abortion. At least that's what 18 House Republicans concluded yesterday in a key vote of the Judiciary Committee. Led by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), conservatives voted 18-14 to ban abortions in the District after 20 weeks after fertilization--when research suggests that babies can feel pain. Not one Democrat supported the bill. "We are talking about [legislation that] protects children from being torturously dismembered while they are capable of feeling pain," Franks repeated. Still, liberals not only opposed the bill but offered hostile amendments--which, to our relief, were all defeated.
If anything, the vote on H.R. 3803 again proves how stunningly out of touch the Left is. In a new poll released this week by the National Right to Life Committee, Americans overwhelmingly side with conservatives on this issue. Sixty-three percent of all respondents (and 70% of women) favor banning abortion after the point where the unborn child can feel pain, and 58% of all respondents and 62% of women would be more likely to vote for a Member of Congress who votes to ban abortion 20 weeks after fertilization in the District of Columbia. Join the majority! Call or email your congressman and ask him to support H.R. 3803. Then, contact your senators and encourage them to cosponsor Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) companion bill, S. 2013. (Family Research Council)
- Father in Heaven, we ask for supernatural success for this bill as it goes
to the floor of the House for a vote. We pray that the Representatives will
hear from and heed the majority opinion of Americans who favor pushing back on
abortion later in pregnancy. Lord, do a work to soften the hearts of those who
erroneously see abortion as a woman's right and cause them to have compassion
for pre-born infants who feel pain after 20 weeks. Forgive us for even having a
law that allows that anywhere in the U.S., especially in our capital. In Your
Name, amen.
-"Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, who they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood." (Psalm 106:37-38)
-"Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, who they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood." (Psalm 106:37-38)
12. THE MILITARY V. THE BIBLE: CONGRESS STEPS IN
As the assault on military freedoms continues under this Administration, some members of Congress are attempting to come to service members' aid. I recently told you about The "Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF)," an organization committed to scrubbing the armed forces of Christian faith, taking credit for requiring the Broadman and Holman (B&H) Christian publishing firm to refrain from putting the emblems of our five service branches on the Bibles they sell at military exchanges and elsewhere. As noted by journalist Todd Starnes, "The Bibles are tailored to each specific military branch. For example, the cover of the Marine version says The Marines' Bible -- along with the USMC emblem. The Bibles contain special prayers and devotional material for military personnel." Yet the MRFF claims that Bibles with military logos compose a "national security threat" since some Muslims could think that a version of the Bible with a military emblem on it might communicate that we are engaged in a crusade against Islam. Clearly, the MRFF is using radical Islam as a pretext for implementing its anti-Christian agenda.
Thankfully, Congress has taken notice. U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.), a
member of the House Appropriations Veterans and Military Construction
Subcommittee, has been joined by 22 other Members of Congress in writing
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta about the decision to force B&H to quit
putting military emblems on its Bibles. In their letter, they write,
"Religious freedom is one the founding principles of our nation ... We are
frustrated by outside groups aiming to limit these protections, but we are
troubled by the fact that the Department of Defense has not clearly renounced
these attempts and stated its intentions to preserve religious freedom in the
military." FRC applauds Rep. Nunnelee and his colleagues for standing both
for religious liberty and the men and women of our armed forces. We have
launched a petition to call on Secretary Panetta to "stop caving to the
demands of militant secularist groups" and authorize Bibles with service
emblems to continue to be printed and sold. Join us in sending this message to
Sec. Panetta by signing our petition here.
(Family Research Council)
- We want to praise the Lord for this action by Congressman Nunnelee. Ask our Lord to stir the hearts of the majority of the members of Congress in a groundswell of support for this letter and, in the end, pray that the Department of Defense will, indeed, reverse its policy as stated. In His Name, amen.
- "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn." (Psalm 110:3 NAS)
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Bills We Are Watching This Week
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Bills We Are Watching This Week
With Congress about to go out of session for its summer recess in August, we anticipate a flurry of activity on the Hill this week in both the Senate and the House, as members seek to pass bills they have introduced this year.
Below please find four bills that are of special interest for prayer. Thank you.
1. S. 3412: A BILL TO PROVIDE TAX RELIEF TO MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES
This week, the Senate will debate S. 3412, a bill intended to "provide tax relief to middle-class families." The bill would extend and amend various tax relief measures passed over the last twelve years, and it would continue the increased alternative minimum tax exemption amount, among other things. S. 3412 was introduced on July 19th by Senator Harry Reid and, as of now, has no cosponsors. Please watch for continuing developments this week over the debate on this bill.
2. H.R. 459: THE FEDERAL RESERVE TRANSPARENCY ACT
H.R. 459 was introduced in the House on Jan. 26, 2011 by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
If passed, this bill would direct the Government Accountability Office to prepare audits of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks. The first audit would cover all of the activities of the Federal Reserve, and the second would review loan files of foreclosed homeowners.
A companion bill has been introduced into the Senate as S.202 by Senator Rand Paul. Pray for passage of both bills.
3. H.R. 6082: THE CONGRESSIONAL REPPACEMENT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ENERGY-RESTRICTING AND JOB-HUNTING OFFSHORE DRILLING PLAN
This bill was introduced on July 9th by Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), and has two cosponsors, If passed, H.R. 6082 will officially replace, within the 60-day Congressional review period under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, President Obama's Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program (2012-2017) with a congressional plan that will conduct additional oil and natural gas lease sales to promote offshore energy development, job creation, and increased domestic energy production to ensure a more secure energy future in the United States, and for other purposes.
H.R. 6082 has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. Pray for passage.
4. H.R. 6029: THE FOREIGN AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE PENALTY ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2012
H.R. 6029 was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 27 by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. If passed, H.R. 6029 will amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for increased penalties for foreign and economic espionage, and for other purposes.H.R. 6029 currently has 11 cosponsors.
In the Senate, Sen. Herb Kohl (D- WI) has introduced a companion bill, S.678, with 8 senators signing on as cosponsors. Pray for passage of both bills.
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Aftermath: The Aurora Shootings
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Aftermath: The Aurora Shootings
- SHOOTING PROMPTS CALLS FOR STRICTER GUN LAWS
- U.N. TREATY COULD THREATEN SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
- HOMELAND SECURITY WARNED OF THEATER ATTACKS
The call for federal lawmakers to tighten gun laws has intensified following the mass shooting in Colorado, with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg urging Congress on Saturday to swiftly address a ban on certain weapons. "Let's stop wasting time and start saving lives," Lautenberg, D-N.J. said on his Twitter account. "Congress must prioritize a ban on high-capacity gun magazines."
Lautenberg was also among the first on Capitol Hill to comment on the shooting massacre early Friday at a suburban Colorado movie theatre that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded. The alleged shooter, James Holmes, was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and three other weapons. "The shooting in Aurora is a horrific act of violence, and our thoughts go out to the innocent victims and their families," he said Friday. "Our hearts are filled with sadness for the 12 people killed and the dozens wounded in this senseless act. We have to face the reality that these types of tragedies will continue to occur unless we do something about our nation's lax gun laws."
A Lautenberg aide has told the Huffington Post, "If reports are correct and a high-capacity gun magazine was used to commit these awful murders, Senator Lautenberg will absolutely renew his effort to limit the availability of this dangerous firearm attachment." Last year, Lautenberg introduced legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. He also has authored other gun-related bills including one that would close so-called loopholes on background checks for buyers at gun shows.
At least one other lawmaker has already called on President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney to address the issue. "Soothing words are nice," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a radio interview, "but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country." (Fox News) Read more.
- Father, this trickery of using a high capacity gun magazine to kill and wound so many people is a slanderous act of terrorism and counters the American standard gun laws that have been in force in our country. We thank You for the existing laws we do have in place, and ask that they be enforced to the maximum extent possible, but we ask, too, that stricter control over our right to bear arms not come to pass. Hold back evil, Lord. Comfort the grieving citizens and heal the wounded. In the Name of Jesus.
- "O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for You: be our arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of God the nations were scattered." (Isaiah 33:2-3)
2. U.N. TREATY COULD THREATEN SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
UNITED NATIONS - American Second Amendment rights and U.S. foreign policy interests could be directly threatened by the latest wording of a United Nations draft treaty seeking control over international trade in conventional weapons. A U.S. delegate argued against the provisions during closed-door talks Friday, but insiders close to the proceedings say UN approval of a final document by the self-imposed July 27 deadline remains likely.
The development comes just days after Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, warned there should be "no compromise" on the issue of a U.S. citizen's right to own a firearm. "We will not stand idly by while international organizations, whether state-based or stateless, attempt to undermine the fundamental liberties that our men and women in uniform have fought so bravely to preserve - and on which our entire American system of government is based," LaPierre told the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
The latest draft bars weapons transfers to "non-state actors" - which, by definition, includes private citizens.
While treaty supporters say the provision speaks to a long-stated goal of denying weapons to terrorists, many experts warn of wider consequences. "The ATT will not limit the ability of terrorists to acquire arms. The reason for this is simple: The UN has never defined terrorism, because some member states insist that terrorist groups like Hamas are struggling against so-called foreign occupation," Ted Bromund, senior research fellow with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, told the conference last week. (Fox News) Read more.
- Lord God, we call heaven to intervene on this issue of every U.S. citizen's right to own a firearm. Break the power of darkness originating from the U.N. over the long-standing rights upon which our entire American system of government is based and pull down this evil, cast it out by the blood of Jesus and reinforce our American rights. God, be with us and weaken the U.N., spoil our enemies, and put a holy block before their faces that they cannot take another step to rob or change our American system of government. In Jesus' Name, we pray, amen.
- "For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He has utterly destroyed them, He has delivered them to the slaughter. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as a leaf falls off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree." (Isaiah 34:2, 4)
3. HOMELAND SECURITY WARNED OF THEATER ATTACKS
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials warned "first responders" in May - just two months before the shooting this weekend at a Colorado theater - about the possibility of terrorist attacks on American movie theaters. The concern was prompted by terrorist attacks on theaters in Africa carried out by Al Qaida and Al Shabaab. "These recent instances demonstrate that mass gatherings such as those associated with theaters likely remain attractive terrorist targets," DHS wrote in the May 17 memo, which was highlighted by the transparency website, Public Intelligence. "We encourage facility owners and operators, security personnel, and first responders to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities and behaviors that may indicate a potential attack." ... DHS especially warned about "persons in crowded areas wearing clothing that is unusually bulky or atypical for the season, possibly to conceal suicide explosives or weapons." (The Washington Examiner) Read more.
- After last week, the movie theater owners, themselves, have stepped up their own private security measures so that patron can be safe. Pray for all security personnel, now and beyond, as we can now add the words "movie theaters" to our list of terrorist targets. May this never happen again!
- "Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked . . . " (Psalm 64:1,2)
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This Week, Worship Our Lord As . . .
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This Week, Worship Our Lord As . . .
(Adoni Ehkhad Oo-Sh'mo Ehkhad)
"The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name." (Zech. 14:9)
What a mystery! God my Father; God as Yeshua, who came to show me how to live; God as the Spirit, who empowers me to live the godly life. Three as One - what a mystery!
Thank You, Lord, that I don't have to understand this with my head to know it in my heart. How marvelous is Your Name!
"Your name, Lord, endures forever, your renown, Lord, through all generations." (Psalm 135:13)
(Taken from: Intimate Moments with the Hebrew Names of God, by Barri Cae Malin and Shmuel Wolkenfeld; Bridge-Logos Publishers; Gainesville, FL, 32614. ISBN: 0-88270-801-5)
