First Assisted Suicide in Washington State

Washington has now seen the first person die under state's the second-in-the-nation law legalizing the practice of assisted suicide. A 66-year-old woman from Sequim named Linda Fleming died Thursday night after taking a lethal cocktail prescribed to her by a physician under the law.

The pro-euthanasia group Compassion & Choices announced Fleming's death Friday morning.

The group, which spearheaded the fight for the law, claims Fleming had stage 4 pancreatic cancer which promoted her to kill herself with her doctor's help.

"The pain became unbearable, and it was only going to get worse," the organization quoted Fleming as saying in a statement.

Given that she just received the diagnoses last month, and given the "waiting period" between the required two requests, one has to wonder; was she even treated for the inevitable onset of fear and depression?

It will undoubtedly be spun by Compassion and Choices that she was in unbearable pain. If that was the case, she wasn't being provided all the options for pain management.

No one who opposes assisted suicide is in favor of unbearable pain. But unbearable pain does not have to be a part of the dying process given today's medical advances.

WA Human Life

The Witness of Life Interrupts Obama on Abortion

The cry of an innocent baby interrupted President Obama as he justified his abortion position at Notre Dame.

The distinct sound of a baby crying broke out in the arena where the Notre Dame commencement exercise was being held on Sunday when President Obama--who was giving the commencement address--began talking about abortion.

The precious sound of life broke out clearly and could be heard on national television broadcasts.

CNS News

The Right to Kill or the Right to Live

When the President called for Americans to agree that, while differing on abortion, "we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually," he failed to make clear why this is so.

If the unborn baby is not a person who possesses an intrinsic right to life, why is the decision to abort so "heart-wrenching?" If the fetus is just a collection of cells, why the angst?

Furthermore, does the fact that a decision is "heart-wrenching" make it right or rational?

When the President acknowledged that, in the end, the two positions on abortion are irreconcilable, he was on more solid ground. Both sides frame the issue as a question of rights -- specifically a woman's "right" to control her reproductive destiny by any means, including abortion vs. the unborn child's right to live.

The weakness of the pro-abortion (or "pro-choice") position becomes evident at this point. The claimed right of control over reproduction is not commensurate with another person's right to live, and not to be killed in the womb.

If President Obama had actually spoken of abortion itself, rather than addressing abortion only as an issue of controversy, he would have found himself defending the indefensible, which explains why he avoids this discussion at all costs.

Dr. Albert Mohler

The Governor to Watch

Governor Mark Sanford, best known as a critic of excessive government spending, is leaving office in 2010 due to term limits, and there is plenty of speculation that the two-term Governor and former three-term Congressman will run for the presidency in 2012.

Like all potential candidates, he’s been coy about the speculation. For now, he has his hands full governing; all eyes are on a budget battle that will come to a head with a vote in the legislature next week on his plan to use federal stimulus funds to pay down state debt.

Newsweek has a look at Sanford’s view of this battle here.

Redstate

The Squander and Reality of Olympia's Herd of Sacred Cows

Sacred cows aren't herded easily -- especially toward the political slaughterhouse.

Gov. Chris Gregoire learned that truth during this year's legislative session, where her proposal to eliminate more than 100 state boards and commissions resulted in just two dozen being chopped.

Alas, the state will have to get by without the Acupuncture Ad Hoc Committee and the Special License Plate Review Board.

Thank heavens it still has an Oversight Committee on Moral Guidance.

Excerpted from an Everett Herald editorial

Will You Join Me?

Today is the 58th annual National Day of Prayer. All across America citizens will join in times of personal repentance and corporate prayer for our nation..

While there will be many types of events and venues, there is but one purpose - to intercede with our Father for America and for those in authority.

Yesterday, on the NDP web site, I counted nearly 70 events taking place here in Washington State. I hope you plan to participate. Here is the NDP link where you can locate an event near you.

This year's event theme is so appropriate: "Prayer... America's Hope" from Psalm 33:22

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our hope in you."

I would encourage you to watch the LIVE Webcast of the National Observance in Washington D.C. (9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon EST)

Though our White House will not participate in this event we must.

I believe that genuine repentance brings hope and healing. I also believe that national repentance must begin with personal repentance.

Will you join me?

FOX - Domination in the Obama Nation

How's this for cable news domination - Fox News beat CNN and MSNBC combined in every hour from 6AM to 12PM in both total viewers and the 25-54 age demographic for April 2009.

FOX had the top 11 cable news programs in total viewers and 12 of the top 15 in the demo. FOX News is the #2 network in Total Viewers on all of cable. From 9 AM on, every program grew by more than 60% in the demo:

• The 5PM hour, now occupied by Glenn Beck, is up 212% in the demo and up 128% in total viewers.
• Your World with Neil Cavuto is up 102% in the demo and up 60% in total viewers.
• On the Record with Greta Van Susteren is up 75% in demo and up 55% in total viewers.
• FOX Report is up 75%
• Special Report 70%
• The O'Reilly Factor 74%
• Hannity 64%.
• Fox & Friends has now been #1 for 90 consecutive months
• Studio B with Shepard Smith for 80 consecutive months

[as reported on Media Bistro]

Obama: No White House Observance of National Day of Prayer

The Obama administration has announced there will not be a White House observance for the National Day of Prayer this year.

"We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration," said Mrs. Shirley Dobson, chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. "At this time in our country's history, we would hope our president would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

The White House has indicated it will release a proclamation recognizing the National Day of Prayer on Thursday.

The National Observance will take place from 9 a.m. to noon EDT, as Dr. and Mrs. Dobson, Beth Moore and others gather in Washington, D.C., to pray for America.

Whose Side Are We On?

by Rep. Michele Bachmann

Last week the House Financial Services Committee unanimously accepted my amendment to keep tax dollars from flowing to organizations indicted for voter fraud during consideration of the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act.

Chairman Barney Frank later revoked his support for my amendment.

My amendment would keep organizations that are under indictment for voter fraud or other criminal activities, or that employ people indicted for such crimes, from accessing billions of your tax dollars. Groups such as ACORN are repeatedly charged with violating the law and the public trust, yet they continue to access taxpayer funds.

The threshold for gaining taxpayer funding should not be so low. Interestingly, the Associated Press reported Monday that Nevada authorities filed criminal charges against ACORN and two former employees for voter registration fraud.

Last week I asked: Whose side are we on: The taxpayer's or ACORN's?

Chairman Frank still has the opportunity to side with taxpayers by upholding the decision of the Financial Services Committee to implement the highest standard and withhold taxpayer dollars from funding organizations when they're under the cloud of suspicion of a public criminal indictment.

How Olympia "Doesn't" Raise Taxes

This is but another example of the pathetic way power-tripping legislators manipulate the law and taxpayers to fund their insatiable spending appetite.

by Brett Davis, EFF

Thankfully, legislators did not end up passing a general tax increase as part of the 2009-11 state budget.

Unfortunately, they did what they often do when the public appetite for tax increases is lacking: raise targeted fees.

We still don’t know how much the final budget will cost affected fee payers, since legislators passed it before the state’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) could tally up the costs.

In this case it isn’t really OFM’s fault. The legislature didn’t even wait 24 hours between the final budget’s introduction and a vote.

While many politicians tend to regard fees as more palatable than taxes, in most cases the line between a fee and a tax is very thin.

For example, this year the legislature voted to double the tax on wrestling, martial arts and boxing events (SB 6126), only they changed the account that the money is deposited into from the general fund to a dedicated account, which converted the “tax” into a “fee.”

This enabled the legislature to avoid the two-thirds vote threshold required by I-960 for tax increases. Fee increases only require a simple majority.

The Republican Problem

Republican leaders should take note of information gleaned from the most recent Rasmussen survey.

According to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey sixty-nine percent (69%) of GOP voters say congressional Republicans have lost touch with GOP values and their base of voters throughout the nation.

These numbers should give pause to every Republican leader from DC on down to every state leader.

“To be relevant in politics, you need either formal power or a lot of people willing to follow your lead. The governing Republicans in the nation’s capital have lost both on their continuing path to irrelevance,” stated Scott Rasmussen in his survey analysis.

What is important to authentic Republicans?

Seventy-two percent (72%) say it is more important for the GOP to stand for what it believes in than for the party to work with President Obama .

While party officials, leadership and political pundits debate what direction Republicans should take following Obama’s election and sizable Democratic gains in both houses of Congress, it appears that the party faithful prefer principled policy.

Pundits continually pummel the Party to move in the direction of the Democrats on issues imagining the GOP has been hurt by abandoning its core economic and social positions.

Yet recent polls prove that even among all voter 56% say the Republican Party should return to the views and values of Reagan to be successful, and eighty-five percent (85%) of Republican voters agreed.

What can Republicans learn from this? The road to relevancy is paved with principled policy championed by fearless leadership.

Hello. Is anyone listening?