Treating Women & Children As Commodities

WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE SEEKS TO TREAT WOMEN AND CHILDREN AS COMMODITIES

It is stunning. Bill 1267 now before the Senate, would legalize coercing poor women to prostitute their wombs for the manufacturing of children. Both the woman and child would be bought and sold. Barbaric.

This is a cynical if-you-have-enough-money, you have a right to purchase other human beings. THIS TRAVESTY MAY BE VOTED ON THIS WEEK.

Do we have to relearn that buying and selling of other human beings is a moral evil? Obviously, declaring: "Never again" is, by itself, never good enough, because human exploitation changes its disguise; the injustice appears in a different form with a new rationale.

Those legislators who pay lip-service to caring about women and children, are looking to legalize them as a commodity.

No matter your opinion on surrogacy, same-sex marriage, or abortion, you should be appalled at how poorly this legislation is written:

THE PURCHASE OF CHILDREN

HB 1267 would allow a couple to purchase a surrogate to have a child that may not be genetically related to the buyers.

Current Washington law sets forth that it is unlawful to purchase a minor child, but this bill inserts an exception into the law for a child that is the result of a paid contract.

This completely bypasses or circumvents all adoption safety procedures. These procedures are in place to protect children. This is an adoption, except in name. Gestational adoptions are adoptions. Yet, all adoption procedures are bypassed by this bill.

EXPLOITING POOR AND VULNERABLE WOMEN

Women who are low-income or unable to find work could be coerced into becoming a surrogate out of desperation.

While other state allow compensation for expenses and lost wages, there are NO LIMITS under this bill to the amount of money which could be spent to entice a women to become a surrogate.

This bill legalizes the renting of a woman's body for the first time, WITH NO REGULATIONS OR OVERSIGHT.

Under current law, paid surrogacy is prohibited and considered a misdemeanor.

This bill will, for the first time, open the doors to the renting of women in a completely unregulated service contract for over nine months.

Since the advent of paid surrogacy in other counties, a dark and disturbing trend of rich interests taking advantage of poor women has emerged. Surrogacy rings, amounting to slave labor have been occurring in Asia, and making international news.

Like pay day loan businesses, targeting poor military families, there is also evidence of surrogacy businesses targeting poor military families because of the great military healthcare. It will happen here.

It is a tragedy that some couples are unable to conceive, but an unregulated market that will take advantage of the growing number of woman dropping into poverty is wrong. Many states prohibit paid surrogacy.

CALL THE LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE 1-800-562-6000 AND LET YOUR SENATOR KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS BILL

- Human Life Washington

100 Ideas for Washington’s Future

Press Release

OLYMPIA (March 23, 2011) State Representative Mike Hope (R-Lake Stevens) officially launched a statewide initiative today to find the best ideas for Washington’s future. The nonpartisan initiative is called .

At a Capitol press conference Wednesday, Hope was joined by Democrat and Republican leaders from across the state who pledged to listen to the people of Washington to develop a long term agenda for the state’s future.

“As much as we as political leaders hope to achieve at the state Capitol, government alone is not the answer to the challenges, and opportunities, of the future. Government cannot build our economy. Government cannot inspire citizens,” Hope said.

“Instead, the energy and drive of our people will move our state forward,” Hope explained. “The four walls of the state Capitol, filled with politicians, lobbyists, special interests and political insiders, are not the sole repository of good ideas for Washington. Instead, the hardworking citizens who pay taxes and raise families are the true reservoir of great ideas for our state. And that’s why we are launching the 100 Ideas Initiative,” Hope said.

Through a series of town hall meetings and interaction with the state’s citizens, the 100 Ideas Initiative will develop a comprehensive vision for our future. The meetings are called “Idearaisers,” and they are the heart of the 100 Ideas program. Hope and other leaders will travel the state throughout 2011 to conduct the Idearaisers.

“People are familiar with politicians holding fundraisers where they solicit money,” Hope said. “At an Idearaiser, we won’t ask for your money. Instead, we ask only that you bring your good ideas for the future of our state.”

Hope also emphasized that the Initiative is “non-partisan. In fact, we are not interested in ‘Republican’ ideas or ‘Democrat’ ideas. We simply want good ideas – regardless of their source,” Hope said.

Citizens will also be encouraged to submit their ideas on the program’s website – www.100ideaswa.org.

At the end of the year, the 100 Ideas Initiative will publish a book filled with 100 of the best ideas that emerge from across the state. The book will serve as a road map for policy makers.

Ideas submitted to the program will be evaluated by Hope and a bi-partisan team of advisors.

The Tolerant Left

"Below, you’ll find a compilation of 20 days worth of the death threats, vandalism, and intimidation practiced by pro-union thugs opposed to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill."

Thank you John Nolte for exposing the tolerant left.

The Bottom Line Is This: There Is No Money

When Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels took office six years ago, he rescinded collective bargaining rights for state employees and implemented merit pay.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Daniels slashed the state work force and turned a $600 million deficit into a $370 million surplus in one year. Indiana currently has an $800 million surplus.

Public-sector unions can prevent such all-out assaults by helping rather than hindering the process. For example, here in Washington, legislators passed a law allowing state services to be contracted out to private companies, but the process is essentially controlled by state employee unions, so it goes nowhere.

That’s not real reform.

The bottom line is this: There is no money. Business as usual is not an option. Rather than stand at the barricades fending off change, public-sector unions should use their experience and talents to help make government more efficient, effective and affordable.

That’s a solution that works for both the private and public employees.

Excerpt from Unions must be part of the solution as money dries up by Don Brunell president of the Association of Washington Business

The President Gets His Game On

Tahman Bradley reports:

President Obama just could not wait for spring weather to arrive.

For the second week in a row, the most powerful man in the world stepped away from the White House to hit the golf course.

Even as his administration and the U.S. military help Japan recover from a devastating earthquake, and as the world worries about Fukushima's nuclear reactor, the president could not resist taking advantage of the 48-degree weather in the Washington, D.C., area.

The president left the White House Saturday afternoon for a short trip to Joint Andrews Base in Camp Springs, Md.

With cloudy skies, it's not the best weather for golf, but Obama loves to spend his Saturdays on the greens. Last fall, Obama went golfing darn near every weekend.

These are never quick "work on your swing" trips; usually the president plays 18 holes, as he did last week.

Dangers of an Article V Convention

Written by Matthew Spalding, Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at The Heritage Foundation

An Article V amendments convention has been a debated proposition since the very beginning. Madison understood this when he argued at the Constitutional Convention that “difficulties might arise as to the form, the quorum etc. which in constitutional regulations ought to be as much as possible avoided.”

He recorded some of these questions in his convention notes: “How was a Convention to be formed? By what rule decide? What the force of its acts?”

Combine these with the fact that no such amending convention has ever occurred (that is, there is no precedent) and too many serious questions are left open and unanswered. This absence of guidelines or rules makes an Article V convention a risky venture, and one that legislators have historically avoided.

Legislators have threatened an Article V convention as a way of encouraging Congress to take action on a certain issue. In these instances, the threat of an Article V convention (with all of its unknowns) is considered dangerous enough that Congress proposes the desired amendment through the usual congressional method. This is not an unreasonable aspect of a constitutional strategy, but very different from claiming that we should actually have such a convention as a matter of course.

The largest question is whether an amendments convention can be limited to specific amendments or even topics.

The pro-convention argument assumes that the power to limit the convention is inherent in the power to call the convention in the first place. I’m not so sure that follows: The text says that upon application of the states Congress “shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments,” not for confirming a particular amendment already written, approved, and proposed by state legislatures (which would effectively turn the convention for proposing amendments into a ratifying convention).

Indeed, it is not at all clear as a matter of constitutional construction (and doubtful in principle) that the power of two-thirds of the states to issue applications for a convention restricts, supersedes, or overrides the power of all the states assembled in that convention to propose amendments to the Constitution.

When Madison later pointed to an Article V convention as a way to solve the Nullification Crisis (as did Lincoln during the Civil War), an amendments convention was understood to be free to propose whatever amendments thought necessary to address the problems at issue.

Serious scholars will undoubtedly continue to debate the historical record and speculate about the possibility of an amendments convention under Article V. But the argument that, as a matter of course, we should spend considerable time, money and effort right now to design, plan, and implement a convention—despite the unknowns and risks involved—is both imprudent and potentially dangerous. It is a distraction that inevitably gets bogged down in a debate over technical details, taking valuable attention and focus away from the substance of the constitutional reforms themselves.

Claims of the ease and efficacy of an Article V convention are also misleading to the many committed and well-meaning reformers and activists who are serious about constitutional change in the United States.

The Allusion of Assisted Suicide in WA State

In its recent Assisted Suicide report, the Department of Health reported that 87 people received lethal doses of medications under the Act and 71 individuals died. 51 people reportedly died after ingesting the lethal dose and 15 died from other causes.

The Department of Health does not know if the remaining 6 people died of assisted suicide or not. The Department of Health also has no idea about the status for the 15 remaining people who requested lethal medications-whether they are alive or dead, whether they died from natural causes or from assisted suicide.

There seems to be at least some problem with the accuracy of the reporting (and the timeliness of required documentation) if 15 people out of 87 cannot be accounted for. Of even greater concern is what the numbers don't, and can't, reveal.

True Compassion Advocates' President Eileen Geller noted, "The published data from the 2010 report is so limited and unreliable that even some who agree with the policy have qualms regarding the DOH's inability to determine whether the law operates with the full safety and voluntariness its proponents promised."

Geller continued, "Washington voters thought they were getting a law to assure choice-what they've received is something entirely different, a law which has in some instances has become a recipe for elder abuse and a vehicle for financial coercion."

The report, which doesn't even address whether the administration of the lethal dose was voluntary, has significant gaps. Instead, Washington's 2010 report on doctor prescribed death focuses on the "ingestion" of the lethal dose. "Ingestion" as described in the report does not require a patient's consent, competency, or even awareness.

"What the numbers in the report don't show is what really needs reporting," said Geller. "Assisted suicide in Washington is neither safe nor voluntary for those who feel coerced, can't afford proper health care, or are victims of unreported elder abuse."

True Compassion Advocates - True Compassion Advocates (TCA) offers education, resources, and support during aging, illness, and disability. We foster awareness about, and prevention of, suicide, doctor prescribed death, and elder abuse. We support safe and effective care, positive health care choices, and compassionate communities.

Powers

"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite." --James Madison, Federalist No. 45

Let There Be (Incandescent) Light!

By Pete Kasperowicz

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) this week introduced legislation that would eliminate federal light bulb standards passed in 2007 that are expected to have the effect of phasing out some incandescent bulbs in the next few years.

Bachmann said her "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" is needed because "government has no business telling an individual what kind of light bulb to buy."

"In 2007, Congress overstepped its bounds by mandating that only 'energy efficient' light bulbs may be sold after January 1, 2012," she said. "This mandate has sweeping effects on American families and businesses and needs serious consideration before taking effect."

Bachmann's bill, H.R. 849, would terminate two sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that set energy-efficiency standards for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs and labeling standards. The bill does, however, allow these standards to remain in place if the comptroller general were to find that they will lead to consumer savings, reduced carbon-dioxide emissions and pose no health risks to consumers (such as risks posed by the presence of mercury in more energy-efficient bulbs).

Obama vs Walker...and it wasn't even close!

Obama: “I don’t think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed upon.”

Walker: "I’m sure the president knows that most federal employees do not have collective bargaining for wages and benefits while our plan allows it for base pay.

And I’m sure the president knows that the average federal worker pays twice as much for health insurance as what we are asking for in Wisconsin. At least I would hope he knows these facts.

"Furthermore, I’m sure the president knows that we have repeatedly praised the more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin.

"I’m sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn’t acting like union bosses in saying one thing and doing another."

Call Governor Walker and let him know you appreciate the bold stand he is taking and his hard work for fiscal responsibility. (608) 266-1212.

Patriots Rally in Olympia

Thank you to the hundreds of patriots who braving cold and snow drove (themselves) to Olympia today to stand with Wisconsin and Governor Walker against the taxing tyranny of the democrat/unions cartel.

Obama Paves Way For Same-Sex “Marriage”

By Gary Bauer, American Values

Yesterday Attorney General Eric Holder made a stunning announcement: the Obama Justice Department will no longer defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. According to Holder, our president concluded that the law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman was “unconstitutional” and ordered him to stop defending it in at least two cases currently before the federal courts.

Excuse me? The president is the chief law enforcement officer, not the chief justice! It is not up to Barack Obama to determine which laws he likes and which laws he doesn’t. It is his responsibility to enforce the law until the nation’s highest court decides the law does not pass constitutional analysis.

But this president sees things very differently — he’s here to fundamentally transform America, by, among other things, redefining marriage. He ignored public opinion and bent the rules to pass healthcare “reform.” Unable to get cap and trade through Congress last year, Obama now wants the EPA to implement it. And he does not hesitate to ignore the courts either.

The Obama Administration was recently cited for contempt by a federal judge for continuing its deep-water drilling ban, despite a previous order striking it down. Rather than abiding by Judge Vinson’s ruling against ObamaCare, the administration is asking the judge to “clarify” his ruling, while it orders states to continue implementing the big government health scheme.

Today’s news should put to rest any suggestion that Obama has moved to the center. He has just aligned himself with the most radical elements in the culture war who are trying to redefine normalcy.

Celebrate Washington’s Birthday

Written by Julia Shaw, The Foundry

The third Monday in February has come to be known—wrongly—as President’s Day. But, this is not a day to celebrate every president in our Nation’s history.

The president who fails to wear a coat in cold weather should not be honored as much as the one who defeats the British’s Hessian mercenaries during a blizzard

This is the day that we celebrate the man who led America to victory in the War for Independence, who was instrumental in the creation of our Constitution, and whose character forever shaped the executive branch. We celebrate George Washington.

That’s why the holiday is Washington’s Birthday—not President’s day.

What makes George Washington a great president, worthy of such celebration, an example to all other presidents?

In short, he was committed to the principles of the American Founding: Liberty, Natural Rights, Equality, Religious Liberty, Economic Opportunity, the Rule of Law, Constitutionalism, Self-government, National Independence.

For nearly two centuries, Washington was celebrated every February 22nd. According to Al Felzenberg, Washington’s troops set aside that day during the War for Independence to honor him, especially for his surprise victories over Hessian mercenaries at Trenton and British troops at Princeton.

Yearly celebrations continued during and after Washington’s presidency, but Congress did not officially recognize Washington’s birthday as a national holiday until 1870.

Congress made Monday the official day to commemorate national figures and events with the Monday Holiday Law in 1968 (Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July are exceptions to the Monday rule).

Observance of Washington’s birthday was moved from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Contrary to popular opinion, no action by Congress or order by any president has changed “Washington’s Birthday” to “President’s Day.” Section 6103 of Title 5, United States Code, still designates the legal federal holiday as “Washington’s Birthday.”

It would be easy to for the president to issue an executive order that would enforce the law and remind all Americans that George Washington ought not to be lumped in with every other president: good, bad, and the ugly (yes, James Buchanan we are talking about you).

If anyone in American history (let alone a president) deserves to have a day celebrated in his honor, it’s George Washington.

Henry Lee summed up Washington the best when he said: “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting…. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues…. Such was the man for whom our nation mourns.”

Such was the man for whom our nation celebrates this weekend

Roll Out The Milk Cartons

Posted today by Bryan Preston:

Wisconsin: Let’s roll out the milk cartons to aid the search for fleeing Democrats!

Since it’s clear that the Democrats from President Obama on down are not interested in having an adult conversation about the debt that is wracking this country, and since the Wisconsin Democrats in particular have shown that they will cut and run rather than let the people’s senate vote, it’s time to roll out the milk cartons.

BTW, the man on the carton is the Democrats’ leader in the state Senate – Sen. Mark Miller.

After You...

Well here’s a bill for all those in Olympia who are so anxious to raise taxes. S.B. 5486 is the bill for you!

Creating a “taxpayer savings account” S.B.5486 allows you the incredible opportunity to voluntarily "invest" more of your money to state government.

You happily and aggresively pillage the pockets of taxpayers, now let’s see you open your own wallets and lead the way. After you!

Obamacare - We’ve Bought Some Time

by Erick Erickson

A Reagan appointed federal district judge in Florida has ruled key portions of Obamacare, namely the individual mandate, unconstitutional. Because Congress expressly did not put a severability clause in the legislation, the judge has ruled the whole law unconstitutional.

The left is, naturally, shocked and appalled that the judge did not let the rest of Obamacare stand as a judge in Virginia did. They are calling today’s judge “an extreme activist.”

Let’s clear this up: activism is when a judge changes a law in a way he wants, even if Congress did not intend it or when a judge imposes his own policy prescriptions into a law or the constitution.

What we are seeing here today is something extremely rare — a humble judge. Instead of trying to salvage a law with no severability clause, he followed long held precedent.

Congress typically puts severability clauses in legislation so that if one part of the law is unconstitutional the other parts stand. Congress chose not to in this case. Instead of the judge deciding whether or not Obamacare could or should stand on its own, the judge has decided he is not a legislature. Consequently, he’s thrown the whole thing out instead of letting his own policy prescriptions stand in the law to hold it up.

If that is activism, give me more of it.

Ultimately we should not get too excited. In reality, there is only one person’s opinion on this matter that counts — the opinion of Justice Anthony Kennedy.

But we’ve bought some time.

Roanoke's Top Five For President 2012

Republican at the Roanoke Conference in Ocean Shores held a Presidential straw poll this morning and selected Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels as their top choice for President in 2012 with 45 votes.

Other top five contenders included Mitt Romney with 20 votes, Tim Pawlenty 18, Chris Christie 13 and John Thune receiving 12 votes.

The Roanoke Conference describes itself as "Washington State’s premier Republican social gathering." While describing themselves as neither “conservative” nor “mainstream.” they state their commitment to the core principles of the free market, limited government and individual liberty.

Elephants Roaming Free in Ocean Shores

by Bryan Myrick

Elephants are roaming free in Ocean Shores, Wash. this weekend, as Republicans from around Washington State converge on the hibernating beach town on the dramatic Pacific Coast for the second annual Roanoke Conference. Hundreds of Republicans filled the main room of the Ocean Shores Convention Center, and the event could not have come at a better time for the GOP in the Evergreen State.

Debate has persisted over whether the party should lick its wounds or count its blessings following disappointing 2010 returns. If left to fester, those disagreements could threaten the more productive conversation on how to get Republicans elected in a mostly blue state like Washington.

A critical dialogue around the party’s strategy for winning was at the core of the full-day agenda in Saturday sessions, one that focused on participation and open discussion. Even in a room filled with such high flyers as Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, newly elected Washington State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur (among the many other notable attendees), it was clear that titles of office had been checked at the door.

As moderated panels of public officials and experts represented opposing arguments on key issues – the effect of the initiative process on state politics, the proper role of the state party, and whether the U.S. Congress should adopt a balanced budget amendment – gave way to open comment before straw poll voting, what emerged was a robust debate with some surprising results.

Tonight, the festivities shift into celebration mode with a dinner featuring a keynote speech by White House Press Secretary for Pres. George W. Bush and Fox News commentator Dana Perino. Perino will be introduced by Washington State’s newest Republican in Congress, Rep. Jaimie Herrera Buetler (WA-03).

The conference will wrap up Sunday morning.

Coming…Your Own Personal Government “Identity Ecosystem”

“This is the world envisioned in the National Strategy for Trusted Identities. We call it the Identity Ecosystem. We will be working to finalize the NSTIC in the coming months, but that is only the beginning of the process.”

~ Howard A. Schmidt, Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President

The government wants your information – from what you purchase to what you blog. Over the years many forms of national ID have been pursued by the government for various reasons. The American people, however, know privacy is foundational to freedom.

Now packaged as “Internet security” for you President Obama is mandating what amounts to a national ID card, your own Internet passport.

Who has a hand in creating this “identity ecosystem” ? That would be former WA State Gov Gary Locke. Since leaving this Washington for the “other” Washington to serve as Secretary of Commerce Locke has been at the forefront of developing this government “identity ecosystem” for you.

On January 7, 2011, Locke joined the White House cybersecurity advisor Howard Schmidt in announcing a new government ID card that will centralizing your personal information and credentials all the while tracking your web activity.

Do you want the government tracking every web site you visit, every purchase you make, your deposits or withdrawals, your private medical records, your blog comments, your Facebook and Twitter posts, or logging your religious and political affiliations, donations, memberships, and interests?

While insisting this will be a voluntary program we all know what happens to “volunteer” government programs. Voluntary is only the footpath to mandatory.

This "security" will leave Americans more vulnerable than ever. The Washington Times in their editorial says this:

“centralizing access to personal information only makes it easier for the bad guys because it means they only need to steal one key to unlock a vast wealth of financial and personal information. It's likely that the real motivation for this is to ensure the feds always have backdoor access into what people are doing in the online realm. Congress should take steps to ensure this Big Brother scheme is deleted."

This wildly radical proposal should alarm every American.

Eagle Forum has long warned of aggressive government attempts at citizen surveillance. We reject this proposal and urge citizens to immediately communicate their concerns to their elected leaders. We oppose ObamaNet, and any attempt to issue government Internet Passport ID cards for any reason.

Choosing Life for Charlotte

by Ned Ryun

I’ve never written about an episode from several years ago, aside from a few blog entries for friends and family, but the week of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I want to share it because I always want to remember what took place and that I saw a miracle.

I found myself at 3 a.m. the morning of November 4th, 2008, standing next to my wife’s hospital bed, holding her hand, having watched her hemorrhage off and on for several days, physically and emotionally exhausted, listening to the doctors tell us, “Very large blood clots are forming, and all the amniotic fluid is gone, and there is a very good chance this pregnancy will have to end today to protect your wife.” Our little girl, who we had decided to name Charlotte Love, was only gestationally 24-weeks old and four months from her due date.

It seemed to me that everything was spiraling out of control. Within a matter of 72 hours, we went from, “We think she’ll stay in the womb for several more months,” to “Maybe a few more weeks,” to, “We have hours.” I remember staring at that white wall of the hospital that night, powerless, feeling as though I was being inexorably being pulled to the edge of a cliff. My heels were dug in, but I was unable to stop the forward motion and now I had come to the very edge, of what I didn’t know.

But that morning there was a pause in the fight: I knew there was no point in the fighting, in the struggling. I don’t believe in chance, but in a “Divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may.” There are very interesting conversations you have with yourself in moments like I was experiencing. As a Christian, I want God’s will for my life, and I believe His will is perfect. What I was experiencing was not chance, but His will. As you take yourself thru a series of questions, answering in the affirmative, it leads you to certain conclusions, and mine was that if His will is perfect, and this was His will, then this was perfection. Of course I will be the first to tell you it did not feel like perfection.

But I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and resigned myself graciously to God’s will, took His outstretched hand and took the next step―but it was not off the edge into a dark unknown. For the next four months, I would find myself in the midst of perfection.

Several doctors visited the room in those early hours of the 4th, giving us the odds of Charlotte’s survival, and the significant chances of brain damage, blindness, and long-term health problems. We’d already been asked if we wanted to revive her should she come out not breathing, and three times it had been suggested that we might want to consider ending the pregnancy. You say you believe certain things, but when confronted with actual decisions, you authenticate and validate your belief system, or destroy it, by what you actually do. My wife, Becca, and I refused to even consider the thought of ending Charlotte’s life and we told the doctors and nurses they were to make their best efforts to revive Charlotte should she not be breathing when she was delivered.

The entire episode was happening in a rush, and a few hours later, our wonderful doctor walked in, in her scrubs, and asked how we were doing. I replied that we were hanging in there and then asked if the emergency C-section would be in the afternoon. She smiled and said, “No, you have fifteen minutes. The operating room is ready. We’ll wheel Becca down, you’ll get your scrubs on, and we are delivering the baby.”

Charlotte, all 1lb 7ozs and 12 inches of her, was delivered a little after 10am that morning of the 4th. She was checked into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). For over four months, we basically lived at the NICU (thank God for Ronald McDonald Houses) . There were ups and downs, an emergency heart surgery on Charlotte about two weeks after she was born, and most of the time in the NICU was spent in isolation because of a bacteria infection. But Charlotte never once had bleeding on the brain, never needed eye surgery, and never suffered anything that would lead to long-term health or disability issues, of which there were significant chances for all of those.

When I look back at the odds of what should have happened, or could have happened (and we were told some pretty staggering odds that early morning of November 4th), I think of it as nothing less than a miracle.

There were no guarantees that morning that Charlotte would live, or that she would even be healthy. But we chose life, no matter the consequences. I think about the experience often, when I get Charlotte up in the morning, or she climbs on my lap to cuddle, and I know that it took place for a reason. I can’t always explain why things happen, but I do believe in a just and loving God and I know that what took place with Charlotte was because of love. And because of that love, and our love for her, there was ultimately no questioning our decisions. I don’t know what life has for Charlotte, but I do know that she gets to live and have a chance at what I hope will be an amazing life.

Repeal it Now!

The House voted today to repeal Obamacare 245 to 189 & and six more states have joined the lawsuit challenging it. That means more than half the states consider Obamacare unconstitutional and are willing fight it in court!

Meet Reince Priebus

Reince Priebus elected today as the new National Chairman of the Republican Party

Before being elected as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin in 2007, Priebus devoted his time and effort to electing Republican officials for many years, including running as a GOP candidate for state Senate in 2004.

Priebus previously worked in the Wisconsin legislature as the Committee Clerk for the State Assembly Education Committee.

After enrolling at the University of Miami School of Law, Priebus clerked for the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, the United States District Court, and the Southern District of Florida.

Priebus has made media appearances on Fox News with Megyn Kelly, Geraldo Rivera, MSNBC and C-SPAN's "Road to the Whitehouse."

Priebus resides in Kenosha with his wife Sally, his son Jack, and baby girl Grace Avalyn.

By the way, his name is pronounced ryns pree-buhs

RNC Chairman Vote Today

The Republican National Committee is meeting in Washington DC this weekend to elect a new chairman. Our Washington State voting delegation consists of State Chairman Luke Esser, National Committeeman Jeff Kent, and National Committeewoman Fredi Simpson.

Current RNC Chairman Michael Steele is running for reelection. He is being challenged by five others:

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Wisconsin GOP

Saul Anuzis, former Republican chairman of Michigan

Ann Wagner, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party

Maria Cino, manager of the 2008 Republican National Convention

Gentry Collins, the RNC’s political director

There will be many votes and many strategic maneuvers before a chairman is elected, and it will be an interesting ride.

Washington Eagle Forum will be watching the vote live and you can follow all the action via Twitter @waeagles

*photo courtesy of Luanne VanWerven

Pilgrims, Socialism and Thanksgiving

Pilgrims, Socialism and Thanksgiving

by Dr. Del Tackett

Pilgrims, Socialism and Thanksgiving....Huh?

Actually, they really do go together.

Here’s how.

The Pilgrim trip was funded by a group of investors who were hoping to get a return on their money. The Pilgrims were therefore contractually bound to the investor’s plan. That plan stated that the Pilgrims were to hold all things in common and equally share from the proceeds of their labor (socialism).

The early settlers of Jamestown were under the same kind of contract. I heard a great lecture from John Rolfe (okay, it was actually someone dressed up as John Rolfe) who explained it this way:

Basically, when one works hard all day and another simply strolls the grounds and puffs on his pipe, and yet they both get the same amount of food for dinner, eventually the one who works hard decides that tomorrow he will do his own strolling and puffing.

Because of this, the Jamestown settlers were starving. It was only when they apportioned private property and ate the fruit of their own labor that the colony began to thrive.

This was the same story in Plymouth not too many years later. Their leader, William Bradford, wrote of how they had to abandon the investor’s plan in order to survive, for when work and non-work both get the same reward, eventually no one will work.

Isn’t it interesting how we often times fail to learn the lessons from the past.
Socialism experiments continue today, with the same kind of results. They never really succeed. Why do we continue to try them? For several reasons.

One, the state has a vested interest in this happening. It is the big winner in socialism. It garners great power. So, when the state grows to the point that it can force the people to increasingly give up their rights to private property and fool the others to think that they will be better off sharing equally from the corn crib, guess where the power shifts…to the officials of the state.

Two, we misunderstand the nature of man. We have bought the Maslow lie that man is basically good. If he is good, then he will obviously love to work hard and go to years and years of medical school and specialized training so that he can work 14 hour days and get one ear of corn out of the crib while his friend follows his heart to stroll and puff. And because we are all such inherently good people, after dinner we will sit around the campfire and sing kum bay ya.

Third, we misunderstand the nature of work. We believe there is something cruel and oppressive about work and so we want someone (the state) to come up with a way to allow us not to work, yet circumvent the consequences of non-work. Or, we believe that the solution to someone not working is to give them another ear of corn.

However, the reality is this:

–The state may think that socialism will satisfy its lust for power, but, in the end, it will eventually collapse under a mountain of debt or a corn crib filled with IOUs. As Margaret Thatcher once said, “socialism works until you run out of other people’s money.” Eventually, the colony begins to starve.

–Man will not enjoy working his tail off so that someone else who is not working can reap the fruit of his labor. James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers that they were establishing a government that had balances of powers because men were NOT angels.

–Work is not oppressive and cruel, but it is exactly what the poor need…not only to be able to produce their own corn, but because we were made by the Original Worker to work. We are happier and healthier when we do.

The Scriptures connect the dots for us regarding work and laziness. Here are a few:

Proverbs 10:4, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”

Proverbs 14:23, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

In other words, we reap what we sow.

In socialism, we try to reverse those consequences. Reward the lazy, punish the diligent.

You sow, I reap.

That eventually fails.

One solution is found in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat”. This is a statement that many would view as cruel, but it is actually compassionate…for both the man himself and for the colony as a whole. Hunger is a great motivator to work and therefore produce.

When the Pilgrims returned to a biblical view and threw off the yoke of socialistic bindings, they began to prosper. And when they prospered, they held a day of Thanksgiving. It saddens me that our nation is slipping so quickly back into this yoke. Though we have the lessons from our past and the lessons from failed experiments all around us, we seem to be asleep or in a fog.

With the elections only a few days ahead, I’m hoping we will come to our senses soon.

Maybe around your Thanksgiving table this year, you can recount the lessons learned to your children so that they will not be doomed to repeat the failures of the past.

Put on a Pilgrim hat or your John Rolfe outfit and tell them the story with great gusto as I heard it in Jamestown.

By the way, we just filmed a show for Cross Examine on this very topic.

We are going to title it: No workey, no turkey.

A Gore-y Revelation

I know this is going to shock you, but former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore calls his corn-for-ethanol policies “a mistake”. He even admits supporting them to further his political ambitions.

It was Reuters Africa who reported yesterday comments our former VP made while speaking at an environmental conference in Athens.

His “mistake” was a costly one. According to the International Energy Industry ethanol subsidies totaled $7.7 billion last year alone. And it was none other than Gore who made the 1994 tie-breaking vote in the Senate mandating the use of ethanol.

And now he calls it a “mistake”.

According to Noel Sheppard in this NewsBusters column Gore even shares why he did it:

"One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president."

So more than ten years ago, Gore supported expensive, failed policy because he thought it would help him get elected president.

The liberal media still protects him, and will not even go there that Gore would manufacture the threat of global warming to get rich. Actually extremely rich would be more accurate!

The word shyster comes to mind. This is the antithesis of principled leadership. Boo Gore!

Flying Commercial

Guess who'll be flying commercial again? Yes, Nancy will relinquish all those posh military flights she secured for herself over the past four years as Speaker of the House. Poor Pelosi. In January she'll be flying commercial again.

Oh, and by the way our new Republican Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner announced earlier this month he'll fly commercial...like the rest of us.

These winds of change are refreshing.

Historic Republican Sweep

Jubilant GOP wins the House

By DAVID ESPO, AP

Resurgent Republicans won control of the House and cut deeply into the Democrats' majority in the Senate in momentous midterm elections shadowed by recession, ushering in a new era of divided government certain to complicate the final two years of President Barack Obama's term.

House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner, voice breaking with emotion, declared shortly before midnight Tuesday that the results were "a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the people."

Read the rest of this article here

One Trillion....

by Connie Hair

A crowd of about one trillion people attended the hard-left progressive One Nation rally on the Mall Saturday in Washington, D.C. Leave aside for a moment that there are around seven billion people inhabiting the entire planet, attendees came from as far away as Alpha Centauri and Uranus to attend the rally in support of Barack Obama and his big government agenda.

All of these people want free health care (they already got the free lunch and T-shirt when they were bused in).

In all seriousness, if you weren't watching MSNBC's kind coverage (their drop-in shots were few and far between due to low turnout), you'd find there were actually a few thousand people surrounding the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall, herded into and held in that limited area by pre-set fencing as seen here. (h/t Amanda Carpenter)

by Connie Hair, read it here

A Vote to Adjourn Is A Vote to Raise Your Taxes

Appearing at the weekly Republican leadership press conference, Congressman John Boehner decried Democratic Leaders’ intent to adjourn for the fall without allowing an up-or-down vote to stop all of the tax increases set to take effect on January.

Boehner issued the following statement:

“A vote to adjourn this Congress without an up-or-down vote to stop all the tax hikes is a vote to raise taxes and destroy more jobs. American families and small businesses deserve better. This Congress has a chance to help end uncertainty for families and small businesses by stopping all the tax hikes set to take effect on January 1. If Democratic Leaders leave town without stopping all of the tax hikes, they are turning their backs on the American people."

Republican's Release Their "Pledge to America"

All year long, conservatives have been pressuring Republicans to release a Contract with America for 2010 — an updated version of the campaign platform that the party unveiled during its 1994 sweep of Congress.

Thursday morning, Republican congressmen are responding to that pressure by making a “Pledge to America.” The inevitable question will be: Is the pledge as bold as the Contract?

The answer is: The pledge is bolder. The Contract with America merely promised to hold votes on popular bills that had been bottled up during decades of Democratic control of the House.

The pledge commits Republicans to working toward a broad conservative agenda that, if implemented, would make the federal government significantly smaller, Congress more accountable, and America more prosperous.

NRO Editorial

Koster: Stimulus a "Breathtaking Waste" of Your Money

In response to Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke's visit to Everett today and news reports out of Los Angeles last week providing evidence of that city's breathtaking waste of the taxpayer dollars, John Koster is asking Congressman Rick Larsen and Gary Locke for accountability of the stimulus money spent.

On Thursday of last week, Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel released two audits (click here and here) examining how L.A. has used "stimulus" money received through President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and issued a press release noting that the $111 million in federal stimulus dollars created only 55 jobs, which works out to an unconscionable $2 million per job.

"The numbers coming out of Los Angeles are an outrage to every American taxpayer," said Koster. "L.A. and Washington State have both seen little return for the stimulus money spent. Even the unaudited government website (Recovery.wa.gov) lists only 19,450 Washington State jobs created or saved (many temporary or seasonal) due to the $6.6 billion in stimulus dollars awarded here in Washington.

In a state where 318,027 are still unemployed, calling the stimulus plan a failure is an understatement. Rick Larsen, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Gary Locke all share responsibility for the wasteful spending that they continue to defend."

"Even as we enter the final weeks of the campaign season, Rick Larsen continues to ignore reality. He's been in Congress now for 10 years and wants to talk about everything but his culpability for the fiscal free fall that has left this country in near economic ruin. For Larsen to bring in a cabinet member from the most anti-business administration in U.S. history to stump for him at a business roundtable of all things, shows just how out of touch he's become."

"My message to Larsen, Pelosi, Obama and Locke is this: For the good of the country, discontinue immediately the reckless spending policies that have driven the national debt through the roof and the U-6 unemployment rate to a staggering 16.7%."

Koster Press Release

Delusional Democrats

by Roger Hedgecock

Desperate Democrats this week trumpeted their latest party line—that the Tea Party backed Republican nominees (Christine O’Donnell the latest) were “more extreme than the public.”

Really? Tea Party-backed Republican Senate candidates Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Joe Miller, and John Boozman are all running ahead of their Democrat rivals. Sharron Angle is within the margin of error against Harry Reid.

And what’s so “extreme” about running on a platform of restoring constitutional government and balanced budgets and free market solutions? What an increasing majority of Americans see as extreme is the “transformation of America” into a Big Government nanny state which, if Michelle Obama gets her way, will dictate the content of the menu at your favorite restaurant.

Then I heard the spin that independent voters are not going to buy the grassroots, Tea Party candidates that are winning Republican primaries all over the country.

But it is precisely the independent voters who are most abandoning the Obama-Reid-Pelosi agenda. In Florida's Senate race, for example, Tea Party backed Republican Marco Rubio leads the so-called "Independent" Charlie Crist among independent voters 38% to 36% with the Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek getting just 16 % of the independent vote.

In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer will be re-elected by at least two thirds of the voters, including independents, even if she never debates her opponent again.

Message to the ruling elites and power brokers of both political parties: Americans are fed up with total Democratic Party control of the federal government and so far the Republican Party elites don't have any better ideas.

The good ideas and a new wave of candidates are coming up from the people to challenge both parties. This "wave" election could become a tidal wave.

Obama Adds More to National Debt in 19 Months Than All Presidents from Washington Through Reagan Combined

In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.

The U.S. Treasury Department divides the federal debt into two categories. One is “debt held by the public,” which includes U.S. government securities owned by individuals, corporations, state or local governments, foreign governments and other entities outside the federal government itself.

The other is “intragovernmental” debt, which includes I.O.U.s the federal government gives to itself when, for example, the Treasury borrows money out of the Social Security “trust fund” to pay for expenses other than Social Security.

At the end of fiscal year 1989, which ended eight months after President Reagan left office, the total federal debt held by the public was $2.1907 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

That means all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan had accumulated only that much publicly held debt on behalf of American taxpayers. That is $335.3 billion less than the $2.5260 trillion that was added to the federal debt held by the public just between Jan. 20, 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated, and Aug. 20, 2010, the 19-month anniversary of Obama's inauguration.

CNS News

Ferndale Teachers Defy District and Deny Students

Wednesday morning was supposed to be the first day of school for up to 4,800 students and 330 teachers in the Ferndale school district. Instead, teachers were pounding the pavement while students expressed frustration and disgust at the strike.

Tucked in the upper northwest corner of Washington state a few miles from the Canadian border, Ferndale is a pleasant community long associated with dairy farming and oil refining, not educational labor troubles.

The issues in dispute in the negotiations included six minutes per day of planning time for elementary teachers, 10 new early release days for teacher planning and more health care plan options for teachers.

But there was confusion as to whether some of the issues were in dispute at all. Communication efforts from both the district and the union made it difficult to discern the status of negotiations or what the relative positions of the two sides were.

In addition, some teachers on the picket line claimed that an attorney for the Washington Education Association had advised them that they had a legal right to strike. When advised that Washington state law did not give them a protected right to strike, they expressed surprise.

by EFF

Changing Everything Is Of Primary Importance

It's time to turn in your primary ballot! We urge you to vote for Justice Richard Sanders and Justice Jim Johnson.

Both of these men will stand for our Constitution, so we must stand with them!Their opponents will not, and will use every opportunity to legislate from the bench.

We can't let that happen!

Please note these critical judicial races will be determined on Tuesday which makes your ballot of primary importance!

Please mail in your primary ballot as soon as possible.

Support every conservative!

Remember...we can change everything...if we vote!

Health Care's Dirty Little Secrets

Dirty little secrets keep emerging from the belly of the beast, otherwise know as the Obama health care bill, imposed by Democrats on the American people.

And here's another one today as reported by ABC News:

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.

This provision, intended to mine what the IRS deems a vast reservoir of uncollected income tax, was included in the health care legislation ostensibly as a way to pay for it. The tax code tweak is expected to raise $17 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Taking an early and vociferous role in opposing the measure is the precious metal and coin industry...

Pat Heller, who owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., deals with around 1,000 customers every week. Many are individuals looking to protect wealth in an uncertain economy, he said, while others are dealers like him.

With spot market prices for gold at nearly $1,200 an ounce, Heller estimates that he'll be filling out between 10,000 and 20,000 tax forms per year after the new law takes effect.

"I'll have to hire two full-time people just to track all this stuff, which cuts into my profitability," he said.

Republican Representative Dan Lungren has introduced legislation to repeal this section of the health care bill recognizing it will place a significant burden on the small businesses who are the job creators of our economy. However with entrenched Democrat control in place it will prove impossible to pass.

Which brings up November.

Unless we make real changes in those elected to lead, at both the national and state level, we will certainly face unprecedented economic disaster.

Real change begins on November 2. If you haven't engaged in the process of electing principled conservatives to office this should motivate you.

For Democrats Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

Obama-Pelosi Plan A Lame Duck Strategy Of Union 'Card-Check,' Cap And Trade, And So Much More.

By JOHN FUND

Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September. Members gulped when National Journal's Charlie Cook, the Beltway's leading political handicapper, predicted last month "the House is gone," meaning a GOP takeover. He thinks Democrats will hold the Senate, but with a significantly reduced majority.

The rush to recess gives Democrats little time to pass any major laws. That's why there have been signs in recent weeks that party leaders are planning an ambitious, lame-duck session to muscle through bills in December they don't want to defend before November. Retiring or defeated members of Congress would then be able to vote for sweeping legislation without any fear of voter retaliation.

"I've got lots of things I want to do" in a lame duck, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W. Va.) told reporters in mid June. North Dakota's Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, wants a lame-duck session to act on the recommendations of President Obama's deficit commission, which is due to report on Dec. 1. "It could be a huge deal," he told Roll Call last month. "We could get the country on a sound long-term fiscal path." By which he undoubtedly means new taxes in exchange for extending some, but not all, of the Bush-era tax reductions that will expire at the end of the year.

In the House, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters last month that for bills like "card check"—the measure to curb secret-ballot union elections—"the lame duck would be the last chance, quite honestly, for the foreseeable future."

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chair of the Senate committee overseeing labor issues, told the Bill Press radio show in June that "to those who think [card check] is dead, I say think again." He told Mr. Press "we're still trying to maneuver" a way to pass some parts of the bill before the next Congress is sworn in.

Other lame-duck possibilities? Senate ratification of the New Start nuclear treaty, a federally mandated universal voter registration system to override state laws, and a budget resolution to lock in increased agency spending.

Then there is pork. A Senate aide told me that "some of the biggest porkers on both sides of the aisle are leaving office this year, and a lame-duck session would be their last hurrah for spending." Likely suspects include key members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Congress's "favor factory," such as Pennsylvania Democrat Arlen Specter and Utah Republican Bob Bennett.

Conservative groups such as FreedomWorks are alarmed at the potential damage, and they are demanding that everyone in Congress pledge not to take up substantive legislation in a post-election session. "Members of Congress are supposed to represent their constituents, not override them like sore losers in a lame-duck session," Rep. Tom Price, head of the Republican Study Committee, told me.

It's been almost 30 years since anything remotely contentious was handled in a lame-duck session, but that doesn't faze Democrats who have jammed through ObamaCare and are determined to bring the financial system under greater federal control.

Mike Allen of Politico.com reports one reason President Obama failed to mention climate change legislation during his recent, Oval Office speech on the Gulf oil spill was that he wants to pass a modest energy bill this summer, then add carbon taxes or regulations in a conference committee with the House, most likely during a lame-duck session.

The result would be a climate bill vastly more ambitious, and costly for American consumers and taxpayers, than moderate "Blue Dogs" in the House would support on the campaign trail. "We have a lot of wiggle room in conference," a House Democratic aide told the trade publication Environment & Energy Daily last month.

Many Democrats insist there will be no dramatic lame-duck agenda. But a few months ago they also insisted the extraordinary maneuvers used to pass health care wouldn't be used. Desperate times may be seen as calling for desperate measures, and this November the election results may well make Democrats desperate.

Freedom From Government Monopoly

This week the Save Our Jobs Coalition submitted more than 340,000 signatures to place I-1082 on the fall ballot. That initiative would move this state away from a government monopoly on workers’ comp by allowing private insurance companies to offer competing coverage.

Contrary to what some may believe, I-1082 does not privatize the current system. Instead, it adds a private option so that employers have choice – without reducing benefits to injured workers. Money saved through better administration and reduced premiums will help employers provide more jobs in this tenuous economy.

This holiday weekend, when you are celebrating American independence, remember that this may be the year employers and employees can declare freedom from a government-run insurance monopoly.

For more information about I-1082 or to contribute to the campaign, visit http://http://www.saveourjobswa.com./

Posted by thefarmstand.org

Next President Elected By 15% of Voters...If National Popular Vote Has their Way

Rapidly advancing movement to eliminate Electoral College shifts control to coasts

A four-year-old effort that effectively would turn the Electoral College out to pasture in the United States by arranging a direct vote of president by the people is gaining strength, and is poised to claim support from states that control 106 of the 270 votes now needed to claim the Oval Office.

The total might be even higher already.

But that has a number of analysts alarmed, including author Tara Ross, who has written in opposition to the concept of a direct national vote for president at the Save Our States.com website.

"Eliminating the Electoral College would probably mean at least two things: Elections will become easier to steal and the two-party system will be undermined. So it follows that two types of political parties would benefit the most: Those that don't mind stealing elections and third parties," she wrote.

The California-based National Popular Vote has been working since about 2006 on its plan that would assign Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who has captured the most individual votes in a presidential election nationwide – no matter who has won in an individual state.

The Electoral College system now assigns votes by the state – or in a couple of cases by the congressional district – based on the popular vote in that state or district. This is the circumstance that gave George W. Bush the presidency in 2000 even though Al Gore collected more popular votes.

It is being promoted in state legislatures – it has been introduced in all 50 – as a compact among the states in which legislators commit their state's votes to the popular vote winner as soon as there are enough states to guarantee a victor with 270 Electoral College votes.

So far, Hawaii, with 4 votes; New Jersey, 15; Illinois, 20; Maryland, 10; and Washington, 11; have made commitments. As of now, there are active bills that could put another three states in that camp: New York, 31; Massachusetts, 12; and Delaware, 3.
That would total 106 of the needed 270 Electoral College votes.

Ross, who has written, "Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College," said in a National Review analysis that the campaign is coming "startlingly close to success even as most Americans remain completely unaware that the presidential-election process is so close to being turned on its head."

Tom DeWeese claims the Electoral College is an effective way of keeping every state in play in a presidential election.

"The abolishment of the Electoral College would, in fact, establish an election tyranny giving control of the government to the massive population centers of the nation's Northeastern sector and the area around Los Angeles. If these sections of the nation were to control the election of our nation's leaders, the voice of the ranchers and farmers of the Mid and Far West would be lost, along with the values and virtues of the South. It would also mean the end of the 10th Amendment and state sovereignty. "

WND columnist Henry Lamb has joined those expressing concern.

"Democracy is often described as two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner. Democracy is mob rule. Democracy collapses when the majority discovers it can vote for itself treasure from the public coffers. Democracy is the last plateau of social order before anarchy," he has written.

"The last remaining vestige of a federal republic is the Electoral College, an ingeniously designed system to insure that small states are not overrun by large states in the election of the president. Now, there is a powerful movement afoot to bypass the Constitution, and the amendment process, and destroy the Electoral College, which would transform America into a pure democracy," he said.

"The National Popular Vote movement seeks to get legislation adopted in enough states to guarantee that the president will be the candidate who receives the majority of the popular vote, thereby nullifying the constitutionally prescribed Electoral College," he continued. "The genius of the Electoral College designed by the founders is that it provides at least a degree of check and balance against the nation being perpetually led by a president chosen by urbanites. The Electoral College requires candidates to be aware of and concerned about the desires of all states, not just the states with the largest populations.

"It is essential that the president of the United States never be the choice of one segment of the population, or a "faction," as James Madison feared. The president must represent the broadest possible range of ideas and concerns of Americans all across the varied landscape," he said.

By Bob Unrauh

You can read the entire article on World Net Daily here.

Democrats New Financial Rules " No One Will Know...

"No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time."

Key House and Senate lawmakers agreed on far-reaching new financial rules early Friday after weeks of division, delay and frantic last-minute deal making. The dawn compromise set up a potential vote in both houses of Congress next week that could send the landmark legislation to President Obama by July 4.

Lawmakers pulled an all-nighter, wrapping up their work at 5:39 a.m. -- more than 20 messy, mind-numbing, exhaustive hours after they began Thursday morning.

"It's a great moment. I'm proud to have been here," said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee led the effort in the Senate.

"No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done."

Both the House and Senate must approve the compromise legislation before it can go to Obama for his signature.

FOX Nation