Political Chaos - Obama/Richardson Turn On Each Other
Officials on the Obama Transition Team feel that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was not forthcoming with them about the federal investigation that is looking into whether the governor steered a state contract towards a major financial contributor. Of course, this was all over the papers. The FBI would not be able to give Richardson a clean political bill of health before the new administration is ready to send his nomination up to the Senate for confirmation. The Richardson camp says the governor was forthcoming, with sources close to the governor noting that there had been reports about the controversy in local media such as the Albuquerque Journal as far back as August 2008. The governor discussed the investigation with the Obama team.

Obama Promises 600,000 New Government Employees
The president-elect says he wants to "create three million new jobs.” This is a change from a few weeks ago, when he said he wanted the plan to create OR SAVE two million jobs. He says the "No. 1 goal of my plan is to create three million new jobs, more than 80 percent of them in the private sector.” If you do the math: 20 percent of three million means 600,000 new government employees.

Annual Privatization Report 2008
Privatization remains a key policy focus as public officials grapple with deteriorating fiscal conditions, according to Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2008. With as many as 23 states potentially facing budget deficits in fiscal 2009, state governments are increasingly looking for ways to cut costs without cutting services. Enter the private sector. Leaders of all political stripes should recognize privatization is a proven policy tool that can help save money and balance budgets."

Obama Unveils Economic Plan: No Details but Mainstream Media hails as Brilliant!
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday unveiled a broad proposal to boost job growth and the troubled American economy. "That's why we need an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term." Obama said "the number one goal" of his plan was to create three million jobs -- 80 percent them in the private sector. "To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient," Obama added. He also called for "long-term investments," such as infrastructure building, updating the American healthcare system.” The plan has no details and is broad with no specifics.

Vikings Owner Wants Bailout Money!
With the state and federal governments looking for ways to jump-start the economy, a New Jersey businessman has an ambitious public works project he says will create more than 5,500 jobs and provide $500 million or more to local contractors. The businessman is Zygi Wilf, principal owner of the Minnesota Vikings. The project: A $954 million, state-of-the-art stadium for his football team in downtown Minneapolis — to be constructed using more than $635 million in public money. “Why not? The Vikings are a public asset,” said Lester Bagley, the Vikings’ VP in charge of stadium development. “This is going to create an economic boost.”

Obama: Don't Ask Me No Questions
Just for fun, a brief year in review of Obama's legendary new openness and transparency with the press corps. A true man of the people!

Liberal Governors Beg for Money
A group of Democratic governors warned Friday that without as much as $1 trillion in federal assistance, many states will not be able to pay their bills in the next year. The $1 trillion the governors are seeking would be spent to prevent cuts in social services and education, as well as “shovel ready” infrastructure projects that could begin with 18 months.

Obama’s Mexican drug war
If Obama ever comes out of the Hawaiian surf he an add another pressing challenge to his growing to-do list - tamping down a dramatic rise in violence and corruption that has overwhelmed the U.S.-Mexico border and spread an escalating turf fight between warring drug cartels into the United States. Near-daily shootouts and ambushes along the southwestern border pose a serious threat, according to separate government reports, which predict a rise in "deadly force" against law enforcement officers, first responders and U.S. border residents.

Protecting the Poor From the Media’s Gas Tax
Why do so-called progressives seem eager to ignore the real needs of the poor? A recent example was the New York Times editorial calling on President-Elect Obama to institute a random gasoline tax to keep gas prices from dropping below $4 per gallon (in 2008 dollars) to "curb the nation's demand for energy." The proposal is fraught with problems, not least of which would be its impact on those who can least afford it.

What? Liberal Congress wants 50% Gas Tax Increase
Motorists are driving less and buying less gasoline, which means fuel taxes isn’t raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs. A federal commission created by Congress to find a way to make up the growing revenue shortfall in the program those funds highway repairs and construction is talking about increasing federal gas and diesel taxes. A roughly 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is being urged by the commission until the government devises another way for motorists to pay for using public roads.

Presidential Fitness – Two Different Tales from the Mainstream Media
On Christmas Day, the Washington Post delivered a front-page paean to Barack Obama's workout habits. The 1,233-word ode to O's physical fitness read more like a Harlequin romance novel than an A-1 news article. "The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games." Washington Post writer Jonathan Chait famously attacked Bush three years ago in an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times headlined "The (over)exercise of power." Recounting how President Bush ran 3.5 miles a day and preached more cross-training to a federal judge, Chait fumed, "Am I the only person who finds this disturbing? What I mean is the fact that Bush has an obsession with exercise that borders on the creepy."

EU's new figurehead believes climate change is a myth
The European Union's new figurehead believes that climate change is a dangerous myth and has compared the union to a Communist state. He is undeniably popular with Czech voters, having been Prime Minister from 1992-97, overseeing the harmonious break-up with Slovakia, and president since 2003. An economist who spent much of his working life at the Czechoslovak State Bank during the Iron Curtain years, he became active in politics as a champion of free market economics after 1989 and is said to keep a photo of Lady Thatcher, who he greatly admires, on his desk.

United Auto Workers Union Worth $1.5 Billion in 2007 http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41355 The United Autoworkers Union (UAW) had a total net worth of $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2007, according to financial disclosure forms on file with the U.S. Department of Labor. The national UAW headquartered in Detroit reported the vast majority of the net worth--$1.2 billion--. The remaining $300 belongs to over 200 local UAW chapters spread across the country, several of which are worth upwards of $1 million.

The State of Public Safety 2008
The Reason Institute 2008 Summary on Public Safety, a report on how privatization can save taxpayers millions of dollars in cost savings.

A Biblical Perspective on Political Corruption
Father Barron provides an excellent historical context to political corruption based upon today’s political corruption in America. It is an excellent commentary.

Carter Built Habit for Humanity Homes Falling Apart
A model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart. Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organized by the charity Habitat for Humanity. Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.

DC Council Puts More Restrictions on Gun Owner
The Washington, D.C., city council has passed more regulations on gun owners months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its previous ban of handguns. The council voted Tuesday to require gun owners to register their weapons every three years and receive training by a certified firearms instructor. The court ruled in June that the city's 32-year-old handgun ban was unconstitutional. Since then city leaders have passed other measures to control gun owners and what types of guns they may own.

Federal Judges want more money
Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that Congress should be as generous to judges as it already has been to itself, by approving an inflation-related increase in their pay. Alone among federal employees, judges will not receive a cost-of-living allowance in 2009. Members of Congress are getting a 2.8 percent boost, worth $4,700. But they refused before Christmas to give an identical increase to judges. But the job has its advantages: Judges have lifetime job security and can retire at full salary at age 65 if they have 15 years on the bench.

Obama Education Pick Fails No Child Left Behind Last Five Years
The Chicago Public Schools, whose superintendent, Arne Duncan, has been tapped by President-elect Barack Obama to be the next education secretary, failed to meet the Illinois state standards set under the No Child Left Behind Act for the last five years.

Justice Praises Federalist Society Says Original Intent Making Comeback
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia credited the 26-year-old organization for focusing attention on key principles enshrined in the U.S. constitutional system that have helped make self-government possible. The Federalist Society includes legally minded conservatives and libertarians who seek to preserve constitutional structures such as the separation of powers. Unfortunately, the “contagion” of a “living constitution,” one where written phrases can be divorced and reshaped away from their original meaning, has begun to spread internationally, even as U.S. courts have begun to show some improvement, he said.

Speed Camera’s Prove Faulty
Students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county's Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students, parents and even teachers. Students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that "mimic" those on license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later. Students are even obtaining vehicles from their friends that are similar or identical to the make and model of the car owned by the targeted victim, according to the parent. One victim said that "our civil rights are exploited," and the entire premise behind the Speed Camera Program is called into question as a result of the growing this fad among students.

Political Turncoat a No-Go for Governor in 2010
Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson announced Friday he would not run for governor or any office in two years, opting instead to return to the private sector. The announcement added another shakeup to Kansas’s politics before the 2010 election. Parkinson switched parties in 2006 to help lead the Democratic Party in Kansas to success. The success of high taxes, increased government spending, the Morrison AG Scandal, the infusion of national abortion money into the Sebelius Blue Stem Fund, and Kansas’ billion dollar deficit.

National Committee Woman joins other Republicans in denouncing bailouts
A national GOP delegate from Kansas who co-sponsored a resolution condemning the federal government for its embrace of bailouts said Tuesday she backed the resolution because she believed it was important that the Republican Party reiterate the "core principles" of the party in the face of bailout mania. “As a co-sponsor of the resolution, my hope is to send a strong message to everyone who reads it that our GOP will return to our ideals of lower taxes and smaller government,” Dr. Helen Van Etten, one of three Kansas delegates to the GOP.

Former NFIB director to take reins of AFP-Kansas
Derrick Sontag, former director of the Kansas chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, will assume the position held by Alan Cobb since the group was established in Kansas in 2004. Cobb is leaving to take a post as national director of state operations for AFP.

Appropriations Chair shows Fiscal Leadership
States across the nation facing budget woes similar to Kansas are busy selling or leasing state-owned assets – everything from airports and toll roads to parks and golf courses – to generate revenue. Might that be a solution for Kansas? Rep. Kevin Yoder, the Overland Park Republican who was appointed to chair the House Appropriations Committee, said he believes the sale or lease of state-owned assets “should be on the table” as budget-makers contemplate how to close the states’ pending budget gap. Yoder said more fundamental budget changes must be made to rescue the state from its budget woes. Those fundamental changes include reducing spending to a more manageable level and creating and maintaining a rainy-day fund to shelter the state from economic downturns.

The KPERS portfolio: underfunded and underperforming
The financial future of Kansas is grim, with a deficit that may be as high as $1 billion within the next two years. If that weren't bad enough, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System portfolio is feeling the effects of Wall Street's anguish, with a loss of almost 30 percent between January and October of last year. According to the new president of the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy, Dave Trabert, the situation's been made much worse by a lack of legislative funding. Between 1998 and 2007, the Kansas Legislature has only allocated KPERS an average of 71 percent of the actuarially required contributions. This lack of legislative funding may have increased the unfunded actuarial accrued liability, or the gap between the value of assets KPERS has and the estimated liability for benefits already earned by members, to nearly $10 billion, according to Trabert.

“Barack Obama will have a 75 percent or higher approval rating this time next year.”
– Steve Rose, Sun Publisher and self-appointed King of Johnson County.

From Proverbs 15:19
“The way of the sluggard is hemmed in as with thorns, but the path of the diligent is a highway.”

Gospel - Matthew 2:1-12 2: "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him." ?? 3: When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
4: and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ?? 5: They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
6: `And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'"
7: Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared;
8: and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."
9: When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
10: When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy;
11: and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12: And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Be Not Afraid

There is a group of nuns that have recently moved to Kansas City, Kansas. Their mission is to spread the Gospel. The nuns are known as The Little Sisters of the Lamb. They live by divine providence. They awake each day for early morning prayers and have no idea of when and where their next meal will come from. They prefer to live like the poor in order to serve them better.

My family has come to know and be close friends with Little Sisters Stephanie, Lucie, Aude, Benedicte, Alma and Maria Angels. The nuns are Austrian, French, Luxembourgian, Polish, and Spanish and all our young and vibrant. They have come to America in obedience and humility and they have been welcomed here by Archbishop Joseph Naumann. In fact, the Archbishop has provided a priory for them to live. It is a site abandoned for many years and in former disarray. They have learned to speak and write English.

They have formed a close bond with my wife and especially our two youngest daughters and we love them very much. On New Years Day, the nuns asked our family over for a vespers service and dinner. Bernadette’s youngest brother, Father Andrew Hofer, a Dominican Priest, attended with us as well. In the middle of the service a little 10-year old girl, named Jasmine, walked into the priory and began to pray with us. The priory is located in a crime-ridden, impoverished neighborhood but here with “The Little Sisters” she finds love and hope. Little Jasmine comes almost daily to help the nuns and to have a place of solitude. The neighborhood families protect “The Little Sisters”, as well. During the service I am overcome with emotion and embarrassment. I am embarrassed that a little girl struggles to find peace in her life and that nuns from countries far away have come here to help us, Americans no less, who struggle with addictions, pornography and a culture of death. I am embarrassed for my own sins.

It was a beautiful evening with no television, computers, or cell phones. The nuns tell of the day at the soup kitchen when the people were so excited to have them present. A poverty stricken woman tells the nuns, “Jesus is among us today,” as they eat with the homeless. They tell of being at a medical clinic and a woman coming to them and thanking them for being there to help with her little sick girl. They talk of the man on the street that stopped them this morning and asked for their prayers as he was heading to the police department to turn himself in for a drug offense. They talk of a day that they begged for a piece of bread and as a result a little boy hands them over a full bag of groceries that his mother has prepared for them with a note that said, “I give this to you will all my heart.” And finally, they tell of the man that rings the doorbell in the middle of the night, who had been beaten up and is bloody. He is invited to stay the night and later they all pray with the man at Mass. “Yes, Teodoro, God is with you,” the nuns tell him”.

Even in a world of hate and despair, they show us how we can share love and hope with others. 2009 will be a great year when all is placed in proper perspective. Because you see, a lack of money does not equal a lack of faith.

May God grant each and every one of you the true blessings of life, liberty and happiness! Our Founding Father’s saw this due to His Providence and set out a document never before laid, our Constitution.

“He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
- Deuteronomy 31:8