Senator Gregg Says No to Commerce Secretary
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg said Friday that he pulled out of the job of commerce secretary after realizing that "I'm just going to be a little too conservative" for President Obama's administration. If you're going to be on a football team, "you've got to pull out and block on every play, you can't do it on every other play," the senator said. "I didn't feel comfortable going forward because of my individuality, for lack of a better term," Gregg said during an appearance Friday morning on CNBC.

D'oh! Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President on Stimulus
President Obama today repeated the claim we asked about yesterday at the press briefing that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off." Caterpillar announced 22,000 layoffs last month. But after the president left the event, Owens said the exact opposite. Asked if the stimulus package would be able to stop the 22,000 layoffs or not, Owens said, "I think realistically no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again." "It is going to take some time before that stimulus bill" means re-hiring, he said.

NY Gov Admits Obesity Tax Plan Has Failed
New York Gov. David Paterson admitted Thursday one of his most talked-about tax proposals, an obesity tax on sugary drinks, is fizzling. But he said it popped the right question. In meeting with college students over his budget, Paterson told the young New Yorkers not worry about his soda tax because the Legislature won't go for it. But he said it has served its purpose of raising awareness of childhood obesity. His proposal would put an 18-percent tax on soda and other sugary drinks containing less than 70 percent fruit juice. His analysis showed it would raise a projected $1 billion in revenue over two years and reduce use of sugary drinks by 5 percent.

Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan
The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States.” Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors. But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions. These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.” Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

Pro-abortion 'rights' Catholic governor possible pick for HHS secretary
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat in favor of legalized abortion, is considered to be a possible nominee to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Sebelius has faced significant criticism for her promotion of abortion, including her connections to notorious Kansas late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller. In May 2008, Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph F. Naumann publicly admonished Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius for her support for legal abortion. Writing in the Archdiocesan paper The Leaven, the archbishop also pointed out that Governor Sebelius’ support for abortion leads others to question the “moral gravity” of abortion. The governor’s continued reception of Holy Communion, coupled with her support for legalized abortion, convey the erroneous message that, “You can be a good Catholic and support legalized abortion,” he wrote. In April 2007 Gov. Sebelius hosted a reception at the governor’s residence for the late term abortionist Dr. George Tiller and his clinic’s staffers. Pro-life groups also alleges that Tiller has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to pro-abortion Democrats, including Sebelius, through a “complicated series of political action committees and non-profit organizations.” In one of the last acts of the Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services instated conscience protection regulations making explicit the right of pro-life medical professionals and workers to decline to cooperate in an abortion.

Stimulus Includes Green Golf Carts
The $838 billion economic stimulus bill that passed the Senate yesterday contains $300 million for the government to purchase a fleet of "green" cars. The cash will also be used to purchase "neighborhood electric vehicles." The NEVs, which are streamlined golf carts, scoot at up to 25 mph, operate on battery power and can be plugged into 110-volt outlets for charging.

Ingraham to Sen. Specter: 'Is It Nice to Be Wined and Dined at the White House?
It's a question we've all been waiting to hear answered. Unfortunately, it took a conservative talk radio host to ask it and didn't come from the mainstream media. In an interview with Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, Pa., on Feb. 9, talk show host Laura Ingraham asked why he and Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are the only three out of 229 Republican members of Congress to support the stimulus. She inquired if it might have had something to do with being invited to the White House by President Barack Obama. "Is it nice to be wined and dined at the White House?" Ingraham asked. "And, you're treated pretty well when you're a Republican bucking other Republicans, right Senator?"

I don’t pay my taxes Tim Speaks/Market Tumbles
US stocks fell sharply Tuesday in a broad-based decline as the government announced details of its latest bailout plan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 300 points after Treasury Secretary Tim Geither revealed details of the bank-bailout plan. Earlier, the blue-chip index was down less than 100 points.

Group left off terror list operates 35 training camps across U.S.
A jihadist group responsible for nearly 50 attacks on American soil is operating 35 training camps across the nation, but its name cannot be found on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. In 2006, the film points out, a Justice Department document, marked "Dissemination Restricted to Law Enforcement," exposed 35 terrorist training compounds in the U.S. Among the items of evidence was a confiscated terrorist training film by Jamaat ul-Fuqra's leader, Sheik Muburak Gilani, called "Soldiers of Allah."

Biden's Munich Speech: Obama Foreign Policy Projects Weakness and Confusion
In a major speech at the February 7 Munich Security Conference, Vice President Joe Biden outlined the Obama Administration's foreign policy vision for the first time on the world stage. It was an address designed to reach out to leaders in both Europe and the Middle East, "on behalf of a new Administration determined to set a new tone in Washington, and in America's relations around the world." Biden's speech should be viewed as one of the weakest projections of U.S. leadership on foreign soil in recent memory. The message was confused, apologetic, over-conciliatory, and remarkably lacking in substance and detail. It was the kind of speech, heavy in platitudes and diplo-speak, that could easily have been given by a continental European bureaucrat nestled in Brussels, Paris, or Berlin. It was not the voice of the most powerful nation on earth. The Vice President went to great lengths in his speech to avoid offending America's enemies, such as Iran and Hamas, or her strategic competitors, such as Russia. One could have been forgiven for thinking that the world was largely at peace rather than facing the threat of global terrorism or a dangerous rogue regime aggressively seeking nuclear weapons capability.

Vatican: Bishops Have no Choice But to Refuse Communion to Pro-Abort Politicians
Archbishop Raymond Burke, in an exclusive interview last week, told LifeSiteNews.com that the issue of pro-abortion politicians continuing to receive Holy Communion is still one of major concern and that it is the duty of bishops to ensure that they are refused. He told LifeSiteNews.com, "I don't understand the continual debate that goes on about it. There's not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion." "The Church's law is very clear," said Archbishop Burke, who was appointed last year by Pope Benedict XVI as the head of the Church's highest court, the Apostolic Signatura. "The person who persists publicly in grave sin is to be denied Holy Communion, and it [Canon Law] doesn't say that the bishop shall decide this. It's an absolute."

Program Exposes Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Link
A new video released by a group that serves as a watchdog for information on the link between abortion and breast cancer exposes the relationship between Susan G. Komen for the Cure and Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business. Karen Malec, the head of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer tells LifeNews.com that the video, "Komen's Dark Side," exposes the irregular relationship between the breast cancer organization and Planned Parenthood.??in 2007 alone, Komen chapters gave $711,485 from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 to Planned Parenthood affiliates.??The amount of the grants from Komen affiliates to Planned Parenthood appears to be on the rise and 25 Komen affiliates now have a partnership with the abortion business.

Get Ready for Crime to Increase Big Time!
A panel of three federal judges, saying overcrowding in state prisons has deprived inmates of their right to adequate healthcare, tentatively ruled Monday that the state must reduce the population in those lockups by as many as 57,000 people.

DC Mayor Never Paid Any Taxes in Eight Years
Prosecutors asked a federal judge Monday to send former Washington mayor Marion Barry (Democrat) to jail for failing to file his tax returns for the eighth time in nine years. In a motion filed in U.S. District Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Zeno said Barry, who's also a current District of Columbia Council member did not file his taxes in 2007, violating his probation for previous tax offenses.

Sheriff and DA go after tax fraud
After authorities investigated thousands of tax files for bogus Social Security numbers used by illegals to steal refunds, the ACLU responded with a class-action lawsuit – but now a Colorado district attorney is fighting back. The Weld County district attorney, sheriff's office and the Greeley Police Department launched "Operation Number Games" in August last year. They investigated 5,000 tax files after one suspect, Servando Trejo, filed taxes through Amalia's Translation and Tax Service, the Rocky Mountain News reported. In October, authorities served a warrant to search files at the tax company. They were looking for people who filed for returns using identification belonging to other Americans. Of the 5,000 documents they searched, they found 1,300 cases of possible Social Security fraud. "Obviously, the federal government isn't doing their job, and it's falling to local agencies to do it," Weld County Sheriff John Cooke told the Times.

New trend: Ultrasounds before abortion
A dozen states are now considering policies that require doctors to provide women with ultrasounds before performing abortions. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates also works on making ultrasound machines and training available under a plan called The Life Choice Project. Kim Conroy, director of sanctity of human life issues for the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, said the technology allows a woman to meet her unborn baby before terminating its life. "In the course of that, this miraculous thing that happens is this woman comes face to face with her unborn child," Conroy said. "Before it was theoretical information, but now it's, ‘This is not a blob of tissue, it's not some undefined mass.'"

Rape Abortion Computer Game Now Available
A Japanese computer game where players must rape women and force them to have abortions is for sale on eBay.com and has been available at Amazon.com until today. On the first level of the "rape simulator game," gamers stalk a young mother at a subway station and violently assault her, London's Independent reports. After finishing with the woman, they rape her two virgin daughters. According to descriptions, gamers may invite other male characters to join a gang-rape scenario. Pregnancy and abortion are "key features," and characters are punished if they decide to keep a baby. "If she does become pregnant you're supposed to force her to get an abortion, otherwise she gets more and more visibly pregnant each time you have sex," one reviewer revealed. "If you allow the child to be born then the woman will throw you in front of a train."

Tiller Abortion Staffer has Pro-Life Advocate Detained at State Capitol
As staff members of the pro-life group Operation Rescue testified at the Kansas legislature in favor of a bill that would allow women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child, an employee of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller harassed OR president Troy Newman. During the hearing, Julie Burkhart, head of Tiller's political action committee ProKanDo, made a false report to state capitol security. Burkhart reportedly claimed that Newman had made a death threat against her. Security officers removed Newman from the hearing room and detained him in a locked security room for several minutes, the pro-life group informed LifeNews.com. Once Newman explained that Burkhart had made up the false threat to harass and intimidate him, officers immediately let him go without further incident. Newman told LIfeNews.com that he thinks Burkhart wanted to prevent OR officials from testifying in favor of the bill.

Lawmakers asked to increase state’s minimum wage
But business groups opposed the bill. Those groups included the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, Americans for Prosperity and Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association. They argued that raising the minimum wage hurts low-skilled, entry level employees and consumers because the additional costs will cause businesses to cut back on hiring or increase their prices for goods and services. They also said the minimum wage should be abolished altogether. “If one consenting adult agrees to work for another for $5 an hour, should the state step in and invalidate the agreement?” asked Derrick Sontag, state director of AFP-Kansas. “The free market should determine wages,” said Kent Eckles of the Kansas Chamber.

Liberals Pushing for State CO2 Law
The utilities committee’s chairmen, Rep. Carl Dean Holmes, a Republican from Liberal, and Sen. Pat Apple, a Louisburg Republican, said the policy statement underscores the problem instead of resolving it. “Today, we decide on electric power plants; tomorrow, maybe, refineries; the next day, cement kilns,” Holmes said. “It goes back to the rule of law. He made the law individually.” Sunflower also criticized the policy statement. The Hays-based utility still hopes legislators clear the way for its two plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County, and it has legal challenges pending in state and federal courts. “The KDHE press release has not fooled anyone. It is simply political gamesmanship trying to be passed off as regulatory certainty,” said Mark Calcara, Sunflower’s general counsel. “The press release makes it more evident than ever that a legislative fix is necessary to restore public confidence in the regulatory process.

Another Push for Statewide No Smoking
The full Senate is likely to vote Monday on a proposed statewide smoking ban covering restaurants, bars and places of employment. Attempts to push similar legislation in Kansas failed the past two years, but Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills, said today the latest measure had a 50 percent chance of gaining enough votes to emerge from the Senate. Under the bill, the smoking prohibition would apply to public places; taxicabs and limousines; restrooms, lobbies and other common areas of public and private buildings, condominiums and other multiple-residential facilities; restrooms, lobbies and other common areas of motels and hotels and in at least 80 percent of guest sleeping quarters in a motel or hotel; access points of all buildings; and any place of employment. Here is the fine schedule for violators: First offense, not more than $100. Second offense within a one-year period of first infraction, not more than $200. Third, or subsequent violation within a one-year period after the first infraction, not more than $500.

Senator Wants Bill to Charge Minor’s in Possession of Cigarette Lighters
“Too many children have access to cigarette lighters because the lighters are displayed in stores where children can easily see them, reach them, take them or purchase them,” said state Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita. Her bill, Senate Bill 106, would make it illegal for a retailer to sell cigarette lighters to anyone under 18 and also make it illegal for anyone under 18 to have a lighter. Any person violating the measure would be subject to a $25 fine and court costs. Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Roderick Bremby also supported the bill. He said that from 2002 to 2006, 1,285 fires were set by children, resulting in five deaths, 51 civilian injuries and 10 firefighter injuries, with more than $7.5 million in property losses. Another Big Brother Bill from Liberals!

Another Tax on the People: Increases Traffic Fines
A Kansas Senate committee is considering a bill that would double fines for speeding on heavily traveled roads around the state. The Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday was scheduled to hear testimony on the measure that would establish safety corridors on busy highways. The legislation would allow state workers to decide which highways are dangerous. Deputy Police Chief Robert Lee said the Kellogg corridor would be about 20 miles long. The aim of the legislation would be to reduce traffic deaths, not to collect more money from fines.

Escapee found at Denny's
A woman who escaped from the Topeka Correctional Facility on Wednesday night was captured Thursday morning on the city's west side, authorities said. The woman was identified as Gina Kay Weisdorfer, 36, a minimum-security inmate at the correctional facility, 815 S.E. Rice Road. Weisdorfer was sentenced in September on eight counts of attempted forgery out of Hamilton County, which borders Colorado. She had been scheduled to be released from prison on July 8. Bill Miskell, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections, said Weisdorfer was last seen at the correctional facility at 7 p.m. Wednesday. She didn't turn up for a 9 p.m. head count. "We're investigating the circumstances on how she got out of the facility," Miskell said.

Federalist Society Looks at Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies published a detailed analysis by Samson R. Elsbernd of the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission Lawyers, 1987-2007. This report gave background information about each attorney member of the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission, including political contributions.

"Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."
- President Ronald Reagan

From Proverbs 15:26
“The wicked man's schemes are an abomination to the LORD, but the pure speak what is pleasing to him.”

Gospel according to Mark 7:1-13

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,
2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed.
3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders;
4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.)
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?"
6 And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
8 You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."
9 And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!
10 For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother'; and, `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die';
11 but you say, `If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God) --
12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do."

The Moral Bankruptcy Behind the Bailouts

South Carolina's Governor Mark Sanford has some advice for government's spending problem, "When you're in the hole, quit digging." It's a blunt message that warns us not to let moral weakness aggravate financial trouble.

Across the country many American families, corporations, and small businesses are trimming their budgets in this economic downturn. Last year on the campaign trail, President Barack Obama noted in moving fashion how some employees were sacrificing by voluntarily cutting their hours so that other co-workers could keep their jobs. These responses are models of sacrifice, displays of spiritual strength in the face of material weakness. Despite such examples, government, somehow immune from this wave of maturity and responsibility, has decided to spend and borrow more than ever before. The new trend of borrowed stimulus bills and bailouts only exacerbates a spending crisis already out of control.

This is bad news for the American taxpayer and even worse news for the quality of life of future generations. Every newborn in America is already on the hook for $175,000 in unfunded government promises. Simply put, the American dream is at risk for future generations.

The stimulus bill currently before Congress highlights the unsustainable spending pace of the federal government, which is propelling us closer to an even greater moral and financial crisis. Former U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker says that without fundamental changes to spending, the United States could go bankrupt in one generation. Walker noted, "This is not just about numbers, we are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren at record rates, and that is not only an issue of fiscal responsibility, it is an issue of immorality."

If enacted, the stimulus bill would top $1 trillion in expenses when interest is added. "The nation borrowed $800 billion between the Revolutionary War through Gerald Ford's presidency," U.S. Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) observed. "In one vote, the nation is going to borrow another 800 billion. This is nuts."

Long an opponent of bailout and stimulus legislation, Governor Sanford took the unusual step of going to Washington in October of last year to beg the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means to stop a $150 billion stimulus bill, declaring that his state didn't want any of the money. Almost every other governor, even self-described conservatives, have already lined up for yet another cut from the federal treasury. "Essentially, you'd be transferring taxpayer dollars out of the frying pan - the federal government - and into the fire - the states themselves," says Sanford. Sanford's point is that state spending is increasing at an even faster pace than federal outlays. State debt across the country has increased 95 percent over the past decade.

In New York, the governor has proposed 137 tax increases or new taxes altogether on things like movie tickets, cab fares, iTunes downloads and non-diet soft drinks, all to keep up with budget increases. Opponents have described the initiative as a laundry list of nanny state taxes and fees. California has delayed tax refunds to its residents, simply because no money is available.

Governor Sanford has been on a mission to highlight the fact that genuinely stimulating the economy means making sure the country's finances are on stable ground so that entrepreneurs and future Americans are not paying for risky quick fix schemes for generations. He told the Heritage Foundation, "I think God puts us all here for a reason, and mine in this chapter is to try and slow government's growth."

Sanford has even sparred over the size and growth of government with the General Assembly of his home state--many of them lawmakers in his own Republican Party. The never ending tide of federal bailouts is only delaying the inevitable restructuring that is needed. "I think that this is the biggest gut check we've ever had as a country, where do we go next, towards a politically based economy or a market based economy?" says Sanford. Put another way, do we take responsibility for the mess that we have created, or do we shirk our duty and pass the bill down the line?

Many fellow governors and lawmakers may never buy into Sanford's ideas about free markets, privatization, and the value of limited government, but they may be forced to heed some of his warnings and reform government's cost structure out of sheer necessity.

Or they could ignore the warnings, continuing down a path that may usher in an even greater financial crisis. That would be a failure of economic policy, yes, but even more grimly a demonstration of moral cowardice.

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