WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
NEWS ALERT: Oct. 23: "Christians Fleeing IRAQ Area Once Considered Safe," - CBNNews.com, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Christians-Fleeing-Iraq-Area-Once-Considered-Safe/ PRAY that believers in Iraq will know God's protection and provision; that believers will know[ whether they are called to flee or remain and persevere; and that their persecutors may come to hear the gospel and come to faith in Christ. - Stan]
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
NEWS ALERT: Monday, November 04, 2013 - Saeed's Life in [Greater] Jeopardy After Prison Transfer - CBNNews.com, ; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Saeeds-Life-in-Jeopardy-after-Prison-Transfer/ IRAN - Vigils Mark One Year Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed - CBNNews.com, Thursday, September 26, 2013 - Today marks one-year that American pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison. He is serving an eight-year sentence because of his Christian faith. It has been a year of torment as he has suffered beatings, physical pain from untreated medical conditions, and separation from his wife and two children... The suffering has not dampened his passion for Jesus. Pastor Abedini has led more than 30 prisoners to Christ during his time in prison. This afternoon, thousands of Americans from coast to coast will pray for his release. Events will be held in 40 states at capitols, city halls, parks and churches. Thousands more will join from 15 nations around the world
PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release
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"The President Thanks You For Sending Him To Hawaii For Christmas" - By Ericka Andersen, January 6, 2014
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It would be nice to spend the holidays in Hawaii, wouldn’t it? In case you haven’t heard, President Obama and the First Family did just that — and they were spending your money.In a press conference today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that the family’s trip to Hawaii and Michelle Obama’s extended stay — a birthday gift from the President — was actually on the taxpayers’ dime.
According to the Hawaii Reporter [2], the guesstimated total cost for the 17-day vacation for the President, his family and staff last year was over $4 million. Reports estimate this year’s trip will cost about the same [3] – not including the one-week extension for Mrs. Obama. The Washington Examiner reports [3]: The biggest expense is Obama’s roundtrip flight to Hawaii on Air Force One, which costs taxpayers $3,271,622, according to Michael Tasselmyer of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation and a Congressional Research Service report released in May 2012. Estimates for costs on the one-week extension vary but Breitbart reports [4] that a previous travel change for Mrs. Obama was upwards of $100,000, according to Treasury. The First Lady has been criticized in the past for her love of lavish vacations, like when she spent five extra days at a beach side hotel in Spain in 2010 [5].
It’s tough to swallow those numbers as our national debt [6] creeps quickly above $17 trillion – a number President Obama increased by nearly $7 trillion since taking office.
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Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org; URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2014/01/06/president-thanks-sending-hawaii-christmas-2/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/epaphotosfour399245-0197777.jpg
[2] Hawaii Reporter: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/with-more-vacation-days-and-separate-travel-price-of-obama%E2%80%99s-annual-hawaiian-holiday-rises/123/comment-page-6
[3] will cost about the same: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obamas-17-day-trip-to-hawaii-costs-taxpayers-4m/article/2540987
[4] Breitbart reports: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j;q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3;cad=rja;ved=0CDsQFjurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2FBig-Government%2F2014%2F01%2F05%2FPresident-Leaves-Michelle-Obama-in-Hawaii-as-Birthday-Present ei=UjbLUsijIPHmsATUsYGYDQ;usg=AFQjCNHLzby-Hzm_F6YZmcujakSeespeIw;sig2=tez2ghIdFF0Zj0h5_mXhdg;bvm=bv.58187178,d.cWc
[5] in 2010: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/michelle-obama-criticized-as-modern-day-marie-antoinette-over-spain-vacation/
[6] our national debt: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/10/21/debt-hits-17-trillion/
Copyright © 2011 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
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"Big Gov't Programs Wasting Billions for Nothing?" - By Paul Strand,January 08, 2014;http://www.cbn.com/Big-Govt-Programs-Wasting-Billions-for-Nothing/
WASHINGTON - Federal social programs are supposed to help the poor and disadvantaged in the country. It turns out many of these programs spend billions of taxpayer dollars while doing no good at all.
A new book is raising the question few in Washington dare to ask, "Do Federal Social Programs Work?"
It's author, David Mulhausen, has a definitive answer."The government is stepping in, saying, 'We've got a program for you and that's going to make your life better off.' And the fact is these programs aren't making people better off," Muhlhausen said.
Muhlhausen, withThe Heritage Foundation, combed exhaustively through tons of the best, gold standard studies."And they almost all find the federal government fails at improving the lives of Americans," Muhlhausen said.A program like Head Start has the good intention of helping disadvantaged children catch up with better-off kids. But Muhlhausen said the best studies find that it's not reaching its goals."Head Start has no impact at improving the cognitive abilities of these students. And we're spending $8 billion a year on this program that's not making a difference," he said.
All these federal social programs are meant to do good but are doing little or nothing and cost taxpayers more than $440 billion a year.
So what's to lose by killing them off? Mulhausen argues that some programs actually do harm. "Programs that don't improve people's lives are not going to be missed," he said.He referred to programs like the 21st Century Learning Centers that are supposed to help kids after school become better students. He says the studies show the results aren't there."What they found is that kids who participated in this program were more likely to be suspended. They did less well in school," Mulhausen said."This program's about $1 billion a year. It's a small chunk of change in the federal budget, but it's $1 billion that causes harm," he added.
Some suspect since the author works at the conservative Heritage Foundation he's just out to attack liberal programs. But others have made similar conclusions. Muhlhausen's book also blasts the results of favorite conservative programs, like those meant to curb teen sex or bolster the family.
He advocates stripping the money from any program that doesn't work. And he points out there are private and local programs that are successful. "It's not that nothing works," Muhlhausen said. "It's just big federal government programs don't work."
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