* Be sure to NOT buy any Girl Scout Cookies! Check out post # 782 below.
SIGN NEW PETITION - (Jan. 27) American Pastor Saheed Abidini - An Iranian leader has said that clemency for the pastor after almost 1 and 1/2 years being falsely imprisoned. Please sign this new petition at: http://beheardproject.com/ 2/6 - PRAISE GOD that after pastor Abedini has been unjustly imprisoned for over a year and a half, President Obama finally spoke out himself for the pastor's release as well as that of Ken Bae from North Korea (see below)!
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
PRAYER ALERT! - Soci, Russia, Olympics -1) TERRORISM THREAT: Let's be sure to be praying for God to move against all who would bring harm to the athletes and others. Pray that the security forces would be effective in rooting out any terrorist plans and preventing them from being carried out. Pray for the families of the athletes who must be very anxious for their loved ones being in harm's way; 2) EVANGELISM EFFORTS: Let's also be praying that the many efforts being made to share the gospel with athletes and visitors to the Olympic Games will be effective in seeing many respond positively and make decisions for Christ. Pray esp. that athletes and visitors from little evangelized countries will take the gospel back with them and share it with others.
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.] 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
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stuck in Congressional "Groundhog Day" - By Amy Payne, February 10, 2014 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the movie “Groundhog Day [1],” Bill Murray wakes up again and again to find that he is stuck in the same day. This happens multiple times a year now with Congress on the debt limit, which we just hit again on Saturday. >>> Check Out: The Debt Ceiling Returns as National Debt Reaches $17.3 Trillion [2]
Depending on which party’s in power, the ones arguing for or against raising the debt ceiling will change—which makes for fun historical quotations like Obama vs. Obama on the debt limit [3]. In our new video, you can see politicians from both sides arguing the debt limit—and vowing that they will not, absolutely not, have this same argument again next year. And then it’s Groundhog Day again [1].
But this time there’s a new twist: Congress isn’t limiting the debt at all. The government has actually been operating since October with no debt limit in place. Congress “suspended” it twice last year, and they’re considering doing it again—for an entire year. Just since the limit was suspended in the fall, Washington has borrowed nearly $600 billion. So what happens if lawmakers throw up their hands and abandon the debt limit for a year? Romina Boccia, Heritage’s Grover M. Hermann Fellow, warns [4]:
"The debt limit serves as an important congressional check on federal spending and borrowing. Without a debt limit, all control over borrowing decisions shifts to the Treasury secretary, who is appointed by the president. Effectively, this concentrates borrowing authority in the executive branch, and hands the president a blank check to borrow against the U.S. taxpayer."
President Obama is already threatening to disregard Congress and use executive actions to make laws. Will he have all the borrowing power, too? Does Congress do anything anymore?
Members will take another vote at the end of February to determine what to do about the debt ceiling. In the meantime, the U.S. national debt reached nearly $17.3 trillion at midnight on February 7. As Boccia says, “The approach of that deadline should have sparked serious Congressional deliberations of how to reduce the growing debt burden on taxpayers.”
If serious reforms—cutting spending and reforming the entitlement programs on auto-pilot—don’t happen, the national debt is projected to increase by another $10 trillion over the next decade. That would mean about $200,000 per household.
As Boccia pointed out [1], Bill Murray’s character was “unable to break out of the time loop until he recognizes it as an opportunity to re-examine his life and priorities.” Let’s hope Congress wakes up to a new day, and soon.
Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad [5].
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org; URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/10/stuck-congressional-groundhog-day/
URLs in this post:
[1] Groundhog Day: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/25/boccia-breaking-the-groundhog-day-debt-ceiling-cyc/?page=all
[2] The Debt Ceiling Returns as National Debt Reaches $17.3 Trillion: http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/08/debt-ceiling-returns-national-debt-reaches-17-3-trillion/
[3] Obama vs. Obama on the debt limit: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/05/morning-bell-obama-wants-power-to-raise-debt-limit-by-himself-anytime/
[4] warns: http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/bring-back-the-debt-ceiling-9837
[5] Heritage Libertad: http://www.libertad.org/
Copyright © 2014 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
"Where's the Bad News on the Deficit? Here It Is." - By Stephen Moore, February 5, 2014; http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/05/wheres-bad-news-deficit/
"...But what hasn’t been advertised is the disgraceful longer-term outlook for our fiscal future, which took a turn for the worse. And Obamacare is the main culprit. In the long run, the budget deficit will be slightly more than $1.5 trillion WORSE than previously estimated. In 2015, the deficit starts exploding again—to $912 billion in 2020, and then above $1 trillion annually from 2022 until the end of days. Is this really the path of fiscal righteousness? By the way, one of the biggest ballooning expenses is interest on the debt, which rises from about $250 billion a year now to more than $800 billion in a decade. Wonderful: We will be paying more taxes not for vital public services, but to finance our past sins...."
No comments:
Post a Comment