by Steve Rempe| November 11, 2011 - http://www.prisonfellowship.org/blog/entry/6/15553
"Lessons from State College"
By now, everyone is no doubt aware of the horrific events surrounding Penn State University and former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Over a period of at least two decades, Sandusky is alleged to have sexually assaulted a number of young boys on the Penn State campus while serving as a mentor for underprivileged children through his Second Mile organization. University employees and officials, from janitors up to the president of the university, have been found through their inaction (or at least insufficient action) to have been complicit in the propagation of these unspeakable acts. In the wake of a federal instigation into the charges, a number of prominent university officials have been fired, including Penn State’s legendary football coach of 45 years, Joe Paterno.
That something very evil has taken place in this instance is beyond debate, and condemnations for those involved have come fast and furious. While most, if not all, of those denunciations are wholly justified, we do ourselves a disservice if we are content with assigning blame, and don’t take the opportunity to reflect upon what happened in State College and apply it personally. There are lessons to be learned here for all of us, and learning them well might help to prevent situations that arise in our own lives.
Lesson #1: Wishing Something Will Go Away Won’t Make it Happen. As a general rule, human beings dislike conflict, and will go out of their way to avoid it. And when that conflict is with someone we genuinely like, admire, or look up to, the desire to flee from the situation can become oppressive.
Surely, this was some of what Paterno was feeling when confronted with an eyewitness account of a rape of a young boy by Sandusky – a man who had worked closely with Paterno for 32 years as a key member of his football staff. This can’t be true! I can’t believe it! It is easy to conclude that Paterno chose to get the disturbing image out of his mind as soon as possible by passing the message to his superiors, then committing to never thinking about it again.
Unfortunately, this also seemed to be the same response of everyone involved—from the janitors witnessing a previous assault, to the graduate assistant who – after witnessing Sandusky assaulting a young boy (yet failing to stop it) – informed Paterno of the event a day after it occurred, to the school officials who buried news of the event for fear of bringing disrepute to the school. No one involved was willing to act decisively to end the abuse, and as a result, the despicable acts were allowed to continue, as those in power chose to put them out of their mind.
Alas, the victims of the assaults did not have “putting it out of their mind” as an option.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” The quote, usually attributed to philosopher Edmund Burke, seems particularly a propos in this instance. Joe Paterno had built a reputation over four decades of being an honorable leader of men. Yet, by failing to act on behalf of those who suffered in this instance, evil was allowed to triumph, and a lifetime of service is forever clouded by a severe lack of moral action.
We all would like to believe that in similar circumstances, we would have acted more decisively, but candidly, we can also probably think of moments where we failed to stand against injustice and cruelty, favoring our own comfort and safety to that of others. In my own life, I have allowed evil to triumph far too often. Perhaps not on this level, but significantly, allowing others to suffer unnecessarily. May God grant us the strength to act according to his will when called, and not rely on others to act properly in our stead.
Lesson #2: “There but for the Grace of God Go I.” Along with the understandable outrage that has continues to be expressed over the actions and inactions in this case, there exists a certain undercurrent of righteous indignation – a feeling that those involved are beneath contempt and beyond understanding.
I would submit that if we don’t see at least a little of ourselves in one or more of the parties involved, we aren’t being completely honest with ourselves. The root of the sins committed in State College – selfishness, pride, arrogance – is very much present in all of us. When we turn Paul’s encouragement to the church in Phillipi to “consider others more significant than ourselves” on its head, looking first to our own interests, we open the door to all sorts of malfeasance.
Sin tends to gather compound interest – one lie begets another, one dirty deed to cover up the one before. Soon, we are trapped in a web of our own making, unable to undo what has been done, and unwilling to admit our transgressions.
History is replete with individuals who, in seeking to maintain their own power, position, or reputation, sacrificed their moral principles. Perhaps a small sacrifice, but one that ultimately led to another, and then another. We fool only ourselves if we think we are exempt from such temptation – we share the same sinful, depraved nature as all the principals in this tragic story. That we have not failed to stop such evil as evidenced in this case is wholly attributable to God’s protection and mercy – not any kind of moral superiority on our part.
This is not to in any way excuse the actions of Sandusky, Paterno, university president Graham Spanier, or anyone else. Insofar as they are guilty for the acts done, they are fully deserving of severe punishment. We need to understand, though, that the same law – the law written on our hearts – condemns us, too. Which leads to . . .
Lesson #3: God’s Grace and Redemption Are Available to All. Christians are comforted by the knowledge that God offers us forgiveness, unwarranted and unearned by our own personal pieties. Less comfortable is the understanding that such forgiveness is extended to all – even those who have committed atrocities like the ones on display in this instance.
Truth be known, despite all our doctrinal confessions to the contrary, we Christians like to think that – perhaps even on the tiniest of scales – we have earned at least part of our justification through right living. However, God does not grade on such a sliding scale. The standard is Jesus. We either stand with Him as perfect, or with the rest of humanity as something less. There are no intermediate stages.
Thankfully, God is generous with His grace. To the victims of abuse, He offers healing, peace, and restoration. To those who failed to stop sin from occurring, He offers absolution. And even to those who have committed the evilest and vilest of acts, God offers forgiveness and mercy. To deny this to anyone would be to deny it to everyone.
It is because of this unmerited grace that Prison Fellowship exists – to proclaim the Good News of God’s forgiveness to those who need it. (That would be all of us.) We proclaim the justifying act of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, and rejoice in the changed lives that come through sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Prison Fellowship succeeds because prisoners are acutely aware of their need for mercy in a way that many of the rest of us are not. But the truth is, we are all enslaved by sin and in need of God's justification.
Again, this is not to absolve the guilty from punishment. God has ordained human authorities to establish rules of conduct and appropriate punishments when those rules are broken. The dismissals of Paterno, Spanier, and others seem wholly appropriate in this instance. Should Sandusky be convicted of the charges against him, he is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison, which would also seem entirely fitting. (Perhaps not completely sufficient, but fitting nonetheless.) But praise God that his mercy endures forever, and extends beyond what we as mere mortals would be willing or able to offer.
As this abysmally dark chapter closes, it is vitally important that we not forget what happened in State College. It should serve as a reminder of what we must do to prevent future abuses from occurring. It should also remind us what God has done on our behalf because of what we couldn’t do. [bold and italics emphasis mine]
RELATED ARTICLE
Should Joe Paterno Have Been Fired? - November 18, 2011 - by Chip Wood; Personal Liberty Digest -
http://www.personalliberty.com/conservative-politics/should-joe-paterno-have-been-fired/?eiid=&rmid=2011_11_18_PLA_[P11666179]&rrid=394974641
Comstock Christian, of Erie, Penn., gets her photo taken with the Joe Paterno statue on the Penn State campus in State College, Penn., on Nov. 10. The 84-year-old Paterno, who coached the Nittany Lions for 46 years, was fired on Nov. 9 for not doing enough to report allegations of sexual abuse by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.If you read the grand jury report, you would probably say hanging would be too good for Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno’s longtime assistant football coach at Penn State. I suspect you would want him drawn and quartered, with salt poured over the body parts.
The thought of a trusted adult taking advantage of his position to sexually molest young boys is absolutely sickening. The grand jury report said that Sandusky abused at least eight boys over a 15-year period. Since the scandal erupted, more young men have accused the former coach of equally heinous behavior.
If the news reports are to be believed, Sandusky was a serial pedophile whose perversions were known to head coach Paterno and his staff, as well as top university officials. There had even been some sort of investigation back in 1998. Yet nothing was done to stop him.
Can there be any possible excuse for such willful blindness on the part of so many supposedly responsible people?
Yet several things about this whole horrible story give me pause. First, whatever happened to the presumption of innocence? Isn’t one of the bedrock principles of our justice system that you’re innocent until proven guilty?
Try telling that to Sandusky or to all of the people who have been affected by this terrible story, including the students, coaches, players, alumni, teachers and administrators at Penn State.
As I write this, Sandusky maintains he is innocent. He has admitted to nothing more than “horsing around” with the boys. “I enjoy being around children,” he explained. “I enjoy their enthusiasm. I just have a good time with them.” Finally, reluctantly, he admitted, “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids.”
Sandusky no doubt will get his day in court. He will have an opportunity to face his accusers, present a defense and learn his fate from a jury of his peers. Of course, it will be too late to salvage his reputation, restore his career or protect the foundation he founded.
But what about Paterno? If “innocent until proven guilty” were true, he would still have his job. Hundreds of college students (who clearly have their priorities screwed up) wouldn’t have gone on a rampage when he was fired.
Please note that these young people — among the best and brightest in the country, from some of our finest families — weren’t furious because a longtime assistant coach at Penn State had repeatedly raped little boys. They weren’t indignant because all of the proper authorities, including Paterno, had behaved in a very improper manner. No, they didn’t take to the streets to protect the innocent or to protest on the children’s behalf. They were behaving like spoiled brats because their football coach had been canned.
Sure, I feel sorry for JoePa, as he is affectionately known. One of the most amazing athletic records of all time will be sullied forever. This is a guy who spent 62 years of his life doing the one thing he wanted most to do: coach football at Penn State. Since becoming head coach 46 years ago, his teams won a record 409 victories, including two national championships and all five major bowl games: Rose, Orange, Cotton, Sugar and Fiesta. He was the first college football coach named “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated magazine. Four years ago, at the age of 80, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Now, the Big Ten has announced that his name will be removed from its championship football trophy. There will be no more Paterno Championship Trophy. Effective immediately, it is the Stagg Championship Trophy. The choice is a bit of a head-scratcher. Do you know Stagg’s full name? And when and where he coached? (The answer: Amos Alonzo Stagg, the University of Chicago, 1892-1932.)
By the way, Nike says it is standing by Paterno and has no plans to rename the building it named in his honor at its Beaverton, Ore., headquarters. But I’ll bet Nike executives wish they had chosen something other than the Joe Paterno Child Development Center to salute him.
There have been a ton of suggestions about what should happen next. Two of the craziest appeared in a column by Joe Nocera in The New York Times. One of Nocera’s ideas was that Penn State should show how sorry it is for what happened by canceling all of next season’s football games. How would that help anyone? And Nocera wants Penn State to take all the money it makes from football (about $50 million a year) and use it to create a compensation fund for anyone who was hurt by Sandusky’s abusive behavior. The claimants would line up for miles. I shudder to think about the depraved stories some people would concoct — and the media would gladly publicize — to get their hands on some of that loot.
It is ironic that so many officials tried to protect an institution (and a football program) they say they loved by ignoring a pedophile in their midst. Their willful blindness (and, some allege, deliberate perjury) got their college president and revered football coach fired. How much worse will the damage be? Only time will tell.
Did Paterno deserve to be fired? Yes. As the man himself said, “I wish I had done more.” I wish he had, too...
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Sunday, November 20, 2011
#155 (11/21) - "What Should America Do About China?''
by The Heritage Foundation - November 18, 2011
http://www.askheritage.org/what-should-america-do-about-china/?utm_source=AH_Weekly&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=2011-11-18&utm_campaign=2011_Brand
Want to hear something disturbing? China has increased its defense budget by double digits every year for the last 20 years. Just as China seems to be gearing up for some undefined enterprise, the U.S. is winding down its defense budget at a similarly rapid pace. Despite the obvious contrast, President Obama said recently that reductions in U.S. defense spending “will not—I repeat, will not—come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific.”
Yesterday [11/17], Obama visited Australia to announce a renewed U.S. troop presence in coming months, part of a new security agreement thought to be a response to this ever-more aggressive China. The President brushed off the connection, but upping U.S. presence in the Pacific is related, and it’s critical—as long as it’s done with genuine commitment, according to Heritage Asia expert Bruce Klingner.
When Republican presidential candidates gather next Tuesday for a foreign policy debate sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, they should focus on the complicated balance found between maintaining cooperative economic ties and asserting a strong and lasting military presence in Asia with sufficient funding. The complicated stability of our relationship with China and our position as a world superpower depend in part on this balance.
The situation is certainly complicated. Yesterday, the United States hit $15 trillion in debt—much of it held by the Chinese. Despite that reality, China is actually reliant on America due to a highly investment-driven economy that thrives on an open, global system of trade. It is a system in which the U.S. is China’s best customer and trading partner by far, something that is frequently overlooked in what Heritage China expert Derek Scissors says is an overrated Chinese economic system.
China is simultaneously one of America’s greatest competitors and one of its biggest partners in the Asia-Pacific on energy, trade, economics, and more, and China’s disturbing military aggression is perhaps the most worrisome issue of all. Tangibly reasserting U.S. authority will assure regional friends of our commitment to them, and it follows through on Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s recent promise of a stronger American military presence in Asia.
The U.S. should play a delicate hand moving forward. A deliberate plan that zeroes in on fundamental things like harmful Chinese subsidies, alliances with nearby territories, market transparency, and preserving a strong response against human rights violations would be a strategic win.
Scissors writes that Chinese subsidies to state-owned or state-controlled enterprises are a vital focus area in how Congress handles China. He writes that “too little consumption and too much investment” are the main contributors to globally threatening economic imbalances when it comes to China.
The U.S. should also consider our other allies and trading partners in surrounding Asia-Pacific areas. Heritage Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy Kim Holmes notes that China has gotten more aggressive in claiming territories in the South China Sea, so the U.S. should be especially assertive in territorial claims that affect our allies.
Klingner explains that a sustained U.S. military presence “is a tangible sign of America’s commitment to the peace and security of the Pacific.” The question remains, however, whether the U.S. can maintain a powerful, enduring role in the Asia-Pacific in light of planned $465 billion in defense budget cuts.
China has also been notably aggressive in investing in “clean energy,” provoking President Barack Obama to declare them a leader in the movement. But, the declaration is misguided. As Scissors describes, the U.S. has raised energy efficiency by 2.5 percent annually in the past decade while China has only raised efficiency by 1.7 percent, despite their so-called “investment” in green energy.
This week, the State Department opens the Bureau of Energy Resources, which will reportedly work closely with China due to its status as the world’s largest carbon emitter. But a word to the wise: It’s best to let the free energy market prevail over government intervention.
China must also own up to its dismal human rights record, which has not improved since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. It was just last year that the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to an empty chair, because recipient Liu Xiaobo and his family were imprisoned by the Chinese government for speaking out on behalf of political and democratic reform.
The government resists any effort to loosen restrictions on speech, press, assembly, or religion and ignores discrimination against women and persistent child trafficking. President Obama has repeatedly turned a blind eye to this behavior and shunned the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the repressed Tibetan Buddhists.
China faces a significant leadership transition in the next year, so its policies and positions are not necessarily set in stone. Thus, America’s own presidential leadership should be constantly monitoring the state of the Chinese military and economy for pertinent, critical changes that will affect how we deal with China moving forward. Maintaining a strong U.S. presence in the Pacific region is imperative for our position in the world, and we must ensure all the funding necessary to make it happen.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
http://www.askheritage.org/what-should-america-do-about-china/?utm_source=AH_Weekly&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=2011-11-18&utm_campaign=2011_Brand
Want to hear something disturbing? China has increased its defense budget by double digits every year for the last 20 years. Just as China seems to be gearing up for some undefined enterprise, the U.S. is winding down its defense budget at a similarly rapid pace. Despite the obvious contrast, President Obama said recently that reductions in U.S. defense spending “will not—I repeat, will not—come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific.”
Yesterday [11/17], Obama visited Australia to announce a renewed U.S. troop presence in coming months, part of a new security agreement thought to be a response to this ever-more aggressive China. The President brushed off the connection, but upping U.S. presence in the Pacific is related, and it’s critical—as long as it’s done with genuine commitment, according to Heritage Asia expert Bruce Klingner.
When Republican presidential candidates gather next Tuesday for a foreign policy debate sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, they should focus on the complicated balance found between maintaining cooperative economic ties and asserting a strong and lasting military presence in Asia with sufficient funding. The complicated stability of our relationship with China and our position as a world superpower depend in part on this balance.
The situation is certainly complicated. Yesterday, the United States hit $15 trillion in debt—much of it held by the Chinese. Despite that reality, China is actually reliant on America due to a highly investment-driven economy that thrives on an open, global system of trade. It is a system in which the U.S. is China’s best customer and trading partner by far, something that is frequently overlooked in what Heritage China expert Derek Scissors says is an overrated Chinese economic system.
China is simultaneously one of America’s greatest competitors and one of its biggest partners in the Asia-Pacific on energy, trade, economics, and more, and China’s disturbing military aggression is perhaps the most worrisome issue of all. Tangibly reasserting U.S. authority will assure regional friends of our commitment to them, and it follows through on Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s recent promise of a stronger American military presence in Asia.
The U.S. should play a delicate hand moving forward. A deliberate plan that zeroes in on fundamental things like harmful Chinese subsidies, alliances with nearby territories, market transparency, and preserving a strong response against human rights violations would be a strategic win.
Scissors writes that Chinese subsidies to state-owned or state-controlled enterprises are a vital focus area in how Congress handles China. He writes that “too little consumption and too much investment” are the main contributors to globally threatening economic imbalances when it comes to China.
The U.S. should also consider our other allies and trading partners in surrounding Asia-Pacific areas. Heritage Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy Kim Holmes notes that China has gotten more aggressive in claiming territories in the South China Sea, so the U.S. should be especially assertive in territorial claims that affect our allies.
Klingner explains that a sustained U.S. military presence “is a tangible sign of America’s commitment to the peace and security of the Pacific.” The question remains, however, whether the U.S. can maintain a powerful, enduring role in the Asia-Pacific in light of planned $465 billion in defense budget cuts.
China has also been notably aggressive in investing in “clean energy,” provoking President Barack Obama to declare them a leader in the movement. But, the declaration is misguided. As Scissors describes, the U.S. has raised energy efficiency by 2.5 percent annually in the past decade while China has only raised efficiency by 1.7 percent, despite their so-called “investment” in green energy.
This week, the State Department opens the Bureau of Energy Resources, which will reportedly work closely with China due to its status as the world’s largest carbon emitter. But a word to the wise: It’s best to let the free energy market prevail over government intervention.
China must also own up to its dismal human rights record, which has not improved since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. It was just last year that the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to an empty chair, because recipient Liu Xiaobo and his family were imprisoned by the Chinese government for speaking out on behalf of political and democratic reform.
The government resists any effort to loosen restrictions on speech, press, assembly, or religion and ignores discrimination against women and persistent child trafficking. President Obama has repeatedly turned a blind eye to this behavior and shunned the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the repressed Tibetan Buddhists.
China faces a significant leadership transition in the next year, so its policies and positions are not necessarily set in stone. Thus, America’s own presidential leadership should be constantly monitoring the state of the Chinese military and economy for pertinent, critical changes that will affect how we deal with China moving forward. Maintaining a strong U.S. presence in the Pacific region is imperative for our position in the world, and we must ensure all the funding necessary to make it happen.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
#153 (11/18) - "How President Obama Killed Thousands of Jobs" [go below this post to find #154 - Sunday Special for 11/20]
NOTE: Also, on Sunday, please check the special posting about a Christian perspective on the "Occupy Wall St. Protests." It's an excellent article you should read.(Also attached is a related article by Chuck Colson.) And, as always on Sunday, please remember to watch this week's broadcast of "Truth That Transforms" (Orlando - 5 pm, ch.55.1) that shares lessons the Pilgrims learned about the evils of socialism. Finally, take a moment to check out the editorial cartoons at www.worldmag.com for insightful views of the news.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How President Obama Killed Thousands of Jobs"
Posted By Mike Brownfield; On November 14, 2011
If Americans needed any further proof that the Obama Administration is one of the most political on record, or that, for all the recent demagoguing, it really cares only about re-election, not about job creation, then you need look no further than its cynical Keystone XL oil pipeline decision last week.
Over the last several months, radical environmentalists along with Hollywood celebrity activists descended on the White House in protest, urging President Barack Obama to block the construction of the $7 billion pipeline that would bring in more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf coast. Last week, they got their wish.
The Obama Administration on Thursday announced that it would delay a decision [1] on the pipeline until after the 2012 election. In siding with his leftist environmentalist, big Hollywood base, President Obama’s ambition is nakedly apparent, as is his total disregard for the 14 million unemployed Americans sitting on the sidelines, waiting for Washington to get out of the way so they can get back to work. And it also shows that for him, politics is more important than achieving true energy independence for the United States.
And here’s why: The Keystone pipeline would have done what the President’s hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending failed to do. It would have created thousands of jobs (tens of thousands, by some predictions), while generating $5.2 billion in property tax revenue [2] for Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas. And it would have done it all with private dollars–not taxpayer dollars.
The kicker is that despite all the hoopla from the enviro-celebrity protests, this pipeline should have been anything but controversial, even by the Obama Administration’s own findings. Heritage’s Nicolas Loris explains [3]:"Radical environmentalists act as if this is the first oil pipeline being built in the United States. We have 50,000 miles of oil pipeline in this country that have provided massive economic benefits with minimal environmental harm."
In short, building the Keystone XL pipeline is nothing new, and it’s one of the most environmentally sensible ways to transport oil. Even the Obama Administration determined it to be safe when the State Department’s recent Environmental Impact Statement found that the pipeline would pose few environmental risks [4].
Another important point is that even if the Keystone pipeline isn’t constructed in the United States, the resource will still be tapped, and it’s going to head elsewhere. Heritage’s David Kreutzer explains that the development of Canada’s oil sands will be slowed (thereby increasing its cost), and it will be diverted to non-U.S. consumers, meaning that the Canadian oil will be shipped across thousands of miles of ocean to Chinese refineries. Kreutzer’s admonition to the Obama Administration [3]?
So, block the XL pipeline if you think the environment will be better served by shipping Canadian oil an extra 6,000 miles across the Pacific in oil-consuming super tankers and then refining it in less-regulated Chinese refineries. In addition, be aware that replacing the Canadian oil means the U.S. also must import more oil by tankers, which are less efficient than pipelines.
The facts, though, don’t matter to environmentalist activists. They don’t matter to certain celebrities, and now they apparently don’t matter to the Obama Administration, either. Evidently, neither do jobs or energy independence. Following the President’s decision, actor Robert Redford applauded Obama [5] and said, “This is American democracy at its best: a president who listens to the voice of the people and shows the courage to do what’s right for the country.” No, Mr. Redford, you’re wrong. When the President puts his job over those of tens of thousands Americans, that is politics and a presidency at its worst.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/14/morning-bell-how-president-obama-killed-thousands-of-jobs/
URLs in this post:[1] announced that it would delay a decision: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/us/politics/administration-to-delay-pipeline-decision-past-12-election.html?_r=2&hp
[2] $5.2 billion in property tax revenue: http://growvalleycounty.com/files/Keystone_Benefits_US_LR.PDF
[3] explains: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/10/obama-delays-keystone-pipeline-delays-jobs-and-energy-too/
[4] pipeline would pose few environmental risks: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/08/26/26greenwire-canada-us-oil-pipeline-poses-few-environmental-63932.html?pagewanted=all
[5] applauded Obama: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/12/robert-redford-thanks-obama_n_1086939.html?ref=green
Copyright © 2011 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
[bold ant italics emphasis mine]
__________________________________________________
RELATED ARTICLES
A Tale of Two Pipelines - Posted by Steve Maley, November 15, 2011
http://www.redstate.com/vladimir/2011/11/15/a-tale-of-two-pipelines/
Obama's Pipeline Punt Threatens 20,000 Jobs - by Audrey Hudson11/11/2011 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47485
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How President Obama Killed Thousands of Jobs"
Posted By Mike Brownfield; On November 14, 2011
If Americans needed any further proof that the Obama Administration is one of the most political on record, or that, for all the recent demagoguing, it really cares only about re-election, not about job creation, then you need look no further than its cynical Keystone XL oil pipeline decision last week.
Over the last several months, radical environmentalists along with Hollywood celebrity activists descended on the White House in protest, urging President Barack Obama to block the construction of the $7 billion pipeline that would bring in more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf coast. Last week, they got their wish.
The Obama Administration on Thursday announced that it would delay a decision [1] on the pipeline until after the 2012 election. In siding with his leftist environmentalist, big Hollywood base, President Obama’s ambition is nakedly apparent, as is his total disregard for the 14 million unemployed Americans sitting on the sidelines, waiting for Washington to get out of the way so they can get back to work. And it also shows that for him, politics is more important than achieving true energy independence for the United States.
And here’s why: The Keystone pipeline would have done what the President’s hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending failed to do. It would have created thousands of jobs (tens of thousands, by some predictions), while generating $5.2 billion in property tax revenue [2] for Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas. And it would have done it all with private dollars–not taxpayer dollars.
The kicker is that despite all the hoopla from the enviro-celebrity protests, this pipeline should have been anything but controversial, even by the Obama Administration’s own findings. Heritage’s Nicolas Loris explains [3]:"Radical environmentalists act as if this is the first oil pipeline being built in the United States. We have 50,000 miles of oil pipeline in this country that have provided massive economic benefits with minimal environmental harm."
In short, building the Keystone XL pipeline is nothing new, and it’s one of the most environmentally sensible ways to transport oil. Even the Obama Administration determined it to be safe when the State Department’s recent Environmental Impact Statement found that the pipeline would pose few environmental risks [4].
Another important point is that even if the Keystone pipeline isn’t constructed in the United States, the resource will still be tapped, and it’s going to head elsewhere. Heritage’s David Kreutzer explains that the development of Canada’s oil sands will be slowed (thereby increasing its cost), and it will be diverted to non-U.S. consumers, meaning that the Canadian oil will be shipped across thousands of miles of ocean to Chinese refineries. Kreutzer’s admonition to the Obama Administration [3]?
So, block the XL pipeline if you think the environment will be better served by shipping Canadian oil an extra 6,000 miles across the Pacific in oil-consuming super tankers and then refining it in less-regulated Chinese refineries. In addition, be aware that replacing the Canadian oil means the U.S. also must import more oil by tankers, which are less efficient than pipelines.
The facts, though, don’t matter to environmentalist activists. They don’t matter to certain celebrities, and now they apparently don’t matter to the Obama Administration, either. Evidently, neither do jobs or energy independence. Following the President’s decision, actor Robert Redford applauded Obama [5] and said, “This is American democracy at its best: a president who listens to the voice of the people and shows the courage to do what’s right for the country.” No, Mr. Redford, you’re wrong. When the President puts his job over those of tens of thousands Americans, that is politics and a presidency at its worst.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/14/morning-bell-how-president-obama-killed-thousands-of-jobs/
URLs in this post:[1] announced that it would delay a decision: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/us/politics/administration-to-delay-pipeline-decision-past-12-election.html?_r=2&hp
[2] $5.2 billion in property tax revenue: http://growvalleycounty.com/files/Keystone_Benefits_US_LR.PDF
[3] explains: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/10/obama-delays-keystone-pipeline-delays-jobs-and-energy-too/
[4] pipeline would pose few environmental risks: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/08/26/26greenwire-canada-us-oil-pipeline-poses-few-environmental-63932.html?pagewanted=all
[5] applauded Obama: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/12/robert-redford-thanks-obama_n_1086939.html?ref=green
Copyright © 2011 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
[bold ant italics emphasis mine]
__________________________________________________
RELATED ARTICLES
A Tale of Two Pipelines - Posted by Steve Maley, November 15, 2011
http://www.redstate.com/vladimir/2011/11/15/a-tale-of-two-pipelines/
Obama's Pipeline Punt Threatens 20,000 Jobs - by Audrey Hudson11/11/2011 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47485
#152 (11/16) - "Smokin' Joe Frazier [and M. Ali} was in Reagan's ..Corner"
... and other articles I believe you will want to check out. You know, every week, I scan over dozens of articles and select to feature ones that I think you will find of greatest interest. You can imagine that there are always some that "don't make the cut that I would like to draw your attention to. From time to time, I'd like to bring several of those to your attention. Here are some of them:
___________________________________________________
Did you know that boxers Joe Frazier AND Muhammed Ali supported Ronald Reagan both times he ran for President? Check out the article at: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47463 Nov.11, 2011
___________________________________________________
Veterans Day: The Defiance of Tyranny - Both war and victory are born in peacetime.
by John Hayward 11/11/2011 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47476
This is a great article I encourage you to read. My favorite portion states: "Freedom is the defiance of tyranny, not its absence. Let the despots of the world be forever afraid that the hearts of their oppressed people will stir at the sight of the Stars and Stripes. The American veteran gave the world victory without conquest, valor without cruelty, and vigilance without domination. History has never seen anything quite like them before, and since the day American soldiers took up arms against their first “unbeatable” enemy, they have never stopped making history."_______________________________________________
The Great Stonewall of Obama by Michelle Malkin 11/09/2011
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47416
Read about how the Obama Adminstration continues to stonewall Congressional investigations: "While many construction workers across the country remain idle, Team Obama's attorneys have been laboring overtime to erect impenetrable information blockades around three festering scandals: Solyndra, LightSquared, and Fast and Furious. This much is clear: The "most transparent administration ever" is hyper-allergic to sunlight and subpoenas."
___________________________________________________
From Insult to Injury: Obama Owes Netanyahu An Apology November 9, 2011
http://www.redstate.com/reincepriebus/2011/11/09/from-insult-to-injury-obama-owes-netanyahu-an-apology/
___________________________________________________
The truth about our exit from Iraq - and other Obama foreign policy failures. Nov. 9, 2011
http://www.personalliberty.com/conservative-politics/obama-can%e2%80%99t-tell-the-truth-so-help-him-allah/?eiid=&rmid=2011_11_09_PLA_[P11916822]&rrid=394974641
___________________________________________________
Obama's Green-Energy Jobs Lie November 10, 2011
from Real Clear Markets
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21296&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
___________________________________________________
Obama's Drug Shortage Demagoguery by Michelle Malkin 11/04/201138
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47316
"President Obama couldn't wait to trample over the legislative process again. This week, he issued his 98th executive order on an irresistibly exploitable policy issue: prescription drug shortages. Soon, "One a Day" won't just be a multivitamin. It'll be the rate of White House administrative fiats."
____________________________________________________
Governments Consider New Taxes on Soda and Candy
November 8, 2011
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21283&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
___________________________________________________
Did you know that boxers Joe Frazier AND Muhammed Ali supported Ronald Reagan both times he ran for President? Check out the article at: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47463 Nov.11, 2011
___________________________________________________
Veterans Day: The Defiance of Tyranny - Both war and victory are born in peacetime.
by John Hayward 11/11/2011 http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47476
This is a great article I encourage you to read. My favorite portion states: "Freedom is the defiance of tyranny, not its absence. Let the despots of the world be forever afraid that the hearts of their oppressed people will stir at the sight of the Stars and Stripes. The American veteran gave the world victory without conquest, valor without cruelty, and vigilance without domination. History has never seen anything quite like them before, and since the day American soldiers took up arms against their first “unbeatable” enemy, they have never stopped making history."_______________________________________________
The Great Stonewall of Obama by Michelle Malkin 11/09/2011
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47416
Read about how the Obama Adminstration continues to stonewall Congressional investigations: "While many construction workers across the country remain idle, Team Obama's attorneys have been laboring overtime to erect impenetrable information blockades around three festering scandals: Solyndra, LightSquared, and Fast and Furious. This much is clear: The "most transparent administration ever" is hyper-allergic to sunlight and subpoenas."
___________________________________________________
From Insult to Injury: Obama Owes Netanyahu An Apology November 9, 2011
http://www.redstate.com/reincepriebus/2011/11/09/from-insult-to-injury-obama-owes-netanyahu-an-apology/
___________________________________________________
The truth about our exit from Iraq - and other Obama foreign policy failures. Nov. 9, 2011
http://www.personalliberty.com/conservative-politics/obama-can%e2%80%99t-tell-the-truth-so-help-him-allah/?eiid=&rmid=2011_11_09_PLA_[P11916822]&rrid=394974641
___________________________________________________
Obama's Green-Energy Jobs Lie November 10, 2011
from Real Clear Markets
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21296&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
___________________________________________________
Obama's Drug Shortage Demagoguery by Michelle Malkin 11/04/201138
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47316
"President Obama couldn't wait to trample over the legislative process again. This week, he issued his 98th executive order on an irresistibly exploitable policy issue: prescription drug shortages. Soon, "One a Day" won't just be a multivitamin. It'll be the rate of White House administrative fiats."
____________________________________________________
Governments Consider New Taxes on Soda and Candy
November 8, 2011
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=21283&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD
Monday, November 14, 2011
#154 (11/20) - Sunday Specia - '' A Christian Response to the 'OWS' Protestors''''
[NOTE: In blog #137 (10/19), I shared an analysis of the 'Occupied Wall Street' protestors. This time, I want to share 2 great CHRISTIAN responses to the themes emphasized by those protestors. I trust that you will find these articles helpful. ALSO, as always on Sundays, I encourage you to tune in to this week's broadcast of 'Truth That Transforms' (Orlando - 5 pm, ch. 55.1) as this week they present a look at how the Pilgrims dealt with the threat of socialism.]
By: Dennis Babish|Published: November 7, 2011
http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/articles/entry/12/18149
I am currently reading Eric Metaxas’s biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In it, he points out Bonhoeffer’s fascination with how the world worshiped success. In his book Ethics, Bonhoeffer says, "The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done."
As Eric explains, Hitler was popular because he succeeded. He ended Germany's worst depression ever, caused by its defeat in World War I, and after France fell he completely eliminated the humiliation Germany felt from their loss in the last war. Hitler even went so far as to have the French sign the conditions of surrender in the same forest, the same railroad car, and even sitting on the same chair where the Germans signed their terms of surrender 23 years earlier. Or as Eric writes, "The old has passed away, and behold, he had made all things new." If there were polls taken at that time, Hitler would have had approval ratings in the 90 percentile. The German people were ignoring Hitler's slaughter of thousands of Germans and others because of his achievements. In the end "Hitler was destroying Germany through success."
Fast forward to today, and we see what happens when there is no "success." For decades now "The American Dream" has been promoted as the latest form of success: a college education, high-paying job, big house, fancy cars, etc., all under the slogan "You can have it all." For many of those decades it appeared that success was for anyone who wanted it, whether they applied themselves or not. Increased credit card debt, homeownership for those who couldn't afford it, more and more government entitlement programs, promotion of self-worth and entitlement to the "good things in life," all whitewashed the underlying destructive path America was on. In 2008 it all came tumbling down. The failures became apparent.
When failure hits, a scapegoat is needed. Surely it was because those rich people on Wall Street stole this dream and wanted it only for themselves. Now we have Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protestors demanding that the riches of the "haves" be taken and distributed to the "have-nots."
How should a Christian respond to all of this? Are the protestors right, and should we support them? Or does God call us in a different direction?
Eric Metaxas points us to how God defines success. He tells us how Bonhoeffer came to realize that "God was not interested in success, but in obedience. If one obeyed God and was willing to suffer defeat and whatever else came one's way, God would show a kind of success that the world couldn't imagine."
God is telling us that success is not based on what car we drive, or size of house we live in, or even how much wealth we have accumulated over our lives. It is based, rather, on our obedience to His Word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He shows us this through Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Jesus was always obedient to His Father's commands. By the world's standards Jesus was a failure and should be ignored, but through His obedience He attained the ultimate success and now sits at the right hand of the Father.
As Christians we should value obedience to Jesus over any worldly success. We should also recognize that every good thing we have comes from God, and not for our sole benefit but so that we can use it all to glorify Him.
Which leads me to my final point. What the protestors are promoting is what the Bible would call covetousness. There really isn't any such thing as "haves" and "have-nots." We all are "haves." If you read the parable of the talents, you will notice two things. First, each servant was given a different amount, not equally divided, and commanded to manage what they were given. God is not showing favorites. He gives us all different amounts of wealth, intelligence, creativity, and so forth, and commands us to manage what He has given us to His glory, not for our worldly success.
We also see that when the master returned and asked for an accounting from each, he didn't take from the two that were successful and give to the one that was lazy. Rather, he condemned the lazy one for not doing anything. He then took away the talents the lazy one had and gave it to the two that had much, and said: "For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:29-30)
Let none of us Christians be found, when Jesus returns, to be like the lazy one, not applying what we have been given. Let us not be among those who are demanding that we be given what God has given others. Instead let us be found content with what God has given us, actively obeying His Word and multiplying our talents for His glory.
Note: All quotes are taken from Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas.
Dennis Babish is a Centurion and a blogger for the BreakPoint Blog.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RELATED ARTICLE
Killing Your Neighbor's Cow - The Fruit of EnvyBy: Chuck Colson| Breakpoint.com Published: November 14, 2011
One of the seven deadly sins seems to be walking the streets these days.
An old Russian joke tells about a poor peasant whose better-off neighbor has just gotten a cow. In his anguish, the peasant cries out to God for relief from his distress. When God replies and asks him what he wants him to do, the peasant replies, “Kill the cow.” The joke illustrates an important point about human nature: the line between clamoring for justice and envy can be very thin.
The subject came to mind when I read a recent column by Ross Douthat in the New York Times about the issue of income inequality and the redistribution of wealth. Douthat noted that taxing Peter more will not solve Paul’s problems. The most likely outcome of “soaking-the-rich,” he wrote, would be to “buy a little more time for our failing public institutions,” like public schools. A “public sector that has consistently done less with more” would simply have more to do less with." Listen to that. He’s right.
Despite this, many people insist on soaking the well-off because, like the Russian peasant, what they want is to see their better-off neighbors knocked down a peg. That’s how envy works.
Thomas Aquinas defined envy as “sorrow for another’s good.” It is the opposite of pity. And it is one of the defining sins of our times.
One of the most consistent findings of behavioral economics is that we gauge our own economic well-being by comparing ourselves with our neighbors. Studies have found that, given a choice between making 25 percent more than their neighbors or making 25 percent less, people will choose the former even when the latter amount is more money.
Not only is envy irrational, it’s socially and personally corrosive. In his wonderful book, The Seven Deadly Sins, the late Henry Fairlie called envy the “nastiest, the most grim, the meanest” of the seven deadly sins. Sneering, sly, vicious. According to Fairlie, “the face of envy is never lovely. It is never even faintly pleasant.” It could hardly be otherwise. Loving your neighbor, or even working alongside him, is next to impossible when you regard his gains as a personal loss.
The most obvious scriptural injunction against envy is the Tenth Commandment. But Jesus also spoke on the subject. The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard ends with a confrontation between the owner and those whom he hired first. After reminding them that he paid them what he had promised them, the owner adds, “Are you envious because I am generous?”
This is translated from the Greek, which refers to the “evil eye,” the curse used by the envious to inflict harm on the fortunate.
Ultimately, the kind of envy on display and all the talk today about income redistribution will do nothing to help those in need or create a more just society, it just creates a bigger government. You can’t promote a virtue like justice by encouraging people to indulge in a vice such as envy. Think of the Russian peasants, during the Russian Revolution many of them expressed their envy by looting the better-off. This didn't help; after the Revolution, many of them wound up worse off than they were before.
OK, our system is need of reform. And I intend to discuss Christian responses to our problems in future broadcasts, which I hope you will tune into.
But for now, let’s be clear: Leave the cow alone.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Further Reading and Information
What Tax Dollars Can’t Buy; Ross Douthat | New York Times | October 29, 2011
The Seven Deadly Sins TodayHenry Fairlie & Vint Lawrence | University of Notre Dame Press | 1988
Envy by John K. Williams | Religion & Soicety | March 1, 1992
The Seven Deadlies Revisited, Part One: EnvyMary Eberstadt | The Catholic Thing | September 18, 2008
By: Dennis Babish|Published: November 7, 2011
http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/articles/entry/12/18149
I am currently reading Eric Metaxas’s biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In it, he points out Bonhoeffer’s fascination with how the world worshiped success. In his book Ethics, Bonhoeffer says, "The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done."
As Eric explains, Hitler was popular because he succeeded. He ended Germany's worst depression ever, caused by its defeat in World War I, and after France fell he completely eliminated the humiliation Germany felt from their loss in the last war. Hitler even went so far as to have the French sign the conditions of surrender in the same forest, the same railroad car, and even sitting on the same chair where the Germans signed their terms of surrender 23 years earlier. Or as Eric writes, "The old has passed away, and behold, he had made all things new." If there were polls taken at that time, Hitler would have had approval ratings in the 90 percentile. The German people were ignoring Hitler's slaughter of thousands of Germans and others because of his achievements. In the end "Hitler was destroying Germany through success."
Fast forward to today, and we see what happens when there is no "success." For decades now "The American Dream" has been promoted as the latest form of success: a college education, high-paying job, big house, fancy cars, etc., all under the slogan "You can have it all." For many of those decades it appeared that success was for anyone who wanted it, whether they applied themselves or not. Increased credit card debt, homeownership for those who couldn't afford it, more and more government entitlement programs, promotion of self-worth and entitlement to the "good things in life," all whitewashed the underlying destructive path America was on. In 2008 it all came tumbling down. The failures became apparent.
When failure hits, a scapegoat is needed. Surely it was because those rich people on Wall Street stole this dream and wanted it only for themselves. Now we have Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protestors demanding that the riches of the "haves" be taken and distributed to the "have-nots."
How should a Christian respond to all of this? Are the protestors right, and should we support them? Or does God call us in a different direction?
Eric Metaxas points us to how God defines success. He tells us how Bonhoeffer came to realize that "God was not interested in success, but in obedience. If one obeyed God and was willing to suffer defeat and whatever else came one's way, God would show a kind of success that the world couldn't imagine."
God is telling us that success is not based on what car we drive, or size of house we live in, or even how much wealth we have accumulated over our lives. It is based, rather, on our obedience to His Word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He shows us this through Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Jesus was always obedient to His Father's commands. By the world's standards Jesus was a failure and should be ignored, but through His obedience He attained the ultimate success and now sits at the right hand of the Father.
As Christians we should value obedience to Jesus over any worldly success. We should also recognize that every good thing we have comes from God, and not for our sole benefit but so that we can use it all to glorify Him.
Which leads me to my final point. What the protestors are promoting is what the Bible would call covetousness. There really isn't any such thing as "haves" and "have-nots." We all are "haves." If you read the parable of the talents, you will notice two things. First, each servant was given a different amount, not equally divided, and commanded to manage what they were given. God is not showing favorites. He gives us all different amounts of wealth, intelligence, creativity, and so forth, and commands us to manage what He has given us to His glory, not for our worldly success.
We also see that when the master returned and asked for an accounting from each, he didn't take from the two that were successful and give to the one that was lazy. Rather, he condemned the lazy one for not doing anything. He then took away the talents the lazy one had and gave it to the two that had much, and said: "For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:29-30)
Let none of us Christians be found, when Jesus returns, to be like the lazy one, not applying what we have been given. Let us not be among those who are demanding that we be given what God has given others. Instead let us be found content with what God has given us, actively obeying His Word and multiplying our talents for His glory.
Note: All quotes are taken from Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas.
Dennis Babish is a Centurion and a blogger for the BreakPoint Blog.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RELATED ARTICLE
Killing Your Neighbor's Cow - The Fruit of EnvyBy: Chuck Colson| Breakpoint.com Published: November 14, 2011
One of the seven deadly sins seems to be walking the streets these days.
An old Russian joke tells about a poor peasant whose better-off neighbor has just gotten a cow. In his anguish, the peasant cries out to God for relief from his distress. When God replies and asks him what he wants him to do, the peasant replies, “Kill the cow.” The joke illustrates an important point about human nature: the line between clamoring for justice and envy can be very thin.
The subject came to mind when I read a recent column by Ross Douthat in the New York Times about the issue of income inequality and the redistribution of wealth. Douthat noted that taxing Peter more will not solve Paul’s problems. The most likely outcome of “soaking-the-rich,” he wrote, would be to “buy a little more time for our failing public institutions,” like public schools. A “public sector that has consistently done less with more” would simply have more to do less with." Listen to that. He’s right.
Despite this, many people insist on soaking the well-off because, like the Russian peasant, what they want is to see their better-off neighbors knocked down a peg. That’s how envy works.
Thomas Aquinas defined envy as “sorrow for another’s good.” It is the opposite of pity. And it is one of the defining sins of our times.
One of the most consistent findings of behavioral economics is that we gauge our own economic well-being by comparing ourselves with our neighbors. Studies have found that, given a choice between making 25 percent more than their neighbors or making 25 percent less, people will choose the former even when the latter amount is more money.
Not only is envy irrational, it’s socially and personally corrosive. In his wonderful book, The Seven Deadly Sins, the late Henry Fairlie called envy the “nastiest, the most grim, the meanest” of the seven deadly sins. Sneering, sly, vicious. According to Fairlie, “the face of envy is never lovely. It is never even faintly pleasant.” It could hardly be otherwise. Loving your neighbor, or even working alongside him, is next to impossible when you regard his gains as a personal loss.
The most obvious scriptural injunction against envy is the Tenth Commandment. But Jesus also spoke on the subject. The parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard ends with a confrontation between the owner and those whom he hired first. After reminding them that he paid them what he had promised them, the owner adds, “Are you envious because I am generous?”
This is translated from the Greek, which refers to the “evil eye,” the curse used by the envious to inflict harm on the fortunate.
Ultimately, the kind of envy on display and all the talk today about income redistribution will do nothing to help those in need or create a more just society, it just creates a bigger government. You can’t promote a virtue like justice by encouraging people to indulge in a vice such as envy. Think of the Russian peasants, during the Russian Revolution many of them expressed their envy by looting the better-off. This didn't help; after the Revolution, many of them wound up worse off than they were before.
OK, our system is need of reform. And I intend to discuss Christian responses to our problems in future broadcasts, which I hope you will tune into.
But for now, let’s be clear: Leave the cow alone.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Further Reading and Information
What Tax Dollars Can’t Buy; Ross Douthat | New York Times | October 29, 2011
The Seven Deadly Sins TodayHenry Fairlie & Vint Lawrence | University of Notre Dame Press | 1988
Envy by John K. Williams | Religion & Soicety | March 1, 1992
The Seven Deadlies Revisited, Part One: EnvyMary Eberstadt | The Catholic Thing | September 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
#148 (11/10) - "Debunking Obama’s Latest Jobs Myth" [see below for (11/13) and (11/14) - Iran: Growing More Dangerous
Note: It's been hard to watch the news the past few weels (and the past 10 days especially) and not see it dominated by the accusations Republican candidate Herman Cain. A friend has alerted me to a great article that I reference at the begiinning of the post that I invite you to check out as it gives a great explanation for what I think is happening. "The liberal lynching of Herman Cain" www.washingtontimes.com You might also check out the official Herman Cain's latest response at> http://www.caintruth.com/]___________________________________________________
Debunking Obama’s Latest Jobs Myth
(Heritage Foundation) By Mike Brownfield On November 3, 2011
Imagine a high-speed train zooming down hundreds of miles of glistening train track stretching across sunny California, connecting Anaheim to San Francisco. It’s a bullet train dream, and it’s a prime example of President Barack Obama’s latest plan to create jobs in America. The trouble is that this dream is far from reality.
The Los Angeles Times reported this week that the California high-speed train–which is funded in part by $3 billion in federal grants from President Obama’s stimulus–is now expected to cost $98 billion, twice what was expected, and will take an additional 13 years to complete, extending the project to 2033. Questions remain about where the funding will come from, whether the project is viable, and whether the projected ridership will even materialize.
But projects like these are central to President Obama’s plan to put Americans back to work. Speaking yesterday from Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, D.C., Obama declared that his plan will “put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads, our airports, our bridges and our transit systems.” And that is, of course, all at the expense of the American taxpayers.
The President once called these projects “shovel ready,” meaning that as soon as money arrived from the federal government, workers could be on the job. He made it sound as easy as flipping a switch, but unfortunately it didn’t work as planned. Despite a $787 billion stimulus package, America’s economy continues to languish with 14 million out of work and a 9.1 percent unemployment rate. The President joked , “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.” Though he didn’t use the phrase “shovel-ready” in his remarks yesterday, the implication was still there. If Congress approves his jobs plan, he argued, all the construction workers sitting on the sidelines will be put back to work overnight.
But that’s not the way things work in the real world. Associated Press and Congressional Research Service reports show that infrastructure spending does not create jobs and, in fact, can even have a negative effect. Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen explains :
Building and repairing roads and bridges neither creates net job growth nor boosts the economy in the near term.First, increasing government spending on these projects simply moves resources from one place to another — it may employ construction workers, but only by reducing jobs in other sectors. Further, the money never gets out the door soon enough to promote near-term job growth.
And then there’s the President’s flawed argument that since others are doing it, the United States should be, too. “How do we sit back and watch China and Europe build the best bridges and high-speed railroads and gleaming new airports, and we’re doing nothing?” he asks. It’s not a new line of argument from the President, and it leaves out some very important facts.
Dating all the way back to the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama spoke of the need to “invest” in infrastructure in order to be competitive with the likes of China. At the time, Jim Geraghty reported at National Review Online [7] that while Obama puts China on a pedestal, he entirely overlooks some serious problems with transportation in China–namely, stories of severe power shortages affecting the country’s exports, an episode where 500,000 train passengers were left stranded for days, and outbreaks of violence where airplane travelers were left grounded without accommodation. And that’s not to mention the working conditions under which China builds its infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Europe, which heavily subsidizes its passenger rail systems, receives a poor return on its investment. Heritage’s Ron Utt explains [8] that despite massive spending, passengers are opting for more efficient transportation in the air:
"In Europe as a whole (EU-27), rail accounted for only 6.1 percent of passenger travel in 2007, including travel by air and sea. Buses accounted for 8.3 percent of the market, and air travel accounted for 8.8 percent. Despite Europe’s huge investment in passenger rail, its market share declined from 6.6 percent in 1995 to 6.1 percent in 2007. Over that same period, commercial air increased its share from 6.3 percent to 8.8 percent. By providing faster service and competitive prices, it took passengers away from rail, buses, and autos."
But to hear President Obama tell the story, building a European- or Chinese-style infrastructure is the key to the future–and to creating new jobs. Workers are ready to go, and all they need is your money to get started. But this is something we tried once already with the last stimulus, it didn’t work, and it’s not going to work this time, either. Obama’s infrastructure plan is a train that shouldn’t leave the station, headed for a bridge to nowhere, and jobs are the last thing that it will deliver.
[bold and italics my emphasis]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/03/morning-bell-debunking-obamas-latest-jobs-myth/
Copyright © 2011 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
Debunking Obama’s Latest Jobs Myth
(Heritage Foundation) By Mike Brownfield On November 3, 2011
Imagine a high-speed train zooming down hundreds of miles of glistening train track stretching across sunny California, connecting Anaheim to San Francisco. It’s a bullet train dream, and it’s a prime example of President Barack Obama’s latest plan to create jobs in America. The trouble is that this dream is far from reality.
The Los Angeles Times reported this week that the California high-speed train–which is funded in part by $3 billion in federal grants from President Obama’s stimulus–is now expected to cost $98 billion, twice what was expected, and will take an additional 13 years to complete, extending the project to 2033. Questions remain about where the funding will come from, whether the project is viable, and whether the projected ridership will even materialize.
But projects like these are central to President Obama’s plan to put Americans back to work. Speaking yesterday from Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, D.C., Obama declared that his plan will “put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads, our airports, our bridges and our transit systems.” And that is, of course, all at the expense of the American taxpayers.
The President once called these projects “shovel ready,” meaning that as soon as money arrived from the federal government, workers could be on the job. He made it sound as easy as flipping a switch, but unfortunately it didn’t work as planned. Despite a $787 billion stimulus package, America’s economy continues to languish with 14 million out of work and a 9.1 percent unemployment rate. The President joked , “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.” Though he didn’t use the phrase “shovel-ready” in his remarks yesterday, the implication was still there. If Congress approves his jobs plan, he argued, all the construction workers sitting on the sidelines will be put back to work overnight.
But that’s not the way things work in the real world. Associated Press and Congressional Research Service reports show that infrastructure spending does not create jobs and, in fact, can even have a negative effect. Heritage’s Patrick Knudsen explains :
Building and repairing roads and bridges neither creates net job growth nor boosts the economy in the near term.First, increasing government spending on these projects simply moves resources from one place to another — it may employ construction workers, but only by reducing jobs in other sectors. Further, the money never gets out the door soon enough to promote near-term job growth.
And then there’s the President’s flawed argument that since others are doing it, the United States should be, too. “How do we sit back and watch China and Europe build the best bridges and high-speed railroads and gleaming new airports, and we’re doing nothing?” he asks. It’s not a new line of argument from the President, and it leaves out some very important facts.
Dating all the way back to the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama spoke of the need to “invest” in infrastructure in order to be competitive with the likes of China. At the time, Jim Geraghty reported at National Review Online [7] that while Obama puts China on a pedestal, he entirely overlooks some serious problems with transportation in China–namely, stories of severe power shortages affecting the country’s exports, an episode where 500,000 train passengers were left stranded for days, and outbreaks of violence where airplane travelers were left grounded without accommodation. And that’s not to mention the working conditions under which China builds its infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Europe, which heavily subsidizes its passenger rail systems, receives a poor return on its investment. Heritage’s Ron Utt explains [8] that despite massive spending, passengers are opting for more efficient transportation in the air:
"In Europe as a whole (EU-27), rail accounted for only 6.1 percent of passenger travel in 2007, including travel by air and sea. Buses accounted for 8.3 percent of the market, and air travel accounted for 8.8 percent. Despite Europe’s huge investment in passenger rail, its market share declined from 6.6 percent in 1995 to 6.1 percent in 2007. Over that same period, commercial air increased its share from 6.3 percent to 8.8 percent. By providing faster service and competitive prices, it took passengers away from rail, buses, and autos."
But to hear President Obama tell the story, building a European- or Chinese-style infrastructure is the key to the future–and to creating new jobs. Workers are ready to go, and all they need is your money to get started. But this is something we tried once already with the last stimulus, it didn’t work, and it’s not going to work this time, either. Obama’s infrastructure plan is a train that shouldn’t leave the station, headed for a bridge to nowhere, and jobs are the last thing that it will deliver.
[bold and italics my emphasis]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org
URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/03/morning-bell-debunking-obamas-latest-jobs-myth/
Copyright © 2011 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
#150 (11/13) Sunday Special - International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
Today, November 13, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. At the website of "One With Them" by the Open Doors Ministry (of which I am a long time supporter) you will find the follwing statement: "Over 70% of the worlds population live in areas of severe religious persecution. We can be ONE with our brothers and sisters in Christ who share our faith but don't share our freedom."
http://www.onewiththem.com/ I invite you to visit the site,expecially on this day, and listen to some of the stories of those who've experiencewd persecuation.] Also,please check outwww.OpenDoorsUSA.org
Note: Being Sunday, I encouage you to tune in to this week's broadcast of "Truth That Transforms" which will again share about the spiritual heritage of Amerida. (In Orlando, 5 pm, ch. 55.1)
__________________________________________________
Pastor's Death Sentence Highlights Christians' PlightBy Gary Lane, CBN News International Correspondent Tuesday, Nove.8, 2011
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/November/Iran-Pastors-Death-Sentence-Highlights-Christians-Plight/
Thirty-two years ago this month Americans were taken hostage when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. That was the start of an Islamic revolution that not only brought Sharia law to the country, but also one of the fastest growing house church movements in the world today.
Disillusioned with Islam, more Iranians are now embracing Christianity than perhaps at any other time since the Muslim invasion of Persia in the 7th century.
CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS - A massive government crackdown against Christians has led to the imprisonment of many believers and the threatened execution of a pastor. At least 285 Christians in 35 cities were arrested in Iran during the second half of 2010. Many have spent week, and even months in prison, often serving long stretches in solitary confinement.They also have endured interrogations and psychological abuse.
Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat of Iran Alive Ministries, formerly International Antioch Ministries, hosts a satellite television show that is broadcast into Iran. Shariat said most often the Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrest and don't even tell their family."They can't have a lawyer, not even a formal charge," Shariat said. "Sometimes they get killed without even a formal charge." When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, he pledged to halt the spread of Christianity in Iran.
FACING THE DEATH PENALTY - The threatened execution of 34-year old Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is a part of the crackdown. Nadarkhani had challenged a government requirement that Christian students be forced to recite the Koran and learn Islam in the public schools. Pastor Youcef leads one of the country's fastest growing house churches, which is now 400 members.He was arrested in October 2009 and was eventually charged with leaving the Islamic faith, even though he claims that he was never a Muslim. After he was sentenced to death, Christians prayed and others in the international community demanded the pastor's release.
The Iranian government responded saying the world had it wrong, that Nadarkhani was charged with rape and extortion, not apostasy.His case is now in the hands of the Ayatollah. Meanwhile, the Special Rapporteur at the U.N. accused Iran of violating human rights, and demanded the release of Nadarkhani and several other prisoners.
NO SAFE PLACEstrong>- Open Doors President Carl Moeller said even if the Ayatollah frees Nadarkhani and the pastor returns home to his wife and two boys, he will not be out of danger."Unfortunately he is not out of danger at all," Moeller explained. "In fact what we have seen in numerous cases over the last 30 years in Iran is that someone may be judicially acquitted or released on a technicality, but then their lives are deeply also under threat."
"As was the case with Mehdi Dibaj in the 90s and with Pastor Hovsepian, the reality is they were killed after they were released from (being) interrogated and from imprisoned," he said. "That's a reality that can happen any day, to any Christian in Iran," he continued. "They can simply disappear, or they can be tortured or arrested without any judicial process." "So, by no means is Pastor Youcef's situation free and clear if he is acquitted of these charges," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT? - The government-- for the first time--is admitting that Iranians are leaving the Islamic faith and becoming Christians."The government is intentionally going after the house churches. The Supreme leader, he came and said the house churches in Iran are a threat to our national security," Shariat said.He explained that that claim was a signal for the government to target house church Christians and especially their leaders.
Iranian Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has warned against the strong attraction of Christianity among Iranian youth. He recently admitted the government crackdown has failed to stop the spread of Christianity in Iran.
PROPHETIC CALL TO PRAYER - Middle East analyst and author Joel Rosenberg said people like Pastor Youcef and others are putting their lives on the line for the Gospel of Jesus Christ."More Muslims are coming to faith than ever before but it is not enough. We also need to pray that the Gospel is spread throughout all of Iran," Rosenberg said."Jeremiah 49 tells us that God is eventually going to set His throne inside Iran," he said. "I think Iran is going to become a sending country for evangelical Christian missionaries coming from a Shia Muslim background." "The church in Iran is begging us to not forget them, to stand one with them, and to create the opportunity for the spirit of God to move as a witness through their persecution in Iran," Moeller said.
REVOLUTIONARY WARNING - Iran's Islamic government is likely to continue the crackdown. Many Iranians are worried that similar radical Islamic governments could arise in other Middle Eastern countries.As revolutions and uprisings spread throughout the Middle East, Shariat said his Iranian viewers are warning Arabs to learn from what happened in Iran in 1979 when Iranians protested against the shah and got Ayatollah Khomeini instead.
"They are telling their brothers and sisters, watch out, watch out, this is what we did," he explained. "We wanted freedom, we wanted democracy, and we allowed the religious fanatics to take over. Please don't let that happen to you."
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
http://www.onewiththem.com/ I invite you to visit the site,expecially on this day, and listen to some of the stories of those who've experiencewd persecuation.] Also,please check outwww.OpenDoorsUSA.org
Note: Being Sunday, I encouage you to tune in to this week's broadcast of "Truth That Transforms" which will again share about the spiritual heritage of Amerida. (In Orlando, 5 pm, ch. 55.1)
__________________________________________________
Pastor's Death Sentence Highlights Christians' PlightBy Gary Lane, CBN News International Correspondent Tuesday, Nove.8, 2011
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/November/Iran-Pastors-Death-Sentence-Highlights-Christians-Plight/
Thirty-two years ago this month Americans were taken hostage when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. That was the start of an Islamic revolution that not only brought Sharia law to the country, but also one of the fastest growing house church movements in the world today.
Disillusioned with Islam, more Iranians are now embracing Christianity than perhaps at any other time since the Muslim invasion of Persia in the 7th century.
CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS - A massive government crackdown against Christians has led to the imprisonment of many believers and the threatened execution of a pastor. At least 285 Christians in 35 cities were arrested in Iran during the second half of 2010. Many have spent week, and even months in prison, often serving long stretches in solitary confinement.They also have endured interrogations and psychological abuse.
Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat of Iran Alive Ministries, formerly International Antioch Ministries, hosts a satellite television show that is broadcast into Iran. Shariat said most often the Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrest and don't even tell their family."They can't have a lawyer, not even a formal charge," Shariat said. "Sometimes they get killed without even a formal charge." When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, he pledged to halt the spread of Christianity in Iran.
FACING THE DEATH PENALTY - The threatened execution of 34-year old Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is a part of the crackdown. Nadarkhani had challenged a government requirement that Christian students be forced to recite the Koran and learn Islam in the public schools. Pastor Youcef leads one of the country's fastest growing house churches, which is now 400 members.He was arrested in October 2009 and was eventually charged with leaving the Islamic faith, even though he claims that he was never a Muslim. After he was sentenced to death, Christians prayed and others in the international community demanded the pastor's release.
The Iranian government responded saying the world had it wrong, that Nadarkhani was charged with rape and extortion, not apostasy.His case is now in the hands of the Ayatollah. Meanwhile, the Special Rapporteur at the U.N. accused Iran of violating human rights, and demanded the release of Nadarkhani and several other prisoners.
NO SAFE PLACEstrong>- Open Doors President Carl Moeller said even if the Ayatollah frees Nadarkhani and the pastor returns home to his wife and two boys, he will not be out of danger."Unfortunately he is not out of danger at all," Moeller explained. "In fact what we have seen in numerous cases over the last 30 years in Iran is that someone may be judicially acquitted or released on a technicality, but then their lives are deeply also under threat."
"As was the case with Mehdi Dibaj in the 90s and with Pastor Hovsepian, the reality is they were killed after they were released from (being) interrogated and from imprisoned," he said. "That's a reality that can happen any day, to any Christian in Iran," he continued. "They can simply disappear, or they can be tortured or arrested without any judicial process." "So, by no means is Pastor Youcef's situation free and clear if he is acquitted of these charges," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT? - The government-- for the first time--is admitting that Iranians are leaving the Islamic faith and becoming Christians."The government is intentionally going after the house churches. The Supreme leader, he came and said the house churches in Iran are a threat to our national security," Shariat said.He explained that that claim was a signal for the government to target house church Christians and especially their leaders.
Iranian Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has warned against the strong attraction of Christianity among Iranian youth. He recently admitted the government crackdown has failed to stop the spread of Christianity in Iran.
PROPHETIC CALL TO PRAYER - Middle East analyst and author Joel Rosenberg said people like Pastor Youcef and others are putting their lives on the line for the Gospel of Jesus Christ."More Muslims are coming to faith than ever before but it is not enough. We also need to pray that the Gospel is spread throughout all of Iran," Rosenberg said."Jeremiah 49 tells us that God is eventually going to set His throne inside Iran," he said. "I think Iran is going to become a sending country for evangelical Christian missionaries coming from a Shia Muslim background." "The church in Iran is begging us to not forget them, to stand one with them, and to create the opportunity for the spirit of God to move as a witness through their persecution in Iran," Moeller said.
REVOLUTIONARY WARNING - Iran's Islamic government is likely to continue the crackdown. Many Iranians are worried that similar radical Islamic governments could arise in other Middle Eastern countries.As revolutions and uprisings spread throughout the Middle East, Shariat said his Iranian viewers are warning Arabs to learn from what happened in Iran in 1979 when Iranians protested against the shah and got Ayatollah Khomeini instead.
"They are telling their brothers and sisters, watch out, watch out, this is what we did," he explained. "We wanted freedom, we wanted democracy, and we allowed the religious fanatics to take over. Please don't let that happen to you."
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
