URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS:
"Missionary in Philippines: 'Bodies Laying Everywhere'- By Dale Hurd and Heather Sells, November 12; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Truckloads-of-Bodies-Filipinos-Plead-for-Help/ - [PRAY that relief supplies will get to the needed area in time to help the tens of thousands who are in great need. PRAY that security can be established in the midst of looters causing problems in the midst of the devastation. - Stan]
NEWS ALERT: Oct. 23: "Christians Fleeing IRAQ Area Once Considered Safe," - CBNNews.com, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Christians-Fleeing-Iraq-Area-Once-Considered-Safe/ PRAY that believers in Iraq will know God's protection and provision; that believers will know[ whether they are called to flee or remain and persevere; and that their persecutors may come to hear the gospel and come to faith in Christ. - Stan]
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
NEWS ALERT: Monday, November 04, 2013 - Saeed's Life in [Greater] Jeopardy After Prison Transfer - CBNNews.com, ; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Saeeds-Life-in-Jeopardy-after-Prison-Transfer/ IRAN - Vigils Mark One Year Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed - CBNNews.com, Thursday, September 26, 2013 - Today marks one-year that American pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison. He is serving an eight-year sentence because of his Christian faith. It has been a year of torment as he has suffered beatings, physical pain from untreated medical conditions, and separation from his wife and two children... The suffering has not dampened his passion for Jesus. Pastor Abedini has led more than 30 prisoners to Christ during his time in prison. This afternoon, thousands of Americans from coast to coast will pray for his release. Events will be held in 40 states at capitols, city halls, parks and churches. Thousands more will join from 15 nations around the world
PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release
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"Your Money in Pictures: The Top 5 Charts of 2013" - By Michael Sargent, December 27, 2013
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As part of our countdown to the new year, here are Heritage’s top five must-see charts of 2013.
5. What If a Typical Family Spent Money Like the Federal Government?
While middle-class families are still plagued by a sluggish recovery in the Obama economy, this is what their finances would look like if they spent money like the government—and it’s not a pretty picture. Most families understand that it is unwise to constantly spend excessive amounts compared to what they take in, but the government continues its shopping spree on the taxpayer credit card with seemingly no regard to the stack of bills that has already piled up.
SpendingByTheNumbers600649 [1]
4. Obamacare’s Barrage of Tax Hikes
Remember President Obama’s promise [2] that he would not raise taxes on the middle class? Much like his pledge that Americans could keep their health insurance [3], this turned out to be another promise Obamacare was bound to break. As this chart shows, tax hikes included in Obamacare are huge and pervasive [4], amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenues. Since this chart was published, new numbers for Obamacare’s taxes have become available, and a study [5] by Heritage’s Alyene Senger shows that Obamacare will impose even more in taxes—amounting to a whopping $771 billion in new revenue through 2022.
TaxHikes600649 [1]
3. Sequestration Cuts Only 2.5 Percent of Spending
As it turns out, sequestration isn’t much of a “meat cleaver [6]” after all. While the sequester is an imperfect mechanism to reduce spending, as the brunt of the cuts falls disproportionally on defense, it only amounts to a 2.5 percent reduction in spending over 10 years. This hardly lives up [7] to the President’s warnings [8] that the cuts would be “harmful” to the economy and would decimate government services. As you can see, the U.S. has a long way to go to rein in its growing spending.
FedSpendingChart600649 [1]
2. Where Did Your Tax Dollar Go?
Wonder what happens to your hard-earned cash after you hand it over the IRS each year? Almost half goes toward paying for the ballooning entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—a proportion that will only increase [9] as the number of retirees expands in the near future. Even worse, your tax money only funded 70 cents of every federal dollar spent [10] in 2012, meaning the remaining 30 cents was borrowed and tacked on to the massive national debt.
Dollar600649 [1]
1. Each American’s Share of Publicly Held Debt
As Washington lawmakers continue to spend more and pile on debt, each American’s share of public debt has risen to $36,000—about six times more than in 1970—and is set to rise astronomically in coming years. Without reform, the government will have borrowed $135,547 in public debt for each American, or almost three times the current median income, by 2036. This chart shows that serious consequences lie ahead if the government continues on its current path of reckless spending with no reform in sight.
ShareofDebt600649 [1]
To address the serious issues highlighted in these charts, Congress must put America on a path to balance by reforming the major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—that are the key sources of higher spending and debt. By implementing entitlement reforms and discretionary spending cuts, Congress can lift a tremendous burden off the economy, freeing up resources for investment in jobs and growth in the private sector.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org;URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/12/27/money-pictures-top-5-charts-2013/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/12/27/money-pictures-top-5-charts-2013/
[2] promise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8erePM8V5U
[3] keep their health insurance: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/08/22/when-you-cant-actually-keep-your-health-care-plan/
[4] huge and pervasive: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/10/obamacare-s-health-insurance-tax-targets-consumers-and-small-businesses
[5] study: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/08/obamacares-impact-on-todays-and-tomorrows-taxpayers-an-update
[6] meat cleaver: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/07/26/sequestration-meat-cleaver-is-really-a-scalpel/
[7] hardly lives up: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/12/16/murray-ryan-budget-deal-weakens-successful-spending-caps/
[8] warnings: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/sequester
[9] that will only increase: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/08/25/chart-of-the-week-tax-revenues-devoured-by-entitlements/
[10] 70 cents of every federal dollar spent: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/08/federal-spending-by-the-numbers-2013
Copyright © 2013 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
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