The Right Lane update 5.03.13

The pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, free markets and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

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God Is

To the chagrin of many non-believers, their non-belief does not matter.  God is.  As we observe their behavior, their writings and their legal shenanigans one could conclude they think they are  winning some kind of battle that can/will be won.   They can attempt to drive God out of schools, most public places and in our government symbolically.  However, those efforts do not overcome God.  Believers show up every day in the very places they claim a victory; with God! Using a Biblical term, they are "fools".  Liberals and non-believers (as they seldom do) consider the true existential risk.  They are destined to discover an outcome from which they will never recover.  God save their soul.

For those that are attempting to deconstruct "Christian" from our heritage.  You have an enemy — and it’s not who you think it is. It isn’t the group in your community who are taking biblical positions against you. Your enemy isn’t flesh and blood at all.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).

Your battle is with Satan for your soul not Christians!

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Being Led By A Pathological Liar

President Barack Obama and his blind following of liberal progressives claim that we must have all of the restrictive gun control laws to prevent violent crime.  Like most pathological liars, Obama tries to convince us that he believes in the Second Amendment and wants to defend it, but 100% of his actions say that he intends on destroying the Second Amendment and stripping us of our guns.

Pathological Liar: an individual who habitually tells lies so exaggerated or bizarre that they are suggestive of mental disorder.  Pay close attention to what Obama and his ilk say.  They speak it with such conviction, one must say they believe it.  However, in fact, it is simply not true and has been convincingly proven so. Then, watch and listen to what they say and do later.  Hmmm?

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Landmark Study Shatters Liberal Health Care Claims

During the health care debate, liberals argued that government had to a moral duty to enact legislation that expanded health insurance among lower-income individuals.  But a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine dramatically undermines this assumption and shatters the rationale behind the law’s Medicaid expansion. In 2008, Oregon expanded its Medicaid program, but because the state could not cover everybody, lawmakers opened up a lottery that randomly drew 30,000 names from a waiting list of almost 90,000 and allowed them to apply for the program. This created a unique opportunity for health researchers, ultimately allowing them to compare the health outcomes of 6,387 low-income adults who were able to enroll in the program with 5,842 who were not selected.

Contrary to liberal assumptions, researchers found that those who enrolled in Medicaid spent a lot more on medical care than those who weren’t able to enroll, but didn’t significantly improve their health outcomes. Specifically, researchers found that those who received Medicaid increased their annual health care spending by $1,172, or 35 percent more than those who did not receive Medicaid. Those with Medicaid were more likely to be screened for diabetes and use diabetes medication and to make use of other preventive care measures. The study also examined health metrics including blood pressure and cholesterol. Ultimately, the authors concluded that, “This randomized, controlled study showed that Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured health outcomes in the first two years, but it did increase use of health services, raise rates of diabetes detection and management, lower rates of depression, and reduce financial strain.”

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Whistleblower: We Know Who Was Behind Benghazi Attack

All three network newscasts on Monday and Tuesday ignored the shocking assertions made by a whistleblower who told Fox News that special forces could have responded to the 2012 terrorist attack on Benghazi. He also claimed that the United States knows who perpetrated last year’s assault on the U.S. embassy. Fox News’s Adam Housley interviewed a man he described as a “special ops member who watched as the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi unfolded.” On Tuesday’s Special Report, Housley claimed, “However, multiple sources tell Fox News that the U.S. has identified the mastermind of the Benghazi attack who was still in Libya and walks free.” The whistleblower insisted the reason the Obama administration hasn’t acted is because “we basically don’t want to upset anybody.” The operative flat-out declared, “We have all the capability, all the training, all the capacity to kill and capture that only terrorist involved with the specific events of 9/11 and Ambassador Stevens’ death.” Yet, ABC, CBS and NBC have, thus far, ignored the story. Watch

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ESPN Apologizes for Commentator's Christian Worldview on Homosexuality

While the left lectures Americans about the historic breakthrough made by NBA free agent Jason Collins in announcing his sexuality and calls for well-deserved tolerance, they are on full-out attack against ESPN commentator Chris Broussard for expressing his Christian views. And now ESPN has been forced to apologize. It all started when Broussard appeared on Outside the Lines to talk about Collins. Appearing with ESPN senior writer LZ Granderson, who is openly gay, Broussard was asked by the host, “How ready is the NBA and the locker rooms for having an openly gay teammate?” Broussard answered, “The climate in society is very set for this thing to happen …. A lot of people feel like if you come out and say you don’t agree with homosexuality, you are viewed as a bigot, you are viewed as intolerant. So I think the climate is right for somebody to come out and say they are gay. I’ve been texting with players, GMs, coaches, agents throughout the day … and it’s been overwhelmingly supportive of Jason, from former teammates to guys who have played against him.” Broussard acknowledged that a few players said they might be uncomfortable with a gay player in the showers, but that “I don’t think you’ll see somebody come out and be against this, whether because of their true feelings or because of political correctness.” Later in the conversation, Granderson said, “If we really want to move toward progress and toward full acceptance, we have to have this conversation and this process. Broussard then seconded that motion, and gave an example of that conversation and how it could be productive:

I’d like to second what LZ said. “I’m a Christian. I don’t agree with homosexuality. I think it’s a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is. [ESPN's] L.Z. [Granderson] knows that. He and I have played on basketball teams together for several years. We’ve gone out, had lunch together, we’ve had good conversations, good laughs together. He knows where I stand and I know where he stands. I don’t criticize him, he doesn’t criticize me, and call me a bigot, call me ignorant, call me intolerant.

No Collins won't, but the liberal left will.  They need enemies like fish need water!!

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CBS: Illegals Entering US Triple With Talk of Immigration Reform

Arrests of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States have nearly tripled in recent months in anticipation of Congressional efforts to enact comprehensive immigration legislation, border patrol agents told CBS News Wednesday. “Once the first group gets across, they call their family, they call their friends and let them know, ‘Hey the time is right, come on over,’” Border Patrol agent and union representative Chris Cabrera told CBS News.  In March, 7,500 illegals were arrested in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, which includes McAllen, Cabrera told CBS News. That’s up from 2,800 in January. In February, nearly 4,800 illegals were arrested in the Rio Grande, the local news website The Monitor.com reports.

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Same-Sex Marriage as a Civil Right — Are Wrongs Rights?  By Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

We should have seen it coming. Back in 1989 two young activists pushing for the normalization of homosexuality coauthored a book intended to serve as a political strategy manual and public relations guide for their movement. In After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s, authors Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen argued that efforts to normalize homosexuality and homosexual relationships would fail unless their movement shifted its argument to a demand for civil rights, rather than for moral acceptance. Kirk and Madsen argued that homosexual activists and their allies should avoid talking about sex and sexuality. Instead, “the imagery of sex per se should be downplayed, and the issue of gay rights reduced, as far as possible, to an abstract social question.” Beyond Kirk and Madsen and their public relations strategy, an even more effective legal strategy was developed along the same lines. Legal theorists and litigators began to argue that homosexuals were a class of citizens denied basic civil liberties, and that the courts should declare them to be a protected class, using civil rights precedents to force a moral and legal revolution. That revolution has happened, and it has been stunningly successful. The advocates for the normalization of homosexuality and the legalization of same-sex marriage have used legal arguments developed from the civil rights era to their advantage. Arguments used to end the scourge of racial segregation were deployed to normalize homosexuality and homosexual relationships. Over the years, these arguments have led to such major developments as the decriminalization of homosexual behaviors, the inclusion of homosexuals within the United States military, and the legalization of same-sex marriage in some states. We are living in an era of moral revolution and seismic cultural change. Christians must remember that our ultimate authority is the Word of God. We are thankful for the recognition of civil rights, but we also understand that these rights will be confused in a sinful world. We must understand that the claim that same-sex marriage is a civil right reveals more than constitutional confusion—it reveals the need of every human being for nothing less than the forgiveness, healing, and redemption that can come only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, the argument over same-sex marriage is never just about same-sex marriage, and debates about civil rights are never just about civil rights. Deeper truths and worldview implications are always at stake, and it is our responsibility to make certain that we know what those are and stand humbly and compassionately for those truths, regardless of the cost.

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IRS Decides Obamacare Is Too Small; Unilaterally Expands It by Mark Horne Filed under

Yesterday, CNSnews.com reported that a group of business owners and others in six states are suing the IRS to get it to restrict itself to the law of the land. You would think that trying to make the government enforce Obamacare would be bad news for conservatives. But that would only be the case if the IRS were not trying to do something worse than Obamacare. “‘Agencies are bound by the laws enacted by Congress,’ said Sam Kazman, general counsel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which is coordinating the lawsuit. ‘Obamacare is already an incredibly massive program.  For the IRS to expand it even more, without congressional authorization and in a manner aimed at undercutting state choice, is flagrantly illegal.’” As written, Obamacare is supposed to encourage states to set up voluntary exchanges. It does so by offering the residents of states that have set up exchanges refundable tax credits to subsidize the cost of their premiums (which would drive up the price of premiums even more—that that is a topic for another day). The plan is not working. As of right now, thirty-three states have refused to set up such exchanges. According to the actual content of the misnamed Affordable Care Act, this means that the residents of those thirty three states cannot be granted tax refunds to help them buy premiums. In response, the Internal Revenue Service has disregarded the law, which mandates no subsidies for those in the states without health insurance exchanges, and is giving them the tax refund anyway.

“But the IRS rule says lower-income people living in those states will get federal subsidies to help them pay for their insurance premiums – even though the Affordable Care Act’s statutory language limits those subsidies to exchanges established by the states. The lawsuit says because of the IRS rule that illegally expands federal subsidies to all states, the plaintiffs ‘will be forced to either purchase or sponsor specific insurance that they otherwise would not purchase or sponsor, or expose themselves to financial penalties.’ Bottom line: The plaintiffs want nothing to do with Obamacare, and they say the availability of federal subsidies will force them into it – or penalize them for avoiding it.” The unauthorized action by the IRS will also mean that more people are required to submit to the individual mandate. So the agency is illegally causing financial harm to individuals by unilaterally changing the law in this way. Businesses will also be hurt. “That’s because the Affordable Care Act fines certain businesses ($2,000 per employee) if their full-time workers use federal subsidies to purchase coverage on an exchange instead of getting it through the company. ‘Thus, the IRS Rule also has the effect of triggering the employer mandate payment for businesses in states that declined to establish their own Exchanges.’” If the report is at all accurate, this action is more dangerous than even the Affordable Care Act itself. We have here an agency of the government acting as an independent legislature.

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Anti-Christian Bigot Mikey Weinstein would Hate What FDR Said by Gary DeMar

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein is an anti-Christian bigot. He heads up the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. I don’t have a problem with someone criticizing the way religion is used. I do it myself. I’m just as disturbed with copies of a Left Behind video being passed around to military personnel. But I would never use the language Weinstein does to criticize it. My biggest complaint about religion in the military is that too many Christians blindly support almost every military action of our government. Weinstein is a bully masquerading as a civil rights champion. He describes evangelical Christian groups that don’t support his leftist social agenda as “monsters” and “hate groups,” “fundamentalist Christian creatures” and “bandits.” Weinstein’s rhetoric obscures any legitimate criticisms he might have. Ken Klukowski writes:

“[Weinstein] says Christians — including chaplains — sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of ‘treason,’ and of committing an act of ‘spiritual rape’ as serious a crime as ‘sexual assault.’ He also asserted that Christians sharing their faith in the military are ‘enemies of the Constitution.’”

I wonder what Weinstein would say about comments made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his tenure as president and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Weinstein would have had real problems with FDR’s views of Christianity that are very similar to what he criticizes today. Was FDR committing “spiritual rape”?

In an address given on October 6, 1935, FDR said:

“We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic. Its teaching, as has been wisely suggested, is ploughed into the very heart of the race. Where we have been truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity; where it has been to us as the words of a book that is sealed, we have faltered in our way, lost our range finders and found our progress checked.”

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Military surrenders in war on Christian evangelism'Department makes reasonable accommodations for all religions' Bob Unruh

The Pentagon announced today that military members who want to talk about their faith with other members have every right to do so, backtracking on a previous warning against “proselytizing,” which it said could be subject to court-martial. The statement from Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen said the Department of Defense “never and will never single out a particular religious group for persecution or prosecution.”

The Pentagon walked back its statement earlier this week after the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records relating to Pentagon statements on the issue.

“Members of our military should not be denied the very freedoms they fight to defend. Freedom of religion and speech are paramount among those freedoms,” said ADF Legal Counsel Joseph La Rue. “We appreciate the Pentagon’s clarification, but little or no evidence exists of coercive proselytization in the military, so we are still troubled over what motivated the original comments. We are many and we are strong with God.

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Voters Don't Like Political Class Bossing Them Around   A Commentary By Scott Rasmussen  

There are many ways to describe the enormous gap between the American people and their elected politicians.  Most in official Washington tend to think that their elite community is smarter and better than the rest of us. Many hold a condescending view of voters and suggest that the general public is too ignorant to be treated seriously. Only 5 percent of the nation's voters, however, believe that Congress and its staff members represent the nation's best and brightest.  Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco and now California's Democratic lieutenant governor, recognized the disconnect and wrote a book on it, "Citizenville." Unlike most politicians, Newsom doesn't just blame the voters. "It wasn't just that people weren't engaging with their government," he writes. "Elected officials weren't bothering to engage with the people, either -- that is, of course, until election time."

However, Newsom adds, "We have to disenthrall ourselves, as Abraham Lincoln used to say, of the notion that politicians and government institutions will solve our problems."  The data suggests that the American people have already gotten over that notion. In terms of being a good citizen, 67 percent of voters believe it is more important to do volunteer work for church and community organizations than it is to get involved in politics and political campaigns. Only 16 percent disagree and put political involvement first.   That is perhaps the biggest gap between the American people and the Political Class. Those in politics take the self-serving view that they are uniquely qualified to solve the nation's problems. Those in the general public have a much firmer grasp on reality.

Most recognize that we're better off when individuals make the decisions that affect their own lives. A one-size-fits-all solution will never work in a nation as diverse and vibrant as the United States. This can be seen on an issue like Social Security. Voters strongly reject congressional tampering with the promise made by the government to American workers. But two-out-of-three believe individuals should have the right to select their own Social Security retirement age. Those who want to retire earlier could pay more in taxes. Those who want to retire later would pay less.

On health care issues, three out of four voters believe everyone should have a choice between more expensive insurance policies that cover just about everything and less expensive plans that cover only major medical expenses. They don't want government, insurance companies or their employer making medical care decisions on their behalf. Americans want the power to make their own choices.  We see the same desire for choice in education. Seventy-four percent of voters think parents should have a choice of whether to send their children to schools that allow prayer and those that don't. Sixty-eight percent believe parents should have the choice between a traditional school calendar and one that has classes 12 months a year.

It's important to note that a solid majority favors giving parents a choice about year-round schools, even though most oppose the concept. It's about choice, not policy. Americans recognize that they have more power acting as consumers than they do when acting as voters. That's why they want choice. Politicians prefer a top-down approach where they write the rules. That's the source of the disconnect.

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Obama Spends 350K to Study Transgenders in India

The federal government is spending $355,825 in taxpayer dollars to develop a “culturally relevant stigma-reducing intervention” program for the transgender population in India. The National Institutes of Health issued a two-phase grant to the Ohio-based Baldwin-Wallace College to conduct the study. The first phase cost $173,221. The second phase cost $182,604. The reason given for the study is “HIV prevalence is disproportionately high among Male-to-female transgenders (Hijra) in India.” “Stigma among health care providers limits HIV testing, treatment and care and creates a barrier to HIV protective behavior,” the project summary says. “Stigmatization of transgender by healthcare providers has been documented, and is identified as a significant barrier to effective HIV prevention responses among this marginalized, at-risk population in India. However, evidence based interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination among health care providers are seriously lacking.” The title of the study is “Project Shakti: Stigma Reduction, Health Care Provider Awareness and Knowledge.”  Debt?  What Debt?

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Newsmax Exclusive: US Hired al-Qaida-Linked Group to Defend Benghazi Mission By John Rosenthal

The Libyan militia group that the State Department hired to defend its embattled diplomatic mission in Benghazi had clear al-Qaida sympathies, and had prominently displayed the al-Qaida flag on a Facebook page for some months before the deadly attack. That organization, the February 17th Martyrs Brigade, was paid by the U.S. government to provide security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. But there is no indication the Martyrs Brigade fulfilled its commitment to defend the mission on Sept. 11, when it came under attack. The assault claimed the lives of four Americans: Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, information officer Sean Smith, and former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. Stevens was the first U.S. ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979.

Several entries on the militia’s Facebook page openly profess sympathy for Ansar al-Sharia, the hardline Islamist extremist group widely blamed  for the deadly attack on the mission. The State Department did not respond to a Newsmax request for an explanation as to why the February 17th Martyrs Brigade was hired to protect the mission. On April 23, House Republicans released an interim progress report on their investigation into the Benghazi killings. It cited “numerous reports” that “the Brigade had extremist connections, and it had been implicated in the kidnapping of American citizens as well as in the threats against U.S. military assets.” The report also stated that just a few days before Stevens arrived in Benghazi, the Martyrs Brigade informed State Department officials they no longer would provide security as members of the mission, including Stevens, traveled through the city.  Yet despite those threats, repeated requests for additional security from the mission went unheeded by the State Department, for reasons that remain unclear. Perhaps the biggest question is why the State Department would hire a group that openly displayed its admiration for al-Qaida, and ask it to participate in the defense of its diplomatic mission.

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