Week Ending February 15, 2008 - Washington, DC

Nancy Pelosi takes away ability of President Bush to spy on terrorists / Global Aids stalls in House / 29 GOP congressmen call it quits / Two incumbent congressmen lose seats in Maryland primary / Indian Health Act and abortion / Senate to recess / Sacrifice for Freedom memorials / What is Coltan? / Death for Internet article still possible

THE PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT LOSES ABILITY TO FIGHT TERROR- In a stunning move, San Francisco radical Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has blocked passage of the bill that gives authority to the President to fight terror. At midnight Saturday all intelligence gathering by the Administration against terrorists all over the world will be curtailed because Pelosi refused to bring the Protect America Act to a vote. Oddly Pelosi had time to issue contempt citations against two former Bush staffers, to try to arrest them because they will not testify before one of her committees.

THE HOUSE

AIDS BILL STALLS? - The President's Emergency Program For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) was scheduled for a vote in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, but the hearings have been put off due to the death of its chairman, Congressman Lantos (D-CA). Democrats are insisting that funds to fight AIDS in Africa be used for abortions and President Bush has indicated he will veto the bill if that is the case. Click here to read the Administration's position on PEPFAR funding.

29 GOP CONGRESSMEN OUT - There are now 29 Republican congressmen who have either outright resigned or announced that they will not run for reelection this year. (This includes Bobby Jindal who resigned to become governor of Louisiana.) With that many incumbent Republicans leaving, we need as many good conservatives as we can find to fill the slots. A good friend of mine, Woody Jenkins, a true social conservative who fights for the Christian values this nation was founded on has announced that he will run for the seat vacated in Louisiana by Congressman Jindal. He is one of many seeking seats of departing GOP congressmen.

TWO CONGRESSMEN LOSE IN MARYLAND - In the middle of the presidential primary, people forget that there are other candidates on the ballot. In Maryland there were both Democrat and Republican primaries for Congress as well. And two incumbents lost their seats. Both were defeated because they had run afoul of the party's activist base.

Reps. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and Albert Wynn (D-MD) are from different parties. Neither had been involved in a scandal, and there had not been recent redistricting. Both lost because they were not ideologically in sync with their party's base.

Congressman Gilchrest, the Republican, voted with Democrats more often than with his own party, and his constituents had enough. Groups such as the Club for Growth spent nearly $1 million to dump him. He did not vote with social conservatives and I am glad to see him go. Wynn, the Democrat, had the opposite problem, having sided with business more often than with his left-wing constituency.

THE SENATE

INDIAN HEALTH ACT - As I have previously noted, social conservative Senators led by Senator Vitter (R-LA) have offered an amendment to prohibit the use of funds in the Indian Health Act for abortion. In response the Democrats have offered the following language: "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to effect or otherwise modify provisions of current Federal law with respect to the funding of abortion" as a side-by-side to Vitter's pro-life amendment. If passed, that language would essentially gut Senator Vitter's amendment. Please contact your Senator and ask him to support Senator Vitter's Amendment and reject the Democrats' pro-abortion amendment.

SENATE TO RECESS - The Senate went into recess Thursday night without a vote on the Indian Health Act and will remain in recess all of next week in honor of President's Day. The Senate will reconvene at 5:30 PM on Monday, February 25th.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM - A new group, Sacrifice for Freedom, is working to honor those who have fallen in the current conflict while giving their families a daily visible reminder of the nation's gratitude toward them. Sacrifice for Freedom is delivering to families a beautiful three dimensional memorial for their homes. The cost of the memorials are $250 each and so far they have been delivered to over 400 families who have lost loved ones to the cause of freedom in the current conflict. You can designate a family to receive a memorial if you contribute sufficient funds to deliver it to them. For information click here or on the image of the memorial.

ALL NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The January 4, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. This new issue contains details of "under God" in the Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and first hand accounts of the huge Right to Life march in Washington. Read about adding a pro-life amendment to Indian Health Services. There is also Information on the church bombings in Iraq. Click here to read in PDF format

INTERNATIONAL

WHAT IS COLTAN? - Coltan' is the African colloquialism for columbite-tantalite, a metallic ore that is used in the manufacture of your cell phones and other devices to keep them cool. About 80% of this material comes from Africa, primarily the Democratic Republic of the Congo where a bitter war has been waged for a decade killing as many as five million people. The war has gone on unnoticed by the world and financed for the most part by "conflict coltan." Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has expressed an interest in legislation to stop the sale of coltan as a means of stopping the continued slaughter in that nation.

DEATH FOR INTERNET ARTICLE PART III - It has now been nearly a month since an Afghan student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, was sentenced to death for copying a paper from the Internet that the courts there deemed "blasphemous" to Islam. I and others continue to push the Department of State and the White House for information on his fate but as of now we have no answers.

VISIT OUR INTERNET STORE

OUR INTERNET STORE - We have lots of great Christian themed products at our Internet store. Not only are there books and CD's, but everything from candy to jewelry. Unlike Amazon and other major Internet stores, we do not sell porn and satanic materials right beside Christian books. Please take a look. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com.
Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.

Week Ending February 8, 2008

More than 180 Presidential nominees blocked / The President at the prayer breakfast / Veto the House AIDS bill? / Stimulus package passes, but what will it stimulate? / Romney who? / Saudi "freedom" / Death sentence for Afghan student unchanged / A Russian dictator?

NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new January 25, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. Click here to read in PDF format

THE PRESIDENT

THE PRESIDENT'S NOMINEES- Most people are familiar with the fact that Democrat leader Senator Harry Reid is blocking several judicial appointments made by President Bush. Most do not know that he is also blocking appointments to many federal departments as well, including the FAA. There are now 180 important posts that are unfilled because the Democrats who control the Senate want to play partisan political games. To see how serious this has become read the President's remarks of this week.

THE PRAYER BREAKFAST - The President's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast this week centered on prayer. He concluded saying, "I believe in the power of prayer, because I have felt it in my own life. Prayer has strengthened me in times of personal challenge..." Click here for full statement.

THE HOUSE

VETO AIDS BILL? - The Presidents' Emergency Program For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) has increasingly morphed into a bill that provides funding for groups that view prostitution as just another business, despite AIDS related issues. Some of the groups are brutally honest in saying that an aborted baby can't catch AIDS from the mother. Chairman Lantos' Democrat controlled committee has distorted PEPFAR, which up to now supported the highly successful ABC approach to stopping AIDS in Africa. A - Stay abstinent, B- If you can't be abstinent ,be faithful. C - If you can't stay faithful, use a condom. Under PERFAR the A and B would be forgotten and condoms and abortion pills would be passed out.

The State Department has prepared a letter outlining the problem with the reauthorization of PEPFAR , with the changes made by Democrats. Click here to read.

THE SENATE

STIMULUS PASSES - The Senate Democrats wanted to increase the "stimulus" package from $150 billion to over $200 billion but were blocked by Republicans. Some of the Democrat add ons were pure pork. The tax rebate feature of the stimulus package recommended by President Bush was previously passed by the House. Total cost is $151 billion this year and another $16 billion next year. The government will have to borrow this money and we, the taxpayers, will have to pay it back with interest. When you get your $600 check, keep in mind that the interest you will pay on it in taxes over the next 20 years will be about $1,500 at current rates.

Will the money be used by consumers to buy cheap Chinese junk as the Congress hopes? I'll use my check to pay my credit card. If most others do that as well, the stimulus will fail and the economy will stay in recession. Check www.roadsnotrebates for some answers.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

ROMNEY WHO? - Two days after "Super Tuesday" Mitt Romney announced that he has suspended his campaign for president. On the front pages it looked like he had a major victory on Tuesday, but that was not the case. He actually only won two primaries. In his home state of Massachusetts he received only 51% of the vote. He also won the Mormon state of Utah. The other victories were small caucus states. All told Romney won fewer actual primaries than Mike Huckabee. I was in Little Rock with Governor Huckabee on Super Tuesday and I have written my reflections on that day which can be read at www.gingpac.org.

ALL NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The January 4, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. This new issue contains details of "under God" in the Pledge petition deliveries to the Senate and first hand accounts of the huge Right to Life march in Washington. Read about adding a pro-life amendment to Indian Health Services. There is also Information on the church bombings in Iraq. Click here to read in PDF format

INTERNATIONAL

SAUDI FREEDOM? - An American businesswoman strolled down the street in the Saudi capital with Neil Bush, the president's brother, talking about all the "freedom" people have in the despotic kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Many Americans who are making lots of money in Saudi Arabia turn a blind eye to the Islamic terror there. But this particular businesswoman found out the hard way. Two weeks after the stroll with Neil Bush, she was arrested at a Starbucks for sitting with an unrelated male, a business partner. She was taken to jail, strip searched, and forced to sign a false confession. (See story) Meanwhile the head of the Anglican church says the West should accept Sharia law. Question of the day: is Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams totally nuts, or just blind to injustice. (See Story in UK paper)

DEATH FOR INTERNET ARTICLE PART II? - For two weeks I have reported on an Afghan student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, who had been sentenced to death for copying a paper from the Internet that the courts there deemed "blasphemous" to Islam. Bush officials told me the matter must be handled "quietly" and the story has vanished from the American press. It is still very much in the news in the UK where the Independent reports that our Secretary of State has publicly promised to talk to the Afghan president about the matter. Why is this not news in the United States? (See story)

RUSSIAN DICTATOR? - Our media and our Congress just can't seem to find any problems with the despotic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But the media is hounding Russian president Vladimir Putin as a dictator. They point out that the election next week, in which Putin is not even running, is rigged. Their proof? No funds have been set aside for a run-off election. No one bothers to make the point that we do not have a presidential run-off election in the United States if no one gets 51% of the vote. The real problem the media has with Russia is that it has become a Christian nation that challenges US efforts to secularize the world.

VISIT OUR INTERNET STORE

OUR INTERNET STORE - We have lots of great Christian themed products at our Internet store. Not only are there books and CD's, but everything from candy to jewelry. Unlike Amazon and other major Internet stores, we do not sell porn and satanic materials right beside Christian books. Please take a look. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com.
Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.

Week Ending February 1, 2008 - Washington, DC

The President's stimulus package / Bush visits Jericho (in Baltimore) / House liberals want to use Global Aids fund for abortion / Senate says Bush $150 billion "stimulus" not enough / Senate to borrow $193 billion more from China? / Roe IQ test / The Huck haters - What have they done? / Israeli town hit with 3,500 rockets in last six months / Death for student in Afghanistan? Yes or no.

NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new January 25, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. Click here to read in PDF format

THE PRESIDENT

THE PRESIDENT'S STIMULUS PACKAGE- President George W. Bush asked Congress for an emergency stimulus package to avert the nation from entering a recession. The House responded to his request with a tax rebate plan to send every American taxpayer a check for an average of $500. This will give a small boost to consumer spending for a short time, but according to a Heritage Foundation study, it will have little real effect. The study concludes that the checks the President sent out in 2001 also had little effect on the economy, although his actual 2002 tax cuts did. Making the President's tax cuts permanent will have a real impact; the cash back program will not help at all. I believe the nation's infrastructure should be fixed instead. See www.roadsnotrebates.com

PRESIDENT AT JERICHO - President Bush celebrated the seventh anniversary of his Faith-Based and Community Initiative by touring the Jericho prisoner reentry program in Baltimore. Jericho is a grantee of the Prisoner Re-entry Initiative that Bush set up in 2004. The program is run by Episcopal Community Services of Maryland and serves non-violent adult male offenders. The program prepares former inmates for employment with training and job placement while providing recovery counseling services.

The war in Iraq has unfortunately taken public attention away from some of the President's greatest accomplishments in his two terms in office. The recognition by his Administration that faith based programs do a better job helping those in need than government programs, is one of those accomplishments. The President should be commended for setting up programs in government that recognize and assist programs such as Jericho.

PRESIDENTIAL VOTER GUIDE - Please vote on Super Tuesday, if your state participates. Wall-Builders has just released a really good guide to the presidential candidates that is short and concise. Unlike some published by major evangelical organizations, it is not biased toward Gov. Mitt Romney. Click here to view the WallBuilders voter guide in PDF format.

THE HOUSE

$10 BILLION FOR AIDS OR ABORTION? - The Presidents' Emergency Program For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) is in danger of becoming a massive payout kitty for pro-abortion groups. There are numerous pro-life issues and at least two other values issues to be addressed. Under Chairman Lantos' legislation, PEPFAR will become a massive $10 billion per year pot that will be prioritized toward abortion providers due to its integration with reproductive health and family planning requirements. Please read this summary of what is wrong with the Democrat version of PERFAR and contact your congressman.

THE SENATE

$150 BILLION NOT ENOUGH - The Senate Democrats have decided that sending taxpayers a rebate check for $600 to $1200 each is just not enough to "stimulate the economy. They propose to send checks to millions of people who do not pay income tax, including 20 million people on Social Security. Rather than the $150 billion proposed by President Bush and passed by the House, the Democrat Senate version will cost $193 billion.

The federal government is in debt and has neither the $150 or the $193 billion. The money will be raised by issuing bonds that will be bought by foreign interests, most likely the Chinese and the Saudis. Because our government operates with a perpetual deficit, this money will NEVER be paid back. We, the taxpayers, will continue to pay the interest on the debt to the Chinese and the Saudis FOREVER. Meanwhile research shows the rebates will have little or no ling term benefit on the economy. I have personally set up an Internet site at www.roadsnotrebtates.com to get this point across. If you agree, please go to that site and vote for roads instead of rebates.

RELIGION AND CULTURE

ROE IQ TEST - Most Americans have no idea what the infamous Roe v Wade Supreme Court actually allows. While most abortions are restricted to very early months in "liberal" European nations such as England and Germany, abortions in American can be conducted up to a point that a woman goes into labor in her ninth month. What do you know about Roe v Wade? Take the Roe IQ test at www.RoeIQtest.com.

ALL NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The January 4, 2008 issue of the Chairman's Report is now available online. This new issue contains details of "under God" petition deliveries to the Senate and first hand accounts of the huge Right to Life march in Washington. Read about adding a pro-life amendment to Indian Health Services. Information on the church bombings in Iraq. Click here to read in PDF format

THE HUCK HATERS - Why may the GOP wind up with McCain as their presidential nominee? If the entire Washington, DC establishment, including the Club for Growth, had not pounded so hard on Huckabee in South Carolina, John McCain would have lost. Huckabee and Romney would have emerged from Florida as the leaders. But the Huck haters in Washington, including well known evangelical leaders spent the last three months ignoring McCain and beating up on Mike Huckabee. Even after he lost in South Carolina, the Washington Times had to run a slanted front page attack against him that included a ten year old photo. Somehow I don't think the Club for Growth and the rest of the GOP Washington insiders are now happy with the results of their work.

Thanks to all the Huck haters who ignored McCain, it looks like they wind up with a 72 year old man who can't raise money as their front runner, against a young and vigorous Democrat who can get honey out of a rock. Sounds like a Dole/Clinton match up.

INTERNATIONAL

3500 ROCKETS - Since the Israelis withdrew from Gaza in 2005, some 3500 rockets have been fired from there into Israel itself. In the last six months alone some 1700 rockets have been fired at the Israeli town of Siderot. The solution of the US Administration and the European Union is of course for Israel to give up even more land for "peace." The peace the Muslim Palestinians want will come only with the total destruction of Israel. View this video of the current situation in Sderot.

DEATH FOR INTERNET ARTICLE? - Last week I reported on an Afghan student, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, who had been sentenced to death for copying a paper from the Internet that the courts there deemed "blasphemous" to Islam. I approached two different officials in the Bush Administration and one in the State Department to find our what could be done to save the young man's life. I was told it was best to "resolve the situation quietly." We cannot establish religious freedom in Afghanistan or Iraq "quietly." We are now in the situation where only high profile cases such as this one are dealt with. How many are stoned to death without our knowledge because we failed in create a true atmosphere of religious freedom in the nations we are occupying?

VISIT OUR INTERNET STORE

OUR INTERNET STORE - We have lots of great Christian themed products at our Internet store. Not only are there books and CD's, but everything from candy to jewelry. Unlike Amazon and other major Internet stores we do not sell porn and satanic materials right beside Christian books. Please take a look. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com.
Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.