Friday, April 25, 2008

Week Ending April 25, 2008 - Washington, DC

Spectacular fall of the U. S. dollar / Some Christian families now added to terrorist list themselves because they paid ransoms to terrorist kidnappers! / Obama: His Marxist friends couldn't be hidden forever / A trial lawyer's dream and a business owner's nightmare / How Nancy Pelosi killed student loan program / More on human - animal hybrids / Senate clock stops Mother's Day gifts - maybe a watch?


NEW APRIL CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The April, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click here to view.

THE PRESIDENT
BUSH AND THE U. S. DOLLAR- Because of the total inaction of our government to stem the collapse of the dollar on world markets, other members of the G-7 plan on intervening next week by moving to save our currency. The last currency the G-7 took action to save was the Mexican peso. How bad is the situation? If the dollar had remained at the same value relative to the Euro that it was at the beginning of the Bush Administration, the cost of oil would now be $57 a barrel and gasoline would cost about $1.50 a gallon.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION PUNISHES THOSE WHO PAY RANSOM Last week I reported on some Christian families that have been refused admission to the United States because they "aided terrorists" by paying ransom to get their kidnapped loved ones back. These families have actually been added to terrorist lists by our government. There has been no official White House response to my objections as yet. Click here for story by Ken Timmerman.

CLINTON WINS - Why can't Barack Obama "close the deal? With the help of the media, Obama raced ahead of Clinton and at one point won ten states in a row. Suddenly he has stalled and Hillary Clinton has won three big states in a row. For months the media hid Barack Obama's slimy anti-American friends, including terrorists. As the word gets out about his true beliefs and Marxist connections, his credibility and electability are coming into question.

THE HOUSE
NO STUDENT LOAN? THANK NANCY PELOSI - One of the first acts of the Pelosi controlled Congress after their takeover of the House was to restrict the amount of interest banks and other institutions were allowed to charge on student loans. The idea was to "help" students. At the rates that were set, banks lost money on every loan which they were willing to do. This continued for a while - until the banking collapse this year. Now most banks have withdrawn from student loan programs. Pelosi's big fix for this mess she caused is to have taxpayers cover the loss of the banks, so they will begin loaning money to students again. More information in the Wall Street.

THE SENATE
SENATE STOPS FOR OBAMA AND CLINTON - On Wednesday of this week Democrat Senator Harry Reid, who controls the Senate schedule, refused to open the Senate until 6:00 PM to allow Senators Clinton and Obama to get back to Washington to vote on a bill that trial lawyers want to pass. The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would eliminate any statutory waiting periods to file law suits on wage claims due to gender or "other" reasons. Currently a claim must be made within three years of the alleged discrimination. The Ledbetter Bill passed the House last year. This Democrat bill would allow someone to say they were discriminated against back in World War II and want 60 years of back pay. A trial lawyer's dream come true!

HUMAN ANIMAL HYBRIDS - More pressure is needed to stop the creation of human - animal hybrids. I first reported on this story last week. Several US Senators, including presidential candidate John McCain, have introduced the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2007 (S-2358) which would make it unlawful for any person to knowingly (1) create or attempt to create a human-animal hybrid; (2) transfer or attempt to transfer a human embryo into a non-human womb; (3) transfer or attempt to transfer a non-human embryo into a human womb; or (4) transport or receive for any purpose a human-animal hybrid. Contact your Senator and ask him to support S-2358

RELIGION AND SOCIETY
Mother's Day "Time for God" watch A MOTHER'S DAY WATCH? - Our online store has a new line of Christian watches including one with a pink, heart shaped design and the words "Time for God." These everyday, everywhere watches sport a very clean look and are very popular, whether for business or leisure. There are 40 other Christian watches to choose from. What great Mother's Day gifts! Click here or on image for more information.

NEW APRIL CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The April, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click here to view.

INTERNATIONAL
OUT OF THE COUNTRY - I am currently outside the United States and my access to some materials is limited. As a result this week's and next week's Legislative Updates may be limited in scope.

SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COALITION
CHRISTIAN INTERNET STORE - There are literally tens of thousands of Christian theme items available at our affiliate store including jewelry from the Holy Land. It is a great place to shop for gifts. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com. Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land by shopping at our affiliate Christian Superstore . Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Week Ending April 18, 2008 - Washington, DC

The Pope, the President and dictatorial relativism / Pay ransom to get a kidnapped kid and get barred from entering the USA? / President Jimmy Carter and Hamas / Obama: Still "clinging to religion" / Senate looks at human-animal hybrids / Deal making for judges / Senator: "We just can't fix the roads" / McDonald's gay burger / Watch for Mother's Day?

NEW APRIL CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The April, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click here to view

THE PRESIDENT
BUSH AND THE POPE - I sincerely believe that all of President Bush's public comments while with Pope Benedict XVI were heart felt. The President's message was one that all Christians want to hear, that every life is precious and that the "dictatorship of relativism" must be dealt with. During their meetings the Pope pushed President Bush to deal with the continuing persecution of Christians in Iraq. Since the US occupation began, more than half the Christian population has been forced to flee their homes. At the same time the Bush Administration has abandoned Christian refugees, forcing them to seek assistance from the United Nations or flee to Syria. (See next story)

BUSH ADMINISTRATION PUNISHES THOSE WHO PAY RANSOM In a bizarre twist the Christian families who have been forced to pay ransom to terrorists for the release of kidnapped loved ones are now being refused entry into the United States for "aiding terrorism." The Bush Administration logic is that by paying ransom instead of allowing their children to be killed, the family "assisted" the terrorists. Oddly, there are actually people (mostly at Fox News) who think the mastermind of this logic at the State Department, Secretary Condoleeza Rice, should he Senator McCain's pick for VP. Click here for a full report.

PRESIDENT CARTER AND HAMAS - The head HAMAS cleric declares that Rome will fall to Islam soon, as Jihad takes over Europe and then the United States. Former President Jimmy Carter's response to this outrage is to announce that he will meet with HAMAS leaders to discuss peace. The only "peace" HAMAS wants is the quiet graveyards of Christians and Jews. HAMAS CLERIC LINK

CLINTON SAYS OBAMA IS ELITIST - Senator Hillary Clinton has told the world what conservatives already knew: Harvard educated Barac k Obama is an elitist who looks down his nose at working class folks. There is something far more telling about Obama's remarks that poor rural folks "cling to religion." It shows that Senator Obama is an out and out fake who attends church while mocking church goers at elitist parties held at the homes of secularists and atheists in San Francisco.

THE HOUSE
JUST ABOUT NOTHING - Republican Whip Roy Blunt told insiders this week that Congress should be "arrested for loitering in the Capitol". He said virtually nothing is getting done under Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Last week the House dealt with the Community Beaches Protection Act - the tree hugger bill is to help beaches be healthy, not the people who use them. San Francisco radical Pelosi has done nothing about energy while gas prices rise. She promised to take action to lower gas prices when she took over the House. Since then the price of gas has gone up $1.05 a gallon.

THE SENATE
HUMAN ANIMAL HYBRIDS - Unfortunately, combining human and animal DNA in a fertilized egg has already occurred in the United Kingdom, where the vast majority of people (except Muslims) believe religion is "nutter." Several US Senators, including presidential candidate John McCain, have introduced the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2007 (S-2358) which would make it unlawful for any person to knowingly (1) create or attempt to create a human-animal hybrid; (2) transfer or attempt to transfer a human embryo into a non-human womb; (3) transfer or attempt to transfer a non-human embryo into a human womb; or (4) transport or receive for any purpose a human-animal hybrid. Contact your Senator and ask him to support S-2358

DEAL MAKING FOR JUDGES - Republican Leader McConnell (R-KY) has made a deal with Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) to allow confirmation of three Circuit Court judges in return for allowing technical changes in a 2005 transportation appropriations by passing a "Highways Technical Bill." The judges have not yet been named. Meanwhile, literally hundreds of other Bush appointments have been stalled to the point that some federal agencies cannot operate.

SPEAKING OF HIGHWAYS - A Senator who was instrumental to the passage of the 2005 transportation appropriations act that funded highways for five years, says the funds were so inadequate that they do not even keep up with repair. President Bush has threatened to veto greater funding. As a result, this Republican Senator told me, the interstate system may have to eventually be handed over to private companies to operate as toll roads in order to stay operational.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY
Mother's Day "Time for God" watch A MOTHER'S DAY WATCH? - Our online store had a new line of Christian watches that including on a pink, heart shaped "Time for God." These everyday, everywhere watches sport a very clean look and are very popular, whether for business or leisure. There are 40 other Christian watches to choose from. What great Mother's Day gifts! Click here or on image for more information.

MCDONALD'S GAY BURGER- At the Oak Brook, Illinois office of McDonald's restaurants a secretary reported that management has projections that joining the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce will increase sales. Management believes there will be a huge increase in the number of gays visiting its stores during the hours right after school now that the restaurant chain has given its stamp of approval to homosexuality.

NEW APRIL CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The April, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click here to view.

INTERNATIONAL
GERMANY MAY HELP IRAQI CHRISTIANS - Germany pressed the European Union to offer asylum to more Iraqi refugees, and especially Christians. "Capacities in the region are almost exhausted. But many thousands are still fleeing murder, violence and persecution. Among them are many people of the Christian faith," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an editorial in the Bild am Sonntag weekly.

MORE IRAQI REFUGEES IN A SWEDISH TOWN THAN IN ALL USA - The United States has admitted less than 5,000 Iraqi refugees between April 2003 and April 1st of this year. During the same time period, Sweden has accepted 34,000 according to Congressman Alcee Hastings, chairman of the Helsinki Commission. Mayor Anders Lago of Sodertalje, Sweden told the Helsinki Commission that his small city of about 80,000 has accepted 6,000 Iraqis. "More refugees than the United States and Canada together," he pointed out.

AFGHAN STUDENT DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL - An Afghan student journalist who was sentenced to death in January for spreading a document calling for women's rights under Islam, has been granted an appeal according to Bloomberg Reports. Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, 23, was moved from a prison in Balkh to the capital, Kabul, according to the London-based Institute which is an international advocate for press freedom. I personally spoke with my White House contacts about the situation and was promised "quiet action." Unfortunately "quiet action" does not correct the root cause of death sentences for exercising free speech.

SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COALITION
CHRISTIAN INTERNET STORE - There are literally tens of thousands of Christian theme items available at our affiliate store including jewelry from the Holy Land. It is a great place to shop for gifts. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com. Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land by shopping at our affiliate Christian Superstore . Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Week Ending April 11, 2008 - Washington, DC

Obama says rural people are "bitter" and "cling to religion" / Bush and the Pope / Pope wants Iraqi Christians helped / New House caucus on Iraqi Christian issue / Why does Nancy Pelosi help narco-terrorists? / Abortion clinic regulation? / Did Huckabee actually win? / Our Hill office closes / A gay time at McDonald's?

NEW END OF MARCH CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The March 29, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click to view!

THE PRESIDENT
OBAMA SAYS POOR CLING TO RELIGION Of those who live in rural areas and small towns Barack Obama said: "... it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Keep in mind that this man grew up in an Indonesian village in a Muslim school, and now with his Harvard education looks down his nose at those who work for a living, something he has never had to do. This comes after his comments last week that he did not want his daughters "punished with a baby." A CNN clip on Youtube.com has his comments as well as a response from Clinton and McCain.

BUSH AND THE POPE - President George W. Bush will meet with Pope Benedict XVI this week. The Pope will once again ask the President to help the hundreds of thousands of persecuted Christians who have been displaced in Iraq. Before the US invasion, Iraq was a secular nation in which Christians were relatively safe and held important government positions. Most have now lost their jobs and homes. The situation is so bad that even economic and defense conservatives in the Republican Party have joined social conservatives in asking the President to do something. Read Cliff Kincaid's latest article at Accuracy in Media.

THE HOUSE
NEW HOUSE CAUCUS - Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) will chair the newly formed Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East. An inaugural reception will be held from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-338 on April 15th. The Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East is a bipartisan Congressional Member Organization dedicated to serving as a central location for information on religious minorities in the Middle East. This reception will focus on the persecution of Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, and will include a screening of a recent 60 Minutes segment that highlights the persecution of Christians in Iraq.

THE HOUSE SUPPORTS TERROR - Nancy Pelosi changed the House rules this week to block a free trade agreement with Columbia which has been fighting communist narco-terrorists for decades. While Pelosi supports free trade agreements with communist nations, she apparently does not want to do anything to assist a nation fighting communism or the drug trade. Most of the narcotics coming into her California congressional district come from Columbia, but perhaps that kind of free trade is OK with her. Bloomberg.com summarized Pelosi's move as pro-Chavez.

WHAT DOES NANCY DO? - This week Nancy Pelosi managed to derail a free trade agreement with our best ally in Latin America and to call votes on the naming of some post offices. So far under the "leadership" of this San Francisco radical leftist, 40% of the bills passed by the House have named federal buildings.

THE SENATE
ABORTION CLINIC REGULATION - Published reports of abuses in abortion clinics illustrate the need for health and safety regulation: From the LA Times 2/8/2008: "By the time paramedics arrived, the patient was lying in a pool of her own blood, her pulse racing and her blood pressure dangerously low. The woman, identified only as Angela P. in records of the Medical Board of California, had gone to the Clinica Medica Para la Mujer de Hoy in Santa Ana in the summer of 2004 for an abortion. Dr. Phillip Rand, then in his early 80s, performed a vaginal suction procedure, despite having determined that Angela was about 20 weeks pregnant, well into her second trimester. She was given no anesthesia or painkillers. Angela P.'s experience was cited in a 2004 medical board accusation against Rand as "barbaric" and a "severe departure" from a reasonable standard of care."

Unlike plastic surgery clinics, such as those that do liposuction, abortion clinics are virtually unregulated. Senator Brownback (R-KS) is currently working on legislation that would regulate the barbarous industry.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY
DID HUCKABEE ACTUALLY WIN? - Writing for the American Prospect, Sarah Posner made the bold comment that Gov. Mike Huckabee had won the "civil war" in the Religious Right. Grassroots evangelical organizations are fleeing the "old guard" leadership who backed Giuliani and Romney in the presidential primaries. In the chaos of the evangelical movement, Mike Huckabee is forming a new political entity that will probably emerge in the next week or so to replace older groups that have so discredited themselves through marriage to the Republican Party, which also seems to have lost its core values.

MCDONALD'S JOINS GAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - Richard Ellis, a vice president of McDonald's, announced last week that the restaurant chain is "thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team." This move has angered the American Family Association and many other conservatives because of the belief that the NGLCC will be a powerful advocate for the homosexual social agenda, including gay "marriage." Randy Sharp of the AFA maintains that McDonald's should remain neutral and does not have to join a homosexual group in order to be fair to gay customers and employees. For more on the story, see the report at CNS News.

OUR OFFICE CLOSES - After more than twelve years, the Religious Freedom Coalition has moved out of its office at 717 2nd Street NE. We subleased space from Paul Weyrich's Free Congress Foundation for more than a decade, but unfortunately they have sold the building to a developer and it is coming down. The Free Congress Foundation is moving to Virginia, and we have found a temporary space at 601 Pennsylvania Avenue which is six blocks west of the Capitol, toward the White House.

NEW MARCH CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS AVAILABLE - The March 29, 2008 Chairman's Report from William J. Murray is now available online in PDF version. The Chairman's Report contains some material not seen in these updates. Click to view!

INTERNATIONAL
ANOTHER IRAQI PRIEST MURDERED- Another Iraqi priest was murdered in a drive-by attack in central Baghdad on Saturday of last week, in yet another attack on Iraqi Christians. The priest, Adel Yousif was a part of the Syrian Orthodox Church which has a large presence in Iraqi. This comes just a few weeks after the murder of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho.

IRAQI CHRISTIANS NEED HELP - The work of the Religious Freedom Coalition on behalf of Iraq has a need for additional funding. Please consider a gift to the Religious Freedom Coalition this month.

SUPPORT THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM COALITION
CHRISTIAN INTERNET STORE - There are literally tens of thousands of Christian theme items available at our affiliate store including jewelry from the Holy Land. It is a great place to shop for gifts. The store is located at www.rfcstore.com. Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land by shopping at our affiliate Christian Superstore . Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.