Week Ending January 9, 2009 - Washington, DC

DC Metro's "Obama ticket" / Gaza and Obama -- do the Israelis trust him? / Obama declares "economic chaos" / Congress meets briefly, not much done / Another great social conservative leader dies / ALL NEW: A must see video, HAMAS In Their Own Words.

THE PRESIDENCY

OBAMA TICKET TO RIDE - Want to take a ride on the Washington, DC metro? Then get ready to be handed a ticket with Barack Obama's picture on it. The metro did the same thing for Bill Clinton prior to his inauguration, but not for George W. Bush. Read more

OBAMA AND GAZA - President-elect Obama has been silent on the Gaza conflict since it began nearly two weeks ago, but the liberal media has not. ABC, CBS, NBC and particularly CNBC have repeatedly broadcast photos of dead and injured Palestinians and have directly inferred that Israel is the aggressor. The following has never been reported by a major American media outlet (and that includes Fox News) since the conflict began: 3,200 were rockets fired at Israel from Gaza in 2008; 6,5000 rockets were fired at Israel since it gave up Gaza in 2005; and 543 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza during the six month "cease fire" in 2008. 28 Israeli civilians were killed and 1,000 injured by rockets fired at Israel from Gaza. According to European powers and the American press, the rocket attacks should be endured by Israel and any retaliation is unjustified. President-elect Obama has no comment, but Israeli generals do. My contact in the Israeli military told me that the invasion of Gaza was begun in January for fear that the United States would not side with Israel in the United Nations after January 20, 2009.

OBAMA: "IT WILL GET WORSE" - While he will not talk about the Gaza situation, the President-elect gave a major speech in Virginia in which he said the US economy is moving toward "economic chaos." He has proposed a $300 billion tax cut for businesses, a $500 check to every American who didn't make over $200,000 last year and hundreds of billions in government spending to fix the infrastructure. Almost immediately the idea of tax cuts was hit by Democratic leaders in Congress who say that only government spending can "fix" the economy. Read more.

THE CONGRESS

HOUSE AND SENATE MEET BRIEFLY - The House and Senate held brief sessions each day this week. On Thursday the House and Senate met in Joint session to certify the election of Barack Obama as President-elect. The results of the vote of the Electoral College were read aloud by none other than Vice-President Dick Cheney. Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have not announced when serious legislation will be dealt with.

PLEDGE PROTECTION ACT - Congressman Todd Akin is once again preparing to introduce the Pledge Protection Act which would defend "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to our nation's flag. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has sat on the atheist lawsuit to remove "under God" from the Pledge in hopes that the Justice Department under Barack Obama will agree with them that it is unconstitutional. We must be ready to defend "under God" in the Pledge. The Religious Freedom Coalition has a new social networking site to form groups to defend "under God" at www.pledgeundergod.com. Please register to help at that site!

CULTURE AND RELIGION

FATHER NEUHAUS DIES - Father Richard J. Neuhaus began his public career as a liberal Lutheran minister and died a conservative Catholic priest who worked to bring together conservative Catholics and evangelicals on common social issue such as defending the unborn. He is mourned by all true social conservatives, and President George W. Bush issued a statement on his passing. Not a single major American news outlet has mentioned his death. Shame, shame, shame. Read more about Father Neuhaus

NEW CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new January 1, 2009 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains material about the assault on "under God" in the Pledge and new details about Barack Obama. The issue also contains more on the "War on Christmas." Read more. Click here to view PDF

INTERNATIONAL

HAMAS IN THEIR OWN WORDS- What are the stakes in Gaza for Israel and the world if Israel does not defeat HAMAS.

PERSECUTED IRAQI CHRISTIANS - The situation in Iraq has not improved for Christians, and your assistance is still needed. if you need a reminder of the situation, please watch the testimony video of those who have lived through the persecution. Please help today.

CHRISTIAN INTERNET SUPER STORE

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM A CHRISTIAN STORE How about birthday and anniversary gifts with a Christian theme? Our Internet Christian Super Store has tens of thousands of books, CD's DVD's, jewery, food and more. AND ... Our store does not sell atheist and satanist books that you will find on Amazon.com. When you buy from our store you help our work. Please take a look at our store today at www.rfcstore.com

Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.