Babka Blog

George W. Bush and the party of Borrow and Spend

Here are some facts and figures to make your stomach turn... When George W. Bush became President, $5.6 trillion in surpluses were projected for the next 10 years. [Now, those are accounting surpluses, not actual surpluses, as Social Security was counted as income.] But that figure has been transformed to $2.3 trillion in deficits [by the same standard] now estimated for the coming decade.

The last Clinton increase in the debt ceiling was 1997. There have been increases in the debt ceiling in 2002 and 2003. This week, there will be another one. And there will very likely be one in 2005. As the Washington Post reported, "Completion of the debt limit measure would raise the government's borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion. That is $2.23 trillion higher than when Bush became president, and more than eight times the debt President Reagan faced when he took office in 1981."

For an interesting perspective on other problems with raising the debt ceiling, check out a statement by Congressman Ron Paul: http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul213.html

www.DownsizeDC.org tackled this problem by running radio ads on more than 50 stations today, combined with direct constituent contact using their Electronic Lobbyist System.

Who are the members of the Evangelical Magisterium?

Evangelicals (Protestants) love to jab Catholics and indicate that they stand Scripture (Sola Scriptura), not the pronouncements of the Pope and the House of Cardinals (the Magisterium). Leaving aside the theological debate that follows, is the charge really fair? Don’t today’s evangelicals take their cues from the celebrity Christians on radio, TV, and in the bookstore?

Yes, they do. A good Christian friend recently told me, after listening to my CD "Why Conservative Christians Are Re-evaluating George W. Bush...", that people he respects had vouched for Bush's character and he trusted these people. Now he doesn't circulate in high-fallutin' circles, so more than likely he was referring to Evangelical celebrities.

Here’s a partial list of the Evangelical Magisterium, starting with the man who is virtually the pope of the American evangelical movement.

1. Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family
2. Dr. Jerry Falwell, Liberty University, pastor Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, VA
3. Mr. Pat Robertson, 700 Club, Regent University
4. Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship Ministries
5. Dr. Richard Land, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention
6. Roberta Combs, Christian Coalition of America
7. Mr. Louis Shelton, Traditional Values Coalition
8. Mr. Tony Perkins, president, Family Research Council
9. Mr. Jack Graham, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention
10. Mr. Don Wildmon, American Family Association
11. Ralph Reed, formerly Christian Coalition, Southeast regional chairman for Bush-Cheney '04
12. Gary Bauer, former president, Family Research Council, former GOP presidential candidate
13. Rush Limbaugh, radio talk show host
14. Sean Hannity, radio talk show host
15. Glenn Beck, radio talk show host
16. Michael Medved, radio talk show host

Yes, I realize that three of the last four are secular radio hosts and Medved is Jewish, but all three are loved and adored by the Christian Right; all worked hard for George W. Bush’s re-election, even though they all knew Bush isn’t really a conservative and is likely to betray the Christians on judicial appointments. Hannity even chose a sacrilegious title for his book and was invited by James Dobson to his radio show to plug it.

In a new radio show sponsored by Genesis Communications that will be heard in five states and on the Internet, I will begin explaining why the aforementioned folks have had too much faith placed in them. The show starts in December, so for now, I recall the words of Isaiah, "O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." Isaiah 3:12 "For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." Isaiah 9:16

Bush Abortion Funding Part 2

From the second Presidential Debate, October 8 - Bush/Kerry

Audience Question: "... suppose you are speaking with a voter who believed abortion is murder and the voter asked for reassurance that his or her tax dollars would not go to support abortion, what would you say to that person?

George W. Bush answered: "... My answer is, we're not going to spend taxpayers' money on abortion."

But as I’ve already pointed out on this blog (10/12/04), the Bush administration is spending more than the Clinton administration on abortion – including selected surgical abortions, chemical abortions, and the nation's largest chain of abortion centers, Planned Parenthood.

Thanks to Steve Lefemine for the following data…

1) President Bush is funding surgical abortions via Medicaid (Title XIX) in the HHS Appropriations bills: [see all bills that follow at http://thomas.loc.gov]
* Check out HR 3061 for FY 2002, signed by President Bush (PL 107-116) on 1/10/02
* Check out HR 2673 for FY 2004, signed by President Bush (PL 108-109) on 1/23/02

2) President Bush is funding chemical abortions via Medicaid (Title XIX) and the Title X birth/population control and Planned Parenthood funding program:
* Check out HR 3061 for FY 2002, signed by President Bush (PL 107-116) on 1/10/2002
* Check out HR 2673 for FY 2004, signed by President Bush (PL 108-109) on 1/23/2004

3) President Bush is funding the nation's largest perpetrators of child-murder-by-abortion, Planned Parenthood (report murdering over 200,000 unborn children annually by surgical abortion alone), through both Medicaid (Title XIX) and Title X, with OVER $50 MILLION per year through each program:
* Included in HR 3061 for FY 2002, signed by President Bush (PL 107-116) on 1/10/2002
* Included in HR 2673 for FY 2004, signed by President Bush (PL 108-109) on 1/23/2004

4) President Bush has increased the Title X funding levels over $26,000,000 more than the last Clinton budget:
* The Title X funding level for FY 2001, the last Clinton-influenced budget, was a total of $254 million, of which over $58 million went to planned parenthood
* In FY 2002, George W. Bush's first full budget year, the Title X birth/population control and Planned Parenthood funding authorization increased over 11,000,000, to $265 million (HR 3061 for FY 2002, signed by President Bush on 1/10/2002)
* In FY 2004, George W. Bush's most recently completed full budget year, the Title X birth/population control and Planned Parenthood funding authorization increased even more to $280 million, over $26,000,000 ($26 million) more than Bill Clinton's last budget year! (HR 2673 for FY 2004, signed by President Bush on 1/23/2004)

Why Democrats Can’t Win the White House – they hate people of religious faith

Or, if they don't, then they can’t get their anti-faith faction to stifle it. This is, after all, still a religious country. Ever wonder why people of faith don’t feel welcome in the Democratic Party?

Try out these hyperbolic quotes from the mainstream, liberal media for size…

* Sidney Blumenthal, writing in Salon, says that the new Senate majority is "more theocratic than Republican."

* Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist, says the president "ran a jihad in America so he can fight one in Iraq."

* Thomas Friedman, also of the NY Times intolerantly accuses Bush's base of wanting "to extend the boundaries of religion" and of promoting "intolerance."

* Garry Wills writes in the New York Times, "Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation?" He ends by saying that "moral zealots" will scare moderate Republicans with their "jihads."

* Harper's magazine publisher, John R. MacArthur, aimed at both Bush and Kerry for advertising "their subservience to Jesus Christ and the Christian god, without the least concern about whether it might offend me."

* Margaret Carlson wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Catholic bishops "demonized" Kerry's supporters by warning them that "they could go to hell just for voting for him."
(source: Newsmax.com)

Browns Hometown Coverage Misses the Call

The media in Northeast Ohio is missing the point. I think it’s too soon to call for Cleveland Browns’ coach Butch Davis to be fired. I loved the effort in Philadelphia. But the Sunday Night Baltimore Ravens game was lost due to coaching.

Various articles about the Baltimore game blame bad luck (i.e., injuries to Kellen Winslow, even “the Drive” – an event that happened more than 15 years ago). But every team has their problems – boo-hoo. Once the articles got to the real game analysis, the writers laid the fault in Baltimore on a shanked kick and a missed pass interference call.

Despite these events, they still should’ve won the game.

Why didn’t they report the number of false start penalties? …delay of game penalties? Way too many of these drive-killers.

Why not recount how, for the seventh time this season, our backs were joined in the backfield by the opposing team at the moment of hand-off, or as soon as Garcia completed his drop? Was it punter Derrick Frost or the zebra’s who allowed this?

Why not mention that the Browns coaching staff confines Garcia to the pocket until the fourth quarter and then, once he scrambles good things happen? You would think by week 8, they would recognize this. The offense has been bad in the first half in 7 of 8 games.

In the old days, lots of flags caused commentators to say, “That’s coaching.” Given that every one of these guys was chosen by the same guy who picks the depth chart and sets the game strategy, shouldn’t he be given responsibility?

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

...and both are out to give you their version of morality.

With exit polls showing that moral issues were number one in the minds of the voters, it's interesting to note that, "A March 2004 Cato Institute report found, "Real discretionary spending increases in fiscal years 2002, 2003, and 2004 are three of the five biggest annual increases in the last 40 years."

Why is his big spending interesting when the issue is morality? J.D. Tuccille explains, "Democrats complain that the Bush administration uses government agencies to promote religious values and advance a conservative social agenda. That's true – but it's not surprising. It should have been obvious to observers of our long-running political theater that the goals and values that liberals advocate were not the only ones that could be promoted by pushy bureaucrats with fat checkbooks. Activist government might be used to 'help' people and promote values, but different people have different definitions of 'help' and different values to promote. If 'diversity' and 'social justice' prevail under one administration, 'family values' and 'morality' rule under the next. Activist government isn't an ideologically pure ideal; it's just another tool to be wielded by the winners of each election."

This is a civil war brewing and big government is the cause of it. Win the peace and strike a blow for virtue by Downsizing DC. It's our only hope.

Two more members of the Evangelical Magisterium on the payroll

...your payroll, that is -- because your tax dollars are being shuffled to some of President Bush's most prominent supporters. It's those "Faith-Based Initiatives" -- unconstitutional pork to ruin Christian ministries (I'll explain in a moment).

Esther Kaplan, reporting for The Nation, reports that "Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing -- despite having recently been investigated by the State of Virginia for misusing relief funds to haul equipment for Robertson's for-profit diamond mining firm -- was one of the first organizations to receive a faith-based grant. Robertson scored $500,000 for three years, for a total of $1.5 million..."

"Chuck Colson... was another significant beneficiary, through his evangelical organization Prison Fellowship Ministries, which was chosen by the faith-based office as one of the only four national partners for a $22.5 million workplace re-entry program for ex-offenders..."

No wonder they worked so hard for the Bush "Get Out the Evangelical Vote" effort. There's good money in selling your soul.

Am I being too hard? And what did I mean when I wrote, "unconstitutional pork to ruin Christian ministries." Well, I'll break it down for you.

Unconstitutional -- as in, the 10th Amendment says that if the Constitution doesn't say a given issue or problem is a federal government question, then it's not. In defense of Robertson and Colson, about 90% of what our government does violates the 10th, so I guess two trillion wrongs make a right.

Pork -- politicians using tax dollars to buy support, or in this case, the dark souls of those who have no regard for pesky things like the 10th Amendment and no respect for how hard you worked earning those dollars they'll spend making themselves look good. Remember, on that day, many will say, "Lord we did great things in your name," and He will say, well, you know the story.

The worst thing about welfare -- and make no mistake about it, this is welfare -- is that it destroys character. It creates dependency. In this instance, instead of being accountable to donors who support the mission, the charity becomes accountable to bureaucracy -- even begins to resemble one.

It also leads to government control -- the same government that thinks the Constitution includes the line "Separation of Church and State." My favorite recent example comes from California Catholic Charities, told by a judge that they must provide contraceptive benefits to their employees, even though the Catholic Church opposes contraception.

And why can a judge dictate a nit-picking detail like this? Because the piper calls the tune. And someday, Robertson and Colson will have the misfortune of having a Democrat in the White House who will enjoy messing with their charities. They're just lucky it'll take at least four more years.