Questions to ask your Senators and Representative about ObamaCare - Click here

Dear Charles,

My friend Gary Bauer has proposed some questions for you to ask your Senators and Representative about ObamaCare. I'm asking all AFA supporters to get a group together and go to your Senators and Representative offices and ask these questions. Most Senators and Representatives have Townhall meetings in their district during their August break. Get the schedule and attend the meetings. Urge others to do the same. Have different groups at different locations to ask these questions to make sure the Congressman is consistent.

Here are Gary's recommendations. Yesterday, President Obama conceded that there probably won't be a vote on healthcare reform until "the end of September or the middle of October." That means you have August to attend town hall meetings with your representative and senators, stop by their congressional offices, write letters to the editor and educate your friends and family members about the dangers of socialized medicine. To help you in that effort, we’ve produced a short list of key concerns and questions, which are copied below. Please share this report with like-minded folks and those who may be undecided and willing to listen. Thank you for everything you do to defend our shared values in your community!


1. ABORTION
Pro-choice groups, like NARAL and Planned Parenthood, are demanding that abortion be covered in any healthcare reform bill. In a recent interview with Politico, Laurie Rubiner, vice president for public policy and advocacy at Planned Parenthood, defends this demand by saying, "the alternative would be slashing benefits for millions of women who currently have [private] coverage for abortions..." In addition, key administration officials refuse to rule out abortion coverage. When asked on Fox News Sunday whether taxpayer money would go to pay for abortions, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag replied, "I am not prepared to say explicitly that right now. It's obviously a controversial issue, and it's one of the questions that is playing out in this debate."

Pro-life senators on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee forced a roll call vote on the issue when Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) attempted to add an amendment to the healthcare bill that would, in her words, "include women's health clinics that provide comprehensive services...deemed medically necessary or appropriate." She admitted that such "health clinics" would include Planned Parenthood. The pro-life amendment to prohibit funding of abortion lost 11-to-12.

Question for your Congressmen: Will you oppose any healthcare reform bill that uses my tax dollars to pay for abortions?

2. EUTHANASIA
In a recent New York Post column, Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York and health care expert, wrote:

"One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and 'the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration.' This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care."

Question for your Congressmen: Will you oppose any healthcare reform bill that in any way promotes euthanasia?

3. COST
The United States faces a debt crisis. According to many analysts, including Senator Judd Gregg (who is so respected by President Obama that he offered Gregg the post of Secretary of Commerce), the Obama budget will give us $11 trillion of debt at the end of five years and $17 trillion of debt at the end of ten years. (Source: PolitiFact.com)

Question for your Congressmen: Why is Congress and the president pushing through a healthcare bill that would cost another trillion dollars over the next ten years? Shouldn't we concentrate on getting the debt under control first?

4. RATIONING CARE
According to a July 15th report by The Hill, "The House bill would be paid for by roughly $500 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts..." These "cuts" would come as millions of Americans are retiring. Logic suggests that if we are "cutting" hundreds of billions of dollars healthcare would have to be limited or rationed in someway to accommodate more people. And seniors would be most affected by Medicare cuts.

In addition, advisors to President Obama, such as Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, have suggested that healthcare should be rationed to certain individuals. Dr. Emanuel once wrote that "services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens...should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."
(Source: http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/Where_Civic_Republicanism_and_Deliberative_Democracy_Meet.pdf)

Question for your Congressmen: How can government promise to do more with less? Will you oppose any healthcare reform bill that in any way limits my access to healthcare or medicines recommended by my doctor?

5. MORE BURDENS ON SMALL BUSINESSES
Despite a 9.5% (and rising) unemployment rate, the healthcare bill in the House imposes a new 8% payroll tax on small businesses with payrolls of $400,000 or more that don't provide health insurance for their employees. This is in addition to the current 15% payroll tax. What this means is that any employer with a payroll of $400,000 dollars or higher will have to pay at least 25% above the salary just to hire someone. Common sense tells you that any struggling small business will likely lay off workers to avoid this additional tax. On the other hand, if the tax is cheaper than the cost of health insurance, larger businesses may opt to cancel their health insurance, forcing employees into the government’s "public option," and simply pay the 8% fine. (Source: Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2009)

Question for your Congressmen: Why are you imposing additional mandates and taxes on small businesses, which create the overwhelming majority of new jobs, in the middle of a severe recession?

6. QUALITY CARE
American healthcare is better than that in European countries with socialized medicine. The German breast cancer mortality rate is 52% higher than in the United States. Prostate cancer mortality is 604% higher in the United Kingdom and 457% higher in Norway than in the United States. Canadian healthcare lags behind the United States too. Canadian patients wait twice as long to see a specialist for hip surgery or cancer than we do in the United States. Most Americans say they are satisfied with the U.S. health care system, but more than 70% of Germans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Britons say that their systems need "fundamental change" or "complete rebuilding." (Source: National Center for Policy Analysis.)

In an editorial on July 26th, the Washington Post criticized President Obama for not "leveling about the consequences of change" when it comes to healthcare costs versus quality. Here's what the Post wrote: "The Congressional Budget Office estimates that new technology accounts for about half the increase in health-care costs over the past several decades. This, for the most part, is a good thing. Adjusted for inflation, health-care spending per person is six times what it was 40 years ago. But no one today would settle for 1960s-style medicine."

Question for your Congressmen: Why are you trying to force us in the direction of more government involvement in healthcare when everywhere government-run healthcare has been tried, quality declines and care is rationed?

7. THE PEOPLE ARE BEING IGNORED
According to a recent poll, just 23% of voters believe healthcare reform legislation will lower costs, while 53% believe it will lead to more expensive care. By a margin of 50% to 23%, voters believe that "reform" legislation will make the quality of care decline. And while voters believe they will get worse care at higher costs, 78% also believe that healthcare reform will result in middle class tax hikes. In addition, a recent Fox News poll found that 91% of those surveyed have health insurance, 84% said that the quality of their health insurance was either excellent or good and 83% said the quality of health care they receive from their private insurance is either good or excellent. And only 12% of those surveyed said reforming health care was the most important issue Congress should be working on right now. (Source: Rasmussen Reports, July 28, 2009 and Fox News poll July 23, 2009.)

Question for your Congressmen: Why are you and the White House rushing this bill through Congress and ignoring the concerns of the American people?

8. LOSS OF FREEDOM
The healthcare reform legislation under consideration in the House will eventually force all Americans into a government-approved plan. After a five-year grace period, every new insurance policy will have to comply with government mandates, and any policy changes – "altering co-pays, deductibles, or even switching coverage for this or that drug" – invalidates your previous coverage and forces you to choose a government "qualified" plan. In addition, the House plan mandates coverage for every individual. If you are self-employed or choose not buy insurance for whatever reason, the bill imposes a "healthcare tax" of 2.5% of your income. (Source: CNNMoney.com, July 24, 2009 and Bloomberg.com, July 15, 2009)

Question for your Congressmen: Why do you believe bureaucrats can make better decisions than me about what kind of health insurance I should have? And will you guarantee that any healthcare reform bill passed by Congress will always allow me to choose my own doctor?

9. RACIAL PREFERENCES
Do you care about the race of a doctor who is getting ready to operate on you? Of course not. Most Americans want their doctor to be the best professional available regardless of race or ethnic background. But congressional liberals have a different idea. On page 909 of the House bill, grants to medical schools will be awarded "to entities that have a demonstrated record of the following...training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds." (Source: Investors Business Daily, July 27, 2009)

Question for your Congressmen: Why are you throwing affirmative action/racial set asides into a healthcare reform bill?

10. PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
President Obama has repeatedly said that "no insurance company will be allowed to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition." That sounds wonderful until you apply common sense, which is in short supply in Washington. What if we made a law that allowed you to buy car insurance after you got into an accident and that required the insurance company to pay for the damage? Wouldn’t many people just wait for an accident before buying insurance? Why wouldn’t many Americans wait until they were sick to buy health insurance?

Question for your Congressmen: Isn't it clear that this provision would drive up the cost of health insurance for everyone?

Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Local pastor's prayer rejected by House Click here to read the whole article.

Generic Prayers in the House of Represenatives of Pennsylvania won't cut it and it's not OK!

Local pastor's prayer rejected by House
Gerry Stoltzfoos, of Freedom Valley Worship Center, was told to remove the word "Jesus" from his planned prayer.
By ERIN JAMES
The Evening Sun

Gerry Stoltzfoos is a man of faith - but not the type who preaches constantly with in-your-face theology. Even the Gettysburg church where he serves as lead pastor is designed more as a gathering hall than as a shrine full of religious imagery.

But when it comes to prayer, Stoltzfoos is steadfast in his approach of speaking directly to and addressing by name the Christian God he worships.

"I think prayer is talking to God, so when I pray, I try to talk to him," said the pastor of Freedom Valley Worship Center.

Way to go pastor Gerry!

Blessings on Ya!
Pastor Kitner

Don't expect smooth sailing for Sotomayor - click here

What are your comments on this issue?



Here is a brief look at President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. You may want to forward this to your friends.
Judge Sonia SotomayorCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
President Obama has promised to nominate liberal judicial activists who will indulge their left-wing policy preferences based on "empathy" instead of neutrally in applying the law. In selecting Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee, President Obama has carried out his promise.
In a speech as a Court of Appeals judge, she said, "The court is where policy is made." Her opinions have followed that approach. What she was referring to was that public policy was made by the Court of Appeals, not by the Legislature.
In a recent case, Ricci v. DeStefano, Sotomayor ruled that reverse racism was to be used in making decisions. She ruled in favor of a city that used racially discriminatory practices to deny promotions to firefighters. In Ricci, an applicant to be a firefighter scored the highest on the test but was denied the job because he was not black.
According to Judge Jose Cabranes, Sotomayor's colleague, Sotomayor's opinion "contains no reference whatsoever to the constitutional claims at the core of this case," and its "perfunctory disposition rests uneasily with the weighty issues presented by this appeal." Even the liberal Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen expressed disappointment with the case, stating, "Ricci is not just a legal case but a man who has been deprived of the pursuit of happiness on account of race."
Sotomayor readily admits that she applies her feelings and personal politics when deciding cases. In a 2002 speech given at Berkeley, she said she believes it is appropriate for judges to consider their "experiences as women and people of color," which she believes should "affect our decisions." She went on to say in that same speech, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."
The poor quality of Sotomayor's decisions is reflected in her record of reversals by the Supreme Court. Sixty percent of her decisions have been reversed by the Supreme Court.
Sincerely, Donald E. Wildmon,Founder and ChairmanAmerican Family Association



Pastor Kitner

Lincoln’s Lessons - Invest in Who You Are click here

Go to the link in the title and read some interesting things on the life of Abe Lincoln.

A quote fron the first article: posted by Michael McKinney
"Hardships, failures and disappointments forged Lincoln into the leader he was. His résumé didn’t prepare him for the job of the presidency, but the crucible of his life did. A defining quality was his deliberate and continual reflection that gave him a depth of understanding and purpose to face the struggles, as he put it, “not altogether for today” but “for a vast future also.”"

Blessings on Ya!
Pastor Kitner

Articles concerning Obama - who is he? - click here

Poll question: Is Obama qualified?

A pro-family organization says it's had an overwhelming negative response to an online poll that asks the question: "Do you think Barack Obama is qualified to serve as president of the United States?"

Poll question: Is Obama qualified? - click here

Check out this news link.

THINK A MINUTE ABOUT THIS!

From: Gary L. Bauer

COUNTDOWN TO NOVEMBER 4TH: 22 DAYS TO ELECTION DAY

Obama's New Welfare Plan

The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times today published articles about Barack Obama's plan to offer "tax cuts to 95% of working families." Both articles concluded that the Obama plan is a massive shell-game, redistributing income from one group to another group, similar to welfare. Here's why: According to various independent analyses, the Obama "tax cuts" would send government checks to millions of households that pay no federal income tax. By any rational definition, that's not a tax cut – it's welfare!

According to the Tax Foundation, under current law, there will be "47 million tax returns with zero-income tax liability in 2009… That's one-third of all tax returns and those 47 million tax returns represent 96 million individuals." The Heritage Foundation estimates that "by 2011, under the Obama plan, an additional 10 million filers would pay zero taxes while cashing checks from the IRS." And the Tax Policy Center found that the government payments for such "refundable tax credits" will balloon to more than $1 trillion in ten years.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reports that because many of Obama's "tax credits" are phased out as you earn more, they become a "disincentive to working harder" for many middleclass workers who take on extra overtime or a second job. According to the Journal's analysis, "Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned."

How does Obama pay for this plan to give "tax cuts" to people who do not currently pay income taxes? He raids Social Security. The Washington Times report notes, "The Obama campaign dismisses such criticism, arguing that even if many working taxpayers owe no income taxes, they pay Social Security payroll taxes out of their earnings." So to afford government payments to folks who do not pay incomes taxes, the Obama plan will further erode the solvency of Social Security.

Campaigning in Ohio yesterday, Obama was asked about his tax plan by a plumber, who said, "Do you believe in the American dream? I'm being taxed more and more for fulfilling the American dream." Obama's answer was very revealing. He told this plumber, "It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too. I think that when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

"Spreading the wealth" and mandating equality of results is socialism, my friends. Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. What government should do is create an environment where there is equal opportunity for everyone to succeed on their own merits and ability.

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

Pastor Kitner