GOP House Rebuffs Conservatives' Religious Liberty

Yesterday the U.S. House leadership rushed passage of the "continuing resolution" (CR) legislation to fund the budgetless federal government for the rest of the fiscal year INCLUDING funding for ObamaCare to force Christians to fund abortifacients, sterilization, contraceptives, etc.  Fourteen Republicans voted against the bill.

Congressional proponents for religious liberty see the CR process as the best opportunity to force a religious conscience exemption into ObamaCare, because failure to pass the CR results in a full government shutdown before April.

“We want a resolution on this government assault on our first freedom. The House leadership should reconsider its decision not to place this language on the Continuing Resolution.”
-- Tony Perkins, Family Research Council

For background, click headlines below for previous articles:

Bishops Say Catholic Church Will Defy ObamaCare

Christians Oppose ObamaCare, Support Hobby Lobby

Supreme Court Allows Christians to Sue ObamaCare

Bishops Slam Obama: Criminal in Eyes of God

Bishops Warn Voting for Democrats is 'Grave Sin'

The question for Christians to discern: Are Republicans abandoning a God-fearing Party platform?

-- From "House approves bill to fund government through September" by Reuters 3/6/13

The House bill was passed by 267 votes to 151. It gives President Barack Obama's administration flexibility in how it will achieve savings in defense and veterans' programs that are required as part of the $85 billion [sequester] automatic spending cuts that began on Friday.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Right jabs GOP inaction on Obamacare" by Ginger Gibson, Politico 3/7/13

So far, the CR, the legislation that will keep the government funded through March 27, is progressing with minimal drama, with both sides trying to avoid a shutdown. Democrats have mostly abandoned efforts to completely undo the sequester through the bill. Republicans have left out the kind of language that would delight the base but meet a quick end in the Senate.

But some conservative leaders are fuming that Republicans, particularly in the House where the GOP controls the chamber, didn’t at least trying to attach language to eliminate Obamacare through the legislation.

. . . Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Research Council, said Democrats were successful while in the minority with attaching party priorities to “must-pass” legislation but Republicans haven’t followed that model.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "GOP House Approves CR That Funds All Obamacare--Including Regulation Attacking Religious Freedom" by Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com 3/6/13

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Rules Committee rejected a request by Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R.-Okla.) to allow the full House to simply vote on an amendment to the CR sponsored by Bridenstine, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R.-Kans.) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R.-Fla.) that would have stripped funding from implementation of Obamacare.

. . . 14 Republican House members, led by Rep. Diane Black (R.-Tenn.) and Rep. John Fleming (R.-La.), wrote Boehner and Cantor last week asking them to include language in the CR that would reverse the sterilization-contraception-abortifacient regulation in order to protect the free exercise of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment.

. . . Bridenstine then asked the Rules Committee on Wednesday--when it approved the rule that would govern House floor proceeding on the CR--to allow a vote on his amendment. The Rules Committee, however, rejected Bridenstine's request and refused to allow the rank and file members of the House to even vote on the proposition of defunding Obamacare.

The Republican leaders did not include language in their CR to reverse this regulation--even though Boehner himself had declared in a House floor speech on Feb. 8, 2012 that the regulation was a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion and that Congress would not let it stand.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "GOP Leaders Urged to Include Religious Freedom Protection in Gov't Funding Bill" by Napp Nazworth, Christian Post Reporter 3/6/13

Radio talk show host Janet Parshall also spoke at the press conference. She expressed concern that the government is moving from protecting religious freedom to only protecting freedom of worship.

"When it becomes freedom of worship, rather than a freedom of religion, what the government is telling us in so many terms is you can believe what you want to believe as long as it's in the four walls of your church or your home, but, sorry, you can't take it out to the public square," Parshall said.

Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and executive editor for The Christian Post, echoed Parshall's concerns.

"Freedom of religion," Land said, "leaves citizens of faith free to bring their religious convictions to bear in every arena of life, and to use those convictions to critique injustice ... The church is now faced with a stark choice in America. Is it going to be the confessing church, or is it going to be the lapdog church?"

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "FRC’s Perkins to House GOP Leaders: Ban 'This Government Assault on Our First Freedom'" by Patrick Burke, CNSNews.com 3/6/13

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have refused to allow the language barring funding for the HHS mandate from being included in any Continuing Resolution, opting instead to allow a stand-alone bill to proceed to a vote.

“We are grateful for the members of Congress like (Reps.) Diane Black (R-Tenn.), John Fleming (R-La.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), who are keeping this issue at the forefront by introducing this piece of stand-alone legislation,” Perkins said.

“But the reality is,” he added, “a stand-alone bill will never pass the United States Senate and be signed by the president dealing with this important issue. It has to be on a must-pass piece of legislation like the CR.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "House GOP Proposes Healthcare Conscience Act" by John Jessup, CBN News Washington Correspondent 3/7/13

The measure, introduced by Reps. Diane Black, R-Tenn., Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and John Fleming, R-La., is designed to protect the rights of pro-life employers, insurers and medical workers.

The idea is to give them the right to go to court if they're forced to take part in procedures that violate their religious or moral beliefs.

The move is solely a GOP effort spear-headed by a handful of House Republicans.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.



From "Cruz amendment would defund Obamacare" by Ginger Gibson, Politico 3/6/13

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will offer an amendment to the continuing resolution – the bill to keep the government open after March 27 — that would defund the Affordable Care Act.

“The very first priority of every elected official—Democrat and Republican—should be restoring economic growth, so we can ensure continued strength, prosperity, and opportunity for the next generations,” Cruz said in a statement. “Obamacare does precisely the opposite. It is already hurting small businesses, reducing the hours Americans are allowed to work, forcing employers to drop coverage, and leading to substantial increases in healthcare premiums—especially for young people.”

Cruz’s effort is unlikely to make any progress in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But he’s still going to try.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read President Obama Redefines 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion even though Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity

It comes down to Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism in America

West Point Study Warns of Christian Terrorists

A report from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point titled "Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right" is intended to indoctrinate cadets to believe that Christians, conservatives and anyone not "future oriented" (a.k.a. liberal) are potential terrorists because they desire "to restore or preserve values and practices that are part of the idealized historical heritage of the nation or ethnic community."

". . . they support civil activism, individual freedoms, and self government."
-- Arie Perliger, Director of Terrorism Studies, West Point

Sound familiar?  "We want to take our country back."  (Christian Tea Party Movement)

For background, read U.S. Military Fights Christians, NOT Jihadists and also read Obama Security Nominee Says Terrorists Include Christians as well as American Christian Militants = Muslim Jihadists

UPDATE 10/26/13: Army Admits Training Labeled Christians as Terrorists; Air Force Drops God

-- From "'Far Right' report outrages critics of federalism" by Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times 1/21/13

[Critics] say that a thorough report on ideologically fed violence would scrutinize unions, Occupy Wall Street demonstrators and radical environmentalists.

“This report is outrageous in and of itself,” said a Washington Times reader, one of more than 1,600 to post a comment. “But it speaks of a far worse scenario at the hallowed West Point; the rise of liberalism within the faculty there and their desire to shape the next generation of warrior/patriots into left-of-center thinkers. Sad and troubling. Our country is in trouble on so many fronts now.”

The report states that there were 350 acts of violence against people or property by the “far right” in 2011. It does not break down the attacks to show who the victims/perpetrators were.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "West Point center cites dangers of ‘far right’ in U.S." by Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times 1/17/13

[The report] lumps limited government activists with three movements it identifies as “a racist/white supremacy movement, an anti-federalist movement and a fundamentalist movement.”

The report also draws a link between the mainstream conservative movement and the violent “far right,” and describes liberals as “future oriented” and conservatives as living in the past.

The report adds: “While far-right groups’ ideology is designed to exclude minorities and foreigners, the liberal-democratic system is designed to emphasize civil rights, minority rights and the balance of power.”

A Republican congressional staffer who served in the military told The Washington Times: “If [the Defense Department] is looking for places to cut spending, this junk study is ground zero.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Conservatives Don't Like This West Point Report on America's Violent Far-Right" by David Wagner, The Atlantic Wire 1/18/13

. . . Christian fundamentalists, Militia movement groups, Skinheads, neo-Nazis, and violent anti-abortionists were all cited in the report . . . These factions may harbor different ideological goals, but . . . they've all ramped up their violent tactics in trying to achieve them . . .

In short, this report makes a convincing case about extremists trying to inflict harm upon innocent Americans, and it's full of alarming data and clear policy recommendations. . . .

To read the entire (liberal) opinion column above, CLICK HERE.

From "A New Anti-Terror Front? Yes, the Government Thinks It's 'Right-Wing Extremists'" by John Fund, National Review Online 1/18/13

This is not the first time elements of the federal government have tried to smear conservatives with sloppy work and a broadbrush analysis.

In 2009, liberals in the Department of Homeland Security prepared a . . . report [that] bore the ominous title: “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” . . . After much public ridicule, the DHS report vanished from public view . . .

No one doubts the existence of racist and hate-filled groups that require monitoring. But both the DHS and West Point reports read as if they were laying the groundwork for a rhetorical attack on mainstream conservatism of the sort that President Clinton launched in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, when he blamed talk radio for stirring up anti-government passions. No one should be surprised if supporters of new gun-control measures begin justifying them by referring to the West Point report.

To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.

From "West Point: 'Far right' dangerous to U.S." by Michael Carl, World Net Daily 1/18/13

“The anti-abortionists have been extremely productive during the last two decades, amassing 227 attacks, many of them perpetrated without the responsible perpetrators identified or caught,” Perliger wrote. “And while, in both cases, the 1990s were more violent than the last decade, in the case of anti-abortion, the trend is much more extreme, as 90 percent of attacks were perpetrated before 2001.”

Another suspect group in Perliger’s study are people who support the sovereignty of the United States. And he concludes the anti-government movement is a recent phenomenon.

“The anti-federalist rationale is multifaceted, and includes the beliefs that the American political system and its proxies were hijacked by external forces interested in promoting a New World Order in which the United States will be absorbed into the United Nations or another version of global government,” Perliger wrote.

Perliger turned his attention to Christian fundamentalism and asserts a connection between all three of his sub-groups.

“Unlike the movements discussed previously, the fundamentalist movement’s militant and violent nature was relatively late to develop. For many years the… fundamentalist movement did not produce violent sub-groups, but rather functioned as a source of intellectual inspiration and a moral justification for the violent activities and operations of ideologically related movements,” Perliger wrote.

“Hence, it is not surprising that many of the prominent ideologues of the white supremacist and anti-federalist movements intensively cooperated with – and at times saw themselves as part of – the fundamentalist movement. This dynamic allowed the penetration of non-identity ideas into the movement, and in many ways facilitated the narrowing of the gaps between the fundamentalist movement and other streams of the American far right,” Perliger wrote.

Former Army intelligence officer and NATO intelligence specialist Tim Tooman says the juxtaposition of all three groups in one paragraph is intentional and notes the frequent use of the words for Christianity.

“Christian and derivatives [are] used 75 times in the document, although often carefully qualified as in Christian Identity Group. Perliger’s writing is OK, but could be misinterpreted by the quick reader,” Tooman said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read President Obama Denies Leading War Against Christianity as well as Religious Liberty & Anti-Christian Totalitarianism

Republicans Accepting Gay Agenda More and More

As the GOP establishment crowns Mitt Romney for president, increasing numbers of pragmatic Republican career politicians have decided that their job security requires surrendering the Culture War to the homosexualists.

UPDATE 5/1/12: Mitt Romney's openly-homosexual foreign policy spokesman resigns just days after he was first appointed by Romney

For background, click headlines below:

Ignore Abortion & Gay Agenda, Says GOP Establishment & Media

Romney Wins Big with Florida Homosexual Republicans

Santorum Explains Gay Agenda Effect on Children

Christian Liberty at Risk with a President Romney?

This 2010 question relevant again: Will GOP Call 'Truce' in Culture War?

Proved: Tea Party Movement is Christian

Pope: Gay Agenda & Abortion Dooms Society

-- From "Republicans retreat on gay marriage" by Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, Politico 3/30/12

It’s been one of the swiftest shifts in ideology and strategy for Republicans, as they’ve come nearly full circle on same-sex politics. What was once a front-and-center issue for rank-and-file Republicans — the subject of many hotly worded House and Senate floor speeches — is virtually a dead issue, as Republicans in Congress don’t care to have gay marriage litigated in the Capitol.

Even more than that, Republican leadership has evolved, too. It has quietly worked behind the scenes to kill amendments that reaffirm opposition to same-sex unions, several sources told POLITICO.

But there’s also a political strategy at work: Ask most House Republicans today if they have deep convictions about gay relationships, and it hardly registers.

National party operatives have taken notice. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions all did fundraisers in the 2010 cycle with the national gay and lesbian GOP grass-roots organization, Log Cabin Republicans.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Romney: 'The Gay Community Needs More Support from the Republican Party’" by CNSNews.com Staff 3/23/12

When Mitt Romney first entered the political scene in 1994, running for the U.S. Senate against Teddy Kennedy, he told an LGBT-focused publication in Massachusetts that he would be a more effective advocate for the interests of the “gay community” than Kennedy had been and that gays should support him because “the gay community needs more support from the Republican Party.”

“There's something to be said for having a Republican who supports civil rights in this broader context, including sexual orientation,” said Romney. “When Ted Kennedy speaks on gay rights, he's seen as an extremist. When Mitt Romney speaks on gay rights, he's seen as a centrist and a moderate. It's a little like if Eugene McCarthy was arguing in favor of recognizing China, people would have called him a nut. But when Richard Nixon does it, it becomes reasonable. When Ted says it, it's extreme; when I say it, it's mainstream.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Don’t Retreat, Re-aim" by Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, posted at National Review Online 3/14/12

Less than a year and a half after Republicans swept to the biggest midterm congressional landslide since Grover Cleveland’s second term, they are struggling against a president presiding over a struggling economy, rising gas prices, and an approval rating in the low 40s. Prospects for a Senate takeover, once a foregone conclusion, are now are tenuous. Even the newly won House majority is in jeopardy.

What has changed?

The 2010 Republican victories, and the tea-party movement that drove them, were based on a few critical issues: the crushing burden of our national debt; opposition to wasteful government spending, including bailouts and the stimulus; and a desire for limited constitutional government. It stood in opposition to the big-government nostrums of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.

. . . only 38 percent [of those polled in February 2012] thought social issues such as abortion or gay marriage were important in this election. Even among Republicans, fewer than half were motivated by social issues.

To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.

From "Gay Marriage Effort Attracts a Novel Group of Donors" by Adam Nagourney and Brooks Barnes, New York Times 3/23/12

. . . [There's a] behind-the-scenes fund-raising network whose goal is to legalize same-sex marriage from coast to coast. This emerging group of donors is not quite like any other fund-raising network that has supported gay-related issues over the past 40 years. They come from Hollywood, yes, but also from Wall Street and Washington and the corporate world; there are Republicans as well as Democrats; and perhaps most strikingly, longtime gay organizers said, there has been an influx of contributions from straight donors unlike anything they have seen before.

The Republican support for the effort largely began after Mr. Olson, a solicitor general under President George W. Bush, lent it his name. It accelerated with the fund-raising role of Ken Mehlman, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and of Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign, who announced he is gay 18 months ago and has since helped raise close to $3 million by fishing in waters where gay organizers had rarely gone before.

As surprising — and encouraging — to organizers of the movement are the Wall Street names added to their roster. Prominent among them is Paul Singer, a hedge fund manager who is straight and chairman of the conservative Manhattan Institute. He has donated more than $8 million to various same-sex marriage efforts, in states including California, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Oregon, much of it since 2007

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 4/12/12: Big money donors up ante on Romney's Gay Agenda position

Also read Gay Lobby Purchases Same-sex 'Marriage'

Proved: Tea Party Movement is Christian

As the Tea Party movement began in 2009 and grew in 2010, the participants recognized their fellow like-minded Christian-motivated citizens. Some in the mainstream media, now reading the latest reports proving the Christianity of the movement, have (ignorantly) concluded that the Christian Right has recently taken over the Tea Party.

For background, read 'Teavangelical Party' Emerges from 2010 Election Polling and also read Christian Tea Party Analysis is Media Priority as well as Americans Agree with Tea Party, not D.C. Leaders

UPDATE 8/16/11: New York Times Denigrates Tea Party Movement as Christian (see article excerpts below)

UPDATE 9/24/12: However, Will 'Wimpy' Pastors Engage the War on Christianity?

-- From "But who's the tea party's candidate?" by Bill Schneider, Politico 3/15/11

The class split among Republicans is between country-club conservatives and “values voters,” who have ties to the religious right. Reagan drew strong support from both wings of the party. So did George W. Bush. Both got elected to two terms.

Where does the tea party fit in? Demographically, tea party supporters look like values voters — that is, right-wing populists.

In fact, there’s a lot of overlap between the tea party and the religious right. A survey last year by the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly half (47 percent) of tea party supporters also consider themselves part of the Christian conservative movement.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "The intersection of tea party and religion" by Jamshid Ghazi Askar, Deseret News 3/18/11

[The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life] reports that 44 percent of white evangelicals agree with the tea party movement while only 8 percent disagree (48 percent are indifferent). Conversely, voters are significantly less likely to profess support for the tea party if they are Jewish (15 percent agree, 49 percent disagree), African-American Protestants (7 percent agree, 37 percent disagree) or atheists (12 percent agree, 67 percent disagree).

The study further reveals that tea party supporters are much more likely than the average voter to list religion as the determinative factor for their stances on major social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

"The Tea Party rank and file are not in fact secular libertarians but are social conservatives largely drawn from the ranks of the Christian Right," [Robert Jones, CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute] writes.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "The Tea Party and Religion" by Scott Clement & John C. Green, The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life 2/23/11

Is [the Tea Party movement] solely a movement to reduce the size of government and cut taxes, as its name – some people refer to it as the Taxed Enough Already party – implies? Or do its supporters share a broader set of conservative positions on social as well as economic issues? Does the movement draw support across the religious spectrum? Or has the religious right “taken over” the Tea Party, as some commentators have suggested?

In addition to adopting a conservative approach to the economy, Tea Party supporters also tend to take socially conservative positions on abortion and same-sex marriage. . . .

Support for the Tea Party varies dramatically across religious groups. Surveys from November 2010 through February 2011 show that white evangelical Protestants are roughly five times as likely to agree with the movement as to disagree with it . . .

Americans who support the conservative Christian movement, sometimes known as the religious right, also overwhelmingly support the Tea Party. . . .

Overall, the Tea Party appears to be more widely known and to garner broader support than the religious right. . . .

For detailed stats, and to read the entire analysis above, CLICK HERE.

From "American Values Survey: Religion and the Tea Party in the 2010 Elections" posted at Public Religion Research Institute 10/5/10

* Nearly half (47%) [of Tea Party supporters] also say they are part of the religious right or conservative Christian movement. Among the more than 8-in-10 (81%) who identify as Christian within the Tea Party movement, 57% also consider themselves part of the Christian conservative movement.

* They are mostly social conservatives, not libertarians on social issues. Nearly two-thirds (63%) say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, and less than 1-in-5 (18%) support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 8/16/11: "Crashing the Tea Party" posted at the New York Times, by David E. Campbell, an associate professor of political science at Notre Dame, and Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard -- the authors of “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us.”

[Tea Partiers] were disproportionately social conservatives in 2006 — opposing abortion, for example — and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.

This inclination among the Tea Party faithful to mix religion and politics explains their support for Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. Their appeal to Tea Partiers lies less in what they say about the budget or taxes, and more in their overt use of religious language and imagery, including Mrs. Bachmann’s lengthy prayers at campaign stops and Mr. Perry’s prayer rally in Houston.

To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.

Only Pro-life IL Senate Candidate is Libertarian

Democrats are fanning the flames of Christians in Illinois by highlighting the liberal characteristics of the GOP's (RINO) pro-abortion candidate, Mark Kirk, for the U.S. Senate, who also advocates the Gay Agenda. Leading Christian advocacy organizations are telling voters that six more years of a Democrat in the Senate is preferable to being stuck with a pro-abortion RINO in the seat for decades.

-- From "Giannoulias talks up Libertarian in attempt to siphon votes from Kirk" by Kerry Lester, Daily Herald Staff 9/17/10

An Oak Brook Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate got a boost Thursday from an unlikely source - Democrat Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, who gave props to Mike Labno while predicting his Republican opponent will fall victim to tea party wrath.

Following the loss of a moderate candidate to a tea party activist in Delaware's GOP Senate primary Tuesday, Giannoulias issued a news release calling Republican opponent Mark Kirk the "conservative wave's ... next victim in November, with Mike Labno as the only pro-life, pro-gun candidate running for Senate in Illinois."

The effort is a strategy by Giannoulias' campaign to siphon Republican votes away from Kirk in the extremely close race for President Barack Obama's old seat.

As a five-term 10th District congressman, Kirk has supported stem cell research, several gun control laws and abortion rights, though he opposes federal funding of abortion.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Third-party candidate could roil Ill. ballot" by Shira Toeplitz, Politico 9/2/10

A Constitution Party candidate is going to court to try to regain a spot on the Illinois Senate ballot - an effort that, if successful, could spell trouble for GOP nominee Mark Kirk.

Election officials removed Randy Stufflebeam from the ballot last week, but his attorney filed a suit Wednesday aiming to get his name back on.

Furthermore, after a lackluster performance in the GOP primary downstate, Kirk needs to do well there with Republicans to boost his bid. Not only is Stufflebeam from that region, but he's also more conservative than Kirk on several issues: He is anti-abortion, while Kirk favors abortion rights, and Stufflebeam is against the cap-and-trade legislation that the congressman voted for in 2009.

Doug Ibendahl, an attorney for Stufflebeam, filed a petition for judicial review with the Cook County Circuit Court Wednesday and has requested an expedited hearing. Ibendahl said he was not going to predict a victory, but figured Stufflebeam had a "decent chance" of being reinstated on the ballot.

[Ibendahl] blamed the state Republican Party and Kirk.

"We got the kitchen sink thrown at us because they're so desperate, because there are a lot of conservatives who can't stomach Mark Kirk," said Ibendahl.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Glenn Beck mocks Michelle Obama's healthy food drive at Right Nation convention" by Lynn Sweet; by Abdon M. Pallasch, Chicago Sun-Times Political Writer 9/19/10

Five thousand conservative true believers cheered Fox News host Glenn Beck and other right-leaning firebrands at Right Nation 2010 in Hoffman Estates on Saturday night in a call-to-arms 45 days before Election Day.

Moderates such as Illinois GOP Senate nominee Mark Kirk stayed away from Saturday's event.

But it did attract Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Labno. His 6-year-old daughter Emily told attendees as they came in that her father is "the only pro-life, pro-gun candidate for Senate."

"Let's face it - there is no Republican in this race," Labno said as he greeted attendees on the way in.

Inside the arena, when conservative commentator Phil Kerpen urged the audience to vote for Kirk, more people applauded than booed.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Tea Party & Engaging The Culture War

Everyone knows that Americans rooting for the Tea Party movement tend toward the pro-life/pro-family/pro-marriage side of the hot button social issues, but establishment conservative leaders insist on coaching the Tea Party to steer clear to avoid typical liberal criticism, such as the first article below.

On the other hand, there's Congressman Mike Pence who disagrees, saying the movement is about "going back to the source of our greatness, which is our character, our faith, our belief in limited government.”

-- From "Culture war rages on in 2010 election, with female soldiers" by Susan Jacoby, posted at Washington Post 6/13/10

Ramesh Ponnuru, a senior editor at National Review, hailed this election as the year of the pro-life woman. "These women will make it easier for pro-lifers to discuss the issue in the terms we want to discuss it," she writes, "as a plea for justice for a vulnerable group."

. . . Mainstream journalists have taken great pains over the past year to distinguish between the Christian right and the Tea Party . . . though, there is a huge overlap between the Christian right and the tea party movement, between the Republican Party and the Tea Party. One of the signature achievements of the Christian right over the past 30 years has been to meld traditional anti-tax and anti-government positions with support for government intervention on behalf of the morality articulated by conservative Christians.

. . . Sarah Palin, the Tea Party's Red Queen, is the personification of the two strands in right-wing thought and politics.

. . . Born-again right-wing women like [former HP CEO, and now GOP Senate candidate from California, Carly] Fiorina, who was actually born in 1954, and Palin, born in 1964, are just young enough to have benefited from all of the opportunities that the feminist movement fought so hard to open to all women in the 1970s, without having had to contribute anything. The anti-government ideology of these women is particularly hypocritical, since they would be nowhere without the anti-sex discrimination laws that opened doors in education, employment and business to women of their generations.

. . . These right-wing women politicians are anti-feminists who have benefited personally from feminism. Now they are allying themselves with the Good Old Boys of right-wing religion and right-wing economics and calling themselves pro-life and "free market" feminists. And right-wing male blowhards, whose mouths are more accustomed to saying "feminazi" than "feminist," are eager to anoint these women as standbearers for the cause of Bible-based government intervention in Americans' private lives and government neglect of the public good.

Those atheists who are also libertarian conservatives ought to think about everything inside the package if they like the glittery anti-government wrapping enveloping Tea Party/Republican candidates this year. Whether that candidate has an XX or an XY chromosomal structure, he or she is equally beholden to people who want to make their morality the law of the land. These women, like their male counterparts, are opportunists with no shame. Let's give them a big shout-out for defining equal opportunity down!

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Tea Party Movement Shouldn't Focus Only on Fiscal Conservatism, It’s Also About Traditional Morality, Congressman Says" by Penny Starr, CNSNews Senior Staff Writer 6/17/10

The Tea Party movement and its grassroots political activists are defined by loyalty to the U.S. Constitution, limited government and individual liberty -- not social issues such as abortion. That's what one analyst argued at a gathering of conservatives in Washington on Wednesday.

Journalist and author Jonah Goldberg said the movement should avoid cultural issues such as abortion if it is to have continued success.

A conservative congressman, however, disagreed.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the chairman of the House Republican Conference, said people are also drawn to the Tea Party movement because it embraces traditional American morality, including the sanctity of life and the traditional definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“One last thought to leave you with,” Pence said in his concluding remarks: “This is something I’ve said around the country at many Tea Party gatherings and grassroots gatherings. And it needs to be said, and that is, that what’s animating this authentic American movement is that our present crisis is not just economic and fiscal. It’s moral in nature.

“At the root of these times, I believe there are millions of Americans who see, in Washington, D.C., and on Wall Street, people in positions of authority walking away from the timeless principles of honesty, integrity, an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay,” Pence said.

“I’ve talked to people in this movement that our leaders need to recognize that public policy alone will not cure what ails this country,” Pence said. “It’s going to take public virtue and a return to the institutions that nourish the character of the nation and reaffirm our commitment to the sanctity of life, the sanctity of traditional marriage, and to the importance of religion in every day life is also quietly central to this movement around the country.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Pro-eugenics Libertarians: Palin's Duty to Kill Down Syndrome Baby

"Because a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive (if at all) and requires constant care and supervision . . . [the parents] are essentially stranding the cost of their child's life upon others."

-- From "Libertarian Group Condemns Sarah Palin for Not Killing Disabled Baby in Abortion" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 9/17/08

A writer for a libertarian group has written perhaps the most scathing attack on pro-life vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin since the Alaska governor was announced weeks ago as John McCain's running mate. Nicholas Provenzo condemns Palin for the birth of her baby Trig, who has Down syndrome.

Provenzo, who writes for the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, not only bashes her for allowing Trig to be born, but says she should have made the so-called morally justifiable decision to kill him in an abortion.

"Given that Palin's decision is being celebrated in some quarters, it is crucial to reaffirm the morality of aborting a fetus diagnosed with Down syndrome (or by extension, any unborn fetus)—a freedom that anti-abortion advocates seek to deny," [Provenzo writes.]

While as many as 80-90 percent of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome become victims of abortion, Palin didn't let her child become a statistic. Palin, who has deeply-felt pro-life views, gave birth to her fifth child in April and the baby was diagnosed with the condition.

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