Do we still know freedom?

What kind of America do we want to have?

A blank check for power

Greetings Drs. Mann and Ornstein,

Thank you for your editorial and concern for our country.  I share some of your concerns.  When I stood for election to the Virginia Senate last year, I did not take Mr. Norquist's pledge, and I agree that it is limited in its usefulness.  Additional debt is no acceptable political escape route from increasing taxes or closing loopholes/deductions/etc.

While you acknowledge that "Democrats are hardly blameless," there is one significant basis in particular by which I cannot agree with your characterization that "the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25" while "the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post."  

The 2010 health care law has far and away been "the force behind" the recent widening of the ideological gap.  This was not the work of "centrist protectors of government, reluctantly willing to revamp programs and trim retirement and health benefits to maintain its central commitments in the face of fiscal pressures."  

It is becoming increasingly clear this was a blank check for power, and we are finding out just how far the current Administration is willing to go in the use of that power.  We need look no further than its disregard for religious liberty in its handling of contraception and the mandating of abortion.  

This Democratic party bears sole responsibility for the 2010 health care law.  There is nothing "status-quo" about this law and this Democratic party.

Tim

12,746 days

Easter headlines from around the world

United States

Navy: 'Miracle' nobody died in Virginia jet crash


Africa

Genocide survivor has faith in future of Rwanda
"There is no paradise on Earth. What happened in Rwanda can happen anywhere"


Asia

U.S. sinks Japan tsunami-swept boat

Indian authorities propose prisoner swap with Maoist rebels


Europe

Austerity drives up suicide rate in debt-ridden Greece


Latin America

Why Iran-Brazil friendship has gone cold

Cuba sets Good Friday as holiday after pope's request

Panama teen was adrift at sea for 26 days; mother calls return 'a miracle'

It is God's nature to remove barriers

On Sunday, the third day after Jesus' death, Mary Magdalene went to visit His tomb.

When Mary arrived, the heavy stone that covered the opening of the tomb—a stone that could be moved only with extraordinary strength—had been rolled aside making it possible for everyone to see for themselves that Jesus was no longer inside.

When Jesus came back to life, He certainly could have left His tomb without moving that rock.

But it's God's nature to remove barriers to our understanding and believing.

John 20 describes the miraculous setting in detail so everyone would know that the body had not been stolen.

No Jew or Greek would have unwrapped a dead body just to carry it out. The dead body would have contaminated them.

And the Roman soldiers would not have stolen the body since they were supposed to guard the tomb to prevent that from happening. In fact, Jesus' disappearance meant certain death for them.

And no one would have taken the time and effort to unwrap the linens from the corpse, yet the wrappings were found neatly folded, as if someone had tidied up before leaving the site.

The headcloth had been rolled up in a separate place.

Nothing in the passage indicates that there was anything rushed or chaotic about Jesus' leaving the tomb.

It was not by accident that Jesus rose on the third day.

When the disciples saw the empty tomb and the linens, they realized that Jesus had risen from the dead. They remembered the Scriptures said He would come to life again.

From there, they would eventually change the world!

Inner State 80, pp. 372-373.

MLB Opening Day: The "Official Water of Major League Baseball" is made by a company that uses cells from aborted babies for flavoring; UPDATE: has now stopped!

Aquafina is the "Official Water of Major League Baseball."

Aquafina is made by PepsiCo.

PepsiCo has a "Collaboration" with Senomyx to "Discover, Develop and Commercialize New Sweet Flavor Ingredients"

Senomyx uses HEK-293T and a HEK-293 derivative for Human receptors for sweet and umami taste.

HEK-293 cells are human embryonic kidney cells obtained from a healthy aborted fetus.

Who needs to use embryonic stem cell research to cure diseases when you can use it to make a fortune off of more stimulating food and drink tastes?

When asked, Pepsico wrote: “We hope you are reassured to learn that our collaboration with Senomyx is strictly limited to creating lower-calorie, great-tasting beverages for consumers. This will help us achieve our commitment to reduce added sugar per serving by 25% in key brands in key markets over the next decade and ultimately help people live healthier lives.”

So we can now lead healthier lives by reducing our sugar and replacing that with the remains of aborted babies?

March 18, 2012
Obama Administration: Use of Aborted Fetal Cells in Soft Drinks Constitutes 'Ordinary Business Operations'

May 8, 2012 Update
Pepsi Stops Using Aborted Fetal Cell Lines to Test Flavors

Why a government deciding to do good is so dangerous

The government has a tangible role with those who do evil (punishing them) and an intangible role with those who do good (praising them). A government that has decided that praising the good of others is insufficient and must itself also do good has forgotten its very nature.

Good is done through people. People do good to one another either out of love or out of duty. Love does not make demands. Government actions are only demands. Government can only produce duty, not love. It is inherently coercive. If you don't pay your taxes, you are incarcerated.

Even when government uses carrots instead of sticks to discourage evil, those are only incentives to reduce one's duty to pay taxes, not to increase one's love. The closest government can get to doing good is to create a duty for people to do good.

Government not only can create duty, it is its very nature to create duty. When that duty is applied to doing good, government has then (1) made it impossible for people to do that particular good out of love, and (2) made not doing that particular good into an act of evil.

Therefore, by its compulsory nature, the power of government attempting to do good is the power to strip good of love and to make not doing one particular good into an act of doing evil that it can punish. That is why a government deciding to do good is so dangerous.

A government attempting to do good also undermines its own fundamental role of praising good. We only praise that which is done out of love, not that which is done out of duty. When a government decides it must recede from creating a duty for good so that people can do good themselves out of love, the government shows it has previously overstepped its proper role.

We need to elect people who understand that with respect to doing good, they are not there to create a duty for others to do good, but simply to recognize good done by others and serve them by praising them accordingly.

Movie: October Baby. Every Life is Beautiful.

@OctoberBabyFilm, Facebook, Official Web site, IMDB



Every Life is Beautiful