A Federal Judge We Can Do Without

Family Research Council

Unqualified. That's how the American Bar Association (ABA) rates the judge that President Obama insists on promoting to the federal bench. This is John McConnell's third trip through the Senate confirmation process since last year--and after two unsuccessful attempts, it looks like Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is finally giving the White House what it wants: a vote. The longer McConnell has waited, the more Senators have learned about his troubling past and politically-motivated agenda. Apart from buying his way onto the nomination list, McConnell has affiliations that should give any rational American pause about his ability to separate ideology from the job at hand. On top of serving as the Director of Planned Parenthood Rhode Island, McConnell and his wife have given handsomely to EMILY List's over the years, an organization dedicated to electing pro-abortion congresswomen.

But perhaps even more troubling is his association with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights group-turned-moneymaking attack dog for the Left that fabricates lists of "hate groups" to turn a profit. For 22 years, McConnell has been a proud member of the organization, whose primary agenda is sabotaging debate. McConnell's views are so controversial that even liberals have been too embarrassed to lobby for his confirmation. In a memo to the movement, the Conservative Action Project (CAP) describes, at length, the threat he poses to the court, conservatives, businesses, and the rule of law. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on whether to give this man a lifetime appointment to the District Court. I strongly urge you to call your Senators and oppose McConnell's nomination to the federal bench. If you don't, Americans will live to regret it.

Arrogance Has Its Own Payback

Family Research Council

Waiting On Mr Write

"Americans resent being ignored by arrogant politicians who think they know better how to run our lives than we do," columnist Connie Hair wrote on the Human Events website. As it turns out, even politicians resent being ignored by other arrogant politicians. Last month, eight Democrats sent the Majority Leader a formal letter demanding that the Senate--and public--have access to the bill for at least 72 hours prior to its first vote. Initially, Sen. Reid agreed.

They're Allowed To Lie-They're democrats

And since we know that going in, we know how to act.

Family Research Council
Harry Reid's Shell Game

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's health care bill wasn't exactly popular in the House, but sources say it's even more disliked in the Senate. So much so that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scrapped the idea of using PelosiCare as the shell for his legislation. Instead of making H.R. 3962 his vehicle for debate, the Majority Leader will try to put some distance between his version of reform and Pelosi's.

Under the U.S. Constitution, tax and revenue-raising bills (like health care legislation) have to originate in the House. Fortunately for Sen. Reid, it doesn't specify which tax bill. To comply, the Majority Leader can take up a House-passed bill--any bill as long as it's a tax bill--gut the text and insert his own. Of course, that implies that Sen. Reid actually has health care language, which, as of this morning, he didn't. His plan is still being hatched in the leadership's top secret meetings.

In the meantime, a cluster of Democrats are making their intentions known on the bill's abortion ban. One of them is President Obama. The same man who said, "No one is pro-abortion," is proving to be the most rabid supporter of it in White House history. According to his staff, the President is so violently anti-life that he may be willing to kill his biggest domestic policy goal if it doesn't force Americans to pay for
the slaughter of innocent unborn children. If that's not "pro-abortion," then what is?

David Axelrod, the President's senior advisor, broke the news that the White House wants to break with more than 30 years of tradition and introduce taxpayer-funded abortion in health care. To do it, they'll have to strip the Stupak amendment which passed in the House with overwhelming support from both parties.

Today, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), the amendment's author, told FoxNews that the White House had better brace for a fight. "They're not going to take it out," Stupak said, "If they do, health care will not move forward"--a prediction that Sens.
Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) are prepared to back up.

"We won fair and square... That's why Mr. Axelrod's not a legislator. He doesn't really know what he's talking about... The majority has spoken. Most people agree--do not use public funds for abortion," Stupak said. "You're not going to summarily start dismissing amendments which the majority of the House of Representatives wanted because some person, David Axelrod or [whoever], doesn't like it."

What To Expect From The Courts For the Next 3 Years

Zero will load the Appeals Courts with activist judges and the Inquisition will commence.

Family Research Council

For Liberals, Hamilton Is 7th Heaven

When President Obama nominated David Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, his staff said the selection "is a kind of signal" about the kind of judge this White House is seeking. If that's the case, then the signal must be: left turn ahead!

Judge Hamilton is an anti-faith extremist whose cases are only notable for their blatant religious prejudice. In the suit for which Hamilton is most recognized, the judge struck down 188 years of prayers "in Jesus' Name" to open the Indiana legislature claiming it unconstitutionally "advanced Christianity." It was a decision that was later reversed by the same court to which Hamilton is now nominated -- the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. What Hamilton lacks in Christian tolerance he makes up for in Islamic hospitality.

The judge may have struck prayers in Jesus' name but has welcomed any in Allah's.
As for his interpretation of the law, Hamilton is on record suggesting that America 's judges "writ[e] footnotes to the Constitution." He's ruled against abortion waiting periods and tougher penalties for sex offenders.

The Washington Times warned readers, "This judge is a radical's radical," whose past jobs have included fundraising for ACORN and heading up Indiana 's chapter of the ACLU. Senate leaders are hoping to slip a vote on Hamilton's confirmation past conservatives this week.

Our sources on the Hill tell us that Democrats may be persuaded to postpone the vote if the grassroots make enough noise. You know what that means! Pick up the phone today and call your Senators. Remind them that a vote for Hamilton is a vote for a judicial activist who is committed to driving a political agenda that's out of step with mainstream America. For more ammunition, check out FRC's letter to Senators explaining why we're scoring the bill.

They're Gonna Shove It Down Our Throats

and the only way we are going to be able to fix it is to elect enough true conservatives to overturn it in the next session, IF we last that long. This monstrosity isn't even written yet, and they're passing it. I hope all you useful idiots that put these socialist morons in power are happy.

Cap and Tax will be next. Then God knows what they'll try.

Health Care by Committee

It's been described as "misleading," "anti-family," "anti-job," "pro-abortion," and, my personal favorite, "a proverbial mackerel rotting on the beach in the moonlight"--but no matter what you call it, Sen. Max Baucus's (D-Mont.) health care plan may be the
President's best shot at reform. Today, Baucus's Finance Committee approved his "concept" by a 13-9 vote, even as more news breaks on what the proposal would actually mean to American families.

In the last few days, plenty has been written about the plan's hidden taxes and higher premiums, but the most glaring revelation is the fact that lower- and middle-class citizens will be the ones hurting under Baucus's "compromise." Despite President Obama's promise that he wouldn't raise taxes "one penny" on the average family, Bloomberg News broke down the report from the Joint Committee on Taxation and found that individuals who make less than $200,000 a year will be footing a whopping 87% of Baucus's bill. And these are folks who already have health insurance!

Experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers have also studied the fallout for families under the Finance Committee's plan. By their calculations, the average family pays about $12,300 for their current coverage, but under Baucus's concept, it would increase to $21,300 by 2016." The Heritage Foundation fleshes it out this way: instead of reducing a family's health insurance premiums by $2,500 per year, as President Obama promised, this plan would actually raise them $4,000 more than they would have been without reform. On top of that, the plan still includes abortion as a necessary part of health care.

As bad as it is now, the final plan will be worse. Despite what does or doesn't pass today, the leaders in the House and Senate intend to stuff the conference bill fuller than a turkey at Thanksgiving. Sen. Harry Reid has promised to reinsert the public option along with a host of other bad amendments concocted behind closed doors that no one will see--until it's too late.

Actions Speak Louder than Deeds

Deeds is a typical dhimmicrat and will never be governor of the Commonwealth.

As pundits try to predict the backlash for Democrats in 2010, the outcome of Virginia's gubernatorial race may provide the biggest clue. Next month's elections in the Commonwealth are the first in what many are calling a repudiation of the President and his party. As of this week, Republican candidate Bob McDonnell is leading his opponent, Democrat Creigh Deeds, by nine points in the polls. Part of the reason is that Deeds's radical pro-abortion, pro-homosexual record doesn't resonate with a largely conservative state.

Today, the Virginia Values Voter PAC, a political action committee connected to FRC Action, weighed in on the race with a new TV ad that asks, "Which is the real Creigh Deeds?" In 2006, Deeds voted for man-woman marriage and, in 1998, he voted for a ban on partial-birth abortion. Now it's 2009 and Deeds has finally decided to tell the truth: he favors same-sex "marriage" and no limits on abortion.

None.

As Connie Mackey, President of the PAC said, "It appears that [Deeds] will do anything for votes except stick by his own." To see the ad--or support it--check out the Virginia Values Voter PAC website.

It Will Still Raise Taxes

Family Research Council on the Senate version of the takeover of 20% of the Nation's economy.

.....The CBO managed to put the bounce back in Baucus's step after it announced that the Committee's idea would cost less than $900 billion over the next ten years without adding to the nation's monster $1.4 trillion deficit.

If the news sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. What the American people may not realize is that the CBO's score is only a partial estimate, because no one has seen an actual bill. The Committee and the Congressional Budget Office are working entirely from a concept. Even the CBO acknowledges that most of this is an educated guess. Its report warned of "significant changes" to the estimate when the language is finally released.

Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R) urged voters not to be fooled by the CBO's report, which the Wall Street Journal blames on "new math." "What we know at this point is that [their idea] cuts Medicare, raises taxes, and increases insurance premiums for tens of millions of Americans. We need to see the actual bill... and know its exact [wording] before we begin a lengthy debate about whether it's the right direction for our country."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) dismissed the news altogether. "This Finance Committee proposal will never see the Senate floor," he said, "since the real bill will be written by Democrat[ic] leaders in a closed-to-the-public conference room somewhere in the Capitol." He's pointing out, as FRC has, that what comes out of the Senate Finance Committee is not nearly as important as the final product, which will be merged with the radical version from the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

"The real bill will be another 1,000-page, trillion dollar experiment... that vastly expands the role of the federal government in the personal health care decisions of every American," Sen. McConnell said.

If the fine print of the Baucus plan actually existed, Americans might be surprised to see how the Committee plans to pay for its reform.

The Washington Times blog uncovered a "new mommy tax" that would help Uncle Sam cover costs. Sen. Baucus has recommended that the government hike taxes on Class II medical devices--which includes basic necessities like breast pumps, pacemakers, ventilators, wheelchairs, needles, and much more.

Wanda Moebius, a spokeswoman for the Advanced Medical Technology Association, just shook her head. "Health care reform is supposed to make it more affordable, not raising costs... on the end user."

(Un)equal Justice Is Served

Family Research Council:

The federal "thought crimes" (a.k.a. "hate crimes") law took another step closer to passage yesterday, as the House voted to go along with a Senate ruse designed to avoid a straight up-or-down vote on the merits of the bill.

The Senate had attached the "hate crimes" measure to a defense authorization bill (despite its complete irrelevance to national defense). The House last night voted to go along with this tactic, which makes it harder for Members to oppose final passage.

On another front where the homosexual agenda is being pushed, "safe schools" czar Kevin Jennings is being defended by the National Education Association--no surprise there!

Liberals defending Jennings have reportedly found the male student that sought counseling from Jennings, then a teacher, about having sex with an older man in a bus station restroom. Jennings advice; "I hope you knew to use a condom."

Jennings's defenders claim they've identified the boy and can prove he was 16 at the time of the incident, and they assert that this absolves Jennings of suspicion that he violated "mandatory reporting" laws regarding child abuse.

But even if true, that is just one outrageous incident involving Jennings. The record still shows that Jennings is someone who thinks kids' "safety" is endangered more by people who say "homosexual conduct is wrong" (such as the Boy Scouts) than by sexual contact with strangers found in bus station restrooms.

From Big Sky Country:

Parents everywhere will be gripping their kids a little tighter after a shocking decision from the Montana Supreme Court. In a major challenge to parental rights, the justices ruled 6-1 that a former same-sex partner can win custody of two children to whom she is not legally or biologically bound.

Michelle Kilstad sued for the right to "parent" her old girlfriend's children even though her former lover married a man and settled down to raise her kids.

The Alliance Defense Fund defended Barbara Mancini's rights to raise her children without interference from Kilstad, a third party with no relation to her children.

In a statement yesterday, ADF expressed their outrage at the ruling, which could open the judicial floodgates to thousands of "de facto" parents who think they're entitled to a right to relationship with their ex-partners' children. "The fundamental rights of parents to raise children the way they see fit should not be threatened by the wishes and desires of a legal stranger... Granting acquaintances and roommates parental rights over the objections of fit parents is a dangerous precedent."

In this instance, the court has essentially forced another person into the Mancini family against its wishes. As ADF weighs its legal options, we would remind these justices that the definition of the family was created by God--and that definition has been the cornerstone of civil society from the beginning, despite what these judges (who think they're like gods) may believe.

Family Foundation Update on Jennings

Action Alert: Obama Appointment Ripped Christians


The man appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the federal Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools has a history of verbally attacking Christians, as well as strong affiliations with radical pro-homosexual groups.

Kevin Jennings was the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLESN) and served as its executive director until 2008. GLESN is primarily known for its institutionalization of so-called Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) in many public schools, including middle and high schools in Virginia.

The Family Research Council (FRC) has assembled a vast record of Jennings own words and deeds that make it clear he is unfit for any office, much less one that has extensive impact on our kids. His agenda has little to do with the safety of kids and, in fact, puts kids at serious risk physically, emotionally and spiritually. Here are just a couple of examples:

In a 1995 speech, Jennings admitted that GLESN’s rhetoric about “safety” was a political device:

“We immediately seized upon the opponent's calling card—safety . . . . [W]e automatically threw our opponents onto the defensive and stole their best line of attack. This framing short-circuited their arguments and left them back-pedaling from day one.”

In a 1997 speech, Jennings spoke openly about the desirability of actively “promoting” homosexuality:

“We were busy putting out press releases, and saying, “We’re not promoting homosexuality, that’s not what our program’s about. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” [But] being finished [with our efforts] might some day mean that most straight people, when they would hear that someone was promoting homosexuality, would say “Yeah, who cares?” . . . That is our mission from this day forward.”

When it comes to his views of Christianity, his hateful bigotry is abundantly clear:

When talking about those who oppose the agenda of GSAs he said:

They are “not-yet-fully evolved views maybe because of [their] proximity to the Everglades (from whose ooze [they] may have recently climbed), [but] I can't dismiss them as the ravings of a single troglodyte. Instead, they represent a classic example of how right-wing extremists continually try to mislead the public about the nature and purpose of GSAs.”

To learn what you can do to stop the appointment of Jennings, go to www.stopjennings.org and take action today!

Here's A Great Analysis

Hot Air: White House: ObamaCare opponents lying by & using Obama's own words
So far, no one seems to accept the cold, hard reality that the President's health care plan is wildly unpopular. Instead, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs blames the national protest on an old standby: the vast right-wing conspiracy. He said K Street lobbyists were organizing the raucous town halls, where "angry mobs" are disrupting the "honest" conversations that Democrats are trying to have in their home districts. It's "manufactured anger," he told reporters yesterday. The Democratic National Committee echoed the spin, saying, "The Republicans and their allied groups... are inciting... a small number of rabid right-wing extremists..."

When the Left protested the war with graffiti on the Capitol steps, it was "civic engagement."

When conservatives ask questions about what's included in health care "reform," it's orchestrated thuggery.

As Michelle Malkin points out, "The DNC's definition of 'thoughtful': Sitting silent about the lack of transparency, deliberation, truth in numbers...on the ObamaCare plan.

The DNC definition of incitement: Asking out loud, 'How can you manage health care when you can't manage Cash for Clunkers?'"

Isn't inciting the heartland exactly what then-candidate Obama prescribed last September? Blogger Ed Morrissey pulled a quote from his campaign that demonstrates just how disingenuous the administration is. To make a case for his candidacy, Obama told supporters to get aggressive.

"I want you to argue with them and get in their face." Obviously the President's rules of engagement--like his theories on tolerance and speech--are a one-way street, open only to liberals.