My song has no melody, so I hope you like the words

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Energy Facts and Fantasies

President Obama is on a tour this week trying to convince the American people how wonderful his energy policy has been for us. Don’t be fooled. Even the Washington Post, a generally liberal paper, has given his speeches two “Pinocchio’s” for less than factual statements.

The Democratic Party has been against domestic drilling for years and our Senator, Tom Carper, has fully supported that party line. Now he is pushing wind energy subsidies for his political cronies here in Delaware. Wind generated power may someday be technologically feasible, but that day isn’t coming any time soon. In the meantime, we have the resources available to be self-sufficient and quit importing our oil from unstable and less than friendly countries around the world.

Kevin Wade has some good ideas for remedies to the energy crisis we find ourselves in, and is running to replace Senator Carper in this year’s election. He knows energy, and supports workable solutions. We need that in Washington. As an engineer, he has owned his own business for years that focused on creating safe and efficient oil drilling platforms around the world. Not only does he understand what it takes to succeed in a free market, but he is also prepared to deal with the issues facing our nation in the 21st century.

Our economy and our energy policy go hand in hand. More affordable energy means more jobs and more opportunity. The President’s green energy fantasies were supposed to create jobs and instead left taxpayers holding the bag for billions of dollars wasted by companies like Solyndra. I get all warm and fuzzy thinking about living in a world that runs on sun and wind, but realize that those daydreams are not reality. In the meantime, we send our hard-earned treasure to nations that want us to fail. It just doesn’t make sense.

In closing, I want to quote a fact Mr. Wade mentions in a recent campaign video. The tallest towers in the world are in the Middle East, but they are built with our money. The madness has to end.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Federal Power Trips

Much has already been written about the overreach of the federal government and infringement on individual freedom of religion. I may write about that again, but today I’m thinking about the way our current federal officials are also steamrolling over state’s rights. We need to be aware of what they are doing if we have any hope of restoring our personal freedoms and we need to elect Senators, Congressmen and a President who will respect the limits of federal power.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has now directed the Justice department to interfere with the Texas legislature’s passage of a voter ID law. 37 other states already have laws that require some kind of voter verification in order to cast a ballot, and Texas lawmakers recently passed their own. It was supported by the Texas Attorney General, and signed into law by the Governor. States have the right under our constitution to do that sort of thing. The people elect representatives, and expect them to promote the state’s welfare.

Red herring arguments from the left abound on this issue. Some are saying it is unfair to the poor and minorities to expect them to show proof of identification to vote, even though they need it to buy a beer, or for that matter, walk into the Justice Department building in Washington, D.C. I heard a phone interview today where a Washington insider whined that because the law doesn’t address absentee ballots it has no legitimacy. His argument seemed to be that since the law didn’t cover every contingency, it shouldn’t be allowed to cover the area that the Texas legislators were most concerned with addressing.

Despite what Mr. Holder thinks, it is not the federal government’s job to interfere here. There is no evidence that Texas has been suppressing anyone’s right to vote. Claiming that the fed can interfere because of 100 year old history is ridiculous. Texas, and all of the other states, should be able to exercise their lawful right to insure a legitimate voting process without interference from federal authorities.

Washington has become bloated and consumed by an arrogant sense of power and control over our lives. We need to elect better representatives if we want a healthier, more constitutionally appropriate Federal government. I’m encouraged that there are people running for office around the country that have a greater vision. Kevin Wade here in Delaware is one of them. He is speaking to groups around our small state and his campaign for U.S. Senate is gaining momentum. I encourage my local readers to check him out. Your vote matters!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

"Velvet Socialism"

The title of this post comes from an editorial by Marvin Olasky in the 3/10/12 issue of World magazine [link to it by clicking title above.] He describes velvet socialism as "governmental conformity.... in the name of providing equality" and reminds his readers that 100 years ago in this country there were over 1,000 elected officials who labeled themselves as Socialists. It was considered a good thing then, before we witnessed a century of horrors in its name through revolutions in Russia and China, Nazi rule in Germany, as well as Viet Nam, Korea, Cuba and Cambodia.

Socialism has a bad reputation now, so adherents of this system call themselves Progressives these days instead. But don't be fooled. Whatever name you use, a world view that believes government is better at controlling the economy to produce positive results instead of letting a free market operate will lead to oppression. The soft, or 'velvety' type of government coercion is just as economically destructive in the end, even without the violent loss of life that resulted from last century's revolutions.

A top-down government-controlled approach to economics, education, health care, or any other aspect of civil society eliminates initiative and competition. It is those last characteristics that lead to advances and improvements, not the complacency of a bureaucracy.

Our freedom to pursue happiness in this country is based on competition. Even the three branches of our government are designed to achieve a balance of powers by competing with one another. President Obama misses this fact, as evidenced by his willingness to ignore the legislative branch through his far reaching executive orders.

Mr. Olasky explains this far better than I have here. I hope all Americans will think through the big issues at stake, and not get lost in simply fighting the individual battles over specific pieces of legislation. It is our overall belief in the purpose and nature of government that will determine what kind of century we have ahead of us. Let us elect representatives at all levels of government that share our convictions.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

'Think About Such Things'

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

We have this verse posted on our television, with the title "God's TV Guide." Corny, I know, but it has been a helpful reminder at times that a particular program is not one we (or our kids) need to watch.

This week I've been trying to follow this counsel from a more difficult perspective. I've been surrounded by brokenness, loss, suffering and grief in my community. So many of those I love have lost something precious, and so have I. The loss is all too true, but it certainly isn't lovely or excellent.

Some people try to deny their pain, or claim something wrong is actually right, but that doesn't work for me. I can't deny the pain, but I can limit its power over me by keeping my mind focused on the fact that God is with me in every moment. God's spirit in me allows me to face the evil in this world straight on, because His power is noble in the presence of depravity, pure when the world is spoiled, and always worthy of praise.

The pain runs deep right now, but healing will come. That is the good that I need to remember in the midst of the bad. Healing and wholeness will come.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Super Tuesday Musings

I spent the evening watching the ten state primaries' returns and commentary on Fox while reading my Twitter feed [is that what it is called?] Twitter was much more fun, though 140 character posts alone would have deprived me of the opportunity to see Chris Wallace, Karl Rove and Joe Trippi wearing baseball caps and calling themselves the 'space cowboys'.

Mitt Romney won six states [VA, VT, MA, ID, OH, AK] Rick Santorum won three [OK, TN, ND] and Newt Gingrich won one [his home state of GA]

Romney is being called the 'frail front runner', which seems odd since he won most of the delegates on Super Tuesday. He has won 13 states so far, Santorum has won 7, Gingrich only 2. In theory, Santorum still has a chance - 34 of 56 total primaries and caucuses are yet to be decided. The problem is momentum. Neither candidate seems to be able to break through. Romney has enough of a campaign infrastructure to keep going, but Santorum is not even on the ballot in some of the states due to his lack of a national campaign organization.

Romney currently has over twice as many delegates as anyone else [somewhere between 361, 404,or 415, depending on how you calculate them] but out of
2,286 total delegates available a candidate must accumulate 1,144,and only 782 have been allotted so far.

I like Rick Santorum. He has been waaay outspent so far, and that makes a difference. Romney is better organized and better financed, but that doesn't mean he has a corner on good ideas. I worry that Romney will too easily compromise, and that Santorum will not compromise enough to make headway against the big government behemoth facing us. Romney seems much more comfortable with government solutions in general, which troubles me.

There is pressure on Gingrich to get out of the race so votes go to Santorum, but he says no. Ron Paul's determination to promote a strict constitutionalism will keep him in the race right through the convention in August. Mississippi, Alabama and Kansas hold their primaries on Saturday. Maybe the picture will be more clear after that, but as far as I'm concerned, any of these guys would be better than another 4 years of Obama.

A bit of bright news in all this for my pro-life friends: in Oklahoma last night Randall Terry ran in the Democratic primary and actually won a delegate that would have otherwise gone to President Obama. That made me smile more than the silly baseball caps.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

My Heart is Heavy For a Time

Joseph Feeley was laid to rest today in a private family service. Last night there was a public time of remembrance, where hundreds of people came together to pay their respect and mourn the loss of this remarkable young man.

There is a raw, gaping wound in the Feeley family today, a wound that only God can heal. But He will heal them, and all of us. More words right now don't add to that truth.

Even more amazing to me is that somehow, someday, God will make sense of all we have endured here.

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:10-11

Friday, March 2, 2012

A Few Brief Comments on the Constitution

In deference to our founders who valued brevity, here is my short summary of a Hillsdale College video I watched last night:

Session Four of this great free series focused on the contrast between our intended constitutional form of governing and our current system of bureaucratic and administrative rule.

Remember: our government, as defined in the U.S. Constitution, was designed to operate with three distinct and balanced parts known as the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

The federal agencies now operating within the executive branch have each appropriated all three of those distinct roles in the areas they control, which is why we sense that the government is no longer functioning as it should.

When a federal agency [the speaker used the example of the Federal Trade Commission] makes regulations, they are taking over legislative power. When they enforce those regulations through fines and fees, they are acting as the executive, and when citizens must appeal to the agency itself for relief, the agency has placed itself in the position of the judiciary.

These federal agencies are NOT accountable to the people, they are NOT elected by the people, and the citizens in general have NO recourse when these agencies act inappropriately.

The principles of equality and freedom are best served when the institutions of limited government, representation and separation of powers are maintained. Consider your choice and "vote skillfully" in the upcoming elections, your nation is counting on you.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Life is Fleeting

"Great minds discuss ideas.
Average minds discuss events.
Small minds discuss people."

My mind feels small today, as I come to terms with the deaths of two people whose lives touched mine. Joseph Feeley and Andrew Breitbart had nothing in common that I know of, except that they both had an impact on me and they both died this week.

Joseph was only 23 years old, and valiantly proclaimed the glory of his Savior Jesus Christ even as he lost his long battle with the cancer that ravaged his body. His family was praying for a miracle that never came, or at least not in the way they hoped. Joseph IS healed and free from pain now, they just wanted it to happen here on earth instead of in heaven. Joseph's life, short as it was, made a difference in our world. People loved and admired him, both before and after he got sick. Instead of taking any of that credit for himself, he continually pointed others toward his loving Father in heaven, and lives were changed.

Breitbart was a family man in his 40's who spent his days exposing the hypocrisy and lies of America's political left wing. He was a pioneer of the blogosphere and using the internet to instantaneously disseminate information. He worked in a highly charged environment, where people's passions were inflamed. His friends called him fearless, and his enemies were less kind. By exposing frauds he informed people, and attitudes were changed.

I could write much more about these men, and I'm sure that others are doing so right now. What I am left with is a sense of loss, a sense that somehow the world is a bit dimmer today without the passion-fueled lights of Joseph and Andrew. No other person will ever fill the unique place of Karen and Joe's beloved son, or the intense determination of Breitbart.com.

Those of us left behind to mourn their passing must decide our own legacy. Will the world be a better place because we were here? What is our passion, and are we living it each day?