If you have been following Governor Doyle's proposed budget at all, you know that it is filled with tax increases, unwanted new government programs, new fees, and a whole host of other overreaching legislation.

According to a JSOnline article, all of these spending measures will result in a $91 dollar or 3.2% property tax increase on the median home in Wisconsin. Since the median home assessment in the state is around $167,000, that means most of Brookfield will see tax increases greater than $91.

Republican legislators called the property tax increases irresponsible, saying they would pinch homeowners struggling to pay bills and keep their jobs while their homes lose value.

"People shouldn't have to worry over whether they can afford to live in their own homes," said Republican Sen. Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau. "Governor Doyle's budget makes it more difficult for families to afford to live in Wisconsin."

I attended the public hearing on Doyle's budget on March 25th. It was very crowded! People were lining up to address the budget committee. (At the rate they were going, they would be lucky to be finished by 9pm!) I found one familiar face though, fellow conservative blogger Randy Melchert was there video taping.

I struck up a conversation with a group of people who were independent gas station owners. They were wearing red T-shirts that said, WE ARE NOT BIG OIL. The new 3% tax would not stick it to the BIG OIL men as Gov. Doyle suggests, but harm the little guys like these--the independent gas station and convenience store owners.

They explained that the Governor's proposed 3% oil profits tax would be detrimental to station owners near the state borders because Wisconsin gas would need to be 3% higher in cost than at the neighboring out of state station. Unlike the similar tax proposed last year, this one was NOT to be passed onto the customer. If that was true, they said there was not enough profit margin to absorb a 3% cost increase for them. They would be forced out of business. According to Rep. Petersen's The Inside Scoop:

Regardless of your opinion about oil companies and profits, one must realize they sell and compete on a worldwide market. If the state charges a tax which is forbidden from being passed on to consumers, what is an oil company’s incentive to do business in Wisconsin?

The fee will only serve to discourage the wholesale distribution of fuel into the state. When supplies are short, Wisconsin will be last on a distributor’s list when surrounding states do not impose an “Oil Franchise Tax.” Due to the law of supply and demand, prices will definitely increase as the supply decreases.

By the way, our transportation fund wouldn't need shoring up if Doyle didn't keep raiding it to plug unrelated holes in the budget in the past...

Since he [Doyle] was first elected six years ago, Governor Doyle has raided more than $1.1 billion of the money you’ve paid in gas taxes and Department of Motor Vehicle fees to spend on programs other than roads. In this budget he pledges to raid another $77.5 million. 

...and the future:

Governor Doyle balanced his budget in part with $271 million in revenue generated from the [his] "oil profits" tax on big oil.

The  Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association group, or WPMCA have been running radio ads and sending out postcards urging residents to call their legislators at 1-800-632-9472. Their postcard features this stereotypical oil man and states: "They say Big Oil will pay, but experts agree Wisconsin families will get stuck with the bill."

On another front, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke Jr. spoke at the public hearing urging the Joint Finance Committee to "Remove the early release provision" for prisoners. He says Doyle is not taking into consideration the recidivist factor. He also wanted to dispel the myth of the non-violent offender, saying these people who are locked up for drug offenses are mostly drug dealers from major street gangs. "It might save $24 million," but it doesn't take in consideration the expense to local communities and the 90% re-offending rate. 

But Gov. Doyle isn't concerned about local community expense or what effect a tax or a raiding of funds will have down the road; all he wants to do is prop up his budget and extravagant spending now. Stealing from funds and shifting expense to others are just 2 of his methods of funding his plans.

This one is of concern to me, possibly because I am now more familiar with the needs of the elderly and infirmed. It's the mandatory unionization of home care workers. State Senator Michael Ellis spoke about this fact on Mark Belling's show in February. He also wrote about it in a press release, The Wheel Report: (My emphasis)

A little-known provision in Governor Doyle’s proposed budget would make the state a union organizer for personal care workers and would require most people who hire personal care workers to hire only those in the union, a requirement that will certainly increase health care costs...

“This provision is shocking in its scope,” Ellis said. “The state is becoming a coercive union organizer....

“The state is requiring all home care providers to become members of the union or they won’t get hired, because the state is requiring all people who hire home care workers to hire only those workers who are on the registry and members of the union.

This law will affect any person hiring a home care worker. It is rather like Doyle saying all baby sitters must be unionized. Certainly it will impact senior citizens or anyone who depends on home care workers to help a loved one stay in their home longer. It also negatively impacts the service provider company--many of which are just mom and pop type businesses. With unionization, firing an inferior worker becomes much more difficult.

How about Gov. Doyle's backdooring gay marriage by providing Domestic Partner benefits despite 59% of the voters in our state voting to ban gay marriage in 2006?

Same-sex couples could form domestic partnerships and receive dozens of the same legal benefits as married people under a proposal by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle.

So Doyle's budget sticks its nose into the Domestic Partner issue but does nothing to prohibit using the state funded Madison Surgery Center to perform 2nd trimester abortions. His motives are pretty clear.

Rep. Vukmir informed me, "The first executive (voting) session for JFC is on the 16th and only a small part of the budget will be considered." So at the very least, contact the Democrat co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee with your concerns: Senator Mark Miller and Representative Mark Pocan

Here are the email addresses of all the Joint Finance Committee members if you wish to send a group email (The last 4 addresses are Republican members of the committee): Rep.Pocan@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Miller@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Hansen@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Lassa@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Lehman@legis.wisconsin.gov, Sen.Robson@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Sen.Taylor@legis.wisconsin.gov, Rep.Colon@legis.wisconsin.gov, Rep.Grigsby@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Rep.Mason@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Rep.Sherman@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Rep.Shilling@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Sen.Darling@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Sen.Olsen@legis.wisconsin.gov,  Rep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov, Rep.Montgomery@legis.wisconsin.gov

If you wish to call the Joint Finance Committee members, they can be found on Leah Vukmir's State Budget Hearing page.

Please register your comments with your representatives in Madison too. Both of Brookfield's Assembly Representatives Leah Vukmir and Rich Zipperer and Senator Ted Kanavas are against Doyle's tax increases.

(R) Rep. Leah Vukmir 414-759-1100, Leah@LeahVukmir.com

(R) Rep. Rich Zipperer's Boondoggle Alert page  262-264-0655, rich@richzipperer.com

(R) Senator Ted Kanavas  (608) 266-9174, (800) 863-8883, email:Sen.Kanavas@legis.wisconsin.gov

(D) Senator Jim Sullivan   (608) 266-2512, (866) 817-6061, email: Sen.Sullivan@legis.wisconsin.gov

There are of course many, many more spending measures that are just a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. "High Speed Rail" to Madison's airport anyone? Raising sin taxes again? Hospital Bed/nursing home tax? Just take a look at his plan: 2009-2011 Executive Budget  These and many of the other tax increases will be discussed by the legislature in the upcoming weeks, but since Republicans are in the minority in both houses, don't expect much cutting.

Fight Back Wisconsin! Remember, The Wisconsin Tea Party Tax Rally is April 15th, 11:30 am on the steps of the Capitol on the King Street side, in Madison. You do NOT need to register to attend. There is a shuttle service if you are driving, or you can opt to take a bus, which you MUST register for, check the locations then click here for Bus Registration

CORRECTION: Can't get to Madison on tax day? How about Downtown Milwaukee at the Federal Building, 517 East Wisconsin Ave. (east of US Bank) at RED ARROW PARK at noon? (920 N. Water Street) Johnathan emailed me to say this is where he will be on April 15th instead of the Fed. Building. 

Previous Post: Public Hearing on Doyle's Budget, March 25th, State Fair Park 

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, BetterBrookfield, Vicki McKenna, Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, Randy Melchert, Mark Levin, The Heritage Foundation, CNS News

Several people have sent me emails about this,  The Red Envelope Project.

If you care about the sanctity of life issue, you may wish to participate. All you have to do is mail a red envelope to President Obama on March 31st.

The goal is to have the President receive an empty red envelope symbolizing a child lost to abortion. There are over 700,000 pledged red envelopes so far.

This is how the idea came about:

 Below is a letter that has been circulating with a great idea. The message began in silent prayer from a faithful follower who was spending quiet time with God.

 

This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception. I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.

 

As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.

 

Since President Obama just reversed President Bush's ban on Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and approved the destruction of Human Embryos for stem cell research (Federal funding), this project is very timely. Remember, during the campaign, he also pledged to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would reinstate Partial Birth Abortion as one of his top priorities.

This is how Red Envelope works:

Here is what I would like you to do:

Get a red envelope. ...On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington , D.C. 20500

 

On the back, write the following message.

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.

 

Put it in the mail on March 31st, and send it. Then send this website to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.

Warmly, Christ Otto

If you decide to participate, the Red Envelope Project would like you to register with them on that same webpage, so they can have a count of how many were mailed.

I'm using some left-over red envelopes from Christmas and Valentine's Day. Look in your card stash, hopefully you will find one. You can usually get them at office supply stores too, like Kinkos. I would recommend using a Sharpie type marker for the writing, so it shows up well.

If you are still having problems finding a RED envelope, you could use a sheet of red paper and cut, fold and glue into an envelope shape. (Use an existing envelope for a pattern.) Remember, it doesn't have to hold anything, it just has to go through the mail.

Then mark your calendar for Tuesday, March 31, 2009 with a reminder to drop it in the mail that day.

And now for the most important part: Pray for a change of heart for President Obama.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, BetterBrookfield, Vicki McKenna, Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, Randy Melchert, Mark Levin, The Heritage Foundation, CNS News

Just this week, we have 2 more stories in the news about stem cells used in human trials. In one case, a Parkinson's disease sufferer was helped, and in another case, a child with a brain disease, stem cells made the situation worse. 

If you just listened to the campaign ads from past elections, you might be led to believe that only the embryonic or fetal stem cells held the promise of cures and relief from serious diseases. You might be led to believe that Republicans are heartless people, refusing to offer any relief to sufferers, such as actor Michael J. Fox, because of some moral hang up* with harvesting the unborn stem cells to help the living.

But once again, the facts prove otherwise. It is the ADULT stem cells that have shown promise and the EMBRYONIC stem cells that are fraught with problems.

First, the stem cell success: Adult Stem Cell Research Reverses Effects of Parkinson's Disease in Human Trial: (My emphasis throughout posting)

Los Angeles, CA (LifeNews.com) -- Scientists have published a paper in a medical journal describing the results of the world's first clinical trial using autologous neural stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

 

A leading bioethics watchdog says the results show more money should be put behind adult stem cells. UCLA researchers published their results in February issue of the Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal which outlines the long term results of the trial.

"We have documented the first successful adult neural stem cell transplantation to reverse the effects of Parkinson's disease and demonstrated the long term safety and therapeutic effects of this approach," says lead author Dr. Michel Levesque

...The team was able to inject the adult stem cells without the need for immunosuppressants. Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cell injections don't cause a patient's immune system to reject the cells.

..."Of particular note are the striking results this study yielded -- for the five years following the procedure the patient's motor scales improved by over 80% for at least 36 months," Levesque wrote.

..."While the data show that the technique needs refinement, this patient went for several years with little to no symptoms of his disease, even with only half of the brain treated with his own adult stem cells," [said Dr. David Prentice of Family Research Council.]

Prentice says the results continue to prove that adult stem cells outpace their embryonic counterparts.

That indeed is good news! Do read the entire article.

Now contrast that success with this stem cell failure:  Report: Fetal stem cells trigger tumors in ill boy

WASHINGTON (AP) - A family desperate to save a child from a lethal brain disease sought highly experimental injections of fetal stem cells—injections that triggered tumors in the boy's brain and spinal cord, Israeli scientists reported Tuesday.

Scientists are furiously trying to harness different types of stem cells—the building blocks for other cells in the body—to regrow damaged tissues and thus treat devastating diseases. But for all the promise, researchers have long warned that they must learn to control newly injected stem cells so they don't grow where they shouldn't, and small studies in people are only just beginning.

Tuesday's report in the journal PLoS Medicine is the first documented case of a human brain tumor—albeit a benign, slow-growing one—after fetal stem cell therapy, and hammers home the need for careful research. The journal is published by the Public Library of Science.

But was the boy prone to tumors anyway or were the fetal stem cells to blame? A Tel Aviv University team extensively tested the tumor tissue and concluded it was the fetal cells. Among other evidence, some of the cells were female and had two normal copies of the gene that causes A-T—although that boy's underlying poor immune function could have allowed the growths to take hold.

And which kind of stem cell research do President Obama and the Democrats support giving government funding to?  The kind of stem cells that DON'T work, the EMBRYONIC ones.

Why? I believe because they are desperate to prove that we need to consider the embryo nothing more than a piece of tissue. It fits into their agenda to promote abortion.

There are more than 70 beneficial treatments already being used on human beings that come from using ADULT stem cells. You can read more about current treatments at Stemcellresearch.org It is pretty exciting.

*I don't expect a person without religious convictions to understand this, but if you are a person of faith, I ask you to consider this: I believe God is a benevolent God. He created everything. He knows what works and what doesn't.

Do you really think He would make the only cure to a disease be at the expense of another living being? I don't. If it were true, that would be a cruel choice indeed. Thankfully, we don't have to make that choice. In fact, the opposite is true. As it stands now, the promise of cure is coming from ADULT stem cells, not those obtained from destroying an embryo. 

Sampling of positive ADULT stem cell results: Treating MS Symptoms With Stem Cells, Stem-cell transplant wipes out HIV, The miracle teabag: Stem cells in a pack help stroke victim to talk again

Investor' Business Daily: Stem Cells: Ideology or Science?  

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Vicki McKenna, Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, Mark Levin, The Heritage Foundation, CNS News

You cannot make this stuff up. Attorney David W. Ogden is President Obama's choice for 2nd in command in the U.S. office of the Attorney General. So what?

Attorney David W. Ogden is pro-gays in the military, pro-p*orn, pro-abortion, and pro-children's access to unfiltered internet at libraries.

American Family Association is urging those that find Ogden's positions unacceptable to call their senators to vote against David W. Ogden's nomination. From the AFA:

Call your two senators and tell them to vote against the Ogden nomination. Ogden is no friend of the family.

• As an attorney in private practice, David W. Ogden has filed briefs pushing for gays in the military.
• He has litigated numerous obscenity and pornography cases on behalf of clients like Playboy, Penthouse, the ACLU and the largest distributor of hardcore pornographic movies.

In various cases, he has filed briefs opposing:
• parental notification before a minor’s abortion
• spousal notification before an abortion
• the military’s policy against public homosexuals serving in uniform
• the Children’s Internet Protection Act and the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act.

Take Action!

Make your phone call today! Get others to call. Tell your senators to vote against the nomination of David Ogden to the second position at the attorney general’s office. You can reach both of your senators at this number: 202-224-3121.

This is not the kind of "change" I "hope"d for.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Vicki Mckenna, Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, Mark Levin, CNS News

Last Thursday, I posted Ad celebrates Obama's mother's choice. That very afternoon, I received an email from Focus on the Family Action urging Christians to "pray for a change of heart for President Obama" regarding his pro-abortion and pro Freedom of Choice Act positions

If you recall, during the 3rd debate with John McCain, Obama made an effort to appear that he too was against partial-birth abortion.  Obama stated, "With respect to partial-birth abortion, I am completely supportive of a ban on late-term abortions, partial-birth or otherwise, as long as there's an exception for the mother's health and life..." That statement sounded somewhat conservative.

Yet Candidate Obama also promised Planned Parenthood that he would make signing the Freedom of Choice Act, which would reinstate Partial Birth Abortion, among other changes, his TOP PRIORITY. And so, Christians in the United States are urging that believers pray that President Obama would have a change of heart.

I have not heard anything specific about the Freedom of Choice Act yet, but since Obama wasted no time in ending President Bush's executive order to ban Federal funding to groups that promote abortion internationally, I would expect Obama to fulfill his promise to Planned Parenthood too.

I am grateful that the Catholic Church spoke out against Obama's executive order: Vatican criticizes Obama on abortion issue.  The head of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life summed up Obama's actions, "Among the many good things that he could have done, Barack Obama instead chose the worst."

And now we get to pay for it.

As for The Freedom of Choice Act. It sounds so innocent. If you are unfamiliar with the Freedom of Choice Act, FOCA, will no doubt be coming our way. Here are just a few things that law would change: 

 This would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

• Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
• Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
• Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
• Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter's abortion

FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

 A group called FightFOCA is collecting signatures of those opposed to the Freedom of Choice Act. You may sign the petition here. The "petition will be sent to key Members of Congress upon the re-introduction of the Freedom of Choice Act in the 111th Congress", and to the president.

If you are opposed, let your voice be heard, and don't forget to pray. With political leaders like Nancy Pelosi promoting the idea that adding "birth control funding to the new economic "stimulus" package ...will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government", implying "babies are somehow a burden on the treasury" we need all the help we can get.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

January 18 - 25th is Sanctity of Human Life week. It also marks "the 36th anniversary of the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade opinion that struck down state restrictions on abortion, essentially installing that "right" in the Constitution."

WorldNetDaily posted a very thought provoking pro-life ad* from CatholicVote.org that celebrates "President Barack Obama's mother's decision not to abort the first black American president"  Click to watch. (It is very short and tastefully done.)

The promotion is sponsored by CatholicVote.org, a faith-based educational program. The organization website states that it launched its "Life: Imagine the Potential" campaign "to reach Americans who are either indifferent, or who have not yet thought about the great potential of every human life."

President Obama's agenda regarding "reproductive choice" has been posted on the White House website.

It states, Obama "has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Administration."

Remember, Obama promised Planned Parenthood during the campaign to make signing the Freedom of Choice Act, that reinstates Partial Birth Abortion his TOP PRIORITY. (See Obama, are you for or against Partial Birth Abortion? Yes for more information.)

I am glad CatholicVote** is speaking out on this issue and promoting their Life: Imagine the Potential campaign. Like the bumper sticker states, "You cannot be Catholic & Pro-abortion".  I hope these efforts cause people to really think about what it means to be pro-choice and embolden other Christians to speak out more against it too.

*Heard about the ad on Vicki McKenna's show Thursday. 

**Although I am not a Catholic, this is an area of common belief. 

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Don't you love it?  Grow your own transplant parts from your own stem cells. Claudia Castillo gets windpipe tailor-made from her own stem cells: (My emphasis)

A woman has been given a new section of windpipe created from her own stem cells in an operation that could revolutionise surgery.

Claudia Castillo, 30, who lives in Barcelona, has become the first person to be given a whole organ tailor-made for her in laboratories across Europe.

A graft from a donor was used, but because it has been imbued with Ms Castillo’s own cells, there is no sign that her body will reject the organ.

Researchers and surgeons from Britain, Italy and Spain collaborated to grow tissue from Ms Castillo’s own bone marrow stem cells, using them to fashion the new bronchus – a branch of the windpipe. They believe that one day the approach will be used to create engineered replacements for other damaged organs, such as the bowel or bladder. In five years they hope to begin clinical trials in which laboratory-made voice boxes are implanted into patients with cancer of the larynx.

Please notice that this breakthrough did not come from embryonic stem cells, the stem cell research that the Democrats are so gung ho on. This comment rather says it all from the Times: 

We continue to have vast success with adult stem cells, but the Obamamaniacs still want to use live embryos, (which have not had one cure in over 25 years), to satisfy the pro-abortion crowd.  ...John Frank, Reading, USA

Stem cell research was a big issue during the presidential campaign. Obama ads lied about McCain and Palin's stance on stem cell research. Truth is, the adult stem cell research that Republicans support is already yielding about 73 benefits to human patients. You can read more about it at CNS, and on the Stemcellresearch.org site.

Embryonic stem cell research, touted by Democrats, has hit snags in that when embryonic stem cells were introduced to rats, tumor growth resulted. From CNS:

Stem cells obtained from human embryos, however, have not been successful in yielding results in scientific research thus far.

Why should we support that embryonic type stem cell research when adult stem cells are already being used successfully  on humans? That does not make cents or sense!

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

Well, today is the day. The day we go vote for president and our other government representatives*. How will you choose which one?

Will your choice be based on what the candidate promises to give and do for you? Or will the candidate's platform and character influence your choice?

President Lincoln said, "I know that the Lord is on the side of the right. But it is my constant prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side."

I am just speaking to people of faith here.

The Lord cannot bless a nation that embraces a culture of death concerning the unborn. He cannot bless a nation that embraces homosexual marriage. These 2 issues are clearly against His teachings in the Bible.

You cannot pick and choose which of God's principles you will obey and which you will disregard. If you do, you are in effect creating your own god, and putting that god before Him. That act violates the 1st commandment: Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me." We are created in His image, we don't create a god in ours.

On Sunday, our pastor challenged us to let God shape our thinking when we vote. As a Christian**, your vote represents God's voice to the government.

I am choosing the party that supports a culture of life and believes marriage between a man and a woman should be protected. That party's candidates are John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Is McCain perfect? Everything I could ever ask for in a candidate? No. But he does represent my Christian values. He also happens to support my American values.

"...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods [idols] which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15

*I am also voting for Jim Sensenbrenner and Leah Vukmir.

**This statement was addressed to a Christian congregation. No candidate was endorsed.
 

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

At the last debate, John McCain stated his strong opposition to the horrible procedure, Partial Birth Abortion. Barack Obama, knowing his pro-abortion stance at the Saddleback Forum hurt him, must have decided that in a national venue such as a televised debate, he could not publicly support Partial Birth Abortion. So Obama said he was "completely supportive of a ban on late-term abortions, partial-birth or otherwise, as long as there's an exception for the mother's health and life..." 

Yet he told Planned Parenthood he would make signing the Freedom of Choice Act that would reinstate Partial Birth Abortion, his top priority. "No, kick-starting the economy is not his number one goal and health care won't be top on his list of priorities." Obama said,

On this fundamental issue, I will not yield, and Planned Parenthood will not yield.

What is Partial Birth Abortion? It's a barbaric procedure in which doctors induce a late term pregnant woman to actually give birth. But before the baby is totally delivered, doctors puncture the child's brain to kill it. If any other culture did that we would be outraged. (Whether the mother's life is at risk or not, she still needs to deliver the child. What the doctor does to that child has no effect on the mother's health.)

Partial Birth Abortion was "banned by the Congress and signed by the President in 2003." The Supreme Court upheld the ban in 2007. Even pro-abortion Sen. Daniel Moynihan, Democrat from N.Y. voted to ban partial-birth abortion. He said the practice was "too close to infanticide." 

According to the Family Research Council, here is what the Freedom of Choice Act will do:

All sides in the abortion fight agree, if FOCA were to pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by a pro-abortion President, it would, among other effects, provide for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand even late in pregnancy, grant abortionists immunity from legal action, allow abortionists the discretion to perform abortions on minors without notifying a parent, and deny health care workers the right to refuse to make abortion referrals as a matter of conscience.

 

The other procedure, Late Term Labor Induced Abortion, occurs in the 2nd trimester, earlier in the pregnancy but still sometimes produces a living child.

These babies were the subject of the bill Obama voted against in the Illinois State Senate. It was the same as the identically worded Federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act (which passed the US Senate unanimously). Obama has tried to say the State version was not the same as the Federal version, but this is not true. In August 2008, "His campaign ...acknowledged that he had voted against an identical bill in the state Senate..."

Nurse Jill Stanek talked to Bill O'Reilly about her experience with born alive aborted babies at Christ Hospital in Illinois. Her account stunned O'Reilly.

Obama tried to wiggle out of the question, "...at what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" at the Saddleback Forum by saying, "answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

Well, even a janitor (someone below Obama's pay grade) could tell you an aborted, yet alive, infant discarded in a "soiled utility room" was living and entitled to better treatment. 

Click to view the video

Related info: Catholic Church has made no exception regarding abortion since ancient times, & Priests for Life 

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: 

People, you have a voice. Use it!

When you speak up in volumes to corporations or to Congress, it usually has a positive affect. McDonald's recently reversed its support for gay and lesbian political and social issues. Sen. McCain is talking about drilling domestically because Americans demanded it.

Just a week ago, I told you about 2 Choice Hotels in New Jersey that offered a $50 discount to women who were in the process of having an abortion in Stay in our hotels, aborting young mothers do.  

I urged you to contact the hotel chain. I did. Evidently many people called and emailed, because yesterday I received a reply: (My emphasis)

Dear Kyle Prast:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns about two hotels that are a part of the Choice Hotels franchise system.  We appreciate your input on this matter.  We have received several similar inquires. These two hotels, like all of our more than 4,600 franchised properties in the United States, are independently owned and operated. 

...While Choice as a franchisor develops national marketing programs, rates and promotion programs such as these are set locally.

As a result of inquiries like yours, The Clarion Hotel & Conference Center, upon reflection, has ended this practice of offering special rates to patients of the Cherry Hill Women's Center.

In addition, we have been advised by the Quality Inn in Maple Shade that any assertions of a similar discount at that hotel are false.

Thank you again for alerting us to this important issue. We hope you can now feel more comfortable about staying at our hotels.

Sincerely,

Mark Weiner
Vice President, Customer Care and Reservations, Choice Hotels International, Inc.

I emailed back a thank you. I don't know why the Quality Inn in Maple Shade, NJ was included in Family Research Council's alert, but they say they are not involved in the practice. Certainly the outpouring of negative public comment should keep other hotels in the area from offering similar discounts.

Money talks. Most businesses know they cannot afford to offend large groups of potential customers--especially in a depressed economy. Now if we could just get our government to be as responsive. It takes a lot of hammering by the public to make even the tiniest dent.

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: