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Mark Caserta: Have Republicans again abandoned abortion message?

24 Apr

abortionApr. 24, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

It appears that once again, abortion may be missing from the national debate in an election year. And Christian conservatives have a legitimate question for GOP candidates:

Will you continue to refuse to make the issue of life or death for the most vulnerable among us table stakes for your candidacy simply for fear of alienating voters?

Please understand that while Article VI of the Constitution clearly states there shall be “no religious test” qualifying a Congressional candidate for office, this does not exempt you from certain “qualifications in principle” that Christian conservatives will refuse to compromise in November — and abortion is one of them.

And burying your pro-life position deep in your on-line profile isn’t bringing the topic to the table for discussion. It’s unacceptable that progressives have been allowed to move the standard far beyond the provisions of Roe v. Wade.

In a 7-2 opinion, the court ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion. The due process clause protects a broad right to privacy that is also found in the Ninth Amendment and the penumbras of the Bill of Rights. This “substantive due process” right to privacy permits a woman to terminate her pregnancy for any reason during the first trimester. However, subsequent to approximately the end of the first trimester (about 3 months) the state may reasonably regulate abortions in ways related to maternal health.

Our nation has dreadfully exceeded the parameters set by the Supreme Court of the United States. In fact, according to a recent report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the United States has one of the most permissive abortion policies in the world (7 out of 198 countries) and is one of seven countries in which late-term abortions after 20 weeks (about 5 months) are allowed.

Sadly, many studies have shown that by this stage of development, a child is capable of feeling pain and women are at a greater health risk.

Often we hear pro-choice activists espouse rape, incest, genetic disability or health of the mother as primary consideration for supporting abortion on demand. But of 1,260 women surveyed in a 2004 study by The Guttmacher Institute, only 7 percent cited health concerns as their most important reason for choosing to abort their child. The majority of women actually stated a financial or lifestyle challenge as a top reason for their choice.

Each year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requests voluntary abortion data from across the country. While 756,651 abortions were reported in 2010, many suspect the number to be closer to 1 million babies aborted every year in the United States.

How many of God’s children who were destined to become world changers were never given the chance? How many brilliant scientists, skilled physicians or prominent leaders never escaped the womb?

Human life is a frail and precious gift of God. If GOP candidates refuse to re-introduce abortion into the discussion, then who will?

It’s time to stand up for life.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Liberals’ only interest is fundamental change

17 Apr

holder

hillary

lerner

sebelius

Apr. 17, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

Few government entities have the capacity to impact Americans more than the Justice Department, the State Department, the Health and Human Services Department and the Internal Revenue Service. All are led by individuals appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

With a combined annual budget approaching $1 trillion of taxpayer money, these agencies shoulder significant responsibility in managing the infrastructure of government and taking care of the people’s business.

Yet despite the substandard performance of each of these government agencies during the Obama administration, liberals seem more focused on advancing their progressive movement than strengthening our nation and seeking justice.

In 2012, Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt by the House of Representatives for refusing to turn over documents tied to the botched “Fast and Furious” gun-running operation. Two guns found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s fatal shooting were determined to be linked to the Justice Department operation. While the investigation is ongoing, Holder insists the tragedy is simply being leveraged for political advantage.

On the night of September 11, 2012, a heavily armed group of terrorists attacked the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, killing four brave Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. In the days following the attack, the State Department would engage in what appeared to be a cover-up of what actually happened during the attack with a fabricated story claiming the uprising was in opposition to an anti-Muslim film that had triggered protests in Egypt and elsewhere.

Recently, shouldering the weight of a miserable Healthcare.gov rollout and feeling the pressure of an upcoming election, Kathleen Sebelius resigned her post as secretary of Health and Human Services. But timing is everything in politics, so it was important for the Obama administration to “accept” her resignation in the wake of the announcement that 7.5 million people already had signed up for Obamacare. Interestingly, the White House will not provide answers to key questions, such as how many enrollees were previously insured and how many have actually paid their first month’s premium.

But this administration has proven it won’t allow facts to get in the way of advancing its agenda. It’s mind-numbing for liberals to be so infatuated with this president it means absolutely nothing to them that he repeatedly and unrepentantly lied to Americans about the Affordable Care Act!

And just last week, The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved a resolution to hold ex-IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify at two of the panel’s hearings. Lerner, who headed an IRS division that reviews applications for tax exemption, invoked her Fifth Amendment right at both hearings when asked about targeting of Tea Party affiliated organizations.

Now, we’ve always had government corruption, but the scope and practice here is unprecedented. Despite the Obama administration’s autocratic, unfettered approach, liberals don’t seem to care.

They simply want fundamental change.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page

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Mark Caserta: Foreign aid must be cut to bolster US stability

15 Apr

foreign aid

Dec. 05, 2013 @ 12:00 AM

The United States simply cannot sustain current levels of assistance to other countries.

According to the Treasury Department, our projected deficit for Fiscal Year 2014 is about $744 billion and our national debt is around $17 trillion, or about $52,807 per person.

I’d say it’s time to keep some cash at home until we can get our own financial house in order.

From a business perspective, it’s inconceivable that Congress has been operating without a federal budget for over three years. And sadly, our current mix of representation lacks the competencies required to build relationships and collaborate on viable financial solutions.

Additionally, President Obama, who is required by law to submit a budget to Congress on or before the first Monday in February of each year, has missed the mark four of the past five years and has yet to have a proposal seriously considered by either chamber of Congress.

Understand, the U.S. budgetary process is essential in determining funding levels for the next fiscal year and directly affects the monetary amounts allocated to foreign assistance programs.

The U.S. Agency for International Development states its function is to provide “economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States.” The U.S. provides around $50 billion in aid to other countries each year, according to the agency.

Now, humanitarian aid, at reasonable levels, has a strong political constituency in the U.S. But development aid remains controversial, and many contend it is a waste of taxpayers’ money. Multiple reports reveal inadequate oversight has resulted in billions of dollars in wasted resources.

The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) compiled each year by the Center for Global Development ranks the “quantifiable performance” of foreign aid for 27 of the world’s richest countries. The index uniquely assesses multiple categories ranging from trade to technology — not based on how much aid a nation provides, but the weighted value of the aid given.

Of the 27 countries, while the United States was by far the world’s top financial donor, it ranked 19th in overall value, behind countries like Denmark, Ireland and Canada.

Conspicuously missing from the donor list was China, which recently surpassed Japan as the world’s second largest economy and is forecasted to overtake the U.S. by 2016.

Yet, according to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. provided $28.3 million in foreign assistance to China in 2012 to promote human rights, democracy, the rule of law, environmental conservation and to support Tibetan culture!

While perhaps noble in nature, do these causes supersede the fundamental needs of Americans?

What portion of U.S. foreign aid could have been re-allocated as tax subsidies for the 15 percent of Americans who were without health coverage, pre-Obamacare? And still could.

Our government has become a poor steward of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money — domestically and internationally.

And until we achieve financial stability, we must limit foreign aid to humanitarian needs and require other nations to be more assertive in their own development.

The U.S. has its own problems.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY EVENT – CHARLESTON, WV.

8 Apr

americans for prosperity

I couldn’t agree more with the vision of this fine organization.
Government spending is bankrupting our children’s future and “Americans For Prosperity” is at the front lines working for the American taxpayer.

I want to thank Wendy McCuskey, WV State Director, for her endeavors for the people for several years now. I also plan to do whatever I can to support her in her new position with AFP WV.

Godspeed Wendy!

AFP WV TAX Day of Activism

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McKinsey: Only 14% Of Obamacare Exchange Sign-Ups Are Previously Uninsured Enrollees

2 Apr

OBAMACARE
Avik Roy, Forbes Staff

The Obama administration has, for months now, been peddling nice-sounding numbers as to how many people are gaining health coverage due to Obamacare. But their numbers have been inflated on two fronts. First, not everyone who has “selected a marketplace plan” under Obamacare has actually paid the required premiums, payment being required to actually gain coverage. Second, only a fraction of people on the exchanges were previously uninsured. A new survey from McKinsey gives us a better view into the real numbers. Of the 3.3 million people that the White House has touted as Obamacare exchange “sign-ups,” less than 500,000 are actual uninsured people who have actually gained health coverage.

Many Obamacare ‘enrollees’ aren’t actually enrolled

McKinsey, the leading management consulting firm, has been conducting monthly surveys of the exchange-eligible population under the auspices of its Center for U.S. Health System Reform. McKinsey’s most recent survey, conducted in February with 2,096 eligible respondents, found that only 48 percent had thus far signed up for a 2014 health plan. Within that 48 percent, three-fifths were previously insured people who liked their old plans and were able to keep them. The remaining two-fifths were the ones who signed up for coverage on the Obamacare exchanges.

McK enroll Feb 2

Of the Obamacare sign-ups, only 27 percent had been previously uninsured in 2013. And of the 27 percent, nearly half had yet to pay a premium. (By contrast, among the 73 percent who had been previously insured, 86 percent had paid.)

Put all those percentages together, and you get two key stats. Only 19 percent of those who have paid a premium were previously uninsured. Among those that the administration is touting as sign-ups, only 14 percent are previously uninsured enrollees: approximately 472,000 people as of February 1.

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A FATHER’S LOVE LETTER

31 Mar

This is an inspiring love letter which could change your life – in 5 minutes.

THE CROSShttp://www.fatherheart.tv/inspirational-videos/

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Mark Caserta: Watch and share Red Skelton’s inspiring monologue on America’s flag.

30 Mar

Watch Red’s thoughtful presentation on what the flag means to our great country.  Then consider the protests from the NFL players and support from the owners and the National Football League.  You may see things differently.

How many of these NFL Players protesting by “taking a knee” during the National Anthem would even pledge their allegiance to the flag of the United States?

And remember, their act of taking a knee is not done in the manner we usually think of, such as for prayer, to honor or show respect.  They simply don’t have a chair to place their backsides in!  If they had a chair, they would remain seated.

 

red

RED SKELTON’S PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

An inspiring monologue from a true American Hero

red skelton

Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance

by Red Skelton

As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton’s teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.

I – – Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge – – Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

Allegiance – – My love and my devotion.

To the Flag – – Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody’s job.

United – – That means that we have all come together.

States – – Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.

And to the Republic – – Republic–a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it’s from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation – – One Nation–meaning, so blessed by God.

Indivisible – – Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty – – Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one’s own life, without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.

And Justice – – The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.

For All – – For All–which means, boys and girls, it’s as much your country as it is mine.

And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God. Wouldn’t it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too?
Red Skelton

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Mark Caserta: We must choose the right path for our future

25 Mar

progressive v liberaMar. 20, 2014 @ 08:55 AM

The Herald-Dispatch / 2014

Our nation is at a crossroads where the choices for our future could not be more distinctly different in nature.

One path, conservatism, represents traditional, time-honored values with God’s Word and our nation’s founding documents serving as the principle, unshakable foundation on which our lifestyle and our ideology must align. Conservatives believe God is in control.

The path of progressivism represents an “innovational” system of values for “thinkers” who leverage the Constitution or the Bible only when convenient. Morality rests on a sliding scale and shifts with time in order to better align with an individual’s ideology. Progressives believe man is in control.

At this point in history, progressives are emboldened by their success and indeed flourishing in their movement. Unfortunately, while liberals have been tenacious in their attack on America, too many conservatives and Christians have watched from the sidelines.

After all, Jesus is coming soon, so why bother?

But what if our Lord doesn’t come for another generation? Considering the liberal resolve to fundamentally change America, what could our nation look like in 25 years if progressives continue to be successful?

Abortion might have no limitation in our society. Getting rid of an unwanted child could be as simple as getting rid of a headache. Despite the fact the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade gave some consideration to the viability of the baby, progressives have gradually “shifted” the mindset removing that consideration in many instances.

Our nation could see legislation re-introduced allowing partial birth abortion (PBA) and live birth abortion (LBA).

In a PBA, the doctor delivers a substantial portion of the living child outside the mother’s body while leaving the head just inside the womb. The baby is then killed by removing the brain by suction. The LBA is not really an abortion at all, but intentionally denying the baby care after a “botched” abortion.

The family unit may not look anything like it looks today. Progressives incessantly pursue universal same-sex marriage recognition for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender partners.

But understand liberal ideology demands removing all limitations, so where will it end?

Liberal “theologians” suggest amending the Bible to accommodate what it clearly calls “sexual immorality” and “unnatural desires.” But once God’s Word is negated as the benchmark, what will be acceptable? The available data on the unlikely marital “unions” already taking place is mind-numbing!

Organizations such as the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) will begin to flourish in the wake of liberal advancements. NAMBLA, according to its website is, “the love of a man for a boy, and of a boy for a man.” Is this acceptable to liberals? What networking of immorality will follow?

Understand, we not only choose our own paths, but we help to keep them open or closed for future generations. Today, both paths remain open. But what choices will our children have?

Liberalism exists to “open” a wide, inclusive path to destruction and to “close” the path paved with God’s Word and our Constitution.

Choose the right path now while we still can.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Words of Wisdom: Doug Smith

19 Mar

To my blog family: This is a must read in response to a question about the day in which we live from a wise compadre, Doug Smith Reagan
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I don’t concern myself with eschatology so much anymore. although I used to. The end? Well, it will come when it comes, and neither me, nor anyone else will know in advance. So live life as if today were your last day. Someday you ll be correct, and you will waste less of the time you have.
Now, that being said, I do think we are in a dangerous world. If you were looking at an Olde World map, there would be many places marked ” Heere there be Dragons. ” There are, as there have been always, wolves, bandits, men who believe that they can and should take what others have if they have the strength to do so. It is a lazy and evil attitude. It says I will not work hard to have what you have, I will not emulate your hard work and gain the same rewards you gained, I will wait for your work to be done and hit you and take it.

It began with Cain. It has never stopped. Unfortunately, there are also, and have always been, naïve , childlike men who believe in the world as they think it ought to be, and refuse to see the world as it is. And when these naïfs manage to get in control with high sounding but empty words, the results are based in the reality of what an adult would expect.

You don’t let your 4 year old drive your car, because you know what to expect. You don’t let a dangerous animal near your family, because you know it may attack. You build fences to keep out the bear. If it comes to close, you shoot at it. You let it know that you are as dangerous as it is. Otherwise it will come into your camp and eat your food, and perhaps, you.

I first noticed these things when Jimmy Carter was President. But in looking back across my lifetime, I have now noted a pattern. JFK met with Khrushchev, and that hungry old bear left with the impression the man was weak and feckless. A spoiled rich boy, not able to do anything without his daddy s money; Nikita saw no challenge in the man. His bumbling betrayal of the Cubans at the Bay of Pigs reinforced the impression that there was no substance to the man. And so we got the Cuban Missile Crisis. And I, along with millions of other children, were taught to cower under a desk to protect me from a thermonuclear blast hitting the Nickel Plant. Although the popular myth of the time was ” the Bear blinked, “, we now know that in fact, Kennedy quietly agreed to what he wanted all along. A few months after the Crisis passed, we removed our missiles from Turkey. A weak President, a challenge by a bandit, and a loss to America.

Jimmy Carter s weakness and incredibly naïve reading of world politics gave us the Mullahs in Iran, the hostage crisis, and gave rise the the modern Islamic terrorist threat we see around today. It makes a fine statement on those naïve supporters that a weak man who facilitated more violence and armed conflict than perhaps any other 20th century President was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On the other hand, they also awarded it to Woodrow Wilson, who was re elected based on staying out of WW1, and launched us into it a month later.

Ford was tested by the Vietnamese and responded strongly. And we had a period of relative peace. Reagan and Kaddafi reached an understanding. Khadafy would shut up and not support terrorists against US interests, and Reagan would not bomb his tent anymore. He was winding up again during the Clinton years, and had an active WMD program. But strangely, in the month that the Iraq war started, he contacted the Brits and began to negotiate shutting it down. 9 months later, the US airlifted 25 metric tons of material and equipment for producing nuclear weapons out of Libya.

So now? We have weak, inexperienced, feckless, naïve leaders at the helm of the strongest nation in history. Common sense, and the evidence of my eyes, tells me that bandits and bullies will press their advantage. What will happen exactly? I don’t know. It will not be in our interests. Make no mistake, the bandits and bullies of the world pay attention to US politics. They do what they can, through propaganda or money, to put the sort of leaders in place that are beneficial to them.

The times are perilous. Our leaders are ineffective. Elections have consequences. Real, life and death consequences. The numbers tell us that Obama got fewer votes in 12 than in 08. 4 million Republican voters sat out the election, because Romney was an admittedly imperfect candidate. Yet if those 4 million had done what I did, ie held their noses and voted, Romney would be President. Elections have consequences.

If you are a Republican who sat at home in 2012 because you wanted Gingrich, or Herman Cain, or some other candidate, then YOU are as responsible for this second 4 years of trouble under Obama as the ” give me ” crowd who voted for him as Santa Claus. Don’t whine about how bad it is, and whine OH what can we do anyway, if you didn’t bother to cast your vote. You like what you have now? No? Then don’t sit home this fall. Don’t sit home in 2016. Don’t ever sit home again if you have breath in you.

William F Buckley said ” Support the most right leaning viable candidate. ” Wise words. A very conservative candidate with no hope of winning is a waste of time. A failure to vote for a candidate who is not all you want, but is closer than the opposition is politically no different than voting for the most radical leftist out there. And thus we suffer with Barack Obama. I hope this dangerous world scares every conservative, every Christian, to the point that they will never again fail to vote, and get their friends out to vote. THAT is the thing we can do. There may be more, but when we fail to do even that, then shame.

” All that is required for evil to win, is for good men to do nothing.” That applies to Barack Obama s dealings with Putin and Iran and North Korea and China. But it applies equally to the electorate and Barack Obama. Find the good as you see it, and support it all you can. Failing to do this means that evil will gain. Whether Obama is evil or naïve and misguided, I cannot say. I don’t see inside him. But his actions are such that they permit evil to gain ground. So when we permit him to win, we do the same thing.

Now, the WV 3rd race between Rahall and Jenkins is getting national attention, because for the first time there is a real chance that a Dem will lose the district. Pulling power from the Dems in Congress lowers Obama s ability to do the misguided things he does. Capito has a real chance to capture the Senate seat of Rockafeller. WV could be one of the states that wrests control of the Senate from Harry Ried and finally puts the brakes on the Obama agenda. So there is something you can do, if we are still around in November.

Christians are wont to say, I will do such and such if the Lord tarries. Don’t worry about that. Do the right thing today. If the Lord comes, you ll hear about it, trust me. Meantime, do the right thing today.

Ok, that’s my take on it.

9 hours ago · Like · 1

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Mark Caserta: Social progressives are ruining America

16 Mar

GOD'S WORD VS MANMar. 13, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

America is in a state of rapid decline, with nearly every measure of society spiraling in efficacy.

Socially, our nation is becoming morally anemic. While understanding the family unit is God’s foundation for our purposeful growth, progressives have waged a relentless attack on traditional marriage. Their tenacity has successfully moved our nation to the acceptance of same-sex parents with the term “partner” used over the time-honored titles of “husband” and “wife.”

As purity loses its value and augmented by the declining number of marriages in our nation, more and more babies are being born out of wedlock. A 2012 study sponsored by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia shows that nearly half of “first” babies born in the U.S. are born to unwed mothers.

Economically speaking, our nation’s financial woes have never been worse. Washington continues to spend money we simply don’t have and five years into the Obama presidency, Americans have little to show for the president’s $787 billion stimulus package.

Under this administration, the labor force participation rate is the lowest in three decades, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of people relying on food stamps is at a record high at 48 million, or a 49 percent increase since Obama took office.

And with millions of Americans out of work, liberals have conveniently forgotten the “shovel-ready jobs” promise president-elect Obama made in December 2008. “I’m confident … our 21st century investments will create jobs immediately,” Obama said while speaking in Chicago. “We’ve got shovel-ready projects all across the country.”

But the jobs never materialized. And although many struggling families took this president at his word, this “executive miss” gave Obama a little “chuckle” while meeting with his jobs council in 2011. He remarked that “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.”

Internationally, America’s relationship with the world has never been more problematic. We’ve opened ourselves to unprecedented challenge by countries across the globe who have longed for a moment in time when the “mighty” U.S. would falter under dysfunctional leadership.

Barack Obama set the stage early in his presidency when he took his international “apology tour” on the road. In less than 100 days, the president apologized on three continents for what he views as the sins of America and his predecessors, lavishing his country with descriptors like “arrogant,” “dismissive” and “even derisive.”

While hardly words of a patriot, this admission of fault and subsequent “passive” leadership has emboldened our enemies and alienated our allies. This administration’s failure in its goal to “reset” relations with Russia is only the most recent example of impotent leadership, and might indeed reinstate a Cold War.

Progressives are destroying our nation. Their ideology is depreciating America both domestically and internationally, and the American people are paying the price.

America can once again become the beacon of freedom and liberty across the globe simply by returning to the conservative principles which made us great.

It’s time to stop the progressive movement and “reset” American exceptionalism.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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