Obama administration is out of touch on religion – period. At least Christianity…

5 May

jkKerry on Religion:

‘Not the Way I Think Most People Want to Live’

7:28 AM, May 5, 2014 • By JERYL BIER

During a talk to the U.S. embassy staff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the first stop on his trip to Africa, Secretary of State John Kerry remarked about what he called the “different cross-currents of modernity” and the challenges they present on the African continent. The comments contain a veiled reference to religion, and the part that religion might be playing in some of the current conflicts in Africa:

This is a time here in Africa where there are a number of different cross-currents of modernity that are coming together to make things even more challenging. Some people believe that people ought to be able to only do what they say they ought to do, or to believe what they say they ought to believe, or live by their interpretation of something that was written down a thousand plus, two thousand years ago. That’s not the way I think most people want to live.

The words “something that was written down a thousand plus, two thousand years ago” appear to refer to the Bible, or the Koran, or perhaps both. More than one conflict in Africa today has either implicit or explicit religious connections:

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THE IMPENDING STORM OF UNEMPLOYMENT

4 May

jobs_2900287b

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

7:34PM BST 02 May 2014

The US economy has delivered two minor shocks in a week, prompting concerns that bond tapering by the Federal Reserve may be doing more damage than expected.

Non-Farm Payrolls data released on Friday shows that the workforce shed 806,000 jobs in April, a stunning drop that cannot plausibly be blamed on the weather. Wage growth and hours worked were both flat and the manufacturing hours per week fell.

This follows news earlier in the week that the economy to a halt in the first quarter. Growth plummeted to 0.1pc and is now well below the Fed’s “stall speed” indicator. Analysts blamed this on the freezing polar vortex over the winter.

Yet the jobs data confirm a disturbingly weak picture. The headline unemployment rate fell to 6.3pc but that was only because the labour “participation rate” plummeted back to a modern-era low of 62.8pc, last seen in 1978 when there were far fewer women in the workforce. The rate for males is the lowest ever recorded at 69.1pc.

The jobs market is highly volatile – and is often revised later – but the data are a warning that the US recovery may be losing momentum. Lakshman Achuthan, from the Economic Cycle Research Institute, said the trend was already weakening long before the cold weather. “We see a failure to launch. We’re decelerating, not accelerating, and that is a big concern,” he said.

The Fed has gradually been turning down the spigot of dollar liquidity, reducing its bond purchases by $10bn a month at each meeting, even though the bank’s measure of core PCE inflation has dropped to 1.1pc. The net stimulus has dropped from $85bn a month to $45bn.

This is a form of monetary tightening. Interest rates have not risen – though they are rising in real terms – but the quantity of money mechanism may nevertheless be having a powerful effect. The broadest measure of the money supply – Divisia M4 – has dropped from a growth rate above 6pc a year ago to just 2.6pc in March.

The Fed is unlikely to blink yet. Even the once dovish San Francisco Fed has warned that quantitative easing no longer serves a useful purpose and may be doing more harm that good at this stage, fuelling asset bubbles without much benefit for the real economy. Analysts say it would take several months of bad data to force the Fed to halt tapering and change course again.

US policy-makers no longer pay much attention to the monetary data. Robert Hetzel, from the Richmond Fed, said this led to a grave error in mid-2008 when the Fed’s voting board began to talk up rate rises even though the money supply was already buckling. He argues that this played a key part in the Lehman crash several months later.

Erica Groschen, from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, said the sudden drop in jobs last month was caused by fewer people joining the workforce, rather than people leaving. That is hardly reassuring, and conflicts with theories that the participation rate is falling because people are choosing to retire early.

The weakness may be nothing worse than a pause for breath – or a mid-cycle correction – as the US gears up for a second leg of the post-Lehman expansion. The risk is that this instead proves to be the end of growth cycle that is already long in the teeth by historic standards.

The possibility of a fresh downturn with the interest rates already at zero, the Fed’s balance sheet already at $4 trillion, and gross public debt above 100pc of GDP for the first time since the end of the Second World War is what keeps US economists awake night. There is little margin for policy error.

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Mark Caserta: Obama policies force dependence upon government

1 May

food stamp pres

May. 01, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

Life under the Obama administration has gotten very expensive for Americans — on both sides of the ledger. The lack of good paying jobs combined with higher prices is literally changing the way America does business.

First, a look at the “income” side of the ledger.

At just under 63 percent, our nation’s labor participation rate is the lowest it’s been since 1978, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and is projected to continue to fall over the next decade. As the nation’s workforce declines, the government safety net becomes comparatively filled with folks dependent upon government.

In fact, a record-setting 47 million people now depend on food stamps for sustenance, 13 million more than when Obama took office.

That metric alone should frighten all Americans.

Sadly, nearly 70 percent of the government’s discretionary and non-discretionary spending goes to programs which frequently trap individuals and families in long-term government dependence, according to the “2013 Index of Dependence on Government” publication by The Heritage Foundation.

Understand many of these people are hard-working Americans who’ve simply become casualties of Obama’s failing policies, which not only fail to provide a path out of poverty, but actually penalize success!

For those Americans fortunate enough to be working, the average workweek continues to decline with private, nonfarm payrolls now at 34.5 hours. I predict this weekly average will continue to fall as the Obamacare employer mandate kicks in requiring all businesses with over 50 full-time employees (employees who average 30 hours or more) to provide health coverage or pay a fine.

Frankly, this administration either doesn’t understand or isn’t willing to acknowledge the impending storm. Many employers will be financially forced to cap hiring below 50 employees, keep the employee’s average hours below 30, or pay the fine — whichever is least expensive. And with many of these jobs being low-paying retail positions, people will be forced into working multiple jobs simply to survive.

Now let’s look at the “expense” side of the ledger.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the U.S. was $1.83 the day before Obama took office. During his presidency it has risen over 96 percent to an average price last week of $3.68. And gasoline prices are a serious concern for individuals considering returning to the workforce versus staying home.

Retail food prices under the Obama administration are also skyrocketing due to commodity and fuel prices, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. From 2010 to 2011 alone, beef prices are up 10 percent, eggs and pork over 8 percent while fish and seafood are up over 6 percent, just to name a few staples.

Even a liberal should be able to understand that fewer good paying jobs combined with higher prices will result in increased dependence upon government, which in turn, will use the tax revenue from those employed to subsidize government programs supporting the unemployed — sort of taking from those who “have” for those who “have not.”

Hmm … that sounds like redistribution of wealth.

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: Obamacare more about power than healthcare

29 Apr

Barack%20Obama-JTM-046564

Dec. 26, 2013 @ 12:00 AM

Americans have been given a false choice regarding healthcare reform.

There were many viable alternatives for making healthcare more available and affordable in America that didn’t require tearing down the entire system and replacing it with a mandate that all Americans “bow” at the altar of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Internal Revenue Service.

Yet Democrat leadership failed to pursue reasonable solutions which studies have shown would significantly improve healthcare in the U.S. while maintaining an individual’s right to choose the coverage which best suits their needs.

Americans struggling to make ends meet should receive tax breaks commensurate with their income enabling them to afford quality healthcare for themselves and their family. I would personally like to see the money our government sends to other nations outside of humanitarian needs redirected to subsidize healthcare coverage for Americans at or below our nation’s poverty level. America must stay strong to help others!

People with pre-existing conditions shouldn’t be left out in the cold. But we can’t expect insurance companies to simply “absorb” these additional costs. Again, our government should re-allocate foreign aid funding, as well as eliminate their own irresponsible spending, to cover these additional costs in the form of a tax subsidy.

We must allow insurance companies to sell their policies across state lines. We have every reason to believe that healthy competition will reduce costs and provide more options for Americans just as every other U.S. industry.

Tort reform on medical malpractice is needed. Our current system increases costs both directly, in the form of higher malpractice insurance premiums, and indirectly, in the form of defensive medicine when medical services are prescribed simply to circumvent liability rather than benefit the patient.

Employers should be encouraged to offer Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to their employees. HSAs allow individuals to set aside money from each paycheck, before taxes, for future medical care. The American people are much more frugal and conscientious with their money than the government! An HSA may also be an excellent fit with a high-deductible insurance plan.

Pre-Obamacare, according to the Congressional Budget Office, (CBO) there were around 15 million uninsured Americans in the U.S. But based on CBO projections, once Obamacare is fully implemented, and working smoothly, that number climbs to 30 million in 2023!

I submit the Obamacare journey, which has cost our nation billions of dollars, has never really been about providing health coverage for all Americans, but something entirely different.

President Obama and Democrats sold Obamacare on a series of lies knowing it would result in a base of voters not only dependent upon government, but subject to extortion of their tax dollars if they defied the mandate.

A defining characteristic of this administration is to arrogantly operate within the narrowest definition of executive power and outside of the people’s consent.

The fact that Obamacare shifts power away from the people and to government challenges the fundamental belief that government must derive its “just powers from the consent of the governed”.

Obamacare isn’t about healthcare. It’s about power.

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Obama acts is if he’s above the law; he’s not

29 Apr

one bill at at time

Feb. 27, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

What liberals refer to as “obstructionist” tactics by Republicans in blocking the socialist policies of Barack Hussein Obama, conservatives call “preserving the Constitution.”

It’s interesting that while the president has often referred to himself as a “constitutional law professor,” the title is somewhat gratuitous. While never a full-time or tenured professor, he did teach courses in constitutional law at the University of Chicago as a “senior lecturer.”

Unfortunately, rather than use his knowledge to adhere to its provisions, the president has chosen to test the boundaries of our government’s founding document.

Article II, Section 3 of the U. S. Constitution, sometimes known as the “Faithful Execution Clause,” is best read as a duty that qualifies the president’s executive power. By virtue of this power, the president is required to “take care” that our nation’s laws are “faithfully executed.”

But not only has Obama been derelict in his duty to protect our laws, he’s an offender.

As Democrats are so fond of reminding Republicans, Obamacare is now the law of the land.

But despite the fact The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was indeed signed into law in 2010 and ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court, President Obama believes it’s within his power to make changes without Congressional action!

Our Constitution clearly grants legislative powers to Congress. The president does not have the authority to arbitrarily “alter” legislation signed into law.

The employer mandate, which requires businesses employing 50 or more full-time employees to provide health insurance or pay a fine, was scheduled to take effect in 2014, but has been delayed entirely or in part, twice, by the president!

The fact that Obamacare is poor legislation doesn’t grant the president powers exceeding those afforded him by the Constitution.

And in the first case of its kind, the Supreme Court is now arguing the legality of four “recess” appointments made by President Obama to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2012. The Constitution allows the president to make temporary appointments to those positions that otherwise require Senate confirmation, but only when the Senate is in recess. The problem is — the Senate was not in recess!

Three federal appeals courts have already ruled that Obama overstepped his authority in these appointments.

It’s obvious the president is following the “executive version” of the liberal playbook which calls for continuous contestation of preconceived limitations designed to “progressively” tilt the scales of totalitarian power to the left.

President Obama is arguably the most liberal president in our nation’s history. If he’s successful in these attempts to bypass our nation’s laws, what leftist policies will he pursue in his remaining years in office?

The U.S. Constitution is not merely a guideline to be consulted by those it was written to regulate. It’s the supreme law of the land written to protect the rights of all Americans and must be protected.

It’s time Americans “tether” President Obama to the Constitution and hold him accountable for adhering to its precepts.

This president is not above the law.

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

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20 PERCENT OF FAMILIES HAVE NO ONE WORKING

29 Apr

family

CNSNews.com) – In 20 percent of American families in 2013, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), not one member of the family worked.

A family, as defined by the BLS, is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000—or 20 percent–no one had a job.

The BLS designates a person as “employed” if “during the survey reference week” they “(a) did any work at all as paid employees; (b) worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; (c) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family.”

Members of the 16,127,000 families in which no one held jobs could have been either unemployed or not in the labor force. BLS designates a person as unemployed if they did not have a job but were actively seeking one. BLS designates someone as not in the labor force if they did not have a job and were not actively seeking one. (An elderly couple, in which both the husband and wife are retired, would count as a family in which no one held a job.)

In 20% of American Families, No One Works-1

Of the 80,445,000 families in the United States in 2013, there were 7,685,000—or about 9.6 percent—in which at least one family member unemployed.

The BLS has been tracking data on employment in families since 1995. That year, the percent of families in which no one had a job was 18.8 percent. The percentage hit an all-time high of 20.2 percent in 2011. It held steady at 20 percent in in 2012 and 2013.

The data on employment in families is based on Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey of the civilian noninstitutional population, which includes people 16 and older, who are not on active duty in the military or in an institution such as a prison, nursing home or mental hospital.

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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: Agenda 21 pushes more farm regulation

21 Apr

Another “prophetic” column I wrote in 2011 before Agenda 21 was even on the radar:

farmland

Aug. 10, 2011 @ 10:20 PM

West Virginia is blessed to have a number of family-owned and operated farms.

According to the most recent Census of Agriculture by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, West Virginia is home to over 23,000 farms, with about 50 percent of the state’s farmers considering farming their primary occupation.

It’s easy to take the value farmers offer our economy for granted. The closest many of us get to a farm is the occasional roadside stand or “farmer’s market.”

“Agenda 21” is a two-decade-old United Nation’s plan drawn up at the U.N. “Earth Summit” in Rio in 1992 supporting global “Sustainable Development.”

On June 9, President Obama signed an executive order to ensure the acceleration of rural America in the participation of the Agenda 21 goals.

The order, which established a White House Rural Council consisting of 25 branch departments, is designed to “enhance federal engagement with rural communities.” It covers 16 percent of the American population who live in rural counties and supply our food, fiber and energy and safeguard our natural resources.

To fully appreciate the potential impact of this regulation, one must understand the UN’s longtime stance on the issue of individuals owning land.

The Preamble of the UN’s land policy states:

“Land … cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes.”

Where is the connection?

One of the executive branch departments of this newly created White House Rural Council is the Department of Transportation.

Recently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, part of the DOT, proposed a rule change for farm equipment that would reclassify all farm vehicles as commercial motor vehicles and require all farmers and equipment drivers to obtain a commercial driver’s license to operate any farming equipment.

This proposal, if enacted, would place significant regulatory pressure on small and family farms across America, narrowing margins and potentially forcing many out of business. It could override the rights of the states and claim regulatory control over an estimated 800,000 farm workers.

Americans should be watchful and vigilant.

Any provision which provides the government this much control over food and real estate under the guise of “sustainability” is unsettling.

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

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Mark Caserta: Christians must get involved in coming year

20 Apr

THE CROSS

Jan. 02, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

I believe 2014 will be a defining year for our nation — one in which the progressive movement will attempt to accost the fundamental values and principles of our country in ways we’ve never even imagined.

And God is calling His people to get engaged in the fight.

Understand God has never required perfection in His people before calling them to a purpose. As with any loving father, He simply asks for our very best — our first fruits if you will — in serving Him.

I often ponder the life of Jesus and how He performed his everyday duties for his earthly father during his first 30 years before beginning his ministry.

A carpenter by trade, it’s almost certain Jesus learned his craftsman skills from his father Joseph. The custom in those days among the working class was that a trade be passed down from father to son and was often done through several generations.

I have little doubt Jesus was a master craftsman. I’d wager the work he and his father produced in their shop was widely known for its excellence in quality. Whether a table, a chair or part of an elaborate building project, I can envision him measuring and re-measuring to ensure accuracy while painstakingly cutting, fitting and molding each project to perfection!

No doubt, Jesus must have been encumbered by the same discomforts and emotions we face every day. There must have been days he certainly didn’t feel like working and felt the same “urges” to gripe and complain as the rest of us often do.

But Jesus was learning the importance of role-modeling excellence in all he set out to accomplish. He was learning that appearance profited little without an enduring structure and load-bearing foundation. His artisan training taught him the integrity of an entire structure depended upon the trueness of the first cornerstone laid.

And Jesus Christ himself would eventually become the Chief Cornerstone of the Church.

Now, some 2,000 years later, and eerily similar to those who nailed our Savior to that tree on Calvary, there are those who see Jesus and His followers as a threat to humanity and desire to “re-crucify” him by removing any reference to Christianity from public view and from any governing ideology.

At what point did God say it was acceptable for His people to idly stand by and allow the enemy to destroy the world He sent His Son to save? Does God’s Word not say, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

Just as Jesus’ finished work as a carpenter represented the teachings of his earthly father, our work on earth represents our Heavenly Father. Jesus took 12 men and shook the world. What can Christians do today in comparison?

Make the most meaningful New Year’s resolution you could possibly make. Get the fire, get the facts and get involved in 2014.

It’s up to Christians to return Godly values and biblical principles to our nation’s government.

Ye are the light of the world.

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

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Mark Caserta: Now is the time to defend Capitalism, not change it.

17 Apr

putin

Note: A column from 2008: Somewhat prophetic in its scope.

These past few weeks have been very disconcerting with regard to the path our government has chosen in these troubling economic times, although often in times of crisis, leaders expose deeply embedded beliefs as they frantically search for solutions to an overwhelming problem. I’m concerned our government may be out of answers and we’re going down a road that could change our economic system as we know it.

Winston Churchill once said, “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

Capitalism is an economic system in which the free enterprise of investment and ownership provides production of a product and/or service, distribution and the exchange of wealth between private individuals or corporations. Its success is directly relative to the productivity of its components. It’s an economic system characterized by a free market for goods and services under the control of private entities.

Capitalism is designed to reward those who work hard; however, it has equal consequences for those who decide not to pull their weight. Although capitalism clearly results in different levels of economic success, it also clearly provides equality in opportunity and promotes the entrepreneurial spirit. The people are in control of their future.

Socialism is the economic theory of “collective ownership” and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. Socialists believe that capitalism unfairly provides power and wealth to only a small segment of society that controls the major flow of capital. Socialists advocate a system whereby wealth and power are distributed more evenly by the government in an effort to eliminate class warfare. Socialism is designed to balance the economic worth of each citizen and for the government to provide for the needs of the people. The government is in control of your future.

Karl Marx, often referred to as the “father of socialism,” said, “From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs.” Socialism suppresses the entrepreneurial spirit by eliminating the incentives for productivity, while capitalism rewards productivity and creates consequences for fiscal “slothfulness.”

Or is the equation changing?

The government’s bailout of businesses that knowingly breeched the faith of the people is setting a very dangerous and unjust precedent. Most assuredly, the government has shown its down card, and the fact that these lending institutions were not allowed to suffer any consequences for their actions is unfathomable and unfair to hard-working Americans.

Probably the most tragic result of this “economic nightmare” of a decision made by our government is that it truly showed the will of the American people really doesn’t matter, and our nation’s political leaders, who were elected to represent the people, truly do not.

Is capitalism in danger? Is there a resolve among our nation’s leaders to take the problem out of the hands of the people? Are we headed for a major change to our economic system?

Karl Marx also said, “Democracy is the road to socialism.”

Only if our leaders decide to take that path.

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

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