Reformation
Gas at $4 a Gallon? Here’s Why
When gas prices edged up fifty cents a gallon during the George Bush years, the mainstream media cried bloody murder trying to smear the Administration.
Yet under the Obama administration, gas prices have DOUBLED–with hardly a peep from those same news outlets.
Why?
Because it was never about prices. It was about bringing down a conservative president then, and propping up a liberal (socialist) one now.
The leftist media actually want gas prices to rise because they desire to take Americans out of their cars and into centrally-planned light rail systems the people don’t want to use. They want to promote wind, solar, and other renewable resources to “save the planet.”
It’s a huge “con” which is about nothing but control.
Controlling people. Limiting freedom.
America has plenty of energy resources to power everything we use–at far lower prices:
- We have vast oil reserves, including ANWAR, which if it had been developed ten years ago, would be making a significant contribution to lower fuel prices now.
- We have immense shale oil deposits that could be harvested.
- We possess the world’s greatest largest reserves of natural gas.
But there’s been a conspiracy in the past twenty years in this nation to place so-called environmental concerns over the future of powering America. Most of those”concerns” are just plain bunk.
It’s time we called the charade and demanded that American energy companies be allowed to do what’s necessary to bring down gasoline prices and provide complete energy independence from a chaotic Middle East.
The following article by the Heritage Foundation is right on the beam. Read it and let your voice by heard. RB.
“Obama’s Anti-Drilling Agenda Costs Jobs Across America”
President Obama’s hometown of Chicago is nearly 1,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. But like many other communities across the country, it is suffering the consequences of his Administration’s anti-drilling agenda.
Illinois accounted for $376.2 million in shallow-water drilling expenditures over the past three years, according to an analysis by 14 oil and gas companies that spend money on vendors and subcontractors. The bulk of that money—$242.2 million—was spent in the Chicago district represented by Representative Danny Davis (D–IL).
It’s fresh evidence that Obama’s anti-drilling agenda is having a ripple effect across America since last year’s oil spill, claiming jobs not just in Louisiana and Texas but also in communities far removed from the shipyards in the Gulf of Mexico.
The study from the Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition paints a picture of the nationwide economic ramifications. Obama can’t even be blamed for playing politics. Five of the states that benefit most from shallow-water drilling backed him as a candidate in 2008. And Democrats represent many of the congressional districts that stand to lose millions.
The cost in jobs is startling. A new analysis by Louisiana State University professor Joseph Mason projects national job losses at 19,000 from the drilling moratorium, with wage losses at $1.1 billion. About one-third of those jobs are located outside the Gulf region.
Nearly a year after imposing his anti-drilling agenda, it’s quite clear that Obama is carrying out misguided policies causing widespread harm.
And job losses aren’t the only consequence. The Obama Administration’s deliberate delay in issuing permits for both deepwater and shallow-water drilling has led to a sharp decline in oil production for the Gulf of Mexico this year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration puts the figure at 240,000 fewer barrels every day.
With gas prices hovering around $3.56 per gallon nationwide, now is not the time to lower production. The only way to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil is to produce more of it here at home.
The recent approval of new drilling permits for the Gulf of Mexico is a welcome and long overdue move by the Administration, but it’s nothing to celebrate. The pace of permitting is far below the historical average, and there’s no indication that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has any desire to return production to a pre-spill level.
Until that happens, expect more grim news like the unfortunate circumstances facing Seahawk Drilling, which was forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a direct result of the bureaucratic delays at BOEMRE. Seahawk’s president and chief executive Randy Stilley, writing in The Washington Post, painted a dire picture:
The government’s drastic slowdown in the issuance of permits for shallow-water drilling operations—in which companies work in familiar geological formations, typically in less than 500 feet of water, mostly seeking to produce natural gas—has all but crippled the industry. The survivors (for now) like Hercules are staying afloat largely thanks to revenue from operations outside U.S. waters. Put another way, a once-proud industry born in the gulf during the Truman administration can no longer survive on operations in its own back yard.
Unless things change soon, Seahawk Drilling won’t be alone. Businesses located in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, and New York—top recipients of shallow-water drilling spending—will all face economic consequences as well.
It’s time for lawmakers to take notice. Representative John Sullivan (R–OK), who represents a district with $87.2 million in shallow-water expenditures over the past three years, recognizes the impact. He told us: “Continuing to keep American sources of energy under lock and key by failing to issue drilling permits only serves to place American jobs at risk, drives up costs at the pump and deepens our dependence on foreign oil.”
Things don’t have to be this way. The House of Representatives must continue to conduct rigorous oversight of the Obama Administration, challenging the Administration’s excuses and applying pressure when necessary. America’s energy future depends on it.
No More Politeness on Obamacare
As a general rule, I try to be polite with people and their policies.
When Obamacare first came out, I was careful to not attribute bad motives or intentions to those who wanted to change our health care system. It’s true I didn’t share their view of greater government intrusion in the U.S. healthcare industry, but I wanted to be civil in my reactions and opinions.
But I learned something recently that caused me to change my mind. It’s time to take off the kid gloves and state the truth plainly.
Obamacare is a sinister disaster.
Here’s why…
Actually, we should have known this a long time ago. There were a number of ominous signs when the original bill was being passed:
Sign One – The way the bill was put together behind closed doors on a totally partisan basis. The Democratic Party allowed no Republican involvement and didn’t allow CSPAN or anybody else to broadcast hearings or the decision-making process. A cloak of darkness almost always means deception. We should have strongly protested this clandestine process.
Sign Two – Buying off a number of senatorsto get this bad bill to pass. Congress is always involved to some degree in horse-trading, but the “Louisiana Purchase” with Senator Mary Landrieu and the “Cornhusker Kickback” bribe made to Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson–and others–went way beyond the pail. The passing of this legislation was loaded with bribery and pay-offs. That’s bad policy in a democratic republic.
Sign Three: Three thousand pages in length. The Obamacare bill was a multi-thousand page bureaucratic monstrosity–worth of the former Soviet Union but not the United States of America. The important things in life and best writings are usually simple–think the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. We should have shouted from the housetops that we would not stand for a bill that was so large that nobody had time to read it–that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said needed to be passed quickly so that afterwards “we could find out what was in it.” Three hundred million Americans should have shouted bloody murder over that perversion of the legislative process. Pass a bill that alters an industry and nation–and find out afterwards what it means? That’s not only idiotic–its an evil use of governmental power.
Sign Four – Exceptions, exceptions, exceptions. Obamacare was passed on the idea that it was better for American business and the public. We were told it would make health care more available and affordable, bring costs down, and decrease the deficit. Well, if it was so good for one and all, why did nearly 1000 groups line up to be excused from the program for a number of years? If something is good, you won’t want to be excluded. You will desire to be the first in line for the benefits.
That didn’t happen with Obamacare. If it’s bad for business now, it will be far worse in the future.
But the worst abuse of the Obamacare bill only came to light recently. That’s because it took all this time to carefully comb through the voluminous pages of this legislative nightmare and actually begin to understand what it was saying and doing.
Buried in the 3000 pages of federal healthcare takeover was a stealth appropriation of 105 billion dollars!
Let that sink in.
105 billion.
That’s the entire size of the US debt in 1980–a mere thirty-one years ago. To implement Obamacare over the coming years, the authors of the bill totally side-stepped the appropriations process of the US Congress. They didn’t want anyone ever changing their prize plum.
How’s that for democracy? Sounds more like tyranny or dictatorship to me.
Our hero for uncovering this fraud is Congressman Ernest Istook. Here’s how the Heritage Foundation reported this incredible find:
“Today former Congressman Ernest Istook testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee about the $105 billion slush fund in advance appropriations liberals tucked inside Obamacare. The $105 billion bypasses the traditional yearly budgeting process and is spread throughout the 2,700 page legislation. It took the Congressional Research Service (CRS) seven months to identify all the disparate funds and it was not until February (11 months after the bill passed) that all of the funds could be totaled up.”
We also need to give Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) immense credit for beating the drum to raise awareness of this unprecedented level of hidden, advance spending. She calls it “Obamacare’s 105 Billion Dollar Power Grab.”
Here is her analysis:
“While Obamacare is rightly notorious as a fiscal nightmare, less well known is just how massively it transferred power from Congress to the executive branch. In fact, the full scope of Congress’s abdication is still unknown. What is now known, however, is that deeply buried within Obamacare was a $105 billion slush fund that assures its implementation into the future, no matter what future voters think or want.”
“This makes then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment to the Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties about Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” made a year ago tomorrow, ironically prescient. Just this past month, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) updated an October 2010 reporttitled “Appropriations and Fund Transfers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” The new report found that, unbeknownst to almost every Member of Congress, Obamacare contains $105 billion in direct implementation spending that bypasses Congress’s normal appropriations process.”
“A separate CRS report, titled New Entities Created Pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, concludes: “The precise number of new entities that will ultimately be created pursuant to [Obamacare] is currently unknowable, for the number of entities created by some sections is contingent upon other factors, and some new entities may satisfy more than one requirement in the legislation.” These new bureaucracies would have the power to reach into your life on a daily basis, including control over who is allowed to sell you health insurance and how they may do so, as well as what procedures Medicare will or will not pay for. Once Congress allows these new bureaucracies to be created, it will be next to impossible to get your health care freedom back.”
“But these merging entities do have a weak spot. CRS reports: “In practical terms, many of these entities will not be able to function until their members are appointed and funds are appropriated or made available for the entities to operate.” That is where the secret $105 billion stash comes in. Instead of leaving these fledgling bureaucracies vulnerable to the budgetary decisions of future Congresses, Obamacare appropriated billions in implementation spending over a 10-year period. Conservatives can still save the nation from Obamacare’s bureaucratic kudzu, but they must act proactively. They must go beyond simply not providing funds for the implementation of Obamacare. CRS explains: “Precedents require that the language be phrased in the negative, for example, that ‘none of the funds provided in this paragraph (typically an account) shall be used for’ a specified activity.”
“This is why our nation cannot afford to fund the federal government by continuing resolutions, which perpetuate the status quo—a status quo where Obamacare’s implementation is already funded. In order to truly defund Obamacare, conservatives must go through all 2,700 pages of the bill and cut spending for every program one by one. That is the mandate this Congress was elected on. Members need to do their jobs.”
“Last night, I shared important news with you about the fraudulent appropriation of $105 billion dollars to fund Obamacare, passed by Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats without a single hearing or even allowing Members of Congress time to read the bill. In the coming week, my colleagues and I will be doing everything we can to ensure that this funding is rescinded, and I hope you’ll sign my petition to call on the rest of Congress to do the same.”
I was concerned about Obamacare from the beginning. But I was polite in my analysis and gave the benefit of the doubt to the authors.
No more. No more politeness. Obamacare is the worst bill in the history of the United States. It was crafted in darkness, used massive bribery to win approval, is a bureaucratic monstrosity, and stealthily used a massive monetary power grab to insure its survival.
It needs to be repealed, defunded, publicly scorned and placed on the ask heap of history.
There will be no economic renewal–or renewal of government–without it.
Praying for Japan after the Earthquake
Our hearts are saddened at the damage caused by the massive 9.0 earthquake that rocked Japan to its core on March 10. The visual images of destroyed villages, imperiled nuclear plants, mountains of debris left by the tsunami–and the stories of personal tragedy as well as heroism–have touched our souls deeply. The 24/7 news coverage has etched the devastation indelibly upon our minds.
I was in Salt Lake City when the earthquake struck–involved in board meetings with the National Association of Evangelicals. We immediately went to prayer, and followed things closely throughout the entire day.
One of my favorite verses when confronting natural calamities is Isaiah 26:9 – “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.”
This is a time for great learning in the Japanese nation. It is time for them to yearn for God during this time of “night.”
Here’s how we can pray and help them.
First of all, a personal reflection. I have been to Japan a number of times. My first visit was in the 1980s when I visited and taught in Osaka and Tokyo–a massive metropolitan area with millions of people. I was amazed how Japan had miraculously rebuilt its nation and economy after a crushing and humiliating defeat in World War II.
Yes, it was true that “Made in Japan” carried a stigma in the 60s and 70s. But by the 80s and 90s it stood for quality, innovation, hard work, self-reliance and the world’s third largest economy.
But below the successful surface was an unhappy nation that did not enjoy a robust relationship with the God who had blessed them.
For many centuries, Japan was a graveyard of Christian missions.
Here’s the quick history. In 1549, Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was the first missionary to Japan. Under his ministry, many were converted and the church grew rapidly. But Japanese officials saw Christians as a threat, and severe persecution began. The opposition to Christianity grew. In cities like Unzen, Christians were boiled in volcanic lava. Others were crucified on wooden crosses in the town of Nagasaki. Japanese soldiers rounded up all known Christian in 1637, around thirty thousand of them, and killed each one.
Following this, the church went underground in hopes of protecting those who managed to survive. The church struggled for several years. However, by God’s grace the church survived. Faithful missionaries did not stop coming. They heard about the monstrous persecution and answered the call to minister to the few faithful believers who were left.
Japan now has only 1.7 million active Christians out of a total population of 126 million. Whereas neighboring South Korea is over 25% Christian, and Christian evangelism is exploding in nearby China, Japan remains, according to the Joshua Project, “the second largest unreached people group in the world.”
I hope that is about to change.
Let’s pray that God will use many means of compassion and restoration to bring scores of millions into his Kingdom in the coming years.
Maybe God can use an earthquake to bring a mighty revival to the nation of Japan.
According to one source, Japan is often overlooked as a country that is has little exposure to the gospel because it is a rich nation with a high standard of living. The high cost associated with living in Japan actually contribute to what keeps Japan as one of the most unreached countries in the 10/40 Window having a Christian population of less than one percent. Many missionaries from America to Asia fly right over Japan completely unaware of the lack of exposure to the gospel it has. Japan is one of the safest countries in the world to live but it is also one of the most spiritually dark. The following are just a few facts.
• There are about 7,800 protestant churches in Japan and the average church size is 35 people… that is one church for every 16,000 people.
• There are only about 270,000 people serving the Christian population of Japan. Thats one Christian for every 477 people.
• Nearly 80% of Japanese pastors are in their 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s with there not being many Japanese Christian men to replace them. In 15 years many Japanese churches will have few pastors.
• Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. More than 30,000 people have committed suicide each year for the past 13 years (about a 100 people a day or one every 15 minutes).
• Japan has 183,000 known cult groups registered with the government and is known by some as the cult capital of the world.
• Abortion is the most common form of birth control.
• Japan is the #1 provider of child pornography.
• Shinto & Buddhist world views prevail.
Due to Shinto & Buddhist world views Japan has over 8 million gods and almost every house has a little altar where food is offered, incense burnt, and prayers are offered to false gods. Japan quite possibly could have the highest concentration of demonic activity in the world in light of what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:20, “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not God.”
Japan is a very hard place to do ministry and help is needed to plow the soil. Having the world’s 3rd largest economy, significant political influence, and a resourceful and diligent population, Japan has tremendous potential to reach countries American missionaries have no access to in the 10/40 Window… should the Lord work in Japan as he has in other nations such as South Korea.
The Lord wants to reach the younger generation of Japanese. A 2001 poll on Japanese teens revealed that 85% wondered why they exist but only 13% percent believe they exist for a reason. 11% wish they never existed and some tragically contribute to the 100 people per day who commit suicide in Japan.
Jesus tells us “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
Let’s pray for a revival among youth to sweep across Japan.
American pollster George Gallop, Jr., has an interesting perspective. He recently said about Japan:
“The findings of the study show that the [Japanese] populace is somewhat insular, uncomfortable with diversity and “outsiders”, and possibly, in some small degree, “racist”. In terms of reaching out to help others, the focus is primarily on one’s own family group and not on persons outside these groupings. Broader altruistic motives are not so apparent.”
“Most Japanese, judging by their responses to scales on happiness, are neither “very happy”, nor “very unhappy”. Their responses tend to fall between these two extremes. In earlier Gallup International surveys, responses for many nations fell more heavily in extreme positions than is the case in Japan.”
“While at least moderately happy, many Japanese seem resigned to being caught up in ‘the system’ or ‘the cycle of life’. There is a degree of fatalism in their somber mood. Teen’s perspectives on life tend to a sense of nihilism to an alarming degree. A note of hopelessness is found in the responses to a number of questions. And there is little evidence of eternal hope, although a considerable number do believe in some form of life afterlife.”
“Like much of the rest of the world, the Japanese tend to take relativistic view on ethical matters. There is little belief in ‘absolutes’, and this is true across the all-generational groups. In the ‘hierarchy of crimes’ (things that are wrong), those related to economic and family matters far outweigh those related to sexual activity.'”
“Seven in ten among adults, and half of teens, say they do not know enough about Christianity to express a favorable or unfavorable opinion about this religion. Corresponding, seven in ten adults, and half of teens say they do not know enough about the teachings of Jesus in order to give an evaluation.”
“In summary, then, we see challenges or obstacles to presenting the Gospel in a number of ways: in the insular feelings and somber mood and feelings of hopelessness of the Japanese people; in the relatively little importance they give to religion compared to other aspects of life, yet at the same time their attraction to other religions (namely Shinto and Buddhism) and “new religions”, as well as their attraction to the paranormal.”
“In some respects there seems to be a solid, impenetrable wall that could prevent the spread of the Gospel in Japan. Are there any possible openings in this wall? In seeking to reach people for Christ, the Christian message of hope and reassurance in times of darkness would likely be paramount.”
Japan has now entered such a season of darkness and trial . After years of self-sufficiency and the despair and death that it brings, we need to light up the Japanese nation with compassion, care, rebuilding and hope.
RescueNet, a YWAM Relief team out of Australia, is sending a team to Japan this week. If you are interested in supporting this outreach effort, please contact Josh Harmsworth at (360) 774-1181.
And let’s pray for Japan’s first great spiritual awakening as a result of the devastating earthquake.
It is could light up all of Asia in the 21st century.
“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.”