Cost Like an Egyptian
September 24, 2012 - Monday
It is now official; Congress has left Washington and will not return until after the November election. It was the U.S. that turned off the Capitol Hill lights Saturday morning as they closed the door on the 112th regular session of Congress until after the elections. Newspapers are calling this "The most Do-nothing Congress" ever -- saying that by ONLY passing 1,271 measures this year means that Congress isn't doing anything. As taxpayers we should judge success not in laws passed but rather in measures overturned. The stalemate in this Congress has allowed the laws passed in the 111th Congress, especially the health care law (better known as Obamacare), to continue. Also carrying on due to the impasse are the numerous nefarious things being done through regulations by the Obama Administration such as the unlawful conscience mandate and the dismantling of the Defense of Marriage Act. The House of Representatives lived up to its duties of trying to check and balance an aggressive President -- yet the Senate time and time again failed the American taxpayer, not even finding time to pass a budget in well over 1,000 days. This weekend was no exception.
The main amendment temporarily holding up the passage of the six month stopgap funding legislation in the Senate was offered by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.). It was a common sense amendment to ban foreign aid to Egypt, Pakistan, and Libya. Not only are these countries not in need of this type of foreign aid, at this time all indications are that they are hostile to American interests. In 2010, $1.3 billion went to strengthen the Egyptian military versus $250 million in economic aid. Another $1.9 million went for training. (Egypt gets the most U.S. foreign aid of any country except for Israel.) The Obama Administration wants to continue that funding despite regime changes in Egypt and Libya, which are cozy with radical Islamists and increasingly hostile toward the U.S. In Libya, where U.S. diplomats were savagely killed, the Obama Administration had given $25 million to the very rebels now in power. Amazingly the U.S. Senate rejected Senator Paul's amendment 81-10.
Now Congress goes back to their districts to campaign -- while they are doing that you should extract one promise from them, win or lose, that they will not come back for a Lame Duck session of Congress after the election.
Moreno Can't Crack Chick-fil-A's First Amendment Rights
Chick-fil-A ruffled the feathers of homosexual activists over the weekend by releasing a statement saying the company's values and the way they do business have not changed. One of those offended was Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno who had been crowing about a recent meeting he and other activists had with Chick-fil-A executives in which they had extracted concessions out of the Atlanta-based business in exchange for not blocking their efforts to establish a restaurant in Chicago. Moreno has explicitly declared that he will only allow Chick-fil-A to open a store in Chicago if Chick-fil-A takes a particular position on a political issue--specifically that it will not support organizations that advocate for traditional marriage. The Supreme Court has always made clear that no government--federal, state, or local--can ever dictate to any private citizen or organization what it must say on any political issue. Moreno's threat is a clear violation of the First Amendment. Chick-fil-A should call Chicago on its bluff, then if Chicago follows through, Chick-fil-A should look forward to beating the city in federal court and vindicate the free speech rights of all who support traditional marriage.
Will you Stand with the FRC Team?
This past Saturday night I was privileged to be the keynote speaker at the annual fundraising dinner for the Arlington Pregnancy Center in Arlington, Texas. It is a joy for us to partner with ministries that are on the front lines of caring for those in need. It also is encouraging for me to get direct feedback from those who read this daily Update and follow FRC's work advancing faith, family and freedom. As you well know, this has been a challenging year for my team and me here in DC as the stand for family has become more costly and in some ways which we never imagined. In six days our fiscal year will come to an end and we'll close the books on 2012. To complete this year in the black, we need to raise $400,000 in the next 6 days. Why is this important? We are probably facing the most hostile political and cultural environment for faith, family and freedom ever seen in this country. This is no time to pull back! Faced with increased costs because of what we have encountered this year, we want to be able to move seamlessly into our next budget year. If we fall short, I will be forced to reduce next year's budget by an equal amount. We are not like the government, we do zero based budgeting and that budget number is restricted to what our supporters provide in the previous budget year. The Left is not shrinking back in the least. They will continue to push policies that undermine the family and expand the intrusive and expensive role of government. They are intent on the national imposition of same-sex marriage, and policies that threaten human life, the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech. Please stand with FRC with a gift today as we stand for you and your family here in Washington, DC.