You Say You Want a Redistribution...

Last night, the President spent an hour trying to erase our memory of the last 8,760. In his last State of the Union before voters decide whether to return his "change," President Obama continued to promote the same ideas that have led to 8.5% unemployment, $15 trillion in debt, and the marginalization of traditional values. Unfortunately, his government-as-the-great-equalizer approach hasn't worked in the last three years--and there's no reason to believe it will now. "We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by," he said. "Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules." Instead of empowering families with lower taxes, he proposes taking more money from them to expand the size and reach of government!

If Washington wants to put us back on the road to prosperity, it needs to get out of the way. We need to cut government regulation, slash taxes on manufacturing, and let the competitive market work. "I'm a Democrat," the President insisted. "But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do for themselves, and no more." The trouble is, there isn't much the President thinks people can do for themselves. Which could be why he left out the most important part of Lincoln's quote: "In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere."

The President's entire speech was dedicated to an agenda of bigger government "with its hands," writes NRO's Yuval Levin, "in every nook and cranny of the nation's economic life." It's time for the administration to drop the failed ideology that government is the source of America's greatness and allow the free market, fueled by strong families, get America on the road to economic recovery.

In the GOP's response to the speech, Governor Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) went toe-to-toe with the President's economic agenda but missed an opportunity to draw an even greater contrast with President Obama's "American values." The President teed it up perfectly for the Republican Party--and while Gov. Daniels made some solid points, he whiffed by failing to challenge the President on one of the most defining aspects of Obama's administration: radical social policy.

I know Governor Daniels has a hard time talking about social issues, but as he said, this is a simple math problem. Our nation cannot abort 54 million children and experience sustainable growth as a people. If you want to grow the GDP, then you have to strengthen and grow the families with a married mom and dad. Republicans need to seize this moment to draw some important distinctions between this administration's values and theirs.

It's not an "American value," for instance, to force people to pay for the aborting of unborn children. It's not an "American value" to use our military as a weapon to redefine marriage. It's not an "American value" to trample on religious freedom by forcing religious groups to violate their biblically-based beliefs. Doing the math is a good start, but there's a lot more homework to be done!

Virginia Adoptions Ebbin Flow

The Obama administration isn't the only one attacking conscience rights. Even Virginia, with its conservative Governor and Assembly, is duking it out over a new Senate bill on adoption. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), from one of the more liberal pockets of the Commonwealth, believes that federally-funded charities should be forced to place kids with homosexual parents-regardless of the agencies' values. "Adoption is a public act that goes through state courts, and no government agent should engage in discrimination," Ebbin said. His bill aims to restore the anti-discrimination language that the Virginia Board of Social Services stripped from its regulations last year. Others, like Sen. Jerry McWaters and Del. Todd Gilbert, support the Board's decision and have introduced special conscience protections to uphold them. "We just want to ensure that people can continue to abide by their religious beliefs and continue to provide services consistent with those beliefs." Ebbin insists that the Board's new rules deprive children of good homes. But the reality is, forcing Christian adoption agencies to violate their conscience does nothing to increase the number of foster or adoptive families in the state. Why? Because homosexuals can already adopt through secular adoption agencies. In other words, this has nothing to do with finding more homes for kids and everything to do with punishing Christians for their beliefs! And the tragic irony is this: if Christian agencies get out of the adoption business it may mean that fewer families are available to take the children, especially if Christian families prefer working through a faith-based agency. This same attack is happening on the federal level, where legislation targeting Christian adoption agencies, H.R. 1681, is backed by the Obama administration!

New York Weighs the Golden Rule

Finally, some good news out of New York City! After rallying local leaders and pastors, Councilman Fernando Cabrera could finally celebrate a victory in the city's quest to let churches continue worshipping in the public schools. Yesterday, the New York Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to bring a bill to the floor that would stop as many as 100 churches from becoming evicted on February 12. All 18 senators--including eight Democrats and 10 Republicans--agreed that the Senate should take action to protect the city's faith community. Even in a liberal state like New York , leaders recognize the significance of these attacks on religious liberty. "Organizations based on faith deserve the same rights as all other groups," said the measure's sponsor, state Senator Martin Golden (R), "and because of their beliefs, should not be held to a different standard. These misguided policies that have been put into place do nothing more than detract from the right to worship." I talked to Councilman Fernando over the weekend, and he was pleased that the issue is getting the attention it deserves. And while the legislature could remedy the problem for the long term, Mayor Michael Bloomberg still needs to rescind the eviction order by February 12--or watch as dozens of churches and synagogues become homeless. This Sunday, Councilman Cabrera and other leaders plan to march across the Brooklyn Bridge in protest. "The fight," as he says, "is not over." To join it, click over to FRC's petition and help stop the war on faith!