Monthly Archives: September 2011

Marco Rubio hates big government about as much as I do

September 4, 2011 – 11:17 pm

Marco Rubio hates big government about as much as I do.

Star Parker

Star Parker

Marco Rubio’s Courageous Speech

Florida’s young Republican Senator Marco Rubio gave an important speech at the Reagan Presidential Library in California that has set off the liberal talking head universe.

He had the temerity to suggest that the huge growth in government’s role in American life over the last century “actually weakened us as a people.”

The resulting onslaught from liberal blogs and cable hosts comes as no surprise because Rubio directly took on the idol at which liberals worship – Big Government.

But his analysis was courageous and profound.

Eighty percent of Americans are not happy with the direction of the country. And, new Gallup polling shows that only 17 percent are positively disposed toward the federal government.

Americans want answers.

Senator Rubio, in this speech, stepped up to the plate to provide answers.

If liberals disagree, they are going to have to get equally serious. They’ve certainly got to do better than MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, calling Rubio “a political hack” who wants “to get rid of social safety nets.”

Our fiscal crisis is undeniable. The trillions in debt we’ve taken on to finance massive government spending has resulted in the unthinkable downgrading in rating of our government’s bonds.

But Senator Rubio took a bold step beyond looking at our problems just as an accountant.

He suggested that we cannot separate our budget from our culture. The culture of government has displaced the culture of personal responsibility.

I have been making the point for years regarding what the welfare state culture has done in our black communities. How it has created a permanent underclass, defined by family breakdown, sexual promiscuity, disease, and crime.

American culture has changed profoundly over these years that Americans have come to increasingly believe that government social engineering can solve life’s problems and challenges.

A snapshot of today’s American family shows how much things have changed, even compared to 1981 when President Reagan took office.

Since 1980, the percentage of babies in America born to unwed mothers has doubled, from 20 percent to 40 percent.

Fifty two percent of Americans over the age of 18 are married today, compared to 72 percent in 1960.

Among blacks, 44% of the population over 18 has never been married, compared to 17% in 1960.

Sixty four percent of American children today live in a home with two married parents, compared with 75 percent in 1980 and 87 percent in 1960.

And, according to the Pew Research Center, 44 percent of those between ages of 18 to 29 “agree marriage is becoming obsolete.”

We used to be a nation, as Senator Rubio pointed out, where parents raised and cared for children, then those children cared for their aging parents. Where neighbors cared for neighbors.

We might note that the welfare state idea is not an American invention but an import from Europe. We also might note that about 20 percent of Europeans attend church regularly, half that of Americans.

Europe is characterized today by low birth rates – so low that they are not replacing themselves – and high unemployment rates. The unemployment rate in France has hovered between 8 and 11 percent over the last 25 years.

We must wonder if even we can take on our fiscal problems, if traditional American family life can be restored, and if we believe it even matters.

It is to Senator Rubio’s considerable credit that he has stood up to argue that we must look at the picture of our nation in its entirety. That we cannot separate our budget matters and our attitude toward government from our overall culture and our personal behavior.

What is before us today is not a battle of competing numbers but a battle of competing visions.

Is America to continue in the direction of welfare state materialism? Or will this be a free nation under God?

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.10

September 4, 2011 – 7:48 pm

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.10

Story below by Robert Costa on debate:

Cain: ‘We’re Not Going Anywhere’

By Robert Costa      

Ames, Iowa — Following last night’s debate, Herman Cain greeted reporters inside Iowa State’s basketball arena, talking up his performance and his chances. He told National Review Online that regardless of where he finished in Ames, he would stay in the race. “The naysayers are reading the wrong tea leaves,” he said. “We had already decided that based upon the momentum we had coming into this debate, the debate and the straw poll, we’re not going anywhere. People need to get off this stuff, trying to pronounce us dead and out of the race.”

In the final hours before Iowans pile into tents, Cain downplayed the straw poll’s significance. “Our objective at the straw poll is more to measure our supporters’ intensity more so than to win the straw poll,” he said. “We also put a lot of stock into the national polls that still show that I have the highest positive intensity of all of the candidates for eleven straight weeks.” The naysayers, he emphasized, are “not looking at the right metrics. We’re looking at those metrics which is encouraging us to keep going with the campaign.”

For a bit of fun, I asked Cain about his campaign’s straw-poll menu. He told me he will be serving Godfather’s Pizza and Coke. As the former chief executive of that Midwestern chain and a Georgia native, those choices make perfect sense. “If people act right, they can have a slice,” he chuckled. “A little slice of heaven.”

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer (Part 1) Schaeffer Sunday

September 4, 2011 – 7:00 pm

A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer (Part 1)

Below is a summary of “A Christian Manifesto” which is a very important book written by Francis Schaeffer just a couple of years before his death in 1984.

A Christian Manifesto
by Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer

This address was delivered by the late Dr. Schaeffer in 1982 at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is based on one of his books, which bears the same title. 

Christians, in the last 80 years or so, have only been seeing things as bits and pieces which have gradually begun to trouble them and others, instead of understanding that they are the natural outcome of a change from a Christian World View to a Humanistic one; things such as overpermissiveness, pornography, the problem of the public schools, the breakdown of the family, abortion, infanticide (the killing of newborn babies), increased emphasis upon the euthanasia of the old and many, many other things.

All of these things and many more are only the results. We may be troubled with the individual thing, but in reality we are missing the whole thing if we do not see each of these things and many more as only symptoms of the deeper problem. And that is the change in our society, a change in our country, a change in the Western world from a Judeo-Christian consensus to a Humanistic one. That is, instead of the final reality that exists being the infinite creator God; instead of that which is the basis of all reality being such a creator God, now largely, all else is seen as only material or energy which has existed forever in some form, shaped into its present complex form only by pure chance.

I want to say to you, those of you who are Christians or even if you are not a Christian and you are troubled about the direction that our society is going in, that we must not concentrate merely on the bits and pieces. But we must understand that all of these dilemmas come on the basis of moving from the Judeo-Christian world view — that the final reality is an infinite creator God — over into this other reality which is that the final reality is only energy or material in some mixture or form which has existed forever and which has taken its present shape by pure chance.

The word Humanism should be carefully defined. We should not just use it as a flag, or what younger people might call a “buzz” word. We must understand what we are talking about when we use the word Humanism. Humanism means that the man is the measure of all things. Man is the measure of all things. If this other final reality of material or energy shaped by pure chance is the final reality, it gives no meaning to life. It gives no value system. It gives no basis for law, and therefore, in this case, man must be the measure of all things. So, Humanism properly defined, in contrast, let us say, to the humanities or humanitarianism, (which is something entirely different and which Christians should be in favor of) being the measure of all things, comes naturally, mathematically, inevitably, certainly. If indeed the final reality is silent about these values, then man must generate them from himself.

So, Humanism is the absolute certain result, if we choose this other final reality and say that is what it is. You must realize that when we speak of man being the measure of all things under the Humanist label, the first thing is that man has only knowledge from himself. That he, being finite, limited, very faulty in his observation of many things, yet nevertheless, has no possible source of knowledge except what man, beginning from himself, can find out from his own observation. Specifically, in this view, there is no place for any knowledge from God.

But it is not only that man must start from himself in the area of knowledge and learning, but any value system must come arbitrarily from man himself by arbitrary choice. More frightening still, in our country, at our own moment of history, is the fact that any basis of law then becomes arbitrary — merely certain people making decisions as to what is for the good of society at the given moment.

Now this is the real reason for the breakdown in morals in our country. It’s the real reason for the breakdown in values in our country, and it is the reason that our Supreme Court now functions so thoroughly upon the fact of arbitrary law. They have no basis for law that is fixed, therefore, like the young person who decides to live hedonistically upon their own chosen arbitrary values, society is now doing the same thing legally. Certain few people come together and decide what they arbitrarily believe is for the good of society at the given moment, and that becomes law.

The world view that the final reality is only material or energy shaped by pure chance, inevitably, (that’s the next word I would bring to you ) mathematically — with mathematical certainty — brings forth all these other results which are in our country and in our society which have led to the breakdown in the country — in society — and which are its present sorrows. So, if you hold this other world view, you must realize that it is inevitable that we will come to the very sorrows of relativity and all these other things that are so represented in our country at this moment of history.

It should be noticed that this new dominant world view is a view which is exactly opposite from that of the founding fathers of this country. Now, not all the founding fathers were individually, personally, Christians. That certainly is true.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.9

September 4, 2011 – 9:55 am

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.9

JOHN PODHORETZ comments on the Republican debate below:

Republican debate: Time to get real

By JOHN PODHORETZ

Last Updated: 8:28 AM, August 12, 2011

Posted: 1:55 AM, August 12, 2011

Last night’s Fox News-Washington Examiner debate in Iowa was the most sheerly entertaining political event in decades — a rapid-fire, no-holds-barred multiplayer smackdown with the toughest set of questions ever posed to presidential candidates.The Republicans were challenged as candidates rarely are challenged, and by two journalistic organizations generally considered friendly to the GOP.The questioning was so sharp that Newt Gingrich was reduced to complaining about having to explain two contradictory quotes about Libya because Fox hadn’t included a third quote of his.Indeed, the debate ranged so widely and so quickly that several candidates rose and fell in the course of it.Take the breakout star of the first two debates, Michele Bachmann.She saw an opening when she was attacked by her fellow Minnesotan, ex-Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and proceeded to chew up him and spit him out.Advantage Bachmann.

But then she chewed on him and chewed on him and began looking mean.

Ten points taken from Bachmann.

Then she was asked a real doozy by Byron York of the Examiner about whether she actually believed a woman should “submit” to her husband — a view she has promulgated in the past — and answered quietly and with a profession of love and respect for her husband. Bachmann was back!

Then, 10 minutes later, she gave an answer on her opposition to raising the debt ceiling so incoherent that even those inclined to support her view must have been baffled and confused.

She claimed the Standard and Poor’s downgrade supported her view when S&P actually said the very fact that the need for a debt-ceiling increase had been in dispute helped cause the downgrade. Bad Bachmann.

Charting her performance in the debate would be like charting the Dow over the last week. Volatile would be the word for it, and volatility is not what Republicans are looking for in a candidate.

As for Pawlenty, rarely has a fluent and well-prepared candidate with a solid record of accomplishment and an ability to think and argue on his feet proved so . . . meh. His candidacy is a wet match, and last night probably marked its end.

Utah ex-Gov. Jon Huntsman’s baffling decision to run for president proved even more baffling when he began the debate by admitting he didn’t have an economic plan ready yet. Throughout, he looked as though he was in the middle of one of those school-anxiety dreams where you’re got to take a final exam on material you’ve never studied.

And then there was Rep. Ron Paul, who said it was fine with him if Iran got nukes and there should be no Federal Reserve Board and America should get off everybody’s lawn. His major combatant was ex-Sen. Rick Santorum, and the two of them sparred and scuffled for no particularly good reason, as neither of them has any business pretending he might be president.

What Republicans nationally are looking for in a candidate is someone who can win next year. And yet again, there was no question that the only plausible candidate on the stage fitting the description was Mitt Romney.

Romney is a weak frontrunner for all kinds of reasons, but standing on a stage next to seven other people who have no chance of being president, he looks like a Colossus.

So he won. Again. But his performance was sufficiently unmemorable that he is clearly vulnerable to a strong showing by the incoming Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Or just about anybody else serious who might want to get in.

This is a race Republicans can win. There’s still time. Romney’s got problems. Perry’s far from perfect. The next debate should be one that isn’t just fun, but that actually features a genuine argument between two or three people who might actually be president.

jpodhoretz@gmail.com

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me thrice? Congress addicted to overspending!

September 4, 2011 – 8:25 am

Washington Could Learn a Lot from a Drug Addict

Have you ever been lied to by a drug addict? “I will stop taking drugs. I am clean now!!” That is the same straight and narrow path that Congress promised to take in 1982 and then again in 1990 when they promised future spending cuts to President Reagan and then to President Bush.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me thrice?

 
Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice shame on me.  Fool me thrice? Say it isn’t so!The current promises from President Obama to give future spending cuts in return for raising revenue now [read that as taxes] and the debt ceiling have been twice heard before.  So my skepticism is based on the fact that the Democrats have historically not been particularly good at dealing in good faith when it comes to following through on their promises of spending cuts.

The first promised deal was a $3 for $1
Following the Carter era of massive recession and taxation, President Regan sought and signed the largest tax reduction in history.  Thus beginning the turn around in the economy.  Then came the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, which agreed to tax hikes on the promise from Congress of a $3 reduction in spending for every $1 increase in taxes.  TEFRA was created in order to reduce the budget gap, from a short term fall in tax revenue, by generating revenue through closure of tax loopholes and introduction of tougher enforcement of tax rules, rather than changing marginal income tax rates. Does that sound familiar to our current discussion?  The tax increases were real and immediate. The “future” spending cuts never really materialized, especially since the house came under full Democrat control a couple of months later. 

The second promised deal was a $2 for $1
Then as a reprise of the “grand deal”, an offer was made to George H. W. Bush in 1990 by House speaker Tom Foley (D., Wash.) and Senate majority leader George Mitchell (D., Me.) promising to cut spending by $274 billion in exchange for a $137 billion tax increase.  As before the tax increases were real, the spending cuts? Not so much.

The CBO analysis produced an analysis shown here.

“Not only did the $274 billion in promised baseline spending cuts never materialize–baseline spending was actually $22 billion higher than what CBO projected it would be before the deal.“

So with a track record like this, a “bird in the bush” spending deal lacks a lot of appeal.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama, Ronald Reagan, spending out of control | Comments (0)

Goalkeeper is lucky sometimes (Soccer Saturday)

September 4, 2011 – 12:37 am

Goalkeeper is lucky sometimes (Soccer Saturday)

Vegalta Sendai were up 1-0 in the first half of their J-League match against defending champions Nagoya Grampus Eight when the losing home side’s keeper, Yoshinari Takagi, came out of his area to collect the ball. He took too long to clear it., allowing Atsushi Yanagisawa to take the ball off him for a seemingly easy chance at a wide-open net. But, Yanagisawa decided to shoot from outside the box instead of going in a bit closer and ended up putting his shot wide of the far post.

Yanagisawa fell over in shock, while Takagi quickly resumed play in the hopes that no one would remember his goof-up to start the series of goof-ups. In the end, the combination of flubs didn’t matter, though, and Vegalta held on to win 1-0.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

SEC Football Roundup for Sept 3, 2011 jh12

September 4, 2011 – 12:33 am

We are learning a lot about other SEC teams as the season unfolds. Alabama and LSU have great defenses. Georgia has talent but they got beat soundly by Boise St. I really like Georgia’s coach and I will be upset if they let him go after this year. He is such a fine christian man and he has averaged 9 wins per season for 10 years now.

I really expect the SEC to again produce a team worthy of the BCS national championship game. In fact, I heard one ESPN announcer say that if the SEC champ has one loss then they should be in even if there are two other teams from other conferences that are undefeated.

(2) Alabama 48, Kent State 7 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.: AJ McCarron stepped up in Alabama’s quarterback race, throwing for a TD and 226 yards as the Crimson Tide beat Kent State.

Vying with Phillip Sims to replace Greg McElroy, McCarron had a 24-yard scoring toss to Marquis Maze and finished 14-of-23 passing.

McCarron was hardly perfect, throwing two interceptions. Sims also threw two interceptions — one that set up Kent State’s score — and finished 7-of-14 for 73 yards.

Starting in place of departed Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson scored three TDs and ran for 37 yards.

(5) Boise State 35, (19) Georgia 21 at Atlanta: Kellen Moore threw for three touchdowns — giving him 102 in his career — and the Broncos romped past the Bulldogs, boosting their hopes of making another run to a major bowl while dealing a huge blow to embattled Georgia coach Mark Richt.

Moore, the nation’s top-rated passer last season completed 28 of 34 for 261 yards.

(12) South Carolina 56, East Carolina 37 at Charlotte, N.C.: Fifth-year senior Stephen Garcia came off the bench to run for two TDs and throw for another as he rallied the Gamecocks past East Carolina.

Marcus Lattimore added 112 yards and three TDs.

Garcia sat the first quarter as South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier started sophomore Connor Shaw. But the Gamecocks fumbled three times, including one by Shaw, and trailed 17-0 before Garcia entered the game. That’s when the offense started to click and South Carolina took control of the season opener.

(22) Florida 41, Florida Atlantic 3 at Gainesville, Fla.: John Brantley looked comfortable in Florida’s new offense, Chris Rainey scored three different ways and the 22nd-ranked Gators opened the Will Muschamp era by beating Florida Atlantic.

Brantley completed 21 of 30 passes for 229 yards and a TD, showing marked improvement in Charlie Weis’ pro-style offense. Rainey touched the ball 18 times, scoring on a 14-yard reception and a 14-yard run. He also scooped a blocked punt and sprinted 22 yards for a score.

Vanderbilt 45, Elon 14 at Nashville: Larry Smith threw for two TDs and ran for another score, and Vanderbilt beat Elon in coach James Franklin’s debut with the Commodores.

Franklin showed his willingness to gamble with the team considered the worst in the SEC, going for it on fourth down three times to keep drives alive scoring 17 points.

__________________________________________

3 Comments  •  Christianity+Church   •   425 Words   •  Saturday, March 1, 2008
Coach Mark Richt spoke at our Allen Hunt Show luncheon on Thursday. I had never met him before. The room was full, and anticipation buzzed in the room. While folks enjoyed discovering the virtually unknown, but extraordinarily important, ministry at Murphy Harpst Children’s Center (www.murphyharpst.org), nearly everyone attended to hear Richt. Coach Richt graciously signed autographs and posed for photos at the VIP reception before the luncheon. Watching him do that, I realized one of his most uncommon qualities. The guy has the rare ability to be completely present with whomever he is talking or posing. No distractions, no thinking about all the other things he needed to be doing, no worrying about the time. When I get in crowds and have a schedule to meet, my mind gets to spinning a million miles a second. Not Richt. We enjoyed lunch. While the rest of us ate, Coach Richt would take a bite or two, converse with one of the folks on his left or right, and then pick up his Bible, find something, make a note or two, and then go back to eating. I have to admit – I was very curious what he would say. Richt’s talk focused on faith as we had requested. The first ten minutes were devoted to walking the audience through the Bible on the faith of Abraham in Genesis and Hebrews. He took his time. He apologized for taking so long to get to his point but reassured us that he was getting there. Nearly the entire first half of his talk made the crowd restless as he poked through the Old Testament. Frankly, I had never seen anyone do what he was doing. Richt was unfazed. He unknowingly was making it OK for the men in that audience to delve into faith, the Bible, and even feel uncomfortable in doing so. And then he came on strong. By the end, after he had moved from the lessons of Genesis, to the real-life examples from his own life, marriage, family, and career, I found myself moved by the Spirit of God. Here was a man of considerable prominence who openly and rawly shared his own faith journey, warts, muscles and all. The raw honesty in sharing some of his deepest reflections and experiences stirred a lot of us. I am still receiving emails from folks who were moved by his remarks. Believers and non-believers alike. Very impressive. Unfiltered, raw, honest, and real. Very impressive indeed. We hope to have the audio posted on the web site this week. Well done, Coach Richt. Go Dawgs!


By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Sixty Six who resisted “Sugar-coated Satan Sandwich” Debt Deal (Part 32)

September 4, 2011 – 12:20 am

Sixty Six who resisted “Sugar-coated Satan Sandwich” Debt Deal (Part 32)

This post today is a part of a series I am doing on the 66 Republican Tea Party favorites that resisted eating the “Sugar-coated Satan Sandwich” Debt Deal. Actually that name did not originate from a representative who agrees with the Tea Party, but from a liberal.

Rep. Emanuel Clever (D-Mo.) called the newly agreed-upon bipartisan compromise deal to raise the  debt limit “a sugar-coated satan sandwich.”

“This deal is a sugar-coated satan sandwich. If you lift the bun, you will not like what you see,” Clever tweeted on August 1, 2011.

Congressman Yoder Votes Against $2.4 Trillion Increase to National Debt

 For Immediate Release

August 1, 2011

Congressman Yoder Votes Against $2.4 Trillion Increase to Our National Debt

“Today I voted against a $2.4 Trillion increase in our national debt.  I believe we missed an opportunity for historic spending reform in Washington and that we have once again passed our problems on to another day.  Although I commend our leaders for working out a temporary solution against choppy political waters, I could not join in an effort that did not solve the problems that got us in to this spot in the first place.  To borrow a phrase, I was not persuaded by the logic that Congress would gladly pay Tuesday for a hamburger today.  I look forward to many future efforts to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we continue to work towards growing the economy, spurring job creation and fiscal reform that that will combat the national debt.”

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control | Comments (0)

Goalkeeper is lucky sometimes (Soccer Saturday)

September 3, 2011 – 12:55 am

Vegalta Sendai were up 1-0 in the first half of their J-League match against defending champions Nagoya Grampus Eight when the losing home side’s keeper, Yoshinari Takagi, came out of his area to collect the ball. He took too long to clear it., allowing Atsushi Yanagisawa to take the ball off him for a seemingly easy chance at a wide-open net. But, Yanagisawa decided to shoot from outside the box instead of going in a bit closer and ended up putting his shot wide of the far post.

Yanagisawa fell over in shock, while Takagi quickly resumed play in the hopes that no one would remember his goof-up to start the series of goof-ups. In the end, the combination of flubs didn’t matter, though, and Vegalta held on to win 1-0.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

Results of 2011 Salt Bowl: Bryant 21 Benton 14

September 3, 2011 – 12:08 am

______

2010

 

 

The last few years the games has not even been close. The clip from 2009 showed that it was a blow out, but this year it was close the whole game.

Channel 7 reported:

LITTLE ROCK – This year’s Salt Bowl drew a huge crowd for the big game that pits two bitter small-town rivals at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

It wasn’t quite the 30,000 people organizers had hoped for, but 23,856 rabid football fans came to see the Benton Panthers square off against the Bryant Hornets.

“It’s just unbelievable that two towns the size of Benton and Bryant can have this kind of turnout,” said Olan King, a Benton fan. “That’s awesome.”

Bryant ended up winning the battle for Saline County 21-14, making it 6 straight Salt Bowl victories.

However, most Benton fans were just happy the game was competitive in the fourth quarter.

In the end, Bryant prevailed again, making it that much sweeter for the Hornet faithful.

“You live in Bryant, you breathe Bryant, you bleed blue, you gotta be here,” said Stephen Kincaid, a 1990 Bryant alum who came to the came in blue hornet goggles.

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)