Monthly Archives: December 2012

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 5 “The Revolutionary Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)

December 16, 2012 – 6:58 am

E P I S O D E 5

How Should We Then Live? Episode 5: The Revolutionary Age

I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970’s and I wanted to share it with you. Francis Schaeffer noted, “Reformation Did Not Bring Perfection. But gradually on basis of biblical teaching there was a unique improvement. A. With Bible the ordinary citizen could say that majority was wrong. B. Tremendous freedom without chaos because Bible gives a base for law.”

Another great point that Schaeffer makes in this series is that Communism  has NEVER EXISTED WITHOUT BRINGING REPRESSION.  A few months ago a young person said to me, “I think that Marx was misunderstood and that true communism has not been  really tried yet.” I responded that there are a hand full of Communist countries today and they all have several similar conditions: NO FREEDOM OF PRESS, NO POLITICAL FREEDOM, NO FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND NO ECONOMIC FREEDOM. I noted that Schaeffer has rightly said that Communism  is basically based on materialism and a result it must fail. It does not have a Reformation base.

T h e

REVOLUTIONARY AGE

I. Bible as Absolute Base for Law

A. Paul Robert’s mural in Lausanne.

B. Rutherford’s Lex Rex  (Law Is King): Freedom without chaos; government by law rather than arbitrary government by men.

C. Impact of biblical political principles in America.

1. Rutherford’s influence on U.S. Constitution: directly through Witherspoon; indirectly through Locke’s secularized version of biblical politics.

2. Locke’s ideas inconsistent when divorced from Christianity.

3. One can be personally non-Christian, yet benefit from Christian foundations: e.g. Jefferson and other founders.

II. The Reformation and Checks and Balances

A. Humanist and Reformation views of politics contrasted.

B. Sin is reason for checks and balances in Reformed view: Calvin’s position at Geneva examined.

C. Checks and balances in Protestant lands prevented bloody resolution of tensions.

D. Elsewhere, without this biblically rooted principle, tensions had to be resolved violently.

III. Contrast Between English and French Political Experience

A. Voltaire’s admiration of English conditions.

B. Peaceful nature of the Bloodless Revolution of 1688 in England related to Reformation base.

C. Attempt to achieve political change in France on English lines, but on Enlightenment base, produced a bloodbath and a dictatorship.

1. Constructive change impossible on finite human base.

2. Declaration of Rights of Man, the rush to extremes, and the Goddess of Reason.

3. Anarchy or repression: massacres, Robespierre, the Terror.

4. Idea of perfectibility of Man maintained even during the Terror.

IV. Anglo-American Experience Versus Franco-Russian

A. Reformation experience of freedom without chaos contrasts with that of Marxist-Leninist Russia.

B. Logic of Marxist-Leninism.

1. Marxism not a source of freedom.

2. 1917 Revolution taken over, not begun, by Bolsheviks.

3. Logic of communism: elite dictatorship, suppression of freedoms, coercion of allies.

V. Reformation Christianity and Humanism: Fruits Compared

A. Reformation gave absolutes to counter injustices; where Christians failed they were untrue to their principles.

B. Humanism has no absolute way of determining values consistently.

C. Differences practical, not just theoretical: Christian absolutes give limited government; denial of absolutes gives arbitrary rule.

VI. Weaknesses Which Developed Later in Reformation Countries

A. Slavery and race prejudice.

1. Failure to live up to biblical belief produces cruelty.

2. Hypocritical exploitation of other races.

3. Church’s failure to speak out sufficiently against this hypocrisy.

B. Noncompassionate use of accumulated wealth.

1. Industrialism not evil in itself, but only through greed and lack of compassion.

2. Labor exploitation and gap in living standards.

3. Church’s failure to testify enough against abuses.

C. Positive face of Reformation Christianity toward social evil.

1. Christianity not the only influence on consensus.

a) Church’s silence betrayed; did not reflect what it said it believed.

b) Non-Christian influences also important at that time; and many so-called Christians were “social” Christians only.

2. Contributions of Christians to social reform.

a) Varied efforts in slave trade, prisons, factories.

(1) Wesley, Newton, Clarkson, Wilberforce, and abolition of slavery.

(2) Howard, Elizabeth Fry, and prison reforms.

(3) Lord Shaftesbury and reform in the factories.

b) Impact of Whitefield-Wesley revivals on society.

VII. Reformation Did Not Bring Perfection

But gradually on basis of biblical teaching there was a unique improvement.

A. With Bible the ordinary citizen could say that majority was wrong.

B. Tremendous freedom without chaos because Bible gives a base for law.

Questions

1. What has been the role of biblical principles in the legal and political history of the countries studied?

2. Is it true that lands influenced by the Reformation escaped political violence because biblical concepts were acted upon?

3. What are the core distinctions, in terms of ideology and results, between English and American Revolutions on the one hand, and the French and Russian on the other hand?

4. What were the weaknesses which developed at a later date in countries which had a Reformation history?

5. Dr. Schaeffer believes that basic to action is an idea, and that the history of the West in the last two or three centuries has been marked by a humanism pressed to its tragic conclusions and by a Christianity insufficiently applied to the totality of life. How should Christians then approach participation in social and political affairs?

Key Events and Persons

Calvin: 1509-1564

Samuel Rutherford: 1600-1661

Rutherford’s Lex Rex: 1644

John Locke: 1631-1704

John Wesley: 1703-1791

Voltaire: 1694-1778

Letters on the English Nation: 1733

George Whitefield: 1714-1770

John Witherspoon: 1723-1794

John Newton: 1725-1807

John Howard: 1726-1790

Jefferson: 1743-1826

Robespierre: 1758-1794

Wilberforce: 1759-1833

Clarkson: 1760-1846

Napoleon: 1769-1821

Elizabeth Fry: 1780-1845

Declaration of Rights of Man: 1789

National Constituent Assembly: 1789-1791

Second French Revolution and Revolutionary Calendar: 1792

The Reign of Terror: 1792-1794

Lord Shaftesbury: 1801-1855

English slave trade ended: 1807

Slavery ended in Great Britain and Empire: 1833

Karl Marx: 1818-1883

Lenin: 1870-1924

Trotsky: 1879-1940

Stalin: 1879-1953

February and October Russian Revolutions: 1917

Berlin Wall: 1961

Czechoslovakian repression: 1968

Further Study

Charles Breunig, The Age of Revolution and Reaction: 1789-1850 (1970).

R.N. Carew Hunt, The Theory and Practice of Communism (1963).

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1957).

Peter Gay, ed., Deism: An Anthology (1968).

John McManners, The French Revolution and the Church (1970).

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party (1957).

Louis L. Snyder, ed., The Age of Reason (1955).

David B. Davis, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (1975).

J. Kuczynski, The Rise of the Working Class (1971).

Edmund S. Morgan, The Puritan Dilemma (1958).

John Newton, Out of the Depths. An Autobiography.

John Wesley, Journal (1 vol. abridge).

C. Woodham-Smith, The Great Hunger, Ireland, 1845-1849 (1964).

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

“Woody Allen Wednesdays” can be seen on the www.thedailyhatch.org

December 16, 2012 – 3:53 am

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1

If you like Woody Allen films as much as I do then join me every Wednesday for another look the man and his movies. Below are some of the posts from the past:

“Woody Wednesday” How Allen’s film “Crimes and Misdemeanors makes the point that hell is necessary (jh 14)

Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Discussion: Part 1 Adrian Rogers – Crossing God’s Deadline Part 2 Jason Tolbert provided this recent video from Mike Huckabee: John Brummett in his article “Huckabee speaks for bad guy below,” Arkansas News Bureau, May 5, 2011 had to say: Are we supposed to understand and accept that Mike Huckabee is […]

According to Woody Allen Life is meaningless (Woody Wednesday)

Woody Allen, the film writer, director, and actor, has consistently populated his scripts with characters who exchange dialogue concerning meaning and purpose. In Hannah and Her Sisters a character named Mickey says, “Do you realize what a thread were all hanging by? Can you understand how meaningless everything is? Everything. I gotta get some answers.”{7} […]

“Midnight in Paris” wins academy award “Woody Wednesday”

Bananas (1971)    en cast ex-wife, Louise Lasser (the duo were married from 1966 to 1969), as his romantic lead in this quirky comedy. When asked why he chose to title the movie Bananas, Allen quipped, “Because there are no bananas in it.”  “Midnight in Paris” is one of Woody Allen best works. Woody Allen […]

Woody Wednesday” Will Allen and Martin follow same path as Kansas to Christ?

Several members of the 70′s band Kansas became committed Christians after they realized that the world had nothing but meaningless to offer. It seems through the writings of both Woody Allen and Chris Martin of Coldplay that they both are wrestling with the issue of death and what meaning does life bring. Kansas went through […]

Why am I obsessed with Woody Allen?

I guess the reason I have spent so much time on Woody Allen is because in so many films he discusses the big questions in life. His movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” is a perfect example. Check out my earlier post Nihilism can be seen in Woody Allen’s latest film “Midnight in Paris” . September (1987) The director […]

Woody Allen films and the issue of guilt (Woody Wednesday)

Woody Allen and the Abandonment of Guilt Dr. Marc T. Newman : AgapePress Print In considering filmmaking as a pure visual art form, Woody Allen would have to be considered a master of the medium. From his humble beginnings as a comedy writer and filmmaker, he has emerged as a major influential force in Hollywood. […]

“Midnight in Paris” has become Woody Allen’s most successful movie at box office (Woody Wednesdays)

The dvd sales of “Midnight in Paris” which went on sale in December have gone through the roof (look at the bottom of this post) and this summer we learned this fact below: ‘Midnight in Paris’ becomes Woody Allen’s all-time biggest hit. How the heck did that happen? by Owen Gleiberman Categories: Annie Hall, Bridesmaids, […]

Agnostic Allen notes, “The people who successfully delude themselves seem happier than the people who can’t” (Woody Wednesday)

Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham on Religion This article below makes we think of the lady tied to the Railroad in the Schaeffer video. Dr. Francis schaeffer – The flow of Materialism (Modern man sees no hope for the future and has deluded himself by appealing to nonreason to stay sane. Look at the example […]

Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham (Woody Wednesday)

A surprisingly civil discussion between evangelical Billy Graham and agnostic comedian Woody Allen. Skip to 2:00 in the video to hear Graham discuss premarital sex, to 4:30 to hear him respond to Allen’s question about the worst sin and to 7:55 for the comparison between accepting Christ and taking LSD. ___________________ The Christian Post > […]

“Woody Wednesday” Allen acts silly in 1971 interview (Part 4)

“Woody Wednesday” Allen acts silly in 1971 interview (Part 4) Woody Allen interview 1971 PART 4/4 Uploaded by captainvontrapp on Jul 21, 2008 Woody Allen interview from 1971, just after the worldwide release of ‘Bananas’ ________________________ David Mishkin God and Carpeting: The Theology of Woody Allen by David Mishkin March 1, 1993 This is an […]

 

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

Listing of transcripts and videos of “Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis on www.theDailyHatch.org

December 15, 2012 – 3:58 am


 
Milton Friedman in his series “Free to Choose” used a pencil as a simple example to should have the “invisible hand” of the freemarket works (phrase originally used by Adam Smith).

“How grateful I have been over the years for the cogency of Friedman’s ideas which have influenced me. Cherishers of freedom will be indebted to him for generations to come.”
—Alan Greenspan, former Chairman, Federal Reserve System

“Right at this moment there are people all over the land, I could put dots on the map, who are trying to prove Milton wrong. At some point, somebody else is trying to prove he’s right That’s what I call influence.”
—Paul Samuelson, Nobel Laureate in Economic Science

In 1980 when I first sat down and read the book “Free to Choose” I was involved in Ronald Reagan’s campaign for president and excited about the race. Milton Friedman’s books and film series really helped form my conservative views. Take a look at one of my favorite films of his and if you take time to watch these episodes on inflation then you see how Ronald Reagan was able to bring inflation under control in the 1980’s with the help of Paul Volker of the Federal Reserve:

Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980), episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 1

FREE TO CHOOSE: Anatomy of Crisis
Friedman Delancy Street in New York’s lower east side, hardly one of the city’s best known sites, yet what happened in this street nearly 50 years ago continues to effect all of us today. Wall Street. Most of us know what happened here 50 years ago. Inside the Stock Exchange on October 29, 1929, the market collapsed. It came to be known as Black Thursday. The Wall Street crash was followed by the worst depression in American history. That depression has been blamed on the failure of capitalism. It was no such thing but the myth lives on. What really happened was very different.
Although things looked healthy on the surface, business had begun to turn down in mid 1929. The crash intensified the recession. So did continuing bank failures in the south and Midwest. But the recession only became a crisis when these failures spread to New York and in particular to this building, then the headquarters of the Bank of United States. The failure of this bank had far reaching effects and need never have happened.
It was something of a historical accident that this particular bank played the role it did. Why did it fail? It was a perfectly good bank. Banks that were in far worse financial shape had come under difficulties before it did and had, through the cooperation of other banks, been saved. The reason why it wasn’t saved has to do with its rather special character. First its name, Bank of United States, a name that made immigrants believe it was an official governmental bank although in fact it was an ordinary commercial bank. Second its ownership, Jewish, both its name and the character of its ownership which had so much to do with attracting the large number of depositors from the many Jewish businessmen in the city of New York. Both of them also had the effect of alienating other bankers who did not like the special advantage of the name and did not like the character of the ownership. As a result, other banks were all too ready to spread rumors, to help promote an atmosphere in which runs got started on the bank and which it came into difficulty. And they were less then usually willing to cooperate in the efforts that were made to save it.
Only a few blocks away is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It was here that the Bank of United States could have been saved. Indeed, the Federal Reserve System had been set up 17 years earlier precisely to prevent the worst consequences of bank failures.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose directors today meet in this room, devised a plan in cooperation with the superintendent of banking of the State of New York to save the Bank of United States. Their plan called for merging the Bank of United States with several other banks and also providing a guarantee fund to be subscribed to by still other bankers to assure the depositors that the assets of the Bank of United States were safe and sound. The Reserve Bank called meeting after meeting to try to put the plan into effect. It was on again, off again. But finally, after an all night meeting on December 10, 1930, the other bankers, including in particular John Pierpont Morgan, refused to subscribe to the guarantee fund and the plan was off. The next day the Bank of United States closed its doors, never again to open for business. For its depositors who saw their savings tied up and their businesses destroyed, the closing was tragic. Yet when the bank was finally liquidated, in the worst years of the depression, it paid back 92.5 cents on the dollar. Had the other banks cooperated to save it, no one would have lost a penny.
For the other New York banks, they thought closing the Bank of United States would have purely local effects. They were wrong. Partly because it had so many depositors, partly because so many of the depositors were small businessmen, partly because it was the largest bank that had ever been permitted to fail in the United States up to this time, the effects were far reaching. Depositors all over the country were frightened about the safety of their funds and rushed to withdraw them. There were runs. There were failures of banks by the droves. And all the time the Federal Reserve System stood idly by when it had the power and the duty and the responsibility to provide the cash that would have enabled the banks to meet the insistent demands of their depositors without closing their doors.
The way runs on banks can spread and can be stopped is a consequence of the way our bank system works. You may think that when you take some cash to a bank and deposit it, the bank takes that money and sticks it in a vault somewhere to wait until you need it again to turn it back over to you.
Bank teller: Okay, how would you like this? Two tens, one five and five ones. Okay.
Friedman: The bank does no such thing with it. It immediately takes a large part of what you put in and lends it out to somebody else. How do you suppose it earns interest, to pay its expenses, or pay you something for the use of your money? The result is that if all depositors in all the banks tried all at once to convert their deposits into cash, there wouldn’t be anything like enough cash in the banks of the country to meet their demands. In order to prevent such an outcome, in order to cut short a run, it is necessary to have some way either to stop people from asking for it, or to have some additional source from which cash can be obtained. That was intended to be the purpose of the Federal Reserve System. It was to provide the additional cash to meet the demands of the depositors when a run arose.
A classic example of how this system could and did work properly can be found over 2,000 miles from New York near the great Salt Lake in Utah.
In the early 30’s some banks in Salt Lake City and surrounding towns began to get into difficulties. The owners of one them were smart enough to see what had to be done to keep their banks open and courageous enough to do it. When fearful depositors began to clamor to withdraw all their money, one of George Eccles jobs was to brief his cashiers on how to handle the run.

Links to other segments:

“Friedman Friday” (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 7of 7)

TEMIN: We don’t think the big capital arose before the government did? VON HOFFMAN: Listen, what are we doing here? I mean __ defending big government is like defending death and taxes. When was the last time you met anybody that was in favor of big government? FRIEDMAN: Today, today I met Bob Lekachman, I […]

“Friedman Friday” (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 6of 7)

worked pretty well for a whole generation. Now anything that works well for a whole generation isn’t entirely bad. From the fact __ from that fact, and the undeniable fact that things are working poorly now, are we to conclude that the Keynesian sort of mixed regulation was wrong __ FRIEDMAN: Yes. LEKACHMAN: __ or […]

“Friedman Friday” (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 5 of 7)

MCKENZIE: Ah, well, that’s not on our agenda actually. (Laughter) VOICE OFF SCREEN: Why not? MCKENZIE: I boldly repeat the question, though, the expectation having been __ having been raised in the public mind, can you reverse this process where government is expected to produce the happy result? LEKACHMAN: Oh, no way. And it would […]

“Friedman Friday” (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 4 of 7)

The massive growth of central government that started after the depression has continued ever since. If anything, it has even speeded up in recent years. Each year there are more buildings in Washington occupied by more bureaucrats administering more laws. The Great Depression persuaded the public that private enterprise was a fundamentally unstable system. That […]

“Friedman Friday” (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 3 of 7)

Worse still, America’s depression was to become worldwide because of what lies behind these doors. This is the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Inside is the largest horde of gold in the world. Because the world was on a gold standard in 1929, these vaults, where the U.S. gold was stored, […]

“Friedman Friday” (Part 16) (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 2 of 7)

  George Eccles: Well, then we called all our employees together. And we told them to be at the bank at their place at 8:00 a.m. and just act as if nothing was happening, just have a smile on their face, if they could, and me too. And we have four savings windows and we […]

“Friedman Friday” (“Free to Choose” episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 1of 7)

Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980), episode 3 – Anatomy of a Crisis. part 1 FREE TO CHOOSE: Anatomy of Crisis Friedman Delancy Street in New York’s lower east side, hardly one of the city’s best known sites, yet what happened in this street nearly 50 years ago continues to effect all of us today. […]

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Comments (0)

Francis Schaeffer’s impact is still felt throughout the Christian church

December 15, 2012 – 1:10 am

I have always benefitted from reading the works of Francis Schaeffer.

Francis Schaeffer

An Authentic Life

Book Details

Discerning Reader Editorial Review

Reviewed 06/24/2008 by Tim Challies.

Recommended. A must read for any who have loved or admired Francis Schaeffer.

I think it is safe to say that, of all theologians contemporary or ancient, few have had as profound an affect on my life as Francis Schaeffer. Though I’ve read little of what he wrote, though he died when I was only a young child, and though I have never heard even one of his sermons, I know that my faith has been shaped by him. He was, after all, a major influence on my parents and on so many of their friends. Shortly after their conversion, my parents went three times to various European L’Abri locations, spending upwards of a year at them. In so many ways Schaeffer shaped their fledgling faith just as they later shaped mine. I am indebted to him as I am to them. And in this I am hardly the only one. Though it has been almost twenty five years since his death, Schaeffer’s impact is still felt throughout the Christian church.

Despite my indebtedness, and despite his influence over me, I know so little about Francis Schaeffer. Though widely admired, it seems that few people have taken on the challenge of documenting his life (his son’s recent attempt notwithstanding). It was with great interest, then, that I turned to Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life, a new biography written by Colin Duriez, who has previously written accounts of the lives of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

The publisher’s description aptly summarizes the content. “From his working-class childhood in Pennsylvania, to the founding of L’Abri, his personal crisis of faith, and his latter years as a compassionate controversialist in the worldwide spotlight, all the eras of Schaeffer’s life unfold within these pages. But Duriez, who studied under and interviewed Schaeffer, also takes a deeper look, revealing those distinct life phases, as well as Schaeffer’s teachings and his complexities as a person, within their historical context so that contemporary readers may better understand all of who Schaeffer was—and why he still matters today.” Duriez depends largely on oral history he gathered—upwards of 150,000 words of it, to describe the life of this great Christian.

I find that there are at least two kinds of biographies. There are some where the reader closes the cover and feels as if he now knows a lot about the book’s subject; then there is the occasional sublime biography where the reader closes the book and feels as if he truly knowsthe subject. While I wanted this biography to fit in the latter category, I feel that it fits instead in the former. This is not meant as a critique as much as an honest assessment. Though the book has undoubtedly increased my knowledge of Francis Schaeffer, my respect for him, and my understanding of his impact on the church, I do not feel as if I really know him, as perhaps I did with Jonathan Edwards after reading Marsden’s great account of his life or with Whitefield after enjoying Dallimore’s two-volume masterpiece.

Yet the book stands on its own merits and it stands well. It is thorough without being burdensome and grapples well with the complexities of Francis Schaeffer, his life, and his ministry. It describes a man who had a unique gift for teaching and a deep, reverent love for his Saviour.

The best and, to my knowledge, the only full-length biography of Schaeffer available today, this one is well worth the read. I do not think it will stand in history as the definitive account of Schaeffer’s life, but it is still a very good account and one that will bless you as you read it. If you have been influenced by Schaeffer or if you have sought to understand his ministry, you will want to secure a copy for yourself.

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

Max Brantley of the Ark Times takes on Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute today concerning Obamacare

December 14, 2012 – 1:47 pm

Max Brantley of the Ark Times takes on Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute today concerning Obamacare. I have posted many links to Cannon’s articles in the past on my blog and on the Arkansas Times liberal blog. The finest article written in my estimation was written on Nov 20, 2012 and here is a link to it. No one has acted like Cannon’s ideas had any chance of working out since the Arkansas Times Blog is made of primarily of Obama supporters.

Below is a portion of the post by Brantley followed by links to some of the past articles and videos by Cannon I have posted before.

The real reason Ark. Republicans oppose state-run exchange?

Posted by on Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 12:23 PM

Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute image

  • Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute

Today’s the big day for states to decide whether they want to run their own health-insurance exchange or have the federal government do it. Arkansas opted earlier this week for a partnership. 

It looks like states will split pretty evenly across the country, with around 20 running their own exchanges, around 20 ceding control to the feds, and the rest opting for a partnership. There’s been a fair amount of fuss over this decision but it probably won’t impact consumers much one way or the other.

We’ve noted that it’s a bit curious that Republican lawmakers, usually strongly in favor of more state control, have led the charge against state-run exchanges.

In the runup to the deadline for the exchange decision, a few conservatives, like Douglas Holtz-Eakin — Director of the Congressional Budget Office under George W. Bush — started to make the ideologically coherent argument that, however much they hate Obamacare, states are better off with more control. Most movement conservatives strongly rejected these ideas.

Why? Conservatives are devoted to a give-no-quarter approach to Obamacare. Michael Cannon, the Cato Institute’s health-care point man, wrote recently in the National Review that accepting the law amounted to “Vichyism.”

And, they think, it’s not just lost causism. In addition to hoping that it will disrupt the smooth implementation of the law, Cannon wants states to say no to the exchange because he believes that a constitutional challenge can be raised against subsidies provided on the federal exchanges (the law doesn’t explicitly mention subsidies via a federal exchange because lawmakers anticipated that states would run the exchanges). The argument is pretty flimsy, but flimsy arguments have given proponents of the Affordable Care Act reason to sweat before.

The state of Oklahoma has already filed a lawsuit in federal court along these lines and the Wall Street Journal has also floated the idea. Here’s a good summary of Cannon’s Hail Mary play.

___________

Earlier posts about Michael Cannon’s works on Obamacare:

Can states stop Obamacare from becoming law in their states?

Sen. Max Baucus admits the PPACA conditions tax credits on state compliance Published on Sep 21, 2012 by Michael F. Cannon I really don’t know the answer to this question and would love it if someone would enlighten me. This article below from the Cato Institute makes the case that States can stop Obamacare from […]

Obamacare going down no matter who wins?

It seems that Obamacare is going to go down according to this article below: GOP Vows to Keep Fighting IRS’s Illegal ObamaCare Taxes if Obama Wins Posted by Michael F. Cannon Roll Call reports that if President Obama wins re-election, House and Senate Republicans will hold votes on rescinding his illegal IRS rule that unlawfully […]

 

Is Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute right about states blocking Obamacare, factchecker says he is wrong.

Cato’s Michael F. Cannon Discusses ObamaCare’s Individual Mandate Is Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute right about states blocking Obamacare, factchecker says he is wrong. I Have Been False* Posted by Michael F. Cannon *According to PolitiFact. In an unconscious parody of everything that’s wrong with the “fact-checker” movement in journalism, PolitiFact Georgia (a project of […]

The real truth about Obamacare can be seen on the www.thedailyhatch.org

Michael Cannon on Medicare and Healthcare You want to know the real truth about Obamacare then check out these videos and articles linked below: American people do not want Obamacare and the regulations that go with it March 7, 2012 – 8:02 am In this article below you will see that the American people do not […]

Arkansas Times praises good results of Obamacare

Gerard Matthews wrote on March 21, 2012 in the Arkansas Times: Children cannot be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Young people can stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until they are 26 years old. Preventive services, which will ultimately help control health care costs, have been added to some plans at no […]

Brummett is arguing over the chairs on the Titanic as Obamacare will surely bankrupt state

Michael Cannon on Medicare and Healthcare In his article, “Medicaid and the consequences,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 20, 2012, (paywall), Brummett admits, “Medicaid will break the bank of state government if we don’t do something.” However, he never gets around to saying that Obamacare is going to ruin the state financially. It will expand this failing […]

The real truth about Obamacare can be seen on the www.thedailyhatch.org

Michael Cannon on Medicare and Healthcare You want to know the real truth about Obamacare then check out these videos and articles linked below: American people do not want Obamacare and the regulations that go with it March 7, 2012 – 8:02 am In this article below you will see that the American people do not […]

The primary cause of higher hospital care and education costs in the USA is?

Is Washington Bankrupting America? Uploaded by BankruptingAmerica on Apr 20, 2010 Be first to receive our videos and other timely info about economic policy. Subscribe at http://www.bankruptingamerica.org ————————- According to a recent poll, 74 percent of likely voters are extremely or very concerned about the current level of government spending. And 58 percent think the […]

“Feedback Friday” Letter to White House generated form letter response June 15, 2012 on Healthcare (part 8)

I have been writing President Obama letters and have not received a personal response yet.  (He reads 10 letters a day personally and responds to each of them.) However, I did receive a form letter in the form of an email on June 15, 2012. I don’t know which letter of mine generated this response so I have […]

 

Open letter to President Obama (Part 102)

President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here. I see […]

Open letter to President Obama (Part 97)

Michael Cannon on Medicare and Healthcare President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Healthcare | Comments (0)

All-American Rejects Part 1 (Lifestyles of two Oklahoma boys contrasted: Tyson Ritter and Landry Jones)

December 14, 2012 – 7:30 am

 

The All-American Rejects – Swing, Swing

 

The All-American Rejects – Move Along

Tyson Ritter in Little Rock below:

Sent from my iPhone

On 12-13-12 I got to hear the All-American Rejects and their lead singer Tyson Ritter play at Juanita’s in Little Rock on Clinton Ave. The performance of music was very good. However, Tyson’s rock and roll lifestyle is not the way a young boy from Oklahoma should act when fame comes his way at age 17.

Now ten years later Tyson has admitted that fame turned him into a jerk especially from 2008 to 2011 when he lived in LA. His lack of respect for woman was satired in the song “Beekeeper’s Daughter.”

When I think of a young man who lives in Oklahoma who has reacted well to fame and remained down-to-earth at the same time then I think of Landry Jones.

Here is a little about Landry below:

Landry Jones and Whitney Hand are now officially the University of Oklahoma’s first couple.

The Sooners’ starting quarterback and women’s basketball team’s starting guard were married over the weekend after the pair began dating in 2009.

So where did the Sooners’ duo wed? Texas, of course.

Before Oklahoma fans throw up their hands in bedlam, the ceremony took place in Hand’s hometown of Fort Worth.

The ceremony featured an ice block in the shape of a heart (pictured below) with the letters “W + L” on it and Jones’ teammate, Drew Allen, tweeted a picture of the two with the words, “Mr. & Mrs. Landry Jones”. There’s no word on where the two will honeymoon.

Hopefully married life will have a positive effect on Jones’ senior season, as he looks to bounce back from a mediocre junior campaign in which he threw a career-high 15 interceptions.

[Pistols Firing on Twitter]

 Landry and Wendy are Christians and followed Christian teachings concerning dating. This is in contrast to Tyson Ritter’s approach of no lasting committment.

I have an article at the bottom of this post that tells about All-American Rejects and their music but first I wanted to talk a little more about Landry and Wendy.

Below is an article that talked about Landry and Wendy while there were dating:

Uploaded by on Nov 29, 2010

Sports always came easy for Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones. Everyone wanted him for their team. Everybody loved him. He had friends, girls– the world was at his fingertips. Yet he still desired more.

From the I Am Second movement (iamsecond.com) meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others.

______________________

I have a lot of respect for Landry Jones. I love the points made at the end of this article concerning scriptures in the Bible that apply to Christians dating.


Jan/Feb 2011 Dating Game Jill Ewert

“You tell it. You’re so much better at telling it than me. I always leave out too many details.” Landry Jones scoots back deeper into the couch in the middle of FCA Area Representative Kent Bowles’ sports room. He’s surrounded by everything a college athlete could find comforting: a ping pong table, framed college football jerseys, a gumball machine and his girlfriend: OU shooting guard Whitney Hand.

He says this not because he doesn’t want to tell the story himself, but because he’s humble about it—almost sheepish—and he doesn’t want to blow his own whistle.

“OK,” says Hand, her grin widening by the second. She can hardly wait to dive in and brag on Jones’ brilliant scheme.

 
“Landry is not my walk with Christ, and I don’t want to be in that position in his life, either. I never want him to love me more than he loves Jesus.” 
                             – Whitney Hand

They’d both arrived on the OU campus as freshman in 2008 and were immediately attracted to each other when they met through orientation and began running in the same athletic circles. Jones tested the romantic waters all summer and into the fall by jokingly asking Hand on dates, comments to which she’d always reply with rolled eyes and a playful, “Oh, shut up.” But when October rolled around, Jones decided to take a legitimate shot.

“No, I really want to go on a date with you,” he’d said. When she agreed, Jones knew he had one chance to sweep her off her feet.

Hand tells the first date story with animation. “I met him downstairs in my dorm, and immediately he tells me that he forgot his wallet at his parents’ house in Oklahoma City, which is, like, a 30-minute drive.”

She rolls her eyes.

“I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’”

Jones stares at the floor, grinning. She glances over at him, smiles and continues the story.

“We get there, and he’s like, ‘Wait here.’ So, he ran inside and left me waiting in the car. I actually called one of my friends and told her, ‘He forgot his stinking wallet!’ But then he came back outside a couple minutes later and told me to come in.”

Hand got out of the car, followed Jones through the front door and was completely shocked to find flowers and a candle-lit dinner waiting for her. Granted, it was only Raising Cane’s Chicken, but that just made the story even more interesting.

“He didn’t know that I absolutely detest fast food,” Hand reveals.

In an environment like that, though, the menu was of little concern. She’d been wooed. And while the actual relationship wouldn’t take off until three months later due to the interruption of another potential suitor from Hand’s hometown (a story for another time), it was the start of what has now been a 2.5-year dating relationship between the Sooner stars.

Officially dubbed “the First Couple of Oklahoma” by the local press, Landry Jones and Whitney Hand, both Christians since childhood, have watched as the Lord has used their time together to both bless and challenge them in life, sports and faith.

“We’re not dating experts, but the Lord has taught us so much through being together,” Hand says. “Whatever He shares with us, we want to share with others and help them grow in their faith, too. We believe that right now we’re a better witness for Him together than apart.”

Two years ago when their relationship began, neither Jones nor Hand would have guessed that they’d be called to support each other through two major injuries: one Hand suffered herself and the other sustained by then-OU starting quarterback Sam Bradford.

 

It was the fall of 2009, and the two athletes had been dating for almost a year. On Sept. 5, Jones, just a redshirt freshman, was called onto the field to replace Bradford, who had injured his throwing shoulder. It was an event that put tremendous pressure on Jones as he was forced to lead one of the nation’s most prominent college football programs, and he needed support.

As the faithful girlfriend, Hand utilized her position to speak words of God’s truth to Jones and encourage him. What she didn’t realize was that the favor would need to be returned just two months later when she would experience a season-ending injury of her own: a torn ACL.

Following his girlfriend’s example, Jones began speaking Scripture and godly encouragement to the discouraged shooting guard.

“I don’t think I would have made it through this injury as spiritually healthy without Landry,” says Hand, who had started her college career as one of the top freshman in the nation. “When Satan spoke lies throughout the injury about me not being good enough, being forgotten or being replaced, Landry came back with, ‘No, this is what the Lord says. This is what Jesus thinks of you.’ And that just spoke to my heart so preciously. It was like Jesus was teaming up with Landry to love on me.”

It was a defining time for them both individually and as a dating couple. By walking together through two of the most significant challenges athletes can face, they learned lessons about perseverance, patience and selflessness.

Now, looking back, they realize that, as tough as they were, the challenges only made them stronger.

 
“You have to fall in love with Jesus first before you can love another person correctly.”
                                – Landry Jones

“It’s helpful to reflect on it now and be like, ‘OK, we’ve gone through an ACL injury and a tough season together. How bad could it be?’” Jones says. “I think one thing Satan tries to do is to get us to forget the hard times we’ve gone through and the lessons we learned from them. By going through them together, we can help each other remember those times and see that we can endure other things, too.”

Words of godly truth, however, would be more likely to fall on deaf ears if they weren’t spoken by someone who truly understood an athletic mind.

According to both Sooner stars, a shared understanding of sports has been an asset to their relationship, helping them not only through the career-marking challenges, but also the day-to-day irritations of sports.

“Because we’re both athletes, we’re able to be on the same page on a lot of things,” Jones says. “Whitney can come over and tell me that she had a bad practice, and I’ll be able to say, ‘Yep, I know where you’re coming from. I know that feeling, and it stinks.’”

Hand nods in agreement.

“It helps so much that he doesn’t just say, ‘Oh, it’s OK. You’re still great.’ He really understands. And when he comes back from practice and says something like, ‘Man, I wasn’t accurate today,’ I can totally relate. It’s just a different level, and it’s a huge blessing from God.”

Inevitably, though, learning to date in a godly manner has involved more than spiritual encouragement. As part of the Christian dating experience, Jones and Hand have had to face familiar battles like the one for sexual purity, and both admit to struggling with appropriate boundaries.

After early difficulties in what Hand calls their “infatuation stage”—the time in which neither could do wrong in the eyes of the other—both began being discipled and involving the accountability of others in order to maintain godly standards.

“We realized we needed help,” Hand says. “Our struggles had really put a cloud on everything and even affected how we performed in our sports. It was just an ugly domino effect.”

To counter the temptation, they turned to the Word of God, their churches, their FCA teammates and, most importantly, the Holy Spirit.

“As our relationships with Christ grew both together and apart, our desire to please Him became greater than our desire to please each other physically,” Hand says. “He helped us realize that we weren’t married and couldn’t act like we were. He loved us enough to ask us to stay pure so that He could bless us in the future.”

 
   Jones and Hand with the OU FCA leadership team

FCA SOONER STYLE

Landry Jones and Whitney Hand have been dynamic parts of the FCA Huddle at the University of Oklahoma since arriving on campus. They both attend the Tuesday-night Huddle meetings and speak frequently at local FCA events.At a recent ministry outreach for young female athletes hosted by Central Oklahoma FCA Area Representative Sarah Roberts, Hand shared her and Jones’ dating story, including her battle with idolatry and placing Jones in a position above Christ in her life.

“It was something that all the girls really needed to hear,” Roberts said. “She was so honest with them about her personal struggles, and that made such a difference. God is really doing something special by bringing Whitney and Landry together.”

Through events like these, the FCA staff in Oklahoma are making an eternal impact on the lives of athletes and coaches. And with the help of athletes like Jones and Hand, their reach is only being extended.

“Landry and Whitney are tremendous blessings to the entire community,” said FCA Area Representative Kent Bowles, who works directly with the OU Huddle. “They are constant reminders of how God orchestrates all areas of our lives for His glory. These guys love the Lord first, and, because of that love, they are truly growing closer to Him and to each other as well.”

For more information on FCA in Oklahoma, visit okfca.org.

Their stance of purity paid off in more ways than one, blessing both their relationship and the lives of those observing it.

As OU athletes, Jones and Hand know they’re on a platform—one that is only heightened by their relationship. Instead of shrinking back from the public, the “power couple” has embraced their status and used it as an avenue for ministry by showing those around them not only two individual models of Christ, but also one example of a Christ-centered dating couple.

“It’s not what you’d expect, but when guys ask me if Whitney and I have done anything and I say no, they usually say, ‘I respect that,’” Jones says. “I know I shouldn’t say that it’s a weird response, but it is in today’s culture. But it goes along with what I’m finding out about Christ in general. More people really want to know about Him than you’d think.”

It’s something that the two Sooners take to heart: the fact that, through their relationship, they get to tell others about Jesus Christ. It’s become a great desire for them both and yet another shared passion.

They agree that they’re living blessed lives of position and influence and that they have a significant chance to make a difference for the Lord. The fact that they get to do that together is just icing on the cake.

But it’s not the cake itself. That, of course, is Jesus.

“It’s something that we’ve struggled to learn, but we both have come to understand that no other person can completely fulfill you—only Jesus can do that,” Hand says. “And until you know who you are in Christ and understand His love for you, it’s going to be difficult for you to love another person correctly. You’ll always be putting them in a position they weren’t designed by God to hold in your life.”

Says Jones, “I would agree with that. You have to fall in love with Jesus first before you can love another person correctly. As it says in the Bible, you can’t be unevenly yoked. For guys especially, because we’re so visual, we might see a girl and want to date her, but, if she’s not a Christian, it’s not going to work out.”

For Jones and Hand, it goes back to the analogy of running the race together—pursuing Christ side by side at the same pace and remaining focused on Him. And, when it comes to dating advice, both cite Matthew 6:33 (NIV)— “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”—and point to the greatest commandment of loving the Lord above all else.

“I want to be more in love with Christ than I am with Landry,” Hand says. “If Landry and I were to break up, I wouldn’t want my walk with Christ to disappear with him. Landry is not my walk with Christ, and I don’t want to be in that position in his life either. I never want him to love me more than he loves Jesus.”

In a candid moment, Jones looks over at his girlfriend and beams at her. The wheels of revelation turn in his mind as he sees more of Christ being revealed through her.

He can’t put it any better than she did, and he wouldn’t want to. He likes to see her shine. It’s part of the selfless thing he’s learned through the dating process. Instead, Jones embraces the chance to encourage Hand and support her point.

“Yeah, that’s great. Definitely take her advice.”

She smiles back and receives the support with gratitude.

Mission accomplished.

DATING ADVICE FROM THE WORD Dating is a tricky subject, but it’s one that must be addressed. While the Bible may not offer black-and-white dating instructions, it does give clear commands regarding proper conduct in relationships. If we follow those instructions, we can be sure that we’ll find success in dating regardless of the relationship’s outcome.As a starting point, we encourage you to read the following Scriptures, which can serve as basic tips for how to date in a Godhonoring way:1. Matthew 6:33 – Seek God above all else. Staying focused on Him and letting Him guide your thoughts, words and actions is the most sure-fire way to achieve victory in any area of life, including dating. Read His Word daily, pray and prioritize your time alone with Him even as your social calendar fills up.2. Matthew 22:37-38; Romans 12:10 – Love Him and love others. Keep in mind that relationships involve other people who are also God’s beloved children. Put Him first and then put the other person’s best interest second. If an action you take would displease God on their behalf, don’t do it.3. Proverbs 15:22 – Seek wise counsel. In dating, you will experience new challenges as the emotions, habits and choices of two people come together. Put yourself under the influence of godly advisers who can help you remain above reproach and make wise decisions.4. Ephesians 5:11; James 5:16 – Stay accountable. Dating will expose you to areas of strong temptation. Keeping your struggles a secret is a guaranteed way to set yourself up for failure. Enlist the help of a Christian friend or mentor who can ask you tough questions about your conduct.5. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – Don’t be weighed down. The Bible says that believers should not be “yoked” with unbelievers, and it does so for good reason. As Christians, we are clearly set apart as vessels of God’s holy light in a dark world. If another person does not have that light, according to Scripture, they are walking in darkness. While we should still love them through Christ, we should not be bound together with them or with anything that would dim the light of the Lord inside us.When done the right way, dating can be a great experience. If you choose to enter into a dating relationship, see it as a way of growing in your relationship with Christ. Take the opportunity to learn about serving and honoring another on behalf of the Lord, about pointing others to Him, and about further discovering who God created you to be.Again, there’s no formula for dating, but there are basic instructions we can follow that will help us survive the process and enter into marriage without unnecessary emotional baggage and with our godly integrity and purity intact. Our only role is to say yes to the Lord and stick to His plan.
 

From Wikipedia:

 

The All-American Rejects

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“Nick Wheeler” redirects here. For the British businessman, see Nicholas Wheeler.
The All-American Rejects
Origin Stillwater, Oklahoma,
United States
Genres Alternative rock, emo, pop punk, power pop
Years active 1999–present
Labels Doghouse, DreamWorks, DGC, Interscope [1][2][3][4]
Website www.allamericanrejects.com
Members
Tyson Ritter
Nick Wheeler
Mike Kennerty
Chris Gaylor
Past members
Tim Campbell
Jesse Tabish

The All-American Rejects is an American alternative rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999.[5] The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist and pianist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Mike Kennerty, and drummer and percussionist Chris Gaylor.

The band achieved mainstream success with their debut self-titled studio album, The All-American Rejects, released in 2003. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA and spawned the hit single “Swing, Swing“.[6] The band’s second album, Move Along (2005), brought the band more mainstream success. The album produced three hit singles; “It Ends Tonight“, “Dirty Little Secret” and “Move Along“, all of which charted in the top fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[7] Both “Move Along” and “Dirty Little Secret” sold over two million digital downloads in the United States. The album itself was certified double platinum by the RIAA.[6] The All-American Rejects’ third album, When the World Comes Down, was released on December 16, 2008. The album was certified gold by the RIAA.[6] The first single, “Gives You Hell“, became the band’s first song to be successful internationally: it peaked at number-four on the Hot 100 chart, number-three on the Australian ARIA Singles chart and charted in the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart.[7][8][9] On March 21, 2011, the RIAA certified “Gives You Hell” 4× multi-platinum for sales of over 4 million in the United States.[10] The band’s fourth album: Kids in the Street released worldwide on March 26, 2012 debuted at No.18 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Since the start of their career, The All-American Rejects have sold over 10 million albums world wide.[11][12] The All-American Rejects were ranked No. 73 on the “Hot 100 Artists of the 2000s”[13] and No. 183 on Billboard magazine’s “Billboard 200 Artists of the Decade” list.[14]

Contents

 [hide] 

[edit] History

[edit] 1999–2004: Formation and The All-American Rejects

The band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1999 while members Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler were still in high school. The two originally met in 1997 at a club where an early band of Wheeler’s was performing. It was here that Ritter offered himself for bass duties. Eventually Ritter and Wheeler decided to form The All-American Rejects.[5]

In 2000, still in high school, the band made a demo simply labeled The All-American Rejects, with Jesse Tabish as vocalist/guitarist, Tyson Ritter as vocalist/bassist and Nick Wheeler on drums. The demo CD was engineered, mixed and mastered by Wheeler. It was also managed by Half-A-Cup Entertainment. The demo is now commonly referred to as The Blue Disc or The Blue Album. The CD consisted of twelve songs, a few of which would be included on the Same Girl, New Songs demo made in 2001. Jesse Tabish later split from the group and later became a member of the folk band other lives. Ritter and Wheeler put together the Same Girl, New Songs EP, which was soon sent to independent Doghouse Records, where an intern saved the disc from the trash, and revealed it to the label owner. The All-American Rejects were soon signed to a recording contract.[15]

In 2001, with producer Tim O’Hier, they recorded their self-titled debut album, The All-American Rejects. The album and its first single, “Swing, Swing“, were released towards the end of 2002. The band began looking for additional members for a live act.[16] Edmond, Oklahoma resident Mike Kennerty joined on as rhythm guitarist soon before the album was released. Soon after, the band was having problems with drummer Tim Campbell. Campbell was later replaced by drummer Chris Gaylor, who knew and played in another band with Kennerty.[17]

The band was then signed by DreamWorks Records. The band hit the road for eight shows in January, and DreamWorks issued a broader-scale distribution of the debut LP. The album peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard 200. The single “Swing, Swing” was also re-issued, which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 60 as well as No. 8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[18][19][20] The single “The Last Song” was also released spring 2003, and climbed to No. 29 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[20]

Early in 2003, the band went on tour as an opening act for CKY. While several differing stories have occurred concerning the tour, they were kicked off the tour shortly after it began.

In Spring 2003, The All-American Rejects set out on their first headlining tour, called the Too Bad For Hell Tour. In later 2003, The All-American Rejects released, Live from Oklahoma… The Too Bad for Hell DVD!, their first live DVD – which was later certified Gold by the RIAA. During this time, they performed on the Vans Warped Tour. They would later be part of the lineup again in summer 2005. In November, The All-American Rejects joined the band Motion City Soundtrack for six shows in the United Kingdom, the first date on the 16th, and the last on the 22nd.[21]

[edit] 2005–2006: Move Along

Main article: Move Along

In July 2005, The All-American Rejects released their second studio album, Move Along, produced by Howard Benson. The album’s first single, “Dirty Little Secret“, was released that summer to radio stations.

At the end of 2005, The All-American Rejects embarked on The Rise of the Fall Tour along with The Academy Is… and Rooney.[22] Then, on December 13, The Bite Back EP was released on the iTunes Music Store, and on New Year’s Eve 2005, the band performed The Cars‘ “Good Times Roll” with Fall Out Boy on MTV.

In 2006, the second single and title track from Move Along, was released. Within the first weeks after premiering their video, it had been on the Total Request Live countdown, hitting number-one four days in a row. The single did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 until almost six months after its release, in June. On March 15, 2006, the All-American Rejects began a tour of the United States that wrapped up on May 13, 2006. On May 25, The All-American Rejects performed at the first ever VH1 Rock Honors, covering Def Leppard‘s “Photograph“. In July the band sent a promotional single from Move Along, called “Top of the World” to modern rock radio. A music video was created for it from clips of The All-American Rejects on tour and in concert.

“Move Along” was also used to help promote Lego BIONICLE‘s Inika toy sets in the summer of 2006. The band also participated in a promotion for the sets called “Free the Band”. The overall priority of the promotion was that the Rejects got kidnapped by the villainous Piraka whilst sailing on a yacht and people had to assist the Inika on finding and rescuing the band via the website ‘freetheband.com’. A competition could also be entered where the winners would receive BIONICLE and All-American Rejects merchandise alike.[23]

In September 2006, a third headlining single, “It Ends Tonight“, was released from Move Along. The video debuted at No. 10 on the VH1 Top 20 countdown. The video also peaked at No. 2 on TRL.[24] Later in the year The All-American Rejects launched the Tournado tour in support of Move Along. The tour kicked off at Hartford, Connecticut on October 27, and wrapped up at Champaign, Illinois on December 20.

That New Year’s Eve, The All-American Rejects performed on a special on Las Vegas’ Fremont Street, which also included the bands OK Go, Five for Fighting, Rock Star Supernova, and Chicago.

[edit] 2007–2009: When the World Comes Down

The All-American Rejects began writing material for their third studio album in December 2006. The band also collaborated with composer Danny Elfman on “The Future Has Arrived”, which was included on the soundtrack of Disney film Meet the Robinsons. The song was created in conjunction with the film’s musical score.

On July 17, 2007 The All-American Rejects released their second live DVD, titled Tournado, with content from the 2006 headlining tour of the same name. In December 2007, the songs “Move Along” and “Dirty Little Secret” were released as downloadable content in the video game Rock Band.[25] In the summer of 2008, The All-American Rejects canceled their dates on that year’s Warped Tour to complete When the World Comes Down. The demo for the song “Real World” was selected for the soundtrack of Madden 09. Also during the summer, they covered “Jack’s Lament” from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was featured on Nightmare Revisited. The finished album version of the song “I Wanna” appeared in the movie, The House Bunny, which was released to theaters on August 22, 2008. Vocalist/bassist Tyson Ritter played a role in the film, and offered up “I Wanna” for the soundtrack.[26]

On September 30, 2008 the first single from When the World Comes Down, “Gives You Hell” was released on October 8, 2008. The All-American Rejects were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and were awarded with “Rising Star http://www.billboard.com/song/the-all-american-rejects/gives-you-hell/12141775#/song/the-all-american-rejects/gives-you-hell/12141775 Gives You Hell peaked at No. 1 on Pop charts on billboard.com and also peaked No. 1 on iTunes charts and No. 5 most downloaded song of the 2009 year, and the No. 1 most played song of the year 2009. “.[27] The music video for “Gives You Hell” was released November fifth and reached number one on VH1‘s Top 20 Countdown. On the sixth, in support of “Gives You Hell”, the band started the Gives You Hell Tour, which hit many small venues and clubs. Then, on the eighteenth “Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)”, another song from the band’s upcoming album, was released digitally on iTunes. In the first week of December, the album version of “Real World” was made available for download on Rock Band for the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3.

Finally, three years after Move Along was released, the group’s third album, When the World Comes Down (produced by Eric Valentine), was released on December 16, 2008.[28] After the Gives You Hell Tour wrapped up, the band embarked on a world tour until coming back to the states to start the I Wanna Rock Tour, which hit many major venues in the United States.

In May 2009 The All-American Rejects released a second single in the United States, entitled “The Wind Blows“, which achieved moderate success. “I Wanna” was released internationally on July 8 to Australia and the United Kingdom. Another song from When the World Comes Down, “Real World”, was featured on the “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” soundtrack released on June 23, 2009, but is not featured in the film. In July, “Real World” was released as a promotional single in the United States, followed by “I Wanna” as a headliner. In late summer The All-American Rejects joined Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Taking Back Sunday for the second half of the Blink-182 Reunion Tour.

On 15 August The All-American Rejects made history, performing alongside Hoobastank, Raygun, Boys Like Girls, Pixie Lott and Kasabian as one of the live acts at Asia’s very first MTV World Stage Live In Malaysia concert.[29] This performance gained them recognition in Malaysia. When the World Comes Down soon sold over 15,000 digital and physical copies in the country. On August 21 the “I Wanna” single was issued to Austria and Germany.

In October 2009, The All-American Rejects were forced to cancel shows due to an injury to frontman Tyson Ritter. He performed from a wheelchair with his leg in a brace on September 27 during a show in Tampa, Florida, amid reports suggesting the singer had undergone knee surgery to remove a tumor that had been there for many months. Ritter’s leg became infected, and he remained hospitalized for five days. Ritter made a full recovery in time to return to kick off the Battle Of The Bands Tour with Taking Back Sunday, with the first date at MSU in Michigan.[30][31]

The All-American Rejects announced that they will be performing their last show in support of When the World Comes Down at Hollywood, California on December 14. Since the date soon sold out, the band added a second date at the venue for the next day. However, the band will play one more show at the “Jingle Bell Bash” in Seattle on December 19.

[edit] 2010–present: Kids in the Street

Main article: Kids in the Street

In February 2010, The All-American Rejects performed at the Winter Olympics at the Whistler Medals Plaza. They also had DirecTV performances at Super Bowl XLIV and a special set aired in February. The band also wrote and recorded the song “The Poison” for the Almost Alice compilation, a collection of songs representing the 2010 Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland. From June 25 to July 18, The All-American Rejects toured the United States and Canada as part of the Warped Tour 2010 festival.

Later that year, the band began working on a fourth studio album. The band’s songwriters Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter went on numerous writing retreats into secluded parts of the United States; a tradition of writing used on their previously-released albums. Recording for The All-American Rejects’s fourth album wrapped up in June 2011, with mixing commencing the following August and concluding in early September. According to lead singer Tyson Ritter, the album will be much different compared to their past releases – including their previous album, When the World Comes Down, from which the band became more experimental with their sound. On November 14, 2011 Ritter announced via his Twitter that ex Taking Back Sunday bassist Matt Rubano had joined the band as their bass player for live performances, but stated that [Ritter] is still the bass player recording-wise.[32][33]

The All-American Rejects shot a music video for a promotional song from their fourth studio album entitled “Someday’s Gone” on December 3, 2011 and released it two days after on December 5, along with the offer to download the song for free from their official website.,[34] the band quoted “We wanted to give fans an early candy cane for the holidays and this song is the teeth of the record.” In the video for the song a calendar displayed in the background claims that the release for the band’s fourth album has been pushed back to March 26, 2012. The band later announced the title and tracklisting for their fourth studio album Kids in the Street on December 16, 2011, and that the first single off the record would be titled “Beekeeper’s Daughter“, it premiered in an episode of American teen drama 90210 on January 31, 2012 before being digitally released on the same day.[35] The All-American Rejects later embarked and are currently on their Shaking Off the Rust tour, which began in San Luis Obispo, California, United States on January 18, 2012 and is to proceed throughout the year, some of which they performed as a support act for Blink-182‘s 20th Anniversary Tour in the UK.

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

Republicans seem to give in most of the time on spending issues

December 14, 2012 – 6:40 am

Republicans seem to give in most of the time. I wish for the good of the country someone would step up and try to reverse the trend towards more spending and start cutting the budget for a change. We only had a budget deficit of about 161 billion in 2007 with income about where it is now. Then why do we have a budget deficit over one trillion today? It is because our problem is spending and not revenue!!!

It’s never a good idea to display weakness during negotiations. Your opponent will sense your fear and up his demands.

That’s certainly what we’re seeing in Washington. The cartoon at this link captures the GOP’s wobbly attitude on taxes, and this interview is about the ever-increasing demands of the Obama Administration.

It’s rather galling, by the way, to be lectured on taxes by a tax cheat like Tim Geithner.

But my key point is that the GOP’s preemptive surrender emboldened the White House, and helped move the debate even further to the left.

Let me elaborate on two points from the interview.

  1. We don’t need a tax increase. We can balance the budget simply by limiting spending so that it grows by “only” 2.5 percent annually. As I say to Cavuto, the White House is pushing higher taxes in order to enable a bigger burden of government spending.
  2. It’s important to define austerity correctly. To provide an analogy, we have to drink liquid to survive, but that doesn’t mean it would be a good idea to guzzle paint thinner. Likewise, we need austerity, but that shouldn’t mean higher taxes. We need to be like Estonia and tighten the belts of the public sector, not the private sector.

It’s not my job to give Republicans political advice, but I also want to expand upon the arguments I made a couple of days ago, when I wrote a post giving five policy reasons and five political reasons why the GOP shouldn’t surrender on tax increases.

A couple of readers correctly pointed out that I forgot to mention that tax increases are political poison because middle-class voters turn against the GOP once “revenue” is on the table. They are completely right, and my oversight is inexplicable since I’ve actually made that point in the past. Here’s some of what I wrote last year.

If Republicans put tax increases on the table, however, the politics get turned upside down. Instead of being united against all tax increases, voters realize somebody is going to get mugged and they have an incentive to make sure they’re not the ones who get victimized. That’s when soak-the-rich taxes become very appealing. Democrats, for all intents and purposes, can appeal to average voters by targeting the so-called rich. And even though voters will be skeptical about what Democrats really want, they don’t want to be the primary target of the political predators in Washington. Think of it this way. You’re a wildebeest running away from a pack of hyenas, but you know one member of your herd will get caught and killed. You despise hyenas, but at that critical moment, you’re main goal is wanting another member of the herd to bite the dust. This is why surrendering to tax increases put Republicans in a no-win situation. They oppose class-warfare taxes because they understand the disproportionately damaging impact of higher top income tax rates and increased double taxation of dividends and capital gains. So when GOPers get bullied into agreeing to raise taxes, they want to target less destructive sources of revenue. But that usually means…taxes that are more likely to hit the middle class. Needless to say, Democrats almost always win if there is a fight on whether to tax the middle class or to tax the rich.

I have to pat myself on the back for that passage, particularly the analogy that equates politicians with hyenas (though in the past I’ve apologized to hyenas for that unfair comparison).

Let’s close with a very good cartoon, which points out the foolishness of the media for wanting to send more money to Washington when even they understand that the town is filled with clowns and buffoons. That’s actually a very serious point, as I note about halfway through the interview included in my five-political-reasons-five-policy-reasons post.

Cartoon Beat the Press Tax Hikes

But it’s hard to laugh when you contemplate what’s happening. Obama is bullying the GOP, and the Republicans are in the process of surrendering to his class-warfare demands.

That will lead to bad policy, but it will also result in an emasculated, compliant, and house-broken GOP for at least the next two years, and perhaps even Obama’s entire second term. So even though the fiscal cliff tax hike is bigger than what Obama’s currently demanding, the long-run policy damage of surrender almost surely will be far greater.

Republicans don’t have many options in this fight. But they can show some cojones and tell Obama that the only way he’ll get a tax hike is if he wants to take the nation over the cliff.

P.S. If you like the Henry Payne cartoon in this post, you can enjoy some of his other work here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Cartoon GOP Reindeer

But what really makes the cartoon funny is the petulant stance of the elephants. Very effective artwork, mush as I praised Ramirez for the visual genius of his recent cartoon.

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

Open letter to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin concerning their choice to raise their kids in the Jewish Faith (part 12)

December 14, 2012 – 6:39 am

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin (CP)

The Arab Israeli Conflict – part 5 : Suez Crisis 1956 & Tripartite attack on Egypt

I have posted before about the religious views of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. Now it appears they have rejected their agnostic statements of the past and have decided to raise their children in the Jewish faith.

Here is a post from the Huffington Post:

After appearing on the television program, “Who Do You Think You Are,” Gwyneth Paltrow has decided to raise children Apple, 7, and Moses, 5, as Jewish.

According to The Daily Mail, the NBC ancestry show sparked the discovery that the actress descended from a notable line of Eastern European rabbis. Though she’s long practiced Kabbalah, Gwyneth had previously stayed neutral about a formal religion upbringing in her household, which includes crooner husband Chris Martin, who is of Christian background.

“I don’t believe in religion. I believe in spirituality. Religion is the cause of all the problems in the world,” the actress once told The Daily Mail.

_______________

Below is a letter I mailed to Chris and Gwyneth recently:

To Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, c/o Go Go Pictures, 12 Cleveland Row, London, SW1A 1DH, United Kingdom, , From Everette Hatcher, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, USA:

I have been a huge fan of both of you and have posted many times on my blog about your religious views which have seemed to have changed over the years. I know that Chris was brought up as an evangelical Christian, but has long ago left the faith behind although he did revisit many biblical themes in his 2008 and 2011 cds.

In fact, on June 3, 2011 on my blog (www.thedailyhatch.org) I wrote:

I have shown what thought processes Solomon went through in Ecclesiastes and then compared them to the evident changes that are occurring with Coldplay. By the way, the final chapter of Ecclesiastes finishes with Solomon emphasizing that serving God is the only proper response of man. My prediction: I am hoping that Coldplay’s next album will also come to that same conclusion that Solomon came to in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

I have also written before about Gwyneth’s famous Jewish relatives which includes a famous Rabbi and I have wondered if she would decide to return to those roots. Actually that is what has happened. I salute you for rejecting your earlier statements against organized religion and for making the decision to teach your children the Bible and to have faith in God. 

I know that you will spending lots of time in the scriptures and I wanted to share with you some key scriptures that talk about the Messiah. Greg Koukl wrote the  outline below:

   

  

The Betrayal and Arrest

(Matt 26:36-56; Mk14:32-52; Lk 22:39-53; Jn 18:1-11)

A.  Gethsemane  (The name literally means “oil press”)

1.  A garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus and the disciples used to pray

2.  Jesus seeks the comfort of His disciples but, unaware of the gravity of the hour, they don’t stay awake.

3.  Jesus’ prayer has two parts.

a.  Part one:  a request for the removal of the cup “if possible.”

1)  This is not a prayer of Jesus’ that went unanswered.  His request was denied because conditions wouldn’t allow it.

2)  Jesus in Gethsemane is the final argument against those who suggest there are other ways to heaven than the cross of Jesus Christ.  Jesus pleaded, “Is there any other way?”  The Father answered, “No, none.”

b.  Part two:  a surrender to the divine will.

c.  “What convulsed the Savior was the fear of separation from God due to becoming the sin-bearer for men.  He had long contemplated from afar what this would mean to Him, but now the hour was upon Him and it was overwhelming” (Harrison, p. 195).

4.  In the Bible there are two famous gardens:

a. Eden, where the first Adam failed.

b. Gethsemane, where the second Adam was victorious. 

B.  The betrayal.

1.  A large contingent comes to arrest Jesus.

a.  Judas, chief priests, Pharisees, teachers of the law, and elders of the people.

b.  The Roman cohort, a contingent of at least 200 soldiers and possibly as many as 600 (Harrison, p. 199, footnote 2).

c.  They were equipped with swords, clubs, torches and lanterns.

2.  Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

3.  “I am.”

Jesus’ Trial

(Matt 26:57-27:31; Mk 14:53-15:16; Lk 22:63-23:25; Jn 18:12-19:16). 

A.  Before Annas, Caiaphas’ father-in-law

“The mock trial and subsequent activities of the Sanhedrin were undertaken with utmost haste in the very early morning darkness and the hours of daylight on Friday, so that the execution of Jesus could be accomplished before the Sabbath began at 6 p.m. that day”  (Daniel, p. 259, footnote).

B.  Before Caiaphas

1.  This is before the assembled Sanhedrin, the high court of the Jews (Matt 26:57-59).

2.  Here Jesus faces two of the three charges against Him:

a.  Charge one:  He would destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days (Matt 26:61).

1)  Probably a reference to Jn 2:19, but Jesus never claimed that He would be responsible for the destruction.

2)  The testimony of the witnesses does not agree (Mk 14:59) and their testimony is thrown out.

 b.  Charge two:  He was the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt 26:63-64).

1)  “You have said it yourself.”

2)  “Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  (Here Jesus refers to Daniel 7:13, a messianic passage.)

c.  Caiaphas declares Jesus guilty of blasphemy and Jesus is sentenced to death (Matt 26:65-67).

C.  Before Pontius Pilate

1.  The Jews were not allowed to execute Jesus (Jn 18:31), so they took Him before Pilate, the Roman governor, seeking a judgment.

2.  Jesus’ third charge:  sedition

a.  “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Messiah, a King” (Lk 23:1-2).

b.   Pilate finds no grounds for punishment, but since Jesus is a Galilean, Pilate sends Him to Herod who has jurisdiction there (Lk 23:7).

D.  Before Herod Antipas.  (Lk 23:8-12)  (This is the Herod who had John the Baptist put to death.)

1. Herod was hoping to see some sign performed by Him (v8).

2. When Jesus made no response He was mocked and ridiculed (v11).

E.  Before Pontius Pilate a second time (Lk 23:13-25)

1.  Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate proclaims Jesus’ innocence once again (v20).

2.  Pilate offers Jesus’ release, but the people choose Barabbas instead.

3.  Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns (Mk 15:15-19).

4.  Pilate makes a final appeal in the hope of saving Jesus.  

5.  The crowd intimidates Pilate with the suggestion of disloyalty to Caesar (Jn 19:12).

a.  “If you release this man you are no friend of Caesar’s; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”

b.  The expression “Caesar’s friend” was a technical term assuring a long and profitable career.  The loss of this title–a realistic threat considering Tiberius’s suspicious nature–could prove Pilate’s undoing (Harrison, p. 215).

6.  Pilate sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion. 

The Crucifixion

(Matt 27:32-56; Mk 15:21-41; Lk 23:26-49; Jn 19:16-30)

  A.  A very cruel form of execution, generally reserved only for slaves and rebels, not Roman citizens

1.  Death was agonizing.  A person could die by either exposure and shock or by asphyxiation.  When the person would collapse, hanging from his arms on the cross, it would constrict the diaphragm, inhibiting breathing.  The only way they could breathe was to push up against the nails that went through the feet.  This was a continual effort.  Finally, through the loss of blood and exhaustion, the person eventually suffocated. 

2.  Death was slow. 

a.  Sometimes death took up to nine days. 

b.  Sometimes they would break legs. 

B.  Psalm 22 (see notes, Week 2). 

C.  Certificate of debt (Col 2:13-14) (Lindsey, p. 100).

1.  This certificate was a list of crimes committed against the state that required payment. 

2.  When the crimes were paid for, it was stamped with the word tetelestia, meaning “paid in full.”

3.  Paul says that Jesus paid our certificate of debt.

4.  Jesus victory cry on the cross was, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30)

D.  Jesus gave up His spirit.

      Crucifixion is a cruel form of execution, generally reserved for slaves and rebels.  Death is agonizing and slow, the result of shock, exposure and, eventually, asphyxiation.  Hanging from a cross constricts the diaphragm, inhibiting breathing.  The only way to get air is to release pressure on the arms by pushing up against the nails that pierce the feet, requiring continual effort that could go on for days.  Exhaustion eventually overtakes the victim and he suffocates.

      For Jesus, though, the pain of the cross paled in the face of a greater anguish.  There was a deeper torment that could not be seen, more excruciating than nails pinning Jesus’ body to the timbers, more dreadful than lashes ripping flesh from His frame.  It was a dark, terrible, incalculable agony, an infinite misery, as God the Father unleashed his fury upon His sinless Son as if guilty of an immeasurable evil.

      Why punish the innocent One?  Nailed to the top of the cross was an official notice, a certificate of debt to Caesar, a public display of Jesus’ crime:  “The King of the Jews.”  The certificate of debt was a list of crimes committed against the state that required payment.  When punishment was complete, Caesar’s court would cancel the debt with a single Greek word stamped upon the parchment’s face: “tetelestai.”

      Being king of the Jews was not the crime Jesus paid for, however.  Hidden to all but the Father was another certificate nailed to that cross.  In the darkness that shrouded Calvary from the sixth to the ninth hour, a divine transaction took place; Jesus made a trade with the Father. The full weight of all the crimes of all of humanity-every murder, every theft, every lustful glance; every hidden act of vice, every modest moment of pride, and every monstrous deed of evil; every crime of every man who ever lived-these Jesus took upon Himself as if guilty of all.

      At the last, it was not the cross that took Jesus’ life.  He did not die of exposure, or loss of blood, or asphyxiation.  When the full debt for our sin was paid, and the justice of God was fully satisfied, Jesus simply gave up His spirit with a single Greek word that fell from His lips:  “Tetelestai.”  “It is finished.”  The divine transaction is complete.  The debt was cancelled. (Colossians 2:13-14)

      This was not an accident.  It was planned.  The prophet Isaiah described it 700 years earlier:

      Surely our griefs He Himself bore. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray.  Each of us has turned to his own way.  But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Is 53:4-6)

      No other man did this.  No other man could.  Jesus alone, the perfect Son of God, the Savior of the world, He paid the debt so that whoever relies on Him would not perish under God’s judgment, but have life with Him fully and forever.</p>

      Messiah was dead.  A vibrant and hopeful era had come to a bitter and dismal end.  The movement was over, the disciples were scattered, and darkness covered the land.  The religious establishment shook off the nasty experience and settled down to resume life as usual.  But their rest would be short-lived, because very quickly death would be swallowed up in victory.

      “It is finished”  It only remains for us to trust in His promise.

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

Open letter to President Obama (Part 193)

December 14, 2012 – 6:34 am

Eight Reasons Why Big Government Hurts Economic Growth

 

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

We got to cut these welfare programs before everyone stops working and wants to get the free stuff. The Bible says if you don’t work then you should not eat. It also says that churches should help the poor but it doesn’t say that the government should step in and do that.

Patrick Tyrrell

June 5, 2012 at 1:30 pm

TANF

How many Americans depend on a government program for a basic (or not so basic) need? According to recently released Census Bureau data and Heritage Foundation calculations, the number is 128.8 million. That is the number of individuals directly receiving aid that they depend on for their daily consumption of things such as rent, prescription drugs, and higher education.

That is 41.3 percent of theU.S.population as of July 2011.

The Wall Street Journal puts the number of people living in a household where at least one member receives help at an even higher 49.1 percent.

The 41.3 percent number is surely undercounting. It is based on survey responses to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) of March 2011. These responses are well known to undercount the number of people receiving Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, State Children’s Health Insurance, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Heritage research shows that the undercount in higher education subsidies may be the most dramatic.

The calculations that Heritage ran on the Census Bureau data do not, however, double-count individuals. So if someone receives Medicare and Social Security, he is counted only once. Therefore, the dramatic undercounting in higher education subsidy beneficiaries makes the biggest difference, because recipients of education subsidies are generally younger and not likely to be on other dependency-creating programs.

Those subsidized by the government for their higher education are generally dependent only on that government program. Heritage research shows that of the small number of people in the March CPS survey who admitted that they received higher education subsidies—about 2 million—less than one-half of 1 percent relied on Social Security retirement income; only 1.5 percent were on Medicare in 2011; and only 16 percent were on food stamps. The 2 million admitting they received higher education subsidies is assuredly a vast undercount, because the number of people receiving Pell grants in 2011 was 9.7 million, according to the Department of Education.

Just counting true Pell grant recipients would add millions to the lowball estimate of 128.8 million government dependents.

Sixteen years after President Bill Clinton erroneously declared “the era of big government” over, it’s not over; it’s still with us and growing. Unless something is done,Americaas we have known it will cease to exist.

There is a way out of the dependence-on-government trap. Steps are laid out in Heritage’s Saving the American Dream plan. If this plan were implemented, the economy would grow, government expenses would be held in check, and more Americans would support themselves. Some of the good results for individuals and the country would be:

  • More Americans climbing the prosperity ladder.
  • Fewer Americans stuck in the rut of “just getting by.”
  • Those who currently receive more from the government than they pay in taxes could become contributing taxpayers.
  • Catastrophe averted by shrinking the runaway national debt.
  • More happiness as the intergenerational cycle of government dependence would be shattered and replaced by an intergenerational cycle of self-reliance and private-sector opportunities for all.

All the government has to do is adopt the plan.

__________

Another good idea from Milton Friedman:

Milton Friedman – The Negative Income Tax

Published on May 11, 2012 by

In this 1968 interview, Milton Friedman explained the negative income tax, a proposal that at minimum would save taxpayers the 72 percent of our current welfare budget spent on administration. http://www.LibertyPen.com

Source: Firing Line with William F Buckley Jr.

________________

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

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

Francis Schaeffer’s own words concerning where the Bible-believing Christians been the last few decades

December 14, 2012 – 5:52 am

Pt 1 of 2 Listen to this Important Message by Francis Schaeffer

Published on Sep 30, 2013

This message “A Christian Manifesto” was given in 1982 by the late Christian Philosopher Francis Schaeffer when he was age 70 at D. James Kennedy’s Corral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
Listen to this important message where Dr. Schaeffer says it is the duty of Christians to disobey the government when it comes in conflict with God’s laws. So many have misinterpreted Romans 13 to mean unconditional obedience to the state. When the state promotes an evil agenda and anti-Christian statues we must obey God rather than men. Acts
I use to watch James Kennedy preach from his TV pulpit with great delight in the 1980’s. Both of these men are gone to be with the Lord now. We need new Christian leaders to rise up in their stead.
To view Part 2 See Francis Schaeffer Lecture- Christian Manifesto Pt 2 of 2 video
The religious and political freedom’s we enjoy as Americans was based on the Bible and the legacy of the Reformation according to Francis Schaeffer. These freedoms will continue to diminish as we cast off the authority of Holy Scripture.
In public schools there is no other view of reality but that final reality is shaped by chance.
Likewise, public television gives us many things that we like culturally but so much of it is mere propaganda shaped by a humanistic world and life view.

_____________________________

Pt 2 -Listen to this Important Message by Francis Schaeffer

I was able to watch Francis Schaeffer deliver a speech on a book he wrote called “A Christian Manifesto” and I heard him in several interviews on it in 1981 and 1982. I listened with great interest since I also read that book over and over again. Below is a portion of one of Schaeffer’s talks  on a crucial subject that is very important today too.
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.
Will Christians take a stand?
—-
I have a question to ask you, and that is: Where have the Bible-believing Christians been in the last 40 years? All of this that I am talking about has only come in the last 80 years (I’m 70… I just had my birthday, so just 10 years older than I am). None of this was true in the United States. None of it! And the climax has all come within the last 40 years, which falls within the intelligent scope of many of you sitting in this room. Where have the Bible-believing Christians been? We shouldn’t be surprised the liberal theologians have been no help — but where have we been as we have changed to this other consensus and all the horrors and stupidity of the present moment has come down on out culture? We must recognize that this country is close to being lost. Not, first of all , because of the Humanist conspiracy — I believe that there are those who conspire, but that is not the reason this country is almost lost. This country is almost lost because the Bible-believing Christians, in the last 40 years, who have said that they know that the final reality is this infinite-personal God who is the Creator and all the rest, have done nothing about it as the consensus has changed. There has been a vast silence!
Christians of this country have simply been silent. Much of the Evangelical leadership has not raised a voice. As a matter of fact, it was almost like sticking pins into the Evangelical constituency in most places to get them interested in the issue of human life while Dr. Koop and Franky and I worked on Whatever Happened to the Human Race, a vast, vast silence.
I wonder what God has to say to us? All these freedoms we have. All the secondary blessings we’ve had out of the preaching of the Gospel and we have let it slip through our fingers in the lifetime of most of you here. Not a hundred years ago — it has been in our lifetime in the last 40 years that these things have happened.
It’s not only the Christian leaders. Where have the Christian lawyers been? Why haven’t they been challenging this change in the view of what the First Amendment means, which I’ll deal with in a second. Where have the Christian doctors been — speaking out against the rise of the abortion clinics and all the other things? Where have the Christian businessmen been — to put their lives and their work on the line concerning these things which they would say as Christians are central to them? Where have the Christian educators been — as we have lost our educational system? Where have we been? Where have each of you been? What’s happened in the last 40 years?
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Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 8 “The Age of Fragmentation” (Schaeffer Sundays)

E P I S O D E 8 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode VIII – The Age of Fragmentation 27 min I saw this film series in 1979 and it had a major impact on me. T h e Age of FRAGMENTATION I. Art As a Vehicle Of Modern Thought A. Impressionism (Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, […]

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 7 “The Age of Non-Reason” (Schaeffer Sundays)

E P I S O D E 7 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode VII – The Age of Non Reason I am thrilled to get this film series with you. I saw it first in 1979 and it had such a big impact on me. Today’s episode is where we see modern humanist man act […]

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 6 “The Scientific Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)

E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 Uploaded by NoMirrorHDDHrorriMoN on Oct 3, 2011 How Should We Then Live? Episode 6 of 12 ________ I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in […]

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 5 “The Revolutionary Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)

E P I S O D E 5 How Should We Then Live? Episode 5: The Revolutionary Age I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Francis Schaeffer noted, “Reformation Did Not Bring Perfection. But gradually on basis of biblical teaching there […]

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 4 “The Reformation” (Schaeffer Sundays)

Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode IV – The Reformation 27 min I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer makes three key points concerning the Reformation: “1. Erasmian Christian humanism rejected by Farel. 2. Bible gives needed answers not only as to […]

“Schaeffer Sundays” Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 3 “The Renaissance”

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 3 “The Renaissance” Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 3) THE RENAISSANCE I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer really shows why we have so […]

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 2 “The Middle Ages” (Schaeffer Sundays)

  Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 2) THE MIDDLE AGES I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer points out that during this time period unfortunately we have the “Church’s deviation from early church’s teaching in regard […]

Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 1 “The Roman Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)

Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 1) THE ROMAN AGE   Today I am starting a series that really had a big impact on my life back in the 1970′s when I first saw it. There are ten parts and today is the first. Francis Schaeffer takes a look at Rome and why […]

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 5) TRUTH AND HISTORY

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 5) TRUTH AND HISTORY Published on Oct 7, 2012 by AdamMetropolis This crucial series is narrated by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer and former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop. Today, choices are being made that undermine human rights at their most basic level. Practices once […]

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 4) THE BASIS FOR HUMAN DIGNITY

The opening song at the beginning of this episode is very insightful. Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 4) THE BASIS FOR HUMAN DIGNITY Published on Oct 7, 2012 by AdamMetropolis This crucial series is narrated by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer and former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop. Today, choices […]

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 3) DEATH BY SOMEONE’S CHOICE

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 3) DEATH BY SOMEONE’S CHOICE Published on Oct 6, 2012 by AdamMetropolis This crucial series is narrated by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer and former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop. Today, choices are being made that undermine human rights at their most basic level. Practices […]

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” (Episode 2) SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” (Episode 2) SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS Published on Oct 6, 2012 by AdamMetropolis This crucial series is narrated by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer and former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop. Today, choices are being made that undermine human rights at their most basic level. Practices […]

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race” (Episode 1) ABORTION OF THE HUMAN RACE

It is not possible to know where the pro-life evangelicals are coming from unless you look at the work of the person who inspired them the most. That person was Francis Schaeffer.  I do care about economic issues but the pro-life issue is the most important to me. Several years ago Adrian Rogers (past president of […]

The following essay explores the role that Francis Schaeffer played in the rise of the pro-life movement. It examines the place of How Should We Then Live?, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, and A Christian Manifesto in that process.

This essay below is worth the read. Schaeffer, Francis – “Francis Schaeffer and the Pro-Life Movement” [How Should We Then Live?, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, A Christian Manifesto] Editor note: <p> </p> [The following essay explores the role that Francis Schaeffer played in the rise of the pro-life movement.  It examines the place of […]

Who was Francis Schaeffer? by Udo Middelmann

Great article on Schaeffer. Who was Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer? By Francis Schaeffer The unique contribution of Dr. Francis Schaeffer on a whole generation was the ability to communicate the truth of historic Biblical Christianity in a way that combined intellectual integrity with practical, loving care. This grew out of his extensive understanding of the Bible […]

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