Open letter to President Obama (Part 371) Francis Schaeffer in his own words to Christians “Marking the Watershed” Part 1

This letter was emailed to White House on 1-8-13.

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 truly believe that many of the problems we have today in the USA are due to the advancement of humanism in the last few decades in our society. Ronald Reagan appointed the evangelical Dr. C. Everett Koop to the position of Surgeon General in his administration. He partnered with Dr. Francis Schaeffer in making the video below. It is very valuable information for Christians to have.  Actually I have included a video below that includes comments from him on this subject.

Picture of Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith in the 1930s.

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

Published on Oct 6, 2012 by

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The 45 minute video above is from the film series created from Francis Schaeffer’s book “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” with Dr. C. Everett Koop. This book  really helped develop my political views concerning abortion, infanticide, and youth euthanasia, and it gave me a good understanding of those issues.
Christians need to take time to read the books and watch the films by Francis Schaeffer. Since the election time in November of 2012 there has been a renewed interest in the works Francis Schaeffer in the Christian community. One of the most challenging papers Schaeffer wrote was the chapter called

Marking the Watershed  which is Chapter 2 from The Great Evangelical Disaster (Crossway Books, 1984). In this chapter he discusses subjects such as Freedom with Form or Chaos,Relativism or God’s Absolutes, The New Neo-Orthodoxy, An Inner Feeling or Objective Truth, Cultural Infiltration, Hedonism, Bending the Bible, Confrontation and The Mark of our Age. These are all subjects that Christians should think about. What a difference it would make if more Christians took this Biblical worldview and lived it out in their lives. Below is a portion of that chapter.
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By Francis A. Schaeffer

Chapter 2 from The Great Evangelical Disaster (Crossway Books, 1984)

Part 1

Schaeffer rightly points out that previously Christians all accepted the inerrancy and trustworthy nature of the Bible but today many Christians do not. Schaeffer encourages Christians to return to the traditional respect for the Bible’s accuracy.

A Watershed

Not far from where we live in Switzerland is a high ridge of rock with a valley on both sides. One time I was there when there was snow on the ground along that ridge. The snow was lying there unbroken, a seeming unity. However, that unity was an illusion, for it lay along a great divide; it lay along a watershed. One portion of the snow when it melted would flow into one valley. The snow which lay close beside would flow into another valley when it melted.

Now it just so happens on that particular ridge that the melting snow which flows down one side of that ridge goes down into a valley, into a small river, and then down into the Rhine River. The Rhine then flows on through Germany and the water ends up in the cold waters of the North Sea. The water from the snow that started out so close along that watershed on the other side of the ridge, when this snow melts, drops off sharply down the ridge into the Rhone Valley. This water flows into Lac Leman – or as it is known in the English-speaking world, Lake Geneva – and then goes down below that into the Rhone River which flows through France and into the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

The snow lies along that watershed, unbroken, as a seeming unity. But when it melts, where it ends in its destinations is literally a thousand miles apart. That is a watershed. That is what a watershed is. A watershed divides. A clear line can be drawn between what seems at first to be the same or at least very close, but in reality ends in very different situations. In a watershed there is a line.

A House Divided

What does this illustration have to do with the evangelical world today? I would suggest that it is a very accurate description of what is happening. Evangelicals today are facing a watershed concerning the nature of biblical inspiration and authority. It is a watershed issue in very much the same sense as described in the illustration. Within evangelicalism there are a growing number who are modifying their views on the inerrancy of the Bible so that the full authority of Scripture is completely undercut. But it is happening in very subtle ways. Like the snow lying side-by-side on the ridge, the new views on biblical authority often seem at first glance not to be so very far from what evangelicals, until just recently, have always believed. But also, like the snow lying side-by-side on the ridge, the new views when followed consistently end up a thousand miles apart.

What may seem like a minor difference at first, in the end makes all the difference in the world. It makes all the difference, as we might expect, in things pertaining to theology, doctrine and spiritual matters, but it also makes all the difference in things pertaining to the daily Christian life and how we as Christians are to relate to the world around us. In other words, compromising the full authority of Scripture eventually affects what it means to be a Christian theologically and how we live in the full spectrum of human life.

There is a sense in which the problem of full biblical authority is fairly recent. Up until the last two hundred years or so virtually every Christian believed in the complete inerrancy of the Bible, or in the equivalent of this expressed in similar terms. This was true both before the Reformation and after. The problem with the pre-Reformation medieval church was not so much that it did not hold to belief in an inerrant Bible as that it allowed the whole range of nonbiblical theological ideas and superstitions to grow up within the church. These ideas were then placed alongside of the Bible and even over the Bible, so that the Bible’s authority and teaching were subordinated to nonbiblical teachings. This resulted in the abuses which led to the Reformation. But note that the problem was not that the pre-Reformation church did not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture; the problem was that it did not practice the inerrancy of Scripture, because it subordinated the Bible to its fallible teachings.

Thus it is important to note that, up until recent times, (1) belief in the inerrancy of Scripture (even when it was not practiced fully) and (2) claiming to be a Christian, were seen as two things which necessarily went together. If you were a Christian, you also trusted in the complete reliability of God’s written Word, the Bible. If you did not believe the Bible, you did not claim to be a Christian. But no one, until the past two hundred years or so, tried to say, “I am a Christian, but at the same time I believe the Bible to be full of errors.” As incredible as this would have seemed to Christians in the past, and as incredible as this may seem to Bible-believing Christians today, this is what is now happening within the evangelical world.

This problem which started some two hundred years ago has within the past two decades come to the forefront among evangelicals. It is a problem which I (and others) began to address publicly in the mid-sixties, again in the seventies and repeatedly in the eighties. We can be thankful for the many who have taken a strong stand on this; but we must also say, sadly, that the problem continues and is growing. Evangelicalism is divided, deeply divided. And it will not be helpful or truthful for anyone to deny this. It is something that will not simply go away, and it cannot be swept under the rug. What follows in this chapter grows out of the study, thinking, and prayer, often with tears, which I have done concerning this watershed issue during my whole life as a Christian, but especially as I have dealt with this in my speaking and writing during the past two decades. The following, then, is a restatement on further development as a unified whole of my work in this area.

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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

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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 […]

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

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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 […]

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Obama cartoons on spending too much!!!

Why do we have to spend so much?

Let me start this post by stating that George W. Bush was a bigger spender than Barack Obama (though the numbers are somewhat distorted by TARP, which caused a big increase in the burden of spending during Bush’s last fiscal year and artificially dampened outlays in Obama’s first fiscal year since repayments from the banks counted as negative spending).

So I’m not trying to make a partisan point by sharing these cartoons. I don’t like it when Democrats increase the burden of government spending and I’m equally dismayed when Republicans engage in same type of profligacy.

That being said, I was a big dumbfounded when President Obama recently claimed that there’s not a spending problem in Washington.

We know that the United States has a huge long-run problem with deficits and debt according to both the Bank for International Settlements and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

We also know that tax revenues, measured as a share of GDP, will soon be above their post-World War II average and that the tax burden is expected to increase in coming decades.

So a person would have to be in serious denial to claim that spending isn’t a problem.

Which is the point Eric Allie makes in this cartoon.

Spending Problem Cartoon 1

And the point Robet Ariail makes in this cartoon.

Spending Problem Cartoon 2

Ditto for Bob Gorrell.

Spending Problem Cartoon 3

And Gary Varvel.

Spending Problem Cartoon 4

Last but not least, the great Michael Ramirez.

Spending Problem Cartoon 5.jpg

Gee, it’s almost like we’re seeing a pattern.

And if you like this spendaholic-in-denial theme, you can click here and here for further amusement.

P.S. Oh, by the way, if anybody’s actually interested in how to solve the spending problem (you know, the one that doesn’t exist), we do know the answer.

P.P.S. Remember when Obama claimed the private sector was doing fine? Well, here’s how cartoonists mocked him for that absurd comment.

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Does Stimulus Spending Work?

After the housing bubble burst, the Bush and Obama administrations turned to stimulus in an effort to “create jobs.” Does such spending lead to economic improvement? Prof. Antony Davies examines the data to see how increases in federal spending relate to economic growth from 1955 to the present. The evidence shows that there is no connection between federal spending and economic improvement; instead, stimulus money only increases government debt. After three years of stimulus spending, the unemployment rate remains at 9 percent. “One thing that has changed,” Davies says, “is that our government is now $4.6 trillion further in debt than it was before the stimulus efforts.”

“Friedman Friday” Free or equal? 30 years after Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (Part 4)

Johan Norberg – Free or Equal – Free to Choose 30 years later 4/5

Published on Jun 10, 2012 by

In 1980 economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman inspired market reform in the West and revolutions in the East with his celebrated television series “Free To Choose.”
Thirty years later, in this one-hour documentary, the young Swedish writer, analyst and Cato Institute Fellow Johan Norberg travels in Friedman’s footsteps to see what has
actually happened in the places Friedman’s ideas helped transform. In location after location Norberg examines the contemporary relevance of Friedman’s ideas in the 2011 world of globalization and financial crisis. Central to his examination are the perennial questions concerning power and prosperity, and the trade-offs between individual liberty and income equality.

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I have enjoyed reading this series of reviews by T. Kurt Jaros on Milton and Rose Friedman’s book “Free to Choose.” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have posted several transcripts and videos of the FREE TO CHOOSE film series on my blog. My favorite episodes are the “Failure of Socialism” and  “Power of the Market.” (This is the 1990 version but the 1980 version is good too.) Today with the increase of the welfare state maybe people should take a long look again at the episode “From Cradle to Grave.” 

Milton Friedman’s  view on vouchers for the schools needs to be heeded now more than ever too. “Created Equal” is probably the episode that I wanted President Obama to see the most and I wrote several letters to him suggesting that.

T. Kurt Jaros is currently a Master’s student studying Systematic Theology at King’s College in London.  He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science cum laude and an M.A. in Christian Apologetics high honors from Biola University, an evangelical Christian university outside of Los Angeles.

He enjoys learning and thinking about theology, specifically historical theology, philosophical theology and philosophy of religion, and issues pertaining to monergism and synergism.  Additionally, he enjoys learning and thinking about political philosophy, economics, American political history, and campaigns.

The Tyranny of Controls

T. Kurt Jaros on Economics

This is part of a series on Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose.”

In my previous post I explained the role of government in the marketplace. This is part four of a book series on Free to Choose by Milton Friedman.         

In the second chapter, Friedman writes on the role of government as it relates to trade. He makes a strong case for free trade, and specifically focuses on international trade. However, the same principles ought to be applied to domestic trade.

Friedman believes that the restrictions on economic freedom have “also affected our freedom of speech, of press, and of religion.” This is evident through the examples he uses throughout the chapter and even in instances we can think of right now. Consider the hated Stamp Act that the British imposed upon the American colonies. This was a tax placed upon legal documents, contracts, newspapers and even play cards. Also consider the more recent example of how economic regulations have affected our freedom of religion (in four words): Sandra Fluke, birth control.

Bureaucrats like to think that economic regulations are helpful to the American people. But in reality, protectionism exploits consumers. Friedman even sites consumers as “major victims of such measures.” In the attempt to secure American jobs, bureaucrats hold off consumers from saving money because the nation is, as Adam Smith pointed out, unable to get the largest volume of imports as possible for as little as it can pay.

Friedman recognizes that without tariffs, workers may be harmed through a cut in wages or even laid off, if a foreign nation can produce products more cheaply. But this happens anyway in the domestic marketplace. Yet this would allow workers to look for work in industries where there might be a need for innovation. Put another way: why do we want to support inefficient businesses when we can save consumers money? Without the tariffs, we “might very well produce a stronger and more efficient” industry.

There are four arguments in favor of tariffs that Friedman rejects (two of which are explained here). First, the government should protect against foreign trade because of national security. Consider the steel industry. Friedman thinks this is foolish because we could just stockpile steel. And even still, the U.S. steel industry would not be completely destroyed because of the low transportation costs. Second, the “infant industry” argument is used to defend baby companies who would fail unless otherwise protected. But this happens anyway; “most firms experience losses in their early years.” In reality, this is just a smokescreen for more government regulation and serving the special interests. This argument is hardly ever used to support companies that have yet to come into existence. After all, such hypothetical companies have no spokesmen or lobbyists.

We need to follow the suggestions of Friedman and take certain measures to promote freedom. Instead of giving foreign aid and then imposing restrictions on trade,

“We could say to the rest of the world: we believe in freedom and intend to practice it. We cannot force you to be free. But we can offer full cooperation on equal terms to all. Our market is open to you without tariffs or other restrictions. Sell here what you can and wish to. Buy whatever you can and wish to. In that way cooperation among individuals can be worldwide and free.”

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Milton Friedman on the American Economy (5 of 6)   Uploaded by donotswallow on Aug 9, 2009 THE OPEN MIND Host: Richard D. Heffner Guest: Milton Friedman Title: A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy VTR: 5/31/77 _____________________________________ Below is a transcipt from a portion of an interview that Milton Friedman gave on 5-31-77: Friedman: […]

Little Rock native David Hodges co-wrote the hit song “What about now” for Daughtry

Uploaded on May 11, 2011

“What About Now” is the seventh single from American rock band Daughtry’s eponymous debut album. The song is a ballad, that was written by Ben Moody, David Hodges (both former members of Evanescence), and Josh Hartzler, who is married to Amy Lee (the lead singer of Evanescence) It is one of only two songs on the album not at least co-written by Chris Daughtry. The song was announced as the band’s next single on their website.[1] It was officially released in the U.S. on July 1, 2008.[2]
Copyright: EMI Music Publishing

What About Now (Daughtry song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“What About Now”
Single by Daughtry
from the album Daughtry
Released July 1, 2008
Format CD single, Digital download
Recorded 2006
Genre Alternative rock, pop rock
Length 4:10
4:33 (acoustic)
Label RCA/19 Entertainment
Writer(s) Ben Moody, David Hodges, Josh Hartzler
Producer Howard Benson
Daughtry singles chronology
“Feels Like Tonight”
(2008)
“What About Now”
(2008)
“No Surprise”
(2009)

“What About Now” is the seventh single from American rock band Daughtry‘s eponymous debut album. The song is a ballad, that was written byBen Moody, David Hodges (both former members of Evanescence), and Josh Hartzler, who is married to Amy Lee (the lead singer of Evanescence). It is one of only two songs on the album not at least co-written by Chris Daughtry. The song was announced as the band’s next single on their website.[1] It was officially released in the U.S. on July 1, 2008.[2]

Contents

[hide]

Music video[edit]

The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, premiered Friday July 11 on FNMTV Premieres, where it got a standing ovation at FNMTV Studio.[3] The video can now be viewed on the band’s official site.

The video is a social commentary, depicting several people and places affected by poverty, natural disasters, and war, as well as other world issues. Several comments are made about these issues, and the video also asks introspective questions to the viewer. Certain people who are working to help these problems are shown throughout the video, with their names and what they’re associated with listed. The video features a light bulb that has not yet burned out, which symbolizes that it’s not too late to make a difference. The video concludes with one final question to the viewer, “What About Now?”, shown next to the burning light bulb. A few shots of the band playing the song live are also shown in the video.

Song usage[edit]

The song was used on the February 21, 2008 episode of the seventh season of American Idol, in a video package showcasing the season’s top 24. An acoustic version of the song was performed by the band on a trip to Uganda, Africa in aid of the April 9, 2008 telecast of the fund raising charity event Idol Gives Back. The band performed in a small village surrounded by a group of underprivileged children that were heard singing along at one point, while a video also showed scenes of the band’s trip.

The song was used in various episodes of The X Factor in 2009, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! 2009 and Britain’s Got Talent 2010. Both Daughtry’s and Westlife’s version were used.

On December 11, 2009, it was performed at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize concert in honor of US President Barack Obama by the Irish pop band Westlife.

On May 14, 2011. Daughtry’s version of What About Now was featured on a Britain’s Got Talent episode.

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format
United States July 1, 2008 CD, digital download
United Kingdom October 2009

Chart performance[edit]

Raising money for Idol Gives Back, the acoustic performance of “What About Now” was put onto iTunes and debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, fueling a number eighteen debut on Billboard’s Hot 100, the band’s highest debuting song to date, as well as their fourth top twenty Hot 100 hit. It also entered at number seventeen on the Canadian Hot 100, giving the band their fourth top twenty hit there as well. It achieved these peaks over two months before the song’s official release.

Following “What About Now”‘s official release, the song has become the band’s fifth consecutive top ten hit on the Adult Top 40, so far reaching number three. This is an all time record for the most top ten hits from a debut album on the Adult Top 40 chart. This also ties the album with Kelly Clarkson‘s Breakaway and Nickelback‘s All the Right Reasons for the most Adult Top 40 top tens from any album.[4] On the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, the song peaked at number three. It is their third top ten hit on the chart, making them the only rock band to ever have three top tens from one album on the chart. The song also entered the top twenty on Mainstream Top 40 radio, peaking at number nineteen in October 2008, their fifth consecutive top twenty hit on the format. As such, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at number 94 on the chart week of September 6, 2008, and climbed to number 29 upon its re-entry.

The song entered the UK Singles charts in May 2009 after being featured during a montage on Britain’s Got Talent, and in August 2009 re-entered after being featured during the premiere of the 6th season of X-Factor

On October 4, 2009, Daughtry re-entered the UK Singles Chart Top 40 again at number 39.

Chart (2008)[5] Peak
position
Canadian Hot 100 17
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 18
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 19
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 3
Chart (2009) Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart[6] 30
UK Singles Chart[7] 11

Westlife version[edit]

“What About Now”
Single by Westlife
from the album Where We Are
Released October 23, 2009
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2008
Genre Pop rock
Length 4:11
Label Syco Music
Producer Steve Robson
Certification Silver (UK)
Westlife singles chronology
“Something Right”
(2008)
“What About Now”
(2009)
“Safe”
(2010)

“What About Now” was recorded by Irish boyband Westlife for their tenth studio album, Where We Are. It was released as lead single the project on October 25, 2009 for download and October 26 as a physical single[8] and would go on to be the only single released from the album. Steve Robson retooled the original version of the song and serves as the producer for the Westlife version. The single officially sold over 270 000 copies in UK thus far and eleventh highest single sales of the band.[9]

On October 25 the group appeared on The X Factor to perform and for a brief interview on spin-off show The Xtra Factor. The group also performed the following day on GMTV with an interview and webchat to follow before appearing on October 30 on The One Show for an interview.[10] On November 27 Westlife performed “What About Now” on The Late Late Toy Show.[11] They also performed the song on Nobel Peace Prize 2009.

Westlife was recently asked by Daily Star about the success of the song for the band. Egan stated: “It is amazing that after 11 albums we can still do things we haven’t done before, or set new records for ourselves. What About Now definitely changed things. It might not have sold millions of copies, but I was on YouTube yesterday and the video has almost two million plays or something. That’s not just me watching it either! I think it shows that we can still reach new people and audiences with everything we do.”[12]

Chart performance[edit]

In the first week of its release Westlife’s cover of What About Now reached number two in the Irish singles chart taking the place of Alexandra Burke‘s “Bad Boys” and only beaten by Cheryl Cole‘s “Fight For This Love” which spent a second week at the number one position. A-Listed on BBC Radio 2, their version peaked at number four on UK Downloads Chart, number six on UK Radio airplay, number two on Scottish Charts and number twenty-two on UK TV Airplay Chart or Digital Subscription Plays Chart.[13]

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart[14] 2
Swedish Singles Chart 13
UK Singles Chart[15] 2

End-of-year charts[edit]

Chart (2009) Position
UK Singles Chart[16] 85

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
BBC 3/5 stars[17]
Digital Spy 3/5 stars[18]
MusicRiot 4/5 stars[19]

The song has received mixed reviews. Nick Levine from Digital Spy commented that: “Their version for the “Daughtry song” is no great reinvention, adding a lick of extra pop gloss to the manly balladry of the original. The strings swell like Louis Walsh’s bank balance, the chorus is as big and stirring as Goliath’s sugar spoon, and the boys deliver every line with their usual note-perfect earnestness. Cynical and predictable? Oh yes, but this is ruthlessly effective too.”[18]

Music video[edit]

UK’s Daily Mirror released an article about the shooting of their music video on October 26, 2009. The article described it: “I was listening to the song and it spontaneously came into my head that it would be nice to film it in front of ice. If you remember Die Another Day, the Bond film, it’s like the contrast of the ice and the really modern things like the sexy, fashionable clothing and cars.”.[20] The full video was released on the band’s official website and UK music channels on November 6, 2009. It was directed by Philip Andelman and filmed on location at the Vatnajökull Glacier in Iceland, the biggest in Europe. The video shows a snowy setting with different sceneries in ice and northern lights in the resolution of the video. Feehily later said on his official blog that the actual location of the music video was already distorted because of the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland. Feehily also had the idea of taking the video on that location.[21][22]

Track listing[edit]

  1. “What About Now” – 4:11
  2. “You Raise Me Up” (Live at Croke Park) – 5:00

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label
Ireland October 23, 2009 Digital download, CD single RCA Records
United Kingdom October 25, 2009 Digital download Syco Music, RCA Records
October 26, 2009 CD single
Germany[23] October 27, 2009 Digital download Sony Music Entertainment
Sweden October 28, 2009
New Zealand November 18, 2009
Hong Kong[24] November 26, 2009

Tours performed at[edit]

From David Hodges website:

David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.

As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.

David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.

Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.

David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.

In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

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

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Washington better wake up and cut spending or the USA will end up bankrupt like Detroit!!!

Washington better wake up and cut spending or the USA will end up bankrupt like Detroit!!!

About two weeks ago, while making an important point about the Laffer Curve, here’s what I wrote about the fiscal disaster in Detroit.

Detroit’s problems are the completely predictable result of excessive government. Just as statism explains the problems of Greece. And the problems of California. And the problems of Cyprus. And the problems of Illinois. …Simply stated, as the size and scope of the public sector increased, that created very destructive economic and political dynamics. More and more people got lured into the wagon of government dependency, which puts an ever-increasing burden on a shrinking pool of producers. Meanwhile, organized interest groups such as government bureaucrats used their political muscle to extract absurdly excessive compensation packages, putting an even larger burden of the dwindling supply of taxpayers.

And in this Fox News interview, I elaborate on these arguments and warned that federal government profligacy – if unchecked – will lead to similarly dismal results for the entire United States.

Dan Mitchell Commenting on Detroit’s Bankruptcy

I want to augment on a couple of my points.

First, I explained that Detroit’s bankruptcy won’t have any major and long-lasting ripple effects – assuming politicians on the state or national level don’t encourage more bad policy with bailouts. If you’re a creditor, it’s not good news that the city owes you money, and it’s also not a cheerful time if you’re a retired bureaucrat hoping for years and years of pension payments and healthcare subsidies, but there’s no reason to expect that Detroit’s problems will impose significant damage on Michigan – particularly compared to the harm that would be caused if Detroit was allowed to continue with business as usual.

Similarly, the United States wouldn’t suffer major consequences if (probably when) California no longer can pay its bills. On the other hand, the European Union and the euro currency are being weakened by the mess in Greece, though that’s because they’ve been subsidizing bad fiscal policy with bailouts.

Second, I made the argument for entitlement reform, specifically the “pre-funding” version of Social Security reform that’s been adopted in nations as diverse as Australia and Chile.

Incidentally, this approach is even bolder than the Medicaid and Medicare reforms in the GOP budgets.

Third, I expressed some optimism that the United States has a chance to implement these much-needed reforms, in part because countries such as France and Japan will blow up before America.

And each time another nation, state, or city gets into trouble, it will strengthen our arguments to put the federal government on a long-overdue diet.

Big problems for America if politicians leave government on auto-pilot

Having a strong argument, though, is not the same as having an argument that will prevail. So even though America still has some breathing room, and even though the economic and moral case for spending restraint is very powerful, we’re in the unfortunate situation of having to rely on politicians in Washington.

So keep places such as Australia in mind just in case you need to escape when America’s fiscal chickens come home to roost.

In conclusion, I can’t resist drawing your attention to something I wrote back in 2011, when I showed the eerie similarity of Detroit’s collapse with the “blighted areas” in Ayn Rand’s classic novel, Atlas Shrugged.

 

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The Moocher Index is a measure of which state has the highest level of welfare dependency!!!

The Moocher Index is a measure of which state has the highest level of welfare dependency!!!

Back in 2010, I put together a “Moocher Index” as a rough measure of which states had the highest levels of welfare dependency after adjusting for poverty rates.

My goal was to answer this question.

Is there a greater willingness to sign up for income redistribution programs, all other things being equal, from one state to another?

It turned out that there were huge differences among states. Nearly 18 percent of non-poor Vermont residents were utilizing one or more welfare programs, putting them at the top of the Moocher Index.

In Nevada, by contrast, less the 4 percent of non-poor residents had their snouts in the public trough.

Does this mean Nevada residents are more self-reliant and Vermont residents are culturally statist?

To be perfectly frank, I don’t know, in part because the Moocher Index was an indirect measure of attitudes about dependency.

So I was very interested when I came across some state-by-state numbers from the Department of Agriculture showing food stamp participation compared to food stamp eligibility.

Food Stamp Participation Rate

There are some clear similarities between these food stamp numbers and the Moocher Index. Maine and Vermont are in the top 3 of both lists, which doesn’t reflect well on people from that part of the country.

And Nevada and Colorado are in the bottom 10 of both lists.

But there’s no consistent pattern. Mississippi and Hawaii are in the top 10 of the Moocher Index but bottom 10 for food stamp utilization.

What really stands out, though, is that the people of California win the prize for self reliance, at least with regard to food stamps. Only 55 percent of eligible people from the Golden State have signed up for the program. Doesn’t make sense when you look at some of the crazy things that are approved by California voters, but I assume the numbers are accurate.

I’m also surprised that folks from New Jersey are relatively unlikely to utilize food stamps.

On the other hand, why are Tennessee residents so willing to use my wallet to buy food?

As you can see from the map, they not only have a very high participation/eligibility rate, but also have one of the highest overall levels of food stamp dependency.

Oregon, not surprisingly, always does poorly, whether we’re looking at a map or a list.

Let’s close with a few real-world examples of what we’re getting in exchange for the tens of billions of dollars that are being spent each year for food stamps.

With stories like this, I’m surprised my head didn’t explode during this debate I did on Larry Kudlow’s show.

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“If you were here” played in the movie 16 Candles

Thompson Twins – If You Were Here (Live in Liverpool)

Uploaded on Jul 9, 2006

Live in Liverpool 1983

____________________

Sixteen Candles Final Scene Movie Ending Video

if you were here
i could deceive you
and if you were here
you would believe
but would you suspect
my emotion wandering, yeah
do not want a part of this anymore
The rain water drips
through a crack in the ceiling
and i’ll have to spend
my time on repair
But just like the rain
i’ll be always falling, yeah
only to rise and fall again
(REPEAT CHORUS)

Wikipedia notes:

Thompson Twins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins Feb84.JPG
Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway, 1984
Background information
Origin United Kingdom
Genres New Wave
Synthpop[1]
Pop
Dance pop
Years active 1977–1993
Labels Tee Records
Arista Records
Warner Bros. Records
Associated acts Debbie Harry
Jerry Harrison
Babble
International Observer
Holiwater
Bailey-Salgado Project
Past members See “Members”
For the fictional characters, see Thomson and Thompson.

The Thompson Twins were a British New Wave pop group that formed in April 1977[2] and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid-1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States, and around the globe.

The band was named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé’s comic strip The Adventures of Tintin.[3] At various stages, the band had up to seven members though their best known incarnation was as a trio between 1982-86. They became a prominent act in the so-called Second British Invasion, and in 1985, the band performed at Live Aid where they were joined onstage by Madonna.[3]

Contents

Career

Early days

In 1977, the original Thompson Twins line-up consisted of Tom Bailey (born 18 January 1954, Halifax, Yorkshire)[4] on bass and vocals, Pete Dodd on guitar and vocals, John Roog on guitar, and Jon Podgorski (known as “Pod”) on drums.[1][5] Dodd and Roog first met when they were both 13 years old.

Arriving in London with very little money, they lived as squatters in Lillieshall Road, London. Future Thompson Twins member Alannah Currie (born 20 September 1957, Auckland, New Zealand) lived in another squat in the same street — which is how she met Bailey. It was in this ramshackle and run-down house that they found an illegal way of “borrowing” electricity from the house next door. Bailey described themselves (laughingly) as spongers (meaning that they were on the dole—unemployed) back then, as they were living on very little and scavenging everything they could lay their hands on. He even said that the only instruments they had were bought, or had been stolen or borrowed. Dodd managed to get a council flat not far away. Their roadie at that time was John Hade, who lived in the same house, and who later became their manager.

As Podgorski had decided to stay in the north, the group auditioned for drummers at the Point Studio in Victoria, London. Andrew Edge joined them on drums for less than one year, and went on to join Savage Progress, who later toured with the Thompson Twins as their support act on the 1984 UK tour.[6]

In 1980, the band (now consisting of Bailey, Dodd, Roog and new drummer Chris Bell) released their first single “Squares and Triangles” on their own DIrty Discs label. A follow-up single, “She’s In Love With Mystery”, was issued later that year.

Membership changes

By 1981, the line-up was Bailey, Dodd, Roog, Bell and two new members: former band roadie Joe Leeway on congas and percussion, and Jane Shorter on saxophone. This line-up recorded the first Thompson Twins album A Product of … (Participation), documented in the film, Listen to London (1981).[7] Currie, who had been associated with the band for a few years, played and sang on the first album, but was not yet a full member.

After the first album, the band’s line-up shifted yet again. Saxophonist Jane Shorter left, percussionist Currie was made an official member, and bassist Matthew Seligman, a former member of The Soft Boys and The Fallout Club, joined.[1] Bailey moved to keyboards and guitar in addition to serving as lead vocalist, with Leeway handling vocals on a few tracks.

The band signed to Arista Records and released the album Set.[1] Thomas Dolby played some keyboards on Set and some live gigs, as Bailey had little experience with synthesizers before then. Set contained the single “In the Name of Love”, sung and largely written by Bailey. It became a No. 1 dance club hit in the US,[8] and an album entitled In the Name of Love (consisting mainly of tracks from Set, with two others from A Product Of… (Participation)) was released in the US to capitalize on the song’s popularity. It entered the US Billboard 200.[9]

Reduction to a trio

After the success of “In the Name of Love”, Bailey, Currie and Leeway, wanting to pursue the single’s different sound, toyed with the idea of starting a new band on the side, which they planned to call ‘The Bermuda Triangle’.[10] When “In The Name Of Love” (and the parent album Set) failed to make a substantial impact in the UK record charts, this plan was abandoned. However, at the same time, manager Hade convinced Bailey, Leeway and Currie to downsize the Thompson Twins to a core of the three in April 1982.[10] Accordingly, the other four members of the band were notified that they were being let go; they were each paid £500 and were allowed to keep their instruments and equipment.

The Thompson Twins decided to go abroad to free themselves of any UK influence, as well as to combine the songwriting for their first album as a trio with a long holiday. They first went to Egypt and then to the Bahamas where they recorded at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau with the producer, Alex Sadkin.

International success

The band broke into the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the beginning of 1983 with “Lies” and “Love On Your Side”, which became the band’s first UK Top 10 single.[3][8] They then released their third album, Quick Step and Side Kick (called simply Side Kicks in the US),[9] which peaked at number 2 in the UK and was later certified platinum there. Further singles followed with “We Are Detective” (another Top 10 UK hit) and “Watching”.[3] All three received songwriting credits, though the band publicly acknowledged Bailey as the songwriter, with Currie contributing lyrics and Leeway focusing on the stage show.[11] During 1983, the band had the opening spot on The Police concert tour in the US.

A new single, “Hold Me Now“, was released towards the end of 1983. The song was an international chart success, peaking at No. 4 in their native UK where it became the band’s biggest seller earning a gold disc,[12] and reached No. 3 in the US in the spring of 1984 becoming their biggest American hit.[8] The band’s new album, Into the Gap, was released in early 1984 and became one of the year’s biggest sellers, selling five million copies worldwide. It topped the UK Albums Chart[3] and was later certified double platinum there. Further hit singles from the album followed with “Doctor! Doctor!” (UK No. 3) and “You Take Me Up” (UK No. 2, their highest UK singles chart placing[3] and which earned a silver disc).[13] Other singles included a new version of the album track “Sister of Mercy” (UK No. 11), and “The Gap” (though this was not released in the UK). The band embarked on a world tour in support of the album, which had also made the US top ten.

A new single, “Lay Your Hands On Me”, was released in the UK in late 1984 and reached No. 13 in the UK charts.[3] However, while working on the follow-up album to Into The Gap, Bailey suffered a nervous breakdown. The band’s planned next single, “Roll Over”, was then cancelled at the last minute. The band had already parted company with their producer Alex Sadkin, and Nile Rodgers was subsequently called in to help finish the album. Released in September 1985, Here’s To Future Days reached the Top 5 in the UK and the Top 20 in the US,[9] though failed to come close to the success of Into The Gap. It spawned the single “King For A Day”, which peaked at No. 22 in the UK,[3] but reached No. 8 on the US chart[8] Other singles included a new US version of “Lay Your Hands On Me” (US No. 6),[8] the anti-drug song “Don’t Mess With Doctor Dream” (UK No. 15)[3] and an unsuccessful cover of The Beatles‘ 1968 hit “Revolution” which became the band’s first single to fail to make the UK Top 40 in three years.

Prior to the album’s release, the Thompson Twins made headlines when they performed on the American leg of Live Aid in July 1985 and were joined onstage by Madonna.[3] The planned 1985 tour of the UK had to be cancelled due to Bailey’s breakdown (fans with tickets received a free live album as compensation), though international dates were re-scheduled and the latter half of 1985 saw sell out tours for the band in the US and Japan.[14]

Final years

Leeway left the band in 1986, and the remaining duo of Bailey and Currie carried on making music for another seven years.[1] 1987 saw the release of Close to the Bone and the single “Get That Love”, which climbed to No. 31 in the US[8] but failed in the UK.[1] “In the Name of Love” was given a new lease on life in 1988, after a remix by Shep Pettibone made the Top 50 in the UK.[3] 1989 saw the release of another album, Big Trash, and a new recording contract with Warner Bros. Records.[1] The single “Sugar Daddy” peaked at No. 28 in the US[8] and would be their last brush with mainstream chart success.[1] 1991’s Queer would be the band’s swansong, and was supported by various techno inspired singles under the moniker of Feedback Max (in the UK) to disguise the identity of the band to club DJs. The single “Come Inside” reached No. 7 in the US Dance Chart[8] and No. 1 in the UK Dance Chart. However, once it was discovered that the Thompson Twins were behind the record, sales dropped and the album never had a UK release[citation needed].

Prior to this, Bailey and Currie (who were now a couple) had their first child together in 1988,[1] and in the following years they spent a lot of time writing material for other artists including the hit single “I Want That Man” for Debbie Harry in 1989. In 1990, Bailey and Currie contributed the song “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” to the Cole Porter tribute album “Red Hot + Blue“ produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1991, Bailey and Currie were married in Las Vegas and the following year moved to New Zealand with their two children. In 1992, the Thompson Twins contributed the song “Play With Me” to the soundtrack of the Ralph Bakshi film Cool World; Bailey alone contributed a second track, “Industry and Seduction”. The following year, the duo formally teamed up with engineer Keith Fernley and changed their band name to Babble.[1]

The Thompson Twins declined to follow the examples of many of their contemporaries and reform to tie-in with a nostalgic rebirth of the 1980s, although Bailey, Currie and Leeway appeared together on the UK Channel 4 show Top Ten Electro Bands in 2001. The Thompson Twins were placed ninth.

Criticism

The British music press regularly criticised the Thompson Twins. The NME called them, “1984’s most instantly kitsch mass program of monosodium glutamation of the brain”. City Limits said they were “candy-floss art capitalists”, whilst The Guardian dubbed them “The three haircuts”.[11]

After the Twins

Babble released two albums — The Stone (1993)[1] and Ether (1996) — with songs featured in the films Coneheads and With Honors. Three quarters of a third album was recorded, but it remains unreleased.

In the mid-1990s, Currie gave up the music business to set up her own glass-casting studio in Auckland. After her sister died of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, Currie founded a group in New Zealand called Mothers Against Genetic-Engineering in Food and the Environment (also known as MADGE), which soon had thousands of members.[11] Currie described this group as a “rapidly growing network of politically non-aligned women who are actively resisting the use of genetically-engineered material in our food and on our land”. An advert for this group featuring a young woman with four breasts hooked up to a milking machine became famous after appearing on billboards across New Zealand.[11] Bailey and Currie split up in 2003, and are now divorced. They both left New Zealand to live separately in Britain, but are still close friends. In 2011, Currie married Jimmy Cauty (formerly of The KLF) and as of then was a trained upholsterer known professionally as “Miss Pokeno”.[15]

In 1999, Bailey produced and played keyboards on the album Mix by the New Zealand band Stellar*, and won the Producer of the Year Award at the 2000 New Zealand Music Awards.[16] He has also arranged soundtracks and has provided instrumental music for several films. He continues to make music under the moniker International Observer and has released the albums Seen (2001), All Played Out (2005), and Felt (2009).[17] He also performs with the Holiwater group from India. Remarried (to artist Lauren Drescher), he currently resides in London.

After leaving the Thompson Twins in 1986, Leeway briefly dabbled in acting and attempted a solo music career, though neither were successful. As of 2006, he resides in Los Angeles, California, and works in the field of hypnotherapy. He is on the staff at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI) in Tarzana, California, and is also a certified trainer in neuro-linguistic programming.

The earlier members went on to do other things:

  • Dodd and Roog formed a band called Big View (with Edge on drums) and recorded a single called, “August Grass”, which was released on Point Records (owned by Merton, the Thompson Twins publisher) in 1982.[18] Dodd is now living back in Chesterfield working as a freelance journalist — and has released his own History of Rock album billed as Peter & the Wolves. Dodd still sees Podgorski on a regular basis.
  • Roog lives in London and is in a senior position in Tower Hamlets Adult Services.
  • Seligman worked for a law firm in London, and has played in The Soft Boys reunions as well as releasing his own albums,[19] but has moved to Japan with his Japanese wife and their daughter. In 2009, he contributed to the new Thomas Dolby album.
  • Bell moved from London to Bath, and played in or for Spear of Destiny, Gene Loves Jezebel and Hugh Cornwell.[20] He also works as a landscape gardener.
  • Booth is, reportedly, living in Shanghai and is the general manager of a music publishing company.
  • Podgorski still lives in Chesterfield.
  • Edge has a singing career with Drumsing, as well as being an English Conversation teacher in Linz, Austria.

Members

Classic lineup
Other members
  • Pete Dodd – guitar, vocals (1977-1982)
  • John Roog – guitar (1977-1982)
  • Jon Podgorski – drums (1977-1980)
  • Andrew Edge – drums (1980-1981)
  • Chris Bell – drums (1981-1982)
  • Jane Shorter – saxophone (1981)
  • Matthew Seligman – bass (1981-1982)
  • Mark Heyward-Chaplin – bass
  • Roger O’Donnell – keyboards
  • Carrie Booth – keyboards
  • Boris Williams – drums

Discography

Thompson Twins albums

Original studio albums

Compilation albums

Babble albums

Bibliography

  • The Thompson Twins – An Odd Couple (The Official Biography) by Rose Rouse. Virgin Books, 1985.
  • Thompson Twin – An ’80’s Memoir by Michael White. Publisher: Little, Brown (4 May 2000).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k “Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine”. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 448. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 557. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ^ Spock.com
  5. ^ Thomas, Stephen. “Thompson Twins – Music Biography, Credits and Discography”. AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  6. ^ “Diary of Notable Musical Events”. info net calendar. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  7. ^ Listen To London
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h “Allmusic ((( Thompson Twins > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))”.
  9. ^ a b c “Allmusic ((( Thompson Twins > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))”.
  10. ^ a b Now and Then lostidols.com – Retrieved 8 November 2007
  11. ^ a b c d “Hear Me Now by Gilbert Wong”. Melbourne: Theage.com.au. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  12. ^ BPI Gold award certification for “Hold Me Now”
  13. ^ BPI Silver award certification for “You Take Me Up”
  14. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock ‘N’ Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 408. CN 5585.
  15. ^ “To Die For – She was the crazy-haired singer in 80s synth-pop band the Thompson Twins. Now Alannah Currie is back, in a new incarnation as artist-upholsterer”. London: Guardian.co.uk. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  16. ^ Thebubbleburst.co.uk
  17. ^ Allmusic.com – accessed October 2009
  18. ^ “BigViewAugustGrass”. Discogs. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  19. ^ Bassplayer.com – accessed October 2009
  20. ^ “Biography by Dave Thompson”. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  21. ^ “Biography by William Ruhlmann”. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2009.

External links

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Dear Senator Pryor, here are some spending cut suggestions (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor, cartoon included)

Senator Pryor pictured below:

Why do I keep writing and email Senator Pryor suggestions on how to cut our budget? I gave him hundreds of ideas about how to cut spending and as far as I can tell he has taken none of my suggestions. You can find some of my suggestions here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,  here, and  here, and they all were emailed to him. In fact, I have written 13 posts pointing out reasons why I believe Senator Pryor’s re-election attempt will be unsuccessful. HERE I GO AGAIN WITH ANOTHER EMAIL I JUST SENT TO SENATOR PRYOR!!!

Dear Senator Pryor,

Why not pass the Balanced  Budget amendment? As you know that federal deficit is at all time high (1.6 trillion deficit with revenues of 2.2 trillion and spending at 3.8 trillion).

On my blog www.thedailyhatch.org . I took you at your word and sent you over 100 emails with specific spending cut ideas. (Actually there were over 160 emails with specific spending cut suggestions.) However, I did not see any of them in the recent debt deal that Congress adopted although you did respond to me several times. Now I am trying another approach. Every week from now on I will send you an email explaining different reasons why we need the Balanced Budget Amendment. It will appear on my blog on “Thirsty Thursday” because the government is always thirsty for more money to spend. Today I actually have included a great article below from the Heritage Foundation concerning an area of our federal budget that needs to be cut down to size. The funny thing about the Sequester and the 2.4% of cuts in future increases is that President Obama set these up and then he acted like the sky was falling in as the cartoons indicate in the newspapers.

IF YOU TRULY WANT TO CUT THE BUDGET AND BALANCE THE BUDGET THEN SUBMIT THESE POTENTIAL BUDGET CUTS PRESENTED BELOW!!

_______________

Does Government Have a Revenue or Spending Problem?

People say the government has a debt problem. Debt is caused by deficits, which is the difference between what the government collects in tax revenue and the amount of government spending. Every time the government runs a deficit, the government debt increases. So what’s to blame: too much spending, or too little tax revenue? Economics professor Antony Davies examines the data and concludes that the root cause of the debt is too much government spending.

_______________

We got to cut wasteful spending out of the government and here is another fine suggestion from the Heritage Foundation.

Todd Thurman

March 12, 2013 at 5:40 pm

Newscom

The massive spending bill, or continuing resolution, released by the Senate this week continues spending on programs which are inappropriate or wasteful and fails to adopt good policies in many areas. Here’s a rundown of some of the worst offenders in the Senate bill:

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): $77.2 billion. The recommendation continues record-high food stamp benefits. Food stamp spending has approximately doubled since President Obama came to office. It is one of the largest and fastest growing federal welfare programs. The federal government operates 80 federal welfare programs at a cost of nearly $1 trillion a year. Over 10 of these provide food assistance.

Food stamp spending should be rolled back to pre-recession levels. Able-bodied adults without dependents who receive food stamp benefits should be required to work or prepare for work as a condition of receiving benefits.

—Rachel Sheffield, Research Associate

Job Corps: $30 million added to the funding level already provided under sequestration. This program should be terminated, because a scientifically rigorous impact evaluation of Job Corps participants were less likely to obtain high school degrees, were no more likely to attend or complete college, and earned only $0.22 more in hourly wages than non-participants. Further, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General estimates each Job Corps participant who is successfully placed into any job costs taxpayers $76,574.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grants: $416.5 million. VAWA grants should be terminated, because these services should be funded locally. Using federal agencies to fund the routine operations of domestic violence programs that state and local governments could provide is a misuse of federal resources and a distraction from concerns that are truly the province of the federal government.

Office of Justice Programs (OJP) grants: $1.1 billion. OJP grants should be terminated, because these grants assign functions to the federal government that fall within the expertise, jurisdiction, and constitutional responsibilities of state and local governments. Further, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants ($392 million) within OJP have been used to place criminals on the street without posting bail.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP): $279.5 million. OJJDP grants should be terminated, because these grants fund juvenile justice and prevention programs that fall under the unique responsibilities of state and local governments. Further, there is little evidence that these grants are effective at preventing delinquency.

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS): $225.5 million. COPS grants should be terminated, because these grants assign functions to the federal government that fall within the expertise, jurisdiction, and constitutional responsibilities of state and local governments. Further COPS grants were used to supplant local funds and had little to no effect on reducing crime.

FEMA Fire Grants: $675 million. Fire grants should be terminated. Fire grants, which subsidize the routine operations of local fire departments, are ineffective at reducing fire-related deaths and injuries of firefighters and civilians. Fire grants incorrectly encourage local fire departments to become increasingly dependent on federal funding.

—David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Empirical Policy Analysis

In my speeches, especially when talking about the fiscal crisis in Europe (or the future fiscal crisis in America), I often warn that the welfare state reaches a point-of-no-return when the number of people riding in the wagon begins to outnumber the number of people pulling the wagon.

To be more specific, if more than 50 percent of the population is dependent on government (employed in the bureaucracy, living off welfare, receiving pensions, etc), it becomes rather difficult to form a coalition to fix the mess. This may explain why Greek politicians have resisted significant reforms, even though the nation faces a fiscal death spiral.

But you don’t need me to explain this relationship. One of our Cato interns, Silvia Morandotti, used her artistic skills to create two images (click pictures for better resolution) that show what a welfare state looks like when it first begins and what it eventually becomes.

These images are remarkably accurate. The welfare state starts with small programs targeted at a handful of genuinely needy people. But as  politicians figure out the electoral benefits of expanding programs and people figure out the that they can let others work on their behalf, the ratio of producers to consumers begins to worsen.

Eventually, even though the moochers and looters should realize that it is not in their interest to over-burden the people pulling the wagon, the entire system breaks down.

Then things get really interesting. Small nations such as Greece can rely on permanent bailouts from bigger countries and the IMF, but sooner or later, as larger nations begin to go bankrupt, that approach won’t be feasible.

I often conclude my speeches by joking with the audience that it’s time to stock up on canned goods, bottled water, and ammo. Many people, I’m finding, don’t think that line very funny.

If you spend too much then people won’t want to work anymore.

_______________

The Balanced Budget Amendment is the only thing I can think of that would force Washington to cut spending. We have only a handful of balanced budgets in the last 60 years, so obviously what we are doing is not working. We are passing along this debt to the next generation. YOUR APPROACH HAS BEEN TO REJECT THE BALANCED BUDGET “BECAUSE WE SHOULD CUT THE BUDGET OURSELF,” WELL THEN HERE IS YOUR CHANCE!!!! SUBMIT THESE CUTS!!!!

Thank you for this opportunity to share my ideas with you.

Sincerely,

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

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Will Senator Pryor be re-elected or not? (Part 3)

Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the CATO institute, explains that the rate of return on social security will be much lower for todays youth. Steve Brawner wrote in his article “Tiptoeing toward the third rail,” (Arkansas News Bureau, Jan 9,): Social Security has long been considered the “third rail” for American politicians, meaning it’s […]

Will Senator Pryor be re-elected or not? Part 2

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com   CBS — October 19, 2010 — New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny talks to Jan Crawford about the state of Democrats in the South… Are they a dying species? In the article “Southern Democrat much closer to extinction after GOP wave,” (Washington Times, Nov 4, 2010), Ben Evans notes: After this week’s elections, the […]

Will Senator Pryor be re-elected or not? Part 1

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com Roland Martin appears on Rick’s List with Rick Sanchez and the Best Political Team on television (Candy Crowley, John King, Jeffery Toobin, Ed Rollins, Gloria Borger and Victoria Toensing) to discuss day two of the Elena Kagan Supreme Court confirmation hearings. During the analysis, Senator Graham and Elena Kagan had an interesting exchange over […]

Religious freedom include discussing creation in the classroom?

Friendly Fire with John Whitehead—Rob Boston (Part 1)

Uploaded by on Aug 20, 2007

An interview with Rob Boston, Assistant Director of Communications, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Part 1.

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Above you see Rob Boston discuss the teaching of intelligent design in the class room. He was against it. Obama’s view is very clear on this.

I got this from a blogger in April of 2008 concerning candidate Obama’s view on evolution:

Q: York County was recently in the news for a lawsuit involving the teaching of intelligent design. What’s your attitude regarding the teaching of evolution in public schools?

A: “I’m a Christian, and I believe in parents being able to provide children with religious instruction without interference from the state. But I also believe our schools are there to teach worldly knowledge and science. I believe in evolution, and I believe there’s a difference between science and faith. That doesn’t make faith any less important than science. It just means they’re two different things. And I think it’s a mistake to try to cloud the teaching of science with theories that frankly don’t hold up to scientific inquiry.”

This is a review I did a few years ago.

THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. New York: Random House, 1995. 457 pages, extensive references, index. Hardcover; $25.95.
PSCF 48 (December 1996): 263.
Sagan is the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University. He is author of many best sellers, including Cosmos, which became the most widely read science book ever published in the English language.
In this book Sagan discusses the claims of the paranormal and fringe-science. For instance, he examines closely such issues as astrology (p. 303), crop circles (p. 75), channelers (pp. 203-206), UFO abductees (pp. 185-186), faith-healing fakes (p. 229), and witch-hunting (p. 119). Readers of The Skeptical Inquirer will notice that Sagan’s approach is very similar.
Sagan writes:
The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal is an organization of scientists, academics, magicians, and others dedicated to skeptical scrutiny of emerging or full-blown pseudo-sciences. It was founded by the University of Buffalo philosopher Paul Kurtz in 1976. I’ve been affiliated with it since its beginning. Its acronym, CSICOP, is pronounced Asci-cop C as if it’s an organization of scientists performing a police function Y CSICOP publishes a bimonthly periodical called AThe Skeptical Inquirer. On the day it arrives, I take it home from the office and pore through its pages, wondering what new misunderstandings will be revealed (p. 299).
Sagan points out that in 1991 two pranksters in England admitted that they had been making crop figures for 15 years. They flattened the wheat with a heavy steel bar. Later on they used planks and ropes, but the media paid brief attention to the confession of these hoaxers. Why? Sagan concludes, ’Demons sell; hoaxers are boring and in bad taste’ (p. 76).
Christians must admire Sagan’s commitment to critical thinking, logic, and freedom of thought. He takes on many subjects in this book, and the vast majority of his analysis is exceptional. However, his opinions on religious matters are affected by his devotion to scientism. Sagan believes only that which can be proved by science is true. He disputes psychologist Charles Tart’s assertion that scientism is ’dehumanizing, despiritualizing’ (p. 267). Sagan comments, ’There is very little doubt that, in the everyday world, matter (and energy) exist. The evidence is all around us. In contrast, as I’ve mentioned earlier the evidence for something non-material called `spirit’ or `soul’ is very much in doubt’ (p. 267).
Science can only prove things about the physical world, and it cannot prove anything about the spiritual world. Does that mean that the mind and soul don’t exist? Of course not! First, we must realize that science is not the only way to truth. Even Sagan must admit that he must justify values like ’be objective’ or ’report data honestly’. Where do those values come from? They came from outside science, but they must be in place for science to work.
Sagan gives an illustration that contrasts physics and metaphysics. He shows that the physicist’s idea will have to be discarded if tests fail in the laboratory. Therefore, the main difference between physics and metaphysics is that the metaphysicist has no laboratory. This is a cute story, but can science answer the basic questions that underline all knowledge? Metaphysics is necessary for science to take place. It is not true that science is superior to metaphysics like Sagan would have us believe. The presuppositions of science can only be validated by philosophy. J. P. Moreland has correctly said, ’The validation of science is a philosophical issue, not a scientific one, and any claim to the contrary will be a self-refuting philosophical claim’ (Scaling the Secular City, p. 197).
Second, the absence of scientific evidence for the soul does not mean the soul does not exist. Sagan himself states,’Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence’ (p. 213).
I was impressed with the way Sagan put his inner thoughts on the table. For instance, he comments, ’Plainly, there’s something within me that’s ready to believe in life after death…If some good evidence for life after death was announced, I’d be eager to examine it; but it would have to be real scientific data, not mere anecdote’ (pp. 203-204). What kind of evidence is Sagan looking for? It certainly is not vague prophecies. He states, ’Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy…Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs…Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science? (p. 30). The answer to that question is yes. Christianity can point to very clear passages such as Isaiah 53 and Daniel 11 written hundreds of years before the events occurred.
While comparing science to religion, Sagan comments, ’Science is far from a perfect instrument of knowledge. It’s just the best we have (pp. 27-28). Here Sagan is only half right. Science is imperfect, but it is not better than the Bible.’
The Demon-Haunted Worldis a thought-provoking book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Some of Sagan’s anti-Christian views come through, but on the whole, this book uses critical thinking and logic and applies them to the claims of the paranormal and fringe-science of our day.
Reviewed by Everette Hatcher III, P.O. Box 23416, Little Rock, AR 72221.
Friendly Fire with John Whitehead—Rob Boston (Part 2)

Other posts that relate to Carl Sagan:

Atheist says “It’s not about having a purpose in life..” (Arkansas Atheist, Part 1)

The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- I want to make two points today. 1. There is no […]

Ancient Sea Monsters (A Creationist point of view Part 3)

Leviathan: the Fire-Breathing Dragon: Kent Hovind [6 of 7] Everybody is trying to get info on this subject. Here is what the Bible has to say about it. Mace Baker wrote the aritcle, “Sea Dragons – The Institute for Creation Research,” and here is the third portion of that article:  Pterosaurs were the flying reptiles of the ancient world. Why […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)Other posts concerning Carl Sagan:

Atheists confronted: How I confronted Carl Sagan the year before he died

In today’s news you will read about Kirk Cameron taking on the atheist Stephen Hawking over some recent assertions he made concerning the existence of heaven. Back in December of 1995 I had the opportunity to correspond with Carl Sagan about a year before his untimely death. Sarah Anne Hughes in her article,”Kirk Cameron criticizes […]