Tea Party Matters for 2/15/12

[We are not “taxed to death”. We are “taxed to live.” – JS] "At each and every stop, in items large and small, the greedy hand of government has its sticky fingers in every pocket. With bread, a recent study by Price Waterhouse shows that 30 different taxes imposed on the production and sale of a loaf of bread account for 27 percent of the average retail price. Buy some new tires and it’s $36 on every $100 that goes to the taxman. On the price of a new car, an Americans for Tax Reform study shows that the total taxes reach 45 percent of the showroom sticker price. Add some gas and 54 percent of what you pay for a fill-up goes for 43 different federal, state and local taxes
rather than to the oil producer and retailer." -- Ralph Reiland

Food Police Invade North Carolina School: Who do these people think they are? Is the day coming when food inspectors will be knocking on the doors to our homes demanding that we let them in to inspect our pantry and refrigerator? And then like in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, will the food police will gather up all the forbidden foods and burn them in our front lawn? … Here’s the kicker. “The girl’s mother — who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation — said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a ‘healthy lunch’ would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.” [Want to get even madder? Read Public Schools Charging Kids with Sexual Harassment for Being Kids – JS]

Our Saudi Problem: It’s time to shift our focus to more-serious Islamist enemies of civilization, freedom and elementary decency: the Saudis. Al Qaeda carried within it the formula for self-destruction, but the Saudis are the kind of threat that lasts: pernicious, perverted and patient… Al Qaeda is on its way out. Now we need to stop letting Saudis in.

Obama's Friends Win Big in Budget: You don't need to log on to President Barack Obama's Facebook page to find out who his friends are, and you don't need to read tea leaves, gaze into a crystal ball, or consult a psychic to learn where his priorities lie. No, you only have to take a look at his 2013 budget, just released on Monday, to see what kind of company the president keeps and to what extent he will go to lend his pals a helping hand.

My religion made me do it … - Religion and the Gospel: …Justifying the contrast between religion and the gospel, Tim Keller has pointed out that the Greek word for "religion" used in James 1 is used negatively in Colossians 2:18 where it describes false asceticism, fleshly works-righteousness, and also in Acts 26:5 where Paul speaks of his pre-Christian life in strict "religion." It is also used negatively in the Apocrypha to describe idol worship in Wis 14:18 and 27. So, according to Keller, the word certainly has enough negative connotations to use as a fair title for the category of works-righteousness. In the Old Testament the prophets are devastating in their criticism of empty ritual and religious observances designed to bribe and appease God rather then serving, trusting, and loving him. The word "religion" isn't used for this approach, but it's a good way to describe what the prophets are condemning.

Lawfare - the Legal Warfare is “soft jihad”: A more recent phenomenon, Lawfare, is a “soft jihad,” a negative force that operates within our government and court system.  It is defined as the manipulation of the rule of law, and the humanitarianism thus represented, to achieve a military advantage, such as 1) the use of mosques as armories, command and control centers, and launching pads, and then using protections accorded religious sites under the laws of armed conflict, and 2) when militants hide among noncombatants in order to shield themselves from attack, or if attacked, use the civilian losses as accusations against the opponent’s military defense, also known as “disproportionate warfare.”

EXCUSING SHARIAH AT CPAC: This year yet again, the puppet masters, Grover Norquist and Suhail Khan, managed to keep jihad and Sharia off the CPAC schedule – except for the event hosted by my (Pamela Geller) organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI). Once again, our event was SRO, packed. The room was hot as hades (I suppose Grover Norquist had turned up the heat), but that did not stop the sweaty crowd from participating and staying for the full two-hour presentation. On an ominous note, three people wearing Americans for Tax Reform ID tags were taking pictures of the faces and name tags of the people attending our event. ATR is Grover’s organization.

Is Machete Control Next, Justice Breyer? Gun Control Not Enough? St. Kitts/Nevis, a nation whose gun control laws are the stuff of Justice Breyer’s dreams come true, is a very dangerous place, and its crime statistics prove that its gun control laws are a crashing failure.  Since 1997, when the island nation adopted the Organization of American States blatant attack on the rights of self-defense with its Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Explosives, Ammunition and Other Related Materials, St Kitts/Nevis has become a very dangerous place. From 2000 to 2009 (the most recent data available), homicides by guns have risen from 3 to 27.  During the same period the homicide rate by all methods has skyrocketed from 6.52 to 51.92 per 100,000 people.

Rick Santelli On The Difference Between Tea Party And Occupy Movement: “While the vandals are on the street corners, the Tea Party conservatives they’re working state houses, the governorships, the mayorships, the Senate, the House. See, they understand, they’ve read the Constitution. If you want to make a difference, don't go break windows, okay? Break some phony arguments that things like austerity are going to put you in the hole. What put you in the hole is borrowing 38 cents of every dollar you spent. That’s what put you in the hole, pure and simple. Everything else is political spin.”

‘HOOKING KIDS ON SEX’: GRAPHIC NEW VID REPORT SHOWS HOW PLANNED PARENTHOOD IS CREATING ‘FUTURE CUSTOMERS’:
   “If you aren’t convinced by now that there are some truly sick pups behind Planned Parenthood, this video from the American Life League should erase any lingering doubts,” the Right Scoop says. “In the name of ‘education,’ Planned Parenthood exposes children as young as 10 years old to pornographic illustrations of masturbation, nudity, sexual activity, and much much more.”
   “Any parent that sees the video of Planned Parenthood’s material for school children will be horrified,”  Jim Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League, told Life Site News. “Planned Parenthood’s business model is aimed at making money from people who are engaged in sexual activity. Those are the women who will have abortions, which made up 51% of Planned Parenthood’s clinic revenue in 2010.”