News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles.Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)Home PageFollow @arra
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
IRS and Customer Service
Kerby Anderson
Kerby Anderson, Point of View: The outgoing commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service chalked up the current scandal as “horrible customer service.” He (and others in the government agency) would have us believe that IRS actions were not politically motivated.
As I have said frequently on radio, it would be easier to defend such a position if the IRS could find at least one progressive group that was subjected to the same kind of scrutiny that conservative groups experienced. We now know that groups that had words like “tea party” or “patriot” were targeted. So were groups who identified themselves and pro-life or pro-Second Amendment.
Does the IRS scandal go to the top? Charles Krauthammer argues in a recent column that he doubts that a memo was sent to the IRS from anyone working in this administration. Instead, he says, we had a political climate that made the targeting of these groups inevitable.
The president denounced the Supreme Court decision that allowed for more 501 (c)(4) groups to be formed. He even did this in a State of the Union speech with many of the Supreme Court Justices sitting in front of him. During the election he called the “special interest groups” that were running ads to help Republicans “not just a threat to Democrats” but “a threat to our democracy.” Add to this the letters from Democratic Senators to the IRS demanding intense scrutiny of 501(c)(4) applications. All of this created a climate that encouraged the targeting of these groups.
None of the actions by these politicians is illegal. But creating such a climate of intolerance is shameful and most likely the reason that many of these groups never received their tax exempt status in time to make a difference in the 2012 election. And I might mention that some of these groups are still waiting for their tax-exempt status.
The IRS actions were more that just examples of “bad customer service.” They took their cues from people above them who wanted them to target conservative groups with bureaucratic investigations designed to delay and deny. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
---------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous Christian Stations via the Point of View Network. Tags:IRS, Customer Service, Kerby Anderson, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith, Editor: Note the following excellent article by Kerby Anderson addressing the cost for Federal employees but does not address the associated cost of buildings, equipment, telecommunications, travel and associated expenses related to the positions of Federal employees. Some have identified the Federal Government as a snake. However, history has show us that the Federal Government has been more like the Hydra of Greek Mythology - "when each head cut off it grew two more — and its poisonous breath was so virulent even her tracks were deadly.[Wikipedia] The Federal Government definitely has too many Department and Agencies and has indeed become poisonous to our economic well being.
While Federal employees are doing the job set forth for their positions. However, a multitude of the departments, agencies, offices at which these Federal employees work are NOT needed or at least should not be paid for by the public and thus should be abolished. While I am sure that most Federal employees and their families would vote to keep their jobs, we have a Big Government problem. We have Government agencies and Departments that could and should be eliminated.
Also, to avoid confusion, active duty military are not Federal Employees are not Federal employees that are discussed in Anderson's article. In fact, many of our military don't survive. Also, a majority of people serving in the military do not make the military a career thus there are no associated medical or retirement benefits. Also, there is another group of employees working for various Federal Government Agencies and paid for by the taxpayers. They are "Contract Employees" who are paid far more than Federal Employees. However, they work for short term contract periods with no future budgeted cost for long term benefit and associated retirement costs. Kerby Anderson, Point of View: At a time when workers in the private sector have faced tough economic times, federal employees in the public sector are doing better than ever. And I believe this might even become a campaign issue in the fall.
A recent analysis by USA Today discovered that the two million federal civilian employees earn an average of $67,691 a year. This is much higher than the $60,046 for comparable jobs in the private sector. Federal employees earn higher average salaries than their private counterparts in eight out of 10 occupations.
But the gap between the private sector and the public sector increases even more when you consider the various benefits packages provided for these two sectors. Federal employees enjoy benefits packages that are four times richer than those in the private sector. The difference is an average of $40,785 per federal employee versus $9,862 per private worker.
Federal employees also enjoy greater job security. Private companies are shedding employees. Those who found themselves unemployed are pounding the pavement trying to find a new job. This is not happening to federal employees who are rarely fired.
You may remember the incident in the Newark Airport back in January. When a Transportation Security Administration guard abandoned his post at the airport, a Chinese student slipped into the terminal’s secured area. This forced a six-hour shutdown of the entire terminal as passengers were re-screened through security.
The student will have to pay fines and perform community service. The TSA guard went back to week at the airport after a two-month paid administrative leave and unspecified disciplinary action.
Could this become a campaign issue? It was one of the issues that Scott Brown used effectively in his Senate campaign in Massachusetts. Talking about his concern with excessive pay and protections for federal workers resonated with voters. It is likely that we will see candidates using this issue again in the fall. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view. Tags:Kerby Anderson, Point of View, Federal employees, private sector, employees, Big Government, Federal Government, HydraTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Point of View: There is growing evidence that the moral education in our schools are making it harder and harder for students to make moral judgments. In my book, Christian Ethics in Plain Language, I write about a professor who said he has never met a student who denied the Holocaust happened. But he also reported that 10 to 20 percent of his students cannot bring themselves to say that killing millions of people is wrong.
Chuck Colson provided me with another powerful example when he quoted from an article written in Education Forum. The particular article was written by Dr. Stephen Anderson and carries the title “Moment of Startling Clarity.” He was teaching a philosophy class in Canada and had been talking about social justice issues. In an effort to get his students thinking, he decided to shock them and make them commit to an ethical judgment.
He opened the discussion by showing them a photo of Bibi Aisha. You may have seen this photo before. She was the Afghani teenager who was forced into an abusive marriage with a Taliban fighter. He abused her and kept her with the animals. When she attempted to flee, her family caught her, hacked off her nose and ears, and left her for dead in the mountains. After crawling to her grandfather’s house, she was saved by a nearby American hospital.
If you haven’t see the picture of her, let me just say it is hard to look at. Stephen Anderson was sure that the students seeing the suffering of this poor girl would have a clear ethical reaction. He was wrong. Many of the students had trouble looking at the picture, but they also had trouble making a moral judgment.
He says that the students were essentially confused. The didn’t seem to know what to think. When they did speak, they went out of their way to avoid making any moral judgment. They said things like, “We might not like it, but maybe over there it’s okay.” Another said (with no awareness of the self-contradiction) that, “It’s just wrong to judge other cultures.”
This is what moral education has given us today. Students seem almost unable to make a moral judgment even in the face of a horrible action. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
----------- Kirby Anderson is an author, lecturer, visiting professor and radio host and contributor on nationally syndicated "Point of View" and the "Probe" radio programs. Tags:Kerby Anderson, Point of View, moral judgements, moral education, Christian Ethics, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Kerby Anderson, Point of View: Over the last few months, members of Congress, governors, and state legislators have been taking some unpopular positions concerning budgets and policy issues. As the media and various interest groups have increased their pressure on these representatives, I was reminded of the advice Marc Thiessen presented to the freshman class of Congress back in January.
He is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and has been on my radio program to talk about his latest book. But it was his past position serving on the staff of Senator Jesse Helms that he used as illustrations.
His first piece of advice was to ignore the national media. Once when the New York Times wrote a nasty editorial about Helms, Marc Thiessen drafted a vigorous rebuttal. Helms smiled at him kindly and said, “Son, just so you understand: I don’t care what the New York Times says about me, and nobody I care about cares what the New York Times says about me.”
Learn the rules. That was another piece of advice he passed on to the freshman class. Helms was able to stop bad bills simply because he understood the rules of the Senate and could tie it in knots. He also knew how to force votes on important bills.
One time when Jesse Helms was doing just that in late December, a senator approached him and said, “Jesse, if you don’t relent we’re going to be here singing ‘Silent Night.’” Helms replied, “If I don’t get my vote, we’re going to be singing ‘Auld Land Syne.’” The senator got the point, and Jesse Helms got his vote.
One more piece of advice is to be kind. Marc Theissen said Jesse Helms “was kind to liberals and conservatives, senators and elevator operators, and especially to his own staff, whom he referred to as his Senate family. A reputation for kindness will serve you well – especially when you are forcing colleagues to take uncomfortable votes or miss their flights home.”
These are just a few of his suggestions. Those who serve in public office would do well to learn them, especially as they have to take more and more unpopular stands about budgets and policies. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view. Tags:Kerby Anderson, Point of View, Lessons for Politicians, politicians, Marc Theissen, American Enterprise InstituteTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: How many times have we heard as we head into an election season, that this will be the most important election in our lifetime? Reid Wilson, writing for The Hill, is not given to hyperbole but sets forth some very persuasive reasons why the 2020 election will be the most important.
First, the Democratic Party is likely “to nominate the most liberal candidate ever to carry the party’s mantle.” He explains that even the moderate candidates are staking out positions further to the left of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Second, four Supreme Court justices are over the age of 70, and two are in their 80s. Three of them have served on the court for more than a quarter century. The next president will be able to put more justices on the court.
Third, voters in 34 states will elect US senators this year. They will ultimately determine how far the next president can go in choosing not only the next Supreme Court justice but all the other federal justices who serve on lower courts. That is why Democrats are targeting seats in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and North Carolina. Republicans have seats in Alabama and Michigan in their sights.
Finally, voters in most states will be electing new state legislators. They will have the power to draw legislative and congressional boundaries after the census. “Of the eleven states that will elect governors this year, seven will have a role in the map-making process.”
This redistricting and gerrymandering will have an impact throughout the rest of this coming decade. It will determine who represents you in Congress and who represents you in the state house. Both political parties recognize how important that will be and “will fund years of litigation” over these political maps.
These are just a few reasons why 2020 will be the most important election in your lifetime.
---------------- Kerby Anderson (@kerbyanderson) is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network (@PointofViewRTS) and is endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service. Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Important ElectionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: Earlier this month, I talked about how many liberal progressives complained that Alan Dershowitz had changed. Actually, they are the ones who have changed. In a recent op-ed, Dershowitz explains about how the ACLU has abandoned its original mission. He should know, since he served on the national board in the early days of his career.
He writes, “The director of the American Civil Liberties Union has now acknowledged what should have been obvious to everybody over the past several years: The ACLU is no longer a neutral defender of everyone’s civil liberties.” I am not sure how neutral the ACLU always was in the past, but I will concede the point to him.
He says that they used a key test back in those days that he calls “the shoe on the other foot” test. In other words, “Would you vote the same way if the shoe were on the other foot?” He concludes that now “the ACLU wears only one shoe, and it is on the left foot. Its color is blue.” The organization now seems only interested in taking cases and supporting policies that promote progressive ideas and the Democrat Party.
Some of us can remember when the ACLU would occasionally take a very controversial high-profile case. They might defend the rights of neo-Nazis or Klan members to march.
An article in the New Yorkersays, “The ACLU is getting involved in elections—and reinventing itself for the Trump era.” Not only is it getting involved in election campaigns, but it plans to spend $25 million on races and ballot initiatives. This is quite a change for a group that used to be called nonpartisan.
Frankly, the ACLU has been a left-leaning organization since its founding, but it at least tried to occasionally play both sides of the civil liberties question. That is no longer the case, as it is now injecting itself and its ideology into American politics. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
------------ Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, ACLUTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson: Has Christianity made a positive impact on Western civilization? That was a question I posed a few months ago in a commentary, and in it I provided a short list of atheists who would agree with that statement. Now, there are more atheists coming to that conclusion.
Jonathon Van Maren writes about a number of atheists who he calls “King Agrippa Christians.” After the Apostle Paul gave his testimony and the gospel, the king said he was nearly persuaded. None of the atheists Van Maren mentions have become Christians, but they do acknowledge the important contribution of Christianity to our world.
One example is the historian Tom Holland, who often writes about the ancient world. His new book, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, makes a convincing case for Christianity. Christian writers who have read the book praise it because it provides examples that various Christian historians have documented.
The ancient world was cruel. Spartans, for example, routinely killed off “imperfect” children. The bodies of slaves were treated like outlets for physical pleasure. Only a few citizens had rights.
Holland explains that Christianity changed the prevailing views about sex and marriage. It demanded that men control themselves. It placed sex within marriage and within monogamy. And Christianity elevated the status of women. To put it simply, Christianity transformed the world.
Without Christianity, the Western world as we know it would not exist. If the West had not become Christian, Holland writes, “no one would have gotten woke.”
This growing list of atheists who say positive things about Christianity is encouraging. They are willing to admit that Christianity has been a force for good in our world.
--------------------- Kerby Anderson@KerbyAnderson) is an author, lecturer, visiting professor and radio host and contributor on nationally syndicated Point of View and the "Probe" radio programs. Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: Dennis Prager stirred up some controversy by saying something progressives would never let you say. As a Jew, he says that American Jews are the luckiest Jews in Jewish history. He also says that about many other ethnic groups.
As I mentioned in a previous commentary, his father wrote his senior thesis on anti-Semitism in America. Nevertheless, he taught his two sons that they were the luckiest Jews in Jewish history. Dennis Prager still believes that, even though he has written a book about anti-Semitism and taught Jewish history at Brooklyn College. He reminds us that many more Israeli Jews have moved to America than American Jews have moved to Israel. That is not a reflection on Israel but a reflection on how good it is for Jews to live in America.
He then moves on to black Americans. Despite the existence of racism in America, he also makes the case that black Americans are among the luckiest blacks in the world. He even quotes from Keith Richburg, a distinguished black journalist who admits that though his ancestors were brought here on slave ships, he was grateful to be an American when he saw the present-day horrors of Africa. In a moment of candor, he revealed: “I thank God my ancestor made that voyage.”
What about people from Latin America? Dennis Prager comes to the same conclusion. They are among the luckiest Latinos in the world. How could they (or anyone else) deny this fact when millions of Latin Americans have been willing to leave their family, their friends, their culture, and their language to come to America? And we know there are tens of millions more who desire to do the same.
Of course, there are many in this country that claim America is the source of evil. They claim that racism and bigotry are alive. They vilify the founders. They ignore the good of America and focus only on what is wrong. They may not admit it, but they are also some of the luckiest people in the world. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
-------------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Who Are the Luckiest?To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: The president and some members of Congress have started an important conversation about criminal justice reform. But while we are having that conversation, it is crucial that we get some of the facts straight.
At a recent conference, Senator Elizabeth Warren lamented this country criminalizes low-level drug offenses. She said, “More people [are] locked up for low-level offenses on marijuana than for all violent crimes in this country. That makes no sense at all.”
She is certainly correct. It doesn’t make any sense. That’s because it isn’t true. Rafael Mangual in a recent op-ed looks at the numbers. The total incarcerated population in the US is just over 2.1 million. In the federal prisons, there is a high percentage serving time for drug offenses, but they are not pot smokers. Most are federal drug traffickers. In the state prisons, only about 15 percent are serving time for a drug offense. Again, the vast majority are in for trafficking. And it is worth mentioning that even the small percentage in for drug possession may have settled on that charge after a plea bargain.
In addition to the argument that we are putting people in prison for minor drug offenses is the argument that we are also putting too many black men behind bars. Let’s begin by stating the obvious. There is a racial disparity. African-Americans make up about 13 percent of the population, meaning that black men make up about 6.5 percent of the American population. Nevertheless, they make up approximately one-third of state prison populations.
The latest figures from the Bureau of Justice show that blacks constitute 35 percent of violent offenders, 45 percent of weapons offenders, 27 percent of property offenders, and 31 percent of drug offenders. Those figures explain why more black men are behind bars and illustrate why we need to get some of these facts straight. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
------------ Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Criminal JusticeTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Kerby Anderson, Point of View: We in America have valued individual liberty and privacy. But we are a society that is turning into a culture that resembles a police state. We have quietly accepted surveillance cameras, no-knock police raids, and national databases filled with our personal information.
That is the contention of John Whitehead in his book, A Government of Wolves. The title comes from CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow who said: “A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” He believes we are allowing government officials and corporations to intrude into our lives and violate our privacy.
He paints a chilling portrait of a nation that allows SWAT teams, drug-sniffing dogs, roadside strip searches, and blood draws at DUI checkpoints. We are monitored not only be the ever-present surveillance cameras, but also by drones in the sky and even mosquito drones we might not even be able to see.
To illustrate his concerns, John Whitehead draws upon various science fiction movies to show that much of these fanciful scenarios have now become fact. On my radio program he explained that most of the technology used in the movie Minority Report is now available to government and law enforcement. He also draws from other films like 1984, 2001, Children of Men, The Matrix, and V for Vendetta.
The book not only explains the problems we face in the 21st century, but also is a call to action. John Whitehead offers timely and practical action items in an effort to stop a growing police state.
This is the challenge before us. Will we continue to accept these intrusions in our lives, or will we stand up and stop the encroachment on our liberty and privacy? Some accept it as necessary to fight terrorism. Others believe it is merely evidence of the end times. I believe we should not allow this to happen. We cannot allow America to become a police state. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
---------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous Christian Stations via the Point of View Network. Tags:Government, wolves, John Whitehead, The Government of Wolves, Kerby Anderson, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: Andrew McCarthy begins his commentary with these words: “During the Obama years, the National Security Agency intentionally and routinely intercepted and reviewed communications of American citizens in violation of the Constitution and of court-ordered guidelines implemented pursuant to federal law.” This claim is backed up with a FISA-court opinion and investigative research that have been done over the last few months.
There are two problems. The first is the incidental collection of data from Americans that occurs when intelligence agencies target one suspect and pick up information from an American citizen. But that is a small problem compared to what is called “upstream collection” of information.
Andrew McCarthy explains that, “it is not possible to capture a single e-mail related to a single target” so the NSA “must capture packets of e-mail data—which includes lots of e-mails beside the targeted e-mail.” That means your communications “are being seized and subjected to inspection” without any warrant or probably cause.
Now you might think that isn’t a problem since you aren’t calling or writing to anyone who would be a potential terrorist or criminal suspect. But that doesn’t mean that your communications won’t be accessed and analyzed. Not only do the intelligence agencies look for communication to and from a target, but they also look for communication about a target. Again, this is done with a warrant or probable cause.
I can remember telling my radio listeners during the years when President Bush was in office not to be concerned about intelligence agencies listening to your phone calls or reading your e-mails. I assured them that they were looking for terrorists and criminals and would not be monitoring your communications. Well, it appears that at least during the Obama administration, that illegal surveillance has been taking place. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
-------------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Illegal SurveillanceTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Point of View: The world's population is graying, and that will have major implications for many countries around the world, including the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the world 65-and-older population will triple by mid-century to 1 in 6 people. While this will be a challenge for the United States to support the elderly, it will be devastating for many other developed countries as well as developing countries.
The reason for the graying of the world's population is two-fold: declining birthrates and medical advances that have extended life spans. The fastest growing age group is seniors, who presently comprise about 8 percent of the world’s population.
The percentage of seniors in the United States is about 13%, but the number will double by the middle of this century. This is due in large part to the baby boom generation (born between 1946 and 1964) entering retirement age. In previous commentaries, I have talked about the strain baby boomers will put on current workers and entitlement programs.
But the challenge in other countries will be much greater. Japan has been known as the land of the rising sun, but there is growing evidence that the sun is actually setting on Japan. A few years ago (2005), Japan entered into a phase of decline in which there were more deaths than births within the country. It is a country that allows few immigrants, has few minorities, and has no desire for any. For the rest of this century, we will see Japan continue to age and fall into decline. It appears that nothing will be able to pull it up from its demographic death spiral.
China is also facing a crisis, brought on by its one-child policy. Their current ratio of 16 elderly people per 100 workers will double by 2025, and than double again by mid-century. Given the current economic conditions and government policies, it is likely that millions of older Chinese will fall into poverty in coming years.
As we face the challenges of an aging population, we should be grateful that our challenges are less than those faced in other countries. Once again, demography is destiny. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view. [ARRA News Service Note: so with aging global population and decline in birth rates in many countries, America's current administration plans to export the funding of abortion to the world.] Tags:demography, Kerby Anderson, Point of View, population shift, seniorsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: During this campaign season, many have been talking about the narrow (5-4) Supreme Court cases to illustrate how important the presidential election will be to the future of America. Let’s first look at some of the key First Amendment cases.
The Hobby Lobby case was decided by the high court in 2014. The Department of
Health and Human Services under the Affordable Care Act required employers to cover certain contraceptives (including abortifacients) for their female employees. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby by a 5-4 vote.
The Little Sisters of the Poor case in 2016 was similar to the Hobby Lobby case but raised the question of whether religious institutions (other than churches that are already exempt) should be exempt from the HHS contraceptive mandate. The 4-4 Supreme Court vote essentially returned them to their respective courts of appeals for reconsideration.
The Citizens United case in 2010 challenged the Campaign Reform Act that prevented electioneering communication within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary, and prohibited such expenditures by corporations and unions. A lower court ruled that Citizens United could not advertise a movie critical of Hillary Clinton and could not show it on television within 30 days of the Democratic primaries. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that freedom of speech prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation.
These three cases were all decided by a narrow margin. Tomorrow we will look at a few more 5-4 decisions from the Supreme Court. As you can see from these cases, the next president will be able to shape future court rulings on a variety of issues through the people that he or she put on the Supreme Court. The next justices that the next president puts on the court will have a profound impact on America. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
----------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Narrow Court Cases, Part One, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: You may have already voted, like tens of millions of Americans. But if you haven’t voted, I encourage you to vote because your vote might make the difference.
Barring some unforeseen circumstance, by the end of the day tomorrow, we will know the outcome of the 2016 election. This election represents, perhaps more than any other election in our nation’s history, a choice of moral direction for our nation.
One party wants to remove any restriction on abortion and force you and I to pay for those abortions with our tax dollars. One party wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, or at least to uphold the restrictions on abortion that we have fought hard since 1973 to implement.
One party wants to embrace immoral lifestyles and wants to force you and I to embrace them as well. One party wants to uphold the traditional definition of marriage and to protect us from being forced to facilitate what our faith condemns.
One party wants to do away with religious freedom, seeing it only as an “excuse” for bigotry and intolerance. One party wants to uphold the constitution, including our first liberty, recognizing that it is essential to all other liberties in our society.
In the past, many groups circulated articles and e-mails talking about the importance of one vote. In the last few elections, we haven’t needed these reminders because the some of the elections in the last few decades provide numerous illustrations.
For example, George W. Bush won the 2000 Presidential election by the slimmest of margins. His election essentially was decided by 537 votes in Florida. He won re-election in the 2004 Presidential election again by very slim margins. He won the 20 electoral votes from the state of Ohio with 50.8 percent of the vote.
Over the years, I have collected some stories of elections that resulted in a tie. You can’t get any closer than that. Consider the story of Penny Pullen in Illinois. A number of years ago, it appeared she lost a primary election by 31 votes. However, there were many irregularities in the ballots. Judge Francis Barth concluded that the election was a draw and ordered a coin toss. She lost the election on a coin toss. Later she found out that many members of her church hadn’t bothered to vote in the primary election and could have made a crucial difference.
In 2006, there was an even more interesting story of an electoral tie. William Crawford and Jean Miller both received an identical number of votes in an election in Ohio. William Crawford was especially upset. You might ask why. Well, it turned out that his two sons failed to vote that day. His son Jim lives across the street from him. His other son Andy is a college student who lives at home with him. Neither took the time to go to the polls.
Would the outcome of these elections be different if a few people in Penny Pullen’s church had bothered to vote or if either of William Crawford’s sons had bothered to vote? Does one vote count? Just ask Penny Pullen or William Crawford.
We recognize that God is sovereign and reigns in the affairs of men. I ask you to join me today in praying for our nation, that God would intervene and place in leadership the men and women who are the best of our choices to uphold His truth in our culture.
I ask that you pray that God would grip the hearts and minds of the people He is about to allow to become our new leaders and to turn those hearts toward Him, to order their steps according to His plan.
Let us pray together that God would embolden His people to stand for His truth in our culture and to be the salt and light that He has called us to be.
----------------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service This article was edited/updated with additional information from Kerby Anderson addressing the need to Pray for America. Tags:Close Elections, Voting, Pray for America, Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: If you do an online search of the term “cultural Marxism,” you will see a Wikipedia entry that dismisses it as a “conspiracy theory” that is supposedly trying to take over Western culture. Actually it is the dominant form of Marxism in America and in much of the West today.
Dr. Paul Kengor was on the Point of View radio talk show with me to talk about his recent article about cultural Marxism. He explained that cultural Marxism began about a century ago in Germany because the proponents felt that orthodox Marxism was too limiting and too narrow. They wanted revolutionary changes in marriage, sexuality, and family.
They looked to the universities as a place when their ideas would be launched. They could organize the students, the artists, and the media to transform Western society. Instead of focusing on an economic war, they wanted to bring a cultural war.
One of the key figures in cultural Marxism was Antonio Gramsci who taught that they should seize the “cultural means of production.” That would be the media and the universities. He believed that the social transformation would be able to “march through the institutions.”
One place where cultural Marxism is evident today is in what is called “critical theory.” Paul Kengor reminded us that Barack Obama’s alma mater, Occidental College, has a Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice. It promises to instruct students in the principles of “Marxism, psychoanalysis, the Frankfurt School, deconstruction, critical race studies, queer theory, feminist theory, postcolonial theory.”
If you have been near a college campus lately, this should all sound very familiar. This is not a “conspiracy theory” but an accurate picture of the march of cultural Marxism through the institutions. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
------------ Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Cultural Marxism, Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Kerby Anderson, Point of View: It looks like the Affordable Care Act may eventually be known as the Unaffordable Care Act. As we get closer to the full implementation of Obamacare, individuals and businesses are starting to count the costs. On this third anniversary of Obamacare we are seeing the difference between the predictions made when the legislation was being considered and the reality that is about to hit all of us.
Yuval Levin, writing in National Review, has noticed how various nuggets of truth about health care reform are starting to surface in media reports. The New York Times reported that: “the administration said it was unwise to tell consumers that they could get health insurance that fits your budget. That message, it said, is seen as highly motivational, but not as believable.”
Gone are the claims that health care reform will reduce the cost of health care. Remember when we heard “if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan”? Most of those claims are gone. Instead we are hearing that costs will go up 32 percent.
Yuval Levin believes that Obamacare faces two huge problems because of the way the legislation was designed. First are the price controls on Medicare. Any across-the-board rate cut to providers “would result in drastically reduced access to health care for seniors.” Already we see that Medicaid’s low payment rates cause many doctors to refuse Medicaid patients. That makes it difficult for many poor Americans to find health care. If Medicare payments also drop, the same thing that has happened to the poor will happen to seniors.
Second, the design of Obamacare will actually encourage many families to opt to go uninsured until they need health care. The details are a bit complex to discuss here, the impact is easy to see. In a few years, the out-of-pocket costs for a family will be larger than the penalty they would have to pay for not having coverage.
These are just two reasons why health care reform may soon be called the Unaffordable Care Act.
---------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous Christian Stations via the Point of View Network. Tags:unaffordable Care Act, Kerby Anderson, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Earlier this month, two Democrats in the Senate, Mazie Hirono (HI) and Kamala Harris from (CA), objected to the nominee to a US district court because of his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization. One senator wanted to know if he was aware of their stand on abortion. Of course he was. The senator also wanted to know if he would recuse himself from various court decisions.
Senator Ben Sasse (NE) introduced a “sense of the Senate” resolution saying that consideration of the membership of the Knights of Columbus was a violation of the prohibition against religious tests. It passed unanimously suggesting that Senator Hirono essentially voted against her own conduct in the hearings.
Other senators have also been asking religious questions in other hearings. Last year Senator Diane Feinstein (CA) wanted to know if a nominee to the circuit court worked with his parish to establish a crisis-pregnancy center. The senator also received lots of media attention for her statement to circuit court judge Amy Coney Barrett that, “The dogma lives loudly within you.” That comment, in particular, was seen by many as a violation of the Article VI of the Constitution that prohibits a religious test for office.
By the way, Catholics aren’t the only religious groups being singled out. Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) clashed with a nominee to the Office of Management and Budget because of something he wrote about Islam in a blog post tied to Wheaton College. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) challenged a nominee because his Anglican pastor opposed same-sex marriage.
All of these examples illustrate how many Democratic senators are feeling more and more comfortable in applying religious tests to nominees even if that is prohibited by the Constitution.
------------ Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service. Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Democrats, Religious TestsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Kerby Anderson, Point of View: Every few days we seem to learn something new in regard to the National Security Agency controversy. Two weeks ago, we learned that the NSA violated the Constitution over a three-year span when it collected at least 56,000 emails without appropriate privacy protections. And we also learned that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court criticized the NSA for “misrepresenting” its practices.
We have been assured that the NSA only is able to track the origin, destination and length of a phone call. We have been assured that the NSA isn’t listening in to phone calls or reading emails. Then we find out that the NSA has built a surveillance network that is able to read 3 out of every 4 emails sent in the United States.
Peggy Noonan writes that this growing problem with NSA surveillance will grow worse and not get better any time soon. The nation is legitimately concerned about terrorism, and that becomes the justification for more intrusion into our lives. The technology makes it easier than ever to violate our privacy. Most politicians are willing to let the surveillance state grow because he or she fears the next terrorist attack that will bring the inevitable questions of whether the government did enough.
Will the data the NSA is collecting be misused? Peggy Noonan challenged these three assumptions. “If you assume all the information that can and will be gleaned will be confined to NSA and national security purposes, you are not sufficiently imaginative or informed. If you believe the information will never be used wrongly or recklessly, you are touchingly innocent. If you assume you can trust the administration on this issue you are not following the bouncing ball.”
Is it possible to reverse direction and prevent the use and abuse of NSA data? That will not happen if American citizens accept those three assumptions. We can change the direction of this surveillance if we express our concern about big government collecting Big Data on us.
---------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous Christian Stations via the Point of View Network. Tags:NSA, privacy, reading emails, listening, phone calls, Kerby Anderson, Peggy Noonan, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson: America's stated military policy has always been to minimize civilian casualties. Last year, the Obama administration even went further by establishing a policy that required "near certainty" that there would be no civilian casualties before an air strike takes place.
Over the last few months, the U.S. has called upon Israel to follow the same policy. That is why you heard comments from the administration that the Israeli army was "not doing enough." As someone traveling to Israel, I appreciate the fact that Israel did so much in the last few months to eliminate some of the threats from Hamas.
Alan Dershowitz was on my radio program recently to talk about his new book on the Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel's Just War Against Hamas. He also wrote about some of this in his op-ed on "The Education of a Wartime President." Both were a sobering reminder of the how Hamas fires rockers from densely populated areas and how they built these terror tunnels so they could attack Israeli citizens at will.
Alan Dershowitz explained that the Obama administration has begun to exempt itself from its "near certainty" standard in its fight against ISIS. While it is commendable that the administration wanted to try to meet the "highest standard" during an attack, the reality in the field suggests that may not be possible.
When Israel is fighting Hamas, they are fully aware that terrorists are using civilians as human shields. This puts the Israeli army in a difficult position. Either they attack a legitimate target or they avoid taking out a terrorist threat. The U.S. military sometimes faces a similar dilemma when fighting ISIS fighters embedded in villages.
Perhaps the best way to understand how this dilemma plays out is to remember the phrase by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said: "We use missiles to protect our people, they use people to protect their missiles." We should do all we can to avoid civilian casualties, but we also need to understand the circumstances on the ground.
----------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network. Tags:Fighting a War, U.S. Israel, Kerby Anderson, Point of ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
by Kerby Anderson, Contributing Author: Last month, the Trump administration announced that it was rescinding the Obama administration “gender identity” policy. Ryan Anderson says that the administration “is doing the right thing in correcting Obama’s unlawful overreach, which imposed a one-sided solution on all 50 states.”
A little history is in order. The Obama administration redefined the term in the Title IX law prohibiting sex discrimination to include “gender identity.” On May 13, the Justice Department and the Education Department sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to our nation’s schools informing them of their new interpretation that must be implemented in these federally funded schools. On August 21, a U.S. district judge ruled that the attempt to redefine sex as gender identity was unlawful and blocked the decree from going into effect. Last month, the new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions withdrew from the lawsuit and cancelled oral arguments.
One question we need to resolve is whether transgender rights are civil rights. Jim Dennison rightly states that if they are the same, then they should be enforced over the objections of state and local school districts. But he also points out that “unlike previous civil rights legislation, transgender civil rights significantly impact the civil rights of all people.”
Ryan Anderson talked about a recent panel of women (including a rape survivor, a lesbian, and a feminist activist) at the Heritage Foundation that talked about the value of “women-only spaces.” He concluded that: “While we must be sensitive to the dignity, privacy, and safety concerns of people who identify as transgender, that is not a reason to ignore the dignity, privacy, and safety concerns of everyone else.”
One solution is for Congress to reintroduce and debate the Civil Rights Uniformity Act that clarifies the term “sex” so that our representatives, rather than judges and bureaucrats, develop future transgender policy.
----------- Kerby Anderson is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service Tags:Kerby Anderson, Viewpoints, Point of View, Transgender RightsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Personal Tweets by the editor: Dr. Bill - OzarkGuru - @arra
#Christian Conservative; Retired USAF & Grad Professor. Constitution NRA ProLife schoolchoice fairtax - Editor ARRA NEWS SERVICE. THANKS FOR FOLLOWING!
To Exchange Links - Email: editor@arranewsservice.com!
Comments by contributing authors or other sources do not necessarily reflect the position the editor, other contributing authors, sources, readers, or commenters. No contributors, or editors are paid for articles, images, cartoons, etc. While having reported on and promoting principles & beleifs beliefs of other organizations, this blog/site is soley controlled and supported by the editor. This site/blog does not advertise for money or services nor does it solicit funding for its support.
Fair Use: This site/blog may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as provided for in section Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Per said section, the material on this site/blog is distributed without profit to readers to view for the expressed purpose of viewing the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. Any person/entity seeking to use copyrighted material shared on this site/blog for purposes that go beyond "fair use," must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
