Socialism & Pork

How fitting that the pork laden, largest spending bill ever to pass Congress which includes the creation of a government board to decide who gets health care and "whatever" the liberals came up with was "passed" on Friday the 13th. We don't know everything that is in the bill and either do our Reps because despite promising transparency the Obama administration didn't give our Reps a chance to read it before voting began and never posted the bill so that we, the American people could read it.

I am proud to say NO House Republican voted for the bill and only three RINOS (Republican in name only) from the Senate, Specter of PA, Collins of Maine and Snowe from Maine voted for it in the Senate.

The message from Obama Administration is to your representatives who represent YOU and to YOU directly is;

"Screw You! We won and we'll do whatever we want!"

So Happy Valentine's Day!

You may want to send you friends (espeically liberal ones, if you have any) this Valentine's Day e-card.

Just one of many to choose from, all with similiar "sentiments."

Please feel free to send one to the three RINO Senators who sold out their constituents, their party and their country for "30 pieces of silver". You can't send to any .gov e-mail addresses from the site but you can download the pictures and send yourselve. That is what I did.

Michigan Rep. Dave Camp Frozen out of Stimulus Bill Conference Committee

I just got off the phone with House Representative Dave Camp's office. Rep. Camp was supposed to be a member of the Conference Committee on the Stimulus Bill and I was calling to see if the so called "health care" provision had been removed from Bill

I was unable to get that information because Rep. Camp didn't take part in the conference. According to his office he was "frozen out" of any decision making. As reported in the Midland Daily News

I also called the other Republican House Rep. Jerry Lewis (CA) who was supposed to be on the Conference Committee also to confirm and was told this

There were two meetings called by the chairman, Senator Daniel Inouye (D- HI) The Republicans Reps were allowed to make a statement at these meetings, the bill was never discussed. Both meetings were adjourned without any input from Republican other than the statements. The Bill was debated behind closed doors by the Democrats only.

It was then announced a "compromise" was made and the bill was ready to be voted on.

The Republicans, and it is my understanding at this time, Republican Senators included had no input on the debate or the decision making of the final so called compromise!

This is outrageous! Every American who is represented by a Republican was not represented in the process. We were "frozen out"

This my friends is an example of how this administration intends to work. Chicago politics on a national scale.

And as Nancy Pelosi hissed, "WE won"

Fox News eyewitness piece to what went on at the conference


Statement of House Appropriations
Ranking Member Jerry Lewis
Stimulus Conference
February 11, 2009

As we gather for this House-Senate conference we still don’t have very much information on this package. We have no table showing the total amount of spending for the whole bill, for each department, or even for each Appropriations subcommittee, let alone the other direct spending and tax provisions.

Press reports say the number is $789.5 billion with discretionary spending between $315 billion and $320 billion. Based on the information given to my staff, we only show $311 billion. Throughout the day, subcommittees have been directed to change numbers, though ostensibly the conference notes reflect final agreements. I think the conferees need to know what we’re considering.

While Members and Senators have notes in front of them, none have been provided to our staff. At this point, we have no idea if what we’re considering is what our staff has told us was dictated to the conferees in the wee hours of this morning.

In the notes, there are a large number of items with the annotation “HWA” which usually means modified language from what was in either bill. However, not only do the notes fail to give the Members of this conference committee any indication of what the language should look like, none of our staff has even seen the language. I am told that much of this language has not even been written yet.

These are not small language issues. We are talking about literally dozens of pages of bill language creating, among other things, many new government programs.

It’s absolutely essential that we see the actual bill language before we move forward. Some of the changes now under consideration might make these programs better, some more objectionable.

Further, it appears that a number of items in the conference agreement are well outside the scope of this conference. For example, I cannot understand how this agreement could include highway funding at a level lower than the House level. This bill has been sold as an infrastructure and stimulus bill and yet highway funding has been cut. Who made this decision?

At the same time, I don’t understand how this agreement arrived at an $8 BILLION funding level for high speed rail. The Senate had $2 billion, the House had zero and yet the conference is recommending $8 billion for this new program. Could the Chairman tell me on what basis this number was determined?

It has also come to my attention that the conference agreement includes entirely new programs not in either bill – such as a new $450 million program for AMTRAK transit security. What exactly is its purpose and what are we doing with this money?

In addition, this agreement includes $1.5 billion for a new program – Discretionary Grants for a National Surface Transportation System. As much as I respect the new Secretary, I question why we would establish a new program when the existing highway program serves all 50 states and can get this money out the door immediately to the areas that can use it.

Therefore, it seems to me that there are a number of matters that we need to discuss today. While the press has reported that this is a “bless the agreement” meeting, it appears the agreement is not yet done.

So, Mr. Chairman, I suggest that we begin by going through the notes line by line—or perhaps run through all of the open items—so we know the disposition of each of the items before us and define the universe of open items. If we cannot come to closure on these items—complete with written language—I would ask Chairman Inouye to reconvene this meeting to resolve those items.

Lastly, I’d like to ask Chairman Obey whether it’s his intent to adhere to the Motion to Instruct that was unanimously adopted in the House yesterday. That motion requires that the conferees have access to the final text of the conference agreement 48 hours prior to the final conference report being filed in the House. I’m happy to yield to Chairman Obey for his response.



Thank you.

Jim Specht
Deputy Chief of Staff
Congressman Jerry Lewis
(202) 225-5861

Ruin Your Health(even die!)With the Obama Stimulus Plan

Commentary by Betsy McCaughey

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

New Penalties

Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties. “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541)

What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make.

The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.

Elderly Hardest Hit

Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).

The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.

In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.

Hidden Provisions

If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.

The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).

Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.”

More Scrutiny Needed

On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.

The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.

(Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.)


If this article doesn't scare you half to death than your half death already.

The ideology of Tom Daschle is akin to Nazism where the government decided who was "worth" saving and who was "disposable" and the first step towards euthanasia.

According to Daschle the most disposable are the elderly. "Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." Daschle's board "approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit."

Beware aging baby boomers that you don't ever see the creation of Daschle's board or that you health and life is being decided by it.

However its not to late to call/fax the conference committee members and your reps to demand that this be taken out of the "stimulus" bill.

House and Senate leaders who are part of the Committee Conference will be entering negotiations work immediately to try and iron out differences in the "stimulus" bill. For an explanation of the Committe Conference procedure see below*

The potentially heated talks could last well into next week.

But almost all Republican lawmakers -- some of whom will be part of conference committee talks -- still oppose the plan as written.

The senators who are members of the conference are Harry Reid,D-NV Max Baucus, D-Mont., Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, Thad Cochran, R-Mo., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. The House is sending Reps. David Obey, D-Wis., Charles Rangel, D-N.Y, Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and Dave Camp, R-Mich., to the meetings

Contact Information for all these Reps and all state reps can be found HERE

*Once a bill leaves the House and the Senate, it must be checked. If anything in the two versions of the bill differ, in any way (even in something as minor as punctuation), the bill must be reconciled. The house in which the bill originated is given a copy of the bill with its differences. For example, if the House originated a bill, then sent it along to the Senate for consideration, and the Senate made changes, the bill is sent back to the House.

If the changes are minor, they might be accepted by the originating house with no debate. If changes are of a more substantial nature, however, a conference is called for.

In a conference, a number of Representative and a number of Senators meet to work out the differences in the two versions of the bill. The people in the conference committee are known as managers.

The number of managers from each house of Congress is of little concern, because the managers from each house vote separately. So, for example, a conference committee might have ten Representatives and seven Senators.

Managers are not allowed to substantially change the bill. They may add an amendment from one bill into the other, or take out an amendment added but not in the other. But they cannot add new amendments to both versions of the bill. When there is disagreement, new text, which might be a compromise between two versions, can be proposed. But the changes must be consistent with the bill itself.

Following negotiations, the managers make reports back to their houses, that they were able to agree on the bill, able to agree only on some parts of the bill, or were unable to agree at all on the bill. If the first case, the bill is revoted upon in both houses. If the latter two cases, the bill may go back to a new conference committee, referred back to the committees in the two houses, or it may just die because the differences are too vast to bridge.US Constitution Online

Please Contact State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to Prosecute for the Murder of Baby Shanice!

Boston Herald.com

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure. Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

"I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community," said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK') and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampa on Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The state attorney's homicide division is investigating, though no charges have been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors were nearing a decision.

Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations at best "misguided and incomplete" in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contends the clinic's actions constitute murder.

"The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage," said Tom Brejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that is also representing Williams. "People all over the country are just aghast."

Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about the allegations. "It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, after reviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics."

According to state records, Renelique received his medical training at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Interfaith Medical Center in New York. New York records show that Renelique has made at least five medical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstances of which were not detailed in the filings.

Several attempts to reach Renelique were unsuccessful. Some of his office numbers were disconnected, no home number could be found and he did not return messages left with his attorney.

Williams struggled with the decision to have an abortion, Pennekamp said. She declined an interview request made through him. She concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity to raise a child, he said, and went to the Miramar Women's Center on July 17, 2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weeks pregnant, according to the Department of Health. She met Renelique at a second clinic two days later.

Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates the cervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to the administrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She was told to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Hialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, on July 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication. The Department of Health account continues as follows: Just before noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique. Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into labor and delivered the baby.

"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and an attorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return a message.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus (baby) would have a slim but legitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks last year at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

An autopsy determined Williams' baby — she named her Shanice — had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive, according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listed as extreme prematurity.(MURDER!)

The Department of Health believes Renelique committed malpractice by failing to ensure that licensed personnel would be present when Williams was there, among other missteps.

The department wants the Board of Medicine, a separate agency, to permanently revoke Renelique's license, among other penalties. His license is currently restricted, permitting him to only perform abortions when another licensed physician is present and can review his medical records.

Should (Should??!!!) prosecutors file murder charges, they'd have to prove the baby was born alive, said Robert Batey, a professor of criminal law at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. The defense might contend that the child would have died anyway, but most courts would not allow that argument, he said.

"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

To the sane, rational person who is horrified, it is nothing but murder. However to the postmodern truth as subjective mind, its just a "procedure". This lack of conscience and morals can be seen on hideous display at Democratic Underground, an online Forum. I will warn you that many of the comments you may read will sicken, shock, and grieve you.

And that is my intend. Normally I would never include such a site in any blog but there can be no "lukewarmness" in the battle to protect society's most vulnerable, the innocent unborn.

If life is not valued here than it is not valued at any stage, the elderly, the infirm, the mentally handicapped can all fall under the category of "unwanted" and "disposable"

It's has already happened in modern society, in Nazi Germany. If you think it can't happen again, just read some of the comments!

I just got off the phone with attorney Tom Pennekamp's legal secretary (thank you!) and she told me that The Department of Health just revoked Renelique licence.

However, that's just not enough

She gave me the name of the State Attorney who has jurisdiction in the this case and I urge you to please contact the MIAMI-DADE OFFICE OF THE STATE ATTORNEY and urge State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to prosecute for the murder of baby Shanice.

As a sidebar: Our new president, Barack Obama voted against the Illinois state legislation that required medical providers to give normal life-supporting medical care to infants born alive during an abortion

Daniel Pearl and the Normalization of Evil

When will our luminaries stop making excuses for terror?
By JUDEA PEARL

This week marks the seventh anniversary of the murder of our son, former Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. My wife Ruth and I wonder: Would Danny have believed that today's world emerged after his tragedy?

The answer does not come easily. Danny was an optimist, a true believer in the goodness of mankind. Yet he was also a realist, and would not let idealism bend the harshness of facts.

Neither he, nor the millions who were shocked by his murder, could have possibly predicted that seven years later his abductor, Omar Saeed Sheikh, according to several South Asian reports, would be planning terror acts from the safety of a Pakistani jail. Or that his murderer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, now in Guantanamo, would proudly boast of his murder in a military tribunal in March 2007 to the cheers of sympathetic jihadi supporters. Or that this ideology of barbarism would be celebrated in European and American universities, fueling rally after rally for Hamas, Hezbollah and other heroes of "the resistance." Or that another kidnapped young man, Israeli Gilad Shalit, would spend his 950th day of captivity with no Red Cross visitation while world leaders seriously debate whether his kidnappers deserve international recognition.

No. Those around the world who mourned for Danny in 2002 genuinely hoped that Danny's murder would be a turning point in the history of man's inhumanity to man, and that the targeting of innocents to transmit political messages would quickly become, like slavery and human sacrifice, an embarrassing relic of a bygone era.

But somehow, barbarism, often cloaked in the language of "resistance," has gained acceptance in the most elite circles of our society. The words "war on terror" cannot be uttered today without fear of offense. Civilized society, so it seems, is so numbed by violence that it has lost its gift to be disgusted by evil.

I believe it all started with well-meaning analysts, who in their zeal to find creative solutions to terror decided that terror is not a real enemy, but a tactic. Thus the basic engine that propels acts of terrorism -- the ideological license to elevate one's grievances above the norms of civilized society -- was wished away in favor of seemingly more manageable "tactical" considerations.

This mentality of surrender then worked its way through politicians like the former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. In July 2005 he told Sky News that suicide bombing is almost man's second nature. "In an unfair balance, that's what people use," explained Mr. Livingstone.

But the clearest endorsement of terror as a legitimate instrument of political bargaining came from former President Jimmy Carter. In his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," Mr. Carter appeals to the sponsors of suicide bombing. "It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Road-map for Peace are accepted by Israel." Acts of terror, according to Mr. Carter, are no longer taboo, but effective tools for terrorists to address perceived injustices.

Mr. Carter's logic has become the dominant paradigm in rationalizing terror. When asked what Israel should do to stop Hamas's rockets aimed at innocent civilians, the Syrian first lady, Asma Al-Assad, did not hesitate for a moment in her response: "They should end the occupation." In other words, terror must earn a dividend before it is stopped.

The media have played a major role in handing terrorism this victory of acceptability. Qatari-based Al Jazeera television, for example, is still providing Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi hours of free air time each week to spew his hateful interpretation of the Koran, authorize suicide bombing, and call for jihad against Jews and Americans.

Then came the August 2008 birthday of Samir Kuntar, the unrepentant killer who, in 1979, smashed the head of a four-year-old Israeli girl with his rifle after killing her father before her eyes. Al Jazeera elevated Kuntar to heroic heights with orchestras, fireworks and sword dances, presenting him to 50 million viewers as Arab society's role model. No mainstream Western media outlet dared to expose Al Jazeera efforts to warp its young viewers into the likes of Kuntar. Al Jazeera's management continues to receive royal treatment in all major press clubs.

Some American pundits and TV anchors didn't seem much different from Al Jazeera in their analysis of the recent war in Gaza. Bill Moyers was quick to lend Hamas legitimacy as a "resistance" movement, together with honorary membership in PBS's imaginary "cycle of violence."

In his Jan. 9 TV show, Mr. Moyers explained to his viewers that "each [side] greases the cycle of violence, as one man's terrorism becomes another's resistance to oppression." He then stated -- without blushing -- that for readers of the Hebrew Bible "God-soaked violence became genetically coded." The "cycle of violence" platitude allows analysts to empower terror with the guise of reciprocity, and, amazingly, indict terror's victims for violence as immutable as DNA.

When we ask ourselves what it is about the American psyche that enables genocidal organizations like Hamas -- the charter of which would offend every neuron in our brains -- to become tolerated in public discourse, we should take a hard look at our universities and the way they are currently being manipulated by terrorist sympathizers.

At my own university, UCLA, a symposium last week on human rights turned into a Hamas recruitment rally by a clever academic gimmick. The director of the Center for Near East Studies carefully selected only Israel bashers for the panel, each of whom concluded that the Jewish state is the greatest criminal in human history.

The primary purpose of the event was evident the morning after, when unsuspecting, uninvolved students read an article in the campus newspaper titled, "Scholars say: Israel is in violation of human rights in Gaza," to which the good name of the University of California was attached. This is where Hamas scored its main triumph -- another inch of academic respectability, another inroad into Western minds.

Danny's picture is hanging just in front of me, his warm smile as reassuring as ever. But I find it hard to look him straight in the eyes and say: You did not die in vain.

Mr. Pearl, a professor of computer science at UCLA, is president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, founded in memory of his son to promote cross-cultural understanding.

Why the Secular Left Despise the Christian Right

OneNewsNow
Written by: Ron Carlson
Dec 19th 2008
by Jason Carlson and Ron Carlson

Many people in the Evangelical Christian community fail to understand the true underlying cause of the Secular Left’s antagonism for the Christian Right of America. Many Christians assume it is because of our opposition to abortion, or the homosexual lifestyle, or our desire for alternative theories to evolution to be taught in the classroom; and while all of these are related to the Secular Left’s vitriol, none of them strike to the core of the matter. No, there is a much deeper and far less recognized cause for the Secular Left’s animosity for the Evangelical Christian community.

What lies at the heart of the division between the Secular Left and the Christian Right in America is a debate over the nature of truth. Evangelical Christians believe that truth is objective and universal, which means that there is absolute truth which applies to all people, in all cultures, for all times. Evangelicals recognize that this objective and absolute truth is found ultimately in the one true God of the universe and in His revelation given to us personally in Jesus Christ and in the Bible.

As a result of God having revealed absolute truth to humanity, Evangelical Christians believe that lives and societies are best governed by adhering to the principles and guidelines that God has given. After all, when an omniscient (all-knowing) and loving God personally reveals Himself and the correct path for humans to follow, it only makes sense to hold fast to His guidance. And it is the Evangelical insistence on adhering to God’s absolute truth found in His word that stokes the Secular Left’s ire.

To the contrary, the Secular Left in America is guided by a far different understanding of truth. For them, truth is no more than a social construction of reality. This means that reality has no inherent structure or meaning and there is no objective truth that humanity can discover. Instead, the Secular Left in our world has adopted a postmodern view of truth that declares that individuals and societies impose their own meaning and truth onto reality. Thus, for them, truth is relative. Truth is relative to individuals, to social groups, to cultures, and to religions. And it is this postmodern view of truth that has created the wedge of animosity between the Secular Left and the Christian Right.

As a result of their denial of objective truth and their belief that truth is relative, the Secular Left has adopted a deconstructionist approach to history and traditional worldviews, and specifically towards the absolutes of Christianity. The common claim brought by the various proponents of the Secular Left’s agenda is that “Christianity” has historically led to violence, repression, and conquest; and they will list a long series of historical abuses as evidence*.

As a result of these so-called “Christian” abuses towards non-Christian people and cultures, the Secular Left’s postmodern worldview has determined that we must now highlight and give preference to the historically marginalized and mistreated.

While highlighting marginalized people groups is a noble goal, the Secular Left does not stop here. Once again, as a result of their postmodern view of truth, the Secular Left makes an amazing leap at this point. They claim that not only should we recognize and highlight these historically marginalized people and cultures, but the leap that is made is that these marginalized people, cultures, lifestyles, and religions are actually equal to, or even preferable to the traditional Christian worldview. Thus, we see the Secular Left’s embrace of every non-Christian lifestyle, choice, and religion as normative: homosexual marriage, abortion on demand, even Muslim terrorists.

It all boils down to the nature of truth. The Christian Right has remained steadfast in our adherence to the objective truths and standards set forth in God’s word. Thus, we oppose homosexual marriage, we stand on the side of the unborn and we believe that Religions that promote the killing and suppression of those opposed to them are evil. Evangelicals are guided by God’s objective and absolute truths; and it is for this stance that the Secular Left despises us.

Christian brothers and sisters, we must be vigorously engaged in this cultural debate over the nature of truth. The future of our country and our world is at stake. Our engagement in this debate is a thoroughly Christian pursuit; in fact, God’s word admonishes us to contend for the faith, to contend for the truth (Jude 3).

At the same time, while we debate passionately, we must do so with a Christ-like “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). The way of the Master is to stand for the truth in love. While we are right to defend the truth, point out sinfulness, and label right from wrong, we must do so with an attitude of humility and love. If we do this, we will be faithful to the truth and to the example of standing for the truth left to us by our Master, Jesus Christ.


*Everyone, even the Evangelical Christians with whom they most identify these abuses, readily acknowledges the fact that historical abuses have taken place in the name of Christianity. What they fail to recognize however, is that nowhere in God’s Word (once again, the “absolutes” for Christians) do you find the sanction for these historical abuses.

Call Senators to Vote NO on Pork Barrel "stimulus" Bill

State Office Phone Numbers, Faxes, E-mails of all Senator's HERE

Akaka, Daniel K. - (D - HI)
(202) 224-6361
Alexander, Lamar - (R - TN)
(202) 224-4944
Barrasso, John - (R - WY)
(202) 224-6441
Baucus, Max - (D - MT)
(202) 224-2651
Bayh, Evan - (D - IN)
(202) 224-5623
Begich, Mark - (D - AK)
(202) 224-3004
Bennet, Michael F. - (D - CO)
(202) 224-5852
Bennett, Robert F. - (R - UT)
(202) 224-5444
Bingaman, Jeff - (D - NM)
(202) 224-5521
Bond, Christopher S. - (R - MO)
(202) 224-5721
Boxer, Barbara - (D - CA)
(202) 224-3553
Brown, Sherrod - (D - OH)
(202) 224-2315
Brownback, Sam - (R - KS)
(202) 224-6521
Bunning, Jim - (R - KY)
(202) 224-4343
Burr, Richard - (R - NC)
(202) 224-3154
Burris, Roland W. - (D - IL)
(202) 224-2854
Byrd, Robert C. - (D - WV)
(202) 224-3954
Cantwell, Maria - (D - WA)
(202) 224-3441
Cardin, Benjamin L. - (D - MD)
(202) 224-4524
Carper, Thomas R. - (D - DE)
(202) 224-2441
Casey, Robert P., Jr. - (D - PA)
(202) 224-6324
Chambliss, Saxby - (R - GA)
(202) 224-3521
Coburn, Tom - (R - OK)
(202) 224-5754
Cochran, Thad - (R - MS)
(202) 224-5054
Collins, Susan M. - (R - ME)
(202) 224-2523
Conrad, Kent - (D - ND)
(202) 224-2043
Corker, Bob - (R - TN)
(202) 224-3344
Cornyn, John - (R - TX)
(202) 224-2934
Crapo, Mike - (R - ID)
(202) 224-6142
DeMint, Jim - (R - SC)
(202) 224-6121
Dodd, Christopher J. - (D - CT)
(202) 224-2823
Dorgan, Byron L. - (D - ND)
(202) 224-2551
Durbin, Richard - (D - IL)
(202) 224-2152
Ensign, John - (R - NV)
(202) 224-6244
Enzi, Michael B. - (R - WY)
(202) 224-3424
Feingold, Russell D. - (D - WI)
(202) 224-5323
Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
(202) 224-3841
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. - (D - NY)
(202) 224-4451
Graham, Lindsey - (R - SC)
(202) 224-5972
Grassley, Chuck - (R - IA)
(202) 224-3744
Gregg, Judd - (R - NH)
(202) 224-3324
Hagan, Kay R. - (D - NC)
(202) 224-6342
Harkin, Tom - (D - IA)
(202) 224-3254
Hatch, Orrin G. - (R - UT)
(202) 224-5251
Hutchison, Kay Bailey - (R - TX)
(202) 224-5922
Inhofe, James M. - (R - OK)
(202) 224-4721
Inouye, Daniel K. - (D - HI)
(202) 224-3934
Isakson, Johnny - (R - GA)
(202) 224-3643
Johanns, Mike - (R - NE)
(202) 224-4224
Johnson, Tim - (D - SD)
(202) 224-5842
Kaufman, Edward E. - (D - DE)
(202) 224-5042
Kennedy, Edward M. - (D - MA)
(202) 224-4543
Kerry, John F. - (D - MA)
(202) 224-2742
Klobuchar, Amy - (D - MN)
(202) 224-3244
Kohl, Herb - (D - WI)
(202) 224-5653
Kyl, Jon - (R - AZ)
(202) 224-4521
Landrieu, Mary L. - (D - LA)
(202) 224-5824
Lautenberg, Frank R. - (D - NJ)
(202) 224-3224
Leahy, Patrick J. - (D - VT)
(202) 224-4242
Levin, Carl - (D - MI)
(202) 224-6221
Lieberman, Joseph I. - (ID - CT)
(202) 224-4041
Lincoln, Blanche L. - (D - AR)
(202) 224-4843
Lugar, Richard G. - (R - IN)
(202) 224-4814
Martinez, Mel - (R - FL)
(202) 224-3041
McCain, John - (R - AZ)
(202) 224-2235
McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO)
(202) 224-6154
McConnell, Mitch - (R - KY)
(202) 224-2541
Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ)
(202) 224-4744
Merkley, Jeff - (D - OR)
(202) 224-3753
Mikulski, Barbara A. - (D - MD)
(202) 224-4654
Murkowski, Lisa - (R - AK)
(202) 224-6665
Murray, Patty - (D - WA)
(202) 224-2621
Nelson, Ben - (D - NE)
(202) 224-6551
Nelson, Bill - (D - FL)
(202) 224-5274
Pryor, Mark L. - (D - AR)
(202) 224-2353
Reed, Jack - (D - RI)
(202) 224-4642
Reid, Harry - (D - NV)
(202) 224-3542
Risch, James E. - (R - ID)
(202) 224-2752
Roberts, Pat - (R - KS)
(202) 224-4774
Rockefeller, John D., IV - (D - WV)
(202) 224-6472
Sanders, Bernard - (I - VT)
(202) 224-5141
Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY)
(202) 224-6542
Sessions, Jeff - (R - AL)
(202) 224-4124
Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH)
(202) 224-2841
Shelby, Richard C. - (R - AL)
(202) 224-5744
Snowe, Olympia J. - (R - ME)
(202) 224-5344
Specter, Arlen - (R - PA)
(202) 224-4254
Stabenow, Debbie - (D - MI)
(202) 224-4822
Tester, Jon - (D - MT)
(202) 224-2644
Thune, John - (R - SD)
(202) 224-2321
Udall, Mark - (D - CO)
(202) 224-5941
Udall, Tom - (D - NM)
(202) 224-6621
Vitter, David - (R - LA)
(202) 224-4623
Voinovich, George V. - (R - OH)
(202) 224-3353
Warner, Mark R. - (D - VA)
(202) 224-2023
Webb, Jim - (D - VA)
(202) 224-4024
Whitehouse, Sheldon - (D - RI)
(202) 224-2921
Wicker, Roger F. - (R - MS)
(202) 224-6253
Wyden, Ron - (D - OR)
(202) 224-5244

Pork Barrel "Stimulus" Bill Passes House BUT Without One Republican Vote!

Kudos and a big Thank You to House Republicans for voting NO on the Pork Barrel so called Stimulus Bill. But that's not all, 11 Democrats joined the House Republicans in voting NO

Please take a minute to call, e-mail your Rep thanking him or her for their NO vote.

In addition, if one of these Democrat reps are your rep, please thank them also for rising above partisan politics and voting NO.

The true Blue Dog Democrats who voted NO are:


Allen Boyd (FL)
Bobby Bright (AL)
Jim Cooper (TN)
Brad Ellsworth (IN)
Parker Griffith (AL)
Paul Kanjorski (PA)
Frank Kratovil (MD)
Walt Minnick (ID)
Collin Peterson (MN)
Heath Shuler (NC)

The phone numbers of all House Members are listed here

VOTE NO ON PORK BARREL "STIMULUS" BILL CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW!!

Call your Representative NOW!
Urge them to vote NO on the stimulus package.

All phone numbers for the offices are below
AREA CODE IS 202 for ALL NUMBERS

Break Down of Stimulus Bill as of Jan.26 here
House of Representative Numbers are listed below in alphabetical order:

Representative State District Phone Room
Abercrombie, Neil HI 1st 225-2726 1502
Ackerman, Gary L. NY 5th 225-2601 2243
Aderholt, Robert B. AL 4th 225-4876 1433
Adler, John H. NJ 3rd 225-4765 1223
Akin, W. Todd MO 2nd 225-2561 117
Alexander, Rodney LA 5th 225-8490 316
Altmire, Jason PA 4th 225-2565 332
Andrews, Robert E. NJ 1st 225-6501 2265
Arcuri, Michael A. NY 24th 225-3665 127
Austria, Steve OH 7th 225-4324 1641
Baca, Joe CA 43rd 225-6161 2245
Bachmann, Michele MN 6th 225-2331 107
Bachus, Spencer AL 6th 225-4921 2246
Baird, Brian WA 3rd 225-3536 2350
Baldwin, Tammy WI 2nd 225-2906 2446
Barrett, J. Gresham SC 3rd 225-5301 439
Barrow, John GA 12th 225-2823 213
Bartlett, Roscoe G. MD 6th 225-2721 2412
Barton, Joe TX 6th 225-2002 2109
Bean, Melissa L. IL 8th 225-3711 432
Becerra, Xavier CA 31st 225-6235 1119
Berkley, Shelley NV 1st 225-5965 405

Berman, Howard L. CA 28th 225-4695 2221
Berry, Marion AR 1st 225-4076 2305
Biggert, Judy IL 13th 225-3515 1034
Bilbray, Brian P. CA 50th 225-0508 2348
Bilirakis, Gus M. FL 9th 225-5755 1124
Bishop, Rob UT 1st 225-0453 123
Bishop, Sanford D. Jr. GA 2nd 225-3631 2429
Bishop, Timothy H. NY 1st 225-3826 306
Blackburn, Marsha TN 7th 225-2811 217
Blumenauer, Earl OR 3rd 225-4811 2267
Blunt, Roy MO 7th 225-6536 2229
Boccieri, John A. OH 16th 225-3876 1516
Boehner, John A. OH 8th 225-6205 1011
Bonner, Jo AL 1st 225-4931 2236
Bono Mack, Mary CA 45th 225-5330 104
Boozman, John AR 3rd 225-4301 1519
Bordallo, Madeleine Z. GU Delegate 225-1188 427
Boren, Dan OK 2nd 225-2701 216
Boswell, Leonard L. IA 3rd 225-3806 1427
Boucher, Rick VA 9th 225-3861 2187
Boustany, Charles W. Jr. LA 7th 225-2031 1117
Boyd, Allen FL 2nd 225-5235 1227
Brady, Kevin TX 8th 225-4901 301
Brady, Robert A. PA 1st 225-4731 206
Braley, Bruce L. IA 1st 225-2911 1019
Bright, Bobby AL 2nd 225-2901 1205
Broun, Paul C. GA 10th 225-4101 325
Brown, Corrine FL 3rd 225-0123 2336
Brown, Henry E. Jr. SC 1st 225-3176 103
Brown-Waite, Ginny FL 5th 225-1002 414
Buchanan, Vern FL 13th 225-5015 218
Burgess, Michael C. TX 26th 225-7772 229
Burton, Dan IN 5th 225-2276 2308
Butterfield, G. K. NC 1st 225-3101 413
Buyer, Steve IN 4th 225-5037 2230
Calvert, Ken CA 44th 225-1986 2201
Camp, Dave MI 4th 225-3561 341
Campbell, John CA 48th 225-5611 1507
Cantor, Eric VA 7th 225-2815 329
Cao, Anh ``Joseph'' LA 2nd 225-6636 2113
Capito, Shelley Moore WV 2nd 225-2711 2443
Capps, Lois CA 23rd 225-3601 1110
Capuano, Michael E. MA 8th 225-5111 1414
Cardoza, Dennis A. CA 18th 225-6131 1224
Carnahan, Russ MO 3rd 225-2671 1710
Carney, Christopher P. PA 10th 225-3731 416
Carson, André IN 7th 225-4011 425
Carter, John R. TX 31st 225-3864 409
Cassidy, Bill LA 6th 225-3901 506
Castle, Michael N. DE At Large 225-4165 1233
Castor, Kathy FL 11th 225-3376 317
Chaffetz, Jason UT 3rd 225-7751 1032
Chandler, Ben KY 6th 225-4706 1504
Childers, Travis W. MS 1st 225-4306 1708
Christensen, Donna M. VI Delegate 225-1790 1510
Clarke, Yvette D. NY 11th 225-6231 1029
Clay, Wm. Lacy MO 1st 225-2406 2418
Cleaver, Emanuel MO 5th 225-4535 1027
Clyburn, James E. SC 6th 225-3315 2135
Coble, Howard NC 6th 225-3065 2468
Coffman, Mike CO 6th 225-7882 1508
Cohen, Steve TN 9th 225-3265 1005
Cole, Tom OK 4th 225-6165 2458
Conaway, K. Michael TX 11th 225-3605 1527
Connolly, Gerald E. VA 11th 225-1492 327
Conyers, John Jr. MI 14th 225-5126 2426
Cooper, Jim TN 5th 225-4311 1536
Costa, Jim CA 20th 225-3341 1314
Costello, Jerry F. IL 12th 225-5661 2408
Courtney, Joe CT 2nd 225-2076 215
Crenshaw, Ander FL 4th 225-2501 440
Crowley, Joseph NY 7th 225-3965 2404
Cuellar, Henry TX 28th 225-1640 336
Culberson, John Abney TX 7th 225-2571 1514
Cummings, Elijah E. MD 7th 225-4741 2235
Dahlkemper, Kathleen A. PA 3rd 225-5406 516
Davis, Artur AL 7th 225-2665 208
Davis, Danny K. IL 7th 225-5006 2159
Davis, Geoff KY 4th 225-3465 1108
Davis, Lincoln TN 4th 225-6831 410
Davis, Susan A. CA 53rd 225-2040 1526
Deal, Nathan GA 9th 225-5211 2133
DeFazio, Peter A. OR 4th 225-6416 2134
DeGette, Diana CO 1st 225-4431 2335
Delahunt, William D. MA 10th 225-3111 2454
DeLauro, Rosa L. CT 3rd 225-3661 2413
Dent, Charles W. PA 15th 225-6411 1009
Diaz-Balart, Lincoln FL 21st 225-4211 2244
Diaz-Balart, Mario FL 25th 225-2778 328
Dicks, Norman D. WA 6th 225-5916 2467
Dingell, John D. MI 15th 225-4071 2328
Doggett, Lloyd TX 25th 225-4865 201
Donnelly, Joe IN 2nd 225-3915 1530
Doyle, Michael F. PA 14th 225-2135 401
Dreier, David CA 26th 225-2305 233
Driehaus, Steve OH 1st 225-2216 408
Duncan, John J. Jr. TN 2nd 225-5435 2207
Edwards, Chet TX 17th 225-6105 2369
Edwards, Donna F. MD 4th 225-8699 318
Ehlers, Vernon J. MI 3rd 225-3831 2182
Ellison, Keith MN 5th 225-4755 1122
Ellsworth, Brad IN 8th 225-4636 513
[Emanuel, Rahm ] IL 5th 225-4061 1319
Emerson, Jo Ann MO 8th 225-4404 2440
Engel, Eliot L. NY 17th 225-2464 2161
Eshoo, Anna G. CA 14th 225-8104 205
Etheridge, Bob NC 2nd 225-4531 1533
Faleomavaega, Eni F. H. AS Delegate 225-8577 2422
Fallin, Mary OK 5th 225-2132 1432
Farr, Sam CA 17th 225-2861 1126
Fattah, Chaka PA 2nd 225-4001 2301
Filner, Bob CA 51st 225-8045 2428
Flake, Jeff AZ 6th 225-2635 240
Fleming, John LA 4th 225-2777 1023
Forbes, J. Randy VA 4th 225-6365 2438
Fortenberry, Jeff NE 1st 225-4806 1535
Foster, Bill IL 14th 225-2976 1339
Foxx, Virginia NC 5th 225-2071 1230
Frank, Barney MA 4th 225-5931 2252
Franks, Trent AZ 2nd 225-4576 2435
Frelinghuysen, Rodney P. NJ 11th 225-5034 2442
Fudge, Marcia L. OH 11th 225-7032 1513
Gallegly, Elton CA 24th 225-5811 2309
Garrett, Scott NJ 5th 225-4465 137
Gerlach, Jim PA 6th 225-4315 308
Giffords, Gabrielle AZ 8th 225-2542 1728
[Gillibrand, Kirsten E.] NY 20th 225-5614 120
Gingrey, Phil GA 11th 225-2931 119
Gohmert, Louie TX 1st 225-3035 511
Gonzalez, Charles A. TX 20th 225-3236 303
Goodlatte, Bob VA 6th 225-5431 2240
Gordon, Bart TN 6th 225-4231 2306
Granger, Kay TX 12th 225-5071 320
Graves, Sam MO 6th 225-7041 1415
Grayson, Alan FL 8th 225-2176 1605
Green, Al TX 9th 225-7508 236
Green, Gene TX 29th 225-1688 2372
Griffith, Parker AL 5th 225-4801 417
Grijalva, Raúl M. AZ 7th 225-2435 1440
Guthrie, Brett KY 2nd 225-3501 510
Gutierrez, Luis V. IL 4th 225-8203 2266
Hall, John J. NY 19th 225-5441 1217
Hall, Ralph M. TX 4th 225-6673 2405
Halvorson, Deborah L. IL 11th 225-3635 1541
Hare, Phil IL 17th 225-5905 428
Harman, Jane CA 36th 225-8220 2400
Harper, Gregg MS 3rd 225-5031 307
Hastings, Alcee L. FL 23rd 225-1313 2353
Hastings, Doc WA 4th 225-5816 1203
Heinrich, Martin NM 1st 225-6316 1505
Heller, Dean NV 2nd 225-6155 125
Hensarling, Jeb TX 5th 225-3484 129
Herger, Wally CA 2nd 225-3076 242
Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie SD At Large 225-2801 331
Higgins, Brian NY 27th 225-3306 431
Hill, Baron P. IN 9th 225-5315 223
Himes, James A. CT 4th 225-5541 214
Hinchey, Maurice D. NY 22nd 225-6335 2431
Hinojosa, Rubén TX 15th 225-2531 2463
Hirono, Mazie K. HI 2nd 225-4906 1524
Hodes, Paul W. NH 2nd 225-5206 1317
Hoekstra, Peter MI 2nd 225-4401 2234
Holden, Tim PA 17th 225-5546 2417
Holt, Rush D. NJ 12th 225-5801 1214
Honda, Michael M. CA 15th 225-2631 1713
Hoyer, Steny H. MD 5th 225-4131 1705
Hunter, Duncan CA 52nd 225-5672 1429
Inglis, Bob SC 4th 225-6030 100
Inslee, Jay WA 1st 225-6311 403
Israel, Steve NY 2nd 225-3335 2457
Issa, Darrell E. CA 49th 225-3906 2347
Jackson, Jesse L. Jr. IL 2nd 225-0773 2419
Jackson-Lee, Sheila TX 18th 225-3816 2160
Jenkins, Lynn KS 2nd 225-6601 130
Johnson, Eddie Bernice TX 30th 225-8885 1511
Johnson, Henry C. ``Hank'' Jr. GA 4th 225-1605 1133
Johnson, Sam TX 3rd 225-4201 1211
Johnson, Timothy V. IL 15th 225-2371 1207
Jones, Walter B. NC 3rd 225-3415 2333
Jordan, Jim OH 4th 225-2676 515
Kagen, Steve WI 8th 225-5665 1232
Kanjorski, Paul E. PA 11th 225-6511 2188
Kaptur, Marcy OH 9th 225-4146 2186
Kennedy, Patrick J. RI 1st 225-4911 407
Kildee, Dale E. MI 5th 225-3611 2107
Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. MI 13th 225-2261 2264
Kilroy, Mary Jo OH 15th 225-2015 1237
Kind, Ron WI 3rd 225-5506 1406
King, Peter T. NY 3rd 225-7896 339
King, Steve IA 5th 225-4426 1131
Kingston, Jack GA 1st 225-5831 2368
Kirk, Mark Steven IL 10th 225-4835 1030
Kirkpatrick, Ann AZ 1st 225-2315 1123
Kissell, Larry NC 8th 225-3715 512
Klein, Ron FL 22nd 225-3026 313
Kline, John MN 2nd 225-2271 1210
Kosmas, Suzanne M. FL 24th 225-2706 238
Kratovil, Frank Jr. MD 1st 225-5311 314
Kucinich, Dennis J. OH 10th 225-5871 2445
Lamborn, Doug CO 5th 225-4422 437
Lance, Leonard NJ 7th 225-5361 114
Langevin, James R. RI 2nd 225-2735 109
Larsen, Rick WA 2nd 225-2605 108
Larson, John B. CT 1st 225-2265 106
Latham, Tom IA 4th 225-5476 2217
LaTourette, Steven C. OH 14th 225-5731 2371
Latta, Robert E. OH 5th 225-6405 1531
Lee, Barbara CA 9th 225-2661 2444
Lee, Christopher John NY 26th 225-5265 1711
Levin, Sander M. MI 12th 225-4961 1236
Lewis, Jerry CA 41st 225-5861 2112
Lewis, John GA 5th 225-3801 343
Linder, John GA 7th 225-4272 1026
Lipinski, Daniel IL 3rd 225-5701 1717
LoBiondo, Frank A. NJ 2nd 225-6572 2427
Loebsack, David IA 2nd 225-6576 1221
Lofgren, Zoe CA 16th 225-3072 102
Lowey, Nita M. NY 18th 225-6506 2329
Lucas, Frank D. OK 3rd 225-5565 2311
Luetkemeyer, Blaine MO 9th 225-2956 1118
Luján, Ben Ray NM 3rd 225-6190 502
Lummis, Cynthia M. WY At Large 225-2311 1004
Lungren, Daniel E. CA 3rd 225-5716 2262
Lynch, Stephen F. MA 9th 225-8273 221
McCarthy, Carolyn NY 4th 225-5516 2346
McCarthy, Kevin CA 22nd 225-2915 1523
McCaul, Michael T. TX 10th 225-2401 131
McClintock, Tom CA 4th 225-2511 508
McCollum, Betty MN 4th 225-6631 1714
McCotter, Thaddeus G. MI 11th 225-8171 1632
McDermott, Jim WA 7th 225-3106 1035
McGovern, James P. MA 3rd 225-6101 438
McHenry, Patrick T. NC 10th 225-2576 224
McHugh, John M. NY 23rd 225-4611 2366
McIntyre, Mike NC 7th 225-2731 2437
McKeon, Howard P. ``Buck'' CA 25th 225-1956 2184
McMahon, Michael E. NY 13th 225-3371 323
McMorris Rodgers, Cathy WA 5th 225-2006 1323
McNerney, Jerry CA 11th 225-1947 312
Mack, Connie FL 14th 225-2536 115
Maffei, Daniel B. NY 25th 225-3701 1630
Maloney, Carolyn B. NY 14th 225-7944 2332
Manzullo, Donald A. IL 16th 225-5676 2228
Marchant, Kenny TX 24th 225-6605 227
Markey, Betsy CO 4th 225-4676 1229
Markey, Edward J. MA 7th 225-2836 2108
Marshall, Jim GA 8th 225-6531 504
Massa, Eric J. J. NY 29th 225-3161 1208
Matheson, Jim UT 2nd 225-3011 2434
Matsui, Doris O. CA 5th 225-7163 222
Meek, Kendrick B. FL 17th 225-4506 1039
Meeks, Gregory W. NY 6th 225-3461 2342
Melancon, Charlie LA 3rd 225-4031 404
Mica, John L. FL 7th 225-4035 2313
Michaud, Michael H. ME 2nd 225-6306 1724
Miller, Brad NC 13th 225-3032 1127
Miller, Candice S. MI 10th 225-2106 228
Miller, Gary G. CA 42nd 225-3201 2349
Miller, George CA 7th 225-2095 2205
Miller, Jeff FL 1st 225-4136 2439
Minnick, Walt ID 1st 225-6611 1517
Mitchell, Harry E. AZ 5th 225-2190 1410
Mollohan, Alan B. WV 1st 225-4172 2302
Moore, Dennis KS 3rd 225-2865 1727
Moore, Gwen WI 4th 225-4572 1239
Moran, James P. VA 8th 225-4376 2239
Moran, Jerry KS 1st 225-2715 2202
Murphy, Christopher S. CT 5th 225-4476 412
Murphy, Patrick J. PA 8th 225-4276 1609
Murphy, Tim PA 18th 225-2301 322
Murtha, John P. PA 12th 225-2065 2423
Myrick, Sue Wilkins NC 9th 225-1976 230
Nadler, Jerrold NY 8th 225-5635 2334
Napolitano, Grace F. CA 38th 225-5256 1610
Neal, Richard E. MA 2nd 225-5601 2208
Neugebauer, Randy TX 19th 225-4005 1424
Norton, Eleanor Holmes DC Delegate 225-8050 2136
Nunes, Devin CA 21st 225-2523 1013
Nye, Glenn C. VA 2nd 225-4215 116
Oberstar, James L. MN 8th 225-6211 2365
Obey, David R. WI 7th 225-3365 2314
Olson, Pete TX 22nd 225-5951 514
Olver, John W. MA 1st 225-5335 1111
Ortiz, Solomon P. TX 27th 225-7742 2110
Pallone, Frank Jr. NJ 6th 225-4671 237
Pascrell, Bill Jr. NJ 8th 225-5751 2464
Pastor, Ed AZ 4th 225-4065 2465
Paul, Ron TX 14th 225-2831 203
Paulsen, Erik MN 3rd 225-2871 126
Payne, Donald M. NJ 10th 225-3436 2310
Pelosi, Nancy CA 8th 225-4965 235
Pence, Mike IN 6th 225-3021 1431
Perlmutter, Ed CO 7th 225-2645 415
Perriello, Thomas S. P. VA 5th 225-4711 1520
Peters, Gary C. MI 9th 225-5802 1130
Peterson, Collin C. MN 7th 225-2165 2211
Petri, Thomas E. WI 6th 225-2476 2462
Pierluisi, Pedro R. PR Resident
Commissioner 225-2615 1218
Pingree, Chellie ME 1st 225-6116 1037
Pitts, Joseph R. PA 16th 225-2411 420
Platts, Todd Russell PA 19th 225-5836 2455
Poe, Ted TX 2nd 225-6565 430
Polis, Jared CO 2nd 225-2161 501
Pomeroy, Earl ND At Large 225-2611 1501
Posey, Bill FL 15th 225-3671 132
Price, David E. NC 4th 225-1784 2162
Price, Tom GA 6th 225-4501 424
Putnam, Adam H. FL 12th 225-1252 442
Radanovich, George CA 19th 225-4540 2410
Rahall, Nick J. II WV 3rd 225-3452 2307
Rangel, Charles B. NY 15th 225-4365 2354
Rehberg, Denny MT At Large 225-3211 2448
Reichert, David G. WA 8th 225-7761 1730
Reyes, Silvestre TX 16th 225-4831 2433
Richardson, Laura CA 37th 225-7924 1725
Rodriguez, Ciro D. TX 23rd 225-4511 2351
Roe, David P. TN 1st 225-6356 419
Rogers, Harold KY 5th 225-4601 2406
Rogers, Mike MI 8th 225-4872 133
Rogers, Mike AL 3rd 225-3261 324
Rohrabacher, Dana CA 46th 225-2415 2300
Rooney, Thomas J. FL 16th 225-5792 1529
Roskam, Peter J. IL 6th 225-4561 507
Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana FL 18th 225-3931 2470
Ross, Mike AR 4th 225-3772 2436
Rothman, Steven R. NJ 9th 225-5061 2303
Roybal-Allard, Lucille CA 34th 225-1766 2330
Royce, Edward R. CA 40th 225-4111 2185
Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch MD 2nd 225-3061 2453
Rush, Bobby L. IL 1st 225-4372 2416
Ryan, Paul WI 1st 225-3031 1113
Ryan, Tim OH 17th 225-5261 1421
Sablan, Gregorio MP Delegate 225-2646 423
Salazar, John T. CO 3rd 225-4761 326
Sánchez, Linda T. CA 39th 225-6676 1222
Sanchez, Loretta CA 47th 225-2965 1114
Sarbanes, John P. MD 3rd 225-4016 426
Scalise, Steve LA 1st 225-3015 429
Schakowsky, Janice D. IL 9th 225-2111 2367
Schauer, Mark H. MI 7th 225-6276 1408
Schiff, Adam B. CA 29th 225-4176 2447
Schmidt, Jean OH 2nd 225-3164 418
Schock, Aaron IL 18th 225-6201 509
Schrader, Kurt OR 5th 225-5711 1419
Schwartz, Allyson Y. PA 13th 225-6111 330
Scott, David GA 13th 225-2939 225
Scott, Robert C. ``Bobby'' VA 3rd 225-8351 1201
Sensenbrenner, F. James Jr. WI 5th 225-5101 2449
Serrano, José E. NY 16th 225-4361 2227
Sessions, Pete TX 32nd 225-2231 2233
Sestak, Joe PA 7th 225-2011 1022
Shadegg, John B. AZ 3rd 225-3361 436
Shea-Porter, Carol NH 1st 225-5456 1330
Sherman, Brad CA 27th 225-5911 2242
Shimkus, John IL 19th 225-5271 2452
Shuler, Heath NC 11th 225-6401 422
Shuster, Bill PA 9th 225-2431 204
Simpson, Michael K. ID 2nd 225-5531 2312
Sires, Albio NJ 13th 225-7919 1024
Skelton, Ike MO 4th 225-2876 2206
Slaughter, Louise McIntosh NY 28th 225-3615 2469
Smith, Adam WA 9th 225-8901 2402
Smith, Adrian NE 3rd 225-6435 503
Smith, Christopher H. NJ 4th 225-3765 2373
Smith, Lamar TX 21st 225-4236 2409
Snyder, Vic AR 2nd 225-2506 2210
Solis, Hilda L. CA 32nd 225-5464 2421
Souder, Mark E. IN 3rd 225-4436 2231
Space, Zachary T. OH 18th 225-6265 315
Speier, Jackie CA 12th 225-3531 211
Spratt, John M. Jr. SC 5th 225-5501 1401
Stark, Fortney Pete CA 13th 225-5065 239
Stearns, Cliff FL 6th 225-5744 2370
Stupak, Bart MI 1st 225-4735 2268
Sullivan, John OK 1st 225-2211 434
Sutton, Betty OH 13th 225-3401 1721
Tanner, John S. TN 8th 225-4714 1226
Tauscher, Ellen O. CA 10th 225-1880 2459
Taylor, Gene MS 4th 225-5772 2269
Teague, Harry NM 2nd 225-2365 1007
Terry, Lee NE 2nd 225-4155 2331
Thompson, Bennie G. MS 2nd 225-5876 2432
Thompson, Glenn PA 5th 225-5121 124
Thompson, Mike CA 1st 225-3311 231
Thornberry, Mac TX 13th 225-3706 2209
Tiahrt, Todd KS 4th 225-6216 2441
Tiberi, Patrick J. OH 12th 225-5355 113
Tierney, John F. MA 6th 225-8020 2238
Titus, Dina NV 3rd 225-3252 319
Tonko, Paul NY 21st 225-5076 128
Towns, Edolphus NY 10th 225-5936 2232
Tsongas, Niki MA 5th 225-3411 1607
Turner, Michael R. OH 3rd 225-6465 1740
Upton, Fred MI 6th 225-3761 2183
Van Hollen, Chris MD 8th 225-5341 1707
Velázquez, Nydia M. NY 12th 225-2361 2466
Visclosky, Peter J. IN 1st 225-2461 2256
Walden, Greg OR 2nd 225-6730 2352
Walz, Timothy J. MN 1st 225-2472 1722
Wamp, Zach TN 3rd 225-3271 1436
Wasserman Schultz, Debbie FL 20th 225-7931 118
Waters, Maxine CA 35th 225-2201 2344
Watson, Diane E. CA 33rd 225-7084 2430
Watt, Melvin L. NC 12th 225-1510 2304
Waxman, Henry A. CA 30th 225-3976 2204
Weiner, Anthony D. NY 9th 225-6616 2104
Welch, Peter VT At Large 225-4115 1404
Westmoreland, Lynn A. GA 3rd 225-5901 1213
Wexler, Robert FL 19th 225-3001 2241
Whitfield, Ed KY 1st 225-3115 2411
Wilson, Charles A. OH 6th 225-5705 226
Wilson, Joe SC 2nd 225-2452 212
Wittman, Robert J. VA 1st 225-4261 1318
Wolf, Frank R. VA 10th 225-5136 241
Woolsey, Lynn C. CA 6th 225-5161 2263
Wu, David OR 1st 225-0855 2338
Yarmuth, John A. KY 3rd 225-5401 435
Young, C. W. Bill FL 10th 225-5961 2407
Young, Don AK At Large 225-5765 2111

Gitmo's Ghosts

IBD
Friday, January 23, 2009

A Gitmo detainee released at Saudi Arabia's request has re-upped with al-Qaida and is now its chief of operations in Yemen. So, again, why do we want to empty the place?

If we bounce the rest of these terrorists out of Gitmo, as the president wants to do within a year, we risk recycling even more dangerous fanatics back into the jihad against us.

These people like to commit suicide. Why are we so anxious to do the same?

Gitmo terrorist Said Ali al-Shihri was released to Saudi in 2007. Within no time, he was back on the terror circuit. In fact, the FBI now suspects he helped plan last year's deadly bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital.

He's one of at least 30 former Gitmo inmates who have resumed terrorist activities as part of the Taliban or al-Qaida, despite signing pledges to renounce violence. (Yes, we're really that dumb.)

The releases have come amid a steady stream of complaints from the media, the ACLU and the Saudis (who have a disproportionate number locked up there) about the treatment of the detainees, who are tortured daily with a limited menu of halal meals, paperback-only copies of the Quran and hard plastic soccer balls.

The Saudis assured us we could trust these hardened killers in their care, because they had a rehab program to turn them into nonviolent, productive members of society.

But the Saudi "reintegration program" for repatriated Gitmo terrorists conditions their release on an agreement not to attack the Kingdom. It's OK, however, for them to attack the West.

And that's exactly what al-Shihri did — after he went through the Saudi rehab program, which includes monthly stipends, cars, jobs and resortlike housing featuring pools and volleyball courts.

Sounds more like a resort: If we didn't know better, our ally is actually rewarding our enemies, and rehabbing them for future battle.

Many of the remaining 245-plus Gitmo detainees are Saudis and Yemenis. But fear not, Yemen also has a rehab program for terrorists that's similar to the Saudis. And one that's partly funded by the U.S. (as if these rich oil countries swimming in petro dollars can't finance their own anti-terror programs).

Yemen is the same government that secretly released a USS Cole bombing suspect not too long ago. "The lesson here is, whoever receives former Guantanamo detainees needs to keep a close eye on them," a U.S. official was quoted saying.

That clearly is not going to happen. We can't even trust ally Kuwait, which recently freed a Gitmo terrorist we'd released to its custody only to watch him attack innocents in Iraq. Not long after renouncing jihad, Abdullah Salim Ali al-Ajmi turned around and blew up a police station there in a suicide mission.

The real lesson is: Don't release these killers into anyone's care. Keep them locked up in Cuba or they'll just resurface with al-Qaida or the Taliban and attack us again.

Some argue that there's a new commander in chief now, and new rules in the war on terror. So deal with it.

While it is his prerogative to change the rules, the enemy is operating under old rules — 1,400-year-old rules, to be exact — and it's not changing its tactics. And it would like nothing better than to have 245 more of its battle-hardened dogs return to the front line.

If the new commander in chief is not careful, Gitmo's ghosts may come back to haunt us all.


I have one postscript to this article, I don't believe Gitmo's ghosts MAY come back to haunt us I believe they WILL come back to haunt us!

Think, if possible, like a terrorist for a moment, if you just heard that the new untested president thinks that releasing the enemy is the right thing to do, wouldn't that give you the green light to your next attack?

When Bill Clinton pulled out of Mogadishu after our troops were attacked and the dead bodies of our soldiers desecrated, Osama bin Laden saw this as a sign of weakness and began to plot 9/11.

In a October 2001 interview between Al-Jazeera television correspondent Tayseer Alouni and Osama Bin Laden just one month after 9/11 Bin Laden states:

BIN LADEN: We experienced the Americans through our brothers who went into combat against them in Somalia, for example. We found they had no power worthy of mention. There was a huge aura over America -- the United States -- that terrified people even before they entered combat. Our brothers who were here in Afghanistan tested them, and together with some of the mujahedeen in Somalia, God granted them victory. America exited dragging its tails in failure, defeat, and ruin, caring for nothing.

America left faster than anyone expected.

Bin Laden never believed George Bush would respond with a show of force because Bill Clinton retreated as the response in Mogadishu.

After 9/11 Bin Laden knew he was wrong. However George Bush is longer our president. If you recall, during the election it was Joe Biden, Barack Obama's own running mate who said, that Barack Obama would be tested.

This is the first test on the WOT for his administration and to our enemies, he passed with flying colors!

Be on the alert, friends

ACTION ALERT-Say "NO" to Geithner's nomination

Grassfire

Tim Geithner, Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary should not be confirmed.Geithner failed to pay over $34,000 in taxes over four years. He only recently coughed up some of the money when the vetting process exposed him.

Geithner called them "careless mistakes... avoidable... unintentional"

But it is much worse than that. A 2006 IRS audit exposed him but Geithner didn't pay the taxes he owed for two of the years that were outside the statute of limitations. In other words, he knew he was in the wrong for four years...but only paid up for two years due to a technicality!

Geithner's employer actually PAID him an extra allowance for these taxes she didn't pay. And Geithner even signed a statement promisingto pay the taxes: "I will pay the taxes for which I have received tax allowance payments."

Now we're to believe he was "careless" and this happened because the man who is to be the Treasury Secretary in charge of collecting taxes from you and me messed up on TurboTax? On top of this, Geithner employed an illegal alien for domestic help. And he has been right in the middle of the failed TARP bailout that has already cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.!

Action Item: Call your senators and oppose Geithner.

Say "NO" to Geithner's nomination.

Here are your numbers for Michigan's Senators:

Sen. Levin 202-224-6221

Sen. Stabenow 202-224-4822

To contact your state Senator

Also call Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and urge him to take a principled stand against Geithner:

Minority Leader McConnell: 202-224-3135

Talking Points:

1. The Senate should NOT confirm Geithner as Treasury Secretary.

2. Geithner knowingly failed to pay his taxes, even after an IRS audit exposed his "mistake."

3. As the person responsible for collecting taxes from every American, his failure should disqualify him.

Of course, the liberal media is saying this is a non-issue. The RHINOS in the Senate say those who oppose Geithner are "thinking in small political terms."They want us to believe the Geithner is the only man in America who can save us from total economic meltdown!

But of course, he couldn't properly file his own taxes and only finally paid up when it looked like it might be an issue in his confirmation.

How can you get away with only paying for two years when your audited for four??

Can we now all use this excuse, "Oh sorry Mr. Taxman, that darn Turbo Tax, but I'll pay, promise!"

Welcome to the Obamanation...and welcome to the Resistance!

Our New President and Abortion

Like many yesterday I didn't go near my TV. I found no reason to celebrate or even be "congratulatory". I will concede that it is an historical occasion as Barack Obama is the first person of color to be elected to the office of president of the United States.

However, I can offer no "Congratulations"
I can offer none to the *enemy (Eph 6:12) who uses Barack Obama

However, I will pray.

I'll pray for forgiveness **(2 Chr.7:14) for this nation who elected a pro-abort to be her "leader". I will pray also for Barack Obama's salvation and for the protection of my country and Israel.

As followers of Christ we pro-actively fight, in the world and on our knees.

That is why with the 36th anniversay of the Roe v Wade decision on January 22 we need to press in prayer and in action.
We need to give a voice and protection to the innocent. ***(Jeremiah 22:3)

So I am asking you to please sign the Fight FOCA Petition.

What is FOCA?

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide.

FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.
FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.
FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.

Barack Obama made a promise to Planned Parenthood last year they expect him to keep.

"The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do."

The time to Fight FOCA is now.

Please add your name to the petition and tell Barack Obama that we oppose the sin of abortion.

The cause, not the mechanism, brings and holds the members together. And our cause MUST be to rediscover, reassert and reapply America's spiritual heritage to our national affairs.

Then WITH God's help we shall indeed be as a city upon a hill with the eyes of all people upon us.

Ronald Reagan, 1977
40th President of the United States


*For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

**If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land

***This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Pro-Israel Rallies you DIDN'T Hear About

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Isaiah 62


Although pro-Israel Rallies popped up all over the United States attended by thousands there was scant news coverage by the main stream media. In stead most people were treated to a daily diet of anti-Israel "coverage"

Why you may ask? Simple the main stream liberal media doesn't support the only Democratic nation in the Middle East so covering these rallies in any significant way doesn't fit their agenda.

However, as a follower of Christ:

"The Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), to speak out for Zion’s sake (Isaiah 62:1), to be watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:6) and to bless the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3). These and so many other verses of the Bible that have one overriding message-- as Christians we have a Biblical obligation to defend Israel and the Jewish people in their time of need." Christians United for Israel

As a followers of Christ this is especially important now as the new President, B. Hussein Obama "does not truly support Israel despite what his canned speeches and essays may contain." American Thinker And FrontPage Magazine

Listed below are some the Pro-Israel Rallies you didn't hear about. If there is no link it is because despite searching, I could not find one news article. Information for these rallies were provided by Christians for Israel

Miami, FL
The Miami rally was held outside at the Holocaust Memorial in Miami with approximately 3,500-4,000 people in attendance. The Miami Herald

Tampa, FL
The Tampa rally was held at a local synagogue in the Tampa area with approximately 800 in attendance.

Sarasota, Fl
Tampa Bay Online About 1,200 people attended the meeting at Temple Beth Sholom in Sarasota. Organizers point out their membership is not exclusively Jewish, nor even their featured speakers. Loftus, former volunteer president of the Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, is an Irish Catholic.

Minneapolis, MN
Star-Tribune About 1,000 Minnesotans converged in St. Louis Park to express their opinions on the current conflict in Gaza.

Gov. Tim Pawlent said, "I'm glad to be a friend of Israel,'' to a raucous standing ovation.

And KARE 11 News The room (which typically seats 475) was standing room only to full capacity of 700 people and additional 200 people had to use the overflow area.

Las Vegas, NV - January 18, 2009
There were no seats to spare at the beautiful Beth Shalom synagogue as hundreds gathered to stand in solidarity with Israel. The rally and vigil was coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, in cooperation with 36 Jewish organizations. The presentation included speakers representing the Israeli Consulate's office, America Israel Public Affairs Committee, Hillel, and Christians United For Israel. Video messages from Senator Harry Reid and Congresswoman Shelly Berkeley offered encouraging words of strong support for Israel and the Jewish State's duty to protect her citizens.

Other pro-Israel Rallies held

Pro Israel Rally,Downtown Dallas, TX, 1/18/2009




Pro-Israel Rally Washington DC 1/6/09



Boston Pro Israel Rally: Dec. 30 - Shame, Shame, Hamas to Blame

Breaking News!

Bush Commutes Sentences of Two Border Patrol Agents Convicted of Shooting Drug Dealer


U.S. Border Patrol agents. Ramos and Compean are serving sentences of 11 and 12 years respectively for the shooting of an illegal alien drug smuggler in the line of duty – a case that has inspired outrage and passion even among several U.S. congressmen who staunchly defend the two imprisoned border cops. Simply put...it is a travesty of justice.
The illegal alien drug smuggler who received only minor injuries, was given full immunity from prosecution by the federal prosecutor in return for his testimony against the agents.

Ramos and Compean were20convicted and sentenced under a law requiring a minimum 10-year sentence for the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime – a law Congress never intended to apply to law enforcement officers. Even the lead prosecutor subsequently admitted the sentences are too harsh.

After the trial, several jurors complained they had been intimidated into voting "guilty" while actually believing Ramos and Compean were innocent, yet the judge refused to set the verdict aside.

Monica Ramos embraces her husband, former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos, two days before he was sentenced to 11 years in prison (Courtesy El Paso Times) The Border Patrol agents have already served nearly two years in prison, mostly solitary confinement, subjecting their wives and children to extreme emotional and financial hardship.

Thank you President Bush !

Sunday - Sanctity of Human Life Day

OneNewsNow

As the 36th anniversary
of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision approaches, the White House has proclaimed Sunday, January 18, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. With Barack Obama taking office on Tuesday, the Republican National Coalition for Life says it may be the last such proclamation of its kind for the foreseeable future.

Read the White House Proclamation

Michigan's Saul Anuzis RNC Chairman Candidate

As you know, Michigan's own Republican State Party Chair, Saul Anuzis is running for National Chair of the Republican party.

Saul has been tireless in meeting with Republicans across the nation and has been the most accessible of the candidates through social networking sites like Twitter.

This accessibility is very important to me as it provides the opportunity for transparency for those in leadership positions and additionally,provides a means to communicate our concerns and ideas.




For those who didn't get the opportunity to see the RNC Debate, you may go to C-Span to watch. All six of the declared candidates for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Katon Dawson, Kenneth Blackwell, Michael S. Steele, Saul Anuzis, John Saltsman participated in the debate moderated by Grover Norquist and held by Americans for Tax Reform at the National Press Club.

I highly recommend that you do so as its opportunity for you to see and hear for yourself all the candidates.