Tag United States

Indiana Ends Fiscal Year With Surplus: The Conservative Way Works

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Indiana leaders patted themselves on the back on Thursday because of a bigger than expected amount of money in the state’s checking account.

State Auditor Tim Berry said Indiana finished the fiscal year on June 30 with nearly $1.2 billion in the bank, more than 40 percent above last year’s finish, when tax revenues were plunging and budget makers were worried that the state would run out of money this year.

Berry said the rebound happened because of a recovery in tax collections and Gov. Mitch Daniels‘ success in cutting the budget.

 

The Great Seal of the State of Indiana

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Although the state showed a remarkable turn-around from the preceding year due to common sense conservative fiscal policies enacted by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels the leading Democrat House Leader Pat Bauer found reason to criticize.

 

House Democratic Leader Pat Bauer said the surplus came at a cost and that the budget was balanced on the backs of schools and needy children.

“So this great $1 billion surplus is based on children, cutting children’s health, cutting education, cutting people who have suffered because of this Great Recession,” he said.Bauer said Daniels needs to spend more on job creation, although Indiana has by far the lowest unemployment in the Midwest.

A Democrat is not happy unless a state is near bankrupt, running large deficits and panders to public sector union demands. It was precisely because of concessions made by these groups that Indiana went from running in the red to an actual budget surplus.

“Without raising taxes and by carefully watching spending, Indiana state government has continued to live within its means,” Berry said. “For those who believe that raising taxes is the only way out of a fiscal crisis, I say take a look at the Hoosier state.”

Indiana’s financial situation is far better than its neighboring states, particularly Illinois, which implemented massive tax increases to shore up its finances.”More money in Hoosiers’ incomes and a terrific job of cost control by state employees working together joined to produce an even stronger result than we expected at budget time,” Daniels said

The contrast couldn’t be starker. Tax cuts work every time they are tried and when implemented produce greater prosperity and increased tax revenues because employment increases. When taxes are raised, unemployment rises and tax revenues shrink, and yet Democrats always push for more taxes and more spending.

The Democrats love to sing the same old song about how tax and spending cuts hurt the elderly, the children, the poor and needy, and of course their sacred cow of education. Which is better for all these groups, a vibrant economy where everyone’s incomes rise or a failing economy where everyone’s incomes diminish?

Indiana is an example to the rest of America for what needs to be done on a national level to get our fiscal house in order. If you have listened to the debt ceiling debate all week you have heard the democrats all singing the same song Pat Bauer of Indiana has sung. Republican spending cuts will hurt women, children, the elderly and the poor. While they continue to propose tax increases and more spending which has led our nation to the brink of collapse.

You decide the better plan, tax and spend like a democrat or balancing a budget like a fiscal conservative republican. I choose the latter because it works everywhere it has been tried.

And that is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 Open Link in New Window (BBE)

Along for the journey

 

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Ruling in Righteousness

Allen Frederick 3 Comments

 

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan” (Prov 29:2Open Link in New Window, NKJV).

 

 

Writing the Declaration of Independence 1776 c...

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Political correctness is the liberal buzz word of the day. It would appear we must be sensitive to every special interest group or ideology, no matter how that group or ideology might negatively impact our lives or violate ethical or moral laws; more importantly God‘s laws. When God created the earth, he did not care what people thought of his policies. His policy was THE way!

 

 

God laid down rules in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve to follow. As long as they followed these rules, they would reign over every living creature. These laws were representing the Creator in all aspects. God‘s government was being expressed through his Nature and Nature’s Laws. He was and is the ultimate righteous ruler.

In the founding of this great nation, our founding fathers recognized this divine rule of God when they penned these words:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,…

In addition these words have formed the foundation of our form of Government and recognized the importance of God-given rights to all individuals, the Declaration of Independence states

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…

Our founders recognized God’s granted authority, and held to the position that it was God who granted freedom to all people and that government should defend those rights granted to the people by God, not pass laws that limit the freedom of the people. The Declaration of Independence then lists all the usurpations of the King over the free citizens of the not yet formed United States. It is this foundation that birthed the United States of America and later led to the writing of the Constitution. Until recently the Constitution was defended and upheld as the final authority and the supreme law of the land.

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How to Restore a Nation

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Christian wallpaper Proverbs 14:34
2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
but when the wicked rule, the people groan. Prov 29:2 (RSV)

I do not know about you but I hear a lot of groaning going on. Could it be a reflection of leadership?
I think so! Out with the wicked in with the righteous. What say you?

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Thank God for Fathers

Allen Frederick 5 Comments

A Father’s Day message

See, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord comes, that great day, greatly to be feared. And by him the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers; for fear that I may come and put the earth under a curse. Malachi 4:5-6 (BBE)

Modern societal trends teach that religion is only for those who are superstitious, weak-minded, and/or closed-minded and old-fashioned. These purveyors of the secularization of modern culture are doing everything possible to remove ’religion’ from the public discourse. There is intolerance for anything biblical or religion based by those who are in positions of authority to effect societal and cultural revision. Secular humanists disparage Bible reading probably because any serious study of the Bible often leads us to see the limitations of a humanist approach to problem solving. In the pages of scripture we find the futilities of human nature and its pages are filled with the tragic examples of societies which had rejected the wisdom found in those very pages.

An example of such failed policies is: Welfare reform. The last major revisions, those of 1996, were successful, despite liberal predictions of disaster. Work requirements pushed parents without young children to change attitudes and improve employability. But single moms with kids make up the largest part of our national poverty problem, and it’s exceptionally hard for one person without backup to grow a career and grow children at the same time.

In 1995 Kenosha Wisconsin was the shiny face of state-level welfare reform: Twelve state delegations, dozens of reporters, and welfare bureaucrats from all over, including Tanzania, came and marveled at the advancements Kenosha made to its welfare program; however, on the walls of two large training rooms were signs proclaiming, “A family doesn’t need a man to be whole,” and “Stop waiting for Prince Charming, his horse broke down.”

In 1996 the Kenosha job center director won praise for saying that he told welfare recipients “straight-out that marriage is not the answer.” They didn’t realize that work requirements are necessary but not enough. From 1996 to 2001 Wisconsin-style welfare reform did move hundreds of thousands of people toward economic independence. But others stayed stuck, and in 2003 the Manhattan Institute organized a conference that asked, “Whither Welfare Reform? Lessons from the Wisconsin Experience.”

At the conference NYU professor Lawrence Mead argued that “we must find a way to get the fathers involved.” New York Times welfare specialist Jason DeParle said the “biggest surprise” to him as he wrote about poor communities was “just how much yearning there was among the kids and their mothers for the fathers.”

There is reason for hope. Since God, through the prophet Malachi said that God would send Elijah the prophet before the day of the Lord comes, that great day, greatly to be feared. And by him the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers; for fear that I may come and put the earth under a curse. None of this then is a surprise to those with a biblical worldview. This yearning of children for fathers is a sign that God still cares for the fatherless. The second part of this equation however is the turning of father’s hearts back to caring for their children.

With over 40 percent of children born out-of-wedlock, we seem on the path to destruction. Can government (our modern god) do something to help? Not according to Jason Turner, who led the welfare reform campaign in Wisconsin and then took it to New York City, who stated sadly, “There is no solution that I can think of that will fundamentally affect men at the moment.” Government is not the solution to the problem, government programs are the problem. In fact most of the policies affecting those trapped in poverty are designed to penalize those who choose marriage.

Research has clearly shown that marriage and an intact family structure are associated with better financial prospects and a significant decrease in the likelihood of living in poverty. In fact, single-parent households are nearly six times as likely to be poor as married-parent families.

The federal government operates over 70 means-tested welfare programs that give cash, food, housing, medical care, and targeted social services to poor and low-income persons. In fiscal year 2010, federal and state governments spent over $400 billion on means-tested welfare for low-income families with children. Roughly three-quarters of this welfare help, or $300 billion, went to single-parent families. Most non-marital births are now paid for by the taxpayers through the Medicaid system, and a variety of assistance will continue to be given to the mother and child for nearly two decades after the child is born.

Yet, the positive ramifications of an intact family extend beyond today’s circumstances to benefits in the future as well, given that the behavior of children tends to mimic that of their parents, increasing the likelihood of successful marriages among generations to come. Conversely, children who experience parental divorce are themselves more likely to divorce or experience greater discord in their own marriages.

In addition, the intact family can serve as a buffer against youth risk behavior such as substance abuse and sexual activity at an early age, improving children’s prospects for the future and promoting a healthy civil society. Youths living with both parents are also more likely to enjoy a higher quality of psychological and emotional health and are less likely to develop problem behavior. And children in intact families trend toward  higher levels of academic achievement and educational attainment, enhancing both their own chances of success and their potential for contributing to the common welfare.

Fathers remain America’s strongest anti-poverty weapon, yet marriage continues to decline. As husbands disappear from the home, poverty and welfare dependence will increase, and children and parents will suffer as a result. Marriage is highly beneficial to children, adults, and society; it needs to be encouraged and strengthened. Under current government policies, however, marriage is either ignored or undermined. This needs to change or the prophecy declared in Malachi will come to pass and the earth will be placed under a curse.

Still, I know from reading the Bible Jesus changes lives and God still cares for the fatherless and is sending forth the Spirit of Elijah to rekindle the father child relationship. Social science notwithstanding, the Bible still holds the answer to lives problems if we are wise enough and brave enough to heed its advice.

Just another view from the nest.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 Open Link in New Window (BBE)

Along for the journey

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D-Day

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens. Ephesians 6:12 (BBE)

In American History D-Day is the name given to the landing of 160,000 Allied troops in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. The success of the invasion of Normandy was really the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. The invasion, also called “Operation Overlord,” involved five separate landings by American, British, and Canadian troops and was commanded by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stiff German resistance resulted in nearly 10,000 Allied casualties, but the Germans were ultimately unable to repel the Allied forces. Although German resistance continued even after all five beachheads were taken, they had too few troops in the area to be effective. By August 1944, all of Northern France was under Allied control as Eisenhower began to prepare for the invasion of Germany. source

The dictionary defines D-day informally as any day of special significance, as one marking an important event or goal. In military terminology it refers to the day, usually unspecified, set for the beginning of a planned attack. So it was on this date in June 1944 the United States and Allied forces engaged Nazi Germany to liberate France from the Nazi German invasion. Many allied service men were killed or wounded that fateful day on the beaches of Normandy, but their valiant efforts resulted in the liberation of France and the beginning of the end of the reign of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi war machine.

Many disdain military force anywhere in the world. Many see military aggression as base and vile. For the most part I would have to agree that any war is hell, no matter how right the cause, the casualties of war are horrendous and as a result war should never be entered into lightly or without much forethought and preparedness. However imagine if America had not entered the war against Nazi Germany. What would the world look like today? Is there ever a time to wage war against an ever-increasing aggressor? Many believed a neutral position was the best position to take. The atrocities committed under Hitler’s Germany were horrendous and had America stepped in sooner fewer lives would have been lost due to Nazi aggression. Millions of Jews would have been spared the Nazi gas chambers and concentration camps. Evil is the only word I can think of to use to describe this naked aggression against peaceful people. World domination was Hitler’s goal and the annihilation of the Jewish people his aim.

Adolf Hitler in Yugoslavia.

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As horrible as the war of Germany was a never-ending battle has raged since the dawn of time. The battle for the souls of all mankind. Hitler was the face of evil in the 1940’s, Radical Islam is the modern face of evil, but they all have roots in the spiritual war in the heavens where powers and principalities battle for supremacy. Satan and his demons rage against God and all the children of God living today. Israel is the focal point of Satan’s wrath. As vicious as Hitler’s rage against the Jewish people was it was only a mirror of the real hatred Satan has for the Jewish people and state. They shared the same goals, eliminate the Jews and dominate humankind (rule the world).

The 50 miles of Normandy beaches were heavily fortified with bunkers and mines. The heaviest of which was Omaha beach were more than 2000 allied forces lost their lives. The landing by regiments of the 1st and 29th Infantry divisions and Army Rangers on OMAHA Beach was even more difficult than expected. When the first wave landed at 6:30 a.m., the men found that naval gunfire and pre-landing air bombardments had not softened German defenses or resistance. Along the 7,000 yards of Normandy shore German defenses were as close to that of an Atlantic Wall as any of the beaches. Enemy positions that looked down from bluffs as high as 90-120 feet (or more at low tide), and water and beach obstacles strewn across the narrow strip of beach, stopped the assault at the water’s edge for much of the morning of D-Day. Climbing these cliffs and taking out these high places was a job that had to be done, a battle that needed to be won.
http://www.kansasheritage.org/abilene/ikedday.html

Completely destroy all the worship sites on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every large tree. The people you’re forcing out worship their gods in these places. Deuteronomy 12:2 (GW) Continue reading “D-Day” →