By Michael Ramirez – May 16, 2012

By Ken Catalino – May 16, 2012

By Paul Kengor, American Thinker, May 16, 2012

Conservatives are not shy about highlighting what they perceive as Marxist/communist roots in various aspects of Barack Obama’s policies, vision, and rhetoric.  Some of these alleged parallels are a stretch; others are not.  Many are merely the common overlap we often see among factions within the broader left of the political spectrum.  We could debate and dissect them one by one; either way, they ultimately add up to a man — our president — who is on the far left.

Yet while conservatives tend to focus on matters of economics and excessive government growth and intervention, they’re missing crucial aspects of Obama’s social policy, vision, and rhetoric which, in fact, are arguably even closer to the Marxist/communist tradition. Here I’ll give two salient examples: marriage and abortion.

On marriage, Obama last week finally came out of the closet in favor of “gay marriage.”  This means that the current president of the United States possesses the most radical/non-traditional view of marriage and the family of any president in the 200-plus-year history of this republic.  (Yes, think about that.)  That radical/non-traditionalism is fully consistent with the Marxist/communist worldview.

In the Communist Manifesto, Marx several times wrote openly of the “abolition of the family” and of communism abolishing “eternal truths” and “all religion, and all morality.”  “The communist revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional relations,” Marx affirmed.  “[I]ts development involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas.”  Marx knew how shockingly revolutionary this was.  He wrote: “Abolition of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists.”

Marx practiced what he preached.  He was a terrible father who caused tremendous discord in his family.  As the family nearly starved, and as Marx’s long-suffering wife neared the breaking point, Marx began an affair with the family’s young nursemaid, whom he impregnated.  When the child was born, Marx refused to acknowledge its existence and his paternity.

Marx’s disciples, of course, happily followed in his footsteps.

The Bolsheviks, when they took over, immediately lifted the Russian Orthodox Church’s longstanding prohibition against divorce.  They also expunged God from wedding ceremonies, establishing so-called “Red weddings” — that is, purely secular wedding ceremonies.  In short order, divorce skyrocketed to proportions never before seen in Russia’s long history or anywhere in the world.  Within just decades, Russians had divorce rates worse than the worst rates in recent American history.  I recall the female character in John le Carré’s book, The Russia House, who remarked to her foreign love interest, “But everyone in Moscow is divorced!”

It was the perfect the communist plot, literally.  They had sought to undo traditional notions of marriage and morality, and they succeeded wildly.

And it wasn’t just in Russia.  This thinking was endemic to the communist movement worldwide.  In America, Communist Party USA (CPUSA) members swapped wives and divorced easily and merrily.  They lived very loosely in their sexual morality and marital relations, pursuing practices that would make even today’s culture blush.  They boasted about it; it was a source of pride.  Anyone who has studied American communism or been involved in the communist movement knows this.

To be sure, a 1930s CPUSA member wasn’t thinking about gay marriage, and the Russians certainly weren’t.  Nonetheless, all of them consistently, consciously undermined the traditional understanding of marriage.  It was one of their targets.

That brings me to abortion.  The Bolsheviks advocated abortion.  It was one of the first things they legalized.  By the early 1920s, Bolshevik Russia had the most liberal abortion policies in the world.  And what happened?  Just like divorce, abortion exploded.  In fact, the proliferation in abortions was so bad that it shocked even Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger during a trip to Russia in 1934.  By the 1970s, when America was just getting around to legalizing abortion, the Soviet Union was averaging over 7 million abortions per year — dwarfing the very worst rates in America post-Roe v. Wade.  The direct effect of this on the Russian population has been staggering.

For the record, Russia’s horrific abortion rates are common in communist countries, which to this day lead the world in abortions.

Marx, to my knowledge, did not deal with abortion — to think he would in the mid-19^th century is unrealistic.  However, his disciples in the international communist movement a century later certainly did — including here in America.  To cite just one example, Whittaker Chambers noted how abortion “was a commonplace of Party life.”  He honestly and painfully wrote about his wife’s first pregnancy, when she had to plead for the life of their unborn child.  The blessed birth of that child changed Chambers completely, particularly regarding his views on God.  Interestingly, the termination of an unborn life was no mystery to Chambers’ nemesis, Alger Hiss.  Hiss’s wife, Priscilla, who aided him in his treason, had an abortion before she met him (for the record, it devastated her).

As to President Obama, he is far and away the most radical supporter of abortion ever to step in the White House.  This audience needs no proof of that, from Obama forcing all taxpayers to fund abortion drugs (with no religious exemption), to fund Planned Parenthood, to fund embryonic research, and on and on.  Even before all of that, this was a man who as U.S. senator had co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, the most extreme piece of pro-abortion legislation ever in America; who in a 2007 speech to Planned Parenthood hailed America’s largest abortion provider as a “safety net”; and who as a state senator in Illinois repeatedly refused to provide mandatory health care for babies who somehow survived abortion procedures.  (These babies apparently were not part of Obama’s vision for mandatory/universal health care.)  This is a mere short list.  Click here for a truly breathtaking ongoing list compiled by LifeNews.com.

Overall, Barack Obama’s support of gay marriage and abortion constitute an undermining of the historical, fundamental understanding of the human family.  And that, too, is quintessentially Marxist/communist.  Among presidents, his position is unprecedented — just as the Marxist/communist position was unprecedented.

This is not to say that Obama is sitting in the Oval Office with a copy of the Communist Manifesto on his lap and a list of check items.  Nonetheless, his decidedly radical/non-traditional far-left social positions contain some unusually surprising parallels to the farthest extreme of the left.  In yet another disturbing similarity, our current president’s position just happens to coincide with the Marxist/communist position.

Paul Kengor is professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College.  His books include The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism and Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.  His forthcoming book is The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, the Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/05/obama_and_the_marxistcommunist_view_of_marriage_and_abortion.html

“Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.”
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By Deacon Keith Fournier, 5/16/2012, Catholic Online

“For some time now, my delegation has noticed a disconcerting trend, namely, the desire on the part of some to downplay the role of parents in the upbringing of their children, as if to suggest somehow that it is not the role of parents, but that of the State. In this regard it is important that the natural and thus essential relationship between parents and their children be affirmed and supported, not undermined.”

NEW YORK,NY (Catholic Online) – The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations issued a statement to the United Nations restating the constant and clear stand of the Catholic Church on the irreplaceable role of parents in the education of their children.

“For some time now, my delegation has noticed a disconcerting trend, namely, the desire on the part of some to downplay the role of parents in the upbringing of their children, as if to suggest somehow that it is not the role of parents, but that of the State. In this regard it is important that the natural and thus essential relationship between parents and their children be affirmed and supported, not undermined.”

The statement received a lot of coverage in the broader Christian community for its specific reference to homeschooling. The statement continued, “The State should respect the choices that parents make for their children and avoid attempts at ideological indoctrination.”

“International law affirms that states must respect the freedom of parents to choose how to educate their children, which could be in schools that are not established by public authorities.The Catholic school assists parents who have the right and duty to choose schools inclusive of homeschooling, and they must possess the freedom to do so, which in turn, must be respected and facilitated by the State.”

In his Apostolic Exhortation on the family, “Familiaris Consortio” Blessed John Paul II  wrote: “The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others…”

In his “Letter to Families” he wrote “Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area; they are educators because they are parents. They share their educational mission with other individuals or institutions, such as the Church and the State. But the mission of education must always be carried out in accordance with a proper application of the Principle of Subsidiarity.

“This implies the legitimacy and indeed the need of giving assistance to the parents, but finds its intrinsic and absolute limit in their prevailing right and actual capabilities. The principle of subsidiarity is thus at the service of parental love, meeting the good of the family unit. For parents by themselves are not capable of satisfying every requirement of the whole process of raising children; especially in matters concerning their schooling and the entire gamut of socialization.”

The words of the late Pope underscore the application of the principle of subsidiarity in the education of children, “Subsidiarity thus complements paternal and maternal love and confirms its fundamental nature, inasmuch as all other participants in the process of education are only able to carry out their responsibilities in the name of the parents, with their consent and, to a certain degree, with their authorization.” This is true on both the National and International level.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms the right of parents to choose a school for their children, “As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.” (CCC#2229)

The teaching of the Catholic Church on the primacy of parents in the educational mission is clear and consistent. The family is the first cell of society, the first church, first government, first school, first hospital, first economy, and the first mediating institution of society. Any just and efficient philosophy of government must be grounded in the recognition that the family is the first government and defer to it. All other government outside of the family must first be at its service and assist parents not usurp their priamry role.

In “The Role of the Christian family in the Modern World” Blessed John Paul II called for the development of a “family politics”. It is time to build such a “family politics” on the national and International level. Parents are the first teachers of their children. All education begins in the home. It is the right of parents to choose where their children go to school.

That choice for parents should include the full array of options, public, private, parochial, charter and home schools, no matter what their economic status. It is better for the children, better for society and more economically efficient. Education outside of the home is an extension of the parent’s primary educational mission.

Good government, at the State, National and International level, must respect the primacy of parents in the education of their children. The statement of the Holy See’s permanent mission is welcome.

http://www.catholiconline.com/hf/family/story.php?id=46206

By Walter E. Williams, Townhall, 5/16/2012

Let’s think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law — and the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional — requiring American families to attend church services at least three times a month. Should we obey such a law? Suppose Congress, acting under the Constitution’s commerce clause, enacted a law requiring motorists to get eight hours of sleep before driving on interstate highways. Its justification might be that drowsy motorists risk highway accidents and accidents affect interstate commerce. Suppose you were a jury member during the 1850s and a free person were on trial for assisting a runaway slave, in clear violation of the Fugitive Slave Act. Would you vote to convict and punish?

A moral person would find each one of those laws either morally repugnant or to be a clear violation of our Constitution. You say, “Williams, you’re wrong this time. In 1859, in Ableman v. Booth, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 constitutional.” That court decision, as well as some others in our past, makes my case. Moral people can’t rely solely on the courts to establish what’s right or wrong. Slavery is immoral; therefore, any laws that support slavery are also immoral. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions (is) a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.”

Soon, the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare, euphemistically titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There is absolutely no constitutional authority for Congress to force any American to enter into a contract to buy any good or service. But if the court rules that Obamacare is constitutional, what should we do?

State governors and legislators ought to summon up the courage of our Founding Fathers in response to the 5th Congress’ Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. Led by Jefferson and James Madison, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and 1799 were drafted where legislatures took the position that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. They said, “Resolved, That the several States composing, the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government … (and) whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.” The 10th Amendment to our Constitution supports that vision: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

In a word, if the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is constitutional, citizens should press their state governors and legislatures to nullify the law. You say, “Williams, the last time states got into this nullification business, it led to a war that cost 600,000 lives.” Two things are different this time. First, most Americans are against Obamacare, and secondly, I don’t believe that you could find a U.S. soldier who would follow a presidential order to descend on a state to round up or shoot down fellow Americans because they refuse to follow a congressional order to buy health insurance.

Congress has already gone far beyond the powers delegated to it by the Constitution. In Federalist No. 45, Madison explained: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” That vision has been turned on its head; it’s the federal government whose powers are numerous and indefinite, and those of the state are now few and defined.

Former slave Frederick Douglass advised: “Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. … The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

Dr. Williams serves on the faculty of George Mason University as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and is the author of ‘Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?’ and ‘Up from the Projects: An Autobiography.’

 http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/05/16/should_we_obey_all_laws

… If you are one of the few remaining conservatives who believes that the Republican Party represents traditional cultural values in addition to free market principles, you’ll be disappointed to know that the current Republican leadership has little interest in advocating for traditional marriage on the public stage….

By Ken Connor, Catholic Exchange, May 16, 2012 

Oh, the irony of it all.  For the past two years, the Republican establishment has been insisting that the only effective way to beat President Obama in 2012 is to set contentious social issues aside and focus like a laser on the economy.  Who would have thought that it would be the President himself who would catapult these issues to the fore just as campaign season enters full swing?

Forced out of the closet by the unscripted remarks of Washington’s original gaffemeister, Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Obama has pledged his support for same-sex marriage.  Naturally, the President is being hailed for his bold stand by the liberal media, although everyone knows that he only went public because Biden’s comments on the subject left him no alternative.  Given his druthers, Obama would have maintained his coyness and not made his sentiments public until such time as he he felt he could maximize the political benefits of doing so (i.e., right after the November election).

For better or worse however, the cat is out of the bag and Mr. O is out of the closet, and the strategists behind the Republican electoral machine are wringing their hands now that the spotlight is focused elsewhere than on the economy.  If you are one of the few remaining conservatives who believes that the Republican Party represents traditional cultural values in addition to free market principles, you’ll be disappointed to know that the current Republican leadership has little interest in advocating for traditional marriage on the public stage.  This is why they were cringing in the corner when would-be presidential aspirants like Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann were stressing the importance of families headed by a mom and a dad.

For his part, Mr. Romney will find it difficult to navigate this issue because the perception is that he has been on both sides of the so-called fence at various points in his political career.  In the 90′s he pledged fealty to the radical gay agenda, promising to out-advocate his then opponent, Ted Kennedy, on all issues homosexual.  Today of course, he has a different opponent and is seeking to appeal to a different constituency, so he will try to portray himself as a consistent, lifelong supporter of traditional marriage.  Doing so without coming off as a flip-flopper will be difficult, and unfortunately he won’t find much help from Speaker Boehner or Republican leaders in the House or Senate, as they’ve made a policy of essentially ignoring all issues that are not economic.

Nevermind that marriage is an institution ordained by God that has served as the fundamental building block of human society since the beginning of time.  Nevermind that basic common sense (as well as several formal sociological studies) tells us that children need the influence of a mother and a father in shaping their understanding of the world, their sense of personal security and confidence, and their preparedness to function as healthy and productive members of society.  Nevermind that natural law, our anatomical appendages, and the reproduction of the human race all seem innately geared toward heterosexual unions.  Republican leaders in Washington today can’t be counted upon for anything more than a tip of the hat toward traditional marriage.  Such would be beneath the station of Washington elites and is dirty work better suited to the hoi poloi (those of us in fly-over country who cling to guns and religion).

But the American people understand the significance of the paradigm shift advocated by Mr. Biden and his Johnny-come-lately boss.  As recently as last week, 61% of North Carolinians voting cast their ballot in favor of traditional marriage and against extending the sanctity of this ancient institution to same-sex unions.  All in all, 35 states have come down on the side of traditional marriage when their citizens were given the opportunity to do so, indicating that while marriage is under assault from many quarters (high divorce rates and an increase in the rise of cohabitation), the American people intuitively understand that traditional marriage is nonetheless an institution not to be trifled with.

So social conservatives had better get ready to rumble.  The stakes couldn’t be higher, nor the impact of the outcome of the election greater.  It’s about more than the economy Messrs. Romney and Obama, and no, the American people are not stupid.

This article courtesy of Center for a Just Society

That would be the U.S. House of Representatives — and the priest who serves as that august body’s chaplain was recently interviewed about his job:

After almost a year as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, which The New York Times called “one of the most reviled congregations in the country,” the Rev. Patrick Conroy was back in Portland, Ore., for a few days to meet with his Jesuit counterparts.

Conroy, 61, was a theology teacher at Jesuit High School here when the opportunity to be House chaplain arose. He was sworn in May 25 as the chamber’s 60th chaplain. In a recent interview, he talked about the challenges of his job and issued a challenge of his own to American citizens. His answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Is the House the most reviled congregation in the country?

A: Well, I was a chaplain at San Quentin (prison, California), too — and I’m not making a comparison there.

But there is not a member of the House of Representatives who didn’t make a conscious choice to be a member of the House of Representatives. They knew what they were getting into. I don’t feel like I’m in a room full of people with an approval rating of 12 to 15 percent. That’s not part of my consciousness at all.

Q: What does it feel like?

A: I am chaplain to a room full of true believers, who are invested in what they stand for and what they are trying to do. A lot of members are quite faith-filled. Some are convicted, and they don’t have crises of faith. Others hope they are being faithful. It’s fascinating to watch.

Q: How do you advise someone in that situation?

A: Thomas Aquinas tells us to follow our consciences, to be honest with ourselves. If you can’t do that, then we have a crisis.

Q: What’s it like to be well-schooled in Catholic social teaching as Congress grapples with the budget?

A: There is a strong theology at play: people who believe that taking care of the poor is what churches do, not what government does, that maybe government is overreaching. But my position is to observe — not to engage in that argument.

I can hear social justice Catholic voices saying that I’m selling out the Gospel by not being that moral voice. But if I were to do that, I would not be in this position.

I’ve studied political science and my early ambition was to be in Congress. But I have prayed, do pray for serenity. I can’t have an opinion. In order to be chaplain I have to let go of this stuff.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2012/05/meet-the-priest-serving-the-most-reviled-congregation-in-the-country/

By Wendy Wright, Catholic Exchange, May 15, 2012

The British government gave $268 million to the government of India for a program that forcibly sterilizes poor women and men, according to the Guardian ^[1] newspaper. This news comes as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation prepares to co-host a family planning summit with the British government in London this July.

Melinda Gates recently dismissed the link between contraception programs and population control in a speech launching her new initiative. Titled “No Controversy,” her campaign intends to “change the global conversation around family planning” by discounting its association with abortion, coercion and immorality, and focusing on universal access.

Around the same time, India’s supreme court heard evidence of coercive mass sterilizations in filthy conditions.

Men and women are rounded up into makeshift rural camps to be sterilized, many left in pain with little or no care. Some women, sterilized while pregnant, suffered miscarriages. Some were bribed with less than $8 and a sari, others threatened with losing their ration cards. Some died from botched operations.

Uneducated men and women did not discover the true purpose of the operations until too late. In a region targeted by the UK government, a 35-year old wife of a poor laborer, pregnant with twins, bled to death.

Clinics received bonuses for doing more than 30 operations a day. Non-governmental workers were paid for each person they convinced to be operated on. One surgeon working in a school building committed 53 operations in 2 hours with unqualified staff, no running water or means to clean the equipment.

“Obsession” with reaching the United Nations Millennium Development Goals pushed India to institute coercive sterilizations, reported the Global Post ^[2] in 2010.

“There’s a great hurry to again set targets from above to be followed by everyone. And that’s again creating problems,” said A.R. Nanda, India’s former health secretary.

“When you create an incentive system, it privileges one solution over the other and encourages them to cut corners,” said Abhijit Das, the head of Healthwatch Forum.

“And we’ve had very bad experiences with that in the past.”

Sterilization is the most common method of family planning used by India’s Reproductive and Child Health Program Phase II, begun in 2005 with UK funding.

Reports in 2006, 2007 and 2009 by the Indian government warned of problems with the program, noted The Guardian.  Yet in 2010 the UK’s Department for International Development recommended continued support. One key reason was to address climate change. Reducing the number of humans would lower greenhouse gases. It conceded there are “complex human rights and ethical issues” involved in population control programs.

Despite the warnings, the UK placed no conditions on its funding.

The UK and Gates Foundation summit aims to collect “unprecedented political commitment and resources . . . to meet the family planning needs of women in the world’s poorest countries by 2020,” stated the Department for International Development, the agency that funded India’s sterilization program.

India’s fertility rate is 2.62 ^[3].  Pressures to lower fertility and reduce the size of families coincide with a worsening gender imbalance of more boys than girls in the country.

This article courtesy of the “Friday Fax” of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM).

http://catholicexchange.com/u-k-funds-forced-sterilizations-in-india/

      Sadly, on Wednesday, May 15, 2012, one of the legion’s most prominent and popular clerics, Fr Thomas Williams, LC, ThD, a moral theologian, announced his own moral failure. Fr Williams is widely known for his writing, speaking and commentary during numerous television appearances. (NBC,CBS and Sky News) He has been a source for the major networks on the Vatican, as well as a “go to guy” for comments on the sexual abuse scandals over the last several years.  His popular web site has now “gone dark”.  Pray for Christ’s Church.
Full Story 

http://www.catholiconline.com/national/national_story.php?id=46227

If you want a seat on the same-sex “marriage” bandwagon, there are plenty available. The more the President digs in his heels on the issue, the lonelier he seems to become. This week, even the President’s own party is running for cover, as more senators concede that his agenda is a losing one. For several of them, the White House’s aggressive approach is a step too far. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D-Va.) can’t distance themselves fast enough. Unlike most Republicans, who don’t see the 67% support for marriage amendments as something to be leveraged, these leaders know a politically potent issue when they see it.

A spokesman for Sen. McCaskill, one of the President’s biggest cheerleaders, said, “Claire recognizes this is a very personal issue for many Missourians,” and she thinks “states should take the lead in determining marriage.” Her Montana colleague, Sen. Tester, agreed–explaining that his state had already staked out a position: ” [I]n Montana, a marriage is defined as between a man and woman.”

Sen. Nelson wasn’t far behind. “I believe marriage should be left to the states, and Florida voted on same-sex ‘marriage’ in 2008,” he reiterated. Another swing state, Pennsylvania, may not have a marriage amendment, but its senator, Bob Casey, knows where his voters stand. While Sen. Casey supports civil unions, his office was clear that he “does not agree with the President’s endorsement of same-sex marriage.” Neither does former Governor-turned-Senate-candidate, Tim Kaine. In Virginia, another battleground state, Kaine tried to put some space between his campaign and the President’s, “declining” to support same-sex “marriage” when asked. Of all the Democrats, Sen. Manchin was the most outspoken. And why shouldn’t he be? A convicted felon was almost as popular as the President in last week’s West Virginia primary! According to Sen. Manchin’s office, his position remains unchanged. “He believes marriage is between one man and one woman.”

Adding to the President’s problems, most voters think his announcement was calculated and insincere. Sixty-seven percent say he made the statement “mostly for political reasons,” while only 24% believe he made it out of conviction. Independents were even more skeptical, with 70% insisting the President was politically motivated. And how is his decision paying off? Since the announcement, Gov. Mitt Romney is leading in the national polls–with an edge on women and Independents.

* Media Bites off More than It Can Skew *

Do a majority of Americans really support gay marriage? “Maybe not,” the Washington Post admits. For years, headlines have screamed that society is open to redefining marriage. But every time the theory is put to the test, it’s proven wrong. As Daniel Horowitz says, the only authentic polling data is votes at the ballot. Thirty-two times, voters have gone to the polls in some of the most liberal states in America and rejected counterfeit marriage–most recently in North Carolina, where a constitutional amendment won by 22 points. Now that President Obama has literally made a federal case out of marriage, the reaction is even more severe.

Although the polling has been manipulated for years, even some media elites are conceding that the support for same-sex “marriage” just isn’t there. Yesterday’s CBS/New York Times survey showed that only 38% of Americans agree with the President’s position. An ABC News/Washington Post poll backed up the trend, pointing out that 47% responded unfavorably and 46% responded favorably. But, analysts say, the real story is in the intensity gap. According to the Post, those numbers include ” a 10-point tilt toward ‘strongly’ negative (38%) rather than strongly positive (28%) views.” Independent voters were especially opposed, with most leaning toward a strongly negative reaction.

How have liberals managed to inflate the numbers for so long? “For the most part,” the Post says, “the polling out there is combining the civil union and gay marriage responses together to get their ‘majority’ supporting gay marriage. There’s a reason why the same-sex marriage ban passed in 32 states…” And those amendments (and a people’s veto) haven’t just passed–they’ve had overwhelming support. Republicans should be tripping over themselves to champion marriage. Instead, they’re racing to change the subject on an issue that won an average of 67% of the vote in a supermajority of states. No wonder voters are annoyed. Ignoring marriage isn’t just spineless–it’s politically naive. Americans care about the economy and marriage. Surely, the GOP has enough time to fight for both.

* ABC’s G.C.B. G O N E *

Turns out, bashing Christians isn’t nearly as funny as ABC thought it would be. After just one season, the network is calling it quits on TV’s “GCB” after outrage and controversy stole the show. The title of the program, “Good Christian [Expletives]” was reason enough for audiences to complain–and with the help of groups like Media Research Center (MRC) and One Million Moms, they did. Every week, MRC would tally how many times an episode mocked faith or used the Bible in a malicious way. According to Lauren Thompson at MRC, “GCB” usually ridiculed the Christians about 20 times per episode–sometimes more. The worst examples aired on Easter, when the characters shilled for pornography to make their marriages more “spiritual.”

The show was so offensive that even national leaders like Newt Gingrich slammed ABC for giving voice to anti-Christian bias. A New York City Councilman, Peter Vallone, launched a campaign to get the program off the air, and the American Family Association filed a petition. With poor ratings and an even poorer plotline, ABC finally cancelled the show this week. Congratulations to those of you who spoke up or contacted your station managers! While it seems like Hollywood doesn’t listen to parents, they certainly listen to ratings. So the next time you see something objectionable, vote… with your remote!

** Our tour of the networks continues! If you missed my interview about marriage on Fox News, click below.

http://www.frcaction.org/washingtonupdate/dems-give-obama-feud-for-thought

     Thomas Sowell,  National Review, May 15, 2012

When two white newspaper reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were driving through Norfolk, and were set upon and beaten by a mob of young blacks — beaten so badly that they had to take a week off from work — that might sound like news that should have been reported, at least by their own newspaper. But it wasn’t.

The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel was the first major television program to report this incident. Yet this story is not just a Norfolk story, either in what happened or in how the media and the authorities have tried to sweep it under the rug.

Similar episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people chosen at random on beaches, in shopping malls, or in other public places have occurred in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles, and other places across the country. Both the authorities and the media tend to try to sweep these episodes under the rug.

In Milwaukee, for example, an attack on whites at a public park a few years ago left many of the victims battered to the ground and bloody. But when the police arrived on the scene, it became clear that the authorities wanted to keep this quiet.

One 22-year-old woman, who had been robbed of her cell phone and debit card, and had blood streaming down her face, said, “About 20 of us stayed to give statements and make sure everyone was accounted for. The police wouldn’t listen to us, they wouldn’t take our names or statements. They told us to leave. It was completely infuriating.”

The police chief seemed determined to head off any suggestion that this was a racially motivated attack by saying that crime is color-blind. Officials elsewhere have said similar things.

A wave of such attacks in Chicago were reported, but not the race of the attackers or victims. Media outlets that do not report the race of people committing crimes nevertheless report racial disparities in imprisonment and write heated editorials blaming the criminal-justice system.

What the authorities and the media seem determined to suppress is that the hoodlum elements in many ghettoes launch coordinated attacks on whites in public places. If there is anything worse than a one-sided race war, it is a two-sided race war, especially when one of the races outnumbers the other several times over.

It may be understandable that some people want to head off such a catastrophe, either by not reporting the attacks in this race war, or by not identifying the race of those attacking, or by insisting that the attacks were not racially motivated — even when the attackers themselves voice anti-white invective as they laugh at their bleeding victims.

Trying to keep the lid on is understandable. But a lot of pressure can build up under that lid. If and when that pressure leads to an explosion of white backlash, things could be a lot worse than if the truth had come out earlier, and steps taken by both black and white leaders to deal with the hoodlums and with those who inflame them.

These latter would include not only race hustlers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson but also lesser-known people in the media, in educational institutions, and elsewhere who hype grievances and make all the problems of blacks the fault of whites. Some of these people may think that they are doing blacks a favor. But it is no favor to anyone who lags behind to turn their energies from the task of improving and advancing themselves to the task of lashing out at others.

These others extend beyond whites. Asian-American schoolchildren in New York and Philadelphia have for years been beaten up by their black classmates. But people in the mainstream media who go ballistic if some kid says something unkind on the Internet about a homosexual classmate nevertheless hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil when Asian-American youngsters are victims of violence.

Those who automatically say that the social pathology of the ghetto is due to poverty, discrimination, and the like cannot explain why such pathology was far less prevalent in the 1950s, when poverty and discrimination were worse. But there were not nearly as many grievance mongers and race hustlers then.

— Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. © 2012 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/299918/censored-race-war-thomas-sowell#

By Ben Johnson, LifeSiteNews.com, May 15, 2012

STEUBENVILLE, OHIO -   Catholic religious leaders have warned that religious institutions may be forced to stop providing health care coverage if the Department of Health and Human Services does not change its mandate to provide contraceptives, including abortifacients, as part of their health care plans. Today, the first Catholic university has followed through by dropping its health care plan for students.

The Franciscan University of Steubenville announced it will not furnish students with health care coverage effective this fall, specifically citing the HHS mandate as the reason.

“The Obama Administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover ‘women’s health services’ including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),” a statement posted on its website states. “Up to this time, Franciscan University has specifically excluded these services and products from its student health insurance policy, and we will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.

“Due to these changes in regulation by the federal government, beginning with the 2012-13 school year, the University 1) will no longer require that all full-time undergraduate students carry health insurance, 2) will no longer offer a student health insurance plan, and 3) will no longer bill those not covered under a parent/guardian plan or personal plan for student health insurance.”

The rising premiums that attend a greater government role in health care were another reason for the cancellation. “Additionally, the PPACA increased the mandated maximum coverage amount for student policies to $100,000 for the 2012-13 school year, which would effectively double your premium cost for the policy in fall 2012, with the expectation of further increases in the future,” the statement said.

The college located in eastern Ohio, which is ranked one of the best private college values by Kiplinger, noted its current student health insurance plan will expire on August 15.

On September 29 the university was one of 18 Catholic colleges to write a letter asking the Obama administration to rewrite the mandate, noting they were “being forced to choose between offering such coverage, paying a fine, or offering no coverage at all.”

An employee of the university, Tom Crowe, wrotehis employer’s message was brisk and clear: “We. Will. Not. Comply. And our students are the first one who will feel the pinch.” He added that the university is not self-insuring and would not have been exempt from the mandate, adding such an exemption exists “on paper only.”

Catholics universities are not the only religious institutions poised to take drastic action as a result of the Obama administration’s abortifacient decree.

Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George has warned all Catholic hospitals will close in two years unless the religious exemption is expanded. Together, the nation’s Catholic hospitals account for 13 percent of the nation’s hospitals.

If these hospitals closed it would create a supply shortage, with the likely effect being government programs will be forced to pick up the slack.

South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy said at a House Oversight Hearing on February 16 that closing religious hospitals and schools, or forcing them to end health care coverage, “means government is gonna get bigger, because they’re going to have to fill the void…and maybe that’s what they wanted all along.”

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/franciscan-university-of-steubenville-drops-student-health-plan-over-hhs-ma

Full Blown Retreat 05-15

Even when it looks like some leader has faced down evil .. you’re always waiting it seems for the other shoe to drop.

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Catholic News Roundup 05-15

Today’s stories:

– Homosexual Marriage Hurts Kids
– Obama’s Theologians
– Same-Sex Politics
– SSPX Split Possible
– Mammoth March

Ottawa Talk
Toronto Talk
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

“Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.”

—Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 1801

 ”When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth”

Scripture: John 16:12-15

12 “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Meditation: What would you give to know all truth! Truth, however, is not something we create nor is it our discovery. It is the gift of God who is the possessor and the giver of all truth. Jesus tells his disciples that it is the role of the Holy Spirit to reveal what is true. How can this be? Skeptics of truth don’t want to believe in an absolute Truth. If truth is objective then it must be submitted to as authoritative. Some fear the truth because they think it will inhibit their freedom to act and think as they wish. Jesus told his disciples that the truth will set you free (John 8:32). The truth liberates us from doubts, illusions, and fears. Since God is the source of all truth, then the closer we draw to him and listen to his word, the more we grow in the knowledge of him and of his great love and wisdom for us.

Jesus told his disciples that he would send them the Spirit of truth who will guide you into all the truth ..and declare to you the things that are to come (John 16:13). Through the gift and working of  the Holy Spirit poured out on the new community of faith on the day of Pentecost, we too are able to profess the same creed which the apostles proclaimed – that Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again on the third day, and will come again to judge, raise the dead, and give everlasting life (the Apostles Creed). We not only have the same faith given to the apostles and early believers, but we have the same Spirit in us who raised Jesus from the dead. The Lord Jesus gives each of us his Holy Spirit as our divine Teacher and Helper that we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God. Do you  listen attentively to God’s word and allow his Holy Spirit to give you understanding of God’s truth and will for your life?

 ”Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and guide me in your way of life and truth. Free me from ignorance of your ways, and from deception caused by sinful pride and rebellion. May I love you wholly with all of my strength, mind, and will and seek to please you in all things.”

Psalm 148:1-2,11-14

1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth
12 Young men and maidens together, old men and children!
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted;  his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him.  Praise the LORD!

Go to | Daily Reading & Meditation Index |  (c) 2012 Don Schwager

Margaret was born of farming parents in Laviano, Tuscany. Her mother died when Margaret was seven; life with her stepmother was so difficult that Margaret moved out. For nine years she lived with Arsenio, though they were not married, and she bore him a son. In those years, she had doubts about her situation. Somewhat like St. Augustine she prayed for purity—but not just yet.

One day she was waiting for Arsenio and was instead met by his dog. The animal led Margaret into the forest where she found Arsenio murdered. This crime shocked Margaret into a life of penance. She and her son returned to Laviano, where she was not well received by her stepmother. They then went to Cortona, where her son eventually became a friar.

In 1277, three years after her conversion, Margaret became a Franciscan tertiary. Under the direction of her confessor, who sometimes had to order her to moderate her self-denial, she pursued a life of prayer and penance at Cortona. There she established a hospital and founded a congregation of tertiary sisters. The poor and humble Margaret was, like Francis, devoted to the Eucharist and to the passion of Jesus. These devotions fueled her great charity and drew sinners to her for advice and inspiration. She was canonized in 1728.

Comment:   Seeking forgiveness is sometimes difficult work. It is made easier by meeting people who, without trivializing our sins, assure us that God rejoices over our repentance. Being forgiven lifts a weight and prompts us to acts of charity.

Quote:  “Let us raise ourselves from our fall and not give up hope as long as we free ourselves from sin. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. ‘O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!’ (Psalm 95:6). The Word calls us to repentance, crying out: ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28). There is, then, a way to salvation if we are willing to follow it” (Letter of Saint Basil the Great).

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintofDay/default.aspx

Priest warns Obama: Better knock the Catholic Church out now – you’ve awakened the giant . . . Here Comes the Catholic Church!

EXCERPT:   ….Fr. John Hollowell’s truly amazing monologue needs to be spread far and wide. It’s a wake up call, and one of the most encouraging statements I’ve heard in a long time.  It’s a Divine battle cry!

The talk heats up after minute 2 where he notes in this talk addressed to Planned Parenthood Pres. Cecile Richards that “we have not doubt” that in the future Planned Parenthood will be seen as the “slave traders, the Nazis, the Communists and all those groups that seek to oppress people.”

He then warns PP and President Obama: “You better knock us out now. You and the President better knock us out right now, because Cecile, I can promise you – Here comes the Catholic Church … you’ve awakened a sleeping giant.”

“Priests and bishops that have in the past been content to remain quiet are no longer so. … The Truth is being rained down everywhere. … Here comes the Catholic Church.”….

WATCH VIDEO: http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/priest-warns-obama-better-knock-the-catholic-church-out-now-youve-awakened

By Michael Cook, Catholic Exchange, May 15, 2012

“Hey, I got a really good deal on embryos on Craigslist the other day.” 

Hopefully this story from Iowa is not a harbinger of things to come. Two couples, in Chicago and Florida, found their embryos through a Craigslist discussion group from an Des Moines couple who had 18 spare embryos. Deb and Kevin McCrea gave 9 to each couple for free, saving them thousands of dollars in IVF treatment.

The McCreas still want to keep in touch with their biological children and have asked the couples to agree to yearly reports and occasional visits – a novel kind of open adoption.

Mrs McCrea told the local TV station ^[1] that she had considered giving the embryos to the IVF clinic, but she had some misgivings. “We went into give life and just because the doctor chose the two that we got doesn’t mean the other 18 shouldn’t have a chance at life also,” she reflected.

“One day I was just looking on Craigslist and I saw that they had a discussion forum,” she said, “and I thought why don’t I look on here and see if there’s anybody that’s in that process right now that might be interested in donating and having more of an open adoption of the embryos.” She was astonished at the response she received. ^[1]

BioEdge is a weekly newsletter about cutting-edge bioethical issues. Based in the Southern Hemisphere but speaking to the world, BioEdge is completely independent. It is designed and maintained by volunteers and financed by supporters and contributors. It is published by New Media Foundation, which also publishes MercatorNet, a website promoting human dignity, and Family Edge, a newsletter about family issues. These are our aims:

* to promote human dignity as the foundation of bioethics
* to promote evidence-based ethics in medicine
* to show that medical excellence is not possible without ethical principles
* to provide high-quality, up-to-date information
* to facilitate the participation of health professionals in policy debates

http://catholicexchange.com/i-found-my-embryos-on-craigslist/

“Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”
~Our Lady of Fatima, May 13, 1917

“The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima is one of the largest Marian shrines in the world.” – via Wikipedia

Listers, as most Catholics know May 13th is the anniversary of the first apparition of  Our Lady in Fatima. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Fatima is quite popular due to the various prophecies that Our Lady graced the shepherd children with but also what she commands the children to do. Many traditionalists around the globe continue to heed the commands of the Virgin Mary till this very day. Devotion to the Virgin by way of praying the Rosary daily and wearing the Brown Scapular increased due to the council and warnings of Our Lady in Fatima although the revelations of these devotions were around long before this latest apparition.

The three children of Fatima: Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

1. Her Commands to All Catholics

The following are commands of Our Lady of Fatima for all Catholics:

1.  ”You must pray much for sinners and priests and religious.”

2. “Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests and religious to their superiors and to the Holy Father gravely displeases Our Lord.”

3. “More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”

4. “Never speak ill of anyone. Never complain or murmur. Be very patient, for patience leads us to Heaven.”

5. “Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, Our Lord will even now save the world, but if they do not, punishment will come.”

6. “Continue to pray the Rosary every day.”

7. “Will you offer yourselves to God, and bear all the sufferings He sends you? In atonement for all the sins that offend Him? And for the conversion of sinners?”

8. “My Immaculate Heart will be your comfort and the way which will lead you to God.”

9.  ”Make sacrifices for sinners, and say often, especially while making a sacrifice: “O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

10. “Pray, pray, a great deal, and make the sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them.”

11. “I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not continue to offend Our Lord Who is already deeply offended.”

12. “The Scapular and the Rosary are inseparable.”

13. “I promise to help at the hour of death with graces needed for salvation, whoever: on the 1st Saturday of 5 consecutive months, shall confess and receive Holy Communion; recite 5 decades of the Rosary; and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to my Immaculate Heart.”

“Photograph taken during the reputed “Dance of the Sun” at Fatima on 13 October 1917.” – via Wikipedia

2. Warnings if Disobeyed

Our Lady not only gave commands for all Catholics whilst in Fatima, She also gave several warnings if Her requests were to be ignored either by the faithful or the hierarchy:

“The purposeful viewing of child pornography on the internet is now legal in New York,” wrote Judge Victoria A. Graffeo from the highest state court in New York.

The ruling came down to a splitting of hairs over whether “viewing” is “possessing.” Read more here.

But no hair-splitting legal gymnastics will make something so fantastically wrong, right. This ruling cannot stand.

Child pornography is the visual record of an innocent child being abused. There are very sick people in this world who find viewing it sexually stimulating. They provide a demand for it, and the greedy brutes who make up the pornography industry are happy to sacrifice children’s lives to provide the supply.

Every time technology evolves, the porn industry argues that the laws which constrain its excesses surely don’t apply here. Possessing hardcore pornographic videos can’t be illegal, they argued – why, video cassettes are nothing more than magnetic tape in black squares of plastic.

They lost that round, and they will lose here too.

Make no mistake: Viewing child pornography is no private or passive act. It is an integral part of the child-porn chain, every link of which must be made illegal.

There is no room for compromise. The law must reach the evil producers, the soulless distributors, and the heartless, perverted consumers — whether they buy it and save it, or simply watch it or view it.

http://www.frcblog.com/2012/05/hunger-games-are-real-children-sacrificed-to-porn-now-a-legal-spectator-sport/

By Wayne Allyn Root, Washington Times, May 14, 2012

It was bad enough that the U.S. government risked trillions of taxpayer dollars bailing out banks, car companies, insurance companies, Wall Street firms, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We’ve even bailed out foreign banks and foreign countries (Greece). But have you ever considered bailing out a continent?

Are Americans asleep at the switch? Did anyone notice that Europe’s financial crisis went from frightening to unimaginable last week? Does anyone know the security color code for “unimaginable?” Perhaps the color of choice should be black to represent a deep, black hole. Besides, black is the color of mourning.

How bad are things in Europe? First, it’s time to say your last goodbyes to Greece. The nation “formerly known as Greece” reports 22 percent unemployment, 54 percent unemployment among citizens under age 25, and 42 percent higher unemployment than a year ago. But here’s the big clincher: There are now only 4 million Greeks still employed to pay off hundreds of billions in European Union (EU) bailouts and its approaching 200 percent debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio. And more of them are leaving for Germany every day as they realize that life is over for them in Greece.

I wonder if Greeks say “Opa!” when they break an entire country?

The experts have finally made peace with Greece leaving the EU. It’s only a matter of “when,” not if. The EU and European Central Bank may delay, disguise and distort the truth until 2015. Nevertheless, map makers need to put a hollowed-out, rotting hole where Greece used to be.

The real problem is that Greece is the smallest problem for a leaking EU. Germany waved the white surrender flag last week. It admitted there is only one way out of the EU economic catastrophe: massive money printing by the European Central Bank, which will lead to inflation. When government officials and central bankers – all born liars – admit to inflation on the way, you can predict with certainty a wave of hyper-inflation reminding Germans of that oldie but goodie, the Weimar Republic – where it took a wheelbarrow of bank notes to buy a loaf of bread. Given a choice, thieves stole the wheelbarrow and left the money.

Spain continues to be the biggest catastrophe facing the EU – and the main reason Germany is building bigger printing presses and willing to accept inflation as the lesser of two evils. Spain’s situation is so bad that it just nationalized its fourth-largest bank last week (with many more on the way). The Spanish public and private debt situation can only be described as tragic. Interest rates on Spanish bonds rose above 6 percent last week – another ominous signal of what’s to come.

Italy is hanging by a thread, and then there’s France.

The brilliant French, sick of making do with less, elected a Socialist government earlier this month. Their new Obama-like leader promises to save their collapsing economy with fantasy, bread and circus. He promises to increase spending, dramatically increase taxes on the wealthy (who are making plans to flee), hire 60,000 new teachers, and here’s where the French rely on comedy to hide tragedy – returning the age of retirement from 62 to 60. It’s time to write off France. Paying 10 cents on the dollar for France’s future would not be a bargain.

The synergy of all this is the problem. French banks are four times bigger than the GDP of their entire economy. If French banks go under, there is no way for France to survive. Yet France’s banks have loaned lots of money to Spain. If Spain’s banks go under, France’s banks are dead in the water. If France’s banks go under, so does France. If France goes, that puts Italy and the rest of the continent over the tipping point.

American banks also have huge loans outstanding to all these countries. The $2 billion trading loss disclosed last week by JP Morgan will look like a drop in the bucket when the EU countries start defaulting one after the other.

Last week was very bad for the world economy – if you were paying attention.

President Obama understands only too well what is happening. What a perfect time to change the conversation to gay marriage.

Wayne Allyn Root, former Libertarian vice-presidential nominee, is author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution With God, Guns, Gold, Gambling & Tax Cuts” (Wiley, 2009). He writes at RootForAmerica.com.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/14/are-you-ready-to-bail-out-a-continent/

When the April figures on unemployment were released May 4, they were more than disappointing. They were deeply disturbing.

While the unemployment rate had fallen from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent, 342,000 workers had stopped looking for work. They had just dropped out of the labor market.

Only 63.6 percent of the U.S. working age population is now in the labor force, the lowest level since December 1981.

During the Reagan, Bush I and Clinton years, participation in the labor force rose steadily to a record 67 percent. The plunge since has been almost uninterrupted.

Here is a major cause of the economic malaise of the 21st century, a condition over which a president has little control. A shrinking share of our population is carrying an ever-expanding army of dependents.

If this were a result of American women going home to have kids, that would be, as it was after World War II, a manifestation of national vigor and health.

But that is not the case here.

The number of Americans of working age not in the labor force grew in April from 87,897,000 to 88,419,000 — by an astonishing 522,000. This is an immense army for the rest of society to carry.

Why are Americans dropping out?

Some have given up looking for jobs in towns they grew up in, because the jobs are gone and not coming back, and they don’t want to leave. Some are rejecting the low-wage unskilled work being offered, because the alternative — unemployment checks and federal and state welfare — is not all that torturous.

With some, the work incentive was never implanted. With others, the option of moving back in with the parents is not all that terrible.

America, it seems, is becoming less like the country we grew up in, in its attitudes about work and idleness, and more like Europe.

Whatever its causes, this social and economic torpor that seems beyond the capacity of presidents to correct or cure is a dark cloud over the hopes of Barack Obama for a second term.

And yet another ominous cloud, no longer on the far horizon, is now directly above: the impending departure from the labor force of 70 million baby boomers in the next two decades.

According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, from Jan. 1, 1930, to Dec. 31, 1935, there were 13 million births in the U.S.
From January 1940 through December 1945, there were 16 million.

This was the Silent Generation, born in Depression and war. It never produced a president, and never will, unless Ron Paul catches fire pretty quickly. The Greatest Generation gave us six presidents, starting with JFK and ending with Bush I. Our three most recent presidents — Bill Clinton, Bush II, Barack Obama — are all baby boomers.

And here we come to the heart of our next economic crisis.

If one adds up all the children born between Jan. 1, 1946 and Jan. 1, 1965, the era of the great American baby boom, the total comes to 77 million babies born in the United States.

Why is this so significant now?

Because this year, 2012, the first wave of baby boomers, all those born in 1946, like Clinton and George W. Bush, will reach 66, and eligibility for full Social Security and Medicare benefits. The boomers, en masse, will start moving off payrolls onto pension rolls.

Let us assume the 77 million boomers are down to 72 million. This means that over the next 20 years, boomers will be retiring and reaching eligibility for Social Security and Medicare at a rate of 3.6 million a year, or 300,000 a month, or 10,000 every day.

Three hundred thousand a month leaving the labor force may help to explain its shrinkage. And as the boomers are the best-paid, best-educated generation we produced, the loss of their collective skills, abilities and tax contributions will be as heavy a blow to the nation as the funding of their Medicare and Social Security will be a burden to the taxpayers they leave behind in the labor force.

Since Roe v. Wade, abortions have carried off 53 million of the generations that were to replace the boomers. While those 53 million lost have been partially replaced by 40 million immigrants, legal and illegal, our recent immigrants have not exhibited the same income- or tax-producing capacity as boomers.

In 1965, LBJ announced his plan to convert our ordinary society into a Great Society. Since then, trillions have been spent.

The fruits of that immense investment? The illegitimacy rate, dropout rate, crime rate and incarceration rate have set new records, as the test scores of high school students have plummeted to new lows.

Our labor force is shrinking, the number of dependent U.S. adults is growing, our social programs are failing, and our best educated and most productive generation is retiring.

To borrow from Merle Haggard, “Are the good times really over for good?”

http://cnsnews.com/blog/patrick-j-buchanan/boomers-head-barn