As we gather in our homes with friends and family on this day of remembrance – we pray the Lord’s blessing on your family, our state and nation.

This is a day to bring to mind all the blessings God has bestowed upon us as individuals and as a nation. While the present political leadership offers near constant cause for anxiety – we do well to look over America’s long history, to days when our leaders humbly recognized the necessity of God’s intervention on our behalf. On this day, may you join us in asking Almighty God to raise up such leaders once more.

Here are a few excerpts from Thanksgiving Proclamations issued by statesmen in nobler times:

“[It is] our duty as people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience.”

- President George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1795


“I have thought fit, according to the ancient and laudable practice of our renowned ancestors, to appoint a day of Public Thanksgiving to God, for the great benefits which He has been pleased to bestow upon us, in the year past.”

- Governor Samuel Adams, 1795


“No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy….I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States … to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that … [they] fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union.”

- President Abraham Lincoln, 1863


“May we on that [Day of Thanksgiving] in our churches and in our homes give humble thanks for the blessings bestowed upon us during the year past by Almighty God.”

- President Franklin Roosevelt, 1933

The liberal gang running Washington, DC these days staged another health care stick-up tonight, with all Democrats giving Harry Reid enough votes to consider ObamaCare in the weeks ahead.

Two “moderate” Democrats staged some drama in order to extort more goodies from Democrat leaders. Sen. Landrieu gained an extra $300 million in Medicaid benefits for her state in exchange for a ‘yes’ vote to proceed. She and other supposed pro-Life senators allowed the legislation to clear yet another hurdle—despite the fact that the Reid language on abortion funding compromises the conscience rights of every American taxpayer. (U.S. Catholic bishops call the Reid version “the worst bill we’ve seen so far on the life issues”.)

So where from here?

Republican Senator Jon Kyl predicted beforehand that if Reid won 60 votes last night, there’d be a 97% chance that Reid’s bill eventually passes the Senate, and is obviously pessimistic about the chances of substantial amendment in coming weeks. Other observers are not so sure.

Politico’s analysis suggests that there are profound divisions within the Democrat Caucus on the question of a “public option” and a floor fight will surely take place over the dead-certain increase in abortions driven by “free” government money. (Utah’s Sen. Hatch has already indicated he will lead that effort).

With 61% of Americans opposed to tax-funding of abortions, and 54% opposed to the socialist principles of ObamaCare, hope remains that the public’s will shall yet be heeded. But clearly earnest prayer is needed; we must ask the Lord to intervene on behalf of our children.

Harry Reid was just plain giddy yesterday as he presented the cooked numbers attached to his version of ObamaCare. (This is not the place to debate those numbers, but we can’t resist temptation to offer stock sales in numerous bridge projects for those who just want to believe).

The key issue is how Reid deals with public financing of abortion.

There were numerous promises made by Sen. Reid, a member of the LDS Church, that he would not support taxpayer financing of abortions. Well, put another chalk mark on the wall of lies Reid has told in order to advance his selfish political interests.

Reid’s edition of national health care does deal with abortion funding by including a weaker version of the Capps Amendment rejected by pro-Lifers in the House. In stark contrast to the Stupak language, Reid has included a provision which explicitly authorizes the Secretary of HHS to include abortion-on-demand in the so-called “public option” insurance plan. Perhaps worse, Reid demands that the Secretary of HHS (a rabid pro-abort Democrat, by the way) ensure that there is an insurance plan in every market which provides coverage for elective abortions.

This last feature appears to violate current Idaho law.

If you’re not worried yet, see what California's Sen. Barbara Boxer has to say about Reid’s so-called “compromise” on the issue of abortion funding:

“Senator Reid did an excellent job of crafting language….”

To repeat earlier warnings on this website, the crucial issue is not the millions in tax money squandered to subsidize Planned Parenthood’s death machine: The crucial issue is that Reid’s “compromise” will lead to millions of additional murdered babies who would otherwise survive.

Military prosecutors announced yesterday that they were filing a 13-count murder indictment against Maj. Nidal Hasan for his jihadist rampage against fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood. That is well and just, but glaring in its oversight of the 14th victim – the preborn child of Francheska Velez, one of the soldiers gunned down by this Islamic terrorist last week. Velez was on maternity leave when she stopped in at Ft. Hood, only to lose her life.

It is outrageous that the military, operating under the political pressures of the Obama White House, have ignored federal law (the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a.k.a., “Laci’s Law”) by refusing to acknowledge the 14th life ended by senseless carnage.

Members of Congress need to demand that Obama’s pro-abortion politics be set aside in favor of straightforward justice.

Threats of sending people to jail if they don’t submit to the federal government’s power grab; cuts in services for seniors; tax hikes for employers, exploding federal deficits – all of these gifts are being shoved upon us by the Liberals controlling Washington in their quest to expand health coverage.

But on the way to taking control of another huge chunk of the American economy, the Liberals apparently forgot to ask – will our bill lower insurance premiums for working Americans?

During the campaign, Barack Obama was habitual in telling voters that he had a plan to lower insurance by $2500 per year. No doubt some believed him. But that was all just happy talk. Now that he is president and cheerleader-in-chief for health care overhaul, no such forecasts are coming from the White House.

In fact, according to a story on Politico.Com yesterday, none of the Democrat leaders has even asked the question about ObamaCare’s impact on insurance premiums – the data point of most concern to working families. No studies have been conducted in Congress to even guesstimate the impact ObamaCare would have on premiums.

According to the story, about 170 million Americans receive insurance through their employers. Under the Pelosi-Obama plan, these folks – you and I – would receive no financial assistance. Our job, apparently, is just to pay more in federal taxes and higher insurance premiums, year –after-year. (Or, to quote a pundit - Our job in ObamaLand is to shut up and sit down).

This staggering oversight says everything you need to know about the folks running DC these days. They could not care less about the working middle class.

Read the unbelievable details for yourself: http://politico.com/news/stories/1109/29421.html

Reports have surfaced that Planned Parenthood is running a phone in SW Idaho, asking Idahoans to call Rep. Minnick and “thank him” for backing public-financing of abortions.

We have received several calls from outraged constituents.

The phone banks are a sure sign that Minnick is feeling the heat from Idaho voters, upset that he would confuse health care with killing babies in the womb. Even worse, his vote against the Stupak Amendment this weekend signals his comfort with using the force of government to make each of us pay for elective abortions. We pray that grass fire spreads throughout Idaho.

The fight over health care this weekend has successfully ripped the cover of deception from the hands of Obama and Pelosi regarding abortion funding. Confirmation that their legislation would bring a major expansion of abortions in this country comes from the Abortion Lobby itself.

The New York Times reports that the president himself is “uncomfortable” with abortion-funding restrictions placed in the House bill and is urging Congress to rewrite the Stupak Amendment.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) issued a statement that they will not support any legislation with the Stupak Amendment in it. Likewise, Planned Parenthood. Their leader, Cecile Richards, told media yesterday that “Planned Parenthood has no choice but to oppose HR 3962 (the Pelosi bill).

Mr. Minnick’s friends at NARAL (a political action committee funded by abortionists) has publicly declared that they are focusing their lobbying efforts on preventing the Senate from adopting language like Stupak to restrict abortion funding.

What business does an Idaho representative have with such radicalism?

The U.S. House voted late last night to approve ObamaCare by a vote of 220-215. With some 54% of Americans opposed to the legislation, it is rather surprising that House Democrats nevertheless charged into the void.

One bright spot is the adoption of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment by a vote of 240-194. This pro-Life amendment prevents the use taxpayer funds to pay for abortions. While H.R. 3962 is in no way a “pro-Life” bill, adoption of this amendment is a tremendous victory for the pro-Life movement. Mr. Stupak (D-MI) deserves high praise for his grueling, principled and courageous battle to protect women, preborn children and American women from the outrage of public financing of abortion-on-demand.

The future of tax-funding for abortions remains in doubt, however, as the Senate holds a deeper hostility for preborn children.

Idaho’s Walt Minnick was among those voting against the legislation; to his credit, he also opposed adoption of the rule allowing Pelosi’s bill to be considered on the floor.

However, his behavior on the Stupak Amendment is truly hard to understand. He was one of 194 Democrats to vote against the amendment, effectively saying that he believed every Idahoan should be forced to pay for elective abortions. After standing-up for free abortions as an essential health care right for women, he went on to vote against the broader health care bill. One could understand Mr. Minnick’s priority to be abortion, but not basic health care.

To make matters worse, Mr. Minnick issued a press release defending his contorted priorities:

First, he described that he adopted a daughter from China who survived that nation’s forced abortion policies; this was how he developed “a deep faith in the value of life” – and, inexplicably, how he also developed a deep allegiance to abortion-on-demand.

Mr. Minnick then goes on to argue that he opposed the Stupak Amendment because he does “not want a government bureaucrat denying a medical procedure ordered by a woman’s physician.” Nice try, but that defense is even more confusing than the last. Firstly, physicians do not order abortions like breast cancer exams. Secondly, the Stupak Amendment deals only with the matter of who pays for the abortion – the taxpayers of Idaho or the woman wanting an abortion?

But here is the most tortured defense: “One of the reasons I oppose the House health care bill is that I do not believe the federal government should be making health care decisions for Americans. It is also why I oppose this amendment.”

The Stupak Amendment does nothing to interfere with a woman’s so-called “right to choose”, nor does it inject the federal government into that decision. Just the opposite, in fact. It is quite outrageous for a guy to self-righteously clang the bell for a woman’s “right to choose”, while simultaneously demanding that everyone else, under penalty of criminal sanction, pick-up the tab for that decision.

Thank the Lord most Members of Congress were a bit more clear-headed about this crucial matter.


Here is the full transcript of Rep. Minnick's press release:

Washington, D.C. – Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick released the following statement regarding his vote against an amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act:

“One of my daughters was born an orphan in China, and she had a chance at life because her parents defied a government order. I also have two sons, both of whom had a difficult time with their health as newborns. Helping all of them grow to be healthy and strong gave me a deep faith in the value of life.

“One of the many things I learned from my children is that nothing can come between the bonds forged by a family, by the difficult decisions we all make day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

“The issue of an unplanned pregnancy is just such a decision. It is painful, difficult and complicated for women and for their families. Doctors and pastors take great care to think deeply about advice offered to people who are dealing with that situation.

“Like most of them and like most of my constituents, I believe abortion should be safe, legal and rare, and that a decision on the issue can be made only by a woman, her family, her doctor and her pastor.

“I do not want a federal judge overruling that decision. I do not want a government bureaucrat denying a medical procedure ordered by a woman’s physician. I do not want this Congress to give an anonymous insurance executive an excuse to gut coverage for women’s health.

“One of the reasons I oppose the House health care bill is that I do not believe the federal government should be making health care decisions for Americans. It is also why I oppose this amendment.”

Labels: ObamaCare, Walt Minnick