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Federal Court Refuses to Protect Florida Citizen’s Speech

June 19, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News, Policy/by Dr. Rich Swier

Institute for Justice Client Nathan Worley

Arlington, Va.— Grassroots political groups in Florida suffered a setback last Friday when the 11^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to Florida laws that require small groups to comply with a host of burdensome regulations simply to speak to the public about ballot issues. The lawsuit, Worley v. Florida Secretary of State, involved a challenge to “political committee” requirements, regulations that the U.S. Supreme Court has held are unconstitutionally burdensome even for corporations and unions.

Friday’s ruling upheld applying these laws to plaintiffs Nathan Worley, Pat Wayman and John Scolaro, a group of friends from Sarasota, Fla., who in 2010 wanted to spend $600 on radio ads urging the defeat of a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution. Because Florida’s political committee requirements apply to groups that spend as little as $500 on speech, the three were unable to run their ads. The ruling also upheld a requirement that political committees include a lengthy disclaimer in their political advertisements.

Paul Sherman, Institute for Justice attorney and lead counsel in the case said, “The 11^th Circuit’s ruling means that speech by grassroots groups in Florida remains subject to greater regulation than speech by ExxonMobil or the AFL-CIO. This is yet another example of how complicated, unnecessary and unconstitutional campaign-finance laws are pushing ordinary people out of the political debate.”

Key to the 11^th Circuit’s decision was its rejection of the plaintiffs’ argument that Florida’s campaign-finance laws cannot constitutionally be applied to small groups like Nathan, Pat and John. The court refused to rule on that claim, citing the hypothetical possibility that the group of three friends might receive million-dollar contributions in a future election.

IJ client Nathan Worley said, “The idea that we could have raised $1 million is just crazy. We didn’t have the time or the ability to figure out Florida’s campaign-finance laws, let alone raise that kind of money. We’re just ordinary people who wanted to pool a small amount to get our message out there.”

Friday’s ruling does not discuss evidence—including statements by the government’s own expert—showing that Florida’s laws produce few, if any, benefits for the public. The ruling also made no mention of evidence that Florida’s campaign-finance laws are subject to abuse. The Florida Elections Commission testified during the case that 98 percent of the complaints they receive are “politically motivated,” and are often filed by people seeking “to punish their political opponent.”

“The 11^th Circuit simply ignored the overwhelming evidence that Florida’s political committee laws produce no public benefits and serve mainly as weapons to be used against political opponents,” said Sherman. “The cost of this judicial abdication is that ordinary Floridians are far less likely to get involved in the important issues of the day.”

IJ Senior Attorney Bert Gall said, “This ruling shows the critical need for judicial engagement, a willingness on the part of the judiciary to look at the facts and see how these laws silence grassroots speech by ordinary people. It’s appalling that the court would ignore those facts and uphold laws that threaten citizens with civil and criminal penalties simply for speaking out.”

The plaintiffs have until July 5to seek rehearing by the full 11^th Circuit, or until September 12to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

IJ Research report, Keep Out: How State Campaign Finance Laws Erect Barriers to Entry for Political Entrepreneurs

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE

Founded in 1991, the Institute for Justice is what a civil liberties law firm should be. As the national law firm for liberty, we stick to a clear mission engaging in cutting-edge litigation and advocacy both in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion on behalf of individuals whose most basic rights are denied by the government. Our four pillars of litigation are private property, economic liberty, free speech and school choice. Simply put, we seek a rule of law under which individuals can control their destinies as free and responsible members of society.

Is ABC’s “The Fosters” pushing a political agenda?

June 19, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News, Video/by Dr. Rich Swier

While sitting in a movie theatre recently a WDW reader noticed an on screen ad promoting the new ABC Family series The Fosters. The ad states the Fosters are the “new American family”.

But is it and is ABC Family pushing a political agenda?

The Fosters is an American drama series on ABC Family that premiered on June 3, 2013. Produced by Jennifer Lopez and her production company Nuyorican Productions, the series follows the lives of the Foster family, an interracial lesbian couple who are raising biological and adoptive children together.

A June 14, 2013 Investor’s Business Daily editorial states:

Nearly half a century after the 1965 Moynihan Report on black family disintegration, a prominent liberal think tank finds things “have only grown worse.” Its clueless recommendation: more government.

The Urban Institute, working with the Albany-based Fathers Incorporated, last week released “The Moynihan Report Revisited.” It re-examines the black family since LBJ Labor Department sociologist and eventual Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan analyzed the “tangle of pathologies” afflicting black America. The institute’s report laments that “the statistics that so alarmed Moynihan in the 1960s have only grown worse, not only for blacks, but for whites and Hispanics as well.”

White illegitimacy has reached the rate of black illegitimacy of the 1960s, while black out-of-wedlock births “tripled between the early 1960s and 2009, remaining far higher than the percentage of white children born to unmarried mothers.”

Republican US Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez campaigns at Gay Pride Week event

June 14, 2013/in Culture War, Elections, Featured, News, Politics/by Dr. Rich Swier

Mass Resistance reports:

Gabriel Gomez is the GOP candidate for the US Senate in the June 25 special election to replace John Kerry. In the primary, he was the big favorite of the national GOP establishment. They said Gomez represents the future of the Party. Gomez’s slogan is that he’s going to be “a new kind of Republican.”

No Republican candidate for US Senate has ever (to our knowledge) campaigned for office by having a booth at a Gay Pride festival.

Republican US Senate Candidate Gabriel Gomez (pictured above third from left) stands outside of his booth at the “Gay Pride” Celebration. Seated at the booth getting his photo taken by woman is Gomez’s 8-year-old son. [MassResistance photo]

This past weekend’s Gay Pride Parade went through downtown Boston and ended at City Hall Plaza, where, as in past years, a huge “Gay Celebration” was held with numerous booths.

Not many politicians of any party buy a booth at this event. But Gabriel Gomez not only had a booth, but he was there to greet people personally. And he brought his eight-year-old son to help run the booth, along with at least one very pro-GLBT campaign worker.

Diversity? No problem. Not too far away was the booth for the Bisexual Resource Center. [Mass-Resistance photo]

This “Celebration” has a very “diverse” atmosphere. Gomez’s booth was not far from a booth featuring gay sex toys, a sado-masochism booth, and several booths giving out condoms and anal lubricant.

Earlier in the week, Gomez released a statement saying that he if elected he intended to be considered “a pain in the butt” to the Republican Party, and that he “will go to work on them” to “support allowing two people to get married, whether they are gay or straight.”

This is not surprising given that Gomez had supported Obama in 2008 and had donated $500 to the Obama campaign, and said he supported Obama’s positions on immigration and gun control. Gomez also gave $1,000 to ultra-liberal U.S. Senate candidate Alan Khazei. (Alan Khazei hired gay activist Kevin Jennings to run his non-profit group.)

On the abortion issue, Gomez claims to be “personally pro-life” but says that Roe v Wade is “settled law” and he would do nothing to take away a woman’s right to an abortion.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on MassResistance.org.

Police Shut Down the Clinic of Late-Term Abortionist James Pendergraft in Orlando

June 14, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News/by Dr. Rich Swier

Column courtesy of LIFENEWS.COM – authored by Steven Ertelt

Police today shut down a late-term abortion clinic in Orlando, Florida and seized and removed property from the building as a helpless abortion practitioner could only stand by and watch.

James Scott Pendergraft, whose medical license has been suspended a fifth time, stood in the background (right) as police and other officials taped off his abortion clinic with crime tape and locked him out of the building.

Operation Rescue, a pro-life group that has closely monitored Pendergraft, provided LifeNews with more details on the closure of the Orlando Women’s Center abortion clinic:

We have also confirmed that the abortion clinic, the Flagship office of James Scott Pendergraft IV’s five office abortion chain, has been closed.

Michelle Herzog of Pro-life Action Ministries told Operation Rescue she witnessed authorities removing one of the abortion tables and other abortion equipment and loading it into a large moving truck.

Pendergraft was hit with a massive In 2011, Pendergraft was hit with a whopping civil medical malpractice judgment of $36,737,660.16 in compensatory and punitive damages in a case involving a botched 20 week abortion that resulted in the live birth of a child physically damaged by Pendergraft’s incompetent abortion process amid what was described as “third world conditions” with virtually no counseling. He has refused to pay the judgment.

It is thought, but not yet confirmed, that the seizure may be related to that judgment.

A clinic receptionist is telling callers the Orlando Women’s Center is “closed for maintenance” and are unsure whether the clinic will reopen at this time.

In April, the Florida Board of Medicine took action to suspend the medical license of late-term abortionist Pendergraft after he failed to pay the Board fines from a previous disciplinary action that totaled over $120,000.

The settlement agreement reached between the Board and Pendergraft orders that his medical license “shall be indefinitely suspended until such time as [Pendergraft] complies” with the order to pay his fines.

This is the fifth time that Pendergraft’s medical license has been suspended by the Florida Board of Medicine. He continues to operate five abortion clinics in Florida, primarily in the Orlando area.

The fines resulted from a 2010 case where Pendergraft was heavily fined and placed on suspension related to a 2006 botched elective 19-week abortion.

Patient S.B went to Pendergraft for the second trimester abortion on Feb. 3, 2006. He prescribed doses of Cytotec, a drug that is known to cause severe and unpredictable uterine contractions and sent her home for three days to take the medication on her own. Pendergraft did not have a valid DEA number at the time.

When S.B. returned to the clinic, he further illegally administered doses of Cytotec, Demerol, and Phenergan. He attempted the abortion before the patient was adequately dilated, lacerating her cervix and sending her to the hospital where she underwent an emergency hysterectomy.

At the hospital, staff delivered the remains of S.B.’s baby and found that it was missing a lower limb. Efforts were made to locate the limb in the abdominal cavity to no avail. There were no indications on the patient’s chart. Later, it was discovered that the limb had been removed at the clinic. This lack of documentation caused issues in providing the patient with proper emergency care.

Pendergraft was suspended and ordered to pay fines in excess of $122,000. Pendergraft failed to pay, resulting in another disciplinary case attempting to seek payment. Finally, Friday’s action suspended his license until further notice.

The US Air Force declares war on Christianity

June 11, 2013/in Culture War, Featured/by Dr. Rich Swier

It appears that Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley has created the most hostile anti-religious environment in the history of the United States military. Recent events impacting those serving in the US Air Force amounts to a declaration of war against Christianity according to the American Family Association.

Is the Air Force mimicking the IRS attack on Christians and Jews?

Tim Wildmon, President American Family Association, notes, “Under Donley, Air Force leaders have repeatedly submitted to the demands of the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers (MAAF). Behind MAAF leader Mikey Weinstein’s malevolent demands, the Air Force can’t seem to rid itself of anything religious fast enough.”

The most recent evidence of this came just last month. Within one hour of hearing from Weinstein, the Air Force caved to his demand to remove an inspirational painting from a base dining hall because it included a reference to Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Wildmon states, “By taking his orders from Weinstein, Secretary Donley’s anti-religious actions clearly demonstrate that his leadership style undermines the moral fitness of our nation’s Air Force.”

The following are examples of anti-Christian actions provided by AFA:

• June 2013 – Air Force personnel received a memo ordering them to not look at news stories related to the rash of President Obama’s recent scandals. Although not specifically religious, it does infringe on liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.
• May 2013 – An Air Force Base was ordered to remove a video tribute to First Sergeants because it mentioned the word “God.”‘ You can see the video below.
• April 2012 – The Air Force removed the word “Bible” from its list of items to be provided in Air Force-approved lodging facilities. This will almost certainly result in the eventual removal of Bibles themselves from Air Base hotels or any hotel that does business with the Air Force.
• February 2012 – The Air Force removed the word “God” from the logo of its Rapid Capabilities Office after receiving a threatening letter from MAAF.
• November 2011 – The Air Force Academy dropped “Operation Christmas Child“ after a single complaint from an atheist group. The Air Force apologized to the atheists and ordered chaplains to no longer use official mail to promote the charity.

“Under Secretary Donley, the Air Force has become an easy target for atheists, because they know he and the Air Force will submit to their anti-religious, anti-Christian demands without a fight,” explains Wildmon.

US War Games target Christians and Evangelicals as “The Enemy”

June 6, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, National Security, News, Policy, Regulation/by Dr. Rich Swier

Todd Starnes from Fox News Radio reports, “A War Games scenario at Fort Leavenworth that identified Christian groups and Evangelical groups as being potential threats.” Fort Leavenworth is home of the Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC). The CGSC is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, inter-agency representatives, and international military officers.

The college prepares US Army Majors and Lieutenant Colonels for battalion and higher command assignments and division and higher level staff positions.

Starnes also reports:

A 2009 Dept. of Homeland Security memorandum that identified future threats to national security coming from Evangelicals and pro-life groups;
A West Point study released by the U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center that linked pro-lifers to terrorism;
A senior military official at Fort Campbell sent out a lengthy email officially instructing officers to recognize “the religious right in America” as a “domestic hate group” akin to the KKK and Neo-Nazis because of its opposition to homosexual behavior.

According to Starnes, “The House Armed Services Committee is considering a religious liberty amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday over fears the military is punishing soldiers for expressing their religious faith.”

Marines praying on battlefield

“The men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms should not have their own religious freedom jeopardized during their military service,” said Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), who authored the amendment.

Other incidents reported by Starnes include:

A service member received a “severe and possibly career-ending reprimand” for expressing his faith’s religious position about homosexuality in a personal religious blog.
An enlisted service member received a career-ending punishment for sending personal invitations to his promotion party which mentioned that he would be providing Chick-fil-A sandwiches due to his respect for the Defense of Marriage Act.
An Air Force officer was told to remove a Bible from his desk because it might offend someone. The officer had kept the Bible on the desk for 18 years;
A chaplain was relieved of his command over a military chapel because, consistent with DOMA’s definition of marriage, he could not allow same-sex weddings to take place in the chapel.
An enlisted service member was threatened and denied promotion by a senior NCO for expressing – during a personal conversation – his religious belief in support of traditional marriage.
Last month Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer audience that religious liberty was being threatened by Pentagon lawyers and service members are being told to hide their faith in Christ.“Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith,” he said.

Governor Scott Signs “Infants Born Alive” Legislation

June 5, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News, Policy, Politics/by Dr. Rich Swier

Cantonment, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott signed HB 1139 to grant infants who survive abortion procedures the same rights as infants born naturally. Governor Scott was joined by First Lady Ann Scott and pro-life supporters from across the state to sign this bill at Florida Baptist Children’s Home in Cantonment.

Governor Scott said, “As a father and grandfather, there is nothing more precious or special than welcoming a new child into this world and by signing this bill, we are protecting the most vulnerable among us and affirming their rights as individuals. This legislation ensures common-sense measures are taken to help care for the babies who survive abortion procedures and grants those infants the same rights as infants who are born naturally.

“I also want to applaud bill sponsors Senator Anitere Flores and Representative Cary Pigman for their commitment to ensuring this bill became law. Representative Pigman is a U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel who is currently deployed in Kuwait and proudly serving our nation. I was pleased he was able to join our event today via Skype so we could recognize his hard work on this legislation and for his selfless service to our nation.”

Senator Anitere Flores said, “This legislation is about protecting the sanctity of life, and with the signing of this bill today, Governor Scott is fighting for those most vulnerable-this is a victory for Florida.”

Representative Cary Pigman said, “I was pleased to sponsor this important legislation this year and proud that Governor Scott is protecting the lives of those most vulnerable.”

Representative Clay Ingram said, “Governor Scott is committed to protecting those most vulnerable, and with the signing of today’s legislation, he is making sure all babies are treated fairly and with dignity.”

Representative Matt Gaetz said, “I applaud the Governor for standing up for children. It’s amazing to me that something like this needed action by the Legislature, but I’m glad we took important steps forward in protecting life.”

Sheila Hopkins, Director for Social Concerns/Respect Life of the Florida Catholic Conference said, “The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops applauds Governor Scott for protecting the life and human dignity of children born alive during or after an abortion. It is our duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable in society and this legislation does exactly that. Thank you Governor Scott.”

Dr. Jerry Haag, President of Florida Baptist Children’s Home said, “On behalf of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes, we applaud Governor Scott’s commitment to protecting the unborn. Our children are our most sacred treasures and it is imperative that all children- those born and unborn- are valued and treated fairly.”

John Stemberger, President of the Florida Family Policy Council said, “The Florida Family Policy Council supports Governor Scott’s commitment to life and applauds him on signing this legislation. We affirm with Governor the first principle that all life, born and unborn, has intrinsic worth and value and deserves to be protected. This is a great human rights victory for the Sunshine State.”

Florida Atheists Dedicating Courthouse Monument to Atheism

June 3, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News/by Dr. Rich Swier

Paige Perkins reports:

“A Florida atheist group is planning to unveil a 1500-pound granite bench at the Bradford County courthouse praising atheism. This action comes in response to the large sculpture of the Ten Commandments that was placed at the courthouse last year. Community Men’s Fellowship donated that monument and atheist groups instantly went on the attack, saying it made them feel like second-class citizens. The group won the right to erect their own monument in a settlement.”

Gallup Poll Shows American Moral Pessimism

May 24, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News/by Dr. Rich Swier

Gallup asked if the state of moral values in America is “getting better” or “worse,” 72% of Americans responded “worse.”

Although married, churchgoing, or Republican Americans were the most negative, Gallup pointed out, “No major demographic group evaluates moral values positively overall.”

But here’s the irony: Many of the Americans who recognize our moral problems are also the quickest to justify them.

As a country, we have a higher tolerance than ever for divorce (68% believe it’s morally acceptable), premarital sex (63%), out-of-wedlock births (60%), and homosexual behavior (59%). On two explosive issues–human cloning and polygamy–the public’s support has actually doubled. Believe it or not, more Americans now have a problem with “wearing fur” (59%) than aborting a human life (42%). Only adultery lost ground in the battle over values–falling just a single point, from 7% approval to 6%.

Gallup’s Bottom Line:

Last year, Gallup asked Americans to give their views on the most important problem with the state of moral values. Americans were more likely to cite a lack of respect or tolerance for other people than divisive political and social issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage. So their sour outlook on U.S. values may have more to do with basic matters of civility than with the more controversial moral issues that currently divide Americans.

Southern Baptist Convention rejects the Boy Scout’s proposed compromise

May 21, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News, Policy/by Dr. Rich Swier

The national board of directors for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) met on February 6, 2013 with intentions of voting on whether to allow homosexuals to have supervisory roles over boys. The board declined to make a decision at that time and decided to allow 1,400 scout officials around the country to make this important decision at the 2013 National Annual Meeting scheduled for May 22–24 in Grapevine, Texas.

The Boys Scouts of America will consider a compromise on May 22, 2013 that would drop the organization’s ban on admitting youth who are open or avowed homosexuals. National officials tentatively plans to keep the ban on homosexual scoutmasters. A Tampa BSA leader notes that delegates to the convention are required to vote in accordance with the position of their regional members. A recent poll of BSA members indicated that 61% are against this change in policy.

The Associated Baptist Press reports “The head of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission wrote Scout officials on May 15 to reiterate the denomination’s “strident opposition” to dropping the organization’s ban on admitting youth “who are open or avowed homosexuals.” Southern Baptist churches presently comprise a large number of the Scouting units chartered by the faith community. The Southern Baptist Convention holds that:

The proposed policy change is “a serious departure from the BSA’s moral foundation and traditional values.”
Including gays would be inconsistent with the Scout Oath “to keep myself … morally straight.”
By introducing homosexual identification into Scouting, the Boy Scouts would effectively require church-sponsored Scouting units to endorse that which they consider incompatible with Scripture.” Southern Baptists do not believe embracing same-sex orientation is biblically acceptable.
Allowing openly homosexual youth into Scouting would cause many Southern Baptist churches, as well as many churches from other denominations, to withdraw their sponsorship rather than compromise their convictions. Already, numerous churches have told us of their intent to do so.

According to the Florida Family Association, “Changing the policy to allow open homosexual scouts erroneously validates the lifestyle before millions of boys. Changing the policy in effect deletes the principle and oath commitment to ‘keep myself … morally straight’. It is inappropriate and irrational to change the Boy Scouts century old values and standards that millions of boys follow just to accommodate the very few who are demanding the change.”

Will George Zimmerman get a fair trial?

May 20, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News/by Dr. Rich Swier

President Obama talked about “racism” at Morehouse College this weekend. The timing is interesting because the trial of George Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin in February 2012, will begin in June. Zimmerman is Hispanic and Martin was black.

President Obama stated at Morehouse, “We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. Growing up, I made quite a few myself. Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years, is there’s no longer any room for excuses.”

President Obama interjected himself into the Zimmerman case when he said that if he had a son he would “look like Trayvon”.

Clash Daily reports, “State prosecutors in the case against George Zimmerman are pushing to keep Zimmerman’s attorneys from bringing testimony about Trayvon Martin’s past during the trial.”

Screen capture from Trayvon Martin’s social media site courtesy Clash Daily

“The state said in motions filed on Friday they want to prevent Zimmerman’s attorneys from bringing up Martin’s personal life, including his school records, previous suspension from school, fights, text messages sent prior to his death unless related to case and his social media use. The motion also says the state wants to prevent the defense from using Martin’s toxicology report, which showed the level of marijuana in Martin’s blood the night he was shot and killed,” notes Clash Daily.

Yahoo News reports:

George Zimmerman has waived his right to a pretrial hearing over whether he should be acquitted of murder charges under Florida’s “stand your ground” law.

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who’s charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, said Tuesday in court that he did not want the preliminary hearing, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The surprising move by Zimmerman’s legal team means the controversial case will go straight to trial in early June.

Zimmerman had the right under Florida’s 7-year-old “stand your ground” law to argue to the judge in a special hearing without a jury that he’s immune from both civil and criminal prosecution. The law,versions of which are on the books in 20 states, says people who have a reasonable belief their lives are in danger in a public place can harm an attacker without first attempting to retreat.

The 29-year-old says he acted in self defense when Martin attacked him on Feb. 26, 2012. Prosecutors say Zimmerman profiled Martin, pursuing him around the neighborhood, and then confronting and killing him with his gun.

This Florida case grabbed national political and media attention when first reported. Some Sanford residents say the Zimmerman case reflects a larger issue of black racial profiling by police.

Governor Rick Scott commissioned a task force to review Florida’s stand your ground law. According to the Miami-Herald, “A 19-member task force commissioned by Gov. Rick Scott to review Florida’s Stand Your Ground law has put out its final report, largely voicing support for the law. The task force made a handful of recommendations for the Legislature, but began the report by stating that, at its core, the self-defense law is fine as it is.”

Abortion Provider Ad: ‘Your Baby Will Thank You’

May 18, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, News/by Dr. Rich Swier

Hat tip to Kristi Burton Brown from LiveActionNews.org, “The other day, I was in the middle of doing research online when I stumbled across a Planned Parenthood ad. Planned Parenthood, over the years, has run some pretty shocking ad campaigns. Without a doubt, this one is the worst I’ve ever seen: This ad proves that insanity can indeed reach new heights.”

New Planned Parenthood banner ad:

Question: How can a dead baby thank its mother?

Lauren Enk from the Media Research Center writes, “Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion mill, just launched a decidedly strange new advertisement… The self-described ‘sexual and reproductive health care provider’ recently put out a banner ad in which a picture of a smiling mother toting a happy baby is captioned by the words “YOUR BABY WILL THANK YOU.”

“Planned P’s typical line of business is anti-life, pregnancy-terminating services, so at first it looks a little odd to suggest your baby would thank you for dropping by one of their clinics. But the ad actually attempts to shift the focus away from their abortion services to their other lines of work which haven’t been getting such gruesome negative attention lately, like birth control and other ‘family planning’ options’, notes Enk.

Alisa LaPolt Snow, Florida Planned Parenthood lobbyist.

Enk states, “Either way, and however loony, the new ad is a fairly desperate attempt to distract from Planned Parenthood’s blind-eye policy towards the children murdered in the womb at the hands of their abortionists. Even the cheerful ad looks downright absurd seen alongside the ghastly accounts about Gosnell. And it’s grimly ironic that a lobbyist for the ‘Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates told the state legislature in March that the fate of an infant born alive in a ‘botched abortion’ ‘should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician’.” In other words, the baby, a living, breathing, child, should have no legal protection from infanticide. Thanks Mom!”

“Ninety-eight percent of the services Planned Parenthood gives pregnant women are abortion (and it performed more than 650,000 of them in 2008 – 2009). What’s more, the national organization has mandated that all its affiliates provide abortions, and even encourages clinics to increase the number of abortions they provide. But when you have a PR problem and tax-payers are getting queasy about subsidizing your operation, you emphasize the much-nicer sounding ‘reproductive health,’ laughable as it may be,” reports Enk.

New revelations about Life Dynamics of Denton, Texas an abortion provider may be more grisly than what has been found in the case of former abortion provider and now convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell Gosnell remains unrepentant. Read more about the Texas case by clicking here. Watch this video about Life Dynamics of Denton, TX:

US Attorney General Eric Holder on the enforcement of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act passed in 2002:

Department of Education to delete terms ‘mother’ and ‘father’

May 11, 2013/in Culture War, Education, Featured, News/by Dr. Rich Swier

Oliver Darcy from Campus Reform reports:

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has announced it will replace “gender specific terms like ‘mother’ and father’” in the 2014-2015 federal student aid form with neutral language.

The terms “mother” and “father” will no longer be used on the Federal Application for Student Aid.

The new language, “parent one” and “parent two,” is aimed at accommodating students who have grown up in gay households and have either two mothers or two fathers, according to a statement released by the DOE late last month.

“All students should be able to apply for federal student aid within a system that incorporates their unique family dynamics,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in the press release.

The new language will “provide an inclusive form that reflects the diversity of American families,” he added.

According to Duncan, “gender-specific terms also fail to capture income and other information from one parent when a student’s parents are in a same-sex marriage under state law but not federally recognized under the Defense of Marriage Act.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education did not return calls for comment from Campus Reform.

The Gang of Eight Immigration Bill, Explained in One Info-graphic

May 3, 2013/in Culture War, Featured, Immigration, News, Policy, Politics/by Dr. Rich Swier

The Heritage Foundation reports, “Senators return to Washington next week to debate the Gang of Eight’s comprehensive immigration bill. Heritage President Jim DeMint has said the bill is ‘unfair, it costs too much, and it’s going to make the problem worse’.”

The below video is testimony before the US Senate by the ICE Union Chief, Chris Crane, in his testimony on the 884 page new Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744). The ICE Union won an initial court victory in its lawsuit against the Obama Administration. Federal Judge Federal Judge Reed O’Connor told the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they had no power to refuse to deport illegal aliens.

Crane testifies before the Senate expressing his concern that law enforcement was shut out of the negotiations on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

Crane testified the Act is flawed as currently written because it:

(1) does not provide for tamper proof Federal ID cards to keep track of illegal aliens

(2) does not have any provision to arrest and remove 400,000 criminal Illegal Aliens who are fugitives from justice with felony warrants

(3) does not deal with the inability of the federal government’s bureaucracy to process 18+ million Illegal aliens when the federal government hasn’t even been able to process 900,000 Veterans disability claims over a 4 year period

(4) does nothing to make Universities report (which should be under threat of felony criminal charges) the names and locations of the hundreds of thousands foreign students like the terrorists who were involved in the Boston bombing who no longer attend college classes

(5) does nothing to provide a means to cover the $6 trillion cost of the flawed 884 page Act according to research by the Heritage Foundation (the Senate Bill intentionally misled the American people by saying it would cost $22.5 billion)

(6) doesn’t cover the cost because the Senate bill provides for charging each of the 18+ million illegal aliens $500.00 when the real cost per illegal is $335,000.00

(7) intentionally misleads the American people by saying the Act would not be enacted until the border was secured when there is no provision to guarantee the border is secure after 29 years of failed promise (THE ONLY ORGANIZATION THAT CAN BE TRUSTED TO VERIFY THE BORDER HAS BEEN CLOSED IS THE ICE UNION)

(8) flagrantly discriminates against nearly 4 million unemployed Veterans by giving employers a $3000 tax credit for employing illegal aliens and relieves them from having to cover illegal aliens under the Obama Health Care law without giving those same benefits to unemployed US citizens

(9) does absolutely nothing to locate the many terrorists in the US among the 18+ million illegal aliens like the Chechen terrorists, the Times Square bomber, the first World Trade Union bombers in 1993, and Major Hassan who had all been affected by the Islam jihadists outreach program underway in the US by remaining under the radar scope of CIA and the FBI’s Watch Lists (the requirement in the Act for a tamper proof Federal ID card requiring fingerprints would help locate those terrorist suspects)

(10) does not provide provisions to prevent 80 million unskilled relatives of the 18+ million illegal aliens form coming into the US which would destroy the fragile US Welfare system & bankrupt the Republic

(11) does not have a provision to deport anyone who fails in their application (Mohammed Salameh who applied for amnesty in 1984 but was turned down was a co-conspirator in the in the first World Trade Center attack in 1993)

(12) does not provide annual quotas to process applicants so the crush of applicants won’t bring the process to a full stop, and does not have provisions in it to do a thorough background investigation of applicant from high threat countries/regions.

Heritage put together an info-graphic that explains some of the major problems with a ‘comprehensive’ approach to immigration reform. Forward this to a friend to share these concerns.

Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad.

Soldiers of faith told Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

May 2, 2013/in Culture War, Must Read, News, Policy, Regulation/by Dr. Rich Swier

Florida has twenty-one military installations, and is home to U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB in Tampa. Florida has over 1.6 million veterans who reside in the state. The military is a major factor in Florida’ economy.

The morale and welfare of those active duty military in Florida is of importance to the national security of the nation. So why has the U.S. military become a social change petri dish?

Ken Klukowski from Breitbart reports, “The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense…Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis…”.

Klukowski reported in an earlier column, “‘Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.’ Those words were recently written by Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), in a column he wrote for the Huffington Post. Weinstein will be a consultant to the Pentagon to develop new policies on religious tolerance, including a policy for court-martialing military chaplains who share the Christian Gospel during spiritual counseling of American troops.”

“Weinstein then endorses the ultra-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), who publishes a list of “hate groups.” Alongside truly deplorable organizations like the KKK, the SPLC’s list includes a host of traditional Christian organizations (for their support of traditional marriage) and Tea Party organizations (for supporting limited government). Weinstein says SPLC correctly labels them all as ‘hate groups’,” writes Klukowski.

Klukowski states, “This regulation would severely limit expressions of faith in the military, even on a one-to-one basis between close friends. It could also effectively abolish the position of chaplain in the military, as it would not allow chaplains (or any service members, for that matter), to say anything about their faith that others say led them to think they were being encouraged to make faith part of their life. It’s difficult to imagine how a member of the clergy could give spiritual counseling without saying anything that might be perceived in that fashion.”

In response to the Pentagon’s plans, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who is now executive vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC), said on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning:

It’s a matter of what do they mean by “proselytizing.” …I think they’ve got their definitions a little confused. If you’re talking about coercion that’s one thing, but if you’re talking about the free exercise of our faith as individual soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, especially for the chaplains, they I think the worst thing we can do is stop the ability for a soldier to be able to exercise his faith.”

The FRC was attacked by domestic terrorist Floyd Lee Corkins II who used the SPLC list of hate groups to pick his targets. “Southern Poverty Law lists anti-gay groups,” Corkins tells interrogators in the below video, which FRC obtained from the FBI. “I found them online, did a little research, went to the website, stuff like that.”