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Week Ending November 11, 2005
November 13, 2005 7:46PM EST


LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 11, 2005

HOUSE IN SESSION / SENATE IN SESSION

Please take a moment to pray for our Veterens on this special day designated for them! (Click for Tribute)

THE PRESIDENT

THE ELECTIONS

Newspapers across the nation were ablaze this week with stories on how the "unpopularity" of President George W. Bush had caused Democrats to be triumphant in midterm elections. The New York Times and Washington Post gloated over the fact that in Virginia a Democrat governor replaced a Democrat governor and in New Jersey a Democrat governor replaced a Democrat governor. Even the conservative Washington Times laid the loss in Virginia at the feet of President Bush. Reality is a little different: I live in Virginia which allows its governors to serve only one term of four years. If a governor does a good job, the people normally take his word for who should replace him. Governor Mark Warner, although a Democrat, was fairly conservative fiscally and kept Virginia's financial house well ordered during a recession. Despite the ravings of the anti-tax lobby led by Grover Norquist, Governor Mark Warner is leaving office with a 70% approval rating and with over half of Republicans saying he did at least an OK job as governor. Bush had little or nothing to do with the defeat of the Republican who, in my view, ran a negative and poorly organized campaign.

New Jersey is a deep blue state and the fact that the Republican candidate for governor received over 45% of the vote is a miracle in itself, especially when one considers that the Democrat, US Senator Jon Corzine, spent tens of millions of his own dollars to buy the election. The labor union headed by his mistress fought hard to get him in office as well. Keep an eye on this rich nut ... he spent $70 million of his own money just four years ago to run for the Senate. He served only four years of his six year term before he spent perhaps another $70 million to become governor of New Jersey. Why? Because it is virtually impossible for a Senator to win a Presidential nomination unless he has shown executive experience such as running a state as governor. In two years he is going to try to buy the White House and if he can't get that he will try to buy the number two slot as Vice President. This man is rich, corrupt, unstable and very dangerous. He has no regard for the rule of law and believes he can buy anything with cash. If he winds up in the White House we could be looking at something very close to a dictatorship. You are warned!

While the media claims that Bush "lost" these two governorships, they did not give him any credit for the pro-family Marriage Amendment to the Texas constitution passing by a whopping 72% of the voters, including 75% of black and Hispanic voters. Texas now becomes the 19th state to change its constitution to reflect the will of the people that marriage should be between one man and one woman. These midterm elections were for the most part local in nature and did not reflect a swing to the Democrats ..... HOWEVER .... the mood of the people has clearly turned against the Republican Congress that just cannot seem to keep promises anymore! On Thursday the Republican majority could not muster the votes to bring down gasoline prices by allowing known oil and natural gas reserves to be harvested in the United States. This means oil company profits will now be used for oil exploration in Russian and Arab nations, further hurting our balance of trade. The congressional elections next year may not be kind to the Republicans if they can't get back on track and act like Republicans. The problem is leadership. With Majority Leader Tom DeLay side tracked by legal problems in Texas and Speaker Hastert being virtually invisible, no one can find a Republican leader to follow.

THE COURT

Judge Samuel A. Alito will probably be confirmed to the Supreme Court with not much of a fight. The red faced Senator from Massachusetts will probably holler and shout, but key Democrat Senators have said a filibuster is "unlikely" and have actually given some praise for Alito. Senator Conrad (D-ND) said that while Alito is a conservative, he is "...in the broad mainstream of American jurisprudence." (Click here for Washington Times story) Everyone thought the "big battle" would be over the nomination of John Roberts and it wasn't. Now it looks like Samuel Alito will not be the "big battle." Remember that although Alito replaces O'Connor who was "moderate," this is still a case of a Republican replacing a Republican. Next summer when far left-wing Justice John Paul Stevens steps down, there will be a "big battle" regardless of who Bush appoints. Stevens is one of the original Roe v Wade justices.

THE CONGRESS

CONGRESS WANTS TO SPLIT 9th CIRCUIT

Even before the 9th Circuit Court of appeals told American parents they had no rights when it came to their children's education, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) had introduced the Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act or CARMA (S. 1845), which is designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the court by reducing its size and creating a new Twelfth Circuit. CARMA was also co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Now the House also is making some effort to split up the out-of-control 9th Circuit Court as well. Language has been introduced in the House Reconciliation Bill which would create a 12th District Court taking over virtually everything from the 9th except California, Hawaii and Guam. This needs to be done to protect the rights of all Americans from an out-of-control court that is too large and too powerful. Please contact your congressman and Senators about splitting the 9th Circuit Court today.

MARRIAGE

On Wednesday, November 9th the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution moved forward Senator Sam Brownback's Marriage Protection Amendment to the Constitution. The vote was 5 to 4 in favor of the Amendment, whose wording is similar to the Amendments to 19 state constitutions protecting marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Senator Brownback, who is chairman of the subcommittee said, "Every state that has taken up the issue has voted to protect marriage, and another state was added to the growing list yesterday. The American people support protecting marriage, and it's important that we debate this amendment in the Senate and give it due consideration through the full legislative process. This is an issue that none of us felt needed discussion a few years ago, but judicial activism that contradicts the will of the people makes this a pressing issue. We should act as soon as possible to protect traditional marriage." The Amendment now goes before the full Judiciary Committee.

ENERGY

Liberal Republican Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH) led a group of congressmen who forced the Republican House leadership to abandon an effort to allow for oil exploration ANWR in Alaska. The New Hampshire Republican said he wanted to "preserve" the wilderness of Alaska even though he has never been there. What does he want to protect? An area of the a wilderness preserve that would be the size of a postage stamp on the front page of a newspaper. What does this protection do? First it costs lots of American jobs both directly and indirectly. The oil has to come from somewhere, so Exxon, BP, Shell etc. will take their profits and use them to drill for oil in Africa and Asia instead. Because the oil they drill for will be coming from overseas our trade deficit will widen even more. And who is it we are "preserving" the Arctic wilderness for? There is not even one caribou per square mile. Except for some nutty environmentalists who go there to take photos for propaganda against drilling oil wells, no one ever sees this place because it has no roads and the ice packs sometimes shift. Even in the summer the temperatures can go to 40 degrees below zero. The New Hampshire liberal, however, has no problem with oil rigs next door to a Walmart in Kansas or a cemetery in Los Angeles. He does not care about the environment people live in, but he does care about a few caribou no one ever gets to see. As a result of Congressman Bass' actions and those of his liberal Republican buddies, all of us will pay higher prices at the pump for decades. But don't feel bad for him; Senator Ted Kennedy will be sending him a thank you card.

CARE DAY

Religious Freedom Coalition's, Executive Director Peggy Birchfield participated on Tuesday on Capitol Hill in the Congressional C.A.R.E. Day to promote charitable giving and tax reform.. Over 60 charitable, philanthropic and other non-profit groups joined together for the first Congressional CARE day to call on Congress to pass the C.A.R.E. Act (S1780-Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment Act) sponsored by Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Senator Joseph Lieberman (D- CT). The CARE Act would allow low-to-moderate income Americans to receive tax incentives for their giving. Research shows that Americans with low-to-moderate incomes give more than individuals with a higher income, even though they are less likely to be able to itemize tax deductions. This legislation would provide several billion dollars in new tax incentives for charitable contributions. Peggy was a key leader in visiting many Senate offices with a group of visiting representatives of other conservative organizations to discuss the upcoming vote and to urge the Senators to become co-sponsors of this important legislation. Peggy visited, among others, the offices of Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

DECENCY

Congressman Frederick Upton (R-MI) has pushed through his Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 (HR 310) that increases fines for instances of indecency on broadcast media from $27,500 per instance to $500,000 per instance. The bill passed committee and was passed by the entire House this year, but has remained in limbo in the Senate. MEANWHILE: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation the number of sex scenes on TV has doubled since 1998. (Click here for story)

MILITARY PRAYER

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) has added an Amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill that would allow military academies to continue to say grace before meals. His measure passed 99-0!

INTERNATIONAL

DON'T TELL ANYONE BUT THE RIOTERS ARE MUSLIMS

The rioters who have been burning down more than 300 towns in France for the past two weeks are "students" and/or "disadvantaged youth." (Click here for Washington Times story ) The American hating president of France, Jacques Chirac, has now offered these "disadvantaged" young persons $35 billion if they will stop the rioting. Most French newspapers fail to mention the rioters are Muslim unless on an inside page of the paper and not on the front page. Even in the United States the liberal media outlets refrain from telling listeners that the two week long riots are centered in the Muslim community. They also fail to report the hatred that is spewed against all Western civilization and democracy from the pulpits of mosques in France. Meanwhile the Islamic Arab media paint the rioters as victims and claim that the rioting and destruction is "justified." (Click here for MEMRI report)

MORE CIVILIANS DIE TO JIHAD

I was just flat out amazed when the CNN news reporter said that it was "unknown" as to what group had bombed three hotels in Amman, Jordan killing dozens and maiming hundreds. The victims were all civilians and most who died were in a wedding party. None of the victims were armed. Who else but Muslims would have done something like this? Does CNN really have to wait for some Jihad group to step forward and confess to them? Apparently so. The liberal media worldwide is so busy beating up on Christians who want to pray quietly that they just don't have the time to criticize Muslims for mass murder.

THE JIHAD IS WW III

In the week since my last update Muslim terrorists have murdered unarmed civilians in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Jordan and Indonesia. Last week I reported that in Bukit Bambu, Indonesia, Muslims beheaded three teenage Christian girls on their way to school. This past week two more Christian teenage girls were murdered by Muslim terrorists, this time in Poso, Indonesia. Both girls were shot in the back of the head execution style. Islam - the religion of peace . By contrast to Islamic Jihad, the Crusades were defensive in nature and their original intent was to free Christians in Jerusalem held in slavery by Muslims. (Click for information on the defensive nature of the Crusades.)

RFC HOSTS JEWISH SETTLEMENT MAYOR

Ron Nachman is the mayor of Ariel, the largest Jewish settlement in Samaria, and he will be the guest of the Religious Freedom Coalition in Washington, DC next week. Ariel has a population of more than 20,000, plus some 10,000 students at the University of Judea and Samaria which is also located there. (Click here for recent report on RFC missions to Ariel.) The mayor is an expert on terrorism, the "separation wall" and the Palestinian Authority, having served in the Israeli parliament. Numerous events have been arranged for Mayor Nachman including private meetings with Senators and congressmen. The Religious Freedom Coalition will host a reception on Thursday evening, November 17, 2005. Details of events will be posted at our Internet site. If you are interested in attending the Thursday evening reception, contact us at events@rfcnet.org or call (202) 543-0300. Tickets are just $25.00

Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land. Donate today!

OLIVE OIL SOAP AVAILABLE ONCE AGAIN

made by Christians in SamariaFor several years the Religious Freedom Coalition has offered 100% olive oil soap handmade by Christian families in Samaria. The men of these families are converts from Islam and have been accused of being "collaborators" with Israel. As a result they have death warrants against them and cannot return to their villages. We have great difficulty in getting soap out of Palestinian controlled areas and into Israel so we can ship it to our Virginia facility and for this reason we must often remove it from our Internet store. Please order a few bars of Peace Soap to help these persecuted Christians. The funds go to them and their families, not to us. Your church can also offer the soap for sale and send the proceeds to the Religious Freedom Coalition. The soap is available to individuals for just $3.95 per bar! To learn more about this handmade olive oil soap click here or on the image.

LIKE THE UPDATES? READ THE CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS - CLICK HERE

HELP GET THE TRUTH IN YOUR LIBRARY! 

Crininal ChristianityMy good friend Janet Folger has a national daily radio show which I have appeared on many times. Her new book, The Criminalization of Christianity , is an absolute must read because it addresses the very issue of stripping God from public view in America. With a new court battle raging over the words "under God" in the Pledge to our flag this book needs to be read by all. The Criminalization of Christianity is probably NOT in your local library and it needs to be there. I have drastically reduced the price to urge you to buy it, read it and then DONATE IT to your local library. Buy a second copy and try to get it into your high school library as well. There are ways to fight back, and this is one of them! Click here or on image for more information.

OUR CHRISTIAN INTERNET STORES

We have two Internet stores: Find one of a kind items at our private online store and thousands of Christian books, CD's and DVD's at our affiliate store! Please help us with our various projects on Capitol Hill and in the Holy Land. Donate today!

Recommend the RFC update to someone! In 2005 we are praying to top the 100,000 subscribers mark and you can help. If this e-mail has been forwarded to you, please subscribe at http://www.rfcnet.org/subscribe.asp 

William J. Murray, Chairman

Religious Freedom Coalition , PO Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013 - (202) 543-0300

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Religious Freedom Coalition * Copyright - 2005



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