Chairman Diane Black Praises Passage of Budget in the House

Source: House Budget Committee

Washington, D.C. - October 9, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- House Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res. 71, the fiscal year 2018 budget resolution—Building a Better America.

“I am proud that the House supported a budget that reflects responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars and reassures the American people that we are committed to effective governing. It is a plan that achieves balance in 10 years, strengthens our military, promotes economic growth and unlocks pro-growth tax reform. While passage of this budget is just one of several steps toward priorities becoming realities, meaningful and lasting reforms cannot be achieved by skipping steps in the process. Today, I am pleased that members of the House continued doing our part by passing a plan for ensuring a bright and better future for generations to come.

Bump Stocks

Washington, D.C. - October 9, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Executive Director of Gun Owners of America (GOA) Erich Pratt issued the following statement on GOA's position on bump stocks:

"Gun Owners of America opposes a ban on bump stocks. Bump stocks were approved by the ATF during the Obama administration to help gun owners with disabilities fire their weapons.  Any type of ban will be ignored by criminals and only serve to disarm honest citizens.  Perhaps that’s why 91 percent of police believe a so-called “assault weapons” ban will have no effect or a negative effect on crime.  And given that 95 percent of cops think that a ban on large capacity magazines would be ineffective in reducing violent crime, it’s hard to imagine they would regard bump stocks any differently.

It's sad to see some Republicans quickly call for a vote on gun control, while delaying a vote on concealed carry reciprocity, H.R. 38. This is bipartisan legislation which will protect concealed carriers while they travel and which has been cosponsored by 212 law makers. If law makers want a vote on bump stocks, they should vote on reciprocity as well."

Many have called the Illinois State Rifle Association office regarding “bump stocks” and other such devices.  These devices were approved by the BATFE under President Obama and Attorney General Holder.  It is the Illinois State Rifle Association’s suggestion that the BATFE review their ruling, open up a comment period and re-address their ruling.

In response to the senseless attack in Las Vegas, the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have issued the following statement:

“The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms support a productive dialogue concerning “bump stocks,” National Concealed Carry Reciprocity and the proposed Hearing Protection Act.

“We recognize that banning firearms accessories is not a solution to violent crime.”

Secretary Shulkin’s taxpayer-funded European vacation

Source: American Federation of Government Employees

American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. released the following statement in response to a Washington Post report regarding Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin’s travel expenses:

“Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin should be ashamed of himself for traveling to Europe with his wife at taxpayers’ expense – especially as the VA grapples with funding shortfalls that undermine veterans’ care.

“Mr. Shulkin needs to explain to veterans who are waiting for doctors’ appointments how attending a Wimbledon tennis match, touring Westminster Abbey, and cruising along the River Thames with his wife helped them get treated faster.

“He also needs to explain to VA employees, many of whom are veterans, why he ordered a crackdown on their travel just two weeks before going on his taxpayer-funded European vacation. With 49,000 staffing vacancies to fill, our nation’s veterans and the Veterans Affairs staff deserve to know how Secretary Shulkin intends on improving services at the VA.

“President Trump came to Washington with a promise to drain the swamp. He needs to start by holding his own Cabinet officials accountable to the public they serve.”

Pennsylvania Pastors Network Leader Says Lehigh County Must Stand for Constitutional Law After Judge Rules Cross Must Be Removed from Seal

Source: American Pastors Network

Washington, D.C. - October 8, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- A federal judge last week ruled that a cross must be removed from the Lehigh County seal in Pennsylvania because it is violates the U.S. Constitution, reported Fox News and several other outlets.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the suit on behalf on four Pennsylvania residents, who claimed the cross was offensive. According to Fox News, U.S. District Judge Edward Smith “made it known in his ruling that he was not happy about the decision he had to make but was following the rule of constitutional law, including the establishment clause, which states that Congress may not pass any laws establishing a religion.”

“It is obvious to me that Judge Smith failed to recognize the truth of the United States Constitution and the historical background of our nation and Lehigh County,” said Gary Dull, executive director of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN, www.papastors.net), a state chapter of the American Pastors Network. “The First Amendment of the Constitution states that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…’ Having a cross in the center of the Lehigh County seal is not in any way ‘establishing’ a religion by county founders, leaders or citizens. Therefore, the opinion of Judge Smith is unconstitutional in that it both prohibits the free exercise of people of faith who historically were and are a part of the county and also fails to recognize the Judeo-Christian heritage upon which our nation, of which Lehigh County is a part, was founded.

“In his own statement, the judge said that ‘the court does not believe the current state of law applicable to this case comports with the text of the Establishment Clause,’ and so in the mind of any sensible person, that ends the argument,” added Dull, who is the senior pastor at Faith Baptist Church of Altoona in Blair County. “For the judge to then rule in favor of the plaintiffs is an act of twisting the wording of the First Amendment in an effort to make it say what it does not according to original intent. The citizens of Lehigh County, whether they are religious or not, must stand up for constitutional law if indeed the integrity of the court system is to remain in compliance with the law of the land. America is a nation of law based upon a Constitution that has lasted for nearly two and half centuries and is not based on the whims and opinions of individual citizens. The best thing any judge or citizen can do to maintain the strength of our country is to follow the law of the Constitution, interpret it accordingly and refuse to allow personal opinion, politics, philosophy, desire or pressure from those who oppose the basic principles of our nation to take away from what America has been about from the time of its founding.”

Judge Smith wrote in his ruling that “While the court does not believe the current state of the law applicable to this case comports with the text of the Establishment Clause, the court is not in a position to reject it. The law, as it currently stands, requires that the court rule in favor of the plaintiffs: the inclusion of the cross lacked a secular purpose both when the defendant adopted the seal and when the defendant refused to remove the cross from the seal, and a reasonable observer would perceive the seal as endorsing Christianity.”

Lehigh County will now have to redesign the seal, in use since 1944, which includes a Latin cross near the center, as well as a heart, bison, silos and other imagery. The seal appears on flags, buildings, letterhead and legal documents, as well as the county website.

AFT on the Passage of the House Budget Resolution

Source: American Federation of Teachers

Washington, D.C. - October 5, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on the passage of the House budget resolution:

“Republicans passed a budget resolution that decimates public education, Medicare and Medicaid to give tax breaks to the rich and corporations. This isn’t a budget; it’s a setup for a massive tax break for those at the top and will further rig our economy against working people while simultaneously hurting kids, seniors and the poor. Today’s budget action is more proof that President Trump and congressional Republicans continue to govern for the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable.

“The underlying tradeoff that runs through this budget—providing massive tax cuts to the wealthy while slashing programs that support the most vulnerable among us—reflects the absolutely wrong priority and puts key K-12 and higher education programs at risk. This is especially evident as we need to invest and rebuild after the recent hurricanes. It is no time to have to cut services to American citizens in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Texas and Florida to provide a tax cut 80 percent of which will benefit the top 1 percent.

“The AFT will encourage tax reform that improves working people’s lives, makes the tax system fairer and ensures adequate revenues for vital government services.”

Opinion/Editorial: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

by Anthony J Codispoti

Here is what I have learned about President Trump. He knows the news media despises him. More than 90% of mainstream media news stories about the President and and his administration are negative. How could that possibly be considered fair coverage?

Of course, it isn't fair and there are no indications anywhere that it's about to change. One might get the sense that if President Trump walked on water and talked to Jesus, the headlines in the Washington Post and the NY Times would read, "Trump Conspires with Risen Christ; Women and Minorities Most Affected."

The question the media and all Americans should ask is this: does this president deserve 90% or more negative coverage from the news media? Personally, I always knew that the news media, which didn't have an adversarial bone in its body for eight years under Obama, would suddenly rediscover those bones under ANY Republican President. The fact that the Republican President is Donald Trump offends their elitist sensibilities very deeply indeed.

He knows he isn't going to get fair coverage and it's pointless to hope for it. But he cannot allow the media bias to discredit him or undermine his authority as President. This media today is more than adversarial. They are attempting a subversion of Presidential authority which will have repercussions for future Presidents if permitted. In reaction, President Trump is duty bound to act to protect the institution of the Presidency.

So, what can he do? Well, one thing he could do is discredit the mainstream news media. He does this in speeches all the time, but that's not nearly enough. Labeling them "fake news" plays only to his base of supporters, but it doesn't prove his point to anyone else.

He needs the media to discredit itself as well, preferably, by its own hand, because that will lend credibility to his argument outside of his base of support. It is here that the mainstream news media is actually building Trump's case against themselves. He is providing the rope and they are hanging themselves while Americans are watching.

Here is just one way the President is accomplishing this:

Trump knows the media expects all Presidents to behave a certain way. He knows behaving differently, which he finds easy to do, can cause the media to focus on idiosyncratic aspects of his personality to such distraction, they will appear petty and totally obsessed in the process.

It has gotten so bad, they will create firestorms in 2-3 day news cycles obsessing over Melania's choice of footwear, or the way Trump tosses paper towels to Puerto Rican hurricane victims, and even throw away lines intended to turn media attention down another blind alley, with two words "you'll see."

The Northeastern media elites complain that Trump has no appreciation for the necessary decorum expected from Presidents, but then are continually confounded when he behaves with that decorum as he did recently in Las Vegas.

The elites are outsmarting themselves because President Trump has a deep appreciation for the decorum required of the Presidency. And that's exactly why he breaks from that decorum often because he needs to keep an almost uniformly hostile media off balance and focused on trivia.

The fact of the matter is, President Trump owns the media and they know it and they know there is nothing they can do about it. They hate him for it.

They will never give him a fair shake. And he will never stop discrediting them and making them discredit themselves as long as they don't give him that fair shake.

There has never been a President like Trump. And we hear this from news media almost daily. But there also was never a President like Obama, either. Obama also broke with a great many Presidential traditions and limitations, but we never heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth with Obama's unprecedented behavior in office. It is necessary to point out here because it illustrates the bias in the news media. They were ideologically sympathetic with Obama. Any moves in service to that ideological agenda, even outside the Constitutional guardrails set for the Presidency were given few, if any critical words.

But President Trump's agenda is not ideological. It's populist. Populists bend to the popular will. The media is chock full of progressive ideologues wishing to impose their vision for America over the popular will. They are fundamentally undemocratic. They will seek as they have already sought to bring down this President. So far, it's hurt them more than it's hurt Trump.

The media behavior here is reminiscent of President Nixon's words as he left the White House upon resigning from office:

"Others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win, unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself." The media needs to review that one, I think.

First Liberty Institute Praises New Exemptions to Contraceptive Mandate, DOJ Guidance on Religious Liberty

Source: First Liberty Institute

Plano, TX - October 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The Trump administration announced two significant policy positions that will protect the religious liberty of all Americans—critical protections that will immediately benefit First Liberty Institute’s clients and aid many others.

Thanks to a new interim final rule announced by the Trump administration, clients of First Liberty are now exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, which forced businesses, ministries, and other non-profit organizations to reject their religious beliefs and moral convictions or violate the law.

Jeremy Dys, Deputy General Counsel for First Liberty, issued the following statement regarding the HHS interim final rule:

“The new rule is a huge win for business and ministry leaders who, since 2013, have been fighting the government’s disregard for their religious beliefs and moral convictions. Now, they can lead their organizations in good conscience without choosing between their convictions and obeying law.”

In July, First Liberty attorneys held an in-person, on-the-record meeting with officials from the Office of Management and Budget, Department of Labor, and Health and Human Services—agencies tasked with reviewing the rules related to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. (Read First Liberty’s letter on behalf of its clients to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney by clicking here.)

The Department of Justice also announced new religious liberty guidelines that build upon critical protections for religious liberty set down in the Clinton administration. The following statement may be attributed to Hiram Sasser, General Counsel for First Liberty:

“Our country has a long history of protecting religious liberty. This guidance is part of a tradition of administrations helping to educate the public and officials regarding the laws that protect religious liberty, such as President Clinton’s pioneering guidance protecting religious liberty in public schools. Further, our nation has a longstanding bi-partisan commitment to religious liberty as evidenced by Senator Ted Kennedy’s passionate advocacy for the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). We welcome President Trump’s commitment to continue this legacy of protecting religious liberty.”

FRC Applauds DOJ Guidance Protecting Religious Freedom, Exempting from Oppressive HHS Mandate

Source: Family Research Council

Washington, D.C. - October 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Family Research Council applauded two major actions by the Trump administration that safeguard religious freedom. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is directing federal agencies to respect religious freedom while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is exempting religious entities from the oppressive Obama contraceptive mandate.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

“After eight years of the federal government’s relentless assault on the First Amendment, the Trump administration has taken concrete steps today that will once again erect a bulwark of protection around American’s First Freedom – religious freedom.

“President Trump is demonstrating his commitment to undoing the anti-faith policies of the previous administration and restoring true religious freedom. Last May, the president ordered the federal government to vigorously promote and protect religious liberty –and now the DOJ and HHS are moving to make that order a reality.

“Under the Obama administration, agencies lost the understanding that religious freedoms extend to the public square, not just one’s place of worship. As a result, our own government began threatening hardworking, patriotic Americans with crushing fines for simply seeking to live their lives according to their faith.

“President Trump and the Department of Justice are putting federal government agencies on notice: you will not only respect the freedom of every American to believe but live according to those beliefs. This is a freedom that has been a fundamental part of our society since the beginning of our nation.

“To aid the Trump administration’s efforts in vigorously promoting and protecting religious liberty, Family Research Council today is launching a web hotline for those who believe that they have suffered discrimination at the hands of federal agencies based on their religious beliefs or practices. The ‘Free to Believe’ hotline will help ensure that no federal employee, contractor or citizen will be forced to choose between their faith and equal treatment by the federal government.

"As President Trump continues to follow through on his promises on these core issues, he will continue to have the support of social conservatives on his policy initiatives,” concluded Perkins.

U.S. Chamber Statement on House Passage of the 2018 Budget Resolution

Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Washington, D.C. - October 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley issued the following statement today after passage of the 2018 budget resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“Passage of the 2018 budget resolution in the House today is an important and consequential first step toward achieving the pro-growth tax reform promised to American business owners, workers, and families. But the work is just beginning. We need the Senate to act quickly and to come together with their colleagues to deliver legislation that unlocks the potential for an overhaul of the tax code that will grow the economy, create jobs, and raise wages.

“As we’ve said before, failure is not an option, and the Chamber will be holding lawmakers accountable to make sure tax reform gets done for the American people.”

ERLC’s Russell Moore calls HHS religious liberty exemption ‘crucial achievement’

Source: Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

Washington, D.C. - October 7, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, commented today on the decision by the Trump administration to provide a robust religious liberty exemption to Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate, which provides employers with religious or moral objections an exemption to the requirement that they must pay for contraception, including contraceptives with abortifacient properties.

Moore commented:

“This religious exemption is a crucial achievement in the preservation of religious liberty. The government has no business whatsoever forcing citizens to subsidize the destruction of human life and the exploitation of families and communities. More still, the contraceptive mandate revealed the audacity of a state that believed it could annex the human conscience, which is why I have long opposed it as an unlawful overreach asking citizens to choose between obedience to God and compliance with the regulatory state. A government that can pave over the consciences of some can steamroll over dissent everywhere. I am thankful for this move, which recognizes that freedom of conscience is a natural and inalienable right, not an allowance handed out by Uncle Sam.”

Seeking the overturning of the HHS contraceptive mandate has been a signature issue for the ERLC, beginning in 2014 after Guidestone Financial Resources and many other Baptist institutions filed suit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services, citing religiously held convictions that would prevent them from including such coverages in their health plans.