FRC Praises Trump Administration's Plan to Directly Address Needs of Christians in Middle East

Source: Family Research Council

Washington, D.C. - October 30, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- The Trump administration announced this week that it would address the needs of the Middle East’s Christian community by providing assistance directly, bypassing UN aid programs which have been largely ineffective in helping displaced Christians affected by ISIS.

The announcement came as Vice President Pence spoke to a gathering addressing persecution of Christians:

“Our fellow Christians and all who are persecuted in the Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America can help them directly. And tonight, it is my privilege to announce that President Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding ineffective relief efforts at the United Nations. And from this day forward, America will provide support directly to persecuted communities through USAID.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins remarked:

“The Trump administration announcement is welcomed news to families and individuals in the Middle East who have lost their homes, their jobs and even friends and family at the hands of ISIS. I commend the president for following through on his promise to protect religious freedom by ensuring that the vulnerable among us are not targeted because of their religion, and are able to rebuild their lives and freely live out their faith in their ancestral homelands. I look forward to seeing the needs of these communities met on the ground, and stand ready to assist the president in making this happen. In the Middle East and elsewhere, America must do more to ensure that the human right of freedom of religion is cherished the world over,” noted Perkins.

Travis Weber, Family Research Council’s Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, also commented on the Trump administration’s plan:

“While our attention has been riveted by stories of ISIS’s defeat, the Christian communities left devastated in its wake will still need to rebuild and attempt to move on with their lives. For too long, the persecuted Christians of the Middle East—lacking political power and overlooked in the eyes of the world—have not received proper assistance in returning to their ancestral lands, the same lands the first Christians walked nearly 2,000 years ago. Meanwhile, Iran and other power players are trying to come in and ply their influence in the vacuum created by ISIS’s defeat. It is in these situations that protecting the freedom of religion—and inculcating society with a true understanding of this right—is most critical,” observed Weber.

ERLC President Russell Moore, Tennessee Christian Leaders Denounce ‘White Lives Matter’ Rallies

Source: Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

Nashville, TN - October 30, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Russell Moore, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Christian leaders across Tennessee joined together in denouncing the “White Lives Matter” rallies scheduled for Oct. 28 in Middle Tennessee.

In a joint statement, Moore and others agreed, “As Christian leaders in Tennessee, we declare ourselves in resolute opposition to this expression of racism and white supremacy. We denounce and repudiate white supremacy as a work of the devil, designed to dehumanize and divide.

“We call every follower of Jesus in the state of Tennessee to speak out against white supremacy, in all of its forms and to pray and work for racial unity in our communities. We also pray for those who advocate racist ideologies and those who are thereby deceived, that they may see their error through the light of the Gospel, repent of these hatreds and come to know the peace and love of Christ through redeemed fellowship in the Kingdom of God.”

Study: Workplace bullying is underestimated driver of nurse and patient outcomes

Source: Emergency Nurses Association

Des Plaines, IL - October 30, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- New research from the Emergency Nurses Association recently published in the International Emergency Nursing Journal indicates workplace bullying is a significant factor in the dynamics of patient care, nursing work culture, and nursing retention. The study, aimed at developing a grounded theory of workplace bullying in emergency departments, describes bullying behavior, the dynamic of hazing and how nurses and patients are negatively impacted.

Forty-four emergency nurses participated in focus groups to share their perceptions and experience with workplace bullying, in addition to actions taken when bullying is observed.

As a result, researchers developed a model of nurse bullying in U.S. emergency departments they say can help hospital and emergency department leaders understand the process by which bullying manifests in their department.

The theory describes responses to bullying as it occurs, how those responses affect the frequency of that behavior, and the influence the bullying and environmental elements might have on the prevalence of bullying.

The research suggests that when guilty bystanding, maintaining the status quo, or retaliation are pronounced, bullying will be more pronounced than in EDs where the “calling-it-out” strategy is employed.

“Workplace bullying is unfortunately pervasive in emergency nursing to the detriment of patient care,” said lead researcher and Director of ENA’s Institute for Emergency Nursing Research Lisa Wolf, PhD, RN, CEN, FAEN. “Our new theory shows a clear process nurses and administrators can use to identify bullying elements within their environment to ultimately correct this behavior.”

Researchers say management can have a significant effect on reducing workplace bullying and its related risks to nurses and patients. An assessment of hospital work environments should include nurse perceptions of and responses to workplace bullying.

The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) is the premier professional nursing association dedicated to defining the future of emergency nursing through advocacy, education, research, innovation, and leadership. Founded in 1970, ENA has proven to be an indispensable resource to the global emergency nursing community. With more than 42,000 members worldwide, ENA advocates for patient safety, develops industry-leading practice standards and guidelines, and guides emergency healthcare public policy. ENA members have expertise in triage, patient care, disaster preparedness, and all aspects of emergency care.

Congress repeals rule to protect consumer rights to class action

Source: Consumer Action

Washington, D.C. - October 30, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- The U.S. Senate passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 47) yesterday to repeal the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to restore consumers’ rights to band together to hold banks and lenders accountable in class action lawsuits when the companies break the law.

The CFPB conducted a five-year study that revealed the negative impact of forced arbitration on consumers before spending two years crafting a rule to prevent companies from keeping wronged customers from joining class actions. Despite the care taken by CFPB, Republicans in Congress have voted to throw out the Bureau’s efforts before the ink is even dry on the rule announced just this summer.

In our view, the Senate has declared war on consumers and given a big fat gift to companies like Equifax and Wells Fargo, who now can continue to abuse and defraud customers without fear of liability. Because of the short-sightedness of many in Congress, giant banks and other corporations regulated by the CFPB can rest assured that no matter how they treat their customers, those customers will be prevented from collective redress.

Republicans in Congress have decided: There will be NO meaningful justice for consumers wronged by the wealthy and powerful.

National Education Groups Issue Statement on Proposed Salt-D Elimination

Source: AASA, The School Superintendents Association

Alexandria, VA - October 30, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- National education groups representing superintendents, school boards, school business professionals, rural schools and communities, and educational service agencies issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s proposed elimination of the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT).

“We believe any comprehensive tax reform must preserve the state and local tax (SALT) deduction as a matter of national priority. The SALT revenue is invested in local communities to fund vital needs including infrastructure, public safety, homeownership and public schools, which educate almost 90 percent of students in our country. Representing public education leaders entrusted with the important responsibility for educating students, we are deeply committed to ensuring students get the best possible education and support. Eliminating the SALT deduction endangers public education and our students’ future.

“State and local tax deductions ensure a stable local tax base that public schools rely on to educate students and provide needed services, such as health care and related needs. The current proposal to eliminate the SALT deduction as part of broader tax reform would cripple this ability and damage state and local economies.

“Policymakers can support tax reform and preserve this deduction. For the sake of our nation’s students and their future, we urge Congress to preserve and protect the SALT deduction.”

In alphabetical order, representatives from the national organizations included:

AASA, The School Superintendents Association
Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director

Association of Educational Service Agencies
Joan Wade, Executive Director 

Association of School Business Officials, International
John Musso, Executive Director

National Rural Education Association
Allen Pratt, Executive Director

National School Boards Association
Thomas Gentzel, Executive Director and CEO

Congress Moves Budget in Wrong Direction With Deficit-Financed Tax Cuts

Source: Concord Coalition



Washington, D.C. - October 28, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The Concord Coalition said that fiscal policy has taken a very negative turn with adoption of the 2018 congressional budget resolution explicitly calling for deficit-financed tax cuts.

“In the face of a debt burden higher than at any time since the end of World War II and with annual deficits already projected to rise in the coming decades as retirement and health care spending steadily mounts with the long-foreseen aging of the population, President Trump and Republican congressional leaders are placing a huge bet that we can borrow our way to prosperity,” said Robert L. Bixby, Concord’s executive director. “Their enthusiastic embrace of a $1.5 trillion deficit-financed tax cut is risky business and deeply disappointing.”

The main purpose of any budget should be to set priorities and make the necessary trade-offs. This budget, which the House approved today, fails that test. Its main purpose is to cut taxes, not to make hard choices and cut the deficit.

If Republican leaders had wanted to cut the deficit while cutting taxes in a more responsible way they could have adopted the approach taken earlier by the House, which called for deficit-neutral tax reform and $200 billion of enforceable spending cuts. The Senate, however, removed these two provisions. What’s left is a combination of enforceable tax cuts, phantom spending cuts and an unrealistically rosy economic scenario.

“While justified by some as a way to grow the economy, the long-term effect of deficit-financed tax cuts would likely be to slow economic growth and make a bad long-term fiscal outlook even worse,” Bixby said.

There is still time, however, for elected officials to chart a more responsible path. The budget resolution is simply a blueprint. It is not legislation. As Congress and President Trump now begin to write a tax reform bill, The Concord Coalition urges them not to base their plan on the unlikely proposition that large tax cuts will pay for themselves.

Don Todd: The Dossier Is Not Opposition Research

Source: Americans for Limited Government



Americans for Limited Government Foundation President Don Todd today issued the following statement blasting the Hillary Clinton campaign and DNC-funded Fusion GPS-Christopher Steele dossier:

“I have been doing opposition research since 1978. My resume includes four Presidential campaigns, nearly one hundred Senate campaigns and a few Governor races. I was the oppo team leader in all of them. I can say with absolute certainty the so-called dossier is not opposition research it is raw political sewage for which the idiot Democrats may have paid over one hundred sixty thousand dollars a page. To call it oppo research is an insult to me and the many I have worked with over the years.

“Real political research is about issues that people care about not made up stories about bed peeing. Had I ever come up with such a document I am sure I would have summarily and rightfully fired.”

Read more:

“Hillary Clinton and the DNC funded the fake Trump-Russia collusion dossier, turned it into an FBI inquisition, surveillance and then attempted coup,” By Robert Romano, Oct. 26, 2017

ALL Praises GlaxoSmithKline for Manufacture of Ethical Shingles Vaccine

Source: American Life League



Washington, D.C. - October 28, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- American Life League joined with Children of God for Life in praising GlaxoSmithKline for producing an ethically sourced shingles vaccine that was just recently approved by the FDA for licensing in the US. Shingrix is produced using a yeast cell line. Previously, the only available shingles vaccine, Zostavax, used aborted fetal cells.

ALL president Judie Brown stated:

America's leading authority on ethical vaccines, Children of God for Life, issued a statement this morning that sounds a clarion call to one and all that there are such things as ethical vaccines and companies working to improve vaccines. The newest shingles vaccine, Shingrix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical company, does not employ the use of human embryonic cells and does—according to its own studies—maintain 90 percent efficacy in those 70 years of age and older who were involved in the clinical trials.

GSK's efforts to create an ethical vaccine for adults comes with a challenge to all other big pharma companies that have not met the call to manufacture similarly manufactured ethical vaccines not tainted with fetal cells from aborted babies. It can be done! We await the advent of additional vaccines that meet this standard.

Related News:

Moral Shingles Vaccine FDA Approved

ACLU COMMENT ON RELEASE OF TEXT OF BILL TO REAUTHORIZE WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE OF AMERICANS

Source: American Civil Liberties Union



Washington, D.C. - October 28, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The Senate Intelligence Committee released the text of the bill that was voted on in a closed session to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to surveil Americans’ communications without a warrant and is set to expire at the end of the year.

The bill would reauthorize Section 702 for eight years, and it would authorize for the first time several of the government’s illegal practices — such as searching for information about people in the U.S., collecting domestic communications, and collecting communications that are neither to nor from a surveillance target. The bill lacks much-needed reforms to ensure that the government gets a warrant to search for information of people in the U.S., to end illegal practices that the NSA has used to collect domestic communications, and to ensure appropriate transparency.

Neema Singh Guliani, American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel, had the following reaction:

“It's unacceptable that an issue of this magnitude was debated behind closed doors. We now know what mischief they were up to in secret. Not only did they fail to curb the litany abuses that have occurred in recent years, in many respects, the bill would expand existing surveillance authorities. Now that this language has seen the light of day, it is clear that this bill would further strip Americans of their constitutional rights.

“No president — including our current one — should have the authority to conduct large-scale warrantless surveillance of Americans. Such power leaves Americans vulnerable to illegal spying that improperly targets government critics, activists, journalists, and communities of color.”

American Bar Association Responds to AG Sessions comments criticizing judges

Source: American Bar Association



Washington, D.C. - October 28, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- The American Bar Association is alarmed by the remarks made Thursday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions about federal judges, accusing those he disagrees with of ruling on policy preference and not the law.

Ironically, Sessions complains that judges are not respecting the separation of powers and the concept of co-equal branches of government while at the same time himself disregarding the constitutional independence of the judicial branch.

Sessions said that “some judges have failed to respect our representatives in Congress and failed to appropriately respect the prerogatives and perspectives of the executive branch.” The judiciary rules on matters based on the laws and the Constitution. Their oath is “to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” and not to protect “the prerogatives and perspectives” of the executive branch.

The courts are an important part of the justice system. While criticism of judicial decisions is a constitutionally protected right of every American and embedded in our tradition of free and open discussion about government, judges should not be attacked or diminished by another branch of government just because they do not rule in its favor. Judicial independence is critical to maintaining the rule of law in our nation.

Go to www.abalegalfactcheck.com for the ABA’s new feature that cites case and statutory law and other legal precedents to distinguish legal fact from fiction.

With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

Related News:

AG Sessions on Hawaii District Judge Remarks: ‘I Wasn’t Criticizing the Judge or the Island’