YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK

[nChrist]

Obama school-'safety' chief: How to jam homosexuality
'If Radical Right can succeed in portraying us as preying on children, we will lose'

I would hope that most Americans are now awake enough to see that we have an EVIL AND CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION hard at work. Morals, the Rule of Law, and the Constitution mean nothing to this administration. This story and others should serve as a RUDE REMINDER that our children are NOT SAFE in the hands of the government. As Christians, we have a duty to GOD regarding our children. If we have to do without some things, our children must not be sacrificed to evil. GOD AND OUR CHILDREN MUST COME FIRST!

[Soldier4Christ]

Obama to weed out Bush political appointees who careered in; Establishes new political test for career jobs

John Berry, President Obama's director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has issued a new directive that is clearly designed to weed out any Bush administration political appointees who "careered-into" the civil service.

The directive also effectively establishes a partisan political factor in hiring for career civil service positions in the federal bureaucracy. Berry's agency oversees the federal government's 1.9 million career civil servants.

The OPM was created during the Carter administration to replace the old Civil Service Commission, which was once headed by Teddy Roosevelt in his pre-White House days. The career service was intended to end the spoils system in which federal jobs were used by presidents to reward supporters.

In double-speak language that would make a Soviet apparatchik blush, Berry justifies his directive as merely an attempt to prevent political interference of the career civil service:

"Beginning January 1, 2010, agencies must seek prior approval from OPM before they can appoint a current or recent political appointee to a competitive or non-political excepted service position at any level under the provisions of title 5, United States Code.

"OPM will review these proposed appointments to ensure they comply with merit system principles and applicable civil service laws.  I have delegated decisionmaking authority over these matters to career Senior Executives at OPM to avoid any hint of political influence."

In fact, federal agencies have long been required to secure OPM approval before filling a career position with an individual who came into the federal government as either an executive branch political appointee or a congressional staff member. And career Senior Executive Service (SES) employees at OPM have always been involved in the agency's review of such proposed hires.

So Berry is literally saying nothing new while presenting it as if it is new. What is actually new, however, is Berry's subtle introduction of a partisan political standard in the process under the guise of a time limit:

"In no case may an agency make an appointment of the type described below without written authorization from OPM:

"A. The appointment of a current political Schedule A or Schedule C Executive Branch employee or a former political Schedule A or Schedule C Executive Branch employee who held the position within the last five years to a competitive or non-political excepted service position under title 5 of the U.S. Code.

"B.The appointment of a current Non-career SES Executive Branch employee or a former Non-career SES Executive Branch employee who held the position within the last five years to a competitive or non-political excepted service position under title 5 of the  U.S. Code."

In other words, if you worked for President Bush in the executive branch at any time during his second term in the White House, you may not be approved. The same applies if you worked for a Republican Member of Congress at any point during the past five years.

Amazingly, even Berry had to acknowledge in his directive that political appointees cannot be barred from career positions because of their political views. The whole point of the career service, after all, is to insure that federal workers are hired on the basis of merit, not their political views.

But by introducing a time factor that may disqualify an individual, Berry effectively creates a semi-covert political factor in the hiring process.

If you are wondering who is John Berry, you can read his official here. Note that he spent a decade handling civil service issues for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Prior to beginning my career as a journalist, I was a Reagan political appointee in the Senior Executive Service (SES). My job was assistant director for public affairs at OPM, which I held from November 1982 to June 1985. I was thus the fourth generation of my family to serve in the federal government, a fact of which I am quite proud.

I also learned a great deal about the federal bureaucracy and how it works. There are many, many civil servants who are dedicated, hard-working people who serve this nation well. There are also people in the ranks who are time-servers, incompetents, and chronic complainers.

The fundamental problem is the same today, as it was two decades ago when I served at OPM, four decades ago when my father served in the federal bureaucracy and for decades before that: It is all but impossible to fire a career federal employee, thanks to well-meaning but overly strict protections against political inteference in the day-to-day operation of the government.

RedState.com's Erick Erickson also sees an Obama effort to purge the federal government's workforce of all Bush political appointees and former Republican staffers from Congress. Erick notes that "no one is allowed to stand in the way of Barack Obama’s agenda, including his own bureaucracy. This is what happens in third world kleptocracies and totalitarian regimes."

[nChrist]

RedState.com's Erick Erickson also sees an Obama effort to purge the federal government's workforce of all Bush political appointees and former Republican staffers from Congress. Erick notes that "no one is allowed to stand in the way of Barack Obama’s agenda, including his own bureaucracy. This is what happens in third world kleptocracies and totalitarian regimes."

Things like this and worse are par for this administration. Totalitarian regime is really a more accurate description. It certainly doesn't resemble the administration of a free country.

[Shammu]

Yes I approve of this bill, even thought there are others that disagree. From what I heard on the news, Texas is thinking of a bill similar to this one.

Arizona Governor Brewer signs immigration bill 1070
- Posted 04/23/2010, 4:00 p.m.

Gov. Jan Brewer has taken a stand on illegal immigration, signing a much-protested bill designed to crack down on the problem. The legislation is being criticized by President Barack Obama who says the bill violates people's civil rights.

Governor Brewer's Statement:

"Thank you for being here today, to join me as we take another step forward in protecting the state of Arizona.

The bill I'm about to sign into law - Senate Bill 1070 - represents another tool for our state to use as we work to solve a crisis we did not create and the federal government has refused to fix ..... The crisis caused by illegal immigration and Arizona's porous border.

This bill, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, strengthens the laws of our state.

It protects all of us, every Arizona citizen and everyone here in our state lawfully.

And, it does so while ensuring that the constitutional rights of ALL in Arizona remain solid -- stable and steadfast.
   
I will now sign Senate Bill 1070.

For weeks, this legislation has been the subject of vigorous debate and intense criticism. My decision to sign it was by no means made lightly.

I have listened patiently to both sides. I have considered the significance of this new law long into the night. I have prayed for strength and prayed for our state.

I've decided to sign Senate Bill 1070 into law because, though many people disagree, I firmly believe it represents what's best for Arizona. Border-related violence and crime due to illegal immigration are critically important issues to the people of our state, to my Administration and to me, as your Governor and as a citizen.

There is no higher priority than protecting the citizens of Arizona. We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels. We cannot stand idly by as drop houses, kidnappings and violence compromise our quality of life.

We cannot delay while the destruction happening south of our international border creeps its way north.

We in Arizona have been more than patient waiting for Washington to act.

But decades of federal inaction and misguided policy have created a dangerous and unacceptable situation.

Yesterday, I announced the steps I was taking to enhance security along our border.

Today - with my unwavering signature on this legislation - Arizona strengthens its security WITHIN our borders.

Let me be clear, though: My signature today represents my steadfast support for enforcing the law - both against illegal immigration and against racial profiling.

This legislation mirrors federal laws regarding immigration enforcement.

Despite erroneous and misleading statements suggesting otherwise, the new state misdemeanor crime of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document is adopted, verbatim, from the same offense found in federal statute.

I will not tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling in Arizona.

Because I feel so strongly on this subject, I worked for weeks with legislators to amend SB 1070, to strengthen its civil rights protections.

That effort led to new language in the bill, language prohibiting law enforcement officers from "solely considering race, color, or national origin in implementing the requirements of this section..."

The bill already required that it "shall be implemented in a manner consistent with federal laws regulating immigration, protecting the civil rights of all persons and respecting the privileges and immunities of United States citizens."

While the general protection was already included, I believe the issue is so important, we needed to make it CRYSTAL clear.

And I believe that we need to more than simply inscribe it in statute.

Words in a law book are of no use if our police officers are not properly trained on the provisions of SB 1070, including its civil rights provisions.

Today I am issuing an executive order directing the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board - AZPOST -- to develop training to appropriately implement SB 1070.

Importantly, this training will include what does - and does not - constitute "reasonable suspicion" that a person is not legally present in the United States.

Currently, AZPOST serves approximately 170 law enforcement agencies encompassing over 16,000 sworn peace officers, 9,000 correctional service officers, and 16 training academies.

The AZPOST Board of Directors includes the Arizona Attorney General, the Directors of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Arizona Department of Corrections, several county sheriffs, and local police departments.

I am also asking the Board to make recommendations on possible improvements to SB 1070 before the end of the year.

For 28 years in public service, I have worked without fail to solve problems diligently and practically. I have done so always with an eye toward civility, and always with the greatest respect for the rule of law.

This new law is no different: As committed as I am to protecting our state from crime associated with illegal immigration I am EQUALLY committed to holding law enforcement accountable should this statute ever be misused to violate an individual's rights.

Respect for the rule of law means respect for every law. I have led that way every day in every office I have ever held. That will not change.

I have also spent my career in service to Arizona working to bring people together, no matter the color of their skin and no matter the depth of our disagreements.

This bill - and this issue - will be no exception.

While protecting our citizens is paramount, it cannot come at the expense of the diversity that has made Arizona so great. Nor can safety mean a compromise of freedom for some, while we, the many, turn a blind eye.

We must acknowledge the truth - people across America are watching Arizona, seeing how we implement this law, ready to jump on even the slightest misstep.

Some of those people from outside our state have an interest in seeing us fail.

They will wait for a single slip-up, one mistake, and then they will work day and night to create headlines and get the face time they so desperately covet.

We cannot give them that chance.

We must use this new tool wisely, and fight for our safety with the honor Arizona deserves.

We must react calmly.

We must enforce the law evenly, and without regard to skin color, accent, or social status.

We must prove the alarmists and the cynics wrong.
   
I know in my heart that this great state, my home for more than 40 years, is up to the task.
    
I believe every one of us wants to be safe, and none of us wants to compromise on the subject of civil rights.
    
I believe we must love and honor those who fight beside us - just as we must love and honor those who look and believe nothing like we do.
    
I believe Arizona, like America, is governed by laws.
    
Good laws ... well-intentioned laws ... laws that confer respect and that demand respect in return.
    
In his third State of the Union address, President Theodore Roosevelt said, "No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor."
    
So, let us move forward -- ever mindful of our rights ...  ever faithful to the law ... and ever conscious of our bond as Arizonans, and the blessing we share together.
Thank you."

PDF; View the Executive Order

Arizona Governor Brewer signs immigration bill

[Soldier4Christ]

Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Colorado are taking action on a similar bill with some other states considering doing so also. It really has obama steamed.    It's a big road block for his objective of more power for himself.

[nChrist]

I applaud Arizona for adopting this tough legislation. Oklahoma also has some strict laws that have helped, but I think that all states need to toughen up. Giveaways to illegal aliens and others for votes must stop.

[Shammu]

Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Colorado are taking action on a similar bill with some other states considering doing so also. It really has obama steamed.    It's a big road block for his objective of more power for himself.

Obama has said his administration may take legal action on Arizona over the new law. Obama has also called the Arizona law misguided.

Well Arizona has always been a "Maverick" state, and we will not be pushed around anymore by illegal immigration. The Jerk (Obamanation) is in Washington DC, and knows nothing about the problem in any of the southern border states.

It's time to put Equal Justice versus Social Justice out to the pasture. Equal justice of the law demands that law-breakers not be rewarded for their illegal activity, that instead they be treated like everyone else.

As for, social justice it dictates that because somehow or another, they're special, whether it's there medical condition, position in life, race, or maybe it's just because they happen to be President Obama's aunt that she gets to stay in the U.S. illegally, even after her request for political asylum was rejected in 2004.

Equal justice says she's got to go home.

Social justice says no, no, no.

Equal justice says that when a Democrat makes a ridiculous racist remark................... You know the story brother, the same old song and dance number...........

“I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little Laundromat in a black community not far from where he lived. I saw it all growing up.”

I applaud Arizona for adopting this tough legislation. Oklahoma also has some strict laws that have helped, but I think that all states need to toughen up. Giveaways to illegal aliens and others for votes must stop.

What gets me is all these people thinking illegal immigration is okay. I wonder at times if, they know the meaning of illegal. You brother being an ex-cop, know about the law. Although the Arizona law has rekindled an intense national debate about what the United States should do about illegal immigration. This country (America) protects the borders of other nations better than it protects our own border

I think it is time for all American border states pass laws to protect their border. The federal government is going to sit on it's duff, and do nothing but spend money it doesn't have to spend.

But that's another rant in itself, and I've gone on long enough.

Resting in the Arms, of the Lord.
Bob
Ezekiel 7:23-24 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.

[nChrist]

If our existing laws were enforced by the Federal Government, the border states wouldn't be having these problems. It's a matter of dereliction of duty, and officials should be held to account. Illegal immigrants are bankrupting many states, and this is on top of the violence, drugs, and placing our families at risk. A voting block is their only EXCUSE, and I don't buy that. They won't admit it, but this is what it's all about. It's INSANE, ILLEGAL, AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL - along with much of the other BOZO the clown garbage from Washington, D.C.

[HisDaughter]

Religious material a no-no on school playgrounds
OneNewsNow - 3/28/2011

A Pennsylvania third-grader is getting legal help after being told by school officials that she can't hand out Christian tracts on the playground.

Felicia Clark wanted to share her faith by passing out Christian pamphlets to her classmates during playtime. But officials at Northwest Intermediate School in Shickshinny said she could not do that -- which caused her family to seek assistance through The Rutherford Institute.

 "We have contacted the school saying that they are violating her right to freedom of religious expression, and also citing a Pennsylvania State Board of Education rule which allows for the right of students to express themselves during non-instructional time -- which playground time would be non-instructional time -- unless it interferes with the educational process, and I don't think they can prove that here," says Rutherford president John Whitehead.

 The group spokesman says he is insisting that school officials respond quickly and allow the girl to exercise her right to free expression.

 "For some reason there's this erroneous assumption in most public schools that anything religious -- and mainly we're talking about Christianity -- is unconstitutional automatically, and they use the term 'illegal' now, not 'unconstitutional,'" the spokesman states.

 Whitehead says if the school continues to deny the girl her rights, they will have to file a lawsuit.

[HisDaughter]

White House Summit Fails to Yield Budget Deal as Shutdown Approaches
foxnews.com

Congressional aides worked through the night Wednesday after a high-stakes meeting between President Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach a deal on the federal budget.

Obama called the discussion “frank” and “constructive,” but did not articulate how the two sides would forge an agreement to keep the government running past the Friday deadline.

"If we are serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal, get it passed and avert a shutdown," Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room.

A few minutes later outside the White House, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner stood side by side to update reporters on the talks.

"We're not there yet," Reid said, but both sides were committed to hammering out a deal and keeping the government running.

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Stop the Budget Insanity! Let's Use the Rules of Business and Stop Governing By Continuing Resolution"No one wants a shutdown," Boehner said, adding there were "honest differences" and their staffs will work to get the budget issue resolved.

"We've narrowed the issues significantly," Reid said.

The government already is operating on a short-term spending measure because Republicans and Democrats haven't been able to agree on how deeply to cut and what to ax, and as a precaution, House Republicans are preparing to bring yet another stopgap budget bill to the floor Thursday to buy more time for negotiations on a long term bill.

The proposal would be the third short-term budget bill in two months. The prospect of voting on another stopgap has frustrated lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, some of whom have vowed to oppose one. But while dozens of GOP members defected the last time around, House Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News he has enough GOP support to pass this bill without any Democrats.

"We don't need one Democratic vote," he said.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said earlier Wednesday that he would be willing to help Republicans whip up support for a short-term spending plan. However, he also said he opposes the specific package that House Speaker John Boehner has been pushing -- a one-week bill that would cut $12 billion, while also funding the military for the rest of the year. And Boehner said Wednesday that's exactly the plan he wants to put on the floor.

"I think this is the responsible thing to do," Boehner said. "I would hope the Senate can pass it and the president would sign it into law."

It's unclear whether the bill can indeed win enough support to avert a shutdown, or do anything to advance the broader negotiations over a half-year budget. Expectations have been changing by the minute in Washington as lawmakers try to craft a budget bill while, at the same time, jockeying for political advantage in the media, assigning blame in advance to the other side in case of a shutdown.

Meanwhile, the day-to-day functions of government -- from running national parks to sending out tax refunds -- were hanging in the balance. The administration and Congress have been preparing for the possibility of a partial shutdown, warning that a number of basic services would go on hiatus and that a shutdown could hurt the economy.

Lawmakers appeared to be caught in a political perfect storm, with several simultaneous budget deals complicating negotiations over the rest of this year's budget. Conservative lawmakers want to cut as much as possible now, to set the tone for talks over next year's budget and spending for the rest of the decade. GOP Rep. Paul Ryan just introduced a plan to cut deficits by $4.4 trillion over 10 years. President Obama and Democrats, by contrast, want to use a "scalpel," rather than an ax, to address the deficit.

An upcoming vote on whether to raise the debt ceiling doesn't make things any easier.

With all this on the line, 2011 budget negotiations have been continually tested by the political rhetoric flying on both sides of the aisle. A White House aide said Wednesday there are "signs of progress" in the budget talks. But on the sidelines, lawmakers continued to hurl accusations at each other.

House Democrats convened a press conference at which they repeated the claim that the Tea Party is to blame for bringing Congress to the brink of a shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats have been trying to meet Republicans halfway, but the GOP has "refused to take yes for an answer."

Republicans earlier passed a bill out of the House to cut $61 billion from last year's levels, and some lawmakers have continued to press for that level of spending cuts. Democrats have refused.

Obama suggested Tuesday that he had no interest in signing another short-term measure just to keep the debate going.

"We've already done that twice," Obama said. "That is not a way to run a government."

However, he indicated he could support a very short-term budget bill if the framework for a budget for the rest of the year is in place.

[HisDaughter]

March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue 
cnsnews.com


The U.S. Treasury has released a final statement for the month of March that demonstrates that financial madness has gripped the federal government.

During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.

At the same time, the Treasury paid out a total of $1.1187 trillion. When the $65.898 billion in tax refunds is deducted from that, the Treasury paid a net of $1.0528 trillion in federal expenses for March.

That $1.0528 trillion in spending for March equaled 8.2 times the $128.179 in net federal tax revenue for the month.

The lion’s share of this federal spending went to redeem Treasury securities that had matured during the month—most of which were short-term Treasury bills that have terms of one year or less.

In fact, during March the Treasury redeemed $705.3 billion in Treasury securities of which $623.9 billion were short-term bills with a term of one year or less.

After the disbursements made to pay off the $705.3 billion in loans that came due in March, three of the other top four federal spending items for the month were entitlements programs. The other top item was payments to defense contractors.

The Treasury paid $49.8 billion in Social Security benefits in March, $47.4 billion in Medicare benefits, and $22.575 billion in Medicaid benefits. It also paid $37.9 billion to defense contractors.

To help pay off its $1.0528 trillion in monthly bills on only $128.179 in monthly tax revenue, the Treasury turned primarily to new borrowing. During the month, according to the Treasury statement, the government sold $786.5 billion in new securities. It also drew down its cash balance from $190.6 billion at the beginning of the month to $118.1 billion at the end of the month. It also reaped $18 billion from the sale of assets in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The federal government’s cash-flow situation was summed up pungently in Senate Budget Committee testimony by Erskine Bowles, who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and is now the co-chair of President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility.

“I'm really concerned,” Bowles told the committee last month. “I think we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. A lot of us sitting in this room didn't see this last crisis as it came upon us. But this one is really easy to see. The fiscal path we are on today is simply not sustainable.

“This debt and these deficits that we are incurring on an annual basis are like a cancer and they are truly going to destroy this country from within unless we have the common sense to do something about it,” said Bowles.

“I used to say that I got into this thing for my grandchildren,” Bowles said. “I have eight grandchildren under five years old. I'll have one more in a week. And my life is wonderful and it is wild. But this problem is going to happen long before my grandchildren grow up.

“This problem is going to happen, like the former chairman of the Fed said, or the Moody's said, this is a problem we're going to have to face up,” he said. “It may be two years, you know, maybe a little less, maybe a little more. But if our bankers over there in Asia begin to believe that we're not going to be solid on our debt, that we're not going to be able to meet our obligations, just stop and think for a minute what happens if they just stop buying our debt.

“What happens to interest rates?” asked Bowles. “And what happens to the U.S. economy? The markets will absolutely devastate us if we don't step up to this problem. The problem is real, the solutions are painful, and we have to act.”

[HisDaughter]

America Is Traveling Down The Roman Road
raptureready.com

There have been many good roads to travel in America over the past 235 years. They include the roads to independence and democracy, the roads to discovery, progress and success, and trips down country roads, paved roads, railroads, the straight and narrow road, the road to financial freedom, the road to victory, the road to recovery, the yellow-brick road, and best of all, the road that leads toward home, either to our earthly or heavenly home. However, there is one road we do ‘not’ want to travel down as a nation, and that is the Roman road. That road is rocky and will cause us to have a terrible crash. It is a road historically proven to be full of bumps, cracks, potholes, twists and turns. The entire Roman civilization, along with its actual roadways, gradually crumbled into disrepair and decline, which eventually led to the downfall of the great Roman Empire.

The United States of America has the advantage and opportunity to learn from history. We may still have time to detour off the Roman road before it’s too late—before we too come to a dead-end like the Roman Empire—but we currently seem inclined to continue down the Roman road, which if we do, will eventually lead to dire events for our nation. The Roman Empire was in existence much longer than America has been a nation to this point, but today’s world moves much faster than in Roman times, so we don’t have any time to waste in yielding to common sense and making a U-turn off the Roman road. This may not yet be the end of our road as a blessed nation by God—but we can see the end from here if we don’t slam on the brakes!

The downfall of the Roman Empire resulted from a gradual downturn of their political, economic, and military systems, not to mention the decline of social institutions, including their originally established higher social morals. Barbarian (people alien to the Roman culture) invasions and settlement within their empire were the final doom.

Let’s take a look at some of the specific problems that developed within the Roman Empire over the passage of time and see if they ring a bell in the United States of America today. See if you can plug our current ‘buzz words and talking points’ into the corresponding Roman problems listed below. For example, words and phrases such as increased taxes, increasing social class economic inequality, unemployment, political partisanship and finger-pointing, President Obama, Social Security, Medicare, Health Reform, urbanization, illegal immigration, intolerance, Islamists, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Syria, the U.S. military budget, war justification, inflation, a devalued U.S. dollar, the CRP agricultural program, governmental bureaucracy, diseases, super-bug bacteria, over-spending by government, budget shortfalls at all levels of government, obsession with sex and sports, Mexico, border fence, crumbling infrastructure, unions, pensions, economy, and enormous debt, debt, debt!! Feel free to insert your own words and thoughts as you read through the following ‘partial’ list of Roman Empire problems which brought about its eventual ruin.

- Increased economic inequality among its citizens. The Romans implemented a system of tax collection that drove many small-scale farmers and business owners out of business, which resulted in more out of work people being dependent on the government, which placed even more tax burden upon those who could not escape taxation. Sometimes the poor were dependent upon the elite who were exempt from taxation.
- Incompetent political leadership.
- Incompetent military leadership.
- The implementation of substantial political and economic reforms.
- Cultural and political dilution (barbarization) leading to differing opinions, paths and standards among a diverse population, creating societal problems.
- Intrusion of alien religious ideas.
- The Romans fought with most of the Middle East countries and many other countries, resulting in a strained military and a drain on financial resources.
- High inflation caused by years of Roman coinage devaluation.
- Land was withdrawn from cultivation on a very large scale.
- Roman society became more complex as it tried to solve problems, creating new layers of bureaucracy, infrastructure and social classes.
- Urbanization and overpopulation of cities resulted in increased disease epidemics, water and food shortages.
- An almost non-existent budgetary system, resulting in wasted monetary resources.
- Moral decay. Sexual immorality and perversion became out-of-control, including rampant homosexuality, prostitution, pornography, orgies, slaves used for sex, increased lust for blood and violence in sporting events, and other debauchery.
- Diminished fortifications to protect cities from barbarians. Invasions by the Visigoths, Vandals, Germanic tribes, etc…led to a clash of civilization when the invaders ‘settled’ within Roman land.
- Reduced tax revenue when barbarians wanted to take part in the benefits of the Roman way of doing things, without paying back into the system, resulting in a crumbling infrastructure.
- The empire ‘spent more money than it took in’ due to the enormous budget it took to maintain the military and infrastructure such as the roads and water supply. This forced the Romans to frequently raise taxes, which in turn caused major economic stress.
- Additional economic stress was placed on the empire when a greater amount of money had to be spent on social services to keep a restless public happy. This included the promise of pension payments made to retired bureaucrats.

Does this sound all too familiar? Comparisons to our own current predicaments in the United States of America can be drawn from all of the above. The only question now is…if we will choose to continue along the Roman road…or be brave and take the ‘high’ road of doing what is right for our nation’s future and our children’s children. God, and the future, awaits our answer!

[Soldier4Christ]

Some really good articles.

When I gave the title to this thread it was in sarcasm and as we can see from the two articles you just posted that sarcasm was well placed. The only work that is getting done is the kind that destroys. I think that they would do really well in a demolition derby.

[nChrist]

Some really good articles.

When I gave the title to this thread it was in sarcasm and as we can see from the two articles you just posted that sarcasm was well placed. The only work that is getting done is the kind that destroys. I think that they would do really well in a demolition derby.

I second these remarks. Our government is INSANE and out of control completely. Humpty Dumpty is teetering on the wall.

[HisDaughter]

Some really good articles.

When I gave the title to this thread it was in sarcasm and as we can see from the two articles you just posted that sarcasm was well placed. The only work that is getting done is the kind that destroys. I think that they would do really well in a demolition derby.

Well here is something positive for a change!....

No harm? No case...
onenewsnow.com

A federal appeals court has ruled that the National Day of Prayer is legitimate, ordering that a lawsuit claiming the event is unconstitutional be dismissed.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation had filed the suit and U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb had ruled the federal government's observation of prayer unconstitutional, in spite of numerous U.S. Supreme Court rulings protecting religious invocations. That ruling was taken to the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago where, as Liberty Institute attorney Jeff Mateer explains, the panel ruled Thursday that the atheist organization does not have legal standing to bring a challenge to the President's proclamation declaring a National Day of Prayer.
 
"What the 7th Circuit [also] held was that in order for a plaintiff to bring a lawsuit challenging a law, they have to have sustained a real legal injury," says Mateer. "They must have been harmed in some way." And the Foundation, he adds, was found to not be suffering.
 
Mateer also says the decision goes beyond the National Day of Prayer and the presidential proclamation. "What this decision means is that communities throughout our country that have National Day of Prayer ceremonies -- that those are perfectly constitutional, that they can proceed," says the attorney.
 
Liberty Institue says it "applauds the Seventh Circuit's dismissal of this desperate attempt to erase our country's rich history of calling for prayer," labeling it another indication of attempts to "censor religious expression in the public arena."
 
This year's solemn event is May 5.