SCHOOL Religious Freedom: “Right To Pray” Constitutional Amendment Passed

Every public school in America is about to receive a wake-up call that will eliminate any excuse for stomping on students’ and teachers’ religious liberty. Ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” activists of various stripes – most recently from atheist and homosexual groups – have tried to find ways around the ruling, to squash free speech, and religious speech in particular, in America’s public schools. Ads by Google Ohio K-12 School at HomeGive Your Child A Better Education. 100% Tuition-Free. Enroll Now! www.ConnectionsAcademy.com Will You Boldly Proclaim"I am a Christian"? Sign the pledge now! billygraham.org/I-am-a-Christian Last year, for example, Florida teacher Jerry Buell at Mount Dora High School faced suspension after the homosexual advocacy group Equality Florida demanded he be disciplined for voicing disapproval of same-sex marriage on Facebook. Though Buell used his personal computer, on his personal time to post his opinion on his personal Facebook page, he lost three days in the classroom to suspension before the Lake County School Board realized its mistake and decided to exonerate and reinstate the teacher. Just this month, Missouri State Rep. Mike McGhee explained to the Missourian that the state’s newly passed “right to pray” constitutional amendment was needed because he heard about children who were asked not to pray after getting a school lunch, a girl being told not to take her Bible to study hall and a parent explaining how an adult at her child’s school told her son to change the words in the song “Jesus Loves Me” to “My Mom Loves Me” while he was on the school playground. Though voters passed the “right to pray” amendment by a roughly 5-to-1 margin, standing against it was the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. WND has covered dozens of stories in recent years – such as the censorship and humiliation 15-year-old Brandon Wegner faced from Wisconsin’s Shawano School District for writing an assigned paper in opposition to homosexual adoption or a Virginia lawsuit against a display of the 10 Commandments or a New York City attempt to ban churches from using school buildings – in which students, teachers and community groups have been wrongfully told it’s “unconstitutional” to carry their faith onto campus. But now Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, has announced it is sending 99,750 copies – one for literally every public school in America – of an exhaustive guide on religious liberty in school to principals, vice principals and school administrators around the country. Thousands of sponsors have made the mass mailing possible. “Over the past few years, Liberty Counsel has seen a surge of complaints from school administrators, educators and students, whose rights were egregiously violated,” said the organization in a statement. “Secular activists attempt to remove religious expression from our public schools, indoctrinate students in alternative lifestyles and bully through intimidation and blatant misrepresentation. To be proactive in countering this growing threat, Liberty Counsel developed and distributed the ‘Patriot’s Handbook of Religious Freedom in Public Schools.’ “This booklet,” the organization explains, “clarifies the rights of students to pray, form Bible clubs and engage in religious expression in public schools, including holiday celebrations and the rights of teachers, parents and guardians.” “The public school is not a faith-free zone,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Students need not leave their spiritual beliefs on the schoolhouse steps. Liberty Counsel is here to educate and, if need be, litigate to defend their First Amendment rights.”

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Will Higher Tax Rates Balance the Budget?

As the U.S. debt and deficit grows, some politicians and economist have called for higher tax rates in order to balance the budget. The question becomes: when the government raises taxes, does it actually collect a larger portion of the US economy? Professor Antony Davies examines 50 years of economic data and finds that regardless of tax rates, the percentage of GDP that the government collects has remained relatively constant. In other words, no matter how high government sets tax rates, the government gets about the same portion. According to Davies, if we're concerned about balancing the budget, we should worry less about raising tax revenue and more about growing the economy. The recipe for growth? Lower tax rates and a simplified tax code.

Paul Ryan: Hiding Spending Doesn't Reduce Spending

"I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits -- either now or in the future." (Remarks by President Obama to a Joint Session of Congress, September 9, 2009) This afternoon Budget Committee Ranking Member Ryan walked through why the bill put forward by Democrats FAILS the President's deficit test. -- The Majority Leader said the bill scores as reducing deficit by $131 billion over the next 10 years. First a little bit about CBO: I work with them every single day; very good people; great professionals. They do their jobs well. But their job is to score what is placed in front of them. And what has been placed in front of them is a bill that is fill of gimmicks and smoke and mirrors. Now what do I mean when I say that? First off, the bill has ten years of tax increases and ten years of Medicare cuts to pay for six years of spending. The true ten year cost when subsidies kick-in? $2.3 trillion. The bill is full of gimmicks that more than erase the false claim of deficit reduction: - $52 billion of savings is claimed by counting increased Social Security payroll revenues. These dollars are already claimed for future Social Security beneficiaries, and claiming to offset the cost of this bill either means were double-counting or were not going to pay Social Security benefits. - $72 billion in savings is claimed from the CLASS Act long-term care insurance. These so-called savings are not offsets, but rather premiums collected to pay for future benefits. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad has called these savings, A ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud. Additionally, the nearly half-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts cannot be counted twice. Medicare is in dire need of reform in order to make certain that we can ensure health security for future seniors. Using Medicare as a piggy bank, it raids a half trillion dollars from retirees health coverage to fund the creation of another open-ended health care entitlement. The Presidents chief Medicare actuary says up to 20% of Medicare providers may go bankrupt or stop taking Medicare beneficiaries as a result. Millions of seniors who have chosen Medicare Advantage will lose the coverage they now enjoy. Objections to the policy aside, you cannot use these savings twice to both extend the life of Medicare and to pay for other spending. The half-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts are either to extend the programs solvency or to reduce the cost of this deficit but not both as its authors claim. When you strip away the double-counting of Medicare cuts, the so-called savings from Social Security payroll taxes and the CLASS Act, the deficit increases by $460 billion over first ten years and $1.4 trillion over second ten years. Finally, one of the most expensive and most cynical of the gimmicks applies to Medicare physician payments, the so-called Doc Fix. By your own estimate, the Doc Fix adds an additional $371 billion to the cost of health care reform. With the price tag beyond what most Americans could handle, the Majority decided to simply remove this costly provision and deal with it in a stand-alone bill. Ignoring this additional cost does not remove it from the backs of taxpayers. Hiding spending doesnt reduce spending.

Paul Ryan VP Full Acceptance Speech, "If you have a small Business, You Did Build That!"

Saturday, August 11, 2012 --- Paul Ryan Confirmed as Romney's VP Choice (Full Speech)