If gay marriage is legally viewed as a “civil rights issue,” as may happen with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the subject in June, then it becomes a broader religious liberty concern, not just a marriage issue, said Reverend Rafael Cruz, adding that then pastors will have to choose between obeying an “unjust” law and obeying God and potentially going to prison.
Pastor Cruz, who is the father of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), made his remarks during an interview with conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly on her radio program “Eagle Forum Live.”
“We need to realize that the attack on marriage is more than just an attack on marriage, it actually goes to the heart of religious freedom,” said Pastor Cruz.
“Because, you see, what is going to come next — and this is part of the danger of what may happen out of the Supreme Court in June — is that if marriage of anybody-with-anybody becomes a civil rights issue,” he said, “then they are going to come to churches and force pastors to violate their religious convictions.”
[The below video is Pastor Cruz’s recent interview with Joe Miller]
“And so it is going to come to America to where a pastor is going to be faced with a decision: Do you obey a law that is not only unjust but violates your core principles, or do you obey God and face prison?” said Pastor Cruz. (Read more from “Rev. Cruz: If Gay Marriage is ‘Civil Right,’ Gov’t Will Force Pastors to Obey ‘Unjust’ Law or ‘Obey God and Face Prison’” HERE)
[Here’s another discussion about the religious liberty implications of the gay agenda]
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-11 00:47:442015-04-11 00:47:44Rev. Cruz: If Gay Marriage is ‘Civil Right,’ Gov’t Will Force Pastors to Obey ‘Unjust’ Law or ‘Obey God and Face Prison’ [+videos]
For months, federal law enforcement agencies and industry have been deadlocked on a highly contentious issue: Should tech companies be obliged to guarantee government access to encrypted data on smartphones and other digital devices, and is that even possible without compromising the security of law-abiding customers?
Recently, the head of the National Security Agency provided a rare hint of what some U.S. officials think might be a technical solution. Why not, suggested Adm. Michael S. Rogers, require technology companies to create a digital key that could open any smartphone or other locked device to obtain text messages or photos, but divide the key into pieces so that no one person or agency alone could decide to use it?
“I don’t want a back door,” Rogers, the director of the nation’s top electronic spy agency, said during a speech at Princeton University, using a tech industry term for covert measures to bypass device security. “I want a front door. And I want the front door to have multiple locks. Big locks.”
Law enforcement and intelligence officials have been warning that the growing use of encryption could seriously hinder criminal and national security investigations. But the White House, which is preparing a report for President Obama on the issue, is still weighing a range of options, including whether authorities have other ways to get the data they need rather than compelling companies through regulatory or legislative action.
The task is not easy. Those taking part in the debate have polarized views, with advocates of default commercial encryption finding little common ground with government officials who see increasing peril as the technology becomes widespread on mobile phones and on text messaging apps. (Read more from “As Encryption Spreads, U.S. Grapples with Clash Between Privacy, Security” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-11 00:47:392015-04-11 00:47:39As Encryption Spreads, Feds Contend with Those Who Think the Constitution Matters
By Daniel Hamm. The GOP controlled Alaska State Legislature has been ideologically drifting for well over a decade in the isolated Juneau capital sea and is now in real danger of being holed and sunk by their very own constituent iceberg. Buffeted and tossed by lobby winds from every direction, their ship is on a collision course with a jagged sky-blue colossus protruding splintering shards with names like a balanced-budget, limited-government, and individual liberty.
For the last ten years the Republican Caucus has literally doubled the size of state government, and now with low oil prices, has a $3.5 Billion and growing annual state deficit on its hands largely of its own making. The Alaska GOP has forgotten the number one Republican axiom- that unrestrained growth in government is the number one threat to our American freedom and free market prosperity.
The Republican Party Platform supports limited-government and low taxes. For the past decade our GOP legislators have largely voted against it by steadily growing the size of our state bureaucracy to well over 24,000 state employees- and it keeps growing.
On April 1st, the Alaska State House passed HB 148 for Medicaid Expansion out of the Health and Social Services Committee and referred it to the House Finance Committee. Intense Democrat lobbying is now taking place to garner enough Republican turncoat votes to pass the Finance Committee and a full floor vote. This is all taking place despite the Alaska State Republican Party recently passing a resolution opposing Medicaid Expansion that was signed by Chairman Peter S. Goldberg. I guess this crop of legislators just take the party campaign contributions and then vote against it.
The Alaska Republican Assembly is an organization that that represents the Republican Wing of the Republican Party. Frankly, we are fed up with these turncoat Benedict Arnold’s masquerading like Republicans but vote like tax-and-spend socialists. As an example, two Republican State Legislators- Representative Paul Seaton from Homer and Senator Click Bishop from Fairbanks, have introduced bills for a state income tax rather than substantially reduce state deficit spending. They give the Republican Party Platform a black eye worse than Harry Reid’s.
Republican legislators who vote like Democrats really should consider changing their party affiliation and be true to their principles. Those who continue to campaign like Ted Cruz but vote like Ted Kennedy we have identified for early retirement. Those who hide behind the caucus rule that forces you to vote for a budget (regardless of what’s in it) or be ejected from your committee assignments and stripped of office staff will not be excused. Legislators must vote true to their constituents and true to their party.
Medicaid Expansion: A Pivotal Moment in Alaska History
When: Saturday, April 11, 1:00 PM Medicaid Expansion Public Testimony before the HOUSE Finance Committee. This needs to be opposed. We must stop Medicaid Expansion in House Finance today.
By Dr. Barbara Haney. This is a pivotal moment in Alaska’s history. If we vote for expansion, our state will forever be changed–not in a good way.
The Medicaid expansion bill has passed the Senate HSS committee and is now headed to Senate Finance. Thus, any emails you write to the House finance, you might want to simply include in the Senate Finance Committee. Share this with your friends.
Action:
1) We need you at your LIO to testify in opposition. (Call in for those without an LIO is 1-844-586-9085)
There is zero evidence that health is improved with Medicaid expansion. However, there is a lot of proof that states have gone deep into the hole over it.
Talking Points to Use: If you testify, you only get one or two minutes, so pick one or two topics you feel most comfortable with, and ask to revise and extend your remarks in email testimony.
1) Medicaid Expansion is the prerequisite for Obama Care. According to provisions of the PPA (better known as ObamaCare), Medicaid expansion is required to implement Obama Care. (Huffington Post story).
2) The DHSS Estimates Grossly Overstate the Benefits. After looking at the econometric estimates provided here in Juneau, it is pretty clear that there are many factors that have not been considered and that the benefits of Medicaid expansion are grossly overstated. Just for starters, they do not incorporate the impact of new taxes on the supply of providers and cost. Nor do they account for other issues pertinent to service delivery in Alaska. In the seven other states that have expanded Medicaid, costs on an average rose 88% above forecasted costs. This will likely be much higher in Alaska. The cost over-runs will do great harm to the Constitutional Budget Reserve– it will be depleted rapidly.
3) Crowd Out Of Most Vulnerable Populations: Current Medicaid recipients, such as the elderly, disabled, and those with children, will be reimbursed at 50%. The new expanded population will be reimbursed at 90%. If you are a physician, who are you going to take? Clearly the new medicaid patients will crowd out the old ones who are reimbursed at the new rate. Thus, those in most need will go to the end of the line if they are even served at all.
4) Taxes On Providers: House Bill 148 also imposes taxes on providers. For medical providers already operating at the margin (and many in Alaska are barely surviving), this could be the nail that closes their practice.
5) Medicaid is a big source of funding for Planned Parenthood. Early on, Twitchy covered how Medicaid expansion and PPA specifically rewarded Planned Parenthood. In addition, Planned Parenthood has a track record of fraudulent claims with Medicaid. American Life League has a page that details the extensive number fraud of lawsuits in Iowa, Texas, California, and Illinois. The Alliance Defense Fund’s Report to Congress in February 2012 details numerous details of fraud and abuse of Medicaid. Expansion would merely expand those opportunities in Alaska.
6) Doesn’t fix any of the current problems: According to Leg Audit in FY 2014, there are serious problems with many of the Medicaid system. The payment system (Enterprise, formerly MMIS) is broken. There are over 451 defects in the payment system documented as of August 2014. The Aries System, used for determining eligibility is also broker. Over half of the Medicaid providers certification files are incomplete. Nearly 2/3 of the providers lacked of any kind of evidence of rate verification, and important component in addressing costs.
7) Pre-Natal Common Core: It isn’t in the bill, but the Medicaid Expansion comes with grant opportunities for what is often dubbed Pre-Natal Common Core (This is what they have in Oregon). It is dubbed “Common Core” because it rides the “Informational texts” standards in English Language Arts for classroom delivery (these are in the reading standards) in the event a district or state does not adopt the National Sexuality Standards. Commissioner Hanley is a prolific grant writer– and you can bet he will go after those funds. We will be stuck with Pre-natal Common Core like they have in Oregon. That is the more radical form of Common Core– and it could explain why there are certain data elements related to a student’s mother in the Online Alaska School Information System (OASIS).
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-11 00:01:232015-04-11 00:01:23Engage TODAY: Alaska’s State Legislature Accelerating Towards an Iceberg [+video]
A bill aimed at giving parents greater freedom in directing the education of their children, including the right to opt out of standardized tests and controversial sex instruction classes, has been amended to prohibit Planned Parenthood and other organizations that perform abortions from teaching in public schools.
Senate Bill 89 was amended on Thursday and passed out of the Senate Education Committee.
The amendment would prohibit a school district from contracting with an “abortion services provider” and prohibit schools from allowing an abortion services provider to teach sex education.
This would not be the first time Planned Parenthood was opposed in its efforts to reach children in public schools.
STOPP (Stop Planned Parenthood) is one of several national organizations that actively oppose Planned Parenthood’s efforts to reach public school students with sex instruction messages. According to the STOPP website, Planned Parenthood’s “sex instruction steals parents’ rights to decide what their children learn about sexuality,” while also “breaking down natural inhibitions and teaching them they can consent to dangerous sexual acts at a very young age.”
Planned Parenthood material “instructs children they have a right to pleasurable sex,” STOPP maintains. “It includes sexual role playing and requires proficiency in sexual foreplay.”
STOPP adds that Planned Parenthood programming “only pays lip service to abstinence; it encourages sexual activity,” while keeping parents largely in the dark regarding the specific details about its curriculum.
According to Alaska Dispatch News, SB 89 sponsor Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, defended the effort to ban Planned Parenthood from teaching sex education in Alaska, saying that parents believe when their children go to school they are learning core subjects like math and science.
As far as allowing groups like Planned Parenthood, which is the largest provider of abortions in the nation, access to children in public schools, Dunleavy said, “We’re not outlawing abortion services providers; we’re saying, ‘Take it out of the school.’”
In email alerts to supporters, Planned Parenthood officials in Alaska have called the amendment an “extreme proposal” because it specifically targets them, “the largest nonprofit organization in the state of Alaska focused on sexual and reproductive health education.” (See “Bill Advances to Ban Abortion Groups from Teaching in Alaska Schools”, originally posted HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-11 00:01:192015-04-11 00:01:19Bill Advances to Ban Abortion Groups from Teaching in Alaska Schools
President Obama has long known that the real decision maker in Iran is Ayatollah Khamenei, the so-called supreme leader. While other Iranian officials have negotiated with Western powers over the mullahs’ nuclear program, Khamenei’s opinion is the only one that really counts. It is for this reason that Obama began writing directly to Khamenei early in his presidency.
Earlier today, Khamenei broke his silence on the supposed “framework” the Obama administration has been trumpeting as the basis for a nuclear accord. Khamenei’s speech pulled the rug out from underneath the administration.
Khamenei accused the Obama administration of “lying” about the proposed terms, being “deceptive,” and having “devilish” intentions, according to multiple published accounts of his speech, as well as posts on his official Twitter feed.
I trust our negotiators but I’m really worried as the other side is into lying & breaching promises; an example was White House fact sheet.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) April 9, 2015
Hours after the #talks, Americans offered a fact sheet that most of it was contrary to what was agreed.They always deceive &breach promises.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) April 9, 2015
Khamenei also disputed the key terms Obama administration officials have said were agreed upon in principle. Economic sanctions will not be phased out once Iran’s compliance has been “verified,” according to the Ayatollah. Instead, Khamenei said that if the U.S. wants a deal, then all sanctions must be dropped as soon as the agreement is finalized. Khamenei also put strict limits on the reach of the inspectors who would be tasked with this verification process in the first place.
Beginning earlier this month and in the days since, Obama and his advisers have attempted to portray the negotiations as major step forward. During an appearance in the Rose Garden on April 2, Obama said the U.S. and its allies have “reached a historic understanding with Iran.” (Read more from “Ayatollah Khamenei Accuses White House of ‘Lying,’ Being ‘Deceptive,’ and Having ‘Devilish’ Intentions” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-10 00:02:242015-04-10 00:02:24Ayatollah Khamenei Accuses White House of ‘Lying,’ Being ‘Deceptive,’ and Having ‘Devilish’ Intentions
The Obama administration vehemently denied Wednesday that it lied to a federal judge about President Obama’s deportation amnesty, but the court is moving to punish him anyway, saying his lawyers were either ignorant or intended to mislead the court when they insisted the amnesty policy was on hold.
In fact, the administration had already processed more than 100,000 cases of so-called Dreamers under the three-year provisions Mr. Obama announced in November — something the president’s lawyers belatedly admitted to Judge Andrew S. Hanen.
“Whether by ignorance, omission, purposeful misdirection, or because they were misled by their clients, the attorneys for the government misrepresented the facts,” the judge said, adding that he was stunned the government waited months before coming forward.
Late Tuesday, Judge Hanen issued an order rebuking the administration and granting Texas, which is suing to halt the amnesty, limited discovery in the case. For now, that means the government must turn over documents showing its thought process on how it was planning to carry out the amnesty.
Judge Hanen also shot down the Justice Department’s request to lift an injunction and restart the amnesty immediately, either nationwide or at least in some states where governors have asked for it. The judge said he’s more convinced than ever that Mr. Obama broke federal law when he announced the amnesty last November. (Read more from “Team Obama Fires Back: Justice Dept. Lawyers Insist They Didn’t Lie to Court over Amnesty” HERE)
The Baltimore Police Department has used an invasive and controversial cellphone tracking device thousands of times in recent years while following instructions from the FBI to withhold information about it from prosecutors and judges, a detective revealed in court testimony Wednesday.
The testimony shows for the first time how frequently city police are using a cell site simulator, more commonly known as a “stingray,” a technology that authorities have gone to great lengths to avoid disclosing.
The device mimics a cellphone tower to force phones within its range to connect. Police use it to track down stolen phones or find people.
Until recently, the technology was largely unknown to the public. Privacy advocates nationwide have raised questions whether there has been proper oversight of its use.
Baltimore has emerged in recent months as a battleground for the debate. In one case last fall, a city detective said a nondisclosure agreement with federal authorities prevented him from answering questions about the device. The judge threatened to hold him in contempt if he didn’t provide information, and prosecutors withdrew the evidence. (Read more from “Baltimore Police Used Secret Technology to Track Cellphones in Thousands of Cases” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-10 00:01:552015-04-10 00:01:55Baltimore Police Used Secret Technology to Track Cellphones in Thousands of Cases [+video]
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has long since disappeared from the radars of the world’s news media, with coverage falling off dramatically from its peak last year.
That is especially true in the United States, but that coverage could soon change if a policy being pursued by the federal government’s premier health agency backfires. And as of right now, one mainstream news channel – CNN – may actually be covering up some important details.
According to The Organic Prepper web site, several American healthcare workers who were either exposed or “potentially” exposed to the Ebola virus have been brought back to the United States for treatment. One who was positively diagnosed with the disease was taken to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
But what about the others who were “potentially exposed?” The Organic Prepper’s Daisy Luther notes that CNN initially ran a story claiming that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was in charge of a plan to house the potentially infected in hotels, not hospitals. (Read more from “CNN Covers up Government Plan to Put Ebola Patients in U.S. Hotels” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-09 23:58:462015-04-09 23:58:46CNN Covers up Government Plan to Put Ebola Patients in U.S. Hotels
By Stephen Dinan. The American firearms industry is as healthy as ever, seeing an unprecedented surge that has sent production of guns soaring to more than 10.8 million manufactured in 2013 alone — double the total of just three years earlier.
The 2013 surge — the latest for which the government has figures — came in the first full year after the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, signaling that the push for stricter gun controls, strongly backed by President Obama, did little to chill the industry despite the passage of stricter laws in states such as New York, Maryland, Connecticut and California.
Indeed, interest in guns appears to be at an all-time high in California, which shattered its previous record for gun-purchase background checks last month, with nearly 200,000 processed, suggesting a vibrant firearms market in the country’s most populous state.
Industry backers say they aren’t surprised firearms buyers and manufacturers alike have responded to the national gun control debate by making and purchasing more.
“The surge in firearms sales in 2013 reflects both a long-term upward trend in shooting sports participation and [a] particular concern that year that law-abiding gun owners and those interested in purchasing a firearm for the first time could face tougher restrictions affecting access to and selection of firearms,” said Mike Bazinet, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry group. (Read more from “Obama Gun Control Push Backfires as Industry Sees Unprecedented Surge” HERE)
By Kellan Howell. Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest gun retailer, is awaiting a verdict Wednesday to see whether it can continue to sell modern sporting rifles if enough investors think it’s a business the company shouldn’t be in.
Arguing that Wal-Mart’s willingness to sell high-capacity magazine rifles contradicts its promise to uphold community and family values, Trinity Wall Street Church in New York won its case in November, when the district court ruled shareholders could propose and vote on a resolution that would force Wal-Mart’s board of directors to review its gun sales policy.
Gun rights activists argue that the district court’s decision allows the church, which owns 3,500 Wal-Mart shares, and other political activists to push gun control via corporate policies rather than struggle to pass such laws in the electoral arena.
“Implications of the decision are already being felt in a wide variety of areas, like shareholders who want companies to divest in Israel or shareholders who wanted, prior to a few days ago, to invest in Indiana,” said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America. “It’s sort of an ongoing effort by people who have been unable to use the political process to achieve political ends and are now trying to destroy corporations in order to achieve those political ends.”
Wal-Mart is worried that the court’s decision will give investors power to protest any of the items sold in Wal-Mart stores across the country. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-09 23:58:392015-04-09 23:58:39Obama Gun Control Push Backfires as Industry Sees Unprecedented Surge
President Obama on Tuesday asked for prayers because his daughters are growing up and could soon leave home for college.
During a prayer breakfast at the White House, Obama lamented the fact that his oldest daughter, Malia, 16, is touring colleges.
“I start tearing up in the middle of the day, and I can’t explain it,” Obama said. “Why am I so sad?”
“They’re leaving me,” he added.
Malia, a high school junior, has toured several top universities over the past year. Last summer, she visited Stanford University and the University of California, Berkley. She toured New York University, Columbia University and Barnard College earlier this year. (Read more from “”I Start Tearing up in the Middle of the Day, and I Can’t Explain It”: Why Obama Is so Sad” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-04-09 23:58:282015-04-09 23:58:28“I Start Tearing up in the Middle of the Day, and I Can’t Explain It”: Why Obama Is so Sad
If gay marriage is legally viewed as a “civil rights issue,” as may happen with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the subject in June, then it becomes a broader religious liberty concern, not just a marriage issue, said Reverend Rafael Cruz, adding that then pastors will have to choose between obeying an “unjust” law and obeying God and potentially going to prison.
