House Republican Leadership Kills Pro-Life Bill, Seals Fate of AK RINOs

5080010428_1f3f462767_b (1)On Tuesday, SB89 was struck down by the House Health & Social Services Committee in a 5-2 vote. When the Speaker of the House pulled SB 89 out of the Judiciary Committee (a committee with the votes necessary to pass the legislation) and placed it into Health & Social Services, we knew that it was with intent to kill the bill.

The Health & Social Services Committee is chaired by Representative Paul Seaton who is well known as being the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. The only motive in placing a principled, life-affirming bill into Rep. Seaton’s committee is to keep it from going before the House for a floor vote. Our prediction proved accurate when the Health & Social Services Committee voted 5-2 against the bill.

Representatives Seaton and Stutes, both Republicans, were complicit in the vote that killed legislation aimed at protecting children in Alaska’s schools from the abortion marketing machine of Planned Parenthood.

Speaker Mike Chenault and other members of the House leadership are ignoring the signed petitions of thousands of Alaskans who are urging the legislature to support SB 89 (and other complimentary pieces of legislation) in favor of a much smaller, but loud group of activists who delivered just over 100 opposition form emails drafted by Planned Parenthood.

House leadership and other Republicans who blocked this no-nonsense piece of legislation should be ashamed of themselves and would do well to remember that they work for “we the people” who can un-elect them with the same process that they were elected by.

Though our efforts have not yet been successful, we are not defeated. Multiple thousands of people have signed our petition and we are continuing to gather more. The legislators must listen to the voice of the people who elected them!

We are grateful for each person’s heartfelt pleas to the legislature on this matter and encourage you to continue to raise your voice (especially to your legislator) on behalf of Alaska’s children, both born and pre-born.

Events Coming Up:

1.) This weekend, come see us at the APHEA (Alaska Private Home Educators Association) Convention at Anchorage Baptist Temple and at the Alaska Republican Assembly Convention at the Egan Center featuring world renowned apologist Ravi Zacharias. You can find more information about APHEA HERE and AKRA HERE.

2.) Saturday, April 23rd is a national day of protesting Planned Parenthood. Three locations in Alaska will be taking part in the organized protest – Anchorage, Fairbanks, & Soldotna. Click here to see the details of each event, including locations, times, and contact person. Please make plans to join a protest and stand with thousands of people around the nation who are demanding an end to abortion.

3.) On Saturday April 23rd we will be joining the protest in Soldotna and then hosting a meeting to organize an affiliate on the Kenai Peninsula. The meeting will be held at Soldotna Church of God from 1-3:30pm and will begin with a light lunch. Please pass the word on to anyone you know on the Kenai Peninsula who may be interested in joining the effort to engage on the pro-life issue and respond to this email if you’d like additional information on this meeting.

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Christian Defense Forces Mobilize Across Middle East

hqdefaultBy Ahuva Balofsky. Persecution of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) has become so serious a problem that it has been recognized as genocide. Some Christians in the region are unwilling to go like lambs to the slaughter, however, and have begun forming militias to fight back.

One such group is the Babylon Brigade, some 500 to 1,000 Christian fighters who mobilized after ISIS took control of their hometown in Mosul, Iraq in 2014. Christians were forced to leave, convert or pay bribes, and many were expelled from their homes. Women were raped and sold into slavery or killed.

Not content to let things be, the members of the Babylon Brigade are offering resistance to ISIS forces. They are a part of a larger group called the Popular Mobilization Forces, which qualifies them for funding from the government.

ISIS “displaced us from our houses, they took our money, killed our young men and women and they took our properties,” the group’s commander, Rayan Al-Kildani, told NBC News. “Therefore, Christians decided to fight the terrorists of ISIS.” (Read more from “Christian Defense Forces Mobilize Across Middle East” HERE)

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U.S. Sends Weapon to Hit ISIS Communications

By Jamie Crawford. The United States has deployed tactical aircraft capable of attacking ISIS’s ability to communicate closer to the front lines of the battle against the terrorist group.

The U.S. European Command announced a squadron of Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft has been sent to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to support operations against ISIS.

In addition to being able to intercept communications by ISIS, the Prowler can protect allied forces on the ground and strike aircraft by jamming any radar and communication devices ISIS has. (Read more from “U.S. Sends Weapon to Hit ISIS Communications” HERE)

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FCC Kept ‘Obamaphone’ Fraud Under Wraps Until After It Expanded Program

2000px-US-FCC-AltLogo.svgFederal regulators were instructed to keep a massive fraud investigation – concerning the “Obamaphone” program, meant to help get low-income families cellphone access – under wraps until a day after a controversial vote to expand the program, one of those regulators claims.

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday announced that it would seek $51 million in damages from a cellphone company that allegedly defrauded the federal Lifeline program of nearly $10 million.

The commission’s five members unanimously backed the Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL), but Republican commissioner Ajit Pai parted from his colleagues in a partial dissent. According to Pai, he and other commissioners were told not to reveal the details of its investigation until April 1, a day after the FCC voted to expand the Lifeline program.

“Commissioners were told that the Notice of Apparent Liability could not be released or publicly discussed until April 1, 2016, conveniently one day after the Commission was scheduled to expand the Lifeline program to broadband,” Pai wrote. “That’s not right.” (Read more from “FCC Kept ‘Obamaphone’ Fraud Under Wraps Until After It Expanded Program” HERE)

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Jailbreak Caucus Admits They Are Pushing ‘Willie Horton’ Bill

maxresdefault (91)In case you thought Republicans had abandoned their push for the jailbreak legislation being promoted by the far left, think again. They are moving full steam ahead with the bill (S. 2123 and H.R. 3713) this spring after reaching a supposed compromise.

In a stunning admission that their bill would result in Willie Horton-style prison releases, the Washington Examiner is reporting that after removing the provision lowering sentences for convicted firearms felons, proponents of the bill still recognize the dangers of this legislation… but are proceeding anyway. As the Examiner noted:

‘You’re never going to eliminate the Willie Horton type of situation, the political ads aside, of somebody coming out [of prison] and committing a crime,’ the GOP Senate said. ‘It’s the nature of the human being. You’re never going to have 100 percent certainty, that’s never going to happen. But it would be a shame to just not ever do any sentencing reform, any criminal justice reform, because of that.’

First they told us the original draft (my analysis of which can be viewed here) was designed only for “nonviolent drug offenders.” Then when they were called out for the firearms felon provision, they removed it, but assured us the rest of the bill would only apply to low level criminals. Now, they are admitting that, yes, indeed this bill will likely result in the release of violent criminals, but… we need criminal justice reform at all costs! Doesn’t this remind you of “comprehensive immigration reform” as an end in itself?

In reality, they have good reason to fear a Willie Horton situation. As we’ve noted throughout our coverage of this issue, most drug offenders in federal prison are either illegal aliens, heavy duty drug dealers, or have rap sheets full of other violent offenses. The comments expressed by this GOP leadership aid echo the thoughts of Senator Durbin (F, 2%), a key sponsor of this bill. As reported by the LA Times last year, Durbin admitted they were playing Russian roulette with the security of their constituents, but the greater cause was worth the risk: “This is dangerous business for a politician. We are going to release people, but we don’t know what they are going to do. We may be held personally accountable. But if we use that as our inspiration we will never touch the sentencing laws.”

Further disquieting is the fact that many of those serving time for “low level” drug offenses are illegal aliens and a number of those who would be eligible for juvenile sentencing leniencies under title II of the Senate bill are MS-13 gang members. An MS-13 member who was convicted of murder when he was 17 years old and has served 19 years in federal prison could be let out on the streets with the flick of the wrist from a liberal judge. There is no provision in this bill to mandate the deportation of these individuals, which means many of them will be released into our communities.

When the back-end leniencies in title II are combined with the front-end leniencies on sentencing in title I, this bill could result in a major heroin dealer from a drug cartel serving just two years as opposed to the 10 years mandated by current law.

In my upcoming book, “Stolen Sovereignty,” I warn how the federal judiciary has become even more liberal than they were in the ‘70s, which served as the original impetus for mandatory minimums. This bill is the first step to ending all mandatory minimums, which is the end goal of those promoting the criminal lobby. Eradicating mandatory minimums at a time like this would result in chaos.
Not only is this effort a disastrous policy pursuit, it reflects tone-deaf politics. The relentless push for prison releases comes at a time when the percentage of Americans concerned about growing crime is higher than at any point since after 9/11. Leave it to Republicans to help the far left promote Willie Horton legislation at a time when Americans are clamoring for law and order. (For more from the author of “Jailbreak Caucus Admits They Are Pushing ‘Willie Horton’ Bill” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

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Bill to Strengthen Faith-Based Health Care Options in Alaska Running out of Time

Smallpox_vaccine_injectionWith only three days left before the current session of the Alaska Legislature ends, a measure to exempt religious-based health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) from being regulated as health insurance in Alaska has yet to pass out of the House. Senate Bill 18 is currently in the House Rules Committee, but has not been voted on by the full House.

A distinctive and attractive aspect of HCSMs for many Catholics and non-Catholic Christians alike is that HCSMs are not subject to federal or state contraceptive or abortion mandates.

Alaska Senate Majority Leader John Coghill (R – North Pole) introduced Senate Bill 18 last year, which means the proposed legislation would die if it does not pass before April 17.

SB 18 would define HCSMs in the state, whereas now these ministries are ambiguous when it comes to state law. While not health insurance, membership in a HCSM satisfies the federal health care law’s (Affordable Care Act) requirement that all individuals purchase health insurance or pay a penalty tax, via the act’s penalty exemptions. HCSMs first came to Coghill’s attention via his long-time affiliation and employment at Bible Baptist Church in Fairbanks and more recently via an article in a Rutherford Institute publication. HCSMs allow individuals of a common set of beliefs to share in health care costs via a “co-op” of sorts. After learning of the Affordable Care Act’s penalty exemption for members of HCSMs the senator and his staff did a little digging and found that while there was nothing preventing HCSMs from operating in Alaska, there was also nothing in place to protect these ministries from being treated like health insurance in an Alaska court of law.

“Our law is silent; nothing is quantified,” Coghill told the Catholic Anchor last year. “This is a good opportunity to solidify the definition of health care sharing ministries, to define it in Alaska.”

Both Samaritan Ministries International and Christian Care MediShare, which make up the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, have ministry members in Alaska. Each ministry provides health care cost sharing arrangements among Christians who have opted out of the insurance-based model of health care for a more personal, faith-driven approach to their own health care needs and that of sharing the cost of health care for others.

While based on the principle of shared burden bearing rooted in early Christianity, HSCMs’ modern-era roots date back to the 1960s’ Old Order Amish Church’s communal practice of shared medical costs. Nowadays, HCSMs have a pool of voluntary members who agree to pay a set monthly amount, called a “share,” to help members pay for medical expenses. Qualifying needs are published in a monthly newsletter; members without needs for that month are assigned a specific person to send their share to. Money, and usually prayers and letters, are sent directly from those who have a need and those who desire to share the burden of those expenses.

Samaritan Ministries International currently has more than 150,000 people participating in the ministry, with more than $10 million available for needs each month. More than 350,000 people are served nationwide between the two ministries.

While members have a large portion of their medical costs covered by others willing to share, HSCMs are not insurance companies. There is no guarantee of payment, no risk assumed by a federally regulated business — each month’s share payment is completely voluntary. Yet the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries states that these ministries work because of the ecumenical sharing of not only the need but of the actual person who has the need; it makes Christian charity very tangible, both for the receiver and the recipient, who in turn could switch places the following month.

The health care sharing model has fiscal advantages as well; as high premiums, in-network provider limitations and increasingly large deductibles continue to frustrate many seeking health insurance. Because HCSMs are not-for-profit, membership shares are typically cheaper than for-profit health insurance. Share amounts depend on household types, with lower shares associated with singles, single-parent families and families with young parents (age 25 and younger).

Last fall Samaritan Ministries International teamed with Christ Medicus Foundation to create the Catholic Living Health Care Ministry, or CMF CURO. CMF CURO is managed in compliance with Catholic moral teachings and the Ethical and Religious Directives of Catholic Health Care. CMF CURO Director Louis Brown was quoted in the National Catholic Register last October as stating that his group “will allow Catholics to practice their faith, utilize affordable access to health care for themselves and their family, protect religious liberty and the individual right of conscience and, most importantly, affirm the gospel of life.”

Monthly shares with CMF CURO are $264 a month for individuals; a two-parent family’s share is $489. Shares do not increase in HCSMs without a member vote. Qualified medical expenses between $300 and $250,000 are shared among members. Members are responsible for their first $300 of their first three published needs, after that all published expenses are 100 percent shared. Medical costs greater than $250,000 are shared through a separate SMI program, Save to Share, which all CMF CURO members are enrolled in. CMF CURO does not publish medical costs associated with procedures at odds with Church teaching, such as abortion or sterilization. Catholic members of CMF CURO must attend Mass regularly (at least three times a month) and all members — the ministry is available to non-Catholics as well — must pledge to abstain from sinful practices, such as sexual immorality, drug abuse, smoking tobacco — except for the occasional celebration smoke — and must either abstain from alcohol or from drinking to the point of drunkenness. A pastor or church leader must attest to the members’ adherence to these lifestyle choices in the form of a signed letter. CMF CURO is available in all 50 states. (For more from the author of “Bill to Strengthen Faith-Based Health Care Options in Alaska Running out of Time” please click HERE)

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Exposed: Insider Rips Veil off Michelle Obama’s Sinister Hillary Clinton Secret

Judy Woodruff, anchor of PBS’ News Hour and former White House Correspondent, wrote a forward for Kate Andersen Brower’s new book, “First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies.” Woodruff writes, “Superbly reported … A fascinating backstage account of the world’s most famous residence.”

But it’s not just what happens behind the scenes at the White House that’s making Brower’s new book the talk in media today. Also creating a buzz is the sentiment the Obamas apparently share towards the Clintons. Brower writes there exists, “deep and lasting scars on both the Clinton and Obama camps, and they are still shockingly fresh.”

The New York Post stated the new expose reveals, “Michelle Obama was even hoping Joe Biden would launch a presidential run so he could beat Hillary this time around.” A former Obama adviser reportedly told Brower, “When Michelle Obama views the Clintons, I don’t want to say she’s looking down her nose at them — but she kind of is,” adding Michelle’s relationship with Hillary is, “fraught with hurt feelings and resentment” . . .

With the FBI currently investigating Hillary Clinton for her handling of classified emails on a private server, combined with Brower’s new revelations about how the Obama’s supposedly feel about the Clintons, one might assume President Obama may not pardon Clinton if criminal charges are filed against her. Obama said as much Sunday when he was interviewed by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Obama said, “Nobody is above the law.” (Read more from “Exposed: Insider Rips Veil off Michelle Obama’s Sinister Hillary Clinton Secret” HERE)

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Donald Trump Is Right: The Republican Nominating Process Is a Scam

maxresdefault (89)If Donald Trump arrives at the Republican National Convention with less than a majority of delegates bound to him, his message will be simple: I got way more votes than anyone else, and party insiders are conspiring against me to give the nomination to somebody else . . .

It is true that Trump’s campaign is doing badly at the small stuff, and it’s costing him delegates. Trump failed to organize for Colorado’s complex delegate conventions, in which voters never got to express a direct preference for a candidate. He has just started the process of selecting hundreds of delegate candidates in California. He has failed to stack relevant convention committees with his allies.

When Trump has called the nominating rules a “scam” and a “disgrace,” the response has been mainly that he should stop whining. Here’s Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee:

But here’s the thing: Democratic legitimacy is not just about following the rules as written. It’s about having a set of rules designed to produce a result in line with voter preferences. In some states, the Republican nominating rules are designed to ignore the will of the voters.

Trump is right: These states’ rules are a scam, and saying so is not whining. (Read more from “Donald Trump Is Right: The Republican Nominating Process Is a Scam” HERE)

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Cruz’s Message to Wall Street: Help Me

22608852784_534eb4e408_bOn Monday, assorted bankers, traders and Wall Street lawyers will gather inside the neo-Georgian walls of the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan to write big checks to an unlikely recipient: Ted Cruz.

Cruz, who attended Harvard Law School, isn’t one to trade too heavily on old school ties and friendships at the likes of Goldman Sachs, where his wife works. On the campaign trail, the Texas senator has railed against Wall Street “crony capitalism,” ripped giant banks as “too big to fail” and wrapped himself in populist garb in his quest to take down Donald Trump. But now he’s desperate: Cruz, who has already received $12 million in support from the financial industry, needs Wall Street money more than ever.

If he is going to keep Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination before the GOP convention, Cruz will have to spend heavily on the airwaves in the remaining primary and caucus states, especially California, which closes out the voting on June 7. Cruz ended February with $8 million in the bank. His campaign says he pulled in $12 million — only a modest haul, for this stage of the campaign — in March, but that money will evaporate quickly during the final sprint.

So Cruz and his wife, Heidi, currently on unpaid leave from her Goldman Sachs executive position, will gather with donors in New York next week to refill the coffers. Event chairs for the Harvard Club gathering must collect $25,000 each for Cruz. Members of the host committee must commit to bringing in $10,800. Those who donate $2,700 will get to schmooze with the Cruzes at a VIP reception. General admission is $1,000. (Read more from “Cruz’s Message to Wall Street: Help Me” HERE)

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Spoiler Alert! Kasich out to ‘Deny Trump Nomination’

25517125391_4b4e4c77e7_bIn an email to supporters Wednesday, the wife of Republican candidate John Kasich confirmed what many political observers have long suspected: A chief goal of the Kasich campaign is to deny GOP front-runner Donald Trump the party’s nomination.

“Friend, I’m going to be honest with you,” states the email blast from Kasich’s wife, Karen. “The stakes are high and it’s critical that we all pitch in to help John continue securing delegates and deny Trump the nomination.”

Then Mrs. Kasich assures supporters that her husband is running a “positive campaign” . . .

John Kasich has repeatedly insisted he’s not in the race to block Trump . . .

“I want to make something clear to people. I’m not in this to try to stop somebody,” Mr. Kasich told Fox News’ Chris Wallace on March 20. “I’m in this to tell people about my experience, my record, my vision, and my ability to bring – bring people together and to be a successful president of the United States. This is beginning to deteriorate into some sort of a political science class with a bunch of pundits trying to, you know, play a parlor game. I’m not interested in that.” (Read more from “Spoiler Alert! Kasich out to ‘Deny Trump Nomination'” HERE)

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Watch: An RNC Delegate Just Announced the Lengths She’d Go to Make Sure Trump Doesn’t Win

hqdefaultHillary Clinton and the Democrat party are at war with Americans who pay taxes, are Christians, and use guns, and expect their private property and constitutional rights to be respected.

Yet Republicans, like RNC delegate Rina Bharara, say that they will vote for Hillary in November if Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee . . .

Anti-Trump “conservatives” constantly complain about how Trump is a liberal and not conservative enough, yet and in the same breath they state they will vote for Hillary.

Which one of their conservative principles does Hillary Clinton fall under?

This delegate says she’d pick Hillary because Trump is dangerous. Tell that to the families of the Benghazi victims, the women abused by the Clintons, and the families of Americans dead at the hands of illegals. (Read more from “Watch: An RNC Delegate Just Announced the Lengths She’d Go to Make Sure Trump Doesn’t Win” HERE)

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