Political Cartoons: Michael Ramirez

Posted on March 20th, 2013

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Posted in Harry Reid, Michael Ramirez, National Defense, Political Cartoons, Solid Principles, U.S. Military | Tagged as: , , , , ,

St. Patrick of Ireland

Posted on March 16th, 2013

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St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world’s most popular saints.

Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 461.

Along with St. Nicholas and St. Valentine, the secular world shares our love of these saints. This is also a day when everyone’s Irish.

There are many legends and stories of St. Patrick, but this is his story.

Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably Kilpatrick. His parents were Calpurnius and Conchessa, who were Romans living in Britian in charge of the colonies.

As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.

During his captivity, he turned to God in prayer. He wrote

“The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same.” “I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain.”

Patrick’s captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britian, where he reunited with his family.

He had another dream in which the people of Ireland were calling out to him “We beg you, holy youth, to come and walk among us once more.”

He began his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years.

Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. One legend says that he met a chieftain of one of the tribes, who tried to kill Patrick. Patrick converted Dichu (the chieftain) after he was unable to move his arm until he became friendly to Patrick.

Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick’s message.

Patrick by now had many disciples, among them Beningnus, Auxilius, Iserninus, and Fiaac, (all later canonized as well).

Patrick preached and converted all of Ireland for 40 years. He worked many miracles and wrote of his love for God in Confessions. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461.

He died at Saul, where he had built the first church.

Why a shamrock?

Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.
In His Footsteps:

Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man, whose love and total devotion to and trust in God should be a shining example to each of us. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.

READ MORE@CATHOLIC ONLINE……

Posted in All Things Irish, Faith, Solid Principles | Tagged as: , , , , ,

Pope Francis biography, key facts, life in Latin America and background

Posted on March 14th, 2013

Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes pope Francis
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernized Argentina’s conservative Catholic church. Known until Wednesday as Jorge Bergoglio, the 76-year-old is known as a humble man who denied himself the luxuries that previous Buenos Aires cardinals enjoyed.

He came close to becoming pope last time, reportedly gaining the second-highest vote total in several rounds of voting before he bowed out of the running in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. Groups of supporters waved Argentine flags in St. Peter’s Square as Francis, wearing simple white robes, made his first public appearance as pope. “Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening,” he said before making a reference to his roots in Latin America, which accounts for about 40 percent of the world’s Roman Catholics.

Bergoglio often rode the bus to work, cooked his own meals and regularly visited the slums that ring Argentina’s capital. He considers social outreach, rather than doctrinal battles, to be the essential business of the church. He accused fellow church leaders of hypocrisy and forgetting that Jesus Christ bathed lepers and ate with prostitutes. “Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit,” Bergoglio told Argentina’s priests last year.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/pope-francis-biography-key-facts-life-in-latin-america-and-background-88818.html#ixzz2NX5UfGQr

Posted in Faith, Politico, Solid Principles | Tagged as: , , , , ,

Obama’s approval drops as Americans take a dimmer view of his economic policies

Posted on March 13th, 2013

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By Jon Cohen and Karen Tumulty,

The afterglow of President Obama’s reelection and inauguration appears to have vanished as increasingly negative views among Americans about his stewardship of the economy have forced his public approval rating back down to the 50 percent mark, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

In December, just after he won a second term, Obama held an 18-percentage-point advantage over congressional Republicans on the question of whom the public trusted more to deal with the economy. Now, it’s a far more even split — 44 percent to 40 percent, with a slight edge for the president — but the share of those saying they have confidence in “neither” has ticked up into double digits.

The poll contains ample evidence of the disillusionment voters feel toward both sides amid a sense of continuing dysfunction in Washington, which since December has been grappling with fiscal crises and deadlines of its own making.

Almost two weeks into the automatic across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester, a slim majority of Americans dis­approve of the reductions. At the same time, nearly three-quarters say they are feeling no impact on their lives, and fewer than half expect a toll on their family finances if the cuts continue.

Still, large majorities expect that the sequester will eventually damage the economy, the military and the government’s ability to provide basic services. Most, 68 percent, say they would like the two sides to work together to come up with a deal to stop the cuts. The desire for cooperation is widely shared across party lines.

Asked who is responsible for the sequester, 47 percent say Republicans in Congress and 33 percent say Obama.

READ MORE AT THE WASHINGTON POST……

Posted in 2012 Presidential Race, Barack Obama, Budget, Polls, Republicans, Solid Principles | Tagged as: , , , , , , , ,

Political Cartoons: Michael Ramirez

Posted on March 11th, 2013

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Posted in Barack Obama, Foreign Policy, Foreign Politics, Investor's Business Daily, Iran, Michael Ramirez, Political Cartoons | Tagged as: , , , , ,

President Obama Job Approval

Posted on March 7th, 2013

real clear politics

Poll Date Sample Approve Disapprove Spread

RCP Average 2/21 – 3/5 — 48.5 45.5 +3.0
Quinnipiac
2/27 – 3/4 1944 RV 45 46 -1
Gallup
3/3 – 3/5 1500 A 48 44 +4
Rasmussen Reports
3/3 – 3/5 1500 LV 51 48 +3
FOX News
2/25 – 2/27 1010 RV 46 47 -1
Reason-Rupe/PSRAI
2/21 – 2/25 1002 A 51 43 +8
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl
2/21 – 2/24 1000 A 50 45 +5

All President Obama Job Approval Polling Data

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Political Cartoons: Michael Ramirez

Posted on March 7th, 2013

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Posted in Foreign Politics, Investor's Business Daily, Michael Ramirez, Political Cartoons | Tagged as: , , , , ,

Sequester: Obama’s “Ugly” Baby

Posted on March 6th, 2013

 

Grover Norquist’s op-ed on President Obama’s sequestration, for the American Spectator blog.

 

As sequestration kicks in, ATR President Grover Norquist has an op-ed up at American Spectator discussing the only good idea President Obama has shared with Americans. He points out that the President, unfortunately, has spent a quite a bit of time denying “paternity” to it.

As Bob Woodward points out on page 326 of The Price of Politics, the sequester was the brainchild of the Obama White House in the days leading up to the final debt limit deal in August 2011. And despite “tough love” from the Chicago boys, Woodward is sticking with the facts.

Obama’s pride in the sequester was based on the fact he thought it was a way to avoid real spending cuts. Grover points out that the thinking went as follows:

Republicans in 2011 demanded $2.5 trillion in real spending reduction in return for giving the President a $2.5 trillion increase in his debt limit. For months the president whined and stamped his feet, demanding that the $2.5 trillion be made up of equal parts: real tax hikes now and phantom spending restraint someday. He had two reasons to think this stratagem would work. First, it worked in 1982 against Reagan. And second, it worked 8 years later in 1990 against George H.W. Bush. In 1982 and 1990 the tax hikes were real and spending went up rather than down—even from projected levels.

Grover points out that McConnell and Boehner weren’t dumb enough to fall for this trick, insisting on spending cuts alone.

The August deal was roughly a $1 trillion set of cuts in domestic discretionary spending and the establishment of a “super committee” that was charged to come up with the rest of the $2.5 trillion in borrowing authority the president was granted in the law. If the super committee couldn’t find the additional savings, the law guaranteed a sequester would take place in 2013 to make up the difference. The Democrats on the super committee wanted $1.6 trillion in higher taxes plus $400 billion in more “stimulus” spending. This was, not surprisingly, a no-go and the sequester was the backup already in law.

Obama mistakenly thought that the sequester, which equally cut from Pentagon expenses and non-defense spending, would force Republicans to vote for a tax hike to make sure they didn’t actually have to cut spending. He didn’t anticipate that the GOP would share a common belief with the American people that the government can afford to grow slower than the President planned.

So now Obama is reduced to the equivalent of denouncing his own baby as too ugly to present in public.

House and Senate Republicans have made it clear that they are open to alternative ways to save the same amount of money—$1.2 trillion over the decade. But there will be no tax hike and no loosening of the spending spigot.

 

Posted by Paul Blair

Read more: http://atr.org/sequester-obamas-ugly-baby-a7495#ixzz2Mh2rAJJ4

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Posted in Barack Obama, Federal Taxes, Solid Principles | Tagged as: , , , ,

U.S. Navy Image of the Day 3 5 13

Posted on March 5th, 2013

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PACIFIC OCEAN (March 2, 2013)1 of 4

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) plows through rough seas. McCampbell is part of Destroyer Squadron15, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, and is underway to conduct exercise Foal Eagle 2013 with allied nation Republic of Korea in support of regional security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Declan Barnes (Released) 130302-N-TG831-113

Posted in Solid Principles, U.S. Military | Tagged as: , , , ,

Tag-teaming Obama

Posted on March 5th, 2013

the-hill

Tag Team Wrestlers

 

Don’t tell the Tea Party, but the tag team of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are currently mopping the floor with Barack Obama.

The president convincingly won a second term in November, but since that time, the congressional Republican leadership has outfoxed, outmaneuvered and plain out-strategized him on just about every issue.

On taxes, McConnell (R-Ky.) just flat-out beat Joe Biden. He preserved 98 percent of the Bush tax cuts in perpetuity, which from a policy perspective is huge. He also made sure that the payroll tax holiday came to a conclusion, thereby making sure that every American would feel the tax increase that President Obama has long been fighting for.

By agreeing on a smaller tax increase, McConnell also inoculated Republicans from Obama’s demands for higher taxes later on. Hey, Mr. President, we just raised taxes, and you want to raise taxes again? That dog simply doesn’t hunt with most voters, and Obama has taken to the less politically explosive position of closing tax loopholes. Boring.

On spending, the Republicans haven’t gotten everything they wanted. But they did get the rebranding opportunity that they so desperately needed. They are once again champions of spending cuts, and the American people now believe them.

And thanks to Boehner’s (R-Ohio) nimble reshuffling, they were able to get rebranded as spending cutters without having to resort to defaulting on the debt or closing down the government.

Read more: http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/john-feehery/286101-tag-teaming-obama#ixzz2MfpE9Uiv
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Posted in Barack Obama, Budget, Federal Taxes, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Republicans, Solid Principles, The Hill | Tagged as: , , , , , ,