Grumpy The Cat On Obama

GRUMPY THE CAT!

 

IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS ONE!!

SAYS IT ALL

 

Hobby Lobby Victory Now Part Of Upcoming Movie

Hobby Lobby Court Victory Becomes Part of New EchoLight Movie

Hobby Lobby Court Victory Becomes Part of New EchoLight Movie 

By Anthony D’Amore, Contributing Writer

A new, documentary movie from EchoLight Studios, exploring the “erosion” of religious freedom in America, will highlight Hobby Lobby’s recent Supreme Court victory about the right of an employer, based on religious beliefs, to refuse to fund birth control or certain contraceptives that may end the life of an unborn baby.

Creating ministry opportunities while bypassing movie theaters in its initial showing, this faith-based movie is set to hit big screens in churches across the country on September 1.

Entitled ONE GENERATION AWAY:  THE EROSION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, the upcoming documentary is a sobering look into rising threats to religious freedom for Americans. A well-known quote from the late President Ronald Reagan punctuates the trailer released online:  “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

The inclusion of Hobby Lobby in the movie is extremely timely. In late June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby to exercise a faith-based exemption from a government-led birth control mandate. However, the decision was a tight five-to-four vote and sparked vitriolic responses across social media against the decision.  An increasing number of liberal-minded, public opinion-shaping commentators have insinuated since the ruling that this pro-religious freedom decision doesn’t reflect today’s America. To a degree, they may have a point.

In addition to the high-profile Hobby Lobby case, the movie will also highlight other precedent-setting court cases, including one involving Texas cheerleaders and banners with Bible verses; cases involving the U.S. military; and, cases of businesses challenging legal decisions ordering them to provide services for same-sex weddings.

Among the dozens of people who reportedly appear in the movie are Steve and David Green of Hobby Lobby; former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee; Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; Jennifer Marshall of Heritage Foundation; Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas; and, Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association.

Also appearing in the movie as a counterpoint to the Christian worldview is atheist activist Dan Barker, who provocatively says in the trailer “Millions of good Americans believe birth control and abortion are a blessing. . . good thing for this country.”  (The best comedy writers in Hollywood couldn’t come up with a more ironic use of the word “blessing” in this context.)

Showing the movie in churches – instead of theaters – is part of EchoLight’s strategy to create movies that have ministry value, which churches can use in outreach efforts in their local communities to draw more people to see church in a new light.  The movie studio intends to promote dialogue about relevant, pressing issues as well as provide high-quality, family content.

Not only do an increasing number of churches have theater-like set-ups, big screens and HD-quality cameras, but churches also offer an attractive, built-in audience of believers for EchoLight’s movie-showing. (It gives a new meaning to the old line “Get me to the church on time” from the classic MY FAIR LADY. Now it could be because a movie is about to start in the sanctuary.)

Movieguide plans to post a full review of ONE GENERATION AWAY:  THE EROSION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY later this summer. Stay tuned!

Obama "Will Borrow" Power From Congress To Solve Immigration And Contraceptive Issues. Illegal? Yes!

Obama Considers Executive End Run Around Hobby Lobby Decision

July 2, 2014 by Ben Bullard 

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FILE

President Barack Obama is not shy about signing executive orders.

The Administration of President Barack Obama, fresh off its 13^th Supreme Court defeat for executive overreach, may not be ready to move on from Monday’s ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, who successfully argued that Obamacare’s contraception mandate unConstitutionally violates their religious beliefs.

The 5-4 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby allows owners of closely held corporations (the Internal Revenue Service defines“closely held” corporations as having five or fewer major shareholders) to decline to include post-coital birth control drugs in their employer-sponsored health insurance plans, if doing so violates their religious convictions. Hobby Lobby has no moral objection to — and will continue to offer coverage for — 16 forms of birth control that prevent conception from occurring.

But the Obama Administration immediately rebuked the majority opinion, calling on Congress to get involved.

“Today’s decision jeopardizes the health of women who are employed by these companies,”said Earnest, later adding: “We will work with Congress to make sure that any women affected by this decision will still have the same coverage of vital health services as everyone else.”

Approaching Congress with an open hand seems to be the necessary condition the Obama Administration must first establish in order to lay the groundwork for executive action. Later in the same press conference, Earnest insinuated that the President may attempt — in spite of his track record before the high court — to pursue “other options…that don’t require legislative action.” That’s because no one expects Congress to meddle with the Court’s decision anytime soon.

So as we gather some more information, we may be in a position to better consider the range of options that are available to the President. It is our view, as I said here at the top, though, that Congress needs to take action to solve this problem that’s been created, and the administration stands ready to work with them to do so.

The Republican-controlled House is loaded with a majority of representatives who loudly praised Monday’s ruling. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the decision “a victory for religious freedom and another defeat for an Administration that has repeatedly crossed constitutional lines in pursuit of its Big Government objectives.” Anything that might be approved in the Senate — and that’s an enormous hypothetical, given the climate surrounding the approaching elections — will fizzle once it hits the House.

So there’s only one other option, at least if you’re Obama.

The Administration created the expectations it intends to fulfill on Monday. If Obama were to take the executive action path again, he likely will have the backing of Congressional Democrats, who have already indicated a willingness to allow the President to “borrow the power that is needed,” as Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), speaking on the illegal immigration crisis, flatly stated last week.

Maxine Tells Us The Real Story

Give a Man a Fish - Maxine's Best This may be the best Maxine yet!

When Government Does Not Honor The Basics Of Its Constitution, Can It Be Long Before All Rights Are Gone. Obama's Supporters Will Be Hurt Most.

Cruz Tells Liberty University Students Religious Liberty Is Under Assault

April 2, 2014 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.

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Senator Ted Cruz, speaking to students at Liberty University, charged that President Barack Obama’s healthcare law forces religious believers to violate their faith.

Cruz (R-Texas) also said the Internal Revenue Service violated the 1st Amendment in its investigation to determine the status of conservative groups. He said “the Federal government has no business asking any American the content of our prayers.”

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., has been something of a magnet for Republicans with Presidential aspirations. The evangelical Protestant school was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Cruz, a Southern Baptist, attacked the birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act. The issue is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“For a nation that was founded by pilgrims fleeing religious oppression, how through the looking glass have we gone that the federal government is litigating against our citizens, trying to force us to violate our faith? Religious liberty has never been more under assault,” he said.

Cruz said everyone who wishes to is free to use contraceptives, and that the law forces those who oppose contraception on religious grounds to pay for “the contraceptives of others.”

“As believers, we are called to action, not to sitting quietly, but to stand and speak no matter what the consequence,” Cruz said.

Religious Businesses Will Have To Provide Birth Control

Religious Freedom  rapidly is going the way of the buggy whip. The Obama Administration has passed an edict that businesses who employ anyone must provide contraceptives even though the owners are against the practice.  Where are their rights to follow their own personal religious beliefs?

The answer is that this Administration has no interest in your personal beliefs. You see, they know better than you. They know that religion is not an important fact in your lives since it is not in theirs. Hey, religion is just old stuff that was written down by old people dead thousands of years ago. It has no importance in today's world unless it is Islam and those words are sacred.

We wrote a blog a couple months ago about the Catholic Church and its support of ObamaCrapCare while it was in Congress. Later when the Obama Administration turned on the Church by mandating that Catholic universities, schools and hospitals provide abortions and contraceptives, it was not so supportive, in fact, it sued the Administration.  All religious organizations must understand that it cannot get along with Obama and his henchmen.

Now all businesses will be made to provide contraceptives and abortions regardless of the owner's religion. That seems wrong to us. What about you?

Conservative Tom

U.S. Refuses to Expand Birth Control Religious Exemption

inShare

JULY 1, 2013

By Bloomberg News Service

An exemption allowing religious groups to avoid covering the cost of birth control as required by the U.S. Affordable Care Act won’t be expanded, the Obama administration said.

Churches and religious groups don’t have to comply with a provision of the law requiring that most employer health plans cover the cost of contraceptives. Universities, hospitals and other nonprofits associated with faith groups also are exempt from paying for the coverage. The administration, in its final regulation issued yesterday, rejected a request by some businesses for a similar accommodation.

Companies including Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. have challenged the government over the provision of the 2010 U.S. health law requiring employers and insurers to provide preventive health services without charge to their workers, a category the administration said includes birth control. The final rule largely adheres to a proposal made in February that was designed to dispel concerns of companies and organizations that objected on religious grounds.

The decision “reinforces our commitment to respect the concerns of houses of worship and other nonprofit religious organizations that object to contraceptive coverage, while helping to ensure that women get the care they need, regardless of where they work,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

The rule was issued by HHS, the Labor Department and the Internal Revenue Service.

Lawsuits Filed

The administration has been sued 65 times over the birth control requirement, including 33 cases filed by for-profit companies, according to the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that supports insurance coverage for contraception. Twenty companies have been granted an injunction or other temporary relief from the requirement while the cases wind their way through court, according to the NWLC.

A federal appeals court in Denver ruled June 27 that Hobby Lobby and another company, Mardel Inc., were likely to succeed at challenging the requirement by arguing that it violates their religious freedom. The ruling granted the companies an injunction against having to cover birth control, reversing a lower court’s decision.

Hobby Lobby’s owner, David Green, has said he doesn’t object to providing preventive birth control. He refuses to cover two emergency birth-control pills, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA)’s Plan B One-Step and Actavis Inc. (ACT)’s Ella, which are taken after sex, because he believes they cause abortions.

Legal Situation

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit in Washington representing Hobby Lobby and eight other groups suing the government over the birth control issue, said the final rule doesn’t change the legal landscape.

“There’s a fundamental conflict that’s really just going to get resolved in court,” Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund, said in a conference call with reporters.

Under the rule, workers at Catholic universities and hospitals, or similar institutions associated with other faiths, will get birth control coverage with minimal involvement in the process by their employers.

A nonprofit associated with a religious group that doesn’t want to pay for the coverage must inform its insurer or the company that administers its health plan, if it is self-insured, the government said. The insurer then pays for the services without using any money received from the nonprofit.

Insufficient Protection

That process doesn’t sufficiently protect religious nonprofits from having to provide access to morning-after pills like Plan B and Ella, Rassbach said. Four of the fund’s clients are colleges and universities with religious affiliations that are suing the government over the requirement.

“They’re being asked to be the gatekeepers to these services,” Rassbach said.

The government said it doesn’t know of any self-insuring nonprofits that don’t employ a separate company, called a third-party administrator, to handle their benefits. If there are nonprofits without such an administrator, the rule provides a “safe harbor” from enforcement of the birth control requirement, meaning they wouldn’t have to comply with it.

The rule is unlikely to add costs for insurers who have to pay for the services, said Chiquita Brooks-Lasure, deputy director of policy and regulation at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at HHS, which is implementing much of the Affordable Care Act.

“We do strongly believe that the cost of contraceptive services will be absolutely cost-neutral and offset by improvements to women’s health as well as reduced pregnancies,” she said at a briefing with reporters.

Third-party administrators, which won’t financially benefit from reduced births, will be reimbursed for the coverage by the government. The administration offered no estimate of what those reimbursements would cost.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Wayne in Washington at awayne3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

FISC Court Approves 100% of Requested Electronic Monitoring

Anytime a court authorizes EVERY request to search or monitor citizens, this is a rubber stamp and not a safeguard for our rights!  Not one was rejected. This is another chilling effect on what most citizens in this country expect from their government. 

It does not matter if the government is run by Democrats or Republicans, when the underlying judicial system will not protect our rights, we have a problem. There is no way in heck that thousands of cases had merit and none did not. 

The problem we face is worse than the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), it is a Supreme Court Chief Justice who "finds" a tax where the creators of the legislation swore there was none; where a government sponsored program sells weapons to drug gangs in Mexico and then uses those guns  to kill Americans; it is a government which forces religious organizations to offer contraceptives and abortions which is against their vows; it is the Bostonians who cheer the police as if they had just kicked the Russians out of their city after they found (with citizen help) an injured and defenseless bomber; our legislators propose legislation to make citizens of millions of illegal immigrants after they demand their "rights"" and it is Americans who would gladly give up their right to own guns for safety.

We have significant problems and most Americans are only interested in the last football, baseball or basketball score or who won the latest round of "Dancing With The Stars." We are superficial, selfish and have no understanding of our rights or our history. We are a country in decline.

Conservative Tom

In 2012, Government Spied On Thousands Without Warrant

May 6, 2013 by Sam Rolley 

PHOTOS.COM

A secret court in the United States quietly rubber-stamped thousands of government requests to spy on people in the United States last year.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved nearly 2,000 government requests to search or electronically monitor people in 2012, according to a report from the Justice Department.

From the report:

During calendar year 2012, the Government made 1,856 applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (the “FISC”) for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and/or physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes. The 1,856 applications include applications made solely for electronic surveillance, applications made solely for physical search and combined applications requesting authority for electronic surveillance and physical search. Of these, 1,789 applications included requests for authority to conduct electronic surveillance.

Of these 1,789 applications, one was withdrawn by the Government. The FISC did not deny any applications in whole or in part. The FISC made modifications to the proposed orders in 40 applications. Thus, the FISC approved collection activity in a total of 1,788 of the applications that included requests for authority to conduct electronic surveillance.

The spy requests are justified by the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978, which was expanded under the George W. Bush Administration and then reauthorized by Congress in December of 2012. Essentially a go-ahead on warrantless wiretapping, the act authorizes the government to monitor citizens’ phone calls and emails without probable cause if the individuals are communicating with people overseas.

Judge Allows Teens Free Access To Morning After Pill

Has this country lost is sanity?  How could a Judge with any common sense or sense of propriety ever allow twelve year old girls access to the Morning After Pill? That has occurred and tells you how far this country has fallen. In 1950, we would not even consider talking about such issues and girls who "got in trouble" were sent away to live with an aunt in a different state.  Now we don't discourage, we encourage sexual behavior. We give away condoms, morning after pills, teach sex in elementary school and frown on "old-fashioned morals."  

America is a country in decline, this is just another sign.

Conservative Tom

Mount Sinai Doctor: Morning-After Pill Ruling Is Dangerous

Friday, 05 Apr 2013 06:02 PM

By Bill Hoffmann

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A federal judge’s order that emergency contraceptives must be made available to girls of all ages within 30 days “doesn’t make any kind of medical sense,’’ a top Mount Sinai School of Medicine physician says.

“Now you have everybody that can get this medication without any doctor supervision, without any prescription,’’ Dr. David Samadi, Vice Chairman of Mt. Sinai’s Department of Urology, told Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show.’’

Story continues below.

“And it can really encourage and promote having a lot of sexual activities which can spread all the sexually-transmitted diseases, [cause] unwanted abortions, on and on.

“This decision just doesn’t make much sense medically and morally and ethically.’’

U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the morning-after pill was "arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable." His judgment came as a result a lawsuit by reproductive-rights groups.

Samadi said many people don’t realize the large number of side effects that can be caused by morning-after pills.

Obamacare: Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013

“There’s bleeding and there’s many others. It affects hormonal changes in young girls like this, so it’s not just … there are no consequences. It’s got to be done under doctor supervision and not on your own,’’ he said.

He also lamented how the ruling strips parents of any control.

“It takes the power away from the parents and any kind of parental guidance,’’ he said.

“They can walk in and get this kind of prescription medication without any prescriptions so there’s no visit to the doctor, the parents may not even know that they’re on it.

“And again through peer pressure it can open up many doors for these girls to just become sexually active even younger than the normal age and just overall it’s not going to be healthy for them.’’

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/morning-after-pill-judge/2013/04/05/id/498097?s=al&promo_code=130D2-1#ixzz2Pn6Cs78c
Urgent: Should Obamacare Be Repealed? Vote Here Now!

Hobby Lobby Letter

This may be old news to some, it is not for us.  Any company should NOT be forced to

 decide between its religious beliefs and the mandated requirements of the government. 

We do have freedom of religion in this country and it should extend beyond the individual 

to the businesses that they own.  

That is our opinion, what is yours!

Conservative Tom

Letter from Hobby Lobby:

A Letter from Hobby Lobby Stores CEO
By David Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we
were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn't much bigger than most people's living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God's word. From there,Hobby Lobby has become one of the nation's largest arts and crafts retailers, with more than 500 locations in 41 states. Our children grew up into fine business leaders, and today we run Hobby Lobby together, as a family.

We're Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I've always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God's laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that's what we've tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week's biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees. We've not only added jobs in a weak economy, we've raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80% above minimum wage.

But now, our government threatens to change all of that. A new government health care mandate says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don't pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don't cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the Biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. If we refuse to comply, we could face $1.3 million PER DAY in government fines.

Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy. Our government threatens to fine a company that's raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It's not right. I know people will say we ought to follow the rules; that it's the same for everybody. But that's not true. The government has exempted thousands of companies from this mandate, for reasons of convenience or cost. But it won't exempt them for reasons of religious belief.

So, Hobby Lobby � and my family � are forced to make a choice. With great reluctance, we filed a lawsuit today, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asking a federal court to stop this mandate before it hurts our business. We don't like to go running into court, but we no longer have a choice. We believe people are more important than the bottom line and that honoring God is more important than turning a profit.

My family has lived the American dream. We want to continue growing our company and providing great jobs for thousands of employees, but the government is going to make that much more difficult. The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law. I say that's a choice no American � and no American business � should have to make.
The government cannot force you to follow laws that go against your fundamental religious belief. They have exempted thousands of companies but will not except Christian organizations including the Catholic church.

Since you will not see this covered in any of the liberal media, pass this on to all your contacts.
Sincerely,
David Green, CEO and Founder of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.