Speed Deemin': Dems Race toward Sunday 'Vote'

Speed Deemin': Dems Race toward Sunday 'Vote' by guest columnist, Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council

The sun is streaming through windows across Capitol Hill, a striking picture of one of America's greatest skylines. But underneath the city's highest dome, few leaders are venturing out. Instead, they're hunkered down, preparing for one of the most important decisions of their political lives. For most of them, Sunday will not be a day of rest--but a day of unrest, as an exhausting year-long battle comes to an uncertain close. The President has postponed his overseas trip, trying to wring every last second out of his personal lobbying campaign. For shaky Democrats, that means uncomfortable sit-downs in the Oval Office where the President uses some familiar back-scratching to lean on "undecideds."

But it will take more than "rides on Air Force One" to woo party holdouts, particularly after the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) latest score. New estimates from the CBO put the price tag of this reconciliation plan well over $1,200,000,000,000.00--most of which would be inherited by the lucky winner of the 2016 presidential election. Together with unsavory new taxes ($569.2 billions worth!), the CBO spotlights the bill's deep gashes in Medicare coverage ($523.5 million in cuts) and confirms that married couples will still be punished with steeper insurance premiums. Believe it or not, nearly half all the individual mandates under this bill will be paid by American families earning less than $66,150 per year. The CBO also points out that a million Americans will have to get their coverage from a bankrupt Medicaid program on the brink of collapsing.

And if you thought dealing with the IRS is a nightmare now, just wait. Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee say the agency's tentacles will strangle families under ObamaCare. According to their report, the IRS is on the verge of an unprecedented power grab under the President's bill. It will have the authority to: verify if you have "acceptable" health care coverage, fine you for failure to prove that you have purchased "minimum essential coverage," and even confiscate your tax refund.

Of course, the agency will need a massive cash influx ($10 billion!) to provide this kind of surveillance. That's why the GOP is predicting a huge increase in IRS audits and an army of 16,500 new agents and employees to hunt down taxpayers. For all the phony talk of "reducing the deficit," Democrats are neglecting to mention the very real deficits--of money and freedom--incurred by every American if this plan goes into effect. This legislation spells a loss of U.S. life, savings, doctors, and freedom in exchange for nothing but greater government involvement in our personal decisions.

Meanwhile, President Obama is meeting with Democrats and telling them, "Our fates are tied to the health bill." The reality is, the people whose fates are truly tied to this bill are the Americans that none of us have met. They're the unborn, who our dollars will be directed to kill. They're the next generation, who will survive abortion only to suffer the weight of this crushing debt. Like the great men before them, the 111th Congress will walk the long marble hallways to their seats this weekend, where the great voices still echo, "Independence forever!" Ultimately, every one of them will cast a vote heard throughout history. They will choose to pay for legislation with our country's future or stand with the millions of us who know that "liberty--once lost--is lost forever."

Originally published in FRC.org on March 20, 2010

Top generals' disagreement on gays in the military

General Disagreement on Gays in the Military

From Family Research Council's president, Tony Perkins (Feb. 23, 2010):

The military is used to escalating tensions--but not within its own ranks. Yesterday, two members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff more than hinted at an internal conflict over the President's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" campaign. During hearings with the Armed Services Committee, the first cracks over the issue started to show among America's top brass. Both Army Chief Gen. George Casey and Air Force Chief Gen. Norton Schwartz disagreed with their Navy counterpart, Adm. Mike Mullen on the effects of overturning the policy.

"I do have serious concerns about the impact of a repeal of the law on a force that is fully engaged in two wars..." Gen. Casey told the Senate panel. "We just don't know the impacts on readiness and military effectiveness." In the meantime, the Army Chief completely rejected the push to stop "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" dismissals until a final decision is made. "This is not the time to perturb the force that is, at the moment, stretched by demands in Iraq and Afghanistan ..." he said. Today, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway entered the fray in a House hearing, insisting that civil rights would ultimately have to take a back seat if it meant tampering with the military's ability to protect the nation. Under a bill from Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Congress would put a moratorium on the military's discharges over the next year while the Pentagon studies the policy change. Gen. Schwartz was forcefully opposed to the idea, saying it would put the current cases "in legal limbo."

Of course, this is a typical strategy of the administration, which tries to pick off laws by phasing out their enforcement. (Defense of Marriage Act, anyone?) That's why the timing of his team's first strike on the issue was so important. Shortly after the State of the Union address, where President Obama called for repeal, the White House rushed Adm. Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the Hill for cover. Both leaders backed the campaign in an effort to head off any dissent. Until yesterday, they were quite successful.

So successful, in fact, that even I was caught in the crossfire. In October, the chaplain of Andrews Air Force Base asked me to speak at a non-political prayer luncheon. Just two days after the State of the Union address, the base rescinded its invitation, citing FRC statements "which are incompatible in our role as military members who serve our elected officials and our Commander-in-Chief." As a veteran of the Marine Corps, I was shocked that the military would exclude me from speaking to the spiritual needs of our servicemen solely because I exercised my free speech rights in a different forum--in support of the current law of the land. Unfortunately, this is just precursor of things to come in a post-"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military.

This legislation would more than open the Armed Forces to homosexuals; it would lead to a zero-tolerance policy toward anyone who disapproves of homosexuality. Will the chaplains' sermons be censored? Would they have the freedom to counsel soldiers with same-sex attractions? Or would they be disqualified from the service altogether?