The Spirit of Christmas

Many may relate to (and recognize) the family in this presentation. . .

Merry Christmas!

The Mother of All Cramdowns

All I can say at this point is that I'm stunned.  Senator Harry Reid announced today that he has called for a vote on Obamacare in the Senate on Christmas Eve.  He wouldn't be scheduling the vote unless he knew for certain that he has the votes in his pocket. 

Despite his certainty of passage, there are increasing calls for scrapping the bill.  First the majority party passed a House version on a Saturday night, then they called for a cloture vote to allow the bill to proceed in the Senate on a Saturday night, and now this. 

Failing the necessary 60-vote filibuster-proof margin in the Senate vote on Christmas Eve, one wonders if the party leaders will proceed to reconciliation where only a simple 51-vote majority is needed to pass the bill.  The prospects for passage continue to loom.  I've said all along that with the votes in hand it is likely there will be a bill passed.  Unless there is at least one holdout among the Dems, swift passage is assured.

I can't help but wonder aloud who's doing the political calculations in this debacle.  If the cramdown continues unabated and the bill passes into law and is signed by the President, it is unlikely they will be rewarded by the American people who are routinely polled and in growing numbers are registering their disdain for the idea.

Santa Claus seems determined to give this "gift" -- the only question is whether there is room enough to receive it. . .  oh, I forgot -- our children and grandchildren will receive. . . the bill.  No worries.

The Reality of Obamacare

Throughout this year, some have asked me why I am opposed to the proposed Obamacare medical insurance reform bills that are percolating in Washington D.C.  The answer is simple -- the cartoon cited above summarizes it perfectly in my mind (as simplistic as it is).  The proposed legislation simply costs too much and delivers (reforms) too little.  The legislation is happening at the most inopportune time in our nation's economic history.  It is fraudulent on its face, collecting taxes (yes, taxes!) on the middle class for four years before the actual promised benefits are delivered.  All in the name of progress?  All in the name of change?  I think not!

There is a ray of hope, however.  Even Howard Dean (yes, that one -- the medical doctor), the former chairman of the Democratic Party has now weighed in with his opinion -- scrap the bill or face the wrath of voters in 2010.  "You will be forced to buy insurance. If you don't, you'll pay a fine," said Dean, a physician. "It's an insurance company bailout." Interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said the bill has some good provisions, "but there has to be a line beyond which you think the bill is bad for the country."  He sees and feels the outrage of the voters finally, and is predicting a massive loss of Democrat seats in Congress if the bill passes. 

Are they finally listening to the electorate?  It appears some in Congress are.  The vote counters are close, but still don't have the 60-vote filibuster-proof margin required.  There are few left with an appetite for the "nuclear option" of reconciliation.  It appears for the moment that the bill in the Senate might just fail after all.

Hugh Hewitt reported today:  "In an on-air conversation with me on Tuesday, Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl, the GOP's whip, reported that the Democrats do not yet have their 60 votes. (The transcript of that interview is here.)

"Politico's Mike Allen, in an interview the same day, reported that for the first time doubt is seriously being raised about the prospects of Obamacare passing. (That transcript is here.)

"Not surprisingly, the reason for optimism among opponents of Obamacare is the country's decisive rejection of the bill. Every poll shows strong majorities against it, and some of those majorities are stunning, such as the 61 to 36 vote against Obamacare in the latest CNN poll/Opinion Research Poll .

"Rather than stage a tactical retreat and begin a genuine attempt at bipartisan agreement on the basis of common ground on health care reform -- of which there is a lot -- the president, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are attempting the mother-of-all-jam-downs, with one report surfacing that the White House is threatening Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson with the closure of Offutt Air Force Base if Nelson goes south because of the public-funding of abortion in the Senate bill. (A Nelson spokesman was denying the report on Tuesday night.)

"Other Democratic senators like Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln and Virginia's James Webb are no doubt being heavily lobbied by the president and his staff. Lincoln faces the almost certain loss of her seat next November if she votes for cloture and Webb seems to understand that the devastation the bill will bring to seniors is simply irreconcilable with the rhetoric of his campaign three years ago. It is hard to be for the little guy when you are voting to cut gramps' and granny's benefits by a half trillion bucks.

"Then there's the left wing that now sees their dream of the public option in ruins, and the consolation prize of an expansion of Medicare also on the junk heap. Howard Dean is calling for the scrapping of the bill in favor of a kamikaze charge at the reconciliation process. The abortion debate is still very much rankling the House radicals who lost that round as well. If anything is going to get through the Congress soon, it will not resemble the left's idea of health care reform. Some will mouth the words "half a loaf" but their leaders will have failed them.

"Thus the president finishes his first year in office with his popularity in free fall, his party dispirited and divided, and almost certain punishment at the polls only 46 weeks away. Some House Democrats are already retiring, and donors would have to be crazy to give money to a Democratic challenger."

So says Hugh Hewitt and the view from the right, but what of the liberals and the view from the left?  Here's Camille Paglia again:

"A second issue souring me on this bill is its failure to include the most common-sense clause to increase competition and drive down prices: portability of health insurance across state lines. What covert business interests is the Democratic leadership protecting by stopping consumers from shopping for policies nationwide? Finally, no healthcare bill is worth the paper it's printed on when the authors ostentatiously exempt themselves from its rules. The solipsistic [yeah, I know, I had to look it up:  "Solipsism is the philosophical idea that one's own mind is all that exists. Solipsism is an epistemological or ontological position that knowledge of anything outside the mind is unjustified. The external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist"] members of Congress want us peons to be ground up in the communal machine, while they themselves gambol on in the flowering meadow of their own lavish federal health plan. Hypocrites!

"And why are we even considering so gargantuan a social experiment when the nation is struggling to emerge from a severe recession? It's as if liberals are starry-eyed dreamers lacking the elementary ability to project or predict the chaotic and destabilizing practical consequences of their utopian fantasies. Republicans, on the other hand, have basically sat on their asses about healthcare reform for the past 20 years and have shown little interest in crafting legislative solutions to social inequities. The usual GOP floater about private medical savings accounts is a crock -- something that, given the astronomical costs of major medical crises, would be utterly unworkable for families of even average household income."

Thus my conclusion:  This makes absolutely no sense on any level whatsoever.  One need look no further than the countries who have tried socialized medicine for the results of such a sweeping proposal.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would have his opponents drawn and quartered, or worse, compared to those who opposed the abolition of slavery.  He's forgotten that Lincoln was the father of the modern Republican Party, and those who feel the role of the federal government must be limited have never abandoned those principles of self-determination and freedom.

The last thing America needs right now on the day the debt limit was raised by another $1.8 TRILLION is the biggest entitlement program in the history of the world.  I know the American economic engine is robust, but sooner or later the wheels will grind to a screeching halt unless the tax and spend orgy ends soon in Washington D.C.

Appendix A: A Proclamation To the Church and To the World

Appendix A



A Proclamation To the Church and To the World

September 23, 1995

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings -- male and female -- are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord.” (Psalm 127:3.) Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives -- mothers and fathers -- will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officials of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Editor's note:  A year before his death, Elder David B. Haight was invited to address the BYU Women's Conference on May 2, 2003.  By then Elder Haight was the oldest living Apostle in the history of the Church.  Almost totally blind, he spoke without a written text before him.  At the conclusion of his talk, he stated:  "I brought with me today a copy of the Proclamation on the Family.  I wanted to talk to you about it, but time won't permit.  I would just say to you, we wrote this in the temple.  Every word of it is correct regarding women and marriage and families and children.  The gospel is true.  It is the hope of the world."


This post concludes the book, Power and Covenants: Men, Women and Priesthood.  A complete free pdf copy of the manuscript may be obtained by writing to dgoates@yahoo.com.  Merry Christmas!

Epilogue

EPILOGUE


It was a beautiful Spring day at the park. Joey and Jill were so glad to feel the warm sunshine on their faces, to be together playing with their friends after the long cold winter, and to see the brightly-colored new blossoms on the flowers and trees.

“Jill, I’m ready for a drink, but it looks like the vending machine only takes dollar bills. Would you come with me and use your dollar, so we can get something to drink?” asked Joey.

“Sure. I just found out I can’t buy any candy without quarters. Would you use your quarters so we can get some candy?” wondered Jill.

“No problem. I guess Dad really knew what he was doing. I thought I had more than you, but he really gave us the same amount. It just looks different until we put it all together,” concluded Joey.

Those to have eyes to see will see the mysteries of godliness in the light of revealed truth.