Finally–A Serious Plan to Save the American Dream
Today, the accumulated debt of of 235 years of American civilization reached 14.3 trillion dollars–over $46,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
For the next few weeks or months, Congress will fiercely debate whether to keep adding to that debt, or make some radical choices to control spending which could save the American Dream.
That Dream is not personal peace and affluence. It’s a commitment to human liberty, centering on freedom to worship God, that made the United States a very special nation for centuries–and produced an amazing degree of blessing and prosperity.
Exceptional application of biblical principles built an exceptional nation.
Can that nation and its economy be saved?
I believe the answer is yes if we believe and act wisely.
The Heritage Foundation has produced a serious economic plan to save the American Dream. It will require much prayer,, corporate repentance, courageous senators and congressmen, and a new American president to implement it.
But it is totally necessary. As Heritage points out, our national economy is in decline and could actually collapse unless we deal ruthlessly with our careless addiction to government largesse and indebtedness.
Representative Paul Ryan has also produced a Congressional road map to economic solvency. But the Heritage plan is more realistic, detailed, and politically possible if we vote in a good slate of leaders in the 2012 elections.
But we also need to understand that election results and the economies and laws they produce are a reflection of the hearts of a people. In the coming months, millions of American hearts need to:
- Seek the face of God for forgiveness for our personal and national sins. We need a renewal of the American spirit that will be the wind behind societal change.
- Become again a people of faith. Faith in God, faith in his principles, and faith in economic freedom that is not based on government dependency, regulation and bail outs.
- Restore a sense of morality and self-control to their personal and public lives. Our runaway spending and deficits are a reflection of personal bad habits and uncontrolled desires. There will be little change at the “top” if there is not fundamental realignment at the “bottom.”
- Accept some suffering and sacrifice to clean up our national economic mess. Just as individuals and families must cut back, work hard, and persevere over time to overcome their poor business decisions, so we as a nation must do the same. No pain, no gain.
But there’s hope on the horizon. Please read Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner’s announcement below and click on the link to gain a perspective on Saving the American Dream.
Then pray and do your part to make it a reality. RB
Saving the American Dream – May 10, 2011
By Ed Feulner
Fellow Americans:
Today, I am excited to announce the release of The Heritage Foundation’s comprehensive agenda that sets a new course for the size and scope of the federal government. The new report, “Saving the American Dream: Heritage’s Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity,” lays out specific policy recommendations in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, the tax code and federal spending. Saving the American Dream envisions real solutions for staving off America’s potential decline while strengthening the economy for current and future generations.
We are doing this because we have come to a time of decision in America. For far too long, Congress has been on an unsustainable binge of spending, taxing, and borrowing. Our nation is going broke, and we are passing the costs of these misguided policies to our children and their children.
Over time, our national government has become bloated, overextended and unrestrained, oblivious of its core functions, operating far beyond its means and vastly outside of its proper constitutional bounds. Unchecked, the course we are on now will cripple our economy, undermine our prosperity, and lead to fiscal insolvency. By robbing the future of opportunity and freedom, it will destroy the American Dream for future generations.
Already, we are living through the shame of being publicly lectured by our Communist Chinese creditors, who have contempt for our profligacy. The day it was announced that Standard and Poor’s had lowered the outlook on our economy, a collective gasp went through the international community. If our elected leaders keep it up, we are certain to face financial crises like Greece or Portugal.
America is on the verge of becoming a country in decline—economically stagnant and permanently debtbound, heavily regulated and bureaucratic, less self-governing and less free.
But this fate does not have to be our future. We can get spending under control, balance the budget, and shrink our debt. We can limit the size of government and set free once again the unlimited genius of Americans to create wealth and jobs. We can turn the tide and change our nation’s course.
Saving the American Dream is our plan to fix the debt, cut spending and, above all, restore prosperity. It balances the nation’s budget within a decade—and keeps it balanced. It reduces the debt and cuts government in half. It eliminates government-mandated health care and fully funds our national defense. In order to get our fiscal house in order, we must address Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the three so-called entitlement programs which together account for 43 percent of federal spending today. Far too many seniors still lack enough help to avoid poverty. Saving the American Dream therefore does not end these programs; instead it focuses them on those who need them.
Our plan also encourages Americans to become more fiscally responsible themselves. It redesigns our entire tax system into an expenditure tax that will have a single flat rate. This is a structure that will promote savings, therefore benefiting individual Americans, our body politic, and the economy. Greater savings mean stronger capital formation and thus a more robust economy, which means real jobs for Americans.
This plan substantially reduces the size and scope of the federal government, fundamentally increases the role of the states in choosing their own practices, and brings decision-making closer to the people rather than unelected administrators. These are crucial steps that will get our nation on a path of fiscal, political, and constitutional responsibility. It is part of our larger effort to get our country back on track, reclaim its truths, conserve its liberating principles, and build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.
At the end of the day our plan, while economic in nature, has a higher moral purpose. If entitlements are not reformed, the next generation and future ones will have to pay punitive tax rates that will end liberty as we have known it. Our proposal aims to preserve America’s promise bequeathed to us by past generations.
Edmund Burke reminds us to think of our time on this earth not as an individual and temporary event, but rather as a partnership “between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are yet to be born.” Keeping faith with this partnership is what we aim to do with Saving the American Dream.
We have been here before, and every time the American people have always risen to the occasion and seized the moment. In 1776 we were told that no upstart colonists could defeat the strongest nation in the world, and we decided to change the course of history. In 1860 we were told the Union could not hold and that America was over, and we brought forth a new birth of freedom. In 1980 we were told that the American century was at an end, and we launched a great economic expansion, rebuilt our military, and revived our national spirit.
Hard times demand tough choices. The future of our nation is at stake.
All that is required, as my hero Ronald Reagan once said, is “our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.”
Together, let us seize the moment, change our country’s course, and save the American Dream.
Edwin J. Feulner
President, The Heritage Foundation
A Royal Dilution – Let’s Restore the Dignity of Marriage
I like weddings. I thoroughly enjoyed mine–it was an all-day affair that brought great glory to Christ and was a joy to share with Shirley and others. As a clergyman, I’ve married many other wonderful couples who used their weddings to promote the virtues and symbols of uniting together as man and wife.
For this reason, I followed the recent royal wedding with some interest, especially due to the media hype that caused it to be watched by billions of people around the world. Some folks criticized the tax-payer expense to the average Brit, and others pointed out the bonanza in tourism that the wedding would bring.
I don’t really care about the financial debate. I’m concerned that the marriage of William and Kate, though they appear to be decent people, is yet another example of diluting the beauty and dignity of marriage.
Marriage doesn’t need any more polluting images. It’s already under siege–and needs to be restored to its once wonderful and lofty place.
During my lifetime, the institution of marriage has been greatly cheapened and tarnished. It’s happened before in other time periods, but I’ve only lived in this one–and it grieves me deeply.
When I was born in the 1950s, marriage was held in high esteem in the United States and many parts of the world. Its ceremonies and traditions meant something and were very unique and special. They were tied to the Word of God and expressed His perspective on love, commitment, purity, and fidelity.
But along came the 1960s rebellion against authority–including the institution of marriage–and the promotion of “free love” without godly parameters. Since that raucous period, the change of worldview in the West has greatly polluted the pure stream of God’s intentions for holy wedlock–with most of the changes being hurtful for men, women, and especially children.
What pains me the most is how the lies of the evil one have become so accepted in contemporary culture–the ones that produced William and Kate and the “Royal Wedding.” Yes–it was a beautiful affair–and many of the words shared in the service were excellent regarding God’s perspective on marriage (Gary Randall has a good blog here on the positives). I’malso sure that William and Kate “love” each other and have a fifty percent chance of living ‘happily ever after.”
So what’s the beef?
It’s this: William and Kate really didn’t get married on April 29, 2011.
They’ve been living together for years for crying our loud! That’s a decade of common law marriage–an arrangement not done according to the divine blueprint.
In other words, in God’s eyes, they were already “married”–at least in a cheapened form of the term.
Because here’s the little lost secret of the meaning of the word “marriage:” The essence of marriage is “joining together”–sexually and otherwise. That unique joining –uniting closely in love and affection according to the original Webster’s 1828 Dictionary–has been robbed of its specialness and power through the excesses of the sexual revolution.
So the modern wedding ceremony and its many spiritual symbols don’t mean much anymore. In Kate and William’s case:
- There was nothing exhilarating about them “becoming man and wife.” They’ve been living that way for years.
- Her white dress was only show. It used to stand for the purity of a bride who had not shared sexual relations with any man prior to her vows. In her case, the meaning was gone because she’d been sexually active for years.
- The kiss at the end of the ceremony didn’t mean anything either. In the past, it was a very poignant moment where the bride and groom kissed each other for the very first time. It was the reward of self-control and honor–and was applauded by those in attendance who appreciated the love and sacrifice that brought couples to that moment.
- The giving of the rings and the signing of the papers was also shallow. They used to mean a solemn covenant to love one another until death do us part. In the case of the royals, many that have gone before them (Andrew and Fergie & Charles and Diana) made a mockery of the commitment. In today’s world, there’s a fifty percent chance that William and Kate will do likewise.
In other words, sexual immorality greatly cheapened William and Kate’s beautiful gift of marriage. The ceremony was essentially a show with empty symbols. The beauty was there–but it was all an illusion that did not speak to deeper truths or lifestyle reality.
It was all, really, a lie. And we know where lies come from.
Unfortunately, in the past few decades the devil has had a field-day deceiving us about love, relationships, and marriage. The purpose of these lies has been to destroy us as individuals and ultimately collapse our culture due to removing the pillar support of godly marriages and families.
He’s done a pretty good job of that–and the fruit of broken and dysfunctional lives all around us is strong evidence of his tragic success. Sure, at this point we’ve become a bit callous to it all, but reality is rather blinding. The devil has been extremely effective in discipling Western societies in phony love and perversions of marriage.
Here are a few of his “marriage and healthy relationships” deceptions:
1. All teens need to “couple up” way before they’re ready for marriage and commitment. In fact, let’s just announce that we are “in a relationship” on MySpace or Facebook! Then we can play kissy face, get involved sexually, break up, cry, feel guilty, and have all our friends comfort us (and get in line to be the next candidate) Then we can do it again and again so that by the time we get to the real thing we’ve given away our heart and body so many times that marriage means very little indeed.
2. After beating us up through many hook-ups and break-ups, then why not do a “trial run” by living together in the illusion of marriage? Yes, we need to really find out if we’re sexually and psychologically compatible! Kind of like trying out a used car–kicking the tires—until you find the right one. Of course, statistics have told us for years that common law or shacking up “marriages” do not increase compatibility and commitment. They diminish it.
3. Even if we get a ring and sign the papers, there’s an easy way out: No fault divorce! Now there’s a misnomer for you. Obviously when two people sever a marriage relationship, somebody must be at fault–at least one–and usually both. But no-fault divorce is a convenient satanic lie because it rationalizes guilt and makes me feel better about blaming the other party and moving on to my next victim, er, spouse. No-fault divorce is one of the worst laws of the past fifty years. It’s shredded the institution of marriage for decades.
4. And since marriage is about me meeting my needs–and doing whatever it takes to get there–then who cares about the kids that we produce. They can change households every two weeks, grow up without a dad or mom–or have two sets of each–and turn out just wonderful! I don’t believe we can begin to imagine the scars and hurts we’ve placed in the lives of precious children who needed one mom and dad and the security of a thing called “home.”
5. And finally, let’s so destroy the concept of marriage that we convince ourselves that basically anybody can marry anybody else if they “love” each other (devil’s definition of course). So now we have homosexual marriage and will soon have multiple spouses and humans marrying animals–all in the name of liberated love! What’s incredible about “homosexual marriage” is that, by definition, men cannot marry men and women cannot marry women because the “plumbing” can’t be joined. No matter–we’ll make it work somehow (in very perverse and consequential ways).
I’ve taken a little fun above to make a point, but I’m truly grieved at the warping and cheapening of marriage during the early part of the 21st century. It has hurt and destroyed so many people–and continues to do so in our culture.
So what can we learn from the Royal Wedding? I suggest we open our eyes and make a firm commitment to return to God’s beautiful design for human marriage. You can start in the marriage you already have, or if you’re single, make a commitment to not put on an empty show with symbols that mean little. If you have some courage and convictions, you can:
- Kiss serial dating goodbye and enjoy many healthy friendships in your growing up years that do not involve sex and its responsibilties. Save yourself for that special “other.”
- Save the kiss! Preparations for marriage don’t require it, and will make that moment in your ceremony something others and you and your wife will cherish for a lifetime.
- Prepare for marriage with God’s choice for you through a courtship relationship where families are involved, discipleship is key, and the friendship is kept pure and growing.
- Keep sex out of it before marriage. It was sheer joy to be a virgin when I entered my marriage thirty-five years ago. I’d saved myself for Shirley. She was worth waiting for. The honeymoon was truly that–almost heaven on earth.
- Be faithful for a lifetime. Maybe you’ve messed up and need to repent and get up on the right and pure road. That’s okay. Redemption is God’s specialty–even of marriages.
Young person: If you handle marriage God’s way you will never be disappointed. But if you follow the devil’s blueprint, you will pierce yourself with many a pang and cheapen and dilute that which was meant to be a very wonderful, life-giving stream of blessing in your life.
Be courageous! You can do it. Let’s restore the beauty and dignity of marriage so that all the symbols and ceremony give honor and glory to the One who designed it for our good.
Getting Bin Laden: What Should Be Our Response
I’m in Washington, D.C. this week for meetings that include the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 5. Sunday evening I went down to the front steps of the US Capitol where a group of friends were beginning a “Bible-reading Marathon” where the Scriptures are read out-loud from cover to cover over a three day period. We anointed the steps with oil and then the public proclamation of God’s Word began.
Four hours later, now comfortably in my quarters directly behind the US Supreme Court building, I heard the news that President Obama was to make an unusual Sunday night announcement from the White House–just ten few blocks away. I and the nation waited an hour for the president to appear. But before he did (the White House must have been scrambling), the extraordinary news leaked out.
Osama bin Laden was dead.
Forty-five minutes later, the president came on television and told the American people the details of what had happened to the mastermind of 911 who killed thousands of innocent American citizens on September 11, 2001–now nearly ten years ago.
We had gotten our man. Justice had been rendered.
What should be our response?
Here’s how Family Research Council described the significance of the event:
“Four months from now, when Americans unfurl their flags over 10 years of loss, the families of 9/11 can finally mark the anniversary with the assurance that the man responsible has finally met his Maker. Most of us were just sitting down to Sunday dinner while, a half a world away, U.S. forces were engaged in one of the most significant military operations since 2001.”
“After months of coordination with American intelligence officials, an elite team of Navy SEALs stormed Osama bin Laden’s million dollar hideout in suburban Pakistan. With high-ranking security and military personnel watching from a situation room thousands of miles away, the assault was fast and furious. Forty minutes later, President Obama got the news the world had waited two decades to hear: the reign of America’s most wanted terrorist was over.”
“In an operation that showcased the power and precision of the U.S. military, 22 people were killed or captured–Osama bin Laden among them. For years, brave men and women, whose names we will never know, laid down their lives to see this mission accomplished. Today, their sacrifice is not in vain. The United States has sent a message to the world that terrorists can run and hide, but America will not rest until they’re brought to justice.”
There was an incredible atmosphere in the capital city that night. Thousands came down to the White House to celebrate the news. New York City also saw spontaneous crowds show up at Ground Zero–as did other US cities.
As I watched the details unfold, and in the coming forty-eight hours pondered the killing of the world’s most wanted man, I kept asking myself the following question: What should be our response to the death of one of the most evil men of our time?
Here are some of my conclusions. The second-to-last point may surprise you:
First, we should be very grateful for the courageous and skilled men and women of our US armed forces who are protecting our liberties and who exacted justice by killing Osama bin Laden. The elite group of Navy Seals who carried out the mission were amazing in their preparation and success. Behind them were all branches of our armed services who have been gallantly fighting the War of Terror for over a decade in Afghanistan, Iaq, and other nations around the world. Thousands have given their lives in that cause.
Because of their commitment and competence, we are still the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”
I salute our mighty warriors on a job well done. Their work is not finished–the greater war remains. But an evil and charismatic figure who guided much of the mayhem of the last ten years has now been removed from the battle field. This is good news for the world.
A Hitler of our generation is gone.
Thank you US military.
Second, praise is due for the leadership of President Obama, his Administration, those of the CIA and other intelligence branches who didn’t take their eye off the ball in finding the world’s most famous terrorist.
The story is now unfolding on how this operation came into being over the past five months; Five briefings with the president; Plans drawn up to carry out the mission including building a replica of the bin Laden fortress in Abbottobad that would be the site of the siege; The go ahead finally given; The president’s senior team watching and monitoring the mission; The word “Geronimo” being uttered–code for “we’ve found Osama bin Laden” just before his life was taken; Identifying his remains by DNA testing; His burial at sea being sensitive to Muslim practices and the wisdom to not allow a land-based burial “shrine” for the prince of terror.
Good job President Obama and team.
Third, thanks are due to former president George Bush and his administration who faithfully launched America’s response to terrorism after President Clinton’s dithering. George Bush laid the groundwork for the death of UBL. He didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing the terrorist leader brought to justice on his watch, but without his laser beam focus and policies he inaugurated, the Obama Administration would probably not have succeeded.
We are now learning that President Bush’s so-called “harsh interrogation techniques” including water-boarding were vital to getting the information that led to Osama bin Laden’s death. So was the use of Guantanamo Bay as a staging ground for captured enemy combatants.
Let’s put to rest the nonsense about “water-boarding” being torture and Guantanamo Bay needing to be shut down. These techniques are not torture and Guantanamo is necessary.
Thank you President Bush and team for preparing the way for victory.
Fourth, we should be happy for the survivors of 911 and the families who lost loved ones who now have a greater sense of closure after the attack. As President Obama declared, “Justice has been rendered.” That justice cannot bring back a lost loved one, but it reminds us that human life is important and should be avenged when it is unlawfully taken.
I will be visiting New York on Friday and Saturday and look forward to praying and having a greater sense of closure myself at the sight of Ground Zero. I’m sure many will be joining me there this coming weekend.
We need to keep persevering in prayer for the freedom and renewal of Islam worldwide. President Obama said one thing on Sunday night that was not true when he intoned that we were not fighting against the Muslim faith. Yes we are. We are fighting against one form of this global religion that is probably supported by thirty percent of its adherents.
Jihad is not an extreme fringe of the Muslim faith. It is a central teaching to many. Even those who are “peaceful Muslims” must admit that the advance of Islam over the past thirteen centuries has primarily been linked to violence and bloodshed. It is not the exception. It is the rule–from the time of Mohammed to the present day.
Most Muslim people are not murderers. But some of Islam’s tenets support it. They need to be repudiated.
Let’s pray that the current volatility in the Middle East and other Muslim nations will lead to an honest examination of their faith and the total rejection of violence. This could be a day of great salvation for the Muslim world.
Fifth, I was very disappointed by the celebrating in the streets over the death of Osama bin Laden. Though it was good for the world that an evil man had been taken from us, I don’t believe we should giddily applaud the death of anyone–even a mass murderer. Life and death are serious–and should be looked at with self-examination and sobriety. The European response to bin Laden’s death seemed to be more appropriate: sober joy.
Here’s why. As I looked at the pictures of the young people celebrating in the streets of Washington, D.C., I was struck with this reality: We, too, will meet our Maker one day. We, like Osama bin Laden, will have to give an account for the life we’ve lived, the choices we’ve made. That’s where real justice meets each individual–without exception.
As I looked into their celebrating faces, I thought about their lives–and mine. Are they sleeping with their girlfriends and will have to give an account to God? Do they cheat on their tests? Have some of them also joined in Obama bin Laden’s sin by killing other human beings through having an abortion?
Murder is murder–despite the quantity. It’s worthy of death.
When true justice dispensed, it’s not just for dictators. It’s for all of us. We stand on equal ground condemned by the sinful lives we’ve lived either in word or deed.
We should soberly think about that–and repent–before we celebrate or point fingers. Our day is coming too. Are we right with God through faith in Jesus Christ which washes away our sins?
Finally, let’s truly give thanks to God that justice has been achieved in small measure through the death of Osama bin Laden.
The theme of this year’s National Day of Prayer is “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Let us celebrate his incredible holiness, justice, protection, and love.
That would be our wisest response.