Tax Day is Thursday in the United States and the growing Tea Party Movement will be out in force around the nation.  Why is this grassroots network of average Americans turning heads in Washington, D.C.?

Because common people are awakening to the economic time bomb that is being systematically built in this nation. They want to dismantle it–because they know that taxes and spending are exploding under the Obama Administration and threaten the future of our children and grandchildren.

One of the best think-tanks in America is the Heritage Foundation which has many publications and divisions, and sends out a daily e-mail on the issues called “Morning Bell.” I’ve only been reading it for a few months, but it’s quickly become one of my favorite sources for useful information on the issues of the day.

The following article by Heritage is one of the clearest presentations on the disastrous policies of our current leadership that I’ve seen. It lays out the progressive agenda of higher taxes, higher spending, slow growth, and Bigger Government that will kill the American Dream and Destiny.

Dick Morris says that the greatest thing you can do in 2010 is to vote for conservative candidates and a change of leadership. I would agree with that statement–after personal repentance, fasting and prayer–RB

Heritage Foundation – 4/7/2010

How The Left Really Plans to Pay for Obamacare

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), over half of President Barack Obama’s new $940 billion health care entitlement is paid for by price-fixing Medicare cuts. Never mind that the President’s own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says that these cuts would cause “roughly 20 percent” of Medicare providers to go bankrupt in Obamacare’s first ten years. The CBO has to believe these cuts will happen because they are required, by law, to believe everything Congress tells them. The American people are not. So the American people ought to know that instead of cutting doctors’ Medicare reimbursement rates by 21% as required by law on April 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services froze payments at current levels until Congress could come back after Easter recess and rescind those cuts. Again. As they have done every year but one since the cuts were first enacted in 1997.

This doc fix is big enough that, if it had been included as a cost of Obamacare, it would have sent the President’s bill into the red all by itself. But the half trillion dollars in Medicare cuts used to fund the rest of Obamacare are a much bigger problem. Even if we assume they all go as planned, President Obama’s budget would borrow 42 cents for each dollar spent in 2010; would run a $1.6 trillion deficit in 2010; and would leave permanent deficits that top $1 trillion as late as 2020. Add on the half trillion dollars in Medicare cuts that, given Congress’ track record, the American people would be naive to think will ever happen, and the federal government is looking at a pile of new debt.

The left’s solution to this problem has been simmering for some time now. Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) floated the idea to The Washington Post last May. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told Charlie Rose it was “on the table” in October. And yesterday White House adviser Paul Volcker told the New York Historical Society it should be considered. The “it” here is a Value Added Tax (VAT), which is a fancy way of saying national sales tax.

A VAT can be (and has been) structured in many different ways. But the real world results are always the same: higher taxes, more government spending, lower growth, fewer jobs and more special interest power.

Higher Taxes: Don’t believe for a second that a VAT will help offset other taxes. International evidence clearly shows that a VAT is likely to increase the aggregate burden of govern­ment. Europeans used to only have a slightly higher tax burden than the United States. But beginning in the late 1960s, European countries began to implement VATs. Since then, the overall tax burden in Europe has climbed rapidly. And once a VAT is in place, the evidence shows that the tax rate rises over time.

Higher Government Spending: Not surprisingly, with more revenues, European governments turn around and spend much more than the United States does. According to a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, government spending grew 45 percent faster in VAT nations than in non-VAT countries.

Slower Growth: According to the academic literature, there is a strong negative relationship between govern­ment spending and economic performance. In other words, more government spending means less economic growth and fewer jobs. Economic growth is driven by individuals and entrepreneurs operating in free markets, not by Washington spending and regulations.

More Power to Washington: There is one economy that would greatly benefit from a VAT: Washington, DC. No VAT could ever be levied evenly on all goods and services. Due to political considerations, a VAT in addition to current taxes would likely exempt politically sensitive items like food, clothing, health care and housing. Industries would lobby heavily for exemptions from the VAT for the economic benefits described above. This would give Congress an even larger role in picking winners and losers in the marketplace. Success would depend less on ingenuity and hard work and more on the ability to gain political favor.

Our nation faces a financial crisis. But low revenues are not the problem. Spending is. Heritage fellow Brian Riedl explains:

“Real federal spending remained steady at $21,000 per household throughout the 1980s and 1990s, before President Bush hiked it to $25,000 per household. Now, President Obama has a proposed a budget that would permanently spend a staggering $32,000 per household annually – and that’s before all the baby boomers retire and add another $10,000 per household in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicare costs to the bottom line.”

So the problem is not declining revenues, but rather a spending spree unlike any in American history. If Washington insists on spending $32,000 per household, it will have to tax $32,000 per household – an unaffordable and unfair tax burden regardless what kind of tax collects it.

Rather than tax America into permanent economic stagnation, President Obama and Congress must rein in runaway federal spending. Simply bringing real federal spending back to the $21,000 per household average that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s would balance the budget by 2012 without raising a single tax on anyone. Even returning spending to the pre-recession level of 20 percent of GDP would eliminate two-thirds of the projected 2019 budget deficit without raising taxes.

For quite a while political pundits have told us that all politicians are the same–that the Republicans are no different than the Democrats–so it really doesn’t matter whom we elect to office. This unqualified assertion is easy to believe if you haven’t done your homework or simply don’t give a rip.

But the verdict of the first eighteen months of the Obama administration has torn that argument to shreds and brought things soberly out into the light. We now know there are great differences between Republicans and Democrats.

There’s something else we now know: We’d better deeply care about the direction of the American nation we’ve known and loved or its future just might be in jeopardy.

First of all a personal disclaimer. I don’t generally think in political party terminology because parties can easily get off track and not represent people as individuals. They are useful for organizing various factions in a democratic Republic, but often their belief systems deteriorate over time so as to no longer reflect their origins. (The same phenomenon happens to individuals.)

I am not a died-in-the-wool Republican. For most of my life I considered myself an Independent who mostly voted Republican due to similar core values, but occasionally voted Democratic. I supported JFK over Richard Nixon due to his understanding of free markets and tax cuts. When I worked in Washington D.C. during the 1980s, one of my favorite Congressmen was Rep. Tony Hall of New York, a highly principled Democrat. When I ran for public office in 2006, I ran under the Republican banner because its platform best fit my views. I supported George W. Bush for his moral positions and tax policies, but disagreed with him on spending and the growth of government.

Now an historical disclaimer. Political parties change over time. The first “Republicans” in America were the followers of Thomas Jefferson for whom I would have voted. Though a complex spiritual man, Jefferson’s governance was clearly rooted in a Christian worldview that affirmed faith, liberty, limited government, free enterprise, and the importance of biblical morality for the sustaining of government institutions.

 After Jefferson, the “Republicans” became the “Democratic Republicans” and eventually the “Democrats.” It was Abraham Lincoln with his strong Christian principles that gave rebirth to the Republican Party–and since the Civil War, the two parties have been dominant in our national culture.

Over the past fifty or sixty years, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the Democratic Party has evolved into the party of secularism–or a man-centered view of life. Its progressive or liberal philosophy is more rooted in humanism than in biblical faith which means that it generally promotes freedom in morality (abortion, homosexual rights, cloning, euthanasia etc.) and restraints on business (government control, regulation, and Big Government spending and taxation). In the unspoken Democratic world, the state is God and should both provide for and protect its citizens.

The Republican view of government has stronger Christian roots. Because of their historical biblical foundations, Republicans believe there should be restraints on morality (pro-life, support of traditional marriage and opposition to homosexual unions etc.) and liberty in the economic realm (free enterprise, low taxes, less regulation etc.). Republicans believe that God is our ultimate Provider, that men are fallen (not perfectible), in individual freedom, accountiblity, limited government and God-given rights.

However, there are Republicans who sometimes lose their way on these issues (like President Nixon) and Democrats who have good values. During the last twenty years, the lines did seem to blur a bit on what was a true Republican and what was a true Democrat. George H.W. Bush was a man of respected character, but he was a moderate Republican who raised taxes and lost an election as the result. Bill Clinton came into office with a Democratic approach to issues (remember Hillarycare?), but was tempered by the Republican Revolution of 1994 and moderated to a conservative position on welfare while presiding over a balanced budget. He was a moderate Dem. As already mentioned, George W. Bush ran as a traditional Republican but embraced Big Government growth.

Which brings us to today. Through the election of Barack Obama, we now know, once again, what unrestrained Democrats really believe. Barack Obama, by definition, is a radical Democrat. He was the most liberal member of the Senate during his two year stint, and since he took office, with Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, he has ruled as a radical Dem.

There are no shades of gray in Barack Obama. He is against traditional morality and is eroding it at every turn. He is against free enterprise and is taking control of it at an alarming pace. He genuinely believes that Big Government should be the Savior and Provider for the people.

Barack Obama, as the radical Democrat, gives us a clear picture of where the Democratic Party will lead us:

• The Federal Government will continue to explode–gobbling up wealth, liberty and free enterprise at every opportunity.
• The holocaust of abortion will now be fully funded by Obamacare–and increase in number. 
• Traditional marriage and family will continue to decline and become a relic of the Christian past.
• The regulatory state will control our lives. Sixteen thousand new IRS agents will police our eventual conversion to state-run health care. Costs will soar, innovation will decline, and care will be rationed.
• Taxes will have to be raised to keep up with the voracious federal appetite–probably including a European-style VAT tax which will prolong and deepen the Great Recession.
• Under this “soft” tyranny, we will never emerge from double digit unemployment and will probably experience a collapse of the weakening and inflated dollar and US Government default on our soaring trillions of dollars of debt.

From now on, if you vote Democrat, this is your future. It is scary, problematic, and very un-American. When you follow the model of the former Soviet Union, you will reap its same consequences. Because there is a God, nations also “reap what they sow” (Galatians 6:7).

But there is another model for America. It re-surfaced in 1980 when a radical Republican named Ronald Reagan was elected president of the United States. His electoral landslide was proceeded by much fasting and prayer and a national gathering that called the America nation to repentance (Washington for Jesus on April 29, 1980).

As a true and radical Republican, Ronald Reagan believed in:

• Faith and hope in God, a “rebirth of freedom” and America’s “Rendezvous with Destiny.”
• Strong marriages and families, traditional morality, and protection for the unborn.
• That free markets best regulated the affairs of business and men, spurring investment, encouraging efficiency and creativity, and producing hard-earned wealth and prosperity.
• Lower taxes were essential for creating wealth and motivating people to succeed.
• The role of government as a strong protector of liberty, both at home and around the world.

Ronald Reagan believed that America had been blessed by God to be a “city set upon a hill” (Matthew 5:14).  His faith, optimism and principles brought the greatest growth period of economic growth in American history from 1982 to 2007. His belief in liberty and a strong defense helped bring down the Iron Curtain.

Ronald was a true/radical Republican.

Barack Obama is a true/radical Democrat.

Now we once again know the difference between the two parties. Republicans–radical Republicans–believe in liberty that is found in Christ. Radical Democrats believe in tyranny that is found in the State.

It’s true that sometimes moderate Republicans make decent leaders when the overall health of the nation is sound. John McCain would certainly not be taking over businesses and nationalizing one sixth of the American economy. It’s also true that moderate Democrats can be adequate leaders when there are other checks and balances (Bill Clinton with a Republican Congress).

But right now, we can’t afford either radical Democrats, moderate Democrats or half-hearted Republicans.

We need radical Republicans who will lead in the very meaning of the word “radical”: “to bring us back to our roots.”

In November and beyond, we need a radical Republican Revolution in the Jeffersonian, Lincoln-inspired or Reaganesque meaning of the words.

Let’s pray that own personal repentance and renewal will help to birth it from the grassroots up. 

Following the corrupt process and against-the-will-of-the-people passage of Obamacare, we find ourselves at a seminal moment in history to call the citizens of America to action. We could call it a second American Revolution. That would be appropriate as the words of the Declaration of Independence certainly apply today:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness–That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

It’s time for us to alter or abolish a bad law that the Obama administration has forced on the nation. We must “Repeal and Replace” Obamacare. I am not advocating violence in any form. I am encouraging spiritual and political solutions for this desperate state of affairs that mirror the American Revolution and prior Great Awakening.

But I believe the better model–in a cultural, not military sense–is the American Civil War. That was a “War Between the States” over the issue of slavery.

Today’s contest is a “War Between the Federal Government and the People” over the issue of health care, and ultimately many other areas of our national life.

Every poll has shown for over a year that the America people do not want to go down the European road to socialism, single-payer or universal health care. The Democrats who control Congress and the  presidency refused to listen to the folks and passed the bill anyway. That flagrant federal takeover of one sixth of the American economy is:

• Destructive of life – the new health care bill will use federal dollars for the first time to kill innocent babies in the womb. The Executive Order banning abortion means nothing–as everyone knows. It was a meaningless piece of paper that will greatly expand the biggest holocaust in history.
• Liberty is now a faint memory with the bill forcingall Americans to buy a product many of them don’t want. The vast array of tax hikes coming down the pike to pay for Obamacare will bankrupt this nation and could lead to the total loss of liberty.
• The Pursuit of Happiness, or right to acquire property and live the American Dream will be severely diminished through crushing job losses and mountains of debt as far as the eye can see.

Thus there is a need for a spiritual, moral, cultural and political Civil War to give rebirth to freedom in this nation. Every hand is needed to turn the tide and bring a desperately needed re-birth to many areas of American life.

David Limbaugh is right when he says, “The Democrats’ passage of socialized medicine Sunday night (March 21, 2010) will spell either the beginning of the end of this great nation or the beginning of the rebirth of its freedom. The choice is still in the hands of Americans.”  

I have made my choice.

Erick Erickson of Red State put it this way: “Something seems to be brewing and I frankly don’t think the Democrats should at all be surprised. They were and they knew they were playing with fire to advance legislation many Americans see as the undoing of the American Experiment. Some of those Americans will now conclude that, like with the founders, if King George will not listen, King George must be fought.”

As for me and my family, we will engage in this fight. 

I was strongly criticized in 2008 for writing with deep concern about the positions, associations and policies of  Barack Obama. I was wrong. His positions are far worse than I believed. I believe the direction he is taking our nation is dangerous and nationally suicidal. I will no longer sit on the sidelines and be timid. It’s time to  tell the truth with conviction–and work to restore liberty in the land.

We didn’t choose this cultural war. It was forced upon us by others who profess the philosophy that  elevates Big Government to God-status in society. We must engage them with broken hearts, radical faith, tenacious perseverance, and wise tactics.

This Second American Civil War must employ a full array of strategies and participants–just as in a conventional war.  You don’t win major military battles without the full use of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. I suggest that the battle we face for freedom in America (and around the world) must enlist all these elements in symbolic form.

Air Force

A “spiritual” victory in the heavenly realm is absolutely necessary for winning the cultural war in America. In the “skies” above us are principalities and powers–demonic forces–that want to destroy our nation’s heritage and Christian influence in the world (Ephesians 6). This is not just a human-to-human or Republican-to-Democrat scuffle. We need a spiritual Air Force to win the battle in the unseen realm so that the Army and Navy can march the path to victory.

We need thousands of pastors and spiritual leader in this nation to call their people and churches to prayer, repentance, acts of compassion, and uplifting the Supremacy of Christ. I heard last week a major Christian leader speaking on the third-most-popular radio show in America say “that we do not have a prayer in this battle against evil unless we are on God’s side. If we do not agree with him and turn from our sins, their is no hope for this nation. If we return with all our hearts to Him, then nothing can stop us from prevailing.” Another friend told me she wanted to begin a “Revival Fires” prayer meeting in her church. We need millions of them.

The spiritual Air Force in America is beginning to stir. On May 2 there will be a MayDay 2010 prayer meeting and time of repentance at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to cry out to God for deliverance. I plan to attend that day, and encourage you to storm the heights of heaven from whenever you are on May 2. We must confess our laziness, complacency, worldliness, idolatry, and lack of compassion for the needy in our own land–including the need for health care. The Church must rise to be the Primary Caregiver of the needs of people–partnering with doctors, hospitals, corporations, and other providers to bear the burdens of others. In some ways the government takeover is the result of our abandonment of the sick and hurting. We must “repeal and replace” our own sins in this matter.

The National Day of Prayer follows on May 8. Could this be a sovereign moment when a broken and repentant Church touches the heart of God and He releases a heaven-sent revival that we so desperately need? Just prior to and during the American Civil War, God visited America in a powerful “prayer revival” which saw ten of thousands of people flock to prayer meetings following a stock market crash. Historians estimate that over one half of the Confederate Army made decisions for Christ during the years that followed. This was America’s last “Great Revival.”  We need another in 2010.

And for the young: “The Call” leader Lou Engle is joining with other leaders this June for a Woodstock-like gathering of youth in solemn assembly to cry out to God for revival in this land. It appears that the spiritual Air Force in America is revving up its engines to engage the spiritual forces of darkness and break of the fallow ground of their own hearts. Could the spiritual awakening we’ve been longing for for decades level the playing field and bring down the power of God during this second American Civil War?

Navy

In a conventional war, it is the ships, aircraft carriers and submarines that provide cover and firepower for the ground troops. I liken today’s cultural navy to a host of political leaders and commentators that are being raised up to instruct and direct this Second American Civil War.

Here are some political leaders on the rise that are becoming much-looked-to “admirals” in the cultural battle for America:

• Mitt Romney – His new book No Apology on American exceptionalism is striking a chord in many hearts. His vast business experience is definitely what’s needed to revive an ailing economy.
• Sarah Palin – is still the most sought after speaker and motivator of traditional Americans. Her common sense philosophy and roots continue to draw thousands to rallies and events.
• Mike Huckabee is an articulate and winsome former governor of Arkansas who has some good ideas on tax reform.
• There are many other rising stars such as Senator Scott Brown, Representatives Mike Pence, Eric Cantor, Michelle Bachman, and Mike Pence, Governors Bobby Jindal, Tim Pawlenty, and Bob McDonnell, and a host of other conservative leaders that are rallying the troops in many states.

Then there are the the television and talk show personalities that are, in many ways, leading the charge of cultural renewal. They all possess varying strengths that are needed to inspire and motivate people. Here’s what I appreciate about them:  

• Rush Limbaugh – No one understands liberalism more clearly than the the most listened to talk show host in Americanhistory.
• Sean Hannity – He launched his Conservative Victory tour yesterday at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California which will take him to numerous cities. He understands the bedrock conservative values that made this nation great.
• Glenn Beck – His warnings about economic collapse and insights into Progressivism are a necessary prophetic voice (wrapped in comedy and wit). His “American Revival” tour has begun in cities across America.
• Michelle Malkin – exposing the culture of corruption; Mark Levin- brilliant legal mind expounding on Liberty and Tyranny; Ann Coulter – fearless in exposing lies and illogic; Dick Morris – adept analysis of polling and trends…and many others.

There are many clear voices to lead us in this cultural Civil War.  We may not always agree with them. But we should seek the truth, measure and test their words, and follow their wise directions.

Army

Certainly the Tea Party movement is the largest aspect of citizen involvement that is growing in this nation to ward off tyranny and bring peaceable charge to American government and life. I’m proud of the folks that are attending these rallies and conventions that are scaring the politicians to death. Most of them are average Joes and Janes that realize we are in great danger in this country–and unless all of us get out there and do something–much will be lost.

I encourage you to join this spontaneous wave of concerned citizens and gather at city hall, your state capital, and even national rallies that are being formed to bring reformation to the American nation. It’s important that the Tea Party movement does not form a third party. That would be disastrous in many of the November elections. We do not need a third party–We need a revitalized Republican Party which returns to its biblical, Judeo-Christian roots and principles. In fact, we need a born-again Democratic Party as well. God is no respecter of parties.

The Tea Party movement, as a vast and growing army of citizen activists,  must show up at the polls in November and change the political landscape of America. We need to win back the House of Representatives and US Senate with God-fearing, Constitution-honoring political leaders in 2010. In 2012, we need to defeat the present administration and elect a wise and godly leader who will point us toward repentance, and a renewal of faith, family, and freedom–bringing bring fresh ideas, spiritual vitality, and a return to fiscal and moral sanity.

Marines

God is still looking for a few “good men and women” to engage the Second American Civil War. The passage of Obamacare has given the Federal Government majority control of 50% of the US economy. The noose of tyranny is tightening and much of our country is still asleep or confused.

But you are awake. You are concerned.  You are reading this article because you care about the future, are concerned about your nation, and want to make a difference in this generation.

Join the cultural second American Civil War. “We have no king but Jesus” shouted our forefathers.

Let’s make them and our children proud of us.

Semper fi.