JOEL'S EPIPHANY

Joel wrote this biographical email to a new acquaintance.  With his permission, I share it here.
In the Name of Him to whom we must give account,
Julia                      

My family has lived in McKinney for 20 years, and my Dad has served as the pastor of a small "independent" Christian church (www.nwcconline.com) for that entire time.  My 5 siblings and I have been home schooled, and we have been active in various ministry opportunities through the course of our "education."  For the past 3 and a half years, we have been involved in starting and building up our own creation science ministry. Check out our website: www.creationevangelismtools.org.  If you want to learn a bit more about my family, you can also visit our family blog: www.texasskies.blogspot.com, and also my sister's blog: www.imprimis.wordpress.com.

We are all interested in worldview matters and the Biblical perspective on subjects like world religions, origins (creation vs. evolution), politics, government, education, and media (movies and music).  We enjoy discussing these subjects with other people.

I've been in CollegePlus! for about 2 years, and I am within 15 credits of completing my B.A. in Political Science. (I can't wait to be finished!)  I originally had the goal of getting my Poli. Sci. degree and then going for a J.D. so I could get into law (probably Constitutional Law, or perhaps family law), and politics.  But, I've kind of had a bit of a change of heart...

For several years, I have had an interest in biblical apologetics, and especially creation apologetics since we first heard Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis give his “Genesis: the Key to Reclaiming the Culture” presentation five years ago. As I became more acquainted with Biblical creation based apologetics and evangelism, I began to realize that this is exactly what the church needs to hear, and what our country needs. Since then, I have sought to equip myself and develop my worldview more Biblically and more fully through various resources which we as a family have purchased or been given.

However, there have been some "distractions" in my life, namely my interest in and intense involvement in politics and political campaigning for a couple of different candidates. I had kind of come to the point where I was believing that we could "take back" our country through politics. The Lord used my campaigning experience and the outcome of the 2008 national elections as an epiphany for me to show me that to turn this country back to Him will not happen overnight, nor through a “top-down” political revolution. This battle over whether or not we will serve the Lord as a country will be won on the individual personal level. This is when I began to realize the importance of reaching out to individuals to help them realize they need to look to Jesus Christ for salvation, and not the government. I also came to see more clearly the importance of helping people in the church develop a biblical worldview.

As a Christian, and an American, I have a concern for our country's degeneration into godlessness and immorality. At the same time I believe that the church at large itself is a mission field because of a widespread rejection of the authoritative sufficiency of the Bible by many Christians. So while I believe it is important to try to “stem the tide,” of godlessness in our culture, I believe one of the most foundational ways to do that is to first evangelize the church so that there will be a multiplicative effect in our efforts to reach the unbelieving society. I want to be able to help call the church back to the scriptures, much like the Reformers. Then, according to the Lord's will and timing, as the church returns to the scriptures, that will help to turn the country back to God and His Word.

Down the road, as the Lord leads, I may pursue a degree in law, but for now, my focus is on building up my own faith and helping other Christians get on track Biblically speaking.

Enough is Enough!

Cap & Trade: The Hidden Tax

The time to take action is NOW! Congress is set to vote on this bill Friday/tomorrow (6-26-2009).

The House of Representatives is slated to vote on the Cap and Trade bill this Friday (6-26-2009) according to the Washington Post.

The House Rules Committee unveiled the latest version of the bill, which weighs in at 1,201 pages. It features new items such as $7.5 billion in "green bonds" for a new federal financing agency called the Clean Energy Deployment Administration, extra emission allowances for politically powerful rural electric cooperatives, greater flexibility for states that want to use free allowances for mass transit, and tweaks benefiting a range of companies, including algae-based biofuel producers and major petroleum refiners. (emphasis added)

This piece of legislation seems to be a top priority of the Obama administration - but will it help or hurt our flailing economy? How much would this hidden tax cost the average American household?

The New York Times and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have helpful information regarding the cost of such a bill.

Campaign for Liberty provides a break down of the facts:
You see, energy companies just pass the costs of these draconian regulations through to the consumer in the form of huge price increases.

As a result, you will pay higher gas prices, higher electric prices, and higher costs for goods.
Barack Obama has estimated the costs of this legislation to American taxpayers to be over 650 BILLION dollars over the next eight years, and that figure is no doubt just a fraction of the real cost.

But even that modest estimate amounts to hundreds of dollars a year in increased living expenses for every family -- and will more likely cost thousands a year.

And according to the Heritage Foundation, between 1.2 and 2.3 million jobs could be lost over the next ten-years due to the bill's stifling regulations.

This current economic crisis is no time for Congress to consider both raising prices on hard-working Americans AND costing them jobs.

That's why we must act now to send a message to Congress to reject this disastrous Cap-and-Tax Scheme....

Supporters of the legislation are of course trying to downplay the cost of this scheme to the American people.

But if the bill does not directly and massively increase energy costs to consumers, how would it possibly achieve its stated aims?

It is only through these massive cost increases -- mandated and enforced by the federal government -- that the dubious goal of reducing carbon emissions could possibly be reached....
(emphasis added)

The Partnership for America's Energy Security has provided some useful stats on the cost each state would absorb.

So what should we do? Call your congressperson and express your dismay at this bill. Let them know that it will cost them in the next election should this pass! Please join me in this fight to save our country from those who would turn us awry.

For Liberty,
Abby

Melt the Switchboard Monday!

From Abby's blog; please take time to read this and take action!

RED ALERT!
Our Legislation is now in COMMITTEE! Audit The Fed! Melt the Switchboard Day - Monday April 27, 2009!

This Monday, April 27th, every Freedom Lover will call in to the Congressional Switchboard and Voice their Support for Ron Paul’s H.R. 1207, Audit the FED! Help make this an Historic Day!

Ron Paul’s bill to Audit the Federal Reserve Bank, HR 1207, has now garnered 91 (and counting!!!) co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services where it will either go to the House for a debate and vote or it will be defeated.

MOST BILLS DIE IN COMMITTEE DUE TO LACK OF SUPPORT!

That means it’s all up to YOU!
We MUST make the most of this opportunity by EVERYONE making a quick phone call to our Congressional Representatives to show our support for this all too important piece of legislation.

We need to step up and give the situation all of our attention NOW. IMAGINE THE NEWS ON TUESDAY MORNING:“Flood of phone calls shuts down Congressional Switchboard”. YES, WE CAN!

The Congressional Switchboard number is: 1-877-851-6437 or 1-202-224-3121. For more information please visit www.EndTheFed.us

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.” - Robert Heinlein

“Each of us should choose which course of action we must take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes, but let it not be said that we did nothing.” — Congressman Ron Paul

“In the beginning of change, the Patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.” - Mark Twain

You can download and print the MeltFlyer by clicking here (google doc.) or here (html) - let’s make sure that D.C. hears our voice!!

For Liberty,
Abby - editor imprimis

Tally Vote for the Bailout

Well, at least for today we can breath a sigh of relief and cheer! The proposed bailout fell short of the need votes (218) for it to pass on to the Senate.

The measure was voted down 228-205, so for now it is being re-worked, and the fight must go on!

Please don't lets "rest on our laurels" - we have lots of work to do to make sure this doesn't pass at all!

You can see how your Representatives voted and then take action (i.e. thank them, or reprimand them and then strongly urge them to do the RIGHT thing this coming week). The next vote could be taken as early as this Thursday. We have our work cut out for us! Please call (202-224-3121 capitol switchboard) your Representatives and urge them to vote 'NAY'.

For Liberty,
Abby

Ron Paul - My Answer to the President

Dear Friends:

The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived.

We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and malinvestment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the malinvestment - and prevent the market's attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets.

Last night the president addressed the nation about the financial crisis. There is no point in going through his remarks line by line, since I'd only be repeating what I've been saying over and over - not just for the past several days, but for years and even decades.

Still, at least a few observations are necessary.

The president assures us that his administration "is working with Congress to address the root cause behind much of the instability in our markets." Care to take a guess at whether the Federal Reserve and its money creation spree were even mentioned?

We are told that "low interest rates" led to excessive borrowing, but we are not told how these low interest rates came about. They were a deliberate policy of the Federal Reserve. As always, artificially low interest rates distort the market. Entrepreneurs engage in malinvestments - investments that do not make sense in light of current resource availability, that occur in more temporally remote stages of the capital structure than the pattern of consumer demand can support, and that would not have been made at all if the interest rate had been permitted to tell the truth instead of being toyed with by the Fed.

Not a word about any of that, of course, because Americans might then discover how the great wise men in Washington caused this great debacle. Better to keep scapegoating the mortgage industry or "wildcat capitalism" (as if we actually have a pure free market!).

Speaking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said: "Because these companies were chartered by Congress, many believed they were guaranteed by the federal government. This allowed them to borrow enormous sums of money, fuel the market for questionable investments, and put our financial system at risk.

"Doesn't that prove the foolishness of chartering Fannie and Freddie in the first place? Doesn't that suggest that maybe, just maybe, government may have contributed to this mess? And of course, by bailing out Fannie and Freddie, hasn't the federal government shown that the "many" who "believed they were guaranteed by the federal government" were in fact correct?

Then come the scare tactics. If we don't give dictatorial powers to the Treasury Secretary "the stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet." Left unsaid, naturally, is that with the bailout and all the money and credit that must be produced out of thin air to fund it, the value of your retirement account will drop anyway, because the value of the dollar will suffer a precipitous decline. As for home prices, they are obviously much too high, and supply and demand cannot equilibrate if government insists on propping them up.

It's the same destructive strategy that government tried during the Great Depression: prop up prices at all costs. The Depression went on for over a decade. On the other hand, when liquidation was allowed to occur in the equally devastating downturn of 1921, the economy recovered within less than a year.

The president also tells us that Senators McCain and Obama will join him at the White House today in order to figure out how to get the bipartisan bailout passed. The two senators would do their country much more good if they stayed on the campaign trail debating who the bigger celebrity is, or whatever it is that occupies their attention these days.

F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize for showing how central banks' manipulation of interest rates creates the boom-bust cycle with which we are sadly familiar. In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, he described the foolish policies being pursued in his day - and which are being proposed, just as destructively, in our own:

Instead of furthering the inevitable liquidation of the maladjustments brought about by the boom during the last three years, all conceivable means have been used to prevent that readjustment from taking place; and one of these means, which has been repeatedly tried though without success, from the earliest to the most recent stages of depression, has been this deliberate policy of credit expansion.

To combat the depression by a forced credit expansion is to attempt to cure the evil by the very means which brought it about; because we are suffering from a misdirection of production, we want to create further misdirection - a procedure that can only lead to a much more severe crisis as soon as the credit expansion comes to an end... It is probably to this experiment, together with the attempts to prevent liquidation once the crisis had come, that we owe the exceptional severity and duration of the depression.

The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.

The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?

Oh, and did you notice that the bailout is now being called a "rescue plan"? I guess "bailout" wasn't sitting too well with the American people.

The very people who with somber faces tell us of their deep concern for the spread of democracy around the world are the ones most insistent on forcing a bill through Congress that the American people overwhelmingly oppose. The very fact that some of you seem to think you're supposed to have a voice in all this actually seems to annoy them.

I continue to urge you to contact your representatives (202-224-3121) and give them a piece of your mind. I myself am doing everything I can to promote the correct point of view on the crisis. Be sure also to educate yourselves on these subjects - the Campaign for Liberty blog is an excellent place to start. Read the posts, ask questions in the comment section, and learn.

H.G. Wells once said that civilization was in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.

In liberty,
Ron Paul

A conservative view - Ron Paul

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Dear Friends,


Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.

The events of the past week are no exception.
The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress' throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect. It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder.

Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China! "This is welfare for the rich," he said. "This is socialism for the rich. It's bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters."
That describes the current bailout package to a T. And we're being told it's unavoidable.


The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it. But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences - predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian economics - are being let off the hook. The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!

• The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time. That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.
• Financial institutions are "designated as financial agents of the Government." This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.
• Then there's this: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process. There goes your country.

Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this "sadly necessary." Sad, yes. Necessary? Don't make me laugh.

Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people. The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind - another example of the big choice we're supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes.

Now, with a backlash brewing, they're not quite sure what their views are. A sad display, really.

Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we'll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short. Congress may vote as soon as tomorrow. With a Rasmussen poll finding support for the bailout at an anemic seven percent, some members of Congress are afraid to vote for it. Call them (202-224-3121)! Let them hear from you! Tell them you will never vote for anyone who supports this atrocity.

The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government? Do we care?

When the chips are down, will we stand up and fight, even if it means standing up against every stripe of fashionable opinion in politics and the media?

Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of country we shall be.

In liberty,
Ron Paul

C4L - Rally for the Republic!!

Tuesday’s Rally for the Republic schedule:

11:30 - Doors open

12:30 - Intro: Tucker Carlson

12:40 - National Anthem: Matt Colvin

12:50 - Invocation: Barb Davis White

12:55 - Howard Phillips

1:10 - Doug Wead

1:30 - Tom Woods

1:50 - Grover Norquist

2:10 - Lew Rockwell

2:30 - Bill

:50 - Special Guest

3:10 - Bruce Fein

3:35 - Gov. Jesse Ventura

4:05 - John Tate, Campaign for Liberty Presentation

4:25 - Gov. Gary Johnson

5:00 - Aimee Allen

6:00 - Break

7:00 - Intro: Barry Goldwater

7:05 - Ron Paul

8:05 - Sara Evans

9:30 - End of Program

9:30 - Jimmie Vaughan After Party

If you want to see what events are planned for Monday, head on over to the C4L's site.

For America's Patriot: Ron Paul - Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Paul! Thank you for being the champion of Liberty, Peace, Freedom & the Constitution! Our family has learned SO much these past several months since we first became acquainted with you and your campaign. It was amazing to watch you over the course of your months on the road, spreading the good news about Freedom, Prosperity & Peace!

Many happy returns on this your special day and may the Lord bless you with many, many more years of healthy, happy living!

1:1 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,nor stands in the way of sinners,nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Psalm 1:1-3

God bless you Ron & Carol always! You two are in our thoughts and prayers!

With admiration, with love,

David, Julia, Joel, Abby, Caleb, Phoebe, Johanna & Jaden Kautt - Texas, USA

Carol Paul update

Continue to lift Carol Paul in your prayers. As of the 14th, she was in the CCU, in serious but stable condition. Apparently, she has had quite a struggle for her life.

Of course, keep her husband, Ron and all of her children and grandchildren in your thoughts and prayers.

~Abby

Update: Carol Paul is doing well! She had her breathing tube removed, and it looks like she will soon be moved from the CCU into a rehab center. Thank you Lord for your healing power!

Tickets on Sale Now!

The Ticket Bomb for the Rally for the Republic will begin and tickets will go on sale starting this morning.

Will you purchase a ticket and join us in Minneapolis on September 2?

Tickets will cost a very patriotic $17.76, so we hope you will bring the whole family. Can you image the reaction from the political establishment and media if we are able to sell out the Target Center?

Already the media is calling our office interested in the potential of our event. Over 1,500 news stories were written about Ron Paul alone when we announced our rally in Minneapolis two days ago.

Let's send a loud and clear message to the media again this Friday @ 10AM CST when tickets go on sale!

Tell them that we will not go unnoticed. Liberty will prevail, and our republic will be restored.

Please make every effort you can to be in Minneapolis. This will be the greatest event Dr. Paul has ever attempted.

We are in negotiations with a handful of headlining musical acts and additional speakers that we will announce to you in the coming weeks.

We appreciate all your suggestions, but rest assured, the Rally for the Republic will be nothing less than our moment in history.

In addition to the Rally for the Republic, the Campaign for Liberty has planned three full days of events.

Please go to the scheduling page on our website to read about all the activities from Sunday, August 31 - Tuesday, September 2.

Don't forget! Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning @ 10AM CST at the Rally for the Republic website.

Be sure you are first in line to grab your seats.In liberty,The Campaign for Liberty TeamP.S. - The Rally for the Republic will be the kickoff event for the Campaign for Liberty.

We are developing a new nationwide grassroots organization to keep the message of liberty alive.

Please encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to join the Campaign for Liberty by going to our website and signing up. Thanks!

Operation St. Paul, MN

Think about this:

This September in Minneapolis, MN, John McCain will accept the nomination of the Republican party. Across the river, Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty will be hosting its own convention. One, that will have significantly more impact than what the RNC decides.

So, to get a "head start" The American Liberty Coalition PAC is sponsoring a billboard campaign in the Twin Cities. Go check out a sampling of what it will be like if you're walking the streets of Minneapolis or St. Paul. It is completely what we need, a welcomed "wake up call" for all of those who need the TRUTH!

Consider what you can do to make this happen all over the Twin cities.

For Freedom, for America,
~Abby