CRAIGforCONGRESS
Missouri's 7th District, U.S. House of Representatives

  
 
 

 

Bringing LIBERTY to Capitol Hill -- 2012
OZARKS VIRTUAL TOWN HALL
Saturday Morning, April 16th, 2011, 10:30am

Comparing the American Vision of "Liberty Under God"
with the President's Saturday Morning Radio Address
and the Republican Response


Click here to listen to the April 16th, 2011 Ozarks Virtual Town Hall
 
Our Goal for the Planet:

The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas:

And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
And peace on earth
among men in whom He is well pleased.

Peace on Earth Begins with You.

 Our Goal for You:

To be one in whom God is well pleased:

His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21

Our programs are designed to transform you into:

  • An Extraordinary American
  • An Extraordinary Christian
  • An Extraordinary Human Being

Transcript and Analysis of the President's Weekly Radio Address:
“We Can Live Within Our Means and Live Up to the Values We Share as Americans”

The White House Press Office:  – In his weekly address, President Obama said that to restore fiscal responsibility, we all need to share in the sacrifice – but we don’t have to sacrifice the America we believe in. Earlier this week, the President proposed a balanced approach to cut the deficit, which matches the $4 trillion in deficit reduction put forward by House Republicans’ plan.  The President’s proposal does this by combing the entire budget for savings and asking everyone to do their part.  The Republican plan, though, would end Medicare as we know it and make drastic cuts to education, infrastructure and clean energy, while giving away $1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest two percent.

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President Obama's
Saturday Morning Radio Address
Saturday Morning, April 16th, 2011

Another Perspective:
"Liberty Under God"
This week, I laid out my plan for our fiscal future.  It’s a balanced plan that reduces spending and brings down the deficit, putting America back on track toward paying down our debt.  
We know why this challenge is so critical.  If we don’t act, a rising tide of borrowing will damage our economy, costing us jobs and risking our future prosperity by sticking our children with the bill.  
At the same time, we have to take a balanced approach to reducing our deficit – an approach that protects the middle class, our commitments to seniors, and job-creating investments in things like education and clean energy.  "Balance" spending and non-spending

There is no real "commitment" to seniors. There is no "trust fund."
What’s required is an approach that draws support from both parties, and one that’s based on the values of shared responsibility and shared prosperity. What is the difference between the value of "shared responsibility" and the value of "individual responsibility?"
Now, one plan put forward by some Republicans in the House of Representatives aims to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years.  But while I think their goal is worthy, I believe their vision is wrong for America.   Why Is It Corrupt to Call for the End of the Bread Subsidy in the Politics of Bread and Circuses?
It’s a vision that says at a time when other nations are hustling to out-compete us for the jobs and businesses of tomorrow, we have to make drastic cuts in education, infrastructure, and clean energy – the very investments we need to win that competition and get those jobs.  
It’s a vision that says that in order to reduce the deficit, we have to end Medicare as we know it, and make cuts to Medicaid that would leave millions of seniors, poor children, and Americans with disabilities without the care they need.   If a dollar were not taken out of your paycheck and sent to Washington D.C., and if politicians there did not take more than 50 cents for themselves, and then sent the rest of that dollar back to poor children in your neighborhood in an impersonal and inefficient bureaucratic scheme, would people like you be unwilling to take 50 cents out of your paycheck and help the poor, while enjoying a 50% tax reduction? Did Americans not take care of each other before government started doing it for us?
But even as this plan proposes these drastic cuts, it would also give $1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest 2% of Americans – an extra $200,000 for every millionaire and billionaire in the country.    The top 1% pay more in taxes than the bottom 90%.

Obama's Soak-the-Rich Tax Hikes Won't Work | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary
I don’t think that’s right.  I don’t think it’s right to ask seniors to pay thousands more for health care, or ask students to postpone college, just so we don’t have to ask those who have prospered so much in this land of opportunity to give back a little more. Re-stated: "I don't think it's right to allow the rich to invest in new medical technology." Or, "I don't think it's right to allow the rich to continue to create jobs so college students don't have to get one."

"The Rich" build factories that provide jobs and the highest standard of living in history. Henry Ford gave working class people cars when only the rich could afford them. Bill Gates made it possible for ordinary Americans to start small businesses with computing power that only the government used to have. "The Rich" gave us all these things. What do they need to "give back?"
To restore fiscal responsibility, we all need to share in the sacrifice – but we don’t have to sacrifice the America we believe in.  
That’s why I’ve proposed a balanced approach that matches that $4 trillion in deficit reduction.  It’s an approach that combs the entire budget for savings, and asks everyone to do their part.  And I’ve called on Democrats and Republicans to join me in this effort – to put aside their differences to help America meet this challenge.  That’s how we’ve balanced our budget before, and it’s how we’ll succeed again. So Obama admits that we need to reduce the deficit? But does he want to do this by cutting spending, or by taxing the producers?
We’ll build on the savings we made from last week’s bipartisan budget agreement, while protecting the job-creating investments that are critical to our future.  
We’ll find additional savings in our defense budget.  Over the last two years, the Secretary of Defense has taken on wasteful spending that does nothing to protect our troops or our nation, saving $400 billion in current and future spending.  I believe we can do that again.    Good point. A Republican sacred cow. We need to beat our "swords into plowshares." But Obama believes that most defense spending does in fact "protect our nation." It does not.

Happy Tax Day! Rest Assured. Your Money Is Well Spent Defending Rich Allies
We’ll reduce health care spending, and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid through common-sense reforms that will get rid of wasteful subsidies and increase efficiency. The Medicare system is trillions in the red. "Common-sense reforms" that Obama has in mind will not come close.
We’ll reduce spending in our tax code with tax reform that’s fair and simple – so that the amount of taxes you pay doesn’t depend on how clever an accountant you can afford.  And we should end the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, too.  Because people like me don’t need another tax cut. People who own businesses that create jobs and real wealth do need another tax break.
So that’s my approach to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years while protecting the middle class, keeping our promise to seniors, and securing our investments in our future.  I hope you’ll check it out for yourself on WhiteHouse.gov.  And while you’re there, you can also find what we’re calling the taxpayer receipt.  For the first time ever, there’s a way for you to see exactly how and where your tax dollars are spent, and what’s really at stake in this debate.  
Going forward, Democrats and Republicans in Washington will have our differences, some of them strong.  But you expect us to bridge those differences.  You expect us to work together and get this done.  And I believe we can.  I believe we can live within our means and live up to the values we share as Americans.  And in the weeks to come, I’ll work with anyone who’s willing to get it done.  
Thanks for listening.  Have a great weekend.  

The Republican Party Radio Address:
(This week's video not yet posted)

Response of the Republican Party
Saturday Morning Radio Address

  

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

  
Once again, the Republican Party leadership has asked Congressman Ron Paul of Texas to deliver . . . wait a minute . . . I'm sorry . . .
Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin delivered the GOP Weekly Address		  
Hello. I’m Dr., and U.S. Senator, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma.  
This was a historic week in Washington. For the first time in more than 15 years, Congress, under leadership of the House Republicans, is making significant spending cuts. While these cuts aren’t nearly enough, the American people should be encouraged. You have fundamentally changed the debate in Washington. Instead of increasing spending, Congress is now cutting spending. That is a monumental shift for Washington.   
Republicans have also changed the culture of Congress. Earmarks like the Bridge to Nowhere and the Woodstock Museum are a thing of the past. Just five years ago, Congress passed 14,000 pork projects worth $29 billion. This year, we’re on pace to have zero earmarks.  
These changes could not have come soon enough. Our nation is facing a $14.3 trillion national debt that our own military leaders call the greatest threat to our national security. In these challenging times, we need real leadership to bring us together. As Americans, there is not a problem that we can’t solve if we are together. And unfortunately, in his speech this week on the deficit, President Obama took us three steps backwards.  
Instead of describing the threat and bringing both sides together, the president attacked those who have a different vision of the government.  
As leaders we have a moral obligation to tell the country the truth. The truth is, is we could face a serious debt crisis sooner than anyone expects. We face an unsustainable debt and unsustainable entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. All of which will collapse if they’re not reformed. They will collapse if they are reformed. Bernie Madoff's "investment" scheme was doomed from the beginning.
Just this week, the International Momentary Fund warned our country to get our fiscal house in order quickly before investors lose faith in our ability to repay our debts. If investors dump our bonds, which finance our deficit spending on everything from Social Security benefits and to the military spending, our economy could go into a tailspin. We would see interest rates skyrocket, which would harm consumers and add hundreds of billions of dollars to our debt every year. Notice the admission that the government is borrowing from China to pay Social Security benefits. What happened to the money retirees "contributed"  while they were working? A: it was spent on predator drones in Afghanistan.
We’ve already seen Pimco, the world’s largest bond mutual fund, sell all of its holdings of U.S. Treasury bills. We’re also seeing troubling signs of inflation, and energy prices continue to rise.  
What we need to avert a debt crisis is real leadership and specific solutions, not campaign style political attacks.  
Unfortunately, the president failed to put a serious proposal on the table.  
And for instance, his plan includes a so-called ‘debt failsafe’ that fails to actually target the debt. Entitlement spending alone accounts for more than 80 percent of our long-term debt burden but the president’s plan exempts these programs from reform. By pretending that Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security are sound financially when they are not, the president is jeopardizing the benefits for the very Americans he says he wants to protect.  
He also proposed expanding his failed health care law that will cost Americans now over $2.6 trillion between now and the next 10 years. That makes our debt problem much more difficult to solve. The president wants to strengthen a board of unaccountable Medical Czars and give them more power to impose price controls and ration care.  
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, who seemed to be the real target of the president’s speech, has charted a different course. His plan, which saves $6.2 trillion over ten years, outlines a path to prosperity, not austerity. He would save Medicare by giving all beneficiaries, beginning with those now under 55, access to high-quality health plans, similar to the plans that members of Congress enjoy.   
Also under Mr. Ryan’s plan, Medicaid’s safety net for the poorest patients would be strengthened by transitioning to block grants that empower states to provide care.  
As a physician I know first-hand that Medicaid, as it is currently structured, is often times a disaster for patients. Nearly half of physicians don’t accept Medicaid patients because the reimbursement rates set by bureaucrats in Washington are so low. Not surprisingly, patients on Medicaid have poorer health outcomes, higher rates of infant mortality and more complications after major surgery than individuals with no health insurance at all. In the America I know we liberate citizens from failing programs that deny them choice, dignity and care. The president’s plan, on the other hand, forces 24 million Americans into a failing Medicaid program that routinely denies care to patients who have no other options.   
The president also underestimated how much we could save by going after waste, fraud and abuse. In just six years of oversight in my office alone, we have identified more than $350 billion in annual waste in the federal government. See also Citizens Against Government Waste. In a world of $4 Trillion budgets, this is still chump change.
The president says he wants to use a scalpel, but as a physician, let me tell you, when it comes to waste and duplication at the federal government level, we don’t need a scalpel. We need a chain saw.  
Finally, on the issue of tax reform, the president walked away from serious bipartisan compromise on tax reform reached by his very own deficit commission on which I served. Our blueprint lowered tax rates for everyone, and reduced the deficit by stimulating real economic growth. The president’s plan undermines our bipartisan agreement by calling for rate increases that will slow the economic growth that he so much wants.   
As someone who has spent most of my 63 years outside of politics, I know there isn’t a problem we can’t solve if we do it together. But the only way we can solve them is to put our political careers on the line and stop engaging in petty political attacks. To my Republican colleagues I often ask: What good is the Republican Party without a republic? And to my Democrats colleagues I ask: What good are your promises without an economy to sustain them?  
This week showed how far we have come but also how far we have to go. As long you – We the People – stay engaged and hold Washington accountable I have no doubt we’ll address the challenges ahead and secure the blessings of liberty for future generations. May God bless you, and our great country.    ####  

More Resources on Today's Subjects

 
The Constitution creates a government of enumerated powers.
Any federal bureaucracy which has no Constitution authorization
should be abolished. This is the key to cutting federal spending.

If you take nothing else with you from today's "Virtual Town Hall," remember this:

Taxation is immoral;
the ethical equivalent of THEFT

Second, Today's Tax Burden is 10-30 times greater
than the taxes America's Founders called a tyranny.

Third, the purposes for which today's government uses taxes
are destructive of civilization itself.

Politicians both Democrat and Republican are saying
"we must cut taxes on small businesses to create jobs."
But if they cut one tax, they increase another.

America's Founding Fathers -- who condemned taxes which were
one-twentieth the size of our taxes --
would condemn today's politicians.

The "Tax Expenditures" Myth

Complex Inferiority


WARNING: Immature Subject Matter. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Shutdown Showdown

Environment and Energy Resources

Additional Jobs Resources

 
 

How the Two Major Parties Differ from
the American Vision of "Liberty Under God":

  • The Constitution:

  • The Free Market:

    • America's Founders spoke of America as "an Experiment in Liberty" (1787-1887)
      • The "experiment" was a success: a Free Market made America the most prosperous and admired nation in history. "Capitalism" means freedom.
    • In the 20th century, the experiment in liberty was replaced with another experiment: an experiment in central planning
    • The original American dream of personal, private ownership, has been replaced with private indebtedness and public control.
    • The Invisible Hand of the Free Market works better than the Visible Fist of Government
    • America was founded on the philosophy of "Liberty Under God."
      • "Liberty" means freedom from government suppression of ideas and confiscation of wealth
      • "Under God" means we have a personal responsibility to love God and neighbor.
    • The original American Dream: Everyone dwelling safely under his own Vine & Fig Tree
      • Human beings are endowed with the right to property by God, not the government.
    • America was founded as a "City upon a Hill," a Christian nation from which the Gospel would be promoted around the world, and the "blessings of liberty" would cover the planet.
    • There is a difference between "the state" and "society." Society = the people.
    • Economics in One Lesson:
      • From this aspect, therefore, the whole of economics can be reduced to a single lesson, and that lesson can be reduced to a single sentence: The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.
  • Terrorism
    • Why do they call The United States "The Great Satan?"

      • The federal government bombs Muslims

      • The federal government has military bases in Muslim nations

      • The federal government supports Israel's actions against Palestinians 

    • These are the reasons given by Osama bin Laden for declaring a "fatwah" (holy war) against the U.S.
    • All of these accusations are true.
    • All of these government actions are contrary to the Constitution.
    • The biggest cause of terrorism -- and the most dangerous threat to the personal safety and security of ordinary Americans like you and me -- is the Federal Government of the United States.
    • The federal government is no longer a City upon a Hill, but an imperialist empire.
    • America's Founders envisioned the American people, acting as businessmen, humanitarians, and missionaries, engaging in commercial and charitable activities around the world, bringing peace and receiving the admiration of the world.

      • "The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible."
        — Washington, Farewell Address (1796) [Washington’s emphasis]

      • "I deem [one of] the essential principles of our government, and consequently [one] which ought to shape its administration,…peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."
        — Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (1801) 

    • Bush's unconstitutional military invasion of Iraq has destroyed Christianity in that country.
      • Under Saddam Hussein's secular government, Christians in Iraq had greater freedom than in most other Arab nations, and one of the largest Christian populations in the Muslim world was in Iraq.
      • Iraq is now an Islamic theocracy under Sharia law. The Christian population has been destroyed. Christian Churches are burned and terrorized with impunity. Thanks be to Washington D.C.
    • Obama is following in Bush's unconstitutional, anti-Christian footsteps.
    • The U.S. needs to take greater leadership in avoiding nuclear mass-murder.
    • Is any war a "Just War?" We must beat our "swords into plowshares."
  • The New World Order
    • The "G-20" Leaders are not our representatives.
    • The U.S. must end "entangling alliances" with dictators around the globe.
  • Socialized Medical Care
    • Capitalism, not socialism, creates higher quality health care for more people, especially for the poor.
    • Health care reforms should decrease, not increase, government involvement.
      • No Government licensing of doctors and other healthcare providers.
      • No transformation of insurance into welfare.
  • Environmentalism
    • A false religion - worshiping the creature rather than the Creator.
    • Human beings have a higher priority than wildlife.
      • Dominion
      • Human beings need a healthy environment -- obviously.
      • "The State" is the greatest destroyer of the environment, and limits liability of polluters, to the detriment of private property owners.
  • Time for Revolution?

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listeners' questions

“Why Americans Should
Celebrate Christmas
365 Days a Year”

The word "Christ" means "King." The Message of Christmas and the Principles set forth by the Christ (the Messiah) who came that first Christmas are the real solution to America's problems. The Federal Government is at war with Christmas and "The Way of Peace" announced by the Prince of Peace. The Government should be on His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7). Abolishing a Messianic State is the only appropriate way to honor the Messiah. Otherwise Christmas becomes mass hypocrisy.

Christmas

Bush-Clinton-Obama
Matthew 1:1-17
Jesus was a descendant of King David. The Jews gave us the Bible.
 Obama is a distant cousin of both Dick Cheney and George Bush

How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power
Luke 1:1-4
Eyewitnesses of the Messiah recorded their testimony. Co-Founder of the Harvard Law School says their testimony would prove the resurrection in any court of law in America, at one time a Christian nation.
 No longer a Christian nation, American courts routinely release the guilty and condemn the innocent.
John 1:1-18 - The Incarnation
The Word became flesh. The Creator of the universe becomes a human being. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him, preferring darkness rather than light.
Luke 3:23-38
Jesus was a descendant of Abraham.
All those who submit to Jesus as the Messiah (the rightful king of the earth) inherit the promises made to Abraham
 Those who reject the Messiah do not inherit the promises made to Abraham, even though Bush defends their right to do so.
Luke 1:5-25
John the Baptist prepares the way for the Messiah, as prophesied of Elijah.
 As you read the Gospel accounts, ask yourself how you would react if you knew these accounts were really true. Not just true in some "religious" sense, but reported in the New York Times, proven in a court of law, or acknowledged by your personal hero.  (How do you know something is true? Do you even have any "heroes?") How should you change your life if your Creator became a human being? How should Washington D.C. react if this human being claimed to be the true Ruler?
Luke 1:26-38
The Angel Gabriel announces the conception of the Messiah, who will be given the throne of David.
Luke 1:39-45
The unborn John recognizes the mother of the Messiah.
 Bush-Obama would chop the unborn John and the unborn Jesus into stem cells for "medical research."
Luke 1:46-56 - "The Magnificat"
“He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.” Luke 1:51
 The Bush Administration is filled with the power-hungry, who commit adultery in reality or in fantasy.
Luke 1:67-80
Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, prophecies the birth of Jesus the anti-king.
 The expectations of Zacharias are 180° opposite those of the Bush-Obama Administration.
Matthew 1:18-25
Joseph told about the Incarnation.
"Jesus" means "salvation"
"Immanuel" means "God with us"
 The Bush Administration thinks it brings salvation.

Obama thinks he is Immanuel.
Luke 2:1-7
The Prophet Micah predicted that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Jesus' parents lived in Nazereth. Therefore God predestined Caesar to issue a decree (probably relating to taxes) that would bring Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem before Jesus was born.
 Bush claims the same global power of confiscation and migration as Caesar did. Thousands of Christians have been forced to move out of Iraq to make way for Bush's Islamic Theocracy.
Luke 2:8-14
An army of angels announces the birth of the Messiah, saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
      And on earth peace to those with whom He is pleased!”
 Man's chief end is to glorify God and live in peace. The Bush Administration's chief end is to erect a "wall of separation" between God and government so that the State gives no glory to God, and to wage war, thereby "stimulating the economy."
Luke 2:15-20
“Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.”
 Washington D.C. isn't listening.
Luke 2:22-24
Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem to obey Leviticus 12:8, which suggests that they were not rich.
 Washington politicians are among the richest and most financially secure people in America.
Luke 2:25-35
Simeon had been told he would not die before he saw the Lord's Messiah. He says Jesus is "The One."
 

Is Barack Obama the Messiah?
Luke 2:36-38
Anna the Prophetess is another well-known Godly person who acknowledges that Jesus is the Child promised by the prophets.
 Where is the Anna of our day who tells us we can trust Washington D.C. to bring salvation?
Matthew 2:1-8
"Wise men from the East" knew of Micah's prophecy that the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem.
 Are there any wise men around the world who place their confidence in George Bush, Henry Paulson, Paul Krugman, or Barack Obama?
Matthew 2:9-12
The kings from the east present the Messiah with "gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
 Rather than bestowing wealth on the King, Obama-Bush confiscates the wealth of others.
Matthew 2:13-18
When Herod got word of the birth of a rival king, he behaved in a perfectly logical way (for someone who wants to protect his power):  he massacred all male babies the age of Jesus. Herod recognized that Jesus was a threat to Herod's power.
 Every day in America 4,000 unborn babies are murdered. These babies must threaten something.

Millions of Americans who call themselves Christians, on the other hand, are no threat to tyranny. None of them are being killed. Bush has killed a thousand times more human beings than Herod did, and confiscated a billion times more wealth than Herod did.
Matthew 28:18-20
Herod's son Antipas played a small role in the execution of Jesus Christ. But Jesus rose from the dead, was enthroned on the throne of David at the right hand of God, and assumed the rightful role of King over all nations.
 "Beginning today and culminating on Sunday morning, Christians will celebrate with their families the resurrection of Christ, His victory over death. We will remember that He gave His body and His blood—washing clean the faults and the shortcomings of the world. In our rejoicing we will renew the hope that is ours through the risen Lord."
Ronald Reagan: Statement on the Celebration of Passover and Easter

Seven Themes in Micah's Vine & Fig Tree Prophecy

 

Micah's Prophecy (Micah 4:1-7)

7 Archetypes

5 Reading Sources

1

 And it will come about in the last days
[For the LORD of hosts has spoken.]
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
  • Christmas vs. Rapture
  • Sovereignty
  • Providence
  • Predestination
  • Authority
  • Victory
  • Power
  • Kingdom
  • Heaven on Earth
  • Heaven Now
 Westminster Standards

 

Preterism / Christmas

 

Year 2: Calvin's Institutes

2

 And it will be raised above the hills
And the peoples will stream to it.
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,		 Theocracy

3

 That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."
For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
  • Law-Word
  • Worship the Word
  • Justification by Allegiance
  • Christian Reconstruction: Application of God's Law to Nations
  • Character
 Bible

 

Year 2: Rushdoony's Institutes

4

 [And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,]
  • Family
  • Patriarchy
 Character

5

 Then they will hammer their
swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.
  • Peace
  • Swords into Plowshares
  • Non-Aggression
  • No initiation of force
  • Capitalism
  • Non-Archism
 Capitalism

 

Year 2: Pacifism/Anarchism

6

 And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his Fig Tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
  • Garden
  • Eden
  • Land
  • Property
 Year 2: Agrarianism vs. Industrialism

7

 Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the Name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
In that day, saith the LORD, 
       will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted;
And I will make her that halted a remnant,
and her that was cast far off a strong nation:
and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion
from henceforth, even for ever.
  • Extended Home
  • Community
  • Hospitality
  • Service
  • The Weak
  • Society vs. "State"
  • Election by Grace
 Year 2:
Peter Maurin: "Agronomic University"

Listeners' Questions

Robert Kirk - USA
If you want to live in a theocracy, why don't you move to Iran or some similar country. You have no place in this country when you try to impose your religion on the rest of us.
Thanks for visiting and paying enough attention to notice that I use the word "Theocracy."
• I don't want to move to Iran because I want to live in a Christian Theocracy like America, not a Muslim theocracy.
• I am not an archist, that is, someone who is willing to "impose" his will on others by initiating force or threatening violence against those I cannot persuade.
• Do those who believe in the religion of Secular Humanism have a place in the U.S. to make all laws conform to their secular religion? They have.
• Every "law" is the imposition of someone's religion.
• The word "Theocracy" literally means "God rules," or looked at from the other direction, a nation "under God."
• If I try to pass a law requiring public schools to teach students that the Declaration of Independence is really true, people like you will accuse me of trying to "impose a theocracy" on the U.S. That assures me that every single person who signed the U.S. Constitution would agree with me that we ought to make America a libertarian "Christian Theocracy." They did.
Questions from previous Town Halls:
Carol - Orange, Ca
Debt, debt, debt----No one takes the Law of God seriously, so we are drowning in DEBT. Proverbs 22:7--The borrower is the servant (slave) of the lender. IMHO in this verse is a succinct summation of our whole problem. Among the many verses that speak against debt living, these two in the NT speak especially strongly against this practice of living on our home loans and credit and debit cards---I Cor. 6:10---For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit; and I Cor. 7:23--You are bought with a price; be not the servants of men. Are we Christians? Do we read the WORD OF GOD, folks?? We are literally sinking, second by second into a sea of a quadrillion dollars of bad debts. You say, "I never borrowed anything like that amount of money." Ah, dear citizen and dear Christian, you live on credit and thereby you gave the lender your precious ownership rights, which God says plainly belong to Him! God will not be mocked. We are in serious trouble. Repent, dear Christian!		  

What About Borrowing?

Our paper seems to have been quoted here:

 
Tony - Goldsboro, NC
Is there ever an acceptable time to take out a loan and go into debt?		 In addition to the conclusions above, keep in mind that borrowing from a fractional reserve bank involves violence against others.
William - California
Had a question on the phone about the book of Esther.
Esther appears to record the fulfillment of Ezekiel's famous "Gog and Magog" prophecy:

Attempts by Jews and Christians to project Esther or Ezekiel into our future are unjustified.
Jim Means - Branson, MO
The only benefit I see from our Libyan adventure is a boost to our arms industry which has been slowing with the winding down of Iraqi operations. The War Powers Act has been unconstitutional from its inception. No matter which side we support in the middle east we are supporting people who hate the U.S. It is a no win situation.		  

The U.S. is a Warfare/Welfare State

War Powers Act

"Terrorism" is "Blowback"
Jim Means - Branson, MO
Forbes quote of the day yesterday: "There is no doubt that the real destroyer of the liberties of any people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and largess." If Plutarch could see it in ancient Greece, politicians must recognize it today and do not care about our liberties.		  
Liberty is destroyed if these gifts are taken by force, and liberty is destroyed when the recipient becomes dependent upon the redistributor of stolen wealth.
Jim Means - Branson, MO
A republican senator from Wisconsin writing in the Wall Street Journal this week claimed that we have the best health care system in the world, that the death rate from prostate cancer is 608% higher in Great Britain, a blatant misstatement of the facts. Britain's death rate from prostate cancer is actually lower than ours. We need to find policies that can make our health care system open to free market solutions that will provide a better solution than national health care run by the government or the insane system we have now.		  
All the evidence I've seen indicates that under British, Canadian, and other socialist healthcare systems, people are not allowed to seek testing/diagnosis or treatment earlier than the government rationing system allows, and that more die as a result. If I could find a link to the source that claims there are more deaths in the U.S., I would interact with it.

Health Care
Jim Means - Branson, MO
The life expectancy in Afghanistan is 36 years one of the lowest in the world. We are contributing to the low life expectancy as we continue to kill Afghans.		  
Life expectancy is higher in Christian nations. Violence is lower, health is higher.

Edge: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE By Steven Pinker
Debunks the idea that humans are peaceable by nature and corrupted by modern institutions. Pinker doesn't say it, but humans by nature want to be their own god, and this violent tendency needs to be restrained by institutions created by the Gospel: family, school, employment, charity, etc.
Jim Means - Branson, MO
The Muslim says: I worship the God of Abraham. I never miss any of my five daily prayers. My lips never touch alcohol. I am faithful to my four wives. I have memorized the holy Quran. A so-called Christian who seldom goes to church, tolerates alcohol consumption, has sex outside of marriage, knows no more than a few verses of his scriptures, and worships the fraudulent son of our god who is complete within himself and needs no sons or holy ghosts to carry out his will dares to call mine a "false" religion?		  
Many muslims are more dedicated than many who call themselves Christians, no doubt. A true Christian and a true American is an "extremist."

The last portion of this comments sounds like unitarianism. The Bible teaches Trinitarianism.

The "Supreme Judge of the World" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is Jesus Christ, according to the Jefferson Bible. If Jesus really said these things (as Jefferson apparently believes He did) then he was insane if He is not really God. He was nuts to allow the Jews to crucify Him for claiming to be God if He was not really God. Taken as a whole, the Bible claims that Jesus was Divine, as well as the Holy Spirit.

This belief has been the foundation of liberty in the Western World.

America's Founders -- even John Adams, sometimes called a "unitarian" -- endorsed and promoted Trinitarianism, as part of America's True Religion.
William -- via the phone: "Islamophobia"
See platform statements on
• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• "National Security"
William -- via the phone: Unions: Government-Buttressed Violence
Jim Means - Walnut Shade
Eliminate all those departments and add thousands to the unemployment lines. This is not going to help our Libertarian image in the eyes of the general public as uncaring, selfish individuals.		 (1) USPS employees will be employed by FedEx, UPS, etc.
(2) Government waste can be invested in new jobs and increased productivity.
(3) This increased productivity = lower prices and a higher standard of living, even if postal employees have leaner, more competitive wages than they had in government.

It is selfish of government employees to use force to protect their uncompetitive job. They advance their own short-term interests at the expense of others and even at the expense of their own long-term prosperity and that of their children. 
Allow the USPS, a separate corporation not a government department to close unnecessary post offices, limit hours and otherwise streamline their services and UPS, FedEx and other private services would have a hard time competing. Correct. It's hard to compete with a government agency that gets to cut services and still charge the same amount. Competitive business in the Free Market can't get away with that.
Parkinson's Law is at work in large corporations as well as government bureaus. At least the corporations can scale back in tough times. That has produced our current high unemployment and slow recovery as the corporations enjoy higher profits and their unnecessary employees take our taxes in unemployment benefits "scaling back" is a very good thing; exactly what needs to take place. Government has been printing up new money and giving it to special-interest businesses, which percolates throughout the economy, creating an artificial "boom." All these false investments need to be liquidated, as they do not reflect real consumer preferences. Government-created employment needs to be replaced with high unemployment, followed by consumer-created employment.
 
The CIA claims ten percent of Egyptians are Christian, 10% of them, Coptic.  
Christians were underground in a hostile nation until the conversion of the emperor Constantine.
Then with government and the church in partnership, political power corrupted the church.		 See more on Constantine below
I'm talking the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and its eventual domination by demonic forces Actually, the demonic domination of churches -- like the Church in Rome, the Church in Ephesus, the Church in Corinth, etc., -- is not as great today as it was in the last days of the Old Covenant.
 
william of irvine - irvine california
kevin, as the bible is our main book, what other books would you recommend to read for spiritual, political and health issues?

See the Reading chart above
 

I'd like to add a bit to last week's answer. I believe the most pressing priority is not reading other books "for spiritual, political and health issues," but to build the foundation.

Ecclesiastes 12:12
And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

The majority of our time needs to be on the foundations, including volunteer work mentoring those who did not or do not have families that reliably build foundations:

Deuteronomy 6:6-13
7 and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.
10"And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou built not,  
 11and houses full of all good things which thou filled not, and wells dug which thou dug not, vineyards and olive trees which thou planted not, when thou shalt have eaten and be full,   
 12then beware lest thou forget the LORD who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.   

This is exactly where we are today. Because the foundations have been ripped out of public schools, we have forgotten God, and are ready to be dropped in the lap of a new Pharaoh.

The next verse is interesting, because it seems like a change of subject, but it's not really:

 13Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name.

Our politicians do not take their oaths in the name of God, and they break them. Oaths are a reflection of foundations, of worldview. We should avoid getting lost in detail, and missing the big picture.
sir william - irvine,calif.
how do we get our church away from dispensational thinking and the likes of c s scofield ,hal lindsey so on,,what question should we ask them to get them to think		 You must take them by the hand and walk a mile with them. Weeks and weeks of Bible studies.

www.NotComingSoon.net

www.Optimillennialism.com - also here
Sandra - Irvine
So for me to be an optimist I must be a responsibalist — to respond to the ability god has given me—do I understand you?
  
cariie miller - st louis mo
are you that unamerician that you want to change constition letst change the free speech that you hide behine youre just un speakable in your ideas		 Every single person who signed the Constitution would agree that the Constitution should be repealed and the government it created should be abolished. If that isn't obvious to you, by comparing the Bush-Obama regime against the Declaration of Independence, then you're a victim of educational malpractice, and you're just not a very good American.
carrie miller - st louis mo
are you un educated or just stupid		 If you would like to become an extraordinary American, enroll in GeorgeWashingtonCoaching.
Jim - WALNUT SHADE
The invisible hand seems to have given us a situation where nearly all new business development is based on the distribution and sale of goods produced on foreign soil. It will be a while before we need any new construction as the nation is full of empty residential and commercial buildings. Where is the hope for near term employment increase?		 Free Trade:
Globalization: The Long-Run Big Picture - George Reisman
Lynn - Ozark
pretty clear to me the passport change is for the homosexual adoptions they have been pushing.		 "Hello Parent One? This is Child Two."
State Dept. Changes Passport Forms
Jim - WALNUT SHADE
Asking for parent one and parent two on the passport application must make the children in single parent households feel inadequate. The question needs to be eliminated and the information, if necessary, can be taken from the applicant's birth certificate that must be sent with the application.		 Abolish Passports

Abolish Borders:
Globalization: The Long-Run Big Picture - George Reisman
Carol - California
GATES What is the significance of the gates in eg. Prov. 31:23 and 31. Is the idea here something that would be a goal of FAMILY homeschooling. Should FATHERS aspire to be known in the gates. Should Fathers and Mothers be teaching their SONS to be known in the gates? In this sense, is it constructive to understand further what it means to be KNOWN IN THE GATES?		 "Gates"

Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Education is a matter of time.
Gary North: Social Overhead Capital -- Intensive Service
Jim - Walnut Shade
That sounds like the mullah's stance that Jesus or an imam is coming back to unite the world under Shari'a and bring eternal peace to a Muslim world.		 The Bible does not teach that Jesus is "coming again soon." But the Bible does teach that Jesus came at the first Christmas to create a "New World Order." Atheists, Christians, and Muslims all agree on the necessity for a world order.

Islam is an imitation of Christianity. True Christianity does not teach that Christ will bring peace at a future coming, but that already is the Prince of Peace, and that Christians are priests and kings who should implement His Reign in the world today.

The "United Nations" is the secular equivalent of the Christian and Islamic ideal of world order.

The true Christian conception of world order is not a global police state, or a global priest-state, but global Anarcho-Theocracy.
Carol - ORANGE, CA
Kevin -- Could you discuss what Romans 13 means when it says that rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. This in the light of what you have said about the evil of governments.		 www.Romans13.com

God "ordains" and "sanctifies" EVIL dictators and tyrants "for our good."
Jim - Walnut Shade
Islam is ready to kill every infidel. If we do not resist, how will Christianity survive?		 "Resist the devil." But by evangelism and service, not by violence. The idea of America as a City upon a Hill is not one of a global empire, but of a missionary nation, setting an example.
Jim - Walnut Shade
The Holy Roman Empire made Rome the capitol of the Christian world. After Constantine they thought they were a Christian nation.		 Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

"Theocracy" and "globalism" are inescapable concepts. Every government is a "theocracy." Every government is the forcible legislation of somebody's morality. The source of that morality is the "god" of the society. In a Secular Humanist theocracy, every man is his own god, but the State or Party claims to embody the "general will."

Every theocracy seek global dominion. Obviously atheistic communism sought international hegemony. So does the atheistic "New World Order" of the Bush-Obama regime.

If Christians do not seek a global theocracy, they will be brought under tribute to the theocracy of another religion. A truly Christian Theocracy is an "Anarcho-Theocracy."
Carol in California:
Everybody: Read Ezekiel 33. What do you think about the call to be a WATCHMAN? In what context did this call come? What were the main subjects being discussed in those chapters? What activities and practices and persons were being condemned? Does this OT call apply to our lives, culture, churches, government,etc.? Does this Watchman idea relate to your campaign of LIBERTY UNDER GOD? How? What are crucial lessons here?		 Ezekiel 33 - NKJV
The "watchman" was to "warn the wicked of his way to turn from it" (v. 9), not just to say, "the sword is coming!" and encourage pre-emptive military strikes or "survivalism."

Ezekiel 33 - Matthew Henry's Commentary
the passage is not just concerned with "personal piety."

God Sends Evil! - Why Calvinists are Anarchists
A very disapointed citizen - Jamestown,NY
Are you a joke? Really?! Your trying to discriminate against and entire nation of people such a homosexuals i hope you know the thing you're saying a litrally brining thousands of people to tears and mabey most of the united states of american is apart of the christian community there are others out there
No Name, No City
You are obviously NOT an anarchist...or are you confused?		 I am not an "archist."

Just Another Name for Anarchism?
Nicole Trujillo - Clever
what relationship do you see America having with Israel?		 It depends on how you define "America." The federal government of the United States should have no relationship with Israel other than necessary treaties which the Constitution authorizes. No foreign aid to Israel from the federal government (and no foreign aid to anti-Israeli Muslim nations either). In short, "no entangling alliances."
Voter - Branson
Kevin, I agree with many of the stances on your website. However, I cannot find much information about you as a person. Can you please tell us about yourself? Also, according to your position for fewer taxes and less spending, Congressmen would have to be willing to sacrifice tax-rendered compensation for the public good. Can you convince us that your own personal financial situation would not create a conflict of interest when it came to choosing between the public's needs and your own needs?		 1. Some personal info is found here at the bottom of the page.
2. A whole lot more is here.
3. More important than who I am, is who I strive to be. See here.

4. My personal financial situation is living in poverty. If elected, I would stage "money bombs" and other programs to raise money to make sure that -- just as environmentalists worry about "carbon footprints" -- I would not leave a "taxpayer footprint" in my wake. In other words, as much as possible, I would not compel taxpayers to pay for my presence in Washington D.C. This means following Ron Paul's practice of returning the bulk of the allocated money for Congressional Staff. It doesn't take a large staff to follow the Constitution, only to meet and deal with lobbyists. There will be none of that in my office. I have formed a non-profit organization to do the work of spreading the vision of "Vine & Fig Tree," and I would work through that organization to accomplish my goals, and not use extortion to raise money from taxpayers.
My question is what is your stance on Abortion?
Abortion is murder.
This page is not indexed on Google. The next two pages are. There is no way that this could be a random result of Google's search algorithms. This page was consciously removed.
Controlling Abortion
Congressman Ron Paul on Abortion
The 14th Amendment
Ronald Reagan on Abortion - KevinCraig's blog

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Kevin Craig's Platform:

What Would America's Founding Fathers Do?

The men who threw tea into the Boston Harbor over a tax of 3 pence per pound would not be happy with a tax ten times greater on every gallon of gas. Those who took up muskets over a total tax burden of less than 3% would not be happy with the fact that the federal government now takes more than half of everything you earn.

Today it is illegal for public school teachers to teach their students that the Declaration of Independence is really true (and not just an outdated historical document). The federal government is clearly at war with everything the Founding Fathers stood for.

America's greatest Americans would abolish today's federal government.

Muskets are Not an Option

There are two reasons why we should not take up arms to pull off the violent overthrow of the federal government, even if America's Founders would surely do so. First, the feds have nukes. Second, violent revolution is unChristian and unBiblical. We must beat our swords into plowshares and use persuasion to abolish tyranny. This is time for a revolution of ideas.

Revolution Won't Come in a Day

John Adams once wrote that the American Revolution began in 1761, when Massachusetts attorney James Otis began legal challenges to the Writs of Assistance. He lost the case, but "American independence," Adams wrote, "was then and there born." Now do the math. That means it took 15 years to convince the rest of America to declare Independence (1776). Then another seven years of war was required before a Peace Treaty was signed (1783), and then six years before the Constitution was finally ratified (1789). That's almost 30 years. (And Jefferson said we shouldn't go 20 years without another rebellion!) How can we hope to convince Americans to fight for principles they were never taught in government schools? We need to be in this battle for the long term. "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty."

Every great athlete has a coach.
If you want to be a great American you need a coach.
If you want to achieve great things for your country, you need a coach.
Imagine what you could do if George Washington, "the Father of his Country,"
could travel through time and be your personal coach.
The results could be extraordinary.

Find out why you need a personal coach, and why GeorgeWashingtonCoaching.com is the foundation for an extraordinary life.

www.GeorgeWashingtonCoaching.com

We win the race by overcoming the biggest obstacles.
Who are the Big Enemies? What are the Big Issues?
Martin Luther said:
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.
Do you know what the Big Issues are? Do you know how to fight them?
Full Informed Jury Association Obama Body Count
The X2012 Project
  Iraq Deaths Estimator US Deaths in Afghanistan: Obama vs Bush. Click here to learn more.  

The Internet Can Speed up the Revolution

Here are ways you can help.

Support This Campaign

Send emails. Find out how this free tool can change everything.

Revenge:

Vote Against Every Politician Who Voted for the Bailout, No Matter What
-- and Obamacare

No violence against politicians: even those who wear Red Coats.

Communicating with Government and Media

  • Contact Congress -- this is from the JBS website, powered by "CapWiz," from Capitol Advantage. Lots of organizations use capwiz. If you don't want to go through the JBS, search for capwiz on Google and find another organization that uses it.
    Notice that you can also contact media through this webpage.
  • Action E-List
    Sign up for the JBS Action E-List and be notified when you can make a critical difference on important issues.

The "Enumerated Powers Act" (EPA)

The "Enumerated Powers Act" (EPA)
Each member, upon the start of his term of office, takes an oath, promising to protect and uphold the Constitution. Yet virtually every day that Congress is in session these same oath-takers become law-breakers -- passing laws and expending funds on items that are not Constitutionally permissible. Background page.
Help End the Mexican Civil War
Black-market profits caused by drug prohibition fund a civil war in Mexico that's threatening to spill over our borders. Drug profits also fuel the terrorists who are killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. It's time to dry up the black-market profits. It's time to end drug prohibition. 		Help End the Mexican Civil War

DownsizeDC.org's "Read the Bills Act" (RTBA)

Make Congress Read Their Bills Before Voting
Make Congress read every word of every bill they create before they vote on it.
Urge your Representative and your Senators to sponsor DownsizeDC.org's “Read the Bills Act” (RTBA).
End the FED
The Federal Reserve System constantly inflates and deflates the supply of money and credit, causing booms and busts. It's time to get off this roller-coaster. It's time to end the Fed. 		End the FED

No Bailouts!

No Bailouts!
No government money, whether borrowed or taxed, should ever be used to bailout private financial interests. If you agree, please send Congress a message telling them so.
TWIC - A Backdoor Real ID Card
Real ID is dying. But the Department of Homeland Security has a new plan to subject every American to a national ID card anyway. They plan to pick off one occupational field at a time, starting with the maritime industry. One man is fighting back. Meet him, and help stop this backdoor Real ID plan. 		TWIC - A Backdoor Real ID Card
Repeal the campaign finance laws Repeal the campaign finance laws
Campaign finance laws are really incumbent protection laws. They make it almost impossible for challengers to raise competitive funding, while doing almost nothing to control the true causes of government corruption. We were told that the campaign finance laws—the contribution limits and the reporting requirements—would curtail or even prevent corruption. Now, with 40 years of experience, we know that they do the exact opposite.
End Asset Forfeiture
If the government suspects you used your house or car in a crime, they can take it and sell it at auction. They don't even have to prove your guilt. They call this practice civil asset forfeiture, but it's really theft. It violates the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 14th Amendments. It also encourages law enforcement to put profits before justice. Tell Congress to end civil asset forfeiture. 		End Asset Forfeiture

Cap-and-trade is not the way to control carbon emissions.

 Cap-and-trade is not the way to control carbon emissions.
Even if you accept that human CO2 emissions are causing problematic global warming, a government run "cap and trade" system is not the way to deal with this problem.
• An increase in your electricity and gasoline bills
• New tools for politicians to control the economy, hand out favors, and punish enemies
• Almost no improvement in reducing overall CO-2 emissions (if the example of Europe is a reliable guide) Learn more »

Make Congress read every word of every bill they create before they vote on it.
Urge your Representative and your Senators to sponsor DownsizeDC.org's “Read the Bills Act” (RTBA).

Unelected bureaucrats create tens-of-thousands of new dictates each year. Making rules is the job of Congress, not bureaucrats.
DownsizeDC.org has drafted the “Write the Laws Act” to end bureaucratic “legislation without representation.” Click here . . .
Restore consumer controlled health care

Restore consumer controlled health care
The politicians tell us free market health care doesn't work, but we haven't had a free market in decades.
• Starting with depression era wage and price controls, and continuing with government tax policies, the politicians have made Americans dependent on their jobs to get health insurance.
• The government already pays for nearly half of all health care. This means we're half-socialized already
 Learn more »

Stop the War for Terror
U.S. policy has inflamed the Middle East. It has made terrorism more likely rather than less. We seem to be fighting a war for terror, rather than on terror. This policy must stop. The place to start stopping is with Iran. We must not attack Iran. War with Iran would devastate our economy, disrupt world oil supplies, and recruit more terrorists. Click here to stop this war before it starts.

 Strike at the Root

Preserve the Freedom to Farm

 Preserve the Freedom to Farm
Crops grow in dirt. Animals don't take showers or use toilets. Food is made from yucky stuff.
This means there's always a risk of contamination. We can reduce this risk, but not eliminate it. Attempts to make everything perfectly safe are Utopian fantasies that carry a high price in increased costs, reduced variety, diminished supply, and . . . increased risk.
The free market already provides you with multiple ways to balance risks and costs.
Learn more »

         

The Letter that Started the Ozarks Virtual Town Hall

Click here for a replay of this edition of the Ozarks Virtual Town Hall